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KDRAMA REVIEW: Payback: Money and Power (2023)

I am behind on a lot of the drama reviews I want to put out on the blog. So, the next few weeks I will be playing some catch up on some of the dramas I have really been wanting to write a review on. FIRST UP is the revenge Kdrama Payback: Money and Power. This kdrama aired in January and February of this year. I feel like I was the only one watching it but there were a lot of other great dramas airing at the time. SO, I am here now writing a review. Maybe that will get some people to go back and watch it. It is DEFINITELY worth a watch. You can watch this Kdrama on AMAZON PRIME.

A QUICK SYNOPSIS OF PAYBACK: MONEY AND POWER: A revenge story involving a group of people who fight against the law and unjust authorities.


I know...I know. That synopsis sounds like a lot of other revenge kdramas BUT TRUST ME - PAYBACK IS WORTH THE WATCH! I am not trying to give a lot away with the synopsis. This drama is mature and just a satisfying revenge drama. You will not be disappointed if you click play on this drama. Especially if you are looking for a more mature drama with a satisfying end. It is not perfect but I liked a lot of things about this drama which I will discuss below.

WHAT I LOVED ABOUT THIS DRAMA

THE CAST: This is a POWERHOUSE of a cast and it paid off. The cast was a major draw for me to this drama. I knew looking at this cast that I would not have to worry about the acting in this drama. I was right. There were a lot of different emotional scenes in this drama and the cast conveyed all those emotions well. I have to give a special shoutout to Lee Sun Kyun because THIS ROLE WAS MADE FOR HIM! He plays arrogant/confident male lead SO WELL!! I loved watching him in this role and watching how his character manipulated the revenge plot.


THE FOUND FAMILY: I am always a sucker for found family in a drama. Payback has a great found family. I loved watching this found family getting formed. I loved watching them pull off the revenge. I loved seeing the found family celebrating in this end. There were a lot of sweet moments with members of this found family. I became very invested in this found family which shows how much I loved this found family in Payback.


THE TWISTS: This drama had a lot of good twists. I think the twists were pulled off so well because the actors made the story very convincing. Part of the twists was the directions the characters took or what character was actually betraying or backstabbing the other characters or not. As I always say, the fact that I can't predict twists in dramas is a plus for me because it is more entertaining for me when you can't predict what happens in a drama. I couldn't predict a lot of what was going to happen in Payback.


THE CINEMATOGRAPHY: I feel like I point out cinematography with every Kdrama (or any drama) these days. Cinematography is just something I notice a lot. Especially if I am enjoying it or if I notice a particularly nice-looking scene or shot. Payback had some beautiful cinematography. Between the shots in Mongolia to just how some of the conversations/showdowns were shot in this drama, the cinematography and aesthetics stood out to me a lot.


SATISFYING ENDING: We all want a revenge drama to have a satisfying ending where the good guys got revenge on the bad guys. We want the good guys to win and to see the bad guys get what they deserved. Payback DEFINITELY gave that to us. It was very satisfying seeing the characters you have hated for 16 episodes get what they deserve. I also loved seeing the found family celebrating and just moving on from their sorrow at the end of the drama.

WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER

UNDERUTILIZED ACTORS: Even if the cast was very strong with this drama with a lot of heavy weights, I thought that the drama underutilized some of the talented actors they had in this drama. I am specifically talking about Moon Chae Won. I loved what scenes she got. She pulled her own and I loved how strong her character was. I thought the drama could have given her more though. I thought they could have done a lot more with her character. There were a couple of other actors that I thought the drama could have used more as well but she stood out the most for me.


Rating: 9/10 (Streaming on AMAZON PRIME now)


So, have you seen Payback: Power and Money?

What did you think of the drama?

Is it on your list to watch?

Will you watch this drama now after reading my review?


LET ME KNOW ON TWITTER OR INSTAGRAM OR IN THE COMMENTS BELOW!

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