I'll start this review by admitting that I am normally not a big fan of plots about greedy rich family members fighting over power positions but once I saw Song Joong Ki I knew I would have to watch this. He never disappoints, even in dramas I don't love, and this unfortunately was one of those dramas. Don't get me wrong, there are some really great things about "Born Rich" and I say this knowing nothing about the book it's based on. The rivalries are intense and keeping up with the lead character's wins and losses flavored with Korean nostalgia was fun each week. This was largely due to Lee Sung Min as Jin Yang Cheol, the family patriarch at the center of all the greed and corruption.

Jin Do Joon and Jin Yang Cheol's relationship are what makes this drama so exciting. There are other great characters as well but watching them match wits eclipses everything else. The main story is a pretty standard revenge plot with a retro twist, and clever Do Joon is easy to root for, but what I liked more was the feeling of watching an intense game of chess between two fierce rivals who clearly admire each other. I was less interested in the war between siblings, even with some impressive actors in those roles. The terrible rich people being terrible trope is just not as engaging after a while, and too many of the family members were 2 dimmensional awful people.

One part of the story that really did not work well is the romance plot. I think in this case it wasn't just the writing but Shin Hyun Bin's performance that made this storyline fall flat. Her choice to play Seo Min Young as cold, guarded, and robotic throughout left no room for any romance scenario that made sense. I felt myself rolling my eyes whenever her character showed up, and that's not a good look for a love interest.

Another problem I had with "Born Rich" is that there were a lot of times I had a hard time following what was going on and who was who. There are a lot of characters with agendas, and a lot of agendas conflict and overlap. Add to that a lot of significant Korean history moments going over my head and me likely missing a lot of important details. Thankfully the music helped me know when something sinister was about to go down. lol

Would I watch this again? Maybe. Now that I know the ending I would be slightly interested in seeing it from the beginning with that in mind. However, the episodes are so long that I think without the suspense they may not be fun to watch anymore. I was satified with seeing the main character's evolution and I think that's enough for me to move on from this for now. I know a lot of people didn't like the direction the story went towards the end but I appreciated the twist and what it said about the blind pursuit of wealth and power.

Overall, "Born Rich" didn't disappoint but it did fall a little short. It just felt too inconsistent. By the end of episode 15, I was really excited about this drama's ending, but it kinda fizzled and turned predictable by the very end. Is it worth watching just to watch Song Joong Ki? Yes. Is this as good as some of his other famous roles? Definitely not. Even his infamous charming smirks seemed more low key in this one. If you didn't read the synopsis, good! Don't! I'm glad I started watching knowing nothing from the very beginning. The conflict for me is that I liked the story more than how it was told. I loved the suspense and cliff hangers but hated the repetitive scenes with shadey characters staring suspiciously at each other. Be aware that this is a plot that stays true to one genre and focuses on Politics, Power, and Revenge. If you find people discussing plots and schemes tedious this is not the drama for you.