Reborn Rookie Episode 1-2 Review
Director: Go Hye-jin
Date Created: 2026-06-01 19:35
3.5
Reborn Rookie Episode 1-2 Review: Directed by Go Hye-jin and written by Kim Soon-ok and Hyun Ji-min, 신입사원 강회장 stars Lee Jun-young as Hwang Jun-hyeon, Son Hyun-joo as Kang Yong-ho alongside Lee Joo-myung as Kang Bang-geul, Jeon Hye-jin as Kang Jae-gyeong, Jin Goo as Kang Jae-seong and others. Adapted from the web novel New Employee Chairman Kang, the drama blends corporate politics, revenge, family conflict, and a body-swap fantasy premise into one entertaining package.
Reborn Rookie Episode 1 Recap
Reborn Rookie Episode 1 begins with an introduction to Kang Yong-ho, the chairman of Choiseong Group, who is starting to feel very lonely in spite of all his wealth and power. Angered by all the people around him, he calls his executives together and tells them, to their shock, that he plans on resigning from his job in the coming days. His two twins – Kang Jae-gyeong and Kang Jae-seong – think that they have just become the potential successors to their father’s empire.
It is evident that Yong-ho is very disappointed with the greedy and selfish nature of the family members and top executives. He lets the twins know that he will use the coming month to observe their behaviour so that at the end of the period, he can make a final decision regarding the company’s future. Instead of working on self-development, the two start showing that they are more eligible than the other. In addition, Yong-ho comes to learn that both of them are using illicit slush funds abroad.
Meanwhile, the novel brings forward the character of Hwang Jun-hyeon, an exceptionally gifted football player whose life seems to be on the upward curve owing to his joining FC Choiseong. The joyous moment for him is sharing his success with his most revered grandmother, who has played a significant role in his life. Unfortunately, Jae-seong, in an attempt to ignore evidence related to the secrets of the twins, hits Jun-hyeon with his car. Instead of accepting their mistake, the twins decide to make use of their influence and money to bury the case.
Jun-hyeon’s future takes a new turn entirely. The threat of losing his leg due to an injured knee means the possibility of not playing football as a profession is very high now. His desperate need to find someone to blame leads him to find a link between the accident and Chairman Kang Yong-ho. However, when Jun-hyeon goes to meet Yong-ho, he does not get an apology from him; instead, he gets an offer of compensation. Even though he is outraged at first, he thinks about accepting the offer due to his grandmother’s circumstances.
In episode 1 of Reborn Rookie’s climax, we see that upon knowing everything about the accident, Yong-ho goes after his children to threaten them with retribution. As a result, Jae-seong unknowingly pushes his father down some stairs. Just at that point, Jun-hyeon comes to the scene with the signed cheque. An accident occurs, which ends up putting both men in the hospital. When Yong-ho eventually wakes up, he realises he has been transferred to another body – the body of Jun-hyeon.
Reborn Rookie Episode 2 Recap
In episode 2 of Reborn Rookie, things happen right away following the body swap. Yong-ho tries to find his way back to his body but realises he cannot do so because it could lead to harm not only for him but for Jun-hyeon as well. Having no other choice, he accepts that this is now his new reality and starts to think of ways to live in this new body with its uncertain future ahead of him.
Being Jun-hyeon means that Yong-ho gets to witness the true side of his children. Rather than showing any signs of remorse or worry for the incident, Jae-gyeong and Jae-seong concentrate on their own safety. In fact, they encourage Jun-hyeon to get some kind of compensation and move on with his life. As a result, Yong-ho realises that he too must examine the things he did wrong and how his style of leadership led to the creation of his children.
Facing mounting pressures from Choiseong Group, the twins try to put all the blame on their hospitalised father, who is shown as the cause of every problem associated with the company, making them look like victims of their father’s decisions. Not able to witness the destruction of the company, Yong-ho decides to appear at a press conference in his twin Jun-hyeon’s form to take responsibility for the hit-and-run accident. Despite hurting his own image, Yong-ho feels that the company needs to be protected above anything else.
The agony grows further when Yong-ho sees firsthand how far the twins will go to acquire power. An extremely frightening situation, which takes place when Yong-ho’s body is unconscious, helps to convince him that the twins no longer consider him to be family, but merely an obstacle blocking their way to the company. It is then that Yong-ho’s rage transforms into resolve, particularly upon seeing the note penned by Jun-hyeon on the cheque.
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This brings to light Yong-ho’s realisation about the significance of football to Jun-hyeon. In the same way that Choiseong Group was his entire life’s passion, football symbolised everything to Jun-hyeon. Yong-ho feels remorseful about having to cause all this trouble. However, knowing that money alone cannot compensate for such misdeeds, he starts implementing another strategy in his revenge journey. Yong-ho starts this new plan by first joining Choiseong Group as an intern while occupying the body of Jun-hyeon. In Reborn Rookie Episode 2 ending, wesee him stepping into the race to be the next chairman.
Reborn Rookie Episode 1-2 Review
Prior to watching Reborn Rookie kdrama, there were some uncertainties regarding the kind of show one would be watching since it seemed quite familiar to many of those who have been following corporate revenge dramas for the past couple of years. However, the first two episodes of this drama show that it will not disappoint. The most notable factor of this series is its pacing. There is virtually no unnecessary scene that does not advance the plot to the key point of the entire drama. By the end of the first episode, there are sufficient grounds for viewers to continue tuning in.
It is noteworthy that the conflict within the family takes up a central place in the drama. In order for it to have success, the main emphasis should be placed on the difficult situation of the interaction between Kang Yong-ho and his kids. Jae-gyeong and Jae-seong represent deliberately unpleasant characters who contribute to building necessary dramatic tension within the film. However, the tragic fate of Jun-hyeon provides sufficient emotional background, which helps to justify the plot of revenge. It becomes quite clear why he is immediately sympathetic due to such facts as a broken football career and love for his grandmother.
Performances have also made their mark on the first two episodes. Once the swap takes place, it seems like Lee Jun-young is shouldering a lot of the drama’s emotional and humorous burden and succeeds in doing so quite efficiently. Son Hyun-joo manages to get across the authority of Kang Yong-ho successfully before the swap. Jeon Hye-jin and Jin Goo portray Jae-gyeong and Jae-seong very well, and make them characters that you hate – something that is necessary for this stage of the plot. Bang-geul, portrayed by Lee Joo-myung, has not had a lot of things to do as of yet, but she gives clues about future subplots.
Reborn Rookie Review: Summing Up
Having seen the first two episodes of the Reborn Rookie Korean drama, I can understand why people have become very curious about the drama. Even though everything might not be perfect, especially the exaggerated elements during the comedy scenes and the way the bad guys appear too cartoonish, the drama has shown good promise during its first week. What matters more is that I found myself wanting to see how the plot of the drama develops in the future. Now that Kang Yong-ho will join the corporate battle as Jun-hyeon, a lot of things could happen.
