Money Heist: Korea - Joint Economic Area

Money Heist: Korea gets progressively better and culminates in a season finale cliffhanger that, much like the original, will test the Professor’s moral compass — or lack thereof. The all-star cast is more than capable of delivering the goods. Yet the lack of chemistry between the romantic partners hinders, rather than enhances the plot.

The storyline of North and South Korea reunifying as a "Joint Economic Area" is intriguing, and there are all kinds of little variations to point out (the masks, for instance, are not Salvador Dali-inspired). Director Kim and writer Ryu say that their version of the iconic characters reflect Korean idiosyncracies, but these may be too subtle for non-Korean viewers to detect.

Money Heist: Korea is still a lot of fun – as cartoonish and chaotic as expected – but to build an imagined world and then rehash exactly the same story feels like a missed opportunity.

As is so often the case with modern small-screen affairs, more is definitely not better, with a lack of concision leading to wheel-spinning detours and unnecessary subplots. More troubling for director Kim Hong-sun’s thriller, however, is the same thing that plagues Pina’s popular original: a surplus of cheesiness.