Hierarchy

Missed Opportunity

I shouldn't have watched the ending credit scene, it annoyed me. This story was meant to be avant-garde like Nevertheless and both failed. If you want a story to be edgy, it should have a point and a definitive ending. I hate ambiguous endings the most, it's sloppy, if a sequel was intended, set it up as so, this way fans can be excited and anticipate it. Doing so builds respect for the writer. I will follow a good writer's career because I appreciate the talent required to tell a good story.
What I did like: I liked the love story between Jae I and Ri An and the friendship between Jae I and Kang Ha (because that's all it was) He taught her to find value in herself and protect what she loved, and she did. I was glad to see she showed him the ultrasound; it was a poignant moment in their relationship.
One thing I hate about stories like this is powerful never pay for their crimes and neither do their kids. Those that do their bidding are the ones sacrificed. I hope to god, if there is a sequel, they don't make Kand Ha a villain, I would be extremely disappointed because it wouldn't fit his character.
This my two cents, take it for what it's worth from a fan that loves great stories and is disappointed in missed opportunities.

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*just my opinion*

Okay, so, how do i start this? To be honest, the 6.9 rating on dramalist seems a bit too high for this drama. No joke. It had potential despite there being many kdramas with sort of a similar plot. For the first two episodes, the drama would seem like something worth watching. However, after that, I’ve no words. If anybody requires a simple answer, I’d just tell them to not waste their precious time watching whatever this is.

First of all, the FL seems to have absolutely no emotions on her face regardless of the situation she is in. Some of you would argue that that’s the whole point. I agree, however, her face doesn’t really give off that “emotionless” vibe that actors like Han So Hee, Park Ji Hoon, etc give off. This girl just looks like she straight up doesn’t know how to act. But honestly, if you were to watch this drama, her acting would be the last of your concerns, considering the amount of flaws the drama itself has.

The only character that had some common sense was Kang Ha. At least, everything he said, his actions were justified and understandable. However, i CANNOT say the same for Jae-i. You know those kind of people that would witness a crime happening and do absolutely nothing to stop it, then go home and blabber on about how they feel sad for whatever happened? That’s the kind of person she is. If you don’t agree, it’s fine. But, honestly, I cannot find a better way to describe her.
She acted like she felt so bad for Kang Ha’s brother but still never left his side, stayed being friends with him, despite knowing the kind of mad dogs her boyfriend and his friends are.

how mean can you be, dude? Even after such a big tragedy happening, she continues being the same. Like, where’s the character development??¿ Whole time she just uses Kang Ha to forget about Ri-an, leads him on, gives him false hopes and then when the time comes, tells him that she’d do anything to protect Ri-an. What the heck is happening here, exactly? To be honest, i also do not understand why Kang-Ha stood by her side because if I were him, I would just let her go to hell or smth.

She is nothing but a self centred, selfish, idiotic freak. Like, I get that you were and are in love with Ri-an. But how blind in love can you be to not see the bazillions of flaws he has? Like be so fr. This just doesn’t sit right with me. It’s unrealistic. Even if he may not have been directly involved in Kang Ha’s brother’s death, he still contributed A LOT to his death. How could you just sit down and ask the brother of the guy that your boyfriend was indirectly involved in K###ing, to sympathise with your boyfriend? What a freak 🙄🙄 It was just a typical rich boy obsessed with rich girl plot.
Also, the teacher sleeping with Woo Jin??¿!!!! Why is she so full of herself despite knowing she’s a low life gold digging pedophile who’s also a murderous b!!!tch???? I ABSOLUTELY despised it whenever she put on that innocent face around people and acted so clueless about everything happening🙄🙄

Like be so fr. You need to be behind bars. I was already suspicious of her and Woo Jin the minute the drama started. They couldn’t have made it more obvious. She gave absolutely no flying f#ck about In Han’s death (like everybody in the drama lol🙄🙄🙄) , just pretended she did, despite being directly involved. The only person she cared about was Woo-Jin, a minor who she taught at school and was sleeping with. A MINOR. ew. are you not disgusted with yourself? And apparently, Woo Jin was in love with Hae Ra which she didn’t like. what in the actual f#ck was this drama, really? Everybody seemed to be in love with each other. Just a sh#tshow of a bunch of wh0res, i feel.

Tbh, I don’t even have anymore words to say. I’ve already said ALOT. I want everyone reading this to not watch this, ty❤️

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This Ain't Revenge. It's Regression

first two episodes really had me thinking.. "this is not that bad, why does everyome hate this?". oh boy did i know what was coming for me.

“the baby must have understood i didn’t want it, so it left itself.”
and that was the only line that had any impact.

let’s start off easy—there is no plot. hierarchy attempts to throw in three different plotlines and then expects them to miraculously blend like some k-drama smoothie. spoiler alert: it doesn’t work. these plotlines don’t intertwine, they run parallel, like socially awkward train tracks.

there is no development, no real mystery, no gripping romance, no fulfilling revenge. just vibes (and not the good kind). the only time the plot moved an inch was during the last 45 minutes. until then, i was multitasking my way through like a champ, wondering what genre this drama even belonged to.

revenge? poorly done. handled with the grace of a toddler throwing a tantrum at a birthday party they weren’t invited to
romance? non-existent. only people that did have chemistry didn't end up together so.. what's the point?
mystery? girl, where??
character development? raw. not rare. RAW. stove wasn’t even turned on.
plot twists? mostly yawn, with one almost-shocker that you could kinda see coming if you squinted.


lee chaemin's acting? great. his character? spineless. sir, your whole arc is about avenging your brother and you give it all up because you caught feelings for a girl you met two business days ago? be serious with me, kang ha.

woo jin? pretty, but a certified clown.

yoon hera? the only saving grace. she deserves the world, an oscar, and a better drama. ji hyewon, thankyou for the gem of a character.

jung jae-i? emotional depth of an orange. actually, no—an orange peel. her character arc was meant to be deeply emotional. teen pregnancy, miscarriage, abandonment—this had the potential to carry the entire drama. but her acting? yeah no. she was the protagonist, and she failed her own story.

kim ri-an? boring. not even brooding. just blank. like his entire screen presence. honestly, him and jae-yi deserve each other. two characters with emotional range stuck at zero. and again, not a single compelling moment to tie up their arcs.

the pacing? somehow fast AND boring.
the visuals? appealing to look at. they clearly spent a fortune making this look good. pity they forgot to include a functioning story with it..
the OST? can't remember a single track.
the ending? unsatisfactory and face-less like, seriously. couldn’t even show jae-yi's mom’s face.

“Hierarchy” had potential. but potential doesn’t save you when the script is running on fumes and the characters are running on vibes and delusion. the ideas were thrown together like ingredients in a blender with no lid. messy, flavorless, and exploding everywhere. they had the budget, the cast, the aesthetics—but forgot the soul.

but go off i guess, Netflix.

Rating: 5/10 for cinematography and overall enjoyability, and for hera trying her best in a sinking ship. if you search up the definition of "mid" on wikipedia, this drama pops up btw.

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The fact that this had so much potential makes me mad.

This is the type of series that makes me mad. Even though the plot was basic and has been used multiple times. It had potential and could’ve given us a better revenge. Basically the ML ended up falling in love with the girl that let his brother die, even if she was sorry about it she did not do ANYTHING. It’s even worse when I tell you that the girl didn’t even like him back. Also the series could’ve been fixed if they gave us a second season but no. It’s a “limited Netflix series” meaning there will be no season two, and that it will not be fixed at all.

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I'd give it a miss...

I wasted too many hours of my life watching up to episode 6 (although it took me MONTHS of dipping in and out) before I finally gave up for good. Please do not waste your time, the storyline is poor.
I thought it would be decent to start with, like a Revenge of Others vibe, but it was just a car crash.
Everybody was so stiff, there was no chemistry between any of the characters, and the most expressive character in the whole show was the principal's strange son. All the characters have something that makes you hate them.

And WHY, when they go outside to have conversations, do they stand 6ft apart every time?? They might as well shout it so the whole school can hear their secrets.

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Pretty but not much substance

I was sick and couch-rotting and this show was suggested by Netflix. The premise/vibes sounded intriguing (murder mystery and revenge plot?!) so I gave it a shot before seeing the negative reviews.

I loved the cinematography and overall darker/edgy vibe, but the plot ended up being a bit underwhelming. I suppose it was as spicy as it could get for a high school chaebol drama, and the suspense buildup was pretty good with some twists, but the main characters were really immature. Character development is slow and/or lacking in most, with an exception for He-ra. Kang Ha came in looking for revenge - and I guess he did get justice served eventually, but almost got derailed simping for Jae-i lol.

Honestly, if Jae-i had just communicated more with her bf and supposed bestie, things would've turned out way better from the start. Her stoic personality went from mysterious to boring pretty quick bc it turned out she was just anxious and avoidant. Glad she finally started standing up for herself against her dad and communicating with her friends at the end. Also the homeroom teacher really had the audacity to act all empathetic about In-han... SMH.

Overall, it was still an ok bingewatch while I was sick and vegging out on the couch lol - I could just turn off my brain and enjoy the cinematography and vibes. The finale was pretty satisfying in terms of closure, although they definitely left it open for a second season, which based on reviews might not happen lol.

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Who needs depth when there's mood boards to bring to life

To me, the most important parts of a story are consistency in the plot and developed characters. Hierarchy had all the ingredients: the setup, the characters, the world, the aesthetics. Yet somehow it all felt empty. Like the people behind it cared more about how it looked than how it felt. Which they did, it's obvious.

They didn’t seem to understand how to give the characters real emotions or motivations. Things just happened without enough reason or buildup. They romanticized everything — the heartbreak, the obsession, the pain — but didn’t do the work to earn it.

We’re told these characters feel things, but we're not shown how in a way that sticks. And that emotional depth is what makes a story hit. They had this idea for Rian and Jaei in which they're tragically meant for each other no matter who comes between them. One scene in which they are younger running around in a house doesn't tell me about the deep unexplainable bond they're supposed to have.

But that's also the thing. I love that deep unexplainable bond they have. I saw the same in Tempted and I was happy to see it here too. Jaei and Rian had something real, and if they’d taken the time to show us the layers of their connection, it could’ve been unforgettable. Instead, it ended up being surface-level — beautiful, but lacking the backbone to really make me believe it.

That being said — the visuals? Insane. This show is visually stunning. The styling, the cinematography, the whole vibe — unforgettable really. And I genuinely liked the characters, even if they didn’t get the depth they deserved. Well, at least some of them(Jaei's father and brother, i'm looking at your evil asses).

Speaking of, it was kind of refreshing seeing just plain evil characters. Sure, it's always better if they have motives, tragic backstories and stuff but seeing pure evilness sometimes everytime Jaei's brother appeared on screen, brought back memories when characters on tv shows used to be absolute menaces with no excuses.

I do wish we got more from the friend group too. I wanted to see more of their dynamics and how their relationships actually worked — but with only 7 episodes, I get that there wasn’t much room.

And also, if you haven't noticed already, I just chose to exclude the main character from my review completely because it was clear they were trying to remake Elite's Samuel but instead, we got a main character with unclear morals, failed and I don't know if even attempted revenge story, and a love triangle with Jaei which was extremely illogical because of the whole revenge attempt. I don't even know if I can call it a love triangle really.

Hierarchy was a show I wanted to fall in love with and for a long time I thought I did. But being pretty isn't enough. Next time, I hope they focus less on creating a mood board and more on creating a story with soul.

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I don’t came here to argu. but fuc*k that bitch jea-i

frist of all the series has no story line. It was started as good but ended as hell. now come to jae- little piece of shi*t. fuc*king bitc*h. even though see don’t look pretty but she has her attitude as hell. I don’t have Words to shi*t posting this drama. I watch worse drama but this ia the worsesed of all. And the main character kang ha, in the end he forgets about why he came to this college. he came to average his brothers death ended up loving that bit*ch. I like the character who is hacking and collecting evidence to get the hell out of the bullies. i think that he is the main character.

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could this be the worst kdrama in 2014?

First off, this is my opinion. If any of you liked the drama, then good for you. Just respect the fact that not everyone liked it

This drama made me wonder if Korean elite really lived like that. Seriously, students who rule the school, so much so that the teachers are afraid of offending them??? Be that as it may, the extravagant display of wealth i.e. helicopters, chauffers, butlers, etc... was just a bit too much for me.

I though that this story revolved on bullying but the sub-stories easily overpowered this notion. The FL, while visually pretty, was nothing short of irritating, Blank expression from start to finish... MEH... I hated her character really. The way she avoided her ex BF would make you think that the guy did something MAJORly bad. But loh and behold.... it ended up that she was "protecting" him. Seriously, what kind of storyline was that. Protecting him from the fact that she got pregnant and miscarried? Very lame.... This show was literally children playing grown-ups by making common life problems a BIG issue.

And Hera? From bitchy BFF, it felt rushed how she turned a 360 sympathizing with the FL.

This story has just too many flaws and I wholeheartedly agree with anyone who gave it a low rating.

Not to belittle the efforts of the cast and crew, but this really was such a waste of airtime on Netflix.

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YAY another frustrating piece woohoo

Basically, this drama feels like another version of love alarm: there was potential for this to be good, but the writing was so poorly done, the characters' choices and consequences don't make any sense. The love pentagon thing that occurs is terrible cause it feels like a bunch of elementary schoolers trying to "love." Kang Ha falls in love with jae i, which I guess is fine, but when he finds out that SHE LITERALLY DIDN'T PROTECT HIS BROTHER FROM BULLYING unfazed him is illogical. How can jae i still love ri an when he is abusive and elitist when she doesn't have the same values as him? Why does he ra love u jin? Why does he ra love ri an? What's the motivation behind ju won? All of these questions go unanswered and the plot essentially crashes out. The actors portray their characters decently with what they were given, but the hate is warranted. Please don't watch this drama and find something else lmao. Couldn't finish it

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