By Jasmine Ong
What would you do if you discovered a crate full of gold bars? It’s a hypothetical question we’d typically ask each other, but when put in a situation like this, I’m sure not many of us can say that we would seriously think through our decisions before we decide to complicate our lives with this huge monetary burden.
The same goes for Kim Heeju (played by Park Bo Young) when she is suddenly embroiled in her boyfriend Lee Do Kyeong’s (played by Lee Hyun Wook) scheme to hold onto a smuggled cargo, and keep it out of reach from gang member Park Ho-Cheol (played by Lee Kwangsoo) and his goons.
Things get even more complicated for Heeju when she finds out that the cargo she was helping to keep hidden, contained about a hundred 10kg gold bars.
From the start, it was easy to feel for Heeju who comes off as meek and easily trusting, especially when it came to her relationship with Do Kyeong. Even when she’s experienced a close encounter with thugs while her boyfriend was away, she never once seriously grilled him about the trouble he was in and instead, took his word at surface value.
While I had initially disliked the way Heeju had behaved when it came to the affairs of the heart, it felt like this was necessary to further build her character as she was left to fend for herself (and the stash of gold bars) after Do Kyeong gets indisposed.
Her back story also made it easy to fully sympathise with her character, and understand why she would behave the way she did with her boyfriend, as she had been forced to grow up with a lack of parental care and concern from the moment she was born.
I liked that, even when the story was progressing at a fairly quick pace, we are given time to digest this idea of how quickly people can change when it comes to money.
We are constantly reminded of the notion that humans have an innate greed, which is shown through the subtle change in behaviour and expression when characters encounter the gold bars, or are told of the existence of these gold bars.
Another key highlight of the series, in my opinion, is the incredible Baeksang Arts Awards performance from Lee Kwangsoo as the villainous Park Ho-Cheol.
Not only does the guy look the part as a menacing key figure in a gang with that hollow tooth grillz, he was selling it with his crazed and cruel performance, especially in scenes where he was “torturing” others.
It’s no wonder Park Bo Young looked genuinely scared during the car chase scene with Kwangsoo, when he leaped on the car and started smashing his head on the windshield as a way to break the window to get to her.
Despite being just two episodes in, I’m already hooked and can’t wait to see how the story further unfolds in Gold Land, particularly for Heeju, as she tries to navigate her new life, safeguarding the gold until her reunion with Do Kyeong.
As Shakespeare wrote, “heavy is the head that wears the crown” and in this case, heavy is the backpack that bears the bar, especially for Heeju who will no doubt shed her role as an unwitting accomplice, and grow into a morally grey character, as she continuously struggle with the weight of her “secret”.
