Chip In

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Analysis

Synopsis

​Yoo Bit Na is the daughter of a very rich painter. With her mother, they go to his house they have been invited to. A tragedy happens, Bit Na’s father is killed. Then starts a fight over the inheritance, while Bit Na tries to discover the murderer’s identity. 

My Opinion (No Spoilers)

An excellent mini-drama (8 episodes), that created a perfect ambiance full of secrets and mystery. All characters try to bury their deeds and the unfolding of the plot really managed to keep me intrigued until the very end. 

​Analysis (Spoiler Alert)

Characters: All characters in that drama have their own specificities and stories, involving them differently in the tragedy (is it really one?) that took place in that house. 

Yoo Bit Na (Kim Hye Jun) is Yoo In Ho’s (Nam Moon Chul) biological daughter. Even though they are related by blood, they don’t have anything in common. I would even say that there is clearly no father/daughter relationship. Bit Na hates her father because, while growing up, he has never been around and he has constantly mistreated her and her mother as next to nothing parasites. Indeed, Bit Na is In Ho’s mistress’ daughter, that broke her father’s marriage apart. The entire family resents them for that, making it difficult for Bit Na to adapt in that environment, since rumors and gossiping are constant in the family. 

Bit Na has suffered in her childhood and we get to see that there are also unresolved stories between her and her stepmother, through an incident that happened at sea, during holidays (she almost drowned but her stepmother saved her). Due to her lack of familial warmth and overall rejection, Bit Na has become very secretive and shy. Yet, she is the only one who seems interested in the reasons behind her father’s death and she will do everything in her power in order to solve the murder mystery, even if it seems alienating herself from and suspecting the others (even her mother). She is also not interested in her inheritance, which explains why she doesn’t get along with the other family members. Finally, one important detail: she wishes to become a nurse (she will be accused later on because of that). 

Kim Ji Hye (Oh Na Ra) is Bit Na’s mother, In Ho’s mistress. Contrary to Bit Na, Ji Hye wants to get her hands on the inheritance. Even though she seems totally blinded by money and greed, she has in fact suffered a lot from her status. She was criticized for the adultery and her pregnancy, hated by others for wrecking havoc the house and despised by In Ho, with whom she always had to fight to get child support. Behind her superficial and materialistic mask stands a fierce and wounded woman, who is willing to protect her child no matter what. Despite the fact that Bit Na is willing to suspect her mother of killing her father, Ji Hye never doubts one second of her child’s innocence, even when proof against her emerges (suspicious pictures for example). 

Ji Sul Young (Kim Jung Young) used to be In Ho’s wife. After the divorce In Ho demanded because of his affair, she accepted. Yet, they got back together some time after (In Ho asking her to forgive her). For 20 years then, they have lived together. Sul Young is a famous writer, shadowed by In Ho’s success. She was deeply hurt in the past, as we discover at the end of the drama that she had a miscarriage without In Ho knowing and was told she could never have children again. Shortly after, In Ho was demanding the divorce. Even when they reunited, In Ho wanted to have children with her but she never told him the truth. This secret rotted her from the inside, as she developed hatred and resentment towards In Ho for never caring about her. This also changed her personality into a cold stepmother and arrogant member of the family. I really think that Sul Young is incredible, because she always manages to keep her head cool and to move on with her plan despite the mishaps. Indeed, she is the one who orchestrated In Ho’s death and even watched him suffocate, because of his sleeping pill’s allergy. She eventually turns herself up to the police at the end but I was really impressed by her calm and poker face.

Dokko Chul (Han Soo Hyun) is In Ho’s younger brother. He is basically a conman who went several times to jail because of fraud. When the entire plot starts, everyone basically suspects him for trying to steal away the inheritance, getting rid of In Ho at the same time. He has a daughter Dokko Sun (Kim Si Eun), but clearly doesn’t care about her. I have to say Dokko Chul is a pretty linear character, trying to extort money from people at the end by selling the paintings. 

Dokko Sun is probably the most innocent character in that entire story. During the night of the murder, she is actually the only one who, first, didn’t try to steal the will and second never was a suspect of anything. Even though she seems obsessed with social media and herself (egoistic at the beginning), she happens to be an excellent cousin. She wants to get to the bottom of the story too, that’s why she helps Bit Na and both grow closer, discovering that the other is actually not what they expected. She has basically been raised by Sul Young and In Ho, because her father was always in jail. Therefore, she is a solitary being (like all characters in the drama in fact). Yet, she knows how to stand up for herself, no matter who the opponent is. 

Yoo Hae Joon (Choi Kyu Jin) appears to be this jerky cousin, very close to In Ho compared to Bit Na and ready to get his part of the inheritance. He is not In Ho’s biological father in reality: his real father is In Ho’s older brother, who was murderedwhen Hae Joon was still a child. The more mysteries we solve in the drama, the more we get to see about Hae Joon’s tragic past. His father’s money was in fact stolen by In Ho and his friend Moon Jung Wook (Lee Yoon Hee). During an argument, Jung Wook accidentally pushed Hae Joon’s father, killing him. Both disposed of the body in order to cover their traces and their fraud. However, none was aware that Hae Joon was actually waiting for his father in the car and that he saw In Ho and Jung Wook leaving with the body. Since then, Hae Joon has lived with a sole purpose: finding his father’s body and proving that he had been murdered by his family. 

Hae Joon is a character in pain, isolated and misunderstood. Nonetheless, In Ho’s death enables him to finally find closure. 

Jung Wook is In Ho’s supposedly best friend when the drama starts. The family makes fun of him for being In Ho’s slave, constantly following him (he has done so for 15 years) and accepting mistreatment. Yet, the truth behind that behavior is uglier than we think. Jung Wook is actually being held captive by In Ho because of a recording that confirms he is responsible for Hae Joon’s death. In Ho has kept that recording all these years and blackmailed Jung Wook. In exchange, Jung Wook became In Ho’s slave and even worse, his ghost painter, letting In Ho get all the credit, fame and recognition for paintings he hadn’t even touched. That condition pushed Jung Wook to develop great resentment and hatred towards In Ho. For that reason, he teamed up with the second most hurt person in the house, Sul Young, and together they decided to assassinate In Ho. The goal for Jung Wook was to finally get his freedom and his recognition but the plan went astray. He died a pitiful death, submerged by all the misdeeds, misunderstandings and negative feelings directed toward him. Yet, he died a free man. 

Park Jin Sook (Nam Mi Jung) is the housekeeper. She has been working for In Ho for 20 years, but became really bitter over the years because of In Ho’s pettiness and stinginess. The rest of the family belittled her all the time. That’s why when she learned about the will, she decided to try to get her hands on the money as well. Jin Sook is a very peculiar character: she is insolent and affirmative, yet she is sometimes easily tricked. Still, I thought her character brought some humor to that dark drama. 

Yoo In Ho is simply the worst human being there is. He has killed his brother indirectly and took hostage a man, turning him into a carpet. He has stolen his art, committing fraud. Plus, he was also using his foundation to launder money as well. To me, he is no different from his brother Dokko Chul, he is just smarter and never got caught alive. Moreover, he disrespected his first wife, then his mistress, then his daughter. He was grumpy all the time, self-centered, greedy, inconsiderate and despiteful. He is the reason why all family members in the house interact, but his death is the reason why they actually manage to connect and clear the air. Thanks to that, they all solved their own issues and some even got closer. I have to say I was not feeling empathetic for a second when I saw him die. I was sadder to see Jung Wook die in fact than him. 

Ambiance: The atmosphere of the drama is that of mystery. Almost all of the intrigue takes place behind closed doors, in that huge house that contains so many secrets. To be honest, the plot first reminded me of the French movie called 8 Femmes (8 Women) in which the patriarch mysteriously dies and everyone tries to find out what happened. If you haven’t watched that movie, I highly recommend it, it’s really good. Because the plots seemed so similar, I was pretty convinced that In Ho had orchestrated all of that masquerade in order to trick his family and see who would try to get the inheritance. I was halfway right, since the envelopes that triggered In Ho’s indirect assassination have been distributed by him at night (still, they had been tampered with previously by Sul Young). Unexpectedly, his trick turns against him. Five characters (Ji Hye, Dokko Chul, Hae Joon, Jin Sook and Jung Wook, who was aware of the plan) fed him sleeping pills, not knowing he is allergic to them. Their respective greed united together drove In Ho to his death. 

​The drama is very well written I thought, because I couldn’t exactly guess who the killer was. Each episode had its part of mystery and was uncovering new truths, which made it difficult for me to guess the identity of the assassin. In that way, the red threads connecting all the elements of the drama are really well intertwined and manage to keep up with the rhythm installed from episode 1 on. 

The last trick of the drama in episode 8 is bringing some real closure and a satisfying sense of resolution. Indeed, Dokko Chul sets into motion a plan to make money from his late brother’s paintings. However, he is stopped by the rest of the family members, who team up for the first time in order to reveal the whole truth, each forfeiting his/her part of the inheritance. In front of everyone, they reveal the identity of the real painter Jung Wook and destroy In Ho’s fake reputation, preventing Dokko Chul’s fraud at the same and avenging themselves. All the people who have actually suffered from the Yoo brothers’ misdeeds are able to get their revenge and move on to something else. 

After this dark and cold ambiance comes a humorous gathering in episode 8. 

What are the themes questioned?

The drama emphasizes family ties and how rotten they can be because of misunderstandings or worse, one’s terrible attitude. Yet, it also proves that you can expect reconciliation and unity, once the rotten fruit is being taken out (here it is In Ho). 

Like I said, all characters carry their own burden(s) because of one individual. The fact that this individual disappears also gives place to many revelations and the exposure of several secrets, vital for others’ personal development and acceptance.

There is obviously a huge part dedicated to art, recognition in the field and the sad reality of people appropriating others’ artworks. It is a sad reality and people in these fields (entertainment, art…) tend to become very greedy, if they see the trick works (you just have to watch the movie Big Eyes by Tim Burton for example to make yourself an idea). 

Underlying themes such as mother-daughter relationship, miscarriage, affairs, murder, family’s cadavers in the closet in general are punctuating the drama; criticizing how damaging greed and money can be for families. 

P.S.: The title Chip In is really clever, referring on the one side to money and to the connection between all inhabitants in the house on the other side!