Episode 1
In the first episode of The Golden Spoon, Lee Seung-cheon explains that the idea that all human beings are equal is not the truth. He ranks the number of students in his class on the basis of the number of golden spoons they have. Among them, he claims that Hwang Tae-yong is the wealthiest. Meanwhile, Seung-cheon is a part-time delivery worker.
On his most recent delivery, Seung-cheon notices how the rich kids are at a tutoring session when he is working. He works at a convenience store and his friend Park Jin-seok visits him that night. They chat about some inconsequential things and from the looks of it, Jin-seok is alarmingly serious. Seung-cheon brushes it off to be a joke as Jin-seok goes back to his house. Later that night, Seung-cheon gets a text from Jin-seok who thanks the former for being a good friend to him.
As Seung-cheon rushes to Jin-seok’s house after hearing about his best friend’s suicide, he recalls the days when they would spend time together at school. He remembers how Jin-seok would help him from being beaten up by bullies and how they would eat together. Seung-cheon also remembers the day when Hwang Hyeon-do came to the funeral of Jin-seok and his family. The businessman was there with his son Tae-yong, who was just a few years old at the time.
Tae-yong and Jin-seok were classmates, but the media alleges that Hyeon-do’s decision to redevelop the place in which Jin-seok lived drove the family to kill themselves. Outside, other classmates of Seung-cheon and Jin-seok are waiting. Once they spot Seung-cheon, Park Jang-gun starts assaulting him for doing a bad job on one of the latter’s projects. ..
Tae-yong jokes with Seung-cheon about exchanging money for 5 slaps, but when he leaves the funeral home, he realises that Seung-cheon was being assaulted. Hyeon-do notices and asks Tae-yong about hanging out with people who can not value for his time.
Later that night, Seung-cheon is at his part-time job with a new employee, Ju-hee. She is rather cheerful but Seung-cheon asks her to keep her smile to herself because of the nasty way customers usually treat employees at the store. That night, Seung-cheon’s mother learns about Jin-seok’s suicide from the news.
His house is being raided by landlords because their father failed to pay the rent again. Seung-cheon exposes his father to the landlords and there is chaos over the rent. He is in his room when Seung-cheon’s sister Seung-a yells at him for exposing their father to the landlords.
She notices Seung-cheon’s secret stash of money and asks him to contribute to the rent. Seung-cheon tells Seung-a that he has already done a lot for the family and that he needs to start thinking about himself and his future. That evening, Tae-yong is enjoying the comics mocking the poor ironically written by Seung-cheon’s father, Lee Cheol. ..
When his father appears in his room, Seung-cheon panics. His father is furious to see that his son is not interested in the family business and that his report is very poorly written. Tae-yong fidgets with his nail until he is bleeding in fear of his father and suffers a panic attack once Hyeon-do leaves. The next day, Seung-cheon goes to Tae-yong’s house to submit homework for Jang-gun in exchange for money.
He spots an old lady with supernatural and magical items at a makeshift shop outside the house. After some banter with the woman, Seung-cheon buys the golden spoon from the woman. The mysterious street vendor promises that once Seung-cheon has consumed three meals at the house of a person, he will be able to interchange his life with theirs. Seung-cheon humours the old woman and takes the spoon and enters Tae-yong’s house.
Since Tae-yong has many classmates including Jang-gun visiting him, he asks Seung-cheon to stay back for a meal. Yang-gun mocks Seung-cheon by asking the maids to offer him cheap cutlery and not ones made of real gold. Seung-cheon on the other hand used the golden spoon he just purchased to have his meal. He brags saying the golden spoon he is using is his family heirloom and something that he treasures.
As Seung-cheon is having his first meal using the spoon, the mysterious woman notices something in one of her marbles. Seung-cheon has a nightmare that his family also, just like Jin-seok’s had killed themselves due to their poverty. He wakes up with a jolt and is further determined to change his fate using the golden spoon. Seung-cheon orchestrates a plan to befriend Tae-yong and somehow have three more meals at his house to change his own fate.
Seung-cheon, a part-timer who looks up to Tae-yong’s family and his father’s successful business, helps Tae-yong make reports for his father’s business. Hyeon-do is impressed by Tae-yong’s latest report and invites Seung-cheon over for dinner. ..
This time, Seung-cheon fails to use the golden spoon but the deal between Tae-yong and Seung-cheon is making the latter rich. The next day, Tae-yong’s rich friend Yeo-jin warns him against Seung-cheon and asks him to stop caring about the poor boy. At his part-time job, Ju-hee spots Seung-cheon’s book and makes small talk with him for being a student at a school which only the rich kids attend.
Seung-cheon, a scholarship student, tells Ju-hee, a recent expelled student, that he understands her situation and offers to help her find a new school. Ju-hee is touched by Seung-cheon’s kindness and agrees to his offer. ..
In his car, Tae-yong tells his bodyguard and driver – Moon-gi that he envies the life Seung-cheon has and wishes he could have that instead of his chaotic and busy life. Tae-yong misses his mother and looks at her old photos that he keeps in hiding. Meanwhile, Seung-cheon and Ju-hee are getting close after leaving their part-time jobs.
Seung-cheon and Ju-hee are in the same class, and Ju-hee is always asking Seung-cheon about his dreams. Seung-cheon tells her that he wants to be rich in the future. Jang-gun, who is always angry, is angry that Seung-cheon made it to the list of the Top 30 students selected for a special course. ..
Jang-gun beats Seung-cheon up to scoring better grades. He continues to disrespect Seung-cheon by brutally assaulting him and spitting on him. Seung-cheon breaks down in class and is now further determined to change his fate when he notices the spoon. He visits Tae-yong’s house later that night and asks for a meal in exchange for the report. Hyeon-do makes an appearance so Seung-cheon is not able to start eating his meal. Jang-gun beats Seung-cheon up to scoring better grades, but also continues to disrespect him by brutally assaulting him and spitting on him. This makes Seung-cheon break down in class, which only strengthens his determination to change his fate. Finally, Tae-yong’s son Hyeon-do shows up at the house, preventing Seung-cheon from getting any food. ..
Tae-yong asks Seung-cheon to leave immediately. Seung-cheon waits outside until the meal is left alone and eats it before the maids start taking it away. Hyeon-do spots him and Seung-cheon is embarrassed. Seung-cheon is disappointed with how he is behaving due to the spoon and leaves Tae-yong’s house.
Hyeon-do gets a call from Jang-gun and the student informs Tae-yong’s father about his son’s deal with Seung-cheon. Going back home, Seung-cheon throws the golden spoon away whereas Hyeon-do confronts Tae-yong for seeking help regarding their business from Seung-cheon. Tae-yong starts panicking and Hyeon-do tries to threaten him by saying he will be moved to the United States if he doesn’t straighten his act. ..
Tae-yong, a child who was a victim of a school shooting attack, begs his father not to be sent back to the United States. Hyeon-do asks Tae-yong to deal with Seung-cheon on his own. The next day, Tae-yong and his family make up a story and set Seung-cheon up for extorting money from the rich student. Seung-cheon gets furious and yells at Tae-yong for lying but the school is against the poor student. ..
Lee Cheol begs Tae-yong and her family to forgive Seung-cheon. Seung-cheon himself is embarrassed and Ju-hee who has only recently enrolled on the school witnesses this. That night, Seung-cheon calls Tae-yong to meet him and confronts the latter. Their fight gets heated and Seung-cheon threatens to expose Tae-yong using a voice recording. Tae-yong gets worried and tries to assault Seung-cheon who slips off and falls into the lake. ..
Tae-yong rushes to help Seung-cheon, but as soon as he’s close enough, he runs away. Seung-cheon then sees the golden spoon in his mind and swims to the surface determined to change his fate. ..
Once outside, Tae-yong rushes to find the spoon in the trash where he’d dumped it. Tae-yong realises his mistake and rushes back to help Seung-cheon, whereas Seung-cheon is actually at Tae-yong’s house as he asks Hyeon-do to feed him one last meal.
BTOB’s Sungjae makes his return to the small screen in a lead role in The Golden Spoon. His intense acting is sure to leave viewers with a mysterious feeling in future episodes. ..
The show “Seung-cheon and Tae-yong” is set to air in early 2018. It will be an honest representation of the rich versus poor, which we have seen in many K-dramas. However, the highlight of the show will be Seung-cheon’s ability to change his life with Tae-yong’s help, and how Tae-yong actually desires that for himself. ..
Ju-hee has a much more significant role than being Seung-cheon’s colleague and it is possible that she has run away from her rich home which is why Yeo-jin recognises her.
The show has so far been very manipulative in its portrayal of Hyeon-do and it will be interesting to see how Seung-cheon is able to manipulate him further using his new-found magic spoon.
