The Impossible Heir (2024) K Drama Episode 1

Feb 28, 2024

In this revenge drama, Kang In-ha is the illegitimate son of Kangoh Group who has been brought up in poverty in a single-parent household. However, when he suddenly learns of his true parentage, he quickly comes up with a plan to take what is rightly his and rise to the ranks in the Kangoh Group to take over the conglomerate. In the process, he recruits his childhood friend Han Tae-oh, a cold-hearted man whose father is a murderer.

However, his plan finds a hiccup when he meets Na Hye-won, a woman who has also seen abject poverty in her life as well and has similar dreams to him – to take over Kangoh Group for herself. Facing an unknown and unmovable challenge on their path to financial stability and power, In-ha and Tae-oh have to fight tooth and nail to realise their dreams.

Actor Lee Jae-wook was last seen in Death’s Game and Alchemy of Souls. Lee Jun-young was last seen in the highly-popular Mask Girl as well as in D.P. and Let Me Be Your Knight. Lastly, Hong Su-zu’s last roles were in Sweet Home 2 and Lovestruck in the City.

The Impossible Heir Episode 1 Recap

the impossible heir episode 1

The Impossible Heir episode 1 starts with a disturbed Tae-oh with blood splattered face hyperventilating at the turn of events. We then jump to him arriving at Maju Station and looking at a rundown place in a rural area which was her mother’s hometown. That night Tae-oh and In-ha both look at the fireworks and the party going on at the latter’s house in disbelief.

The next day, Tae-oh comes across In-ha as he takes anything and everything in without paying for it. The latter confronts him but Tae-oh gives him a taste of his own medicine and asks whether he is embarrassed by what he does. Tae-oh asks him to steal something bigger if he wants to attention so badly instead of stealing trash and In-ha seems to take the suggestion seriously. The next day at school, the two men end up in the same class, ending in In-ah terrorising him. Unfortunately, Tae-oh isn’t someone who takes bullying lightly and fights back ending in them both going to detention.

As In-ha goes home to find his family enjoying a rather weird game and drinking, a scared Tae-oh finds his mother in a monastery and screams at her to run away after getting a call from his father Gil-su, who previously threatened to find and hurt both of them. After sending her mother off, Tae-oh meets In-ha again and the latter promises to teach him how to kill someone if he is able to beat him in a fight. The fighting gets a little intense when Tae-oh gets triggered by his father’s memories, but the day ends on a more hopeful note for them both.

the impossible heir episode 1

The next day at school, In-ha surprisingly takes Tae-oh’s side when the former’s friend insults Tae-oh, but the latter remains unbothered and ignores his hand to be friends. However, later on, Tae-oh extends his hand to be partners with him and leave his unhappy life behind and in return, he promises to help him with anything.

We jump to 2013, when Tae-oh is working many jobs to make ends meet. However, his friendship with In-ha is still intact, in fact, they are working on their goals together and In-ha seems to love his friend quite a lot. At school, Tae-oh’s paper on the Kangoh Group impresses the teacher, who, in turn, is in cahoots with Kang Seong-ju and tells the latter that there’s someone who can change the course of his career. Soon, we also meet Na Hye-won, who openly flirts with Tae-oh and he, too, seems to be interested in her as well.

That night, Tae-oh goes to teach Kang Hui-ju, In-ha’s sister, at Bisunjae and that night, he ends up going for a beer with Hye-won, who also has a difficult home life. Meanwhile, In-ha faces his own obstacles when Jang Geum-seok reaches out to him in order to get rid of him from the inheritance race but as it turns out Tae-oh had already planned out what to do in this case with his friend. That night, the two men have a party with Hye-won and In-ha asks her out and she flat-out rejects him, instead looking hopefully towards Tae-oh.

The two of them eventually drink together that night and Hye-won asks for his help while In-ha realises that Tae-oh didn’t tell him where Hye-won lived, even though he knew.

The Impossible Heir Episode 1 Review

the impossible heir episode 1

A complicated series of betrayals and alliances have already started to form and The Impossible Heir‘s general air of tension and intrigue can make viewers sit at the edge of their seats. Great to watch with a haunting score, the first episode is thrilling with small moments that can make anyone laugh, especially In-ha being a total baby around Tae-oh. That being said, everyone is harbouring some secrets and most are serious with hidden agendas; by the end of the series, I feel like we won’t get to see much of the humour that the first episode presented us with.