Relationships & Dating
Why Everyone Is Suddenly Talking About The Scandal
Netflix's new Korean period drama has a dangerous romantic wager, a huge cast and enough bad decisions to keep things interesting. Here's what to know before watching.
There are some shows where you need three paragraphs of explanation before deciding whether you care.
The Scandal is not really one of them.
A brilliant noblewoman.
One of Joseon's most notorious lovers.
A woman who was never supposed to become part of their game.
And one terrible idea involving a romantic wager.
That is basically enough information to understand why Netflix's new Korean period drama has people's attention.
The Scandal premiered globally on Netflix on September 18, starring Son Ye-jin, Ji Chang-wook and NANA. It takes a story about desire, manipulation and people making extremely questionable romantic decisions and drops it into Joseon-era high society.
So if it suddenly started appearing on your Netflix screen and your feed at the same time, here is what is actually going on.
So what is The Scandal about?
The story revolves around Lady Cho, played by Son Ye-jin.
She is intelligent, wealthy and living inside a society that gives women considerably less freedom than she would like.
Then there is Cho Won, played by Ji Chang-wook.
His reputation is basically the opposite of subtle.
He is known as a skilled seducer, and Lady Cho pulls him into a dangerous bet involving Hui-yeon, played by NANA.
Hui-yeon becomes the target of their game.
What begins as manipulation obviously has the potential to become much messier once actual feelings enter the situation.
This is not really:
"Will they fall in love?"
It is more:
"How badly can this entire plan collapse once everybody stops following the plan?"
Much more interesting.
The cast is a big part of the attraction
Netflix did not exactly hide the star power here.
Son Ye-jin leads as Lady Cho, while Ji Chang-wook plays Cho Won and NANA plays Hui-yeon. Netflix also lists Han Seon-hwa among the cast. :chatgpt-content-reference
Even before getting into the story, that combination gives the series an obvious audience.
Son Ye-jin is taking on a character with intelligence, status and hidden motives.
Ji Chang-wook gets the dangerous-charmer role.
And NANA enters the middle of a game she did not design.
You can already see where the emotional damage may be heading.
This is not the comforting kind of historical romance
If your idea of a period drama is mostly beautiful clothes, lingering glances and people politely falling in love near a palace wall, adjust expectations.
The Scandal is built around manipulation.
Lady Cho proposes the wager.
Cho Won accepts it.
Hui-yeon becomes entangled in something she does not fully understand.
Netflix itself describes the show as a dangerous love game involving hidden desires and a risky bet. :chatgpt-content-reference
So yes, there are beautiful costumes and historical settings.
There are also people emotionally playing with fire and apparently deciding to stand closer to it.
There is an older story underneath it
The drama is a new interpretation of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos's 1782 novel Dangerous Liaisons.
That story has survived for centuries for a fairly obvious reason.
Rich, clever people manipulating romance for entertainment is unfortunately very reusable material.
The Scandal moves that basic idea into Joseon-era Korea and gives it a modern dramatic perspective while keeping the central game of seduction, power and consequences. :chatgpt-content-reference
So even though the setting is historical, the central mess is extremely easy to understand.
Somebody thinks they can control feelings.
Feelings disagree.
Why the Joseon setting actually matters
Putting this story inside Joseon society does more than make everything look beautiful.
Reputation, gender and social expectations carry much bigger consequences for the characters.
Lady Cho is presented as a woman whose abilities push against the restrictions placed on women of her era.
Cho Won can move through society with freedoms that are not equally available to the women around him.
And Hui-yeon's position makes becoming part of their wager more dangerous than simply having an awkward dating experience.
That imbalance gives the romantic game actual stakes.
This is not somebody getting left on read.
Lives and reputations can fall apart.
Dating apps suddenly seem peaceful.
The show knows exactly what kind of mess it is selling
There is something very watchable about characters who are clearly intelligent making decisions you can already tell are going to create problems.
The setup basically tells you disaster is somewhere ahead.
The entertainment is watching how everybody gets there.
Lady Cho believes she can control the game.
Cho Won believes he can win it.
Hui-yeon is supposed to be part of the strategy.
You can probably see the issue.
Human beings are notoriously bad at keeping emotions inside the original terms and conditions.
It is only eight episodes
This is also useful to know before committing.
Netflix lists The Scandal as a limited series with eight episodes. :chatgpt-content-reference
That means you are not entering a 20-episode historical drama where you may forget everyone's family tree halfway through.
It is a fairly contained watch.
The episodes are generally around an hour, with some shorter and the finale running longer. :chatgpt-content-reference
Weekend binge territory?
Unfortunately, yes.
Should you watch it?
If you like historical romance where everybody behaves sensibly and communicates clearly, this may be a difficult evening.
If you like:
- complicated attraction
- morally questionable characters
- power games
- historical settings
- romantic tension
- people becoming emotionally involved when they absolutely were not supposed to
then the setup is probably speaking your language.
And because the series only just premiered, this is also the point where you can watch before your feed starts casually revealing major plot points in thumbnails.
The internet has never understood the phrase "no spoilers."
Act accordingly.
Do you need to know anything before starting?
Not really.
You do not need to read Dangerous Liaisons first.
You do not need a Joseon history lesson.
And you do not need to know the earlier adaptations to understand the central story.
The basic setup gives you everything required:
Lady Cho creates the game.
Cho Won agrees to play.
Hui-yeon gets pulled into it.
Everything becomes more complicated than intended.
Press play.
The bottom line
The Scandal has a pretty efficient formula.
Take three actors people already want to watch.
Put them inside an elegant historical world.
Give two of them a dangerous romantic bet.
Then wait for everybody's feelings to make the original plan completely useless.
Netflix released the series globally on September 18, and all eight episodes are available now. :chatgpt-content-reference
Come for the cast.
Stay to find out exactly how badly one romantic wager can possibly go.
Probably very badly.
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About the author
BrisaStory Editorial
Written and researched by the BrisaStory team. We publish under this shared byline rather than crediting individual writers while the publication grows. Read our editorial policy.
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