The Escape of the Seven ~ Resurrection: Wait! They Didn’t Die?

‘The Escape of the Seven: Resurrection’ was released in 2024, and has 16 episodes. Both seasons are categorized as Crime and Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, and Revenge Drama.  Both seasons are currently streaming on Viki and several other popular streaming platforms.

♦ Let’s RECAP and Move On

In Season 1, viewers were introduced to the most obnoxious self-centered villainous and malicious miscreants to ever walk on the planet. These seven (7) Machiavellian personalities became the pawns of one (1) deranged psycho. Can it get any worse? Uuummm …. sure hope not!

Thankfully in in the first episode of the sequel, ‘The Escape of the Seven: Resurrection’, viewers are given a little bit of hope that it won’t get any worse. It has to get better because the two people who were believed to have died are in fact, ALIVE! They are alive and planning to bring K down!

♦ Guess Who Lived to Fight Another Day

In Season 1, the group of seven included Min Do-Hyuk. He died. Or did he? Guess he didn’t because in Season 2, he is at a hospital sitting in a wheelchair looking out of a window. You know what they say? Miracles happen every day. Min Do-Hyuk’s survival was truly a miracle; a medical miracle.

• The first miracle occurred when somebody was able to find a hospital with medical staff who would treat a patient who was wanted for murder. But if a person has enough money, they can buy anything, including a wanted criminal’s medical treatment.
• The second miracle was the fact that many times Min Do-Hyuk was close to knocking on death’s door, but somehow he never knocked. He always pulled through.

Guess who else lived to fight another day? Kang Ki-Tak. He was one of the good guys and he genuinely loved Geum Ra Hee. But a woman who would feed her child to the wolves could easily betray a man who loves her. Geum Ra Hee betrayed her lover for the love of money and thought he had been killed. His survival is another miracle.

Kang Ki-Tak reunites with Min Do-Hyuk after visiting him at the hospital and takes him to his benefactor, Shim Mi-Young, who paid 100% for all of his medical care. Since she was his lifesaver she assumed his loyalty and had a plan on how to take down Lee Hwi So aka Matthew Lee.

Min Do-Hyuk thanked her for her help but refused to accept anything else from her. He has his own plan. Shim Mi-Young was surprised at his refusal but agreed to let him do everything his way.

Meanwhile, Lee Hwi So aka Matthew Lee is still the head of TikiTaka, using ill-gotten funds stolen from Chairman Wang to gobble up Seongchan Group, bullying his “seven slaves”, and playing on the sympathy of the public by pretending to be a father whose daughter was murdered using deepfake technology.

(NOTE: If you did not watch Season 1, Lee Hwi So / Matthew Lee was actually “K”, a psychopath the police have been unable to catch. He created a new identity by taking the place of the adoptive father of a murdered girl and he also took the place of Min Do-Hyuk as the rightful heir of the Seongchan Group.)

♦ Guess Who Had a Change of Heart

Geum Ra Hee was about to go on a business trip to the United States but she found a video of her daughter’s murder. Her daughter’s dying words were to spare her mother’s life. After all of the horrible things she had done to her child, her child’s final words were that she was happy to have seen her mother again and wanted her murderer to spare her mother’s life.

After watching the video, the impossible happened. Geum Ra Hee decided to kill Matthew Lee. But when she went to his vacation home, there were already 2 intruders. She recognized both of them: Min Do-Hyuk and Kang Ki-Tak. They’re alive!!

Matthew Lee returned to his home while the burglary was in progress, but Geum Ra Hee created a distraction that allowed them to get away. She also managed to get away but injured herself during the escape. A doctor treated her and when she returned to work, she did her best to pretend nothing had happened. But Matthew Lee’s suspicions were already aroused and he started watching her closely.

Geum Ra Hee does not know what Min Do-Hyuk and Kang Ki-Tak are planning. But it does not matter because she has plans of her own. If her plans helped them accomplish their plans, it wasn’t because they planned it that way.

Matthew Lee does not know that Geum Ra Hee watched the video of her daughter’s murder and has decided to work against him. He also does not know (yet) that both Min Do-Hyuk and Kang Ki-Tak have been resurrected. So! Let the games begin!

Main Characters:

• Kang Ki-Tak (played by Yoon Tae-Young, “Diary Of A Night Watchman”)
• Min Do-Hyuk (played by Lee Joon, “The Silent Sea”)
• Shim Mi-Young (played by Shim Yi-Young)
• Geum Ra Hee (played by Hwang Jung-Eum)
• Cha Ju-Ran (played by Shin Eun-Kyung, “The Village: Achiara’s Secret”)
• Han Mo-Ne (played by Lee Yoo-Bi, “Pinocchio”)
• Go Myoung-Ji (played by Jo Yoon-Hee)
• Yang Jin-Mo (played by Yoon Jong-Hoon)
• Nam Chul-Woo (played by Jo Jae-Yun, “Alchemy of Souls”)
• Matthew Lee / Lee Hwi So (played by Uhm Ki-Joon)

Where to Watch

♦ Some Things Bear Repeating.

In my review of Season 1, certain definitions were provided (see below) and it is important to keep these definitions in mind when watching Season 2 because you might be tempted to have sympathy for these psychotic dirt-bags. DON’T!! Some of them might sort of want to start behaving like they can be humans with a heart. DON’T FALL FOR IT!

Repeating so you can REMEMBER the dictionary definitions:

• A “Machiavellian” is a person who focuses SOLELY on their own interests and ambition, prioritizes money and power over relationships, and exploits others to get ahead. They may lie, deceive, use flattery, social media, or anything of the “devil’s device” available to them.

• A “psycho or psychopath” is a person who ~ has serious mental health problems and who may act violently without feeling sorry for what they have done”.

My definition for both is a four-letter word: EVIL. A psychopath and a Machiavellian have the same thing in common. Everything they THINK is EVIL! Their minds are CORRUPTED. Even when they show remorse and try to repent, they must do something evil!

The Seven don’t deserve sympathy or mercy. So what if they try to do something good NOW! They wouldn’t have to do what they’re doing now if they had been decent human beings with a heart in the first place! Anything they do going forward is just payment for their sins. OK. Maybe it’s not just payment. Eh! Just consider it payment.

Viewership and Rating:

• IMDb Rating: 6.1 out of 10 stars
• My Drama List: 8 out of 10 stars
• Public reviews shared via Google: 3.5 out of 5 stars
• Viki viewers rated this series 9.5 out of 10 stars

My personal rating aligns with the Viki viewers.

In real life, you usually can’t get miracles and justice. That’s what is so great about fiction. Throw away realism, and write an unbelievable story that viewers will want to believe! Season 1 was also titled “The Escape pf the Seven: War for Survival”. My main complaint was that The End was disappointing and left me unfulfilled. This is probably why I desperately wanted to watch Season 2, “The Escape of the Seven: Resurrection”. LOL. Will the miscreants get their comeuppance this time? (NO SPOILERS.)

LINKS OF INTEREST:

• The Escape of the Seven: Resurrection Trailer: Uhm Ki-Joon Hints at a Traitor | YAHOO! Entertainment
• Hwang Jung Eum glamorous new look unveils in stills from thriller series ‘The Escape of the Seven: Resurrection’ | Times of India
• Hwang Jung Eum and others set out for vengeance against Uhm Ki Joon in new teaser of upcoming season 2 of The Escape of the Seven; Watch | PINKVILLA: Korean
• “The Escape Of The Seven: Resurrection” Premieres To Shockingly Lower Ratings Than 1st Season, Cha Eun Woo’s “Wonderful World” Cross Into Double Digits | JazmineMedia

TRAILERS/TEASERS:

OnlyKDrama. “The Resurrection of the Seven (2024) | 1st Trailer | Uhm Ki Joon, Hwang Jung Eum.” YouTube Video. YouTube, March 1, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1mERFZ0EgE.‌