Series Review: "The Glory" ("더 글로리") (2023).

"There is no forgiveness. So there will be no glory." This is The Glory (더 글로리). This South Korean series directed by Ahn Gil-ho, and written by Kim Eun-sook. Years after surviving horrific abuse in high school, a woman puts an elaborate revenge scheme in motion to make the perpetrators pay for their crimes.

In January 2021, development on the series began. Kim Eun Sook stated in a press conference, that the idea for the series began with a question from her daughter: "The question was whether I'd rather have her be beaten up to no end or beat someone else up to no end. As I wrote 'The Glory,' I kept looking for an answer to the question within myself." She further added "And I realized that a solution would be achievable in being beaten up to no end. Because what I have is the money to take the perpetrators to hell." She continued, "But that's not the case for Dong Eun. The Dong Euns of this world don't have the rich parents or family. I wanted to be of strength to them. So I tried to take the story toward the direction of Dong Eun's revenge coming to fruition. As for how it ends, please watch it yourself." Many of the disturbing details in the series are based on a real-life incident that occurred in 2006, at a girls' school in Cheongju, Korea. In that case, three ninth-grade girls bullied their classmate for a period of twenty days, including burning her skin with a curling wand. Kim Eun Sook's main goal for the series is to let everyone know that bullying victims are never to be blamed for the pain they've gone through. They only want a genuine apology from their offenders. On why she chose the title as such: "[The Glory is about] recovering their dignity, honor, and glory that was lost to them the moment they fell as a victim to violence was genuine recovery for them."

As played by Song, Moon Dong-eun attains tragic stature. She's like a scarred Edmond Dantès twisted by her own quest for revenge. The heroine of this Shakespearian nightmare could be anybody who feels bullied, humiliated, raging against fate or God and discovering only more tragedy. Whether revealing numerous scars across both arms (in one of several scenes that require a strong stomach) or festering with female rage and scorn, Song gives a bravura performance that powers the show.

The show is so much more than a typical Kdrama; it takes the viewer on a journey through a life destroyed, rebuilt and abolished once more. It teaches us lessons about consequences from our actions, the need to get revenge and find closure. The humiliation and ensuing catharsis are the primary concepts, and revenge, which creates chain reactions of hatred, is solely an element of the set, with the focus being on vengeance not as an act, but the reasons that lead to it and its consequences.

Simon says The Glory (더 글로리) receives: