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This review may contain spoilers
Is it realistic? No. Is it cathartic? Absolutely
This is one of those stories that will start unravelling and likely, eventually collapse in on itself if you decide to delve deeper into the premise. Throughout the 10 episodes, I found myself revisiting the same questions
1. How would 4 people, 3 in the field, handle ALL the schools in Korea?
2. Based on the fact (again) that there are only 3 inspectors in the field, how do they vet which cases need immediate attention and which don't? What happens to the ones that are pushed back? Do the people just keep suffering?
3. How do you keep such an organization incorruptible? To make better and faster changes, they'd need more agents. But humans are greedy. How would they, down the line, keep the ERPB 'pure'? What steps do they need to vet the new inspectors? How thorough would they need to be?
4. What happens after they leave an institution? We never go back to the schools to see if the changes stuck, so... How do we know that the bullies fully stop and none others crop up to fill the gap?
5. Because the ERPB is often shown to work alone, with no collaboration during or after with the teachers or the parents, how will the organization ensure that the steps they've taken to better the place stick?
The more I asked the questions, the more I sat there like... Hmm😕🤔🤔🫤
However, rather than dwell on that, I choose to appreciate what the story is trying to say, highlight, and the lessons it may hopefully teach one or two people out there. Some things I appreciated were how the show
🥊Exposes the dysfunction not only in the classrooms, but also in the education system as a whole, in homes, and within the legal system. While the children can be insane and do some horrible things, the adults more often than not play a role in how and why these children turn out the way they do. But hiding them behind money, power, a billion excuses, as well as weak and poorly executed laws.
🥊Highlights how bullying is not only wrong, but also absolutely inhumane. Whether it's between students themselves, teachers and students, parents and teachers, parents and their children, etc. It's all wrong, and hella fucked. Bullying also doesn't always occur in the form of physical violence
🥊Constantly emphasizes the need to speak up. Closed mouths don't get fed. And suffering in silence saves no one. Not yourself, not the people you are trying to alleviate the burden from by keeping quiet. Ask for help. Yes, some people may turn away from you, but if you keep asking, maybe, just maybe, someone will hear you and actually do something about it
🥊That stricter punishments are needed regardless of age. The punishment needs to fit the crime, and an apology should not be seen as punishment - *angrily thinks back to that juvenile gang case and the case regarding the elementary school mother*
🥊Showed up the bullies getting slapped back. I think slapping is one of the most disrespectful ways to hit another human being. So anytime a bully was straight up open palm slapped, I clapped. Them being punched, kicked, tripped, scared within an inch of their lives was fantastic, but the slaps... I swear I heard an angel singing in my ear when each one landed
The bullying plot line aside,
💐I loved the underlying plot about the murder that started it all. Watching the fiancé and the dad fight to protect other innocents as they were hounded by the grief, guilt, and sadness that they couldn't protect the one person they cared about the most was heartbreaking. Not to mention they were also being insulted in public with people bringing up her death at every chance they got, like she was a pawn on some political chess board... Uff!
🌸The comedy was also great. I laughed out loud a bunch of times. Of all the characters, I think Deputy Bong made me laugh the most. That poor, long-suffering employee. The ERPB did not have an HR department, but if it did, bro would've been in there every week with a long ass list of very valid complaints.
🌹The romance - It was unexpected and doesn't quite add much to the plot, but it was funny. Deputy Bing decided that his life wasn't hard enough and decided to fall in love with a deranged baddie. I am both happy and sorry for that man.
Final Thoughts
While the drama isn't really realistic, it poses some important questions and highlights important social issues. If you enjoy watching bullies and bad guys get punched, you'll have a fun time with this one. Note that, depending on how much violence you can handle (physical, emotional, and psychological), you may need to skip quite a number of scenes
1. How would 4 people, 3 in the field, handle ALL the schools in Korea?
2. Based on the fact (again) that there are only 3 inspectors in the field, how do they vet which cases need immediate attention and which don't? What happens to the ones that are pushed back? Do the people just keep suffering?
3. How do you keep such an organization incorruptible? To make better and faster changes, they'd need more agents. But humans are greedy. How would they, down the line, keep the ERPB 'pure'? What steps do they need to vet the new inspectors? How thorough would they need to be?
4. What happens after they leave an institution? We never go back to the schools to see if the changes stuck, so... How do we know that the bullies fully stop and none others crop up to fill the gap?
5. Because the ERPB is often shown to work alone, with no collaboration during or after with the teachers or the parents, how will the organization ensure that the steps they've taken to better the place stick?
The more I asked the questions, the more I sat there like... Hmm😕🤔🤔🫤
However, rather than dwell on that, I choose to appreciate what the story is trying to say, highlight, and the lessons it may hopefully teach one or two people out there. Some things I appreciated were how the show
🥊Exposes the dysfunction not only in the classrooms, but also in the education system as a whole, in homes, and within the legal system. While the children can be insane and do some horrible things, the adults more often than not play a role in how and why these children turn out the way they do. But hiding them behind money, power, a billion excuses, as well as weak and poorly executed laws.
🥊Highlights how bullying is not only wrong, but also absolutely inhumane. Whether it's between students themselves, teachers and students, parents and teachers, parents and their children, etc. It's all wrong, and hella fucked. Bullying also doesn't always occur in the form of physical violence
🥊Constantly emphasizes the need to speak up. Closed mouths don't get fed. And suffering in silence saves no one. Not yourself, not the people you are trying to alleviate the burden from by keeping quiet. Ask for help. Yes, some people may turn away from you, but if you keep asking, maybe, just maybe, someone will hear you and actually do something about it
🥊That stricter punishments are needed regardless of age. The punishment needs to fit the crime, and an apology should not be seen as punishment - *angrily thinks back to that juvenile gang case and the case regarding the elementary school mother*
🥊Showed up the bullies getting slapped back. I think slapping is one of the most disrespectful ways to hit another human being. So anytime a bully was straight up open palm slapped, I clapped. Them being punched, kicked, tripped, scared within an inch of their lives was fantastic, but the slaps... I swear I heard an angel singing in my ear when each one landed
The bullying plot line aside,
💐I loved the underlying plot about the murder that started it all. Watching the fiancé and the dad fight to protect other innocents as they were hounded by the grief, guilt, and sadness that they couldn't protect the one person they cared about the most was heartbreaking. Not to mention they were also being insulted in public with people bringing up her death at every chance they got, like she was a pawn on some political chess board... Uff!
🌸The comedy was also great. I laughed out loud a bunch of times. Of all the characters, I think Deputy Bong made me laugh the most. That poor, long-suffering employee. The ERPB did not have an HR department, but if it did, bro would've been in there every week with a long ass list of very valid complaints.
🌹The romance - It was unexpected and doesn't quite add much to the plot, but it was funny. Deputy Bing decided that his life wasn't hard enough and decided to fall in love with a deranged baddie. I am both happy and sorry for that man.
Final Thoughts
While the drama isn't really realistic, it poses some important questions and highlights important social issues. If you enjoy watching bullies and bad guys get punched, you'll have a fun time with this one. Note that, depending on how much violence you can handle (physical, emotional, and psychological), you may need to skip quite a number of scenes
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