‘The Penthouse 3’: Episode 2 Review, Recap & Reactions

Last week in The Penthouse, two of the most notorious Hera Club members in Joo Dan-tae and Cheon Seo-jin were able to escape a longer prison term. And we also finally got to see the events leading up to the shocking death of Logan Lee!

The Penthouse 3 episode 2 directly took off from the final scene of the previous episode where Shim Su-ryeon pushed Seo-jin off a cliff. Then we had quite the class reunion when everyone in the Hera Club finally got out of prison. Now it feels like The Penthouse again!

How did Cheon Seo-jin survive being pushed off a cliff? Who is this Mr. Baek we’ve been hearing about? Where has Ha Eun-byeol been hiding? Let’s find out the answers to these questions in today’s review, recap & reactions.

Feel free to leave your thoughts about this episode in the comments down below! And remember: if you missed our discussion of previous episodes of The Penthouse 3, you can always go back to them HERE.

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The Penthouse 3 Episode 2 Recap

Let’s follow Cheon Seo-jin first, shall we? After getting pushed off a cliff, she was quickly saved by a pair of divers hired by Su-ryeon. So the penthouse owner possibly just did that as an intimidation tactic… and because she was bored. Su-ryeon and Oh Yoon-hee finally told Seo-jin why they really kidnapped her: personal vendettas be damned, they needed to form an alliance to take down Joo Dan-tae. Finally!

Obviously, these three ladies were hesitant to trust each other given their history. But all of them knew that it was the only way to take him down for good.

After that, Seo-jin’s assistant came to fetch her. He immediately revealed that he was actually there when the bomb went off on Logan Lee. And the kicker was, he had photos taken of an “old man” in the scene. She realized that he was in fact, Joo Dan-tae in disguise.

It didn’t take long for her confidence to come back as she stormed into a Cheong A board meeting with people from the press. Her presence shocked Dan-tae, who thought that he would be able to take over the Cheong A Group that afternoon. In a hilarious scene, Seo-jin and a reluctant Dan-tae acted their asses off pretending to be a happy couple in front of the cameras. Seo-jin would then give an apology to the public for betraying their trust in an effort to increase stock price.

While this was not an ideal situation for the ex-couple, they did end up agreeing to a contract marriage. The tables have turned this time around. Cheon Seo-jin was calling the shots and was basically turning Joo Dan-tae into her slave. She didn’t hesitate to blackmail Dan-tae with the photos of him in the old man disguise, so she was going to have some fun with him… until he inevitably slithers his way out of that predicament.

What was interesting was that Seo-jin didn’t tell Su-ryeon that Joo Dan-tae was involved in Logan’s death.

READ: ‘The Penthouse 3’: Episode 1 Review, Recap & Reactions

Meanwhile, Seo-jin learned that she had other enemies aside from her husband in The Penthouse 3 episode 2. She came to visit Ha Eun-byeol in the most awkward Coffee Bay scene ever. So apparently, Eun-byeol was able to avoid juvie.

As had been foreshadowed in the previous season, Ms. Jin had been grooming Eun-byeol to see her as a mother instead of Seo-jin. After having a screaming match with the two of them, Seo-jin laid off Eun-byeol because she knew that they would be much safer from Joo Dan-tae if they were apart.

And if you’re wondering how Seo-jin was able to get her assets back, she had to blackmail her goody-two-shoes sister and her mother into giving her back the Myeongdong building. Her sister was apparently involved in a scandalous affair with her driver, so Seo-jin used that information to make her mother cave. But she was furious when she learned that Cheong A Foundation was actually now in the hands of Su-ryeon.

Shim Su-ryeon’s whole world was shaken when Alex Lee, Logan’s brother, came to visit her. I’m not sure if he was ever mentioned before this, but yes, Park Eun-seok (the actor who plays Logan) is officially back sporting a bad dreadlock wig and lots of tattoos.

The presence of someone who looked so much like her former lover was enough to make her break down. He came to threaten Su-ryeon because Logan was going to give her $10 billion which has gone missing.

Little did they know that Logan actually entrusted the money to Oh Yoon-hee, who used a portion of that $$$ to open a shop in Hera Palace. Obviously, Su-ryeon and everyone else was suspicious of how she was able to fund that shop when she had just gotten out of jail.

But Su-ryeon also had her hands full with her family when her daughter, Joo Seok-kyung, came back running into Dan-tae’s arms. The latter had enough of her mother not supporting her dream of getting into Seoul National University. Now that Su-ryeon took over as the Director of Cheong A Arts, she vowed not to give anyone special treatment… including her own children.

Obviously, Seok-kyung was not happy about that. She also hated how Su-ryeon and her twin brother seemed more fond of Bae Ro-na than her. So it wasn’t a surprise that she immediately sided with her father instead.

We got to see how the performance test for Seoul University turned out in The Penthouse 3 episode 2. Not only was Seok-kyung super competitive, but she knew that she’d have a difficult time in college if the people she bullied got in with her. So she simply asked the help of her father to get rid of her fellow classmates.

Jenny’s father, Kang Dong-pil, wasn’t so nice to Seok-kyung when they first met, so she wanted to put him in his place. She sneakily recorded a conversation between him and Dan-tae about how he actually got arrested for murder. So right before her test, Seok-kyung played this recording to traumatize Jenny from singing well in the performance test. She even held a sign during Jenny’s turn saying that Dong-pil was a murderer, so out of panic, she ran off-stage.

And next, Ha Eun-byeol was disqualified for having her a phone ring in her pocket when the rules clearly stated that it was not allowed. It was later revealed that it was Ms. Jin who was behind it all! She placed Ro-na’s phone in Eun-byeol’s pocket and gave it a call during her turn. And why did she do it?

Because she’s actually working for Joo Dan-tae! Dun dun dun~

But that’s not all! Literally everyone from Hera Club is back from prison in The Penthouse 3 episode 2. As we learned in this episode, Su-ryeon actually helped Yoon-hee get out of prison earlier by changing her witness statement. Lee Kyu-jin was released early thanks to Dan-tae pulling some strings and getting out on bail. Kang Ma-ri and Go Sang-ah actually served their full term and have gone back to their old gossipy ways.

Perhaps the most shocking return from prison was Ha Yoon-chul. It wasn’t so much his presence that was shocking, but it was how he returned. He seemed like he was done playing the “ethical and just” role within Hera Club and was all aboard the evil train. We learned that he lost everything, including his license to practice, when he got back from prison. To show his loyalty, he knelt in front of Dan-tae and smashed a wine bottle on his hand. Obviously, the egotistical Joo Dan-tae loved it!

Kang Dong-pil was actually the one who brought him back into the fold, so it seems like they’re actually secretly forming an alliance against Dan-tae. But I wouldn’t be surprised if they turned out to be bad guys either! Yoon-chul was so convincing that he had actually turned bad.

And we ended this week’s episode by learning more about where Baek Jun-ki’s allegiance truly lies. While he was able to go incognito for some time, Su-ryeon was finally able to track him down and stop him from doing something stupid. He attempted to shoot Dan-tae while he was having dinner with Seok-kyung, but thankfully, Su-ryeon stopped Jun-ki from completely killing him.

As they had a heated exchange, Dan-tae walked up to see where the gunshot had come from and was able to see them together. But I’m willing to bet that it was just a clever editing trick and he didn’t actually see them. I’ve watched too much episodes of The Penthouse to believe those damn editing tricks!

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The Penthouse 3 Episode 2 Review & Reactions

That was a lot of storylines to get through. Let’s start once again with Cheon Seo-jin because she has been killing it since she got back from prison. I love the fact that she’s firmly #TeamSeoJin even when the other girls offered an alliance with her. I mean if I were in Seo-jin’s shoes, I would never be able to trust people whose lives I ruined.

But I do believe that she needs to tell Shim Su-ryeon the truth about Logan because y’all just know that it’s going to break their trust even further. And what these girls need to do is join forces if they want to take down Joo Dan-tae for good. Last season, we all saw how far working together can get them.

It was fulfilling to see Seo-jin get some form of revenge on her family when they have never been supportive of her in anyway. I don’t blame them though; after all, Seo-jin killed the dad.

I am a bit torn on the introduction of the Alex character. This was obviously a way to get Park Eun-seok in the show without having to revive Logan, but his whole presentation is just very off-putting. I mean those dreads, tattoos, and grills are a bit too much, don’t you think?

Alex was never properly foreshadowed which makes his presence feel like just another way to shock viewers. What I’m saying is we should’ve probably heard his name brought up more if they were going to have him appear on-screen. I mean sure, I was surprised when I saw what he looked like, but it was the bad kind of surprise.

The spotlight on Kang Dong-pil continued in The Penthouse 3 episode 2. His interaction with Lee Min-hyeok was funny because that’s absolutely how a dad should react to a person who bullied his daughter. And you know I was all for the little feud he’s having with Joo Seok-kyung as well. I think we’re all expecting Seok-kyung to be put in her place when it’s revealed that Dong-pil probably didn’t kill anyone.

I did find it odd that he placed a fish to clog up the Hera Palace fountain though. We still don’t know what exactly happened there (though a death seems to be involved) and what he’s really up to, but it doesn’t smell good (pun intended) for Dan-tae.

Now what I’m lowkey excited for is how he’s going to react when he finds out that Kang Ma-ri had some sexy time with Lee Kyu-jin a little while back. Remember that weird storyline that they seemingly dropped in Season 2 where they were all up on each other? Well, I didn’t. And it feels like it is going to have a payoff soon especially learning how happy Go Song-ah truly was when she thought that Kyu-jin was still in prison.

While that crack among the Hera Club guys will probably explored in the near future, let’s talk about the reunion between Dan-tae and Ha Yoon-chul. My gut’s telling me that Yoon-chul is probably just faking the whole “I’m a bad guy now” thing, but that is something I’m looking forward to seeing more of. Is it all an act? Or is he truly evil? Is Oh Yoon-hee the only one who can redeem him?

Whichever way the writers go with his character, I think I’ll be all up for it. Yoon-chul has never truly had a win in his life, and he is getting a little bit pathetic now. So if he is actually planning to betray Dan-tae and it ends up successful? That’s gonna be muy bien. But Yoon-chul was right when he mentioned that his “just and principled” act was getting tired… so I’m also very curious to see how Evil Yoon-chul pans out.

And lastly, can we just appreciate Joo Seok-kyung? That girl has overtaken Ha Eun-byeol as the Quintessential Child Villain just by being a pest to everyone except Dan-tae. I love how she continues to be fearless against the adults in the show like Seo-jin and now, Dong-pil.

But as crazy as it sounds, I kinda get why she’s pissed at Shim Su-ryeon. The favoritism she has for Bae Ro-na has been getting quite out of hand. And she reminded me in this episode why it’s fucked up that Su-ryeon fell in love with Logan. After all, he did torture the kids back then.

Next week, it seems like we’re going to get more exposition on Baek Jun-ki which promises to be exciting! We’ve only gotten a few glimpses of him, but now we know that he’s also out for Joo Dan-tae’s blood. It seems like there will be troublein Oh Yoon-hee and Shim Su-ryeon’s friendship once again because the former got Logan’s $10 billion and didn’t say a word.

And Ms. Jin… giiiirl, what is your endgame here? Why are you working with Joo Dan-tae?! Anybody but him!

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 The Penthouse 3 Episode 2 Rating: 8.0/10 

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