Episode 1 of Mad Concrete Dreams starts with Yo-na and Dr Jang lightly torturing Chang-su into signing over his building to Real Capital.
Where Can I Watch Mad Concrete?
3️⃣ Watch Mad Concrete on Nazaarabox
After that, they ask him to wait a bit before leaving the building, but lock him in instead. It turns out there is a demolition event outside.
A few local politicians are aiming to make big money from the redevelopment of the area.
They've hired Yo-na and Dr Jang (Real Capital) to pressure building owners in the area to relinquish their rights to their buildings. At the end of the event, Jang-su is killed in the demolition of the building.
Elsewhere, we meet Su-jong and Kim-sun alongside their deaf daughter, Da-rae.
Kim-sun asks if they will be able to keep up with their growing debt, given the new interest rates. Her husband insists that he has everything under control. He asks her to focus on Da-rae as he focuses on getting new tenants for the building they recently bought.
As they eat breakfast, Su-jong keeps ignoring calls from Mr Kim.
On his way out, Da-rae asks him if he has set everything up for Kim-sun's birthday later that evening. He promises to remember to pick up the cake and the gift.
After arriving at his building, he learns that one of the tenants wants to see him about a blocked toilet. He ignores this and heads to his office. This is when we learn that he has nothing under control. He is behind on his debt payments.
Throughout the day, he works as a deliveryman to earn some more money. Unfortunately, he ends up getting a delivery to one of his daughter's friends. She is shocked to see him but assures him that she doesn't mind.
To hide the truth, he offers to buy the meal for the group. Later, he meets with an online seller to pick up Kim-sun's gift. Sadly, the guy didn't wrap it, so he agrees to lower the price.
In the meantime, Yo-na threatens Mr Kim to sign a debt assignment agreement.
In the evening, Hwal-seong and Yi-gyeong attend Kim-sun's birthday. It turns out that Yi-gyeong got her the original wallet she wanted. Su-jong got her the small version of the wallet, but it looks fake.
To make matters worse, not only was he late, but he also ruined the cake while driving on the bike.
The conversation turns to whether Da-rae has gotten into college yet and if they will be able to afford it.
Hwal-seong credits Da-rae's growth to Kim-sun and tries to demean Su-jong. The evening gets more awkward, and Yi-gyeong gets drunk and sleepy.
As Hwal-seong takes her to the restroom, Kim-sun reminds Su-jong about their agreement to attend marriage therapy. She feels like they haven't been communicating lately and points out things like him keeping his delivery job a secret.
They notice that Hwal-seong and Yi-gyeong are taking too long in the restroom, so Su-jong goes to check on them.
He finds Yi-gyeong in a cab and Hwal-seong in the basement. Hwal-seong asks who uses the basement and whether Su-jong is considering selling the building.
He jokes about buying it, but Su-jong reminds him that he was the one who advised him to buy the building. He is confident that once the redevelopment starts, things will look up.
After seeing Hwal-seong and Yi-gyeong off, Su-jong is summoned by Dong-gi, the tenant running the cafe downstairs. He insists on having Su-jong fix the toilet blockage that night.
As he fixes it, he gets a call from his brother-in-law, Kim-gyun.
Kim-gyun invites him to get a few drinks since he missed Kim-sun's birthday.
Su-jong agrees, thinking it will only take a while. He meets Kim-gyun and vents about his financial situation. Kim-gyun offers to help if the situation gets too dire.
As they drink, two of Kim-gyun's colleagues arrive at the restaurant. After drinks, Kim-gyun invites Su-jong to join him at the karaoke bar, where they sing the night away.
The following day, Su-jong gets some money and pays some of his debts. He gets a call from Mr Kim and is shocked to learn about the debt reassignment.
Just then, he gets a call from Real Capital informing him he has a week to pay the full debt or risk losing the building. At the same time, he tries calling Jang-su, but the call goes to voicemail.
He calls Real Capital and talks to Yo-na. She insists that she has nothing to say other than what has already been stated in the message.
She asks him to drop by if there is an issue. Su-jong drops by the office, and Yo-na offers to halt the auction and resolve his immediate debt crisis.
Su-jong rejects her offer, referring to it as a scam, and mentions that his brother-in-law is a police officer.
Dr Jang arrives, and Su-jong notices the blood on his shirt. Yo-na turns on her laptop and plays a sex tape. Although we don't see who is in the video, it is enough to get Su-jong to shut up and leave.
In the meantime, Kim-sun tries to reach Su-jong, who is running late for their marriage therapy appointment.
On the other hand, Su-jong meets with Kim-gyun and tells him all about the suspicious Real Capital. Kim-gyun offers to help with at least 200 million Won and look into Real Capital.
After arriving home, Kim-sun confronts Su-jong for missing their appointment and asks what is going on. He seems intent on getting money and even suggests borrowing against her name.
She refuses and asks about Da-rae's college fund. She is shocked and frustrated to discover he has already used it all. In anger, she kicks him out of the house.
The next morning, Su-jong tries to reach out to everyone he knows to get the funds to pay back the 1 billion debt.
Unfortunately, no one, not even Hwal-seong, offers to help.
Elsewhere, Kim-gyun starts his investigation into Real Capital. He visits Mr Kim to ask about the circumstances that led to the debt reassignment.
Mr Kim lies that he was in desperate need of money, but Kim-gyun doesn't buy his excuse.
Next, he sneaks into Jang-su's office and finds nothing suspicious. He then heads to the Real Capital office and finds it empty. He snoops around and sees the contracts.
He gets on Yo-na's computer and is shocked to see the sex tape video. He tries to copy the contents of the computer to his USB drive, but Yo-na arrives.
In the struggle to hide and leave quickly, he drops the USB. Unfortunately, Yo-na finds it and realises who was in her office since the USB had a nametag on it.
Meanwhile, Kim-gyun drops by the demolished Seyun building and calls Su-jong to meet him there.
Upon further investigation, he discovers Jang-su's building.
With no network, he exits the building to call emergency services. Su-jong arrives as Kim-gyun is exiting the building.
Suddenly, a white truck runs Kim-gyun over, killing him instantly. Su-jong turns to look at the truck and recognises Dr Jang as the driver.
At Kim-gyun's funeral, one of his colleagues asks Su-jong about the accident and Real Capital. It turns out Kim-gyun had asked her to start looking into the company.
Su-jong is elusive with his answer and pretends not to know Real Capital, even though they sent a wreath. She also mentions that Kim-gyun had applied for an early pension payout and asks if he was having money problems.
Later, Su-jong gets a text from Hwal-seong asking how long he will stay at the funeral home and how Kim-sun is holding up.
At the end of the day, Su-jong returns to the building and finds Hwal-seong in the basement.
The problem is that he has Yi-gyeong lying on the floor, passed out with her hands tied behind her back.
Where Can I Watch Mad Concrete?
3️⃣ Watch Mad Concrete on Nazaarabox
The Episode Review
We are off to a good start as the show utilises a "pressure cooker" narrative to get us quickly into the swing of things.
So we have Su-jong, who bought a building hoping it would be a great financial investment. Unfortunately, it only led him to sink deeper into debt, and the arrival of Real Capital is threatening to turn his dream into an even bigger nightmare.
He is now hanging by a thread, and in comes Hwal-seong, who kidnaps his wife and brings her to Su-jong's building. Not forgetting Kim-gyun and Jang-su, who met an early death at the hands of Real Capital.
His marriage is also very fragile after what his wife found out. That aside, we have the mystery of the sex tape and how it ties to the building.
Other than the intriguing plot, the cast is looking good. They are all doing an exemplary job with their characters.
A special shout-out to Kim Nam-gil too, who plays Kim-gyun. It is a pity his character dies so early in the story.
Episode Rating
4
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