Curtain CallA drama about an elderly woman from North Korea who doesn’t have much time left to live and a theatre actor who acts as her grandson in order to fulfill her final wish.
DirectorYoon Sang-ho
WriterJo Seong-geol
Episode 1
Oct 31, 2022
The Chair of Nakwon Hotel, Ja Geum-sun, yearns to meet her family left behind long ago in North Korea. There is tension in her South Korean family: her grandson Se-jun tries to sell the hotel, while granddaughter Se-yeon fights to stop her brother. Meanwhile, someone seeks out Jae-heon, an unknown theater actor, for an unusual task.
Episode 2
Nov 1, 2022
As Se-yeon tries to stop the disposal of hotel, her ex-fiancé, Dong-je, appears. Meanwhile, after accepting Sangcheol’s proposal, Jae-heon considers who to recruit to help carry out his mission. The curtain finally rises on a grand play, created and performed for one particular person.
Episode 3
Nov 7, 2022
Geum-sun greets the arriving couple, Jae-heon and Yoonhee, with a face full of excitement and touched emotion. However, each member of the household has their own opinions and feelings about the newcomers, especially since Jae-heon will receive a stake in the hotel. Se-yeon takes Jae-heon on a tour of Seoul, hoping to influence him to her side.
Episode 4
Nov 8, 2022
Jae-heon and Yoonhee try their best to maintain their cover as Geum-sun’s grandson and his wife. They put their heart and soul into acting as Ri Moon-seong and Jang Jinsook, trying to bring joy to Geum-sun while avoiding the suspicions of her family and others who could reveal their true identities.
Episode 5
Nov 14, 2022
Se-yeon persuades Geum-sun to have Jae-heon work at the hotel. Since he has plenty of experience working in part-time jobs, Jae-heon quickly adapts and shows his talents. But not everyone welcomes Jae-heon, and they are trying to make things difficult for him.
Episode 6
Nov 15, 2022
Se-jun accelerates his plan to sell the hotel. Se-yeon meets her ex-fiancé Dong-je, who owns a 4% stake and will become the casting vote for the disposal of hotel Nakwon. Meanwhile, Jae-heon, Yoon-hee, Se-yeon, and Dong-je have an unexpected dinner together.
Episode 7
Nov 22, 2022
Geum-sun holds her own farewell party, inviting the special people in her life. Se-jun, Se-gyu, and Se-yeon greet their guests at the entrance of the banquet hall. As the time of the party draws near, Jae-heon and Yoon-hee encounter some unexpected personnel working at the event.
Episode 8
Nov 29, 2022
Geum-sun hides the fact that her health is getting worse. Jae-heon and Yoon-hee begin feel guilty about their deception, as Geum-sun is treating them with love and kindness. In the meantime, Tae-joo learns the secret of Ri Moon-seong that Sang-cheol has been hiding.
Episode 9
Dec 5, 2022
Se-yeon hesitates about whether to tell Geum-sun about Jae-heon’s secret. Jae-heon feels embarrassed at Se-yeon’s awkward behavior towards him. Meanwhile, Tae-joo and the real Ri Moon-seong arrive in South Korea.
Episode 10
Dec 6, 2022
Jae-heon notices that Se-yeon and Se-jun have somewhat changed their attitude towards him. He realizes that his identity and plans has been discovered, and becomes distraught. Meanwhile, Se-jun bonds with Moon-seong and puts pressure on Se-yeon.
Episode 11
Dec 12, 2022
When Se-yeon learns about the plan, she decides to become part of it and joins Jae-heon, Yoon-hee, and Sang-cheol. The four cooperate to stop Se-jun’s plan of unveiling the real ‘Ri Moon-seong’ and to allow a happy ending to the performance.
Episode 12
Dec 13, 2022
When Se-yeon learns about the plan, she decides to become part of it and joins Jae-heon, Yoon-hee, and Sang-cheol. The four cooperate to stop Se-jun’s plan of unveiling the real ‘Ri Moon-seong’ and to allow a happy ending to the performance.
Episode 13
Dec 19, 2022
Ri Moon-seong is back. Sang-cheol informs three people that Se-jun is plotting for Geum-sun and Moon-seong to meet. To counter Se-jun’s plan and discover Moon-seong’s intentions, Se-yeon assigns a task to Jae-heon and Yoon-hee.
Episode 14
Dec 20, 2022
Jae-heon, Yoon-hee, and Sang-cheol reveal the truth to the family, except for Geum-sun. Finally, the fake grandson leaves and the real one enters, but there is an awkward silence. At that time, Jae-heon prepares another scene for Geum-sun.
Episode 15
Dec 26, 2022
Geum-sun recovers consciousness and looks for Ri Moon-seong. Family members face a dilemma on whom they should bring to Geum-sun. Se-yeon asks Jae-heon one last time to act as if he were Ri Moon-seong. However, when Jae-heon meets Geum-sun, he discloses the fact that he is not her grandson.
Episode 16
Dec 27, 2022
After Moon-seong returns from a trip with Jae-heon, Moon-seong visits Geum-sun. He resolves the misunderstandings and feelings which have been built up for decades. And finally, the curtain rises on the last scene prepared by Jae-heon, and the audience for this play is only the family of Ja Geum-sun.
ParkMin
@ParkMin
A lot of names were thrown around in the beginning with not a lot of context, so you had to make a mental note to connect them later on—a really annoying practice, to say the least. Supposedly, the male lead was in China before coming to SK, but the drama made it a running joke for a couple of episodes that he was a caveman. This made the whole family meeting and living together a bit too cringe. There were many ways to approach such a scenario, but it seems the writer took the lazy route. Some scenes were stretched really thin and became too awkward to continue, like that one scene of both leads and Sang Chul talking about the old hotel staff photo. The drama would've benefited from having more grandchildren and better interconnected stories between them. Although there were three grandchildren, the middle one was an insignificant sidekick and didn't contribute to the dynamic as much as I hoped. The ending brought a change of heart to all of the opposing characters, but some of them didn't seem genuine in the slightest.
