Info in Movie News | MBC ends 2025 with a daring weekday series named First Man, a revenge story of one person's long journey that mixes family feud, the battle for the corporate throne, and heartfelt love. Conceptualized as a daily show with 120 episodes, First Man is calling itself a typical melodrama of the kind people watch out of habit. Rather, it is a slow-burning narrative relying on secrets, ambition, and characters who are compelled to inhabit lives that were not originally intended for them.
According to soompi, the core of First Man revolves around two women whose lives become fatally intertwined after a dark decision in the past tears them apart. They grow up without knowing each other even though they share the same blood and are affected differently by different surroundings. Their final collision leads to a cascade of betrayal, revenge, and emotional reckoning that powers the whole series.
The main character of the narrative is Hahm Eun Jung, who courageously accepts the difficult task of playing twin sisters Oh Jang Mi and Ma Seo Rin. Jang Mi symbolizes strength and honesty. Coming from a poor background, she studies hard through part-time jobs and at the same time follows her dream of opening a restaurant by the way of the cooking skills her mother has taught her. The authenticity of her character and her silent resolve are the reasons she is likely to be the character that everyone sympathizes with and supports.
On the other hand, Ma Seo Rin is the granddaughter of Dream Group, a huge industrial empire that becomes the main source of the series’ conflict, and lives a luxurious life. Seo Rin's life is full of rich, glamorous, and high-status things. Though she might look like a powerful and invulnerable person from outside, the absence of any emotional satisfaction and the recurring demand to show her performance weigh on her and thus, she becomes a very vulnerable person. Hahm Eun Jung makes the twins different in slight manner changes, speech, and facial features, thus, giving each character the feeling of being totally separate and different from the others although they all have the same face.
The emotional confrontation becomes more heated when Kang Baek Ho, played by Yoon Sun Woo, comes into the picture. Baek Ho is a loving and kind person suffering from a tragic past, and his accidental meeting with Oh Jang Mi is probably the most touching and relatable moment of the whole show. As they awkwardly vying for the same taxi, their first meeting was humorous which helped to introduce the heavier emotional content gradually. His bond with Jang Mi develops instinctively, thus there are few flashes of truth amidst the turmoil that gets more and more out of hand.
However, romance in First Man is never simple. Kim Min Seol’s character, Jin Hong Ju, adds another layer of tension. Working at Dream Hotel, Hong Ju is ambitious, intelligent, and calculating. Under the guise of a well-mannered and successful woman, her obsession with Kang Baek Ho uncovers her somewhat sinister aspect. After a while, feeling rejected, she starts seeing Jang Mi as an impediment and this way, becoming even more mixed up with personal jealousy and business rivalry.
It is Chae Hwa Yeong, played by Oh Hyun Kyung, whose character and actions heavily influence the storyline, driving most of the conflict. Hwa Yeong, formerly a diva and now a power figure in Dream Group, has managed to stage a complete comeback. Behind her refined facade, however, is a merciless drive, which resulted in her separating the twins she deliberately tore apart. She is a calculated and not an impulsive person, thus her hunger for domination makes her a great villain whom you can feel even when not seeing her.
First Man is a great collaboration of experienced long-form creatives. The drama is penned by Kim Hyun Jung, who is known for deeply emotional family stories, and directed by Lee Dong Hoon, who is experienced in MBC’s daily series format. The creative team's effort results in a perfect example of classic makjang with an intense emotional layer and thus, characters remain to be people you can empathize with and understand.
First Man which will be aired from Monday through Friday starting December 15 is basically a gradual drama. To this effect, the saga is set to change the characters, break the relationships, and bring out the truths with time. It doesn't depend only on the sudden shocking twists but rather it increases the tension to the tragic emotional consequences and moral dilemmas.
First Man with its complex protagonists, good actors, and themes of identity and revenge is probably one of the most ambitious daily serials of MBC in the last years. Those who like character-driven storytelling with secret, ambition, and emotional payoff will find this series as a compelling reason to watch it every weekday.
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