Hierarchy

Surprisingly Enjoyable

I was almost put off watching this by all the negative reviews but it had been on my watchlist for a while and I had been excited to watch it when I first heard about it so I decided to give it a go. I’m really glad I did!

There were lots of things I really liked about this show:

The acting was very good, casting was good and acting was believable. Only downside was the throwback scenes of Ri-an and Jae-I felt a little awkward to me (hence 9 not a 10)

They had a really cool use of shadows in certain scenes, especially in the first few episodes, which helped portray certain messages. For example, there is a scene where Ri-ans mum is talking to him and only he is in the shot with the shadow of her head, but the shadow of her is a lot larger than him proportionately so you can see how she holds herself above him.

The main 4 in the cool clique used each others full names a lot and their parents used their full names a lot of the time, but Kang Ha spoke more informally with their names which showed the status difference and the cold relationships they have.

There was a lot of misdirection so it wasn’t clear who was going to have killed the exchange student until nearer the end when it started becoming more obvious. The first few episodes also had a lot of misdirection around which secrets were getting out and who the blackmailer was which made it more fun.

All in all, I enjoyed the show and am glad I gave it a try!

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unlike everyone else, i liked it a bit.

while i do agree that this k-drama wasn't super insane or anything. here are the things i liked about it:

- we could see what everyone was doing and thinking and in think that's really cool
- we could see the personal improvement of each character and how they changed as the drama moved on. for example Jae-i's and He-ra's friendship, Jae-i's emotional state and fears improving, Kang-ha and Ri-an's feelings which were mostly relatable as Ri-an always loved Jae-i and also had a strong value of what he wanted in his life and how he was mature enough to show his feelings to his mother even though she didn't understand him and slapped him.
- the diversity such as the student dating the teacher who ended up to be the culprit and also the student with his principal mom.
- the production was very good
- compared to others I've watched its not the best but it's definitely a good one as its only 7 episodes so it definitely isn't a waste of time as others say.
-stable connections. if you paid attention to the characters you would've noticed from the beginning that Jae-i was never actually over Ri-an and that Woo-jin liked He-ra.
- happy ending for everyone.

i'd say just watch it for yourself and see because its very short and it could be quite interesting for you too.

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wasted potential on nonsensical romance

i will be fully honest and start with: I have skipped through it a lot. I am not sure I watched one full episode of this kdrama, however it intrigued me. I guess the first episode's 'plot twist' on who Kang Ha was without even meeting him, aka in the first 5 minutes of the episode. After that, it was just easy to figure out where the story was going.

The only reason I actually finished it was because I skipped through the episodes. The acting of the main actress was, more or less, bad. There was no chemistry between her and Chaemin, and the romance between their characters was S T U P I D. It made absolutely no sense.

However, after getting more of Lee Woojin, I actually wanted to continue watching it without shipping, for him and him only. His story was interesting, his acting was also, in my opinion good, and his side of things was kind of hard to guess. He is by FAR my favorite character.

Now, let's get into some things that pissed me off:

- why in the hell did the main character fall for Jae-i??? He thought she was one of the murderers of his brother, yet he fell for her??? The romance between them made no sense.
- he-ra's character bothered me soooo much until the last episode, and I only started liking her because of Woojin.
- the teacher had some fucking audacity for a pedophile, murderer, and gold-digger. thank god she ended up in prison.
- ra-in... i have no idea how to feel about this guy really. his character is so?? confusing. he never once stood for one thing he believed, the main girl had him wrapped around her little finger but making him think he had a say in shit.
- the fucking ending. BE FUCKING SERIOUS. WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?? did Kang Ha kill someone at the end? FOR WHAT? HE GOT HIS REVENGE???? WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT??

i love high-school kdramas, this one kinda reminded me of sky castle until the ending appeared. i have no idea why that was even there so i will straight up ignore it.

anyway lee woojin best boy best character best everything i love him <3

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Did they release the first draft?!

In all honesty, it’s the worst drama I’ve ever seen.
Nothing really works, it looks like they released the series based on a first loose draft.
The budget was clearly high, but it was thrown away.

The characters are so superficial, there’s nothing to them. Some of them are poor, some of them are rich, some are evil, everyone is miserable, that’s it.
The actors are clearly struggling, their acting is robotic cause the dialogues are so lame and dull they couldn’t do much to make it better. They did their best though.
All this led to a lack of chemistry among the cast that I might’ve never seen, they’re literally NPCs.

Some cutscenes are so unnecessarily complex in a drama this basic that they’re involuntarily comic (the hacking scene for example), other ones are shot like they’re meant to be epic but nothing happens before or after so there’s no pathos at all.

There also are some plot holes.
The whole female lead character is built around her monstrous father (he is, not saying he’s not) and how she’s so scared for her life yet when she throws up on the heir she’s supposed to marry we don’t see any scenes with his father reacting to that or when she avoids going to America cause the guy was found guilty of drugs possession… You can’t built all of her story around the fact she fears her father the most and how cruel he is and not showing us his reactions to her actions/things that happens to her that would surely send him off.

The plot itself is so easy I understood everything from the beginning, despite the many incoherences. The whole Rian character is built to be ambiguous, is he really cruel or just a dumb rich guy? To build that ambiguity you have to create more depth to the character and as I said, the characters are just NPCs, so it doesn’t work.

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Holy SMOKES!

This is one of the most disturbing drama I’ve watched on Netflix. The acting was alright but the relationship between the characters was so bad I had to dropped it. Theres like 0 chemistry between thr mc and female lead.

There was a scene where one of the character had a fling with one of her students and that just made me want to dropped it completely. Mind you that they are 17-18 years old and this teacher is probably in her late twenties. It just sort of disgusts me especially when they indicate there was a intimate scene in the show.

Not just that but the female lead feels like she was kinda a gullible character but not a likable one. I also don’t think she is a strong female lead. I didn’t finished this series as I dropped it. Cause i don’t feel like the need to finish the series as i sort of know how it would end.

Do I recommend you to watch this? HELL NO! Its honestly a waste of time cause u could be watching something better fr! But if ur curious suit your self!

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Waste of time

1. What are the random montages every 10 minutes? These people cannot act, so they've added montages to make us feel something.
2. Why are evil characters getting redemption arcs and the above montages to show their friendship? Theyre going after each other's exes and you want us to believe that there's love between them?
3. The storyline is going everywhere and nowhere at the same time. It has 7 episodes but they feel so long.
4. It all looks so polished and shallow, these high school students do not look like they're in their junior year.
5. The FMC shows zero emotions but keep jumping from one guy to another. Everything is a mess.

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Hope the writers have a sense of "noblesse oblige" & not make Season 2!

This drama fails on so many levels, the only reason I endured as I wanted to know whether my theory on the culprit was right or not. Otherwise this drama has no arresting factor on why you should watch. When it was announced, I called that it seems like a cross-over of Elite, Gossip Girl, Penthouse, Glory & related shows. But this more like watered down version, where the writers picked bits and pieces from all of it and made this total HOT MESS of a show.

The plot was shallow - it depicted the glamour/bullying but had no substance/depth to keep the audience engaged. The acting was "cardboard" stuff, no character arc was built & their motives had no logic - running around the 7 episodes like headless chickens. I literally fast forwarded episodes just to get to the end to know the culprit & whether justice is served. But neither the show throughout nor the finale had any power/impact to wow me at any given second.

The genre/theme is already saturated but clearly this is one of the worst dramas of 2024 so far. Nobody gave it much thought and probably banked on marketing alone - as people would watch it for the hype. Calling it an average drama, is me being kind & for the sake of the artists who took a risk to act in this HOT MESS!

✘ Highly Recommend to SKIP IT & watch other shows in this genre/theme! Remember: Your drama time and braincells are precious ❤️so think carefully before watching!

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it’s not what you would expect!

anyone going into this show watching the trailer please be prepared to be shocked,because the show might feel at the beginning that everything going to be predictable and the characters will just be annoying. But it’s everything but that this show showed how characters do the more dehumanizing things when they are that desperate. And I believe that was show so well because of how well the main cast worked together also the way the script was. I also want to point out who were the standouts in this show which were Hera and Woojin. Hera was so captivating to watch any time she was talking, and Woojin was so mysterious it will keep you curious about him.

Lastly I suppose I should say if there was anything bad and the only thing that bugged me a little bit was a reveal of a character who was a lot to play in this show. But then again I don’t have the biggest problem with it because the dialogue that goes with the reveal really makes it connect. (sorry I don’t want to spoil to much I would say watch you won’t regret it!)

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HE RA ACTOR BACK HURTS FROM CARRYING

Story
was bad how is going to parties making out w sone random girl helping solve his brother death? And even after finding out he stills 'loves her'? Bc I genuinely dont know ML acting wasn't great. At first I thought the ML and using the FL which was interesting then he confessing the next episode so he genuinely liked her why? Bc she smiled at a dog as has a drop of sympathy in her compared to her friends. The whole plot if rich kids in school made them look dumb. Why wasn't a background on the ML done from the start?, why didn't the FL/SML parents know they were dating? But they decide everything for them right.


Characters
Ive got no sympathy for the FL shes so boring its crazy the actress doesn't even try to give her character ANYTHING shes not a 'cold hearted queen who develops' and she doesn't change, no walls are broken down, no expressions, 'my live sucks so bad im rich and have to marry this random and im scared of my father oh no~' then she runs away because shes pregnant like girl nobody cares her man could've helped her they seemed SO happy in those flashbacks which were lackluster bc i didn't care about either of them SML was just there i view his character much like the FL i just didn't care he could've died. He would've been better if he tried to move on from the FL and find who he was without her. The FL and SML were too dependent on each other before. The TML? The rich one was just there to fill in no real character just a 'plot ' device. ML was a scumbag who cared more about a girl he likes than his dead ass brother even when learning what happened he still likes her 🤦‍♀️the only good thing he did was not accepting the SML apology and now for the saving grace the only thing that carried the show HE RA

HE RA actress is great she gives exactly what you expect from a rich spoiled girl who isn't drunk on a power high like the majority of side characters. Her manipulations could've been more subtle but did what needed to be done. She was bitch with no sympathy to anyone but her friends, I believe she cared about the FL after breaking up their friendship the flashback was sad because she SHOWED some emotion once the FL left. He ra was the best character the show had because she knew what she was, he wanted to date the SML, she wanted her father to get connections, she wanted revenge for the was the FL treated her -not as a friend- more like a servant, the only scenes they have together are when the FL asks her to do something. I felt no sympathy for the FL once He Ra asked her to do something for her ahe didn't because she was jealous?! Could tell tbh, (after helping her keep her whole has pregnancy under wraps) And her Father found out about the ML imo she deserved that I was on He Ra side here because really? She couldn't help her out this once. Now He Ra isn't a good person, i mean she had her friends sloppy seconds, shes an instigator, a bully too but she's a good character the only redeeming one in the drama.

Music was good definitely added a few to my Playlist.

Extra Notes
The Fl smiled 5 times in the whole show. SML/FL deserve each other both are overall disappointing.
ML was the worst main lead ive ever had to watch i genuinely dont know how its possible to like someone who ignored your brother's bullying for so long just sat on the side lines watching even in the last episode he hugged her the FL doesn't want you. You've been rejected twice. 😐 No chemistry between the 'love triangle' everything was so stiff with any scene the FL was in.

Positives
HE RA, production was good loved the school but it just makes it sadder because they cast had everything they need to be good but the acting and script ruined it. Music, FL dad a great actor love his works, the principals son, the 4.5 acting is for He Ra alone.

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