Undercover High School (2025)

Well-rounded mix of genres – comedic and suspenseful with a heart

Finished the show today and all I can say is – what a ride! It has been fun and enjoyable all throughout. The suspense was just right and the plot about finding the gold, tied up with obsession, education system and commentary about social equality were well done. The villain reasoning about how life isn't fair and because it's impossible to fix it, she's gone crazy and leads the evil instead? Good arc, though had this been up to 16 episodes – it'd be great if they could expand more on this.

Now, for the comedy – it is slapstick and it's been incredible and hilarious, and never removed the sincerity from the serious topics.

Honestly, I hoped for more obvious romance in the last episode – but nevertheless, the romance is good all throughout and thankful for what it delivered in the end.

I am happy for all the characters from main to supporting. The villain is deliciously written and the Kim Shin Rok is fantastic!

Seo Kang Joon never disappoints – I love how he played his undercover front as high schooler with grumpy and sassy attitude, and all the serious scenes with such heartfelt expressions. Such a gorgeous actor with great acting chops there and there. Overall I never doubted him for a second and happy for him that he acted in this wonderful show.

Jin Ki Joo, to me, is indeed the wildcard here. I never thought watching this show would make me love her as an actress! I love how she brought Ms. Oh to life – she's very expressive and you can see how she always wear her heart on her sleeves. She's also really pretty and gave so much life to the show just by being there. Remember the scene where she's blushing and blames Hae-song's face – her acting is just natural and fantastic.

Both our leads compliment each other so much, and all their scenes especially the one where Hae-seong realize that she is his first love – my screen is just overflowing with love and heart eyes.

Overall, this will be now on my list of comfort dramas 💛. Fun, serious and suspenseful with a heart – not perfect, but a well done show.

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Fun But Messy

This drama started off with a really interesting premise, but somewhere along the way, it kind of lost focus. The whole gold storyline was introduced as a big deal, then just… got forgotten? Logic also took a hit in the later episodes, but for some reason, I still kept watching. I guess it had its fun moments!

I liked the ghost stories—they were actually pretty cool! The second couple was entertaining too, even if they were mostly there for comedy. Speaking of comedy, they really threw in a lot of random stuff, and while some of it was funny, a lot of things just didn’t make sense.

I absolutely loved Yena and Yujeong’s friendship—I ended up shipping them! And the villain? Completely unhinged, but the actress nailed the role. She was so good.

Also, Jin Ki-joo is amazing as always, and this was actually the first drama of Seo Kang-joon’s that I finished—he’s definitely handsome!

Overall, the drama had its flaws, but it was still a fun watch in its own way. I just wish they had kept the focus on what they started with!

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A superb action comedy with superb acting from main leads

This is one of my favorite k-dramas of all time from now on.

The story is compelling, the acting is superb, progression is good throughout the drama without any huge down periods or boring parts.

Seo Kang Joon's character got both a very serious side and a goofy side which makes it perfect fit for the drama setting.
He shows strong compassion towards his new found friends going undercover and has to juggle mission priority and his own emotional feelings.

Side characters are all pretty strong I would say.
Seo Kang Joon's NIS colleagues have a strong impact with also some very good comedy here and there.

The villains of the story are good, not amazing but good.

The biggest accomplishment in this drama is Jin Ki Joo playing O Su A. Her acting was legendary I would say in this drama.
It's the smaller things that makes it so amazing, her small movement with her head, eyes, voice everything adds to both the serious part of the drama but especially the comedy parts of it.
I laughed so hard from all her tiny movements during the comedy parts. Not many actors know how to use their face and body to add to acting, she nailed it in this drama.

For an action comedy this is one of the best in the K-drama category for me.
The drama is fast paced without many boring parts like many dramas today, it got really good acting, ML+FL are both so good and have perfect chemistry throughout the drama.

All 12 episodes was filled with excitement.
If you enjoy action comedies this is one of the best out there.

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Seo Kang Joon Slayed Again!

Seo Kang Joon Slayed another one of his drama. He's an amazing actor that can express feelings in an incredible way. Well tbh all actors gave their best but Seo Kang is definitely higher.
A of why I gave this drama 9.5 ☆ is just because there's something missing... and by something missing i mean.. it's a shame that at the end after the whole case is solved we don't get to see the MC and his "classmates" relationships.. I mean.. they get to know the whole truth who he is etc.. and we just get the simplest goodbye.. so it's the only point I won't give it 10☆ But still it was an amazing drama!

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JUST DONT OVERTHINK AND ENJOY!!

this drama is something that you should not take serious the moment I started doing that the drama and characters started growing on me although I wished to have more eps this is such a good watch if you are tired of watching the same room coms and of course a emotionally draining drama you should definitely watch this drama and especially ep 4 it was the best ep of the whole show this drama is not something that is groundbreaking
and this makes it unique these imperfections makes it unique this drama is something that will be my guilty pleasure for a long time definitely recommended a 10/10 for me

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A great light, fun watch!

I am actually surprised by how much I enjoyed this drama! They managed to pull off every genre flawlessly, especially the comedy, which I usually find dumb and over-the-top in many predominantly funny/comedic K-dramas. In this one, I found myself laughing out loud many times!

I mean I enjoyed it so much that I put off watching the 2 last episodes because I wanted more and didn't wanna say goodbye...!

I only had two issues with this drama that could have given it an even higher rating!
One was that the FL took too long to find out that he was not a student, even though she suspected it quite early. The revelation should have happened around episode 4 to avoid any iffy situations!
The second was the childhood connection—it was unnecessary and added nothing to the plot.

All in all, this was a great light drama that you can binge-watch easily without getting bored!

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Seo Kang Joon's action spy has some laughs but lacks the gritty edge

After three years, Seo Kang Joon finally returns to the small screen. Honestly, I'm just as mesmerized like everybody else by Kang Joon's piercing brown eyes ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶

Undercover High School is an action romcom following Jung Hae Seong, a demoted NIS agent whose new mission is to go undercover in a school to find missing gold bars. Joining him in the hunt is high school teacher O Su A (played by Jin Kin Joo) and together they uncover not only the school's scary stories, but also the bullying and social injustice within its walls.

Incorporating themes of hierarchy and injustices in school in an action k-drama makes me wonder whether the writers may have bitten off more than they can chew. The rigged education system feels like a weak subplot and an excess narrative at times. The show suffers with weak writing and its portrayal of injustice comes across as shallow and superficial.

Despite the seriousness of his character's job, Seo Kang Joon is such a delight to watch. For an NIS agent, he’s far less broody than expected – more a being of goofy yet very agile and combative undercover. Kang Joon seamlessly injects humor even while in the middle of a risky operation. His comedic timings also hit the spot and are praise worthy. I would really love to see him next in an office romcom because suits definitely looks good on him >ᴗ<

On the other hand, Jin Kin Joo's character seems to be one-dimensional. She plays the character of a contract teacher who aspires to be a full-time faculty member as she once promised to one of her students. There is only so much a versatile actress can do with a poor character writing. The same goes with the rest of the cast - they are as tropey and typical as K-drama characters come, but in a way that’s also their job, to sprinkle in laugh-out-loud moments in this top-secret operation.

Poor character writing is also evident on the story's antagonist. At first, the school's chairwoman, Seo Myeong Ju (played by Kim Shin Rok), appears to be too powerful and cunning to be defeated, only to have questionable cards up her sleeves. The way she effortlessly bounces back from defeat is unconvincing. If only they had shared some backstory about Myeong Ju, it might have been easier to understand and relate to her obsession with gold bars and elite school. However, kudos to Shin Rok for portraying her with such steely grace and eerie aura. Her choice of clothes is also an eye-turner and a highlight every episode.

The pacing of this show is also an issue for me. This would have worked better as a movie rather than a TV series. Even though this series only has 12 episodes, it somehow feels like it stretches on forever mainly due to filler scenes and characters constantly getting sidetracked along the way. The conflict itself also feels less gritty and intense as the story progresses.

To sum up, Undercover High School is your subpar action k-drama. It's such a letdown that a series with a promising gist and talented main cast gets bogged down by generic and uninspired writing. Anyways, I'm still thankful this cured my kdrama slump. There is nothing a charming and swoon-worthy oppa can't cure after all.

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