The Escape of the Seven
The Escape of the Seven () is an ongoing South Korean television series starring Um Ki-joon, Hwang Jung-eum, Lee Joon, Lee Yu-bi, Shin Eun-kyung, Yoon Jong-hoon, Jo Yoon-hee, and Jo Jae-yoon. It revolves around seven main characters. It premiered on SBS TV in September 15, 2023, and airs every Fridays and Saturdays at 22:00 (KST). It is also available for streaming on Viu, Kocowa and Viki in selected regions. Series overview

Synopsis
The series is about seven people involved in the case of a missing girl, who face huge events intertwined with many lies and desires. It also depicts the journey of searching for the truth, as well as the bloody revenge that resembles divine punishment. Cast

Main
 Um Ki-joon as Matthew Lee / Lee Hwi-so
 Min Young-ki as Lee Hwi-so (before plastic surgery)
 Da-mi's adoptive father who was framed for Da-mi's murder and sentenced to death. After his escape from prison and undergoing plastic surgery, he returns as Mathew Lee, a Korean-American man who runs the biggest mobile platform company in South Korea but is a mysterious figure behind a veil. Only a few people know who he is. He plans to take revenge for Da-mi and his wife's murder. Hwang Jung-eum as Geum Ra-hee 
 The CEO of a drama production company and Da-mi's biological mother. She is skillful and aggressive at her job. Geum Ra-hee values money and success the most in her life and she will take any path to achieve that. To receive a huge inheritance, she tries to find her daughter whom she abandoned 15 years ago. Lee Joon as Min Do-hyeok  
 A man who used to be a gangster. He does not have a dream or hope for his life. If he trusts someone once, he will trust them for good. Due to this, his life is filled with a series of betrayals. He believes his younger brother and mother died due to Da-mi's adoptive mother, but later found out that it was Jin-mo who killed them, and it led to him secretly acting as a spy for Matthew Lee in order to exact revenge on Jin-mo. He was revealed to be the long-lost biological son of the chairman of Seong-chan Group
 Lee Yu-bi as Han Mo-ne  
 A young woman wants to become an idol and she is admired by her friends. Mo-ne seems to have a perfect life but she has a weakness. Her weakness is that she consistently turns out lies. Her life is full of these lies. She secretly had a relationship with Joon-seok and gave birth to a daughter, whom she cruelly abandoned. She later frames Da-mi, her bestfriend, of having the child and ruins her life to protect herself. She also lies about her family having a business is Silicon Valley when in fact her family is poor. Mo-ne will do anything to achieve what she wants even if she has to lie or sacrifice someone to achieve it. Shin Eun-kyung as Cha Ju-ran
 An OB-GYN and Bang Chil-sung's former lover. She lives with Bang Chil-sung and loves the money he has. Later on she tries to kill him with Geum Ra-hee when he finds out that she made a fake doctor's report stating that Da-mi is pregrant and ruining her life. She later works as the nurse of Seong-Chan Group’s chairman after being blackmailed by Mathew. Yoon Jong-hoon as Yang Jin-mo
 The CEO of Cherry Entertainment. He is usually gentle, but once his anger explodes nobody stops him. He is extremely greedy and will do anything for profit. Yang used to work directly for K (Joon-seok) and knew his identity. He tried to send Min Do-hyeok to jail and killed his family due to K's orders. One of Mo-ne's most trusted allies, he also knew her and K's relationship. While obeying K's order of destroying Min Do-hyeok, he grows suspicious of the reasons behind K's hate for him. The only person Yang Jin-mo cares about throughout the series in Ms.Noh. Jo Yoon-hee as Go Myung-ji  
 An art teacher at school. She creates a lie to protect something precious to her and she spreads a weird rumor at school to hide her weak point. Jo Jae-yoon as Nam Cheol-woo  
 A chief detective of Deokseon Police Station who is promoted to Commissioner on later parts of the series. He frames Da-mi's (Mathew/ Lee Hwi-so) father for murder and drug dealing as well as for being a drug addict. Ironically, Kim is a drug addict himself. He works for Joon-seok. Later in the series, he decides to help Mathew and work against Joon-seok to save himself. Supporting
 Lee Deok-hwa as Bang Chil-sung
 Da-mi’s paternal Grandfather who is a very wealthy man-building owner. He loves Da-mi very much and genuinely care for her
 Yoon Tae-young as Kang Ki-tak
 CEO of Yeolbaek Entertainment who is kept in check by Jin-mo. He was also the former boss of the Central Party, a gangster group centered in Seoul. He was also the former boyfriend of Ra-hee and still have feelings for her. He allied with Matthew Lee to exact revenge on the seven villains. Kim Do-hoon as Shim Joon-seok / K 
 A mysterious figure who was the mastermind of the events happening in the drama, and the real killer of Da-mi. His real identity was Shim Joon-seok, heir apparent of Seong-chan Group. He was revealed to be the adoptive son of Seong-Chan Group’s chairman, and he had also hated Do-hyeok for being the biological heir, leading to him attempting to kill Do-hyeok. Jung Ra-el as Bang Da-mi  
 A school star, Bang Chil-sung's granddaughter and Geum Ra-hee's biological daughter. She is actually the descendant of a wealthy tycoon, the only grandchild of Chairman Bang Chil-sung, but due to heart disease, her mother abandoned her for 15 years. When her biological mother brought her back home, she became a tool to inherit her grandfather's property in her mother's plan. Seo Young-hee as Park Nan-young  
 Da-mi's adoptive mother. She was murdered by Jin-mo, who framed her for killing Do-hyeok's family. Ahn Eun-ho as Hong Man-du
 Jin-mo's subordinate. Han Bo-reum as Noh Paeng-hee  
 A bar owner who was Kang Ki-tak’s partner. She adopted a daughter named Noh Han-na, who was the biological daughter of Han Mo-ne
 Eom Ji-yoon as Yoo-jin
 A bully at Myeongju Girls' High School. Jang Ha-kyung as So-yeon
 A bully at Myeongju Girls' High School. Kim Hyun as Yoon Ji-sook  
 Mo-ne's deaf-mute mother. Eun Hae-sung as Han Kyung-soo  
 Mo-ne's eldest younger brother with a confident personality and strong assertiveness. Lee Eugene as Han Cheong-soo
 Mo-ne's younger brother. Im Seong-gyun as Min Jae-hyuk
 Do-hyeok's foster younger brother. Lee Jong-nam as Jung Mi-so
 Do-hyeok's foster mother, who adopted Do-hyeok during his birth

Extended
 Ji Seung-hyun as Um Ji-man (Ep 4-10)
 A deputy prosecutor who fabricated the evidence of the killings to seek a death sentence for Lee Hwi-so on the grounds of murdering Da-mi and Bang Chil-sung. He was murdered by Joon-seok after he found out the secret of Joon-seok's parentage
 Kim Ki-doo as Joo Yong-ju (Ep 1-5)
 Jin-mo's subordinate. He was responsible for spreading fake news to frame Da-mi and her adoptive father for having a sexual relationship in order to hide Mo-ne's secret
 Jung Da-eun as Song Ji-ah (Ep1-9)
 A bully at Myeongju Girls' High School. After reaching adulthood, she grew remorseful for bullying Da-mi, and also fell out with Mo-ne, who often ordered her to do the bullying and even stole Ji-ah's written songs as her own. She was revealed to have taken the blame of murdering her abusive father in self-defence to protect her elder sister from prosecution, and Mo-ne made use of this secret to force Ji-ah to do her bidding. She was later murdered by Joon-seok. Lee Jung-hyun as Baek Ik-ho  
 A baker in the detention center. He was Ki-tak's loyal henchman while in and outside of prison
Lee Boo-young as Executive Director Hwang  
 A silent assistant and executive assistant to Chairman Bang Chil-sung. Han Da-hee as Oh Hye-bin  
 A head secretary of Geum Ra-hee. Yu Ju as Song Ji-Sun / Michell (Ep.8~)

Special appearance
 Handara as Hong Sa-ra ( 2)
 Danny Ahn
 Kim So-yeon

Production

Development
The work brings together author Kim Soon-ok with director Jo Dong-min for the third time after the series The Last Empress (2018) and The Penthouse: War in Life (2020–21). The series will be produced by SBS Drama Division called Studio S, in cooperation with Chorokbaem Media. The cost of producing the series is about 46.2 billion won (includes seasons 1 and 2). On February 24, 2023, it was revealed that the series is preparing for a second season. Filming
On September 22, 2022, the cast was confirmed with the start of filming for the series. Filming for the first season ended on July 6, 2023. Filming for the second season began in July 2023. On December 5, 2022, the production company apologized for illegally parking a small car on the sidewalk and paid a fine to the Parking Management Division of the Administrative Support Bureau of the District Office. Viewership

References

External links
  
 
 

Korean-language television shows
Seoul Broadcasting System television dramas
Television series by Studio S
Television series by Chorokbaem Media
South Korean revenge television series
South Korean crime television series
South Korean thriller television series
Television shows written by Kim Soon-ok
2023 South Korean television series debuts