Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area arrives on Netflix this Friday, and the first season ends with a great cliffhanger that puts one of our main characters, The Professor, in quite a pickle. Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area is a Korean remake of the famous Spanish TV show that tells the story of a group of thieves on the mission of pulling the biggest heist ever. It is quite interesting to see Korea remaking a western property, as it is more often the case that western studios remake Asian properties.
Sadly, Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area doesn’t really offer anything new both in the character or plot department. If you have already seen the original TV series, then you have seen this one as well. The show has an amazing cast of actors, all of them veterans in film and television, but they are really not used well, and with nothing but following the original story step by step, Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area feels more like an afterthought.
The following paragraphs contain spoilers for the ending of season 1, so read at your own risk.
What Happens With The Professor?
The last episode of the season begins with intense action as the Professor is escaping from Woojin who has managed to almost capture him. At this point, the Professor has shown that he is human, and his plan has some major holes. However, while the plan isn’t perfect, the contingencies are quite good, and the Professor knows how to improvise when is it needed the most. After going for a really dangerous maneuver, the Professor manages to escape, leaving Woojin confused.
Both Woojin and The professor go back to their respective HQs and the Professor listens to Woojin’s theories. Woojin finds it confusing that the thieves are so preoccupied with not killing anyone. If they were normal thieves, they would not care about that. After hearing gunshots the other night, Woojin concludes that someone must be dead inside the building, and the thieves and hiding it from everyone because they care about their public image.
She is right, part of the plan is having the people on their side, that is why they must not kill anyone. The moment the thieves kill someone, the public will turn on them, and that must not happen. Woojin enacts a plan, she will go inside the building and asks for the hostages to be shown, to assure their safety to their families and the press. Captain Moohyuk is not sure about it, but he is convinced. Woojin talks with the Professor and he allows it. In the morning, she will be able to enter the building.
Woojin gets inside and Berlin starts showing her the hostages one by one, they all say the thieves have treated them very well. Woojin gets anxious and asks to see all hostages at once. Berlin finally accepts, and the hostages are shown all at once on camera. There is one person missing though. Agent Park, who infiltrated the building in past episodes. Woojin added his name to the list of hostages, she expects that once they don’t show him, the public will see that he has been killed.
However, Woojin plan is turned on its head, as Agent Park is not dead, he is alive. Berlin shows him and speaks to the camera, showing how Park infiltrated with the mission of saving Anne, who is the daughter of an ambassador. Berlin plays the class card and says that every other hostage was used as a shield to get Anne out. The public hears this and is disgusted by the authorities’ behavior. Berlin says they are thieves, but they value human life. If someone is going to die inside the building, it will be just him, no one else.
What Happens With The Characters At The End of Season 1?
The characters end up in very different and interesting places at the end of season 1. Tokyo, for example, after having many doubts about being the leader of the mission, manages to keep the team together and execute the plan even when things are getting out of hand. Her relationship with Rio is also flourishing. It is clear they will become a couple in the future.
Berlin manages to be part of the group for once, without having to antagonize anyone else. What he does at the end of the episode puts him in a new light, and the team basically congratulates him for his performance. Something at the end of the season would have been very difficult to predict.
Denver also finds himself entangled with Mi-seon. The girl is done with her toxic relationship with the director, and she has now chosen to be with Denver completely. This development will sure make them happy, but also add some extra danger to the mission.
The same happens with the professor and Woojin, as they realize they are in love with each other. However, the Professor knows very well that that might come crashing down once she realizes who she really is. After a date with her after a long day for both. The professor goes back to his hideout, only to realize he has been followed by Captain Moo-hyuk, who has been suspicious of him for a while.