Abhiroop Das
Created by Sarah Haasz, ‘Gangnam Project’ steps into the life of Hannah Shin, who flies all the way from Canada to Korea in order to give a budding K-pop star English lessons. As Hannah spends more days at this elite K-pop academy known as OME, she finds herself enveloped with talent and expression, and that naturally births her own drive to join the best on the big stage. While she does have a stellar voice, she is still new to the world of professional and competitive music, and each challenge brings forth unforeseen variables that take a physical as well as mental toll. The first season of this coming-of-age music series ends with Hannah owning up to her rough edges, as well as honing her skills, no matter the opposition. In the process, her idol group creates music that not only tugs at the soul but also alters the future of OME as a whole. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Gangnam Project Season 1 Recap
‘Gangnam Project’ begins with Hannah Shin arriving in Seoul with her brother, Leo, to accept a job offer at an elite K-pop training academy named OME. Being half Korean and half Canadian, Hannah is perfect to give English lessons to OME’s star singer, Chan-mi, English lessons, but their first meeting soon says otherwise. Contrary to all expectations, Chan-mi is stubborn and ruthless, which forces Hannah to get creative and make her own space in the institution. However, with each day, a deeper desire grows in her mind and heart: to join the academy as a trainee. Turns out, she is just as good a singer as the rest of the trainees, including famous teens like Supreme and Sun-hee, who, over time, become her friends rather than challengers. Eventually, Hannah becomes a full-fledged trainee as well, earning Chan-mi’s trust in the process.
With an OME Showcase scheduled, Hannah has to work extra hard to keep up with the team, be it in developing her rap skills or getting the hang of complex dance moves. Surprisingly enough, Leo proves to be a perfect fit for the academy, regaining his love for dancing while working as a temporary janitor. In the process, he also falls for one of the dance teachers, DJ, but the relationship ends before it can even begin due to OME barring relationships between trainees and teachers alike. This spells an even bigger problem for Chan-mi, who is revealed to be in a secret, on-and-off relationship with Supreme. So far, Hannah is the only one to know about it, and she does her best to get them to reunite. When a photographer clicks Chan-mi and Supreme together, however, they are suspended from the academy, a few days before the big showcase.
Meanwhile, a big communications company known as Stardust Mobile partners up with OME for the upcoming event and immediately begins showing close interest in the inner workings of the group. While Ken, the head of the academy, initially plans to frame the competition with a brother vs sister hook, highlighting Hannah and Leo, the representative from Stardust Mobile, Sandra Yim, has other plans. In this, Hannah finds the perfect opportunity to convince them both of portraying Chan-mi and Supreme as star-crossed lovers competing against each other, and Yim takes an instant liking to it. This means that both the star trainees are now back at OME, just in time to add finishing touches to their respective performances.
Gangnam Project Season 1 Ending: Does Hannah Become an Idol? Who Wins the OME Showcase?
‘Gangnam Project’ season 1 ends with Hannah becoming an idol alongside her teammates from Astra and X-Key, who together win the OME Showcase. Although Hannah’s path to becoming an idol is met with one challenge after another, be it pre-competition rigging or the last-minute suspensions of Chan-mi and Supreme, the group ultimately pulls through one day before the grand event. Still, this comes at a cost, with Mina signing out of Astra over her long-standing differences with Hannah. In a way, the two characters’ arcs mirror each other, as they both enter a world they don’t quite fit into. This is perhaps best symbolized through them often performing the same songs, but also hitting and missing at the same notes.
This very difference between the two music artists becomes key in finalizing their team structure, as Hannah briefly assumes leadership due to her better vocal performance and team control. Later, Mina rightfully points out that all the characteristic roles of an idol group are already fulfilled, with Chan-mi taking the lead stage, Sun-hee handling the raps, and Hannah filling in the role of the shy underdog. In such a scenario, Mina is naturally pushed into an antagonistic role, despite having put just as much hard work as the rest. In response, she quits the imbalanced group altogether and instead demands to perform solo, a wish that is ultimately accepted by Ken.
Mina’s rivalry with Hannah doesn’t just end with them parting ways, however, as her most decisive move is to perform “Boys, Clothes, Money” on the day of the OME showcase, well before Astra is due to perform the same sequence. This serves as an instant momentum killer for Hannah and company, and Mina only twists the knife further by hitting all the high notes perfectly. However, Hannah manages to think her way out of the panic and quickly regroups with the guys from X-Key to create a new song from scratch. This is not the only weapon in her arsenal, though, as her grand plan is revealed on stage when Astra’s standard performance of “Boys, Cloths, Money” gives way to a combined performance from both the girls and boys from Astra and X-Key, respectively.
The Rival Teams Unite as Radi8
As it turns out, Mina’s surprise betrayal unintentionally turns into a boon for Hannah, giving her the opportunity to do what she wanted from the start. While earlier episodes clearly indicate that she isn’t satisfied with “Boys, Clothes, Money” as the group’s breakthrough song, that opinion is smothered due to commercial demand. However, with the song now out of the window, Hannah has a chance to create a new performance that truly represents her group’s heart and strengths. Within the series, the song that perhaps best captures this is “Fake It,” celebrating not just Chan-mi and Supreme’s love story, but the idol group’s desire to break free of social shackles and find their own identity. Thus, it is fitting for this song to become the group’s defining performance at their first showing.
Another game-changing move on Hannah’s part is to bring Astra, X-Key, and Mina together to create a brand new group, as this synthesis best represents the values put forward by a song such as “Fake It.” Throughout the season, we see all the teens come together not as future competitors but as genuine friends, which makes the very idea of them going up against each other somewhat out of character. Realizing that, Hannah suggests performing together as a new group, named Radi8, referring to the eight members of the group. While the board isn’t pleased with the idea of a coed band initially, Radi8’s power-packed performance soon wins them over, compelling Ken to declare them the winners of the OME showcase, even if it means going against the script.
Why is Ken Fired? Who Takes His Place?
While Ken’s decision to crown Radi8 the winners is bold in its own right, it still invites the wrath of Stardust Mobile’s leader, Sandra Yim. Even as she lets the group enjoy their victory, her main counter-blow comes a few hours later. In an off-screen phone call to Ken, it is implied that he has been fired from his position at OME, with Yim taking his position instead. While she claims the following day that the decision was made after a board meeting, it is easy to infer that she used her power and influence to get Ken out of OME, potentially even using Stardust Dust’s sponsorship as a bargaining chip.. Given the cracks within OME’s structure that have been subtly visible this entire season, such a major change is expected, but it still brings forth a number of uncomfortable potentialities for the team.
The day after the competition, the newly formed Radi8 enters OME premises to learn that Yim has assumed leadership of the institution and has specific plans for how to develop Radi8 as an idol group going forward. The fact that her first move isn’t to break apart the group and prioritize X-Key, as she originally planned to do, suggests that she, too, has had a change of heart. This makes her move against Ken extra malicious, as it is not driven by differences in their creative visions, but sheer pettiness. Worse, the switch in leadership also means that the way OME is run is about to change. Unlike Ken, a former idol himself, Yim has no real understanding of how music works and completely depends on algorithms and audience metrics to dictate her opinions, which is bound to disrupt OME’s identity.
Through Hannah’s arc as a music artist, many of OME’s foundational principles come to life, particularly in how the academy prioritizes musical expression over impressing the public and minting money. This distinction is perhaps why the academy is short on funds in the first place, but at no point does Ken do something that goes against OME’s musical integrity. In stark contrast, Yim seems ready to sideline entire forms of idol performances, solely because she believes boy bands are currently the craze. This dependence on the algorithm creates a negative feedback loop, one that Radi8 stands in the face of, much to Yim’s disdain. As such, it is possible that she plans to twist and contort the group to fit commercial demands, not realizing that none of Radi8’s members can be subdued that easily.
Do Chan-mi and Supreme End up Together? What’s Next For Radi8?
Radi8’s strength, both as a group and as individuals, is best depicted through the budding love story of Chan-mi and Supreme. At the start, they are introduced as the apex performers of boy and girl music groups, but the emotional core behind their characters only comes out much later. It turns out, their tough exterior is a direct result of them not being together, and over time, it actively begins hampering their musical performance. However, by the end of the story, not only is their relationship accepted by OME, but it also takes center stage in Radi8’s identity as a coed music group. While their love story is framed as the showcase’s highlight from the very start, the transition from individual to combined groups best signals Chan-mi and Supreme’s growth.
At the start, the song “Fake It” comes off as an outpouring of sadness from both Chan-mi and Supreme over the fact that they have to maintain appearances in OME. However, a deeper layer within the song is also in how they act in front of each other, not letting their real feelings come to the surface. That changes by the final stretch of the story, with the couple sharing a passionate kiss and confessing their love for each other. As such, the second rendition of “Fake It” is no longer about sadness, but instead celebration. By extension, it involves not just the romantic couple, but also their friends, who have been together from day one and have each other’s backs no matter what.
While Yim is emerging as the next big hurdle in Radi8’s journey, it is unlikely that anything can truly stop them from growing as music artists. The biggest reason for that is their in-group solidarity, which isn’t dependent on OME’s facilities or education, but rather their keen understanding of the craft and effort that goes into it. To that end, even the worst-case scenario, where they are all suspended from the academy, is hardly enough to put a full stop to their careers, given that Radi8 is already a national sensation. As such, future storylines are likely to center around how Radi8 tackles Yim’s leadership and potentially brings Ken back on board as the institution’s leader and guiding light.
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