King the Land Episode 1 recap & review, explained

K-drama King the Land Episode 1 Recap

---

👑 During the internship interview at King Hotel in 2015, Cheon Sa-Rang was one of the candidates. Unfortunately, her high heels broke before the interview and her academic qualifications did not meet the standard.

In addition, she awkwardly performed her interest in playing piano during the interview and even felt hopeless about being accepted. Her friend teased her for knowing there were requirements but still going to the interview anyway.

It turned out that she was just curious about how the top hotel in Korea conducted its interviews. They also talked about love, and Cheon Sa-Rang was surprised that her friend could experience it out of order. Later on, Cheon Sa-Rang went clubbing with her friends to relax.

👑 The next morning, Cheon Sa-Rang received a call from King Hotel saying that she had been accepted! On the other hand, Gu Won’s first day at work at his company didn’t go well because he landed on the wrong rooftop while paragliding and arrived late.

He was scolded for being late and dressing too fancy compared to his superiors; even No Sang-Sik thought Gu Won would be mistaken as an airborne soldier and would be bullied by others. No Sang-Sik helped Gu Won all day long; when he accidentally damaged some toner powder, their boss blamed him for doing something wrong but Gu Won believed that No Sang-Sik hadn’t done anything wrong so why should he apologize?

Gu Won thought it should be attributed to their company not providing a new photocopier machine instead. This statement led to both No Sang-Sik and Gu Won getting fired by their boss but then they revealed their true identities which taught their boss a lesson; eventually they became official employees together.

👑 However, Gu Won actually didn’t want to work at this company; he wanted to return quickly back to England instead. His sister-in-law privately told him to leave and not pry into their family or company affairs because this wasn’t his home. Gu Won chose to stay at the hotel instead.

The next day, Cheon Sa-Rang reported to work at the hotel and always wore her signature smile with an “Hermes” scarf while facing various challenges and learning opportunities. On the other hand, Kang Da-Eul and Oh Pyeong-Hwa also had a hard time in the workplace as they were often called upon or bullied due to being younger siblings.

The next day, No Sang-Sik went to report by Cheon Sa-Rang’s side and was immediately asked to prepare everything for their trip to England next week.

👑 While working, Cheon Sa-Rang was harassed by a man wearing a tiger costume who sent her letters; she mistakenly thought it was Gu Won so she scolded him with those letters but he didn’t understand what was going on.

In the gym, Cheon Sa-Rang met Gu Hwa-Ran who thanked her for accepting the job offer; she also tested her on many things that hadn’t been taught yet which impressed Gu Hwa-Ran very much so she immediately transferred her to work in the lobby where Kim Su-Mi wasn’t happy about how quickly Cheon Sa-Rang received attention and promotion.

Year after year passed until 2022 when Gu Won graduated from university and Cheon Sa-Rang finally became an official employee of King Hotel through hard work as its best friendly staff member.

👑 Gu Won received a package from an unknown sender, which turned out to be information about his birth mother, Han Mi-Smile, who used to work at King Hotel. This made Gu Won decide to return to Korea and even requested to work at King Hotel. However, his father wanted him and his sister to compete for the position of heir.

Cheon Sa-Rang was designated by a guest in a luxury room for a meeting and it turned out that she is a chief soprano singer who was touched by the morning call played by Cheon Sa-Rang’s opera today.

The next day, Gu Won went to work at the hotel but forgot his phone there which was taken by the hotel manager. Meanwhile, Cheon Sa-Rang had no choice but to endure her stomachache first before going into Gu Won’s room where she embarrassingly got caught admiring the toilet.

King the Land Episode 1 Review & Explained

 “Knowing that there is a threshold, why did you still go for the interview?” “Just out of curiosity about the top hotel’s interview process in the country,” Cheon Sa-Rang said at the beginning of “King the Land” that she must work in a hotel.

However, this episode did not explain why she insisted on doing so. Nevertheless, her character is cheerful and it seems like “King the Land” is set as a romantic comedy. From her performance during the interview scene, it can be seen that she can face any challenge or difficulty with a smile.

In Cheon Sa-Rang, I see someone who does not limit herself. Perhaps it was her smile that became key to being hired because smiling at customers in hotels is a sign of building relationships and also an essential way to deal with difficult customers. The luxury brand Hermes’ smile was cute in this episode but everyone’s smiles are different and have different meanings and emotions.

In “King the Land”, we can see some subtle expressions from employees who worked alongside Cheon Sa-Rang when she started working there. There are many emotions behind a smile – some are fake or just for show to superiors while others may be genuine happiness or relief from stress. In contrast, Cheon Sa-Rang’s smile comes from within and touches everyone around her.

When asked why she smiled so much by another employee who felt stuck in their position forever despite working there for five years already, Cheon Sa-Rang replied with silence but continued to wear her signature warm grin throughout all situations thrown at her.

The first episode of “King The Land” often mentions characters feeling powerless after rolling around in their jobs for too long without progress; I think this design by screenwriters has meaning behind it.

The plot introduces scenes involving No Sang-Sik (Cheon Sa-rang’s senior) which makes us feel how people start off as Kang Da-Eul or Oh Pyeong-Hwa, the youngest in their team who have to please their seniors every day.

This kind of workplace can gradually make people lose their initial motivation and even smile less often. I think this is a reflection of Park Bo-yeon’s character as she warns Cheon Sa-Rang not to aim for the noble position of receptionist because she already feels hopeless inside.

However, what I like about Cheon Sa-Rang’s service at the hotel is that it goes beyond just smiling; there is also “thoughtfulness and warmth.” When the chief soprano received her morning call with a song from a musical that Cheon Sa-rang sang herself, it was so touching.

This is what we call “service” – small gestures can leave deep impressions on customers and create moments where they feel special or appreciated. It’s truly heartwarming when someone says “you made my day.”

I feel like this is similar to the touching moment that Cheon Sa-Rang had with her mother when they came to King Hotel when she was a child. Perhaps it’s because Cheon Sa-Rang had a deep impression of King Hotel as a child, which inspired her to work here.

The screenwriter also tells us that the happiness brought by emotional service can be contagious~ And I think it’s very likely that Gu Won’s desire to work here and his unforgettable impression of King Hotel in the past must have been due to Han Mi-Smile, Gu Won’s birth mother.

It is highly probable that at that time, Han Mi-Smile gave Cheon Sa-Rang an unforgettable feeling and then made her determined to come here for work.

As for Gu Won, he uses a parachute directly to get to work – is this how rich people avoid traffic jams? XD You need your brain at work, but this scene is really funny XD He accidentally provokes someone who could chop him off anytime.

However, during Gu Won’s internship here, he shows some taboos and unwritten rules in the workplace such as being scolded for dressing more upscale than one’s boss or showing off wealth after hours 🤣.

On Gu Won’s first day of internship in “King the Land”, the screenwriter-director has some humorous and relaxed scenes with him. But this also reflects some bad habits and backwardness in this company’s working environment pushed forward by responsibility only from those closest on bottom rungs like him who know how low-level employees live and work.

The screenwriter specially arranges No Sang-Sik panicking while helping Gu Won so we can see that Gu won has never used a photocopier before (and even needs search instructions XD). No Sang-Sik cherishes his opportunity for an internship very much; he fears making mistakes but his superiors keep blaming him for their own faults.

No Sang-Sik is a character who always has cute reactions around Gu Won~ But from the plot, he must be the person who knows Gu Won best and loves him most. After seven years, he has become someone who can joke with Gu Won XD

As for how Gu Won will intersect with Cheon Sa-Rang besides their initial misunderstanding at the gym, now that Gu Won is back in Korea to find his birth mother Han Mi-Smile and it’s King Hotel again, I think he wants to find answers here.

The screenwriter seems to have dragged out his story slowly but I believe that in future episodes, his fate will cross paths with Cheon Sa-Rang’s. As I speculated earlier, Gu Won’s birth mother Han Mi-Smile should be the receptionist at King Hotel where Cheon Sa-Rang came as a child.