Sometimes I can't help but wish people who can't look at characters or shows past a surface level viewpoint just wouldn't watch series at all. Not to mention people who make a series seem bad just because it wasn't their cup of tea
A drama can’t be deep or have meaning if you’re not actually paying attention. Weak Hero Class 1 was so much more than just fighting and violence.
The thing about the teachers “serving no real purpose”? That’s actually realistic. In Korea, it used to be extremely easy for a student to get a teacher fired. One complaint to the parents, and that teacher's career could be over. That dynamic of powerless authority is part of the problem the series is portraying. Who’s gonna stand up to a rich student when the parents are ready to threaten lawsuits?
Also, Weak Hero was literally marketed as an action drama about troubled teens. I’m not sure what you were expecting. It’s like buying banana ice cream and then complaining that it tastes like banana and that you’re tired of frozen treats. Maybe next time… don’t get banana ICE cream?
As for character development, it’s there. You just have to actually watch how they behave, listen to what they say, and notice the nuances. Beomseok, Sieun, and Oh Beom all had very clear arcs. If anything, I only wish we got more depth on Suho i couldn't get a full grasp on him.
And let’s not forget: it’s a K-drama. Things are going to be dramatized. That’s the whole genre. Nobody’s tuning in for a hyper-realistic docuseries about a smart kid with absentee parents and social issues.
Beomseok not knowing why he lashed out isn’t “lazy writing” it’s realistic character work. He’s a mentally unstable teenager with deep abandonment trauma and unresolved abuse. Of course he doesn’t fully understand his actions. That’s the point. People don’t always have clean, well-written reasons for spiraling. Sometimes it’s just too much all at once, and that’s what Weak Hero does well showing how things can slowly, then suddenly, fall apart.
You don’t have to like the show, that’s fair. But calling it shallow just because it didn’t hand you everything in neat little flashbacks and monologues is kind of missing the entire point.
Omg yeah I was feeling the same way!!! I was sooooo annoyed at Beom-Seok!!!! Like I get it I feel sorry for you…
as someone who relates to Beomseok and really appreciated the depth of his character, I can’t help but disagree.
Beomseok isn’t a clean-cut character. He exists in that grey space between black (evil, cruel, villainous) and white (kind, heroic, angelic). Psychologically, he’s extremely realistic. And in my opinion, you absolutely cannot look at him just on a surface level and think that’s enough to judge his actions or his character as a whole. Respectfully.
He was raised as a tool, nothing more than a PR piece for his father to look good. "See? The great politician adopting a poor orphan" His worth was tied to how useful he was. Behind closed doors? Beatings, constant invalidation, and being treated like he didn’t matter. That alone can completely twist a person’s perception of themselves and others. especially on how to deal with and regulate emotions, as a child the environment you're raised in shapes you as a person, it's why generational trauma exists.
Then he gets thrown into the world as this awkward, in other peoples povs hes a clearly sheltered rich kid, prime target for bullying. The first “friends” he makes use him for money, and once that wears off, they beat him for fun. Literally. No reason, just violence and mockery.
Then we get to Sieun and Suho, his first actual “friends.” And that meant everything to him. But even here, it’s not as perfect as it seems. Suho only really hung out with Beomseok when Sieun was around (minus one deleted scene), and let’s be honest, Suho has this protective, almost aggressive energy that can feel controlling. That scene where he forces Beomseok to confront his bullies? That wasn’t empowering. That was traumatizing. It was handled with zero care for Beomseok’s mental state. And the way Suho handled things in general wasn’t that far off from how Beomseok’s bullies acted, just masked as “tough love.”
Then you and TONS of other people say, “He wanted to kill Suho over a girl” like it was some dramatic love triangle. (Which lets me know none of you truly paid attention to Beomseok or any character dynamics throughout the series.) That’s just not true.
First of all: He didn’t want to kill Suho. He wanted to humiliate him. He was angry, overwhelmed, and spiraling, trying to reclaim some control, some sense of worth. And the second he realized the damage he caused, you immediately see the regret, guilt, and shock in his face. It wasn’t about "winning" or being evil. It was about desperation.
Second: Beomseok asked Suho to follow him back on Instagram three times. No response. Okay, maybe Suho just doesn’t use social media, right? But then Beomseok checks and sees Suho is following Yeong-i. Probably because she took his phone and did it herself (Lets be honest she totally would lol), but Beomseok doesn’t know that. Then he sees her feed, full of happy pictures with Suho and Sieun, hanging out, laughing, being close. He sees himself replaced in real time. Imagine what that does to someone with his background.
To someone like Beomseok, that situation screams:
“Did they even like me in the first place?”
“Am I that easy to forget?”
“They were just using me again.”
“She took my place and no one noticed.”
“I knew I wasn’t really their friend.”
“What does she have that I don’t?”
And that inner voice? It’s not just insecurity. It’s trauma, neglect, rejection, and years of being thrown away by people who were supposed to care. That spiral isn’t about “a girl.” It’s about feeling disposable again.
At the end of the day, Beomseok is a mentally ill teenager. He needs serious help. That doesn’t make what he did justifiable, never will. but it does make it understandable. He wasn’t owed that help from Suho or Sieun. But his actions are excusable in the sense that they come from real, deep-rooted pain, not malice. (after all there's a reason some criminals are sent to psych wards instead of prison isn't there?) In my opinion, that makes him one of the most realistic, down to earth, actual teenage characters in the entire story.
Celebrity 
Sometimes I can't help but wish people who can't look at characters or shows past a surface level viewpoint just wouldn't watch series at all. Not to mention people who make a series seem bad just because it wasn't their cup of tea
The thing about the teachers “serving no real purpose”? That’s actually realistic. In Korea, it used to be extremely easy for a student to get a teacher fired. One complaint to the parents, and that teacher's career could be over. That dynamic of powerless authority is part of the problem the series is portraying. Who’s gonna stand up to a rich student when the parents are ready to threaten lawsuits?
Also, Weak Hero was literally marketed as an action drama about troubled teens. I’m not sure what you were expecting. It’s like buying banana ice cream and then complaining that it tastes like banana and that you’re tired of frozen treats. Maybe next time… don’t get banana ICE cream?
As for character development, it’s there. You just have to actually watch how they behave, listen to what they say, and notice the nuances. Beomseok, Sieun, and Oh Beom all had very clear arcs. If anything, I only wish we got more depth on Suho i couldn't get a full grasp on him.
And let’s not forget: it’s a K-drama. Things are going to be dramatized. That’s the whole genre. Nobody’s tuning in for a hyper-realistic docuseries about a smart kid with absentee parents and social issues.
Beomseok not knowing why he lashed out isn’t “lazy writing” it’s realistic character work. He’s a mentally unstable teenager with deep abandonment trauma and unresolved abuse. Of course he doesn’t fully understand his actions. That’s the point. People don’t always have clean, well-written reasons for spiraling. Sometimes it’s just too much all at once, and that’s what Weak Hero does well showing how things can slowly, then suddenly, fall apart.
You don’t have to like the show, that’s fair. But calling it shallow just because it didn’t hand you everything in neat little flashbacks and monologues is kind of missing the entire point.
Beomseok isn’t a clean-cut character. He exists in that grey space between black (evil, cruel, villainous) and white (kind, heroic, angelic). Psychologically, he’s extremely realistic. And in my opinion, you absolutely cannot look at him just on a surface level and think that’s enough to judge his actions or his character as a whole. Respectfully.
He was raised as a tool, nothing more than a PR piece for his father to look good. "See? The great politician adopting a poor orphan" His worth was tied to how useful he was. Behind closed doors? Beatings, constant invalidation, and being treated like he didn’t matter. That alone can completely twist a person’s perception of themselves and others. especially on how to deal with and regulate emotions, as a child the environment you're raised in shapes you as a person, it's why generational trauma exists.
Then he gets thrown into the world as this awkward, in other peoples povs hes a clearly sheltered rich kid, prime target for bullying. The first “friends” he makes use him for money, and once that wears off, they beat him for fun. Literally. No reason, just violence and mockery.
Then we get to Sieun and Suho, his first actual “friends.” And that meant everything to him. But even here, it’s not as perfect as it seems. Suho only really hung out with Beomseok when Sieun was around (minus one deleted scene), and let’s be honest, Suho has this protective, almost aggressive energy that can feel controlling. That scene where he forces Beomseok to confront his bullies? That wasn’t empowering. That was traumatizing. It was handled with zero care for Beomseok’s mental state. And the way Suho handled things in general wasn’t that far off from how Beomseok’s bullies acted, just masked as “tough love.”
Then you and TONS of other people say, “He wanted to kill Suho over a girl” like it was some dramatic love triangle. (Which lets me know none of you truly paid attention to Beomseok or any character dynamics throughout the series.) That’s just not true.
First of all: He didn’t want to kill Suho. He wanted to humiliate him. He was angry, overwhelmed, and spiraling, trying to reclaim some control, some sense of worth. And the second he realized the damage he caused, you immediately see the regret, guilt, and shock in his face. It wasn’t about "winning" or being evil. It was about desperation.
Second: Beomseok asked Suho to follow him back on Instagram three times. No response. Okay, maybe Suho just doesn’t use social media, right? But then Beomseok checks and sees Suho is following Yeong-i. Probably because she took his phone and did it herself (Lets be honest she totally would lol), but Beomseok doesn’t know that. Then he sees her feed, full of happy pictures with Suho and Sieun, hanging out, laughing, being close. He sees himself replaced in real time. Imagine what that does to someone with his background.
To someone like Beomseok, that situation screams:
“Did they even like me in the first place?”
“Am I that easy to forget?”
“They were just using me again.”
“She took my place and no one noticed.”
“I knew I wasn’t really their friend.”
“What does she have that I don’t?”
And that inner voice? It’s not just insecurity. It’s trauma, neglect, rejection, and years of being thrown away by people who were supposed to care. That spiral isn’t about “a girl.” It’s about feeling disposable again.
At the end of the day, Beomseok is a mentally ill teenager. He needs serious help. That doesn’t make what he did justifiable, never will. but it does make it understandable. He wasn’t owed that help from Suho or Sieun. But his actions are excusable in the sense that they come from real, deep-rooted pain, not malice. (after all there's a reason some criminals are sent to psych wards instead of prison isn't there?) In my opinion, that makes him one of the most realistic, down to earth, actual teenage characters in the entire story.