Review of Under the Gun / 언더더건

In 2024, there were two stretches of time where I was simply watching a lot of television. I was doing this along with the movie and book reviews, as I run a blog here on this little website of mine, and it lasted for about two months total.

The first time I was waiting for a flight to Korea, as I was doing an intensive program there, and the second I was waiting for my visa to India to go through (which took over a month, fun fact—it was agonizing).

I’ll probably never get a time like this again in my life, so while I was partially going insane waiting for the decision on my Indian visa, I was specifically cranking my way through Japanese and Korean dramas that were a little bit more on the shorter side.

It’s my new goal in life to watch as much as I can before I die, as well as read as much as I can, but this is how I ended up watching shows like Under the Gun. During this brief time I didn’t want a ton of commitment, and these shows were able to give me something short and sweet.

Alright, I’m rambling already, so let’s get into the review and summary.

A high school boy increasingly finds himself caught up in the world of poker.

Our main character in this television series is Go Gun, who comes from a less privileged background than the female lead (more on her in a bit). He’s the son of a poker player, and when something big goes down and his family’s reputation is wrecked, he decides he needs to take up poker in order to be a provider.

The problem? This kid is only in high school and should be nowhere near a poker table. He’s still going to school in-between poker sessions, even though there’s no way he’s doing well in school with all of this going on, and he meets a new transfer student: she’s our female lead, Cha Se-young.

She’s a wealthy girl from a high class family. Her home life seems pretty peaceful compared to Gun’s, and as we learn throughout the series, she has quite a bit of a strong personality.

The more she befriends Gun, the more she encourages him to be someone who doesn’t avoid his problems. Eventually, they start realizing they have romantic feelings for each other, and begin dating.

That said, there are big things in store for Gun, especially as he starts rising more to the top of the local poker world. This series is only six episodes long, so we see a little conflict and friction between the two leads, but they’re honestly pretty much for their age.

It probably helps that Gun was forced to grow up a little too soon, especially considering his profession for his age. He’s also a rising star in this world and earning some clout and fame for himself, which could also not be going well for him in the long run without a level head and some kind of maturity.

Overall Thoughts

I wish this post could be a bit longer, but this series was honestly the epitome of short and sweet. There wasn’t much filler or fluff attached to it, so we got straight to the point and ended up in a spot where we reached the end before we knew. The episodes aren’t that long either, so I wasn’t bored out of my mind like I was with Queen of Tears.

That said, I think this series was just okay. I wasn’t in love with its plot or premise, and I honestly didn’t care a ton for either the male or female lead. The acting was also kind of rough at times too.

It was okay, though. I’d say watch it if it’s up your alley with the synopsis. Because of its length, you’ll get through it pretty quickly.

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