The Glory (TV series)

The Glory is a South Korean revenge psychological thriller television series written by Kim Eun-sook and directed by Ahn Gil-ho for Netflix. Song Hye-kyo, Lee Do-hyun, Lim Ji-yeon, Yeom Hye-ran, Park Sung-hoon, and Jung Sung-il round out the ensemble cast.

The series was divided into two parts: Part 1 was released on December 30, 2022, and Part 2 was released on March 10, 2023, both to critical acclaim and viewership success. It received eight nominations at the 59th Baeksang Arts Awards, winning three – Best Drama, Best Actress for Song Hye-kyo, and Best Supporting Actress for Lim Ji-yeon.

Premise
Moon Dong-eun, a former victim of school violence, plans and seeks revenge on her bullies after taking up a job as a homeroom teacher at the elementary school of the bully leader's child (Ha Ye-sol). Some scenes are based on a true event in 2006 when a group of middle schoolers from Cheongju, South Korea, extorted money from their classmate for about a month, repeatedly beating and burning her using objects in the process.

Main

 * Song Hye-kyo as Moon Dong-eun
 * Jung Ji-so as young Dong-eun
 * The homeroom teacher of Class 1-2 of Semyeong Elementary School. During her high school days, she was the target of constant bullying and physical abuse by Yeon-jin and her group. She eventually quit school and then started an elaborate plan of revenge on Yeon-jin's group.


 * Lee Do-hyun as Joo Yeo-jeong
 * A plastic surgeon who worked at the Seoul Joo General Hospital, where his mother is the director. He teaches Dong-eun Go.


 * Lim Ji-yeon as Park Yeon-jin
 * Shin Ye-eun as young Yeon-jin
 * A weather presenter at a television station. She led the group of delinquents in bullying and physically abusing Dong-eun during high school.


 * Yeom Hye-ran as Kang Hyeon-nam
 * A housekeeper who worked at the home of Semyeong Foundation's president. She, along with her daughter, suffers from domestic violence perpetrated by her husband. She helps Dong-eun in the latter's revenge by becoming her sleuth, in exchange for the killing of her husband.


 * Park Sung-hoon as Jeon Jae-joon
 * Song Byeong-geun as young Jae-joon
 * The colour blind heir of a country club. He was part of the group that constantly abused Dong-eun.


 * Jung Sung-il as Ha Do-yeong
 * Yeon-jin's husband and CEO of Jaepyeong Construction. He is caught in the long-planned trap of Dong-eun and encounters a Pandora's Box that threatens the happiness of his family. He is the complete opposite of his wife and detests her misdeeds and unremorseful behavior.

Sunghan High School (2004–2006)

 * Cha Joo-young as Choi Hye-jeong
 * Song Ji-woo as young Hye-jeong
 * A flight attendant whose parents are owners of a dry cleaning shop. She was part of the group that constantly abused Dong-eun, although she was one of the lowest authority in the group as she lacked a rich background.


 * Kim Hieora as Lee Sa-ra
 * Bae Gang-hee as young Sa-ra
 * A member of the choir of a church led by her wealthy pastor father. Growing up, she developed a severe drug addiction and has a career as a famous abstract painter. She was part of the group that constantly abused Dong-eun.


 * Kim Gun-woo as Son Myeong-oh
 * Seo Woo-hyuk young Myeong-oh
 * He was part of the group that constantly abused Dong-eun. Growing up, without the connections or education afforded by financial privilege, he works as an errand boy for Jae-joon and a drug dealer for Sa-ra.


 * Lee So-ee as Yoon So-hee
 * A Sunghan High School student who was the target of constant bullying and abuse by Yeon-jin's group before Dong-eun became the next target.


 * Jeon Soo-ah as Ahn Jung-mi
 * The school nurse at Sunghan High School. She was the only adult who supported Dong-eun at school.


 * Park Yoon-hee as Kim Jong-moon
 * Dong-eun's former homeroom teacher at Sunghan High School. He showed favouritism toward Yeon-jin's group and abused Dong-eun because he had taken bribes from their parents.


 * Ahn So-yo as Kim Kyeong-ran
 * Lee Seo-young as young Kyeong-ran
 * A shop assistant at a boutique owned by Jae-joon. During her high school days, she became the next target of constant bullying by Yeon-jin's group after Dong-eun quit school.

People around Park Yeon-jin

 * Oh Ji-yul as Ha Ye-sol
 * The daughter of Yeon-jin and Do-yeong, although her biological father is Jae-joon. She is colour blind. She attends Semyeong Elementary School Class 1-2.


 * Yoon Da-gyeong as Hong Young-ae
 * Yeon-jin's mother who believes in Korean shamanism.


 * Lee Hae-young as Shin Young-joon
 * A high-ranking police officer who is Young-ae's longtime friend. He and his subordinates work behind the scenes to cover up Yeon-jin's crimes.

People around Moon Dong-eun

 * Park Ji-a as Jung Mi-hee
 * Dong-eun's mother who worked at a barbershop. She abandoned her daughter in favour of bribes. Has severe alcohol dependency.


 * Heo Dong-won as Chu Jeong-ho
 * A teacher in Semyeong Elementary School who has tensions with Dong-eun. He is outed as a child predator.


 * Kang Gil-woo as Kim Soo-han
 * Dong-eun's senior who is also Jong-moon's son.


 * Son Sook as Old Lady
 * Manager of an estate office and owner of Eden Villa in Semyeong, where Dong-eun rents an apartment.


 * Son Na-young as Goo Sung-hee
 * A travel agency employee who worked at the same factory with Dong-eun.

People around Kang Hyeon-nam

 * Choi Soo-in as Lee Seon-ah
 * Hyeon-nam's daughter, who, along her mother, suffers from physical abuse by her father.


 * Ryu Seong-hyun as Lee Seok-jae
 * Hyeon-nam's husband, who physically abused his daughter and wife. He also gambled and became an alcoholic.

People around Joo Yeo-jeong

 * Kim Jung-young as Park Sang-im
 * Yeo-jeong's mother who is also the current director of Seoul Joo General Hospital.


 * Cho Min-wook as Kim Jong-heon
 * Yeo-jeong's senior.


 * Choi Kwang-il as Joo Sung-hak
 * Yeo-jeong's father, and was the chief director of Seoul Joo General Hospital. He was murdered by Yeong-cheon.

Others

 * Lee Byung-joon as Lee Gil-sung
 * A pastor and Sa-ra's father.


 * Son Kang-kuk as Choi Dong-kyu
 * A detective.


 * Noh Kyung (Part 2)
 * Oh Min-ae as Do-yeong's mother
 * Kim Seon-hwa as Lee Sa-ra's mother
 * Jeon Jin-oh as subordinate who help police officers

Special appearance

 * Hwang Kwang-hee as radio show host
 * Lee Moo-saeng as Kang Yeong-cheon
 * A patient who murdered Yeo-jeong's father.


 * Lee Joong-ok as Tae-wook
 * Hye-jeong's lover.


 * Kim Seung-hwa as Hye-jeong's junior

Development
Preparation for the series began in January 2021. Entirely pre-produced by Hwa&Dam Pictures and its parent company Studio Dragon, it is a Netflix original series. It is said that the series will be produced in two seasons, 8 episodes per season for a total of 16 episodes.

On December 20, 2022, the director announced at the drama's press conference that Part 2 will be released in March 2023.

Casting
In July 2022, The Glory confirmed production with ensemble casting of Song Hye-kyo, Lee Do-hyun, Lim Ji-yeon, Yeom Hye-ran, Park Sung-hoon, and Jung Sung-il.

Audience response
Two days after the release of The Glory Part 1 on December 30, 2022, it ranked ninth globally on Netflix's TV shows category. On its third day, it reached fifth place on the most watched shows on Netflix worldwide. Two days after the release of The Glory Part 2 on March 10, 2023, it ranked second worldwide and became top one worldwide on its third day The series debuted at number three on the Netflix's Weekly Global Top 10 in non-English TV show category for the week December 26 – January 1, with 25.41 million hours viewed and subsequently ranked number one of the same list in the following week, January 2–8, accumulating 82.48 million viewing hours.

The series now ranked among the top 10 all-time Non-English TV series at #5 with 436.90 million hours watched in the first 28 days of release.

Critical response
On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, The Glory has an approval rating of 83%, based on 6 reviews.

Writing for Forbes, Joan MacDonald praised Song Hye-kyo for her "nuanced portrayal of Dong-eun" as well as Jung Ji-so who played teen Dong-eun, and wrote "The Glory features a fair share of unexpected plot twists, veering the story from almost horror to melodrama to murder mystery." Lakshana N. Palat, in his review for The Indian Express, praised the series' cinematography, music, and Song Hye-kyo's performance, stating, "It is one of her finest performances, if not her best." Chris Vognar of San Francisco Chronicle called the series "visually arresting", "carefully constructed" and "delights in every step".

Pierce Conran of South China Morning Post graded the series with 4 out of 5, appreciating its storyline. The Hindu's S. Poorvaja wrote, "Part 2 of The Glory, goes above and beyond, with its razor-sharp writing, compelling narrative, and impressive performances. And this is no easy feat, given that the story here has its focus trained on a rather complicated plan of revenge coming to fruition."

Spotlighting school bullying
The series has been criticized for its graphic portrayal of violence, but it has also been praised for shedding a light on the ongoing abuses among students in South Korean schools. The violent scenes reminded the country's viewers of an 2006 incident where a middle schooler was beaten and burned by her classmates over the course of 20 days, not allowing her wounds to heal. She ended up being hospitalized for six weeks. One of the perpetrators was arrested afterward, while the school and its staff faced "administrative measures". Kim Eun-sook, the writer of the series, was initially inspired by her teenage daughter asking her which scenario she would find more distraught, that her daughter abuses someone else or that her daughter ends up as a victim of abuse. Since the show was aired, former employees in the South Korean school system have said that its depiction is realistic.

In March 2023, an anonymous online post accused the director of the series Ahn Gil-ho of physically assaulting a classmate when he studied in the Philippines in 1996. Ahn initially denied the allegation but ultimately admitted to it in a statement through his law firm. It said that Ahn and his friends confronted another group of students after hearing that the latter had made fun of Ahn's girlfriend at the time. Ahn wanted to seek forgiveness from those he had hurt and offered to make apologies in person.