8 Moments in The Penthouse We're Still Thinking About

“The Penthouse” may have been one of the most cutthroat and dramatic K-dramas we’ve seen on television, but it also happens to be one of our favorites! Along with all the delicious vengeance plots that took place over the first season’s 21-episode run, there were definitely a few moments that stood out from the rest. With “The Penthouse” Season 2 coming in a few days, let’s look back at some of the most unforgettable moments during the first season.

Here are 8 “The Penthouse” moments we’re still thinking about. Look away if you don’t want spoilers! 

Throughout “The Penthouse”, we witness Joo Dan Tae’s wicked mind. One of the first times we’re confronted with his evil ways is when he mercilessly kills his ex’s, Shim Soo Ryeon, fiance—who she fell in love with while she was in the U.S. The fact that Soo Ryeon was pregnant with this man’s baby doesn’t stop Dan Tae from hiring a group of men to fire at their home, instantly killing her lover.

A few episodes in “The Penthouse”, we find out that Soo Ryeon’s twins are not her biological children. A flashback reveals that Dan Tae exchanged Seo Ryeon’s daughter with her deceased lover with another and gave her baby to the Hope Orphanage. She tries to uncover who her biological child is by visiting Hope Orphanage, but it has since been shut down. Eventually, she’s able to track the man who used to own the orphanage and discovers the shock of her life: Min Seol Ah is her biological daughter. 

Another big shocker comes when we discover Seol Ah has a stepbrother and it’s none other than Cheong Ah Arts High School’s PE teacher Gu Ho Dong, A.K.A. rich businessman Logan Lee. When they were children, Logan’s parents adopted Seol Ah to be his donor for a bone marrow transplant. After the success of his transplant, his parents set up Seol Ah as a thief so she could be deported from the US to avoid her inheriting a part of their fortune. Despite the circumstances, Logan tries to keep in touch with Min Seol Ah. When he discovers his sister’s death, he returns from America to find out what happened.

Cheon Seo Jin grew up never feeling like she was enough for her father who always had high expectations for her. When her father finds out she divorced her husband after having an extramarital affair with Dan Te, he changes his will and gives the position of Cheong Ah Arts High School’s director to Seo Jin’s younger sister instead. Seo Jin loses it after her father tells her that she is also fired from her job and he is taking back her inheritance. She starts berating him, telling him he never loved her like he did his other daughter. After a tug of war occurs with the bag containing her sister’s appointment document, her father slips and rolls on the stairways, banging his head on the concrete wall. Blinded by her desire for power, she walks away with the bag in hand, leaving her father dying in the rain.

Throughout the show, we’re left wondering who really killed Seol Ah during Hera Palace’s eventful first-anniversary celebration. In episode 16 we’re met with the biggest twist of all when we discover that it’s not Dan Tae or Seo Jin’s doing but underdog Oh Yoon Hee who had pushed Seol Ah down the balcony. She did this in hopes that her daughter Ro Na would be accepted into the music school if Seol Ah was gone. Talk about the unexpected!

Desperate to go in partnership with Logan Lee, Dan Tae registers Hye In’s death to get the land that was left to Shim Soo Ryeon by her grandpa. Just as Dan Tae was showing the location to Logan, Soo Ryeon shows up with a very much alive Hye In, saying she would not give up the land. This angers Dan Tae who gets into a physical fight with Soo Ryeon once they’re alone after she calls him a murderer. She manages to make a narrow escape after striking him in the head and knocking him out. 

Perhaps one of the biggest tragedies of season 1 is Shim Soo Ryeon’s death. After sensing her life is in danger, Logan gives Soo Ryeon the chance to leave everything behind and come to the U.S. with him but Yoon Hee and Dan Tae get to her first. As planned, she’s lured to the penthouse after the housekeeper informs her that Dan Tae has taken the children away. She tries to look for him in their secret room but ends up being stabbed in the dark twice by Dan Tae who ends up framing Yoon Hee as the killer.

“The Penthouse” season 1 ended with the reappearance of Logan Lee confronting Yoon Hee. After Yoon Hee is arrested and imprisoned for Soo Ryeon’s death, Logan ambushes the police van taking her to prison and brings her to his place. He then torments her into admitting what she did even if she pleads she wasn’t the one who killed Soo Ryeon. After she fails to convince him, she forces the poker stake in his hand to her own neck. This leaves Logan in shock, but also feeling a sense of freedom. He rides away in his motorcycle while Yoon Hee’s body is left bleeding on the cold floors. Yet many are left wondering whether Yoon Hee really died or whether she’ll survive and appear in the second season. 

While the whole first season may have been full of twists and turns, the last few scenes definitely left viewers wanting more. With Dan Tae and Seo Jin left untouched by their evildoings and many loose ends still left untied, one can only hope that revenge will be on the horizon in “The Penthouse” season 2. Lucky for you, you don’t have to wait much longer because you can catch the newest season this February 20, first on Viu! While you wait, be sure you're all caught up with Season 1!