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  • Why Are Korean Viewers So Divided Over Netflix’s Scandal?

    Netflix’s new Korean historical drama Scandal had no trouble getting attention.

    The eight-episode series, starring Son Ye-jin, Ji Chang-wook and Nana, was released in full on September 18.

    Just one day later, it reached No. 1 on Netflix’s daily Top 10 series chart in South Korea.

    That sounds like an immediate success.

    But popularity and agreement are two very different things.

    Once Korean viewers actually started watching all eight episodes, reactions became surprisingly divided.

    Some praised the drama’s beautiful cinematography, performances and expanded character stories.

    Others had a much simpler complaint:

    Why does a story that worked as a movie feel so slow as an eight-episode series?

    And that debate may reveal the biggest difference between the 2003 Scandal and Netflix’s 2026 remake.

    First, Korean Viewers Were Definitely Curious

    The new Scandal arrived with unusually high expectations.

    It isn’t simply another historical romance.

    The series reimagines the story previously adapted in the acclaimed 2003 Korean film Untold Scandal, which itself was based on the French novel Les Liaisons dangereuses (Dangerous Liaisons).

    The original Korean film starred Lee Mi-sook, Bae Yong-joon and Jeon Do-yeon.

    This time, those central roles are played by Son Ye-jin, Ji Chang-wook and Nana.

    For Korean viewers who remember the movie, comparison was almost unavoidable.

    Even the new cast acknowledged that pressure before release.

    Ji Chang-wook said the 2003 film had left a strong impression on him, while Nana said she hoped viewers who loved the original could enjoy comparing the differences.

    And viewers clearly wanted to see the result.

    The series climbed to No. 1 in Korea almost immediately.

    But then the arguments started.

    The Biggest Complaint: “It Feels Too Stretched Out”

    This may be the most interesting criticism because it comes directly from the remake’s biggest structural change.

    The 2003 Scandal was a movie.

    The 2026 Scandal is an eight-episode series.

    That gives the new version much more time to explain why the characters behave the way they do.

    Son Ye-jin herself emphasized before release that the series contains far more character backstory than the movie. Director Jung Ji-woo also said the characters and their relationships had been substantially rewritten.

    For some viewers, that’s a strength.

    For others, it’s the problem.

    One Korean viewer on TheQoo complained that stretching the original story into a drama made it feel too slow, despite liking all three lead actors. A Korean review similarly argued that once the central seduction game begins, the longer running time causes the momentum to drop.

    That creates an interesting paradox.

    The remake has more story, but some viewers feel it has less tension.

    More Backstory Doesn’t Automatically Mean More Emotion

    This is where the criticism becomes more specific.

    The new series spends additional time explaining Jo Won, Lady Cho and Hui-yeon.

    That should theoretically make their decisions more believable.

    But some Korean reviews argue that the opposite happens with Hui-yeon.

    One review criticized the series for failing to make the development of Hui-yeon’s feelings for Jo Won convincing enough, despite having much more screen time than the film. Another argued that the expanded supporting stories don’t always come together into one strong narrative.

    That’s important.

    The criticism isn’t simply:

    “The drama is too long.”

    It’s closer to:

    “If you’re going to make the story longer, the extra time needs to make the emotional transformation more convincing.”

    For some Korean critics and viewers, Scandal hasn’t completely achieved that.

    But Others Think the Longer Format Makes the Characters Better

    And this is exactly where the reaction splits.

    The creators never intended to simply reproduce the movie.

    Son Ye-jin said the expanded format allowed the characters to become less one-dimensional, while Ji Chang-wook explained that the series could explore where Jo Won came from, why he became this person and where his choices eventually take him.

    That difference can be felt especially strongly in Lady Cho.

    Lee Mi-sook’s interpretation in the 2003 film remains memorable for many Korean viewers.

    But Son Ye-jin isn’t simply trying to recreate it.

    A recent Korean review contrasted the two interpretations: where Lee Mi-sook’s version emphasized sensuality, Son’s Lady Cho comes across as more openly dignified and aristocratic while carrying the frustration of a talented woman trapped by the restrictions of Joseon society.

    That’s not necessarily better or worse.

    It’s different.

    And that difference explains part of the divided reaction.

    Son Ye-jin and Ji Chang-wook Are Getting Significant Praise

    Even some of the harsher reviews make an interesting exception.

    They praise the leads.

    Son Ye-jin has drawn positive notices for portraying Lady Cho’s conflicting desires: status, love, ambition and anger at being unable to use her abilities freely because she is a woman in Joseon society.

    Ji Chang-wook has also been praised for giving Jo Won more than the image of a simple womanizer. The series explores his attachment to Lady Cho, his loneliness and the destructive obsession underneath his charm.

    And ordinary viewer reactions aren’t uniformly negative either.

    Some Korean community posts simply describe the drama as enjoyable and particularly praise its movie-like direction, while others say they quickly became absorbed in the performances.

    So describing the Korean response as “bad” would be misleading.

    It’s more complicated.

    People are watching. People are talking. And they disagree about what works.

    Nana May Be the Most Divisive Casting

    Among the three central actors, Nana’s Hui-yeon appears to be attracting some of the sharpest criticism.

    The issue isn’t necessarily that viewers think Nana is a bad actor.

    Some reactions question whether her naturally striking, glamorous appearance fits a character who has spent years suppressing herself as a young widow trapped by expectations of chastity.

    One Korean review argued that Nana’s height and strong visual presence make it difficult to completely accept the deliberately faded, withdrawn image the character is supposed to project.

    That’s a casting debate rather than a simple acting debate.

    And it illustrates another challenge facing this remake.

    Korean viewers aren’t meeting these characters for the first time.

    Many still remember Jeon Do-yeon’s version of the role.

    Every new interpretation is competing with a performance that has existed in Korean popular culture for more than two decades.

    Then There Is the Question Everyone Asked Before Release: How Steamy Is It?

    This was probably inevitable.

    The original Scandal became famous partly because of its adult content, and the Netflix remake carries an adults-only rating as well.

    Before release, director Jung Ji-woo was directly asked about the level of sexual content.

    His response was essentially that viewers could expect it.

    And yes—the released drama contains explicit romantic and sexual material. Korean coverage after release described viewers as reacting to a notably high level of adult content.

    But here’s the more interesting part.

    Being more explicit doesn’t automatically make something feel more sensual.

    One Korean viewer who had reached Episode 6 made exactly that distinction, saying the sex scenes didn’t feel particularly erotic while finding the three leads more interesting when they were together than when their individual stories were separated.

    That may explain why the “19+” marketing isn’t the entire story.

    The real question isn’t how much the series shows.

    It’s whether the psychological tension between the characters is as dangerous and seductive as the images themselves.

    The Visual Side Is Much Less Controversial

    One area appears easier to appreciate: the production itself.

    From the beginning, Jung Ji-woo emphasized that he wanted to portray late Joseon society as more sophisticated and visually refined than audiences sometimes imagine. The production uses hanbok, letters, folk paintings and pansori as important parts of its visual and emotional language.

    Even among mixed reactions, viewers have commented on the cinematic quality of the direction.

    For international viewers, this may become one of the remake’s biggest attractions.

    Because Netflix’s Scandal isn’t merely retelling Dangerous Liaisons.

    It is using desire, clothing, architecture, social hierarchy and the restrictions placed on women to make that story specifically Korean.

    The Original Movie Is Both an Advantage and a Problem

    I think this explains much of the Korean reaction.

    International viewers discovering Scandal through Netflix may simply ask:

    “Is this a good drama?”

    Many Korean viewers are asking a different question:

    “What did this version do differently from the movie I remember?”

    Those aren’t the same standard.

    The original film was a major Korean hit in 2003 and became particularly notable as an adults-only period film.

    So every change attracts attention.

    A different Lady Cho.

    A different Jo Won.

    A different Hui-yeon.

    More backstory.

    A longer running time.

    A different ending.

    More explanation.

    And possibly a different kind of sensuality.

    For viewers without memories of the original, those things simply belong to the new show.

    For Korean viewers who know the movie, every one of them becomes a comparison.

    So Do Korean Viewers Like Netflix’s Scandal?

    There isn’t one answer.

    The early numbers tell us something important:

    Korean viewers were extremely interested.

    Reaching No. 1 on Netflix Korea one day after release proves that much.

    But the discussion after release shows something more interesting.

    Some viewers think the eight-episode format gives the characters more depth.

    Others think it sacrifices the dangerous momentum that made the film effective.

    Some admire Son Ye-jin and Ji Chang-wook’s interpretations.

    Others struggle with the casting or characterization, particularly Hui-yeon.

    Some appreciate the adult content.

    Others think explicit scenes alone don’t necessarily create erotic tension.

    And many can still admire the visual beauty even while criticizing the storytelling.

    Perhaps that division is inevitable.

    The 2026 Scandal isn’t trying to erase the 2003 film.

    It’s trying to reinterpret it.

    And for Korean viewers who remember the original, watching the new Scandal isn’t only about discovering what happens next.

    It’s also about deciding whether a story they already know needed to be told differently.

  • The Scandal: Why Does Lady Cho Want Cho Won to Seduce Hui-yeon?

    One of the first confusing moments in Netflix’s The Scandal comes when Lady Cho and Cho Won turn seduction into a dangerous game.

    For some viewers, the obvious question is:

    Why does Lady Cho want Cho Won to seduce Hui-yeon at all?

    A viewer in the Reddit discussion for Episodes 1–8 asked essentially this question while watching Episode 2. And the confusion makes sense: Hui-yeon initially appears to have little to do with Lady Cho’s immediate problem.

    But the wager is not really about Hui-yeon.

    At least, not at first.

    It is about Lady Cho and Cho Won.

    The Bet Actually Starts With Another Woman

    There is an important detail that can easily get lost.

    Netflix’s official description of the main trailer says Lady Cho initially asks Cho Won to seduce So-ok, the young woman who is about to become a concubine in Lady Cho’s household.

    Cho Won then raises the stakes.

    Instead of simply accepting Lady Cho’s challenge, he proposes an even more difficult target: Hui-yeon, a virtuous young widow.

    So Hui-yeon is not randomly selected by Lady Cho as the original victim.

    She becomes part of a contest between two people who have known each other for years and understand exactly how to provoke one another.

    Lady Cho and Cho Won Have a Complicated History

    Their relationship is crucial to understanding the wager.

    Lady Cho and Cho Won are cousins who exchanged letters as children and shared their innermost thoughts. Years later, they reunite and their relationship develops into something much more psychologically complicated.

    Cho Won is also not simply participating because he enjoys seducing women.

    Netflix describes him as a notorious playboy who does not trust love, but who uses his charm in his pursuit of Lady Cho and in their wager.

    That changes how we should read the game.

    On the surface, they are talking about other people.

    Underneath, they are testing each other.

    Why Hui-yeon Is the Perfect Target

    Hui-yeon is almost the opposite of Cho Won.

    She is a widow who has vowed to remain chaste after her husband’s death. Cho Won, meanwhile, is famous for pursuing pleasure rather than love or social respectability.

    That makes seducing Hui-yeon more than another conquest.

    If Cho Won can make her fall for him, he proves that even someone apparently beyond his reach can be drawn into his world.

    Netflix’s Episode 2 synopsis makes that challenge explicit: Lady Cho and Cho Won begin their dangerous game and target a virtuous woman who “may not bend so easily.”

    Hui-yeon therefore becomes the ultimate test.

    But something goes wrong with the test.

    The Problem: Cho Won Starts Developing Real Feelings

    This is where the wager becomes much more interesting.

    Cho Won approaches Hui-yeon because of the game.

    But Netflix’s own episode descriptions gradually reveal that the relationship stops behaving like one.

    By Episode 4, Cho Won’s facade is beginning to fade as he pursues Hui-yeon. In Episode 5, his growing feelings become increasingly complicated. By Episode 7, Cho Won and Hui-yeon are spending private time together away from public scrutiny.

    In other words:

    Hui-yeon begins as the object of a wager but becomes the person capable of breaking it.

    And that creates a much bigger problem for Lady Cho.

    Lady Cho Isn’t Just Watching Hui-yeon

    It is easy to interpret Lady Cho as simply manipulating another woman.

    She certainly is manipulating people.

    But the more important person she is watching may be Cho Won himself.

    Netflix’s promotional material repeatedly emphasizes Lady Cho watching from the shadows while Cho Won approaches Hui-yeon. The trailer also shows the game escalating until Lady Cho herself urges Cho Won to stop.

    Why would the person who helped start the game suddenly want it stopped?

    Because the emotional rules have changed.

    What was supposed to demonstrate control begins revealing something Lady Cho cannot fully control:

    Cho Won’s feelings.

    That Is Why the Wager Matters

    This is the key to understanding the early episodes.

    The wager isn’t simply:

    “Can Cho Won seduce Hui-yeon?”

    There are several questions underneath it:

    Can Lady Cho still control Cho Won?

    Can Cho Won prove that love means nothing to him?

    Can Hui-yeon resist him?

    And what happens if the man who treats romance as entertainment actually falls in love?

    That last possibility threatens the entire game.

    So Why Does Lady Cho Let the Seduction Continue?

    Because initially, Hui-yeon is part of a contest through which Lady Cho and Cho Won challenge each other.

    Lady Cho begins the game with So-ok. Cho Won escalates it by proposing Hui-yeon, a far more difficult target. Lady Cho accepts the challenge, and Hui-yeon becomes trapped inside a struggle that is fundamentally about desire, pride, jealousy and control between Lady Cho and Cho Won.

    But the wager contains a flaw neither of them fully anticipates:

    Cho Won is supposed to make Hui-yeon fall for him.

    Instead, he begins falling for her too.

    And once that happens, Lady Cho is no longer simply controlling the game.

    She has something to lose.

    Lady Cho’s decision to involve Jo-won in the seduction of Hui-yeon raises a deeper question about her own feelings. Was she motivated by love, jealousy, a desire for control, or some combination of all three? Her actions become even more complicated when we examine the relationship itself. Explore whether Lady Cho truly loved Jo-won in Netflix’s The Scandal for a closer look at the emotions behind her dangerous game.

  • The Scandal: Why Do the Flashback Scenes Look Stretched?

    If you started watching Netflix’s new Korean drama The Scandal and suddenly wondered whether something was wrong with your TV or Netflix settings, you’re not alone.

    One surprisingly specific question appeared almost immediately after the series premiered:

    Why do the flashback scenes in The Scandal look stretched?

    Some viewers even checked their Netflix settings or refreshed the app because the image looked so unusual. But the strange-looking picture appears to be part of the show itself — not a problem with your screen.

    No, Your Netflix Settings Probably Aren’t Broken

    The Scandal premiered globally on Netflix on September 18, 2026. The eight-episode Joseon-era romance stars Son Ye-jin as Lady Cho, Ji Chang-wook as Cho Won, and Nana as Hui-yeon.

    Soon after release, viewers discussing Episode 1 on Reddit began noticing something strange whenever the story moved into the past.

    One viewer asked whether anyone else disliked the screen ratio during the flashbacks, saying it made them dizzy. Another said they checked the Netflix app because they thought something was wrong with their settings.

    Others described the flashback image as looking stretched, almost as if a compressed picture had been expanded incorrectly.

    So if you noticed it too, it isn’t just your imagination.

    What Is Happening to the Picture?

    The unusual appearance has also been noticed outside Reddit.

    A review from DVDfever specifically examined the presentation and reported that the main series uses a 2.39:1 presentation, while the flashback sequences are presented differently, describing those scenes as an anamorphic squeeze into approximately 2.00:1.

    The result is that people and objects can appear unnaturally stretched vertically.

    That explains why the flashbacks can feel visually “wrong” even when viewers cannot immediately identify what changed.

    It isn’t simply a different color filter or softer lighting.

    The proportions of the image itself appear different.

    Why Would The Scandal Do This?

    This is where we need to separate fact from interpretation.

    As of now, I could not find an official Netflix or director statement explaining exactly why the flashbacks were presented this way.

    However, the distinction is clearly noticeable enough that multiple viewers independently identified it.

    The most plausible creative interpretation is that the altered image was intended to give the past a visually different identity from the present timeline.

    Filmmakers frequently distinguish memories through changes in color, grain, lenses, framing or aspect ratio. In The Scandal, the visual difference is unusually aggressive.

    And that may be why it is attracting attention.

    Instead of simply thinking,

    “This is a memory.”

    some viewers are thinking,

    “Is something wrong with my Netflix?”

    Reddit Viewers Had Exactly the Same Reaction

    That reaction may be the most interesting part.

    In the Episode 1 discussion, viewers independently reported checking their settings, refreshing Netflix and asking other viewers whether they were seeing the same distorted image.

    One commenter summarized the issue simply: the flashback scenes looked stretched.

    That tells us the technique certainly succeeds at making the past look different.

    Whether it looks good is another question.

    The Flashbacks Matter More Than They First Appear

    The visual choice is particularly noticeable because The Scandal relies on its characters’ histories to explain their present relationships.

    Netflix describes the drama as a dangerous game involving Lady Cho, notorious seducer Cho Won and the widowed Hui-yeon. As the series progresses, earlier events become important for understanding the desires and resentments behind that game.

    Making the past visually distinct therefore makes narrative sense.

    The controversy is over the execution rather than the basic idea.

    So, Why Are The Scandal’s Flashbacks Stretched?

    The short answer:

    Your TV probably isn’t broken, and changing your Netflix settings probably won’t fix it.

    The flashback sequences in The Scandal use a noticeably different visual presentation that can make the picture appear vertically stretched. Multiple Netflix viewers noticed the same effect immediately, and at least one published review independently identified the altered aspect-ratio presentation.

    What remains unclear is why director Jung Ji-woo and the production team chose this particular effect. Netflix’s official materials confirm Jung as the director, but the materials I found do not explain this flashback technique.

    So for now, the safest conclusion is:

    It’s the drama, not your Netflix app.

    And judging by the first wave of viewer reactions, you definitely weren’t the only person who thought something had gone wrong.

  • Who Are Son Ye-jin, Ji Chang-wook and NANA Playing in The Scandal? Character Relationships Explained

    Netflix’s upcoming Korean series The Scandal brings together three names that immediately attract attention: Son Ye-jin, Ji Chang-wook and NANA.

    But the casting raises a more interesting question than simply who is starring in the drama:

    Who exactly are they playing — and how are their characters connected?

    At the center of The Scandal are Lady Cho, Cho Won and Hui-yeon, three people drawn into a dangerous game involving seduction, desire and power in Joseon Korea.

    The basic setup may sound familiar to anyone who knows Dangerous Liaisons or the 2003 Korean film Untold Scandal.

    However, director Jung Ji-woo has indicated that the new Netflix adaptation rewrites its characters and relationships after returning to the original French novel.

    That means viewers should be careful about assuming they already know exactly who these people are — or what they will eventually do.

    Here is what we know about the three central characters before the series premieres.

    Son Ye-jin Plays Lady Cho

    Son Ye-jin plays Lady Cho, one of the most important characters in The Scandal.

    Lady Cho is presented as an intelligent and talented woman living in a society where women have extremely limited opportunities to exercise power openly.

    That immediately makes her more interesting than a simple romantic villain.

    She lives within the restrictions of Joseon society, but she is not necessarily willing to accept the role that society has assigned to her.

    And that may help explain why relationships, desire and manipulation become forms of power.

    What Does Lady Cho Want?

    This could become one of the central mysteries of the series.

    On the surface, Lady Cho is connected to the dangerous wager involving Cho Won and Hui-yeon.

    But the important question is not simply what she asks Cho Won to do.

    It is why she wants it to happen.

    Is it entertainment?

    Revenge?

    Jealousy?

    A challenge to Cho Won?

    Or is there a deeper motivation that Netflix has deliberately kept hidden before release?

    Because the production has emphasized that the characters and relationships have been rewritten, Lady Cho’s true motivation is one of the details worth watching closely.

    A character who appears to be controlling everyone else may also be hiding something herself.

    Ji Chang-wook Plays Cho Won

    Ji Chang-wook plays Cho Won, a notorious playboy whose reputation for seduction makes him the natural participant in Lady Cho’s dangerous game.

    Cho Won is confident in his ability to attract women.

    For him, seduction appears to be something he understands and controls.

    That confidence is important because stories descended from Dangerous Liaisons often revolve around a simple contradiction:

    What happens when someone who treats love as a game develops feelings that are no longer part of the game?

    Cho Won may believe he understands desire better than everyone around him.

    But understanding other people’s emotions is not the same as controlling your own.

    That could become the character’s greatest weakness.

    What Is the Relationship Between Lady Cho and Cho Won?

    This is likely to be one of the most important relationships in the drama.

    Lady Cho and Cho Won are not simply two strangers who happen to participate in the same scheme.

    They are connected closely enough for Lady Cho to challenge him and for Cho Won to enter the game.

    Their relationship appears built around several competing forces:

    trust, rivalry, attraction, pride and power.

    Who actually controls whom?

    That question may matter more than the wager itself.

    At first, Lady Cho may appear to be the person setting the rules while Cho Won carries out the seduction.

    But relationships based on manipulation rarely remain stable.

    If Cho Won begins making decisions Lady Cho did not anticipate — especially because of genuine emotion — their balance of power could change dramatically.

    And if Lady Cho has motivations Cho Won does not fully understand, he may never have been as free as he believed.

    NANA Plays Hui-yeon

    NANA plays Hui-yeon, the third central figure in the relationship.

    Based on the basic premise, Hui-yeon becomes entangled in the dangerous wager involving Lady Cho and Cho Won.

    That makes her appear, initially, to be the target.

    But “target” and “victim” are not necessarily the same thing.

    This may be one of the most important distinctions to watch when the series is released.

    Earlier adaptations of Dangerous Liaisons give audiences certain expectations about the woman pursued by the seducer.

    Netflix has an opportunity to use those expectations against viewers.

    And Hui-yeon may be the character with the greatest potential to do that.

    Is Hui-yeon Really Just a Victim?

    Before the premiere, there is no confirmed answer.

    But it is an important question.

    If The Scandal simply presents Hui-yeon as an innocent woman deceived by two sophisticated manipulators, audiences familiar with the original story may find much of her journey predictable.

    But what if she understands more than Lady Cho and Cho Won believe?

    What if she discovers the wager earlier?

    What if she has her own reason for continuing the relationship?

    Or what if her decisions ultimately force the two supposed players to react to her instead?

    These are possibilities rather than confirmed plot details.

    Still, the director’s comments about rewriting the relationships make Hui-yeon particularly difficult to predict before release.

    The person who appears to have the least power at the beginning could eventually become the person who changes the entire game.

    The Scandal Character Relationship Chart

    The basic relationship can currently be understood like this:

    Lady Cho (Son Ye-jin)
    ↓ initiates or influences the dangerous game
    Cho Won (Ji Chang-wook)
    ↓ approaches / seduces
    Hui-yeon (NANA)

    But that simple diagram probably does not tell the whole story.

    A more useful way to think about the relationship may be:

    Lady Cho ↔ Cho Won
    Power, rivalry, trust, attraction and manipulation

    Cho Won ↔ Hui-yeon
    Seduction that may develop into genuine emotion

    Lady Cho ↔ Hui-yeon
    Potentially one of the most important relationships still hidden before release

    That final connection deserves particular attention.

    If Netflix wants to distinguish this adaptation from previous versions, changing the relationship between the two women could significantly alter the story.

    Why Lady Cho May Be the Key to Netflix’s Version

    Among the three characters, Lady Cho may reveal most clearly what Netflix wants to do differently with this adaptation.

    A modern audience is unlikely to be satisfied with a powerful female character whose motivations are reduced to simple jealousy or romantic rivalry.

    The Joseon setting provides an opportunity to explore something larger.

    Lady Cho is intelligent and capable, yet she lives in a system where her gender limits how openly she can exercise those abilities.

    That creates an interesting possibility:

    What if manipulating relationships is not merely Lady Cho’s game, but one of the few forms of power available to her?

    If the drama develops that idea, her actions may still be cruel or destructive without becoming one-dimensional.

    The audience may understand why she behaves as she does even when they disagree with her choices.

    That would make Lady Cho far more complicated — and potentially much more dangerous.

    Cho Won’s Biggest Conflict May Be Himself

    Cho Won appears to begin the story with an advantage.

    He understands the game.

    He has experience.

    He is confident.

    And he believes he can separate seduction from real emotion.

    That makes his potential weakness obvious.

    He may be the one person who does not realize when the game stops being a game.

    If his feelings toward Hui-yeon become genuine, he faces a conflict between his reputation, his relationship with Lady Cho and his own emotions.

    The most interesting version of Cho Won would therefore not simply ask whether he succeeds in seducing Hui-yeon.

    It would ask:

    At what point does Cho Won realize that he is no longer the person controlling the relationship?

    Hui-yeon Could Determine Whether The Scandal Feels Fresh

    This is where the adaptation faces its biggest test.

    Lady Cho and Cho Won are naturally dramatic characters.

    A brilliant manipulator and a famous seducer are easy to make interesting.

    Hui-yeon is harder.

    If she exists mainly to be desired, deceived and hurt, the central relationship could feel too familiar.

    But if she has agency, hidden motivations or the ability to change the direction of the story, the entire triangle becomes less predictable.

    That is why NANA’s character may be especially important to the script freshness of The Scandal.

    The question is not only whether Hui-yeon falls for Cho Won.

    It is whether the audience correctly understands Hui-yeon in the first place.

    Who Is Really Manipulating Whom?

    That may ultimately be the best question to carry into The Scandal.

    At the beginning, the answer appears obvious.

    Lady Cho creates the game.

    Cho Won plays it.

    Hui-yeon becomes the target.

    But if the series follows exactly that line from beginning to end, viewers familiar with Dangerous Liaisons will have a major advantage: they already understand the structure.

    A stronger adaptation would gradually destabilize those roles.

    The controller becomes emotionally vulnerable.

    The seducer becomes seduced.

    The target gains power.

    The person who seemed to understand everything discovers that they misunderstood the one person who mattered most.

    Whether Netflix actually takes the story in those directions remains to be seen.

    But if The Scandal wants to make a centuries-old story feel new, changing who holds power at different moments of the relationship may be more important than changing the basic premise itself.

    The Three Characters to Watch on September 18

    Before release, the basic roles seem clear:

    Son Ye-jin’s Lady Cho is the powerful strategist.

    Ji Chang-wook’s Cho Won is the confident seducer.

    NANA’s Hui-yeon is the woman drawn into their dangerous wager.

    But those descriptions may only tell us where the characters begin.

    The real story will be about where they end up — and how many times the balance of power changes before they get there.

    For viewers who already know Dangerous Liaisons or Untold Scandal, that may be the most interesting reason to watch.

    We may recognize the three positions on the board.

    What we do not yet know is whether Netflix has changed the rules of the game.

    The Scandal premieres globally on Netflix on September 18, 2026.

    This character guide was written before the premiere and will be updated after release as the characters’ hidden motivations, relationships and major turning points are revealed.

  • Is Netflix’s The Scandal Based on Cruel Intentions? The Dangerous Liaisons Connection Explained

    If you watched the trailer for Netflix’s The Scandal and immediately thought of Cruel Intentions, you are not alone.

    A wealthy and privileged world. A dangerous seduction game. A man challenged to pursue a woman. Desire turning into manipulation — and manipulation threatening to become something real.

    The similarities are easy to notice.

    So, is Netflix’s Korean drama The Scandal actually based on Cruel Intentions?

    No — not directly.

    The connection goes much further back.

    Both stories belong to the same family of adaptations that began with the 1782 French novel Les Liaisons dangereuses, commonly known in English as Dangerous Liaisons.

    Understanding that connection may also tell us something important about what Netflix’s new Korean adaptation is trying to do differently.

    Is The Scandal a Korean Version of Cruel Intentions?

    Not exactly.

    Netflix’s The Scandal is not a remake of the 1999 American movie Cruel Intentions.

    Instead, both works trace their roots to Dangerous Liaisons, the famous French novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos.

    The novel revolves around aristocrats who use seduction, sex and emotional manipulation as weapons in games of power and revenge.

    That basic idea has been adapted many times.

    Cruel Intentions took the premise and transformed it into a story about wealthy young people in modern America.

    Korea previously reinterpreted it through the 2003 film Untold Scandal, which moved the story into Joseon society.

    Netflix’s The Scandal now returns to Joseon — but with a new cast, an eight-episode format and newly written character relationships.

    So the family tree is closer to this:

    Dangerous Liaisons (1782)
    ↓
    Many international adaptations
    ↓
    Cruel Intentions (1999) — modern American reinterpretation
    Untold Scandal (2003) — Korean Joseon reinterpretation
    The Scandal (2026) — new Netflix Korean reinterpretation

    That is why Cruel Intentions fans may immediately recognize the DNA of the story even though the Netflix series is not directly based on that movie.

    Why Does The Scandal Feel So Much Like Cruel Intentions?

    The strongest similarity is not the historical period, characters or setting.

    It is the game.

    Netflix introduces Lady Cho, played by Son Ye-jin, and Cho Won, played by Ji Chang-wook, as the central figures in a dangerous wager involving Hui-yeon, played by NANA.

    Seduction is therefore not simply the beginning of a romance.

    It is part of a contest.

    And that is one of the defining ideas audiences associate with Dangerous Liaisons and its adaptations.

    Someone believes they are controlling the game.

    Someone else becomes the target.

    Then feelings, jealousy, pride and desire begin interfering with the original plan.

    The most interesting question is what happens when the players can no longer control the game they created.

    Who Corresponds to Whom?

    Viewers familiar with Dangerous Liaisons or Cruel Intentions will naturally try to match the characters.

    Lady Cho appears to occupy the position of the powerful woman who helps drive the manipulation.

    Cho Won appears to be the charismatic seducer.

    Hui-yeon appears to be the woman drawn into their dangerous wager.

    But there is a reason to be careful with direct one-to-one comparisons.

    Director Jung Ji-woo has said that the Netflix series is very different from the 2003 Korean film and that the characters and their relationships were rewritten after returning to the original French novel.

    That means knowing Cruel Intentions, Dangerous Liaisons or Untold Scandal may help viewers recognize the structure without necessarily telling them exactly what these characters will do.

    And that could be where the new series becomes interesting.

    Lady Cho May Be More Than the Familiar Manipulator

    Lady Cho is particularly important.

    Netflix describes her as a talented woman constrained by the limits Joseon society places on women.

    That gives the character another dimension beyond simply being someone who manipulates romantic relationships for amusement or revenge.

    In a society where power is overwhelmingly controlled by men, what does an intelligent woman do when she possesses ability but lacks formal authority?

    Manipulation may become more than entertainment.

    It could become a form of power.

    If the series explores that idea seriously, Lady Cho’s motivations could feel substantially different from similar characters in previous adaptations.

    And with Son Ye-jin in the role, Lady Cho may become the character through whom this adaptation establishes its own identity.

    Cho Won Is More Than Just a Joseon Playboy

    Ji Chang-wook plays Cho Won, described as the most notorious playboy of his era.

    On the surface, the role seems familiar.

    He is attractive, confident and experienced in seduction — exactly the kind of person needed for a dangerous romantic wager.

    But an eight-episode drama has much more time than a feature film to ask a harder question:

    What happens when a man who treats love as a game encounters an emotion he cannot control?

    That conflict is fundamental to the Dangerous Liaisons tradition.

    The difference will depend on how Netflix develops Cho Won’s motivations and whether the series allows him to make choices viewers familiar with previous adaptations do not expect.

    And What About Hui-yeon?

    Hui-yeon may be the biggest unknown before release.

    At first glance, she appears to be the person caught inside Lady Cho and Cho Won’s game.

    But viewers should probably avoid assuming that this automatically makes her a passive victim.

    The director has specifically emphasized rewritten relationships.

    An eight-part adaptation also has enough time to give Hui-yeon considerably more agency than a shorter version of the story might allow.

    Could she discover the game earlier than expected?

    Could she have motivations the other characters misunderstand?

    Could the apparent target eventually change the balance of power?

    Those are only pre-release possibilities, not confirmed plot points.

    But if Netflix wants to make a centuries-old story feel fresh, Hui-yeon is one obvious character through whom it could surprise viewers.

    How Is This Different From Untold Scandal?

    Korean cinema already created a celebrated Joseon adaptation of Dangerous Liaisons in 2003.

    Untold Scandal, starring Bae Yong-joon, Lee Mi-sook and Jeon Do-yeon, also transplanted the French story into Korean history.

    That naturally raises another question:

    Why make it again?

    The answer will ultimately depend on how much Netflix changes.

    The new The Scandal has the advantage of an eight-episode format, allowing much more space for character motivations, changing relationships and the social restrictions surrounding desire in Joseon.

    Jung Ji-woo has also made clear that this is not intended simply as an extended recreation of the 2003 movie.

    For a detailed comparison between the two Korean adaptations, see our separate guide:

    Is Netflix’s The Scandal a Remake of Untold Scandal? What’s Different From the 2003 Movie

    Could The Scandal Change the Original Story?

    This is where things become especially interesting for viewers who already know Dangerous Liaisons.

    A familiar story creates a unique opportunity.

    The audience thinks it knows what happens next.

    That means even a relatively small change can become a major surprise.

    Netflix does not need to discard the entire structure of Dangerous Liaisons to make The Scandal unpredictable.

    Changing a character’s true motivation, revealing a hidden relationship, reversing who is manipulating whom or altering one crucial decision could change the meaning of everything that follows.

    The strongest adaptation would not simply surprise viewers who have never encountered the story.

    It would surprise the people who believe they already know it.

    Does Knowing Cruel Intentions Spoil The Scandal?

    Probably not.

    Knowing Cruel Intentions or another version of Dangerous Liaisons may help you recognize the basic game of seduction and manipulation.

    But it should not be treated as a spoiler guide for Netflix’s series.

    The historical setting is different.

    The social rules are different.

    The characters have been rewritten.

    The relationships have reportedly been changed.

    And the longer format gives the story room to travel in directions previous film adaptations could not.

    In fact, viewers familiar with earlier versions may have an additional reason to watch:

    How long will Netflix allow us to believe we know what happens next?

    The Real Connection Between The Scandal and Cruel Intentions

    So, is The Scandal based on Cruel Intentions?

    No.

    But if the trailer reminded you of Cruel Intentions, your instinct was not wrong.

    They share the same literary ancestor: Dangerous Liaisons.

    Cruel Intentions transformed that story for late-1990s America.

    Untold Scandal transformed it for Joseon Korea in 2003.

    And now Netflix’s The Scandal is attempting another transformation for a global streaming audience in 2026.

    The basic game may be centuries old.

    The real test is whether this version can make us uncertain about who is actually winning it.

    The Scandal premieres globally on Netflix on September 18, 2026.

    This article was written before the premiere. It will be updated after release once the series confirms how far its characters, relationships and story depart from previous versions of Dangerous Liaisons.

  • Is Netflix’s The Scandal a Remake of Untold Scandal? What’s Different From the 2003 Movie

    Netflix’s upcoming Korean series The Scandal may look familiar to longtime K-drama and Korean film fans.

    A dangerous wager.
    A notorious seducer.
    A powerful woman manipulating the game from behind the scenes.
    And an innocent woman who becomes caught between them.

    If that reminds you of the 2003 Korean film Untold Scandal, starring Bae Yong-joon, Lee Mi-sook and Jeon Do-yeon, you are not imagining the connection.

    But there is an important reason not to assume Netflix’s The Scandal will simply retell the same story.

    Director Jung Ji-woo has already said the new series is “very different” from the 2003 film, explaining that the production went back to the original French novel and rewrote its characters and relationships.

    So what exactly is the connection between The Scandal, Untold Scandal and Dangerous Liaisons?

    And how different could Netflix’s version actually be?

    Is The Scandal a Remake of the 2003 Korean Movie?

    Yes — but “remake” does not tell the whole story.

    The 2003 film Untold Scandal was itself an adaptation of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’s famous 1782 French novel Les Liaisons dangereuses, better known in English as Dangerous Liaisons.

    The Korean film moved the story from pre-Revolutionary France to late-18th-century Joseon Korea.

    Netflix’s 2026 The Scandal returns to this world of aristocratic desire, manipulation and seduction, once again placing the story in Joseon.

    The new series stars:

    • Son Ye-jin as Lady Cho
    • Ji Chang-wook as Cho Won
    • NANA as Hui-yeon

    At the center of the story is a dangerous wager involving Lady Cho and Cho Won, with Hui-yeon becoming entangled in their game.

    That basic setup will sound very familiar to viewers of the 2003 film.

    But the similarities may become much less straightforward once the story begins.

    The Director Says the New Scandal Is “Very Different”

    This may be the most important thing to know before watching the Netflix series.

    At a press conference ahead of the September 18 premiere, director Jung Ji-woo said the new version is very different from the 2003 movie.

    Rather than simply expanding the old film into a longer Netflix series, Jung said the production returned to the French novel and rewrote the characters and their relationships.

    That distinction matters.

    It suggests that Netflix’s The Scandal should not be approached as an eight-episode recreation of scenes audiences already saw in 2003.

    The basic DNA may remain the same.

    The relationships, motivations and path to the ending may not.

    The Same Three-Person Game — But Possibly Different Players

    Netflix describes Lady Cho as a gifted woman whose abilities cannot be contained by the restrictions placed on women in Joseon society.

    Cho Won is the most famous playboy of his time.

    Hui-yeon is the woman who becomes caught in their dangerous wager.

    On the surface, this preserves the central triangle familiar from earlier versions of Dangerous Liaisons.

    But Netflix’s promotional material already hints that Lady Cho may have motivations that are not immediately visible.

    That could become one of the most important differences in the new adaptation.

    If the characters have been substantially rewritten, the real question may not be:

    “Will the Netflix series follow the 2003 movie?”

    It may instead be:

    “Which character do we think we already understand — but actually don’t?”

    Why Hui-yeon Could Be Especially Important

    Hui-yeon, played by NANA, initially appears to occupy the position of the woman drawn unwillingly into Lady Cho and Cho Won’s dangerous game.

    But this is one character worth watching carefully.

    A modern adaptation has much more room than a two-hour film to develop the supposedly innocent person caught inside the scheme.

    That creates several possibilities.

    Could Hui-yeon have greater agency than viewers expect?

    Could her relationship with Lady Cho become more important?

    Could the person who appears to be a pawn eventually influence the game itself?

    Before release, those questions cannot be answered definitively.

    But the director’s statement that the characters and relationships have been rewritten makes them worth asking.

    Why an Eight-Episode Series Changes the Story

    The 2003 Untold Scandal had to tell its story within the limits of a feature film.

    Netflix’s The Scandal is an eight-part series.

    That extra time gives the writers room to do something potentially much more interesting than simply recreate the original plot.

    They can expand:

    • hidden character motivations,
    • relationships outside the central seduction game,
    • political and social pressures of Joseon,
    • the consequences of female desire in a restrictive society,
    • changes in loyalty,
    • and potentially new twists before the ending.

    The format itself therefore makes substantial adaptation almost inevitable.

    The important question is whether those changes make this familiar story feel genuinely new.

    What About Dangerous Liaisons and Cruel Intentions?

    Some viewers encountering The Scandal may also recognize similarities to Dangerous Liaisons or even Cruel Intentions.

    That is because these stories belong to the same adaptation family.

    The starting point is Laclos’s Les Liaisons dangereuses, published in 1782.

    Its central idea — privileged people turning seduction into a game of power, revenge and manipulation — has inspired numerous adaptations around the world.

    The 2003 Korean Untold Scandal transformed that premise by placing it inside Joseon society.

    Netflix is now reinterpreting it again for a modern global television audience.

    So The Scandal is not simply copying a 2003 Korean movie.

    It is the latest reinterpretation of a story that has been repeatedly reinvented for different eras and cultures.

    Will Netflix Change the Ending?

    This is probably one of the biggest questions for viewers familiar with the previous versions.

    For now, Netflix has not revealed enough to answer it.

    And that uncertainty may be exactly what makes the new adaptation interesting.

    If the characters and relationships really have been rewritten as significantly as the director suggests, assuming that every character will make the same choices — or reach the same destination — could be a mistake.

    The series does not necessarily need to abandon the basic structure of Dangerous Liaisons to surprise viewers.

    A changed motivation, a hidden relationship, an unexpected betrayal or a different decision at a crucial moment could completely alter how we interpret the ending.

    That may ultimately determine whether The Scandal feels like a fresh adaptation or merely another version of a very familiar story.

    The Real Question: How Much Has The Scandal Changed?

    For viewers who have never seen Untold Scandal, Netflix’s series can be watched as a new Joseon romance about desire, manipulation and forbidden relationships.

    For viewers who already know the 2003 movie or Dangerous Liaisons, however, there is another layer of suspense.

    We already know the game.

    We think we know the players.

    We may even think we know where the story is heading.

    And that gives the new series an opportunity to use our expectations against us.

    Director Jung Ji-woo has already warned us that this version is very different.

    Now the question is whether The Scandal can make a centuries-old story unpredictable again.

    The Scandal premieres globally on Netflix on September 18, 2026.

    This article was written before the series premiere and will be updated after release with confirmed differences between the Netflix series, the 2003 film Untold Scandal and the original Dangerous Liaisons story.