REVIEW: ‘Dynamite Kiss’ Episodes 1-2

It’s fall, and we’re heading into winter, and now is the perfect time for romance. Netflix’s Dynamite Kiss is the streamer’s latest rom-com K-drama, starring Jang Ki-yong and Ahn Eun-jin as its leads, directed by Kim Jae-hyun, and written by Ha Yoon-ah. Dynamite Kiss Episode 1 and Episode 2 are the premiere episodes of the series, and they start off by getting viewers heavily invested in the leads’ explosive chemistry (pun intended).

Dynamite Kiss follows Go Da-rim (Ahn Eun-jin), a 30-year-old single woman who is still in school and, because of that, doesn’t have a job. Ahead of her sister’s wedding, Da-rim is given a free trip to Jeju Island because her sister, who is marrying above their class, lied to her future mother-in-law and said that Da-rim was working in the States. 

Sequestered on Jeju, she runs into a friend from high school and her college ex-boyfriend, Kim Jeong-Gwon (Park Jeong-woo), who is now a famous AI programmer. Frustrated with everything, a chance encounter with Gong Ji-hyeok sparks a new beginning in her romantic life, which has been stagnant for years. 

Ahn Eun-jin ‘s Da-rim just might be my favorite K-drama woman lead this year.

On his side, Gong Ji-hyeok (Jang Ki-young) is part of a management consulting company, spending his days finding start-ups that have the potential to become Unicorn Companies (valued at over $ 1 trillion). As a part of that, he also helps these companies poach talent, and his current target is Kim Jeong-Gwon, Go Da-rim’s ex. 

So what’s left to do? Form a contract relationship, of course. From shopping together, making her ex jealous, and even going on a date after a fateful kiss, it’s clear that the two are already struck by each other. But that’s not all there is to the series.

Dynamite Kiss Episodes 1 and 2 are the perfect introduction to the series. It tackles well-known rom-com tropes and discards them right from the jump. Leaving audiences with two headstrong leads that you can’t help but root for.

As a viewer, you want D0-ram to make her ex feel like crap, especially as his disrespect continues every time they meet. And at the same time, you want Gong Ji-hyeok to be the one making Jeong-Gwon jealous because you can see exactly how engrossed he is with the woman in front of him. 

Dynamite Kiss Episode 1 is a big premiere that immediately captures attention.

Dubbing himself the fairy godfather, Dynamite Kiss Episode 1 establishes just how arrogant Ji-hyeok is. It also works to make the audience question whether all of those small moments that look like he’s falling for Da-rim are real. And, well, they are.

The first happens when Da-rim orders him to help her. Instead of pushing back, even as they bicker, he jumps into the street and follows her every direction, even standing in the middle of it when they’re done, because he was instructed to wait. Just as the audience realizes how docile Ji-hyeok has become, he does as well, and we get our first moment where it appears he may fall for her. 

The final moment in Dynamite Kiss Episode 1 has him take their emergency kiss (where Da-rim kissed him to keep him from blowing their cover) to the next level, following it up with a passionate kiss as fireworks continue behind him. Ji-hyeok is smitten with Go Da-rim, even if their social standings would dictate that they can’t be together. 

Go Da-rim and Gong Ji-hyeok are the perfect couple, even if circumstances get in the way.

Dynamite Kiss Episodes 1-2 are a rousing success due to how quickly they establish our main couple, alleviating the 10-episode path of yearning. Granted, with the ending of Episode 2, they won’t be without their difficulties. The number one of which is Da-rim’s sense of pride and their new working situation. With a two-episode premiere, audiences are easily hooked on the effortless way that Go Da-rim and Gong Ji-hyeok come together.

They’re both full of pride and intelligence; only Gong Ji-hyeok has had the circumstances to do something with it. They match each other in a way that makes the setup in Dynamite Kiss Episode 2 hurt all the more. As Da-rim decides to live her life as a married mother to protect her family, the romance is thrown into disarray. 

While Dynamite Kiss Episodes 1-2 caters to the contract relationship element that any romance webtoon reader will recognize, it does so without reducing Go Da-rim’s pride or her ability to think for herself. She has agency in a way that many contract relationship stories don’t. 

There is smooth, and then there is Jang Ki-yong’s Gong Ji-hyeok.

Dynamite Kiss Episode 2 shows the viewers just how perfect Da-rim and Ji-hyeok are for each other, only to separate them. When Da-rim’s mother has a health scare, Da-rim must find a job. Having left any thought of continuing things with Ji-hyeok back on Jeju, she does what she can to get a job, and that includes lying. 

Gong Ji-hyeok, on the other hand, is still head over heels for Da-rim, but since she vanished, he can’t find her again. That is, until she walks into the new company that he’s leading. But this isn’t a meet-cute reunion; it’s a crushing realization for the tsundere leading man. Why? Well, because to get the job, Da-rim has decided to tell everyone that she is a married woman with a kid and is perfect for the role at a company specializing in motherhood. 

Dynamite Kiss Episode 1 and Episode 2 pull together all the very best bits of the K-drama to get invested. We see how perfect our leads’ chemistry is, with both Jang Ki-yong and Ahn Eun-jin playing their roles perfectly. And to be honest, for this year, actor Jang is leading the pack in giving you goosebump-levels of charm. By having them kiss in the first episode, only to complicate it all by the second, and in a different conflict that isn’t a dating contract, the series stands out. 

Dynamite Kiss Episodes 1-2 excel because they have just as much to say about societal pressure as it does romance.

While every rom-com leans heavily on miscommunication, for Dynamite Kiss, it’s about survival versus romance. For Da-rim, she needs to focus on becoming a full-time employee and taking care of her family. She can’t remain jobless, and that means that she doesn’t think she can come clean about her lie to Ji-hyeok, who is now her boss. 

The series has so far done a great job at laying out the stigma that Da-rim is having to navigate as both the eldest daughter and a single woman in her thirties. Throughout Dynamite Kiss Episodes 1-2, we see how depressed Da-rim has been, how ostracized she is, and how lonely it can all be.

We see her in an interview where the men on the panel do nothing but rip her apart based on her degree and family. The fact that Go Da-rim now needs to live a lie even to get her foot in the door is heartbreaking. Yes, this is an office romance story, but it also aims to highlight the unfairness of Korean society towards single women. 

Dynamite Kiss Episode 1 and Episode 2 are a stellar premiere that know exactly how to get people hooked on a new series. Romance, societal pressure, and a guy who just likes it when a woman orders him around, what more could you ask for?

Dynamite Kiss Episodes 1-2 are streaming now on Netflix, with new episodes every week.