After a brief appearance on Spanish television, “Money Heist” (also known as “La Casa de Papel”) thrived on Netflix, and the platform quickly capitalized on the hype with a documentary titled “Money Heist: The Phenomenon.” When the show’s five-season run ended last year, Netflix released another documentary, “Money Heist: From Tokyo to Berlin,” in which the actors and crew discussed the show’s demise.
But that was not the end of “Money Heist,” which lives on with the recently released “Money Heist: Korea — Joint Economic Area.”
“Money Heist: Korea” is a crossover rather than a spinoff: The series sticks to the original plot, in which a mysterious criminal mastermind enlists the help of a gang of thieves to pull off a daring heist at Spain’s national mint. However, because it is specific to its setting—and very much a K-drama—the latest iteration manages to feel like a different show. Everything you need to know about “Money Heist: Korea” is right here.
Fans of the original “Money Heist” will recall that the Professor’s recruits use international city names to conceal their identities from one another while on the run. The characters in “Money Heist: Korea” have the same names. As in the original, the Professor (Yoo Ji-tae) first meets the series narrator Tokyo (Jun Jong-seo) while attempting to elude authorities following a crime. Berlin (Park Hae-soo), Moscow (Lee Won-jong), Denver (Kim Ji-hun), Rio (Lee Hyun-woo), Nairobi (Jang Yoon-ju), Helsinki (Kim Ji-hoon), and Oslo round out the team (Lee Kyu-ho).
The setup for the first episode is largely the same: the thieves take over the Mint while high school students, including the daughter of a prominent figure, are touring the facility. In order to avoid arrest, the hostages are forced to disguise themselves as their captors.
The characters also share some physical and psychological similarities with their “Casa de Papel” counterparts: Tokyo is the master of the blunt bob (okay, maybe one other). Moscow, husky and beardless, is frequently seen attempting to calm his fiery, handsome son, Denver. Rio is a charming kooky. Nairobi is free to do whatever she wants. And Berlin, who “Squid Game” fans will recognize immediately, is not to be trifled with.
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Kim Yun-jin plays Seon Woojin, a police negotiator who tries to figure out what the Professor and his team want, unaware that she is much closer to him than she realizes. In addition to the audacious crime she hopes to solve, Seon Woojin (like Raquel Murrillo before her) faces sexism on the job, which she clearly excels at.
The series “Money Heist: Korea” is subtitled “Joint Economic Area” because it takes place in a near-future in which North and South Korea are on the verge of reunification. Because the Mint is located in the JEA, both Koreas have jurisdiction over the crime scene. And, because the Professor recruits criminals from both sides of the border — Tokyo is one of the North Koreans chosen for the heist — “Money Heist: Korea” joins other K-dramas such as “Squid Game” and “Crash Landing on You” in providing a rare glimpse into life in the totalitarian dictatorship.
“La Casa de Papel” opens with Tokyo on the run after a bank robbery. Tokyo, a former soldier in the North Korean army, falls into a life of crime after being taken advantage of and forced to defend herself in this version. When the Professor asks his task force to come up with nicknames, “Tokyo” stands out. When Rio inquires as to why she chose “Tokyo of all names,” she responds, “because we’re going to do a bad thing,” an obvious reference to Japan’s colonization of the Korean Peninsula.
The theme of inequality takes on greater significance in this version, in keeping with Korean TV and film, which are more likely to address economic disparity. “South Korea has become a global exporter of culture (particularly through movies, television, and music),” Washington Post TV critic Inkoo Kang wrote after “Squid Game” became last year’s unexpected streaming juggernaut. “And Netflix, which has heavily invested in K-dramas in recent years, regularly encourages subscribers to overcome the ‘one-inch-tall barrier of subtitles,’ as ‘Parasite’ director Bong Joon-ho so eloquently put it, with foreign programming and international reality franchises.” (“Money Heist: Korea” is available with or without English subtitles, just like the original.)
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Viewers will also notice that, while the thieves wear red jumpsuits, they do not wear the same Salvador Dal masks as the characters in “Casa de Papel.” They instead wear traditional Hahoe masks.
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When Netflix picked up “La Casa de Papel,” the streaming service made changes, reducing the 15-episode first season to 22 installments spread across two seasons. “Money Heist Korea” debuted with only six episodes, allowing it to get to the characters’ backstories much faster. And, unlike in the original “Money Heist,” where the Professor meets Raquel (Itziar Ituo) on purpose in the third episode, the Professor and Seon Woojin have known each other since the beginning.
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It’s going to be extremely popular.
“Money Heist” has long been one of Netflix’s most popular offerings. And K-dramas, like other non-English titles, have thrived on Netflix and other streaming services. We won’t be surprised if “Money Heist: Korea — JEA” takes the top spot on Netflix’s global TV chart next week.
