REVIEW: ‘Celebrity’ Loses Steam but Compels with Its Mystery

In recent years, we’ve seen the rise and resounding impact influencers have on our society. Cultivating a glossy image that triggers FOMO, influencers can move mountains of product. But it’s not all glitz and glamour. There’s fierce competition, backstabbing, and deals made left and right to get to the top. In the latest Kdrama, Celebrity, we’re taken into the world of influencers with the lure of solving a mystery. Much like a livestream gone on too long, the lure isn’t enough to try to maintain viewer interest. But committed performances and a well-developed lead keep things afloat when things run cold.

Celebrity follows top celebrity and influencer Seo A-ri (Park Gyu-young). Monologuing via livestream, she dangles the lure of spilling much-needed tea about the influencer community. More specifically to unveil the deep dark secrets surrounding the members of the Gabin Society: Oh Min-hye (Jun Hyo-seong), Jin Chae-hee (Han Ga-in), Angela (Han Eu-ddeum), and Gina (Kim Si-hyun). From adultery to fraud to illegal drug use, A-ri spares no one in her livestream. The thing freaking everyone out the most? She’s been dead for three months.

Therein lies the bait dangling to keep viewers interested. How can a dead woman now give a livestream? That is the mystery that propels curious viewers keyed in. With each episode of Celebrity leaving us with a cliffhanger, the scenario feels natural in keeping the mystery going.

Unfortunately, much like many livestreams conducted by influencers, the writers drag out the mystery surrounding Seo A-ri long enough to lose momentum. By the time we get to the interesting parts of Seo A-ri’s influencer journey as it begins to implode, the story has run out of steam.

Part of the issue is that so much time is spent focusing on Seo A-ri explaining influencer culture and impact. Most viewers watching the series likely are on social media and are aware of the cultural impact of influencers already. The monologuing from A-ri gives social media 101 at times. It also reads as the writers not trusting their viewers to know any better. Instead, these moments are used to fill up space. This inadvertently slows down the pacing and makes episodes feel bloated despite their 45-minute runtime.

The character of A-ri is multi-faceted, so she is a compelling enough draw. Fused with Park Gyu-young’s performance, which oscillates between surprise, awe, disgust, and rage, it’s no wonder that she is the focus of the story rather than the members of the Gabin Society. The character’s frankness when it comes to discussing things is refreshing.

For a culture that emphasizes artifice, A-ri’s combination of curiosity and reluctance towards this e-celebrity lifestyle is also understandable. Anyone familiar with influencers or involved in the culture will understand the double-edged sword A-ri walks. In order to get ahead, she has to embrace what she finds distasteful. This internal struggle makes her relatable but also makes for a good watch.

What drags down Celebrity further are the influencers that it sets out to criticize. Part of this is due to a lack of overall development, so the characters feel one-sided. Their hyperfixation on Seo A-ri becomes ridiculously comical after a certain time, but also annoying. It takes away necessary time from the overarching story. It also makes it seem like the writers were trying to find ways to drag out things to hit that twelve-episode order. If these parts were shaved down along with the expositional bits from A-ri’s live stream, the pacing issue might be less apparent.

Honestly, Celebrity could have easily told its story if it condensed down the episode count to maybe 8 or 10 episodes. Other series that have embraced the soap opera-style dramatics have succeeded well in maintaining the flow necessary to keep viewers wanting more. Clocking in at twelve episodes, you feel the dip in energy halfway through easily.

By the time you get to the final episodes of Celebrity, it feels like an absolute whirlwind. Things escalate quickly but, because of how the pacing staggers in the middle, we’re left running to try to catch up. While some storylines conclude nicely, others due to lack of development, feel shoehorned in and slightly out of place. With its conclusion, the door is left open for Seo A-ri’s continued impact but it’ll be up to the viewer to decide if it is truly satisfactory or not.

For a tale highlighting influencer culture, Celebrity goes above and beyond to bring this dramatic world to viewers. People familiar enough with the behind-the-scenes reality will find elements believable. However, the over-explanation of the lifestyle on top of stretching out the story past its potential undercuts the full effect of its soap-opera dramatics. Thankfully, a compelling protagonist and the committed performances from the cast helped get us over the finish line. Just be careful of whiplash as you barrel toward the end.

You can catch Celebrity now on Netflix.