I have tried to enjoy K-Dramas in the past and gave Reply 1997, Reply 1994, and The Heirs all their fair chance to impress me but they wasted it. I then resigned myself to the fact that I can't enjoy the ridiculous plot twists and stock characters as much as everyone else so accepted that I would see all of the good bits as gifsets on tumblr. That is, until I discovered the most amazing, overly dramatic, twist filled drama of them all which has occupied all of my time in the past few weeks. Much like a K-Drama, I will leave you on a cliffhanger as to what it is, click 'Read More' to be enlightened.
The drama in question is called 'Show Me The Money 4' and it really is a sight to behold, if only all drama writers were as good as those who write for this because the standard of K-Drama would generally be much, much higher.
So allow me to give you a plot and character overview for this show which is truly an epic; packed with heartbreak, betrayal, and fights.
![]() |
Just some of the huge cast.
|
The story follows four dynasties trying to defeat the others in a battle of music by collecting the most talented rappers to decide once and for all which performers think it's real. An interesting family dynamic is created as we witness discord within groups, alleged favoritism, and one family being shunned by everyone else for not being 'fair'. I perceive the true message of the show to be that, 'all is fair in love and war' which is shown by a complete deterioration of positive relationships and common sense. Here are the key players in this drama wherein the quality lies in the downward spiral of sanity, creating some form of Lynchian nightmare.
![]() |
| The mafia family who represent big money and are struggling to stay relevant |
In the drama, the writers have really accentuated how this family are aware that they are the weakest on paper which leads to some witty self-depriciative comedy. It also creates a shocking plot twist and complete audience bewilderment when they succeed in anything.
![]() |
| The family who take themselves far too seriously. |
This family has been written with an interesting dynamic, as one member is deemed unfit to be a family head, whilst the other is arguably the most fit of all. They like to go after the other families and are given a very aggressive portrayal. They made some very questionable choices when picking their underlings but the writers wanted to make the audience believe that they made very strong choices. It didn't work.
![]() |
| The family who care exclusively about image |
The family who go by the name 'AOMG' are made to appear shallow, but I make the argument that that is merely a narrative facade. The underlying theme is that image is of primary importance, yet AOMG are chastised for being open about it. They must pay for their unwillingness to be covert by being the first family to be killed.
![]() |
| The wildcards who are nonetheless competent |
I don't really know the dynamic that the writers wanted to present here. There is a yin and yang type thing with Verbal Jint never talking and San E screaming constantly. It is sort of cathartic and beautiful.
Okay, so now that I have explained the family leaders and the moods that the writers wanted to present with them, I should go more in depth into the henchmen that they hire to fight each other, resulting in an eventual winner.
Team Old Money (a.k.a YG)
![]() |
| The young, annoying one. |
![]() |
| The old, annoying one. |
![]() |
| The one who they never got around to writing a personality for. |
Team Serious Business (a.k.a Zico & PaloAlto)
Also worthy of mention is the OST. Whilst most dramas have
shite ballads for every single oral sex scene that is shown (I don't watch too many dramas, I may be out of touch with archetypal scenarios), Show Me the Money decided that it would have some pretty high quality rap music and incorporate it into the show by having the cast perform it. I will list some superlative examples below.
In descending order, those songs are '
거북선' (Ja Mezz, Andup, Song Mino, Paloalto), '
On It + BO$$' (Lil Boi, Loco, Jay Park), and '
My Zone' (Blacknut, Hanhae, Microdot, Basick) and they only scratch the surface of the high quality of musical output within the OST of '
Show Me the Money'. What is particularly interesting is how Team YG have only
one good song associated with them is a novelty throwback song, truly accentuating their presence as embarrassing uncles on the show.
So yeah, I can't wait to see what the writers have in store for the final few episodes of this, they deserve a writing award come the end of the year for the level of histrionics that they included. Have you been watching SMTM? What do you think about the melodramatic villain San E? Include opinions and predictions in the comments.
