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This review may contain spoilers
"Lessons For A Lifetime" From The Last Row
What if you got the biggest lesson of your life from someone several decades younger than you? Would you begrudgingly appreciate the intervention or plot revenge?
Notes from the Last Row contains several "assignments" from a character called Lee Kang that starts with many interesting questions like these. Except this is what Lee Kang ends up "teaching" his teacher in the most disturbing yet innovative way by the end of this drama, while never answering this question.
We never find out if Professor Munho learns his lesson to never be selfish and lose his sanity for public validation and glory again. Instead, it simply tells the story of a man named Munho who lived his whole life selfishly, for the sake of writing he'd probably tell you, until a careless moment led to the biggest lesson of his life by bringing a ghost from the past he didn't even know he was carrying.
Because from the moment Lee Kang, the student he took in for purely selfish reasons to mentor, told him how he manipulated his way into his friend's home and checked out this friend's mom's lingerie and lost his rights to visit their house and Munho's response to him like a responsible adult and educator should have said wasn't to explore more of his motivations behind these despicable actions but to ask Kang what he needed to do to be able to keep visiting the same house, Munho's fate had been decided without him ever realizing it.
Notes from the Last Row was an amazing watch, thoroughly engaging with great pacing from start to finish. It utilizes 6 episodes with zero filler.
While I found the ending pretty underwhelming (explained further below), it is made up for by the whole journey from episode 1 to 6, and by the spectacular performances from the whole cast. Especially veteran actor Choi Min Sik who steals every scene he is in as Munho, as well as Choi Hyun Wook who was impressive for all the vulnerability and confidence he bought to his role as Lee Kang.
Choi Hyun Wook made Lee Kang innocent enough to not truly dislike even though it would be completely justified to hate him. I truly could not imagine anyone else playing him. Likewise, Choi Min Sik always manages to make me feel uncomfortable on screen in a good way lol. Here too he made me both unbelievably annoyed in moments as well as frustratingly sad for him in others. His display of microexpressions were a marvel to watch and there is a whole film school worth of great acting from him in this show too that makes this a worthwhile watch all on its own.
What I loved the most about this show was that it doesn't pick sides and allows all the characters from main to supporting cast to have flaws and not be either good or bad.
With respect to the ending, I personally thought they didn't need to bring in that lousy reasoning for Lee Kang's manipulation and betrayal. Not only was it not convincing enough, but it also felt like the story went back on itself and its characters because up until that point, Lee Kang was presented as someone with genuine psychopathic tendencies. It's obvious in the way he has no remorse for using people and situations to get what he wants with a genuine lack of understanding for the consequences of what he does. I felt like simply presenting him as a psychopath and someone who can innocently ask in the most sincere way with a straight face what the big deal was about voyeurism, to be the only ending this story needed. They really didnt need to complicate it by giving him a reason to do this other than the pure enjoyment someone with his mental framework and childhood got from messing with an older guy who kept underestimating him and trying to "teach" him while being completely unfit for that responsibility.
Amongst the supporting cast, Munho's wife was the most interesting (and frustrating) character who I couldn't yell at enough through the screen to pack up and leave. Not only was she in a one-sided marriage for decades, but this poor woman still cared enough about her husband's pride and feelings that she could defend him embarrassing *her* in a public setting without a single question while also apologizing to him even when she never got one in return. I felt so much sympathy for her just as much as frustration. There was integrity in her actions until she finally stops playing the role of a perfect wife (in the most disturbing and unnecessary way imo, but I could also empathize with her to some extent for choosing to do what she did).
Which brings me to the fact that this show has some genuinely disturbing moments that go beyond the usual horror jump scares but are scary because of the way it exposes the darkness and messiness that is possible within the human psyche. From moments of voyeurism and inappropriate relationships, infidelity, and manipulation, these disturbing themes are explored without any sugarcoating.
The beginning of the drama gave me major Parasite (the movie) flashbacks for the "infiltrating someone's home" aspect before the rest of the story unfolds in a whole different direction.
At its core, this is a story that explores the consequences of one's own actions and the inevitable lessons that might come from the most unexpected of sources at the most unexpected moment.
For every time Munho neglected his wife and marriage by carrying his first love in his heart and prioritizing writing over being a decent husband and person, or selfishly hoped for his friend's fall from grace while also coveting his fame and success, for every moment he projected his own insecurities and inability to learn from criticism onto his students and the people around him, from the moment he took in a student with great talent to nurture him only for his own gain, he ended up paying with all of the very same things he took for granted all his life.
It's a bittersweet full circle moment of one man's whole life coming to a complete stand still with the mirror turned right back at him. What he chooses to do with that mirror is all that separates his future from redemption or further disaster. A question, like I said earlier, the drama doesn't answer.
Highly recommend for a weekend binge!
Notes from the Last Row contains several "assignments" from a character called Lee Kang that starts with many interesting questions like these. Except this is what Lee Kang ends up "teaching" his teacher in the most disturbing yet innovative way by the end of this drama, while never answering this question.
We never find out if Professor Munho learns his lesson to never be selfish and lose his sanity for public validation and glory again. Instead, it simply tells the story of a man named Munho who lived his whole life selfishly, for the sake of writing he'd probably tell you, until a careless moment led to the biggest lesson of his life by bringing a ghost from the past he didn't even know he was carrying.
Because from the moment Lee Kang, the student he took in for purely selfish reasons to mentor, told him how he manipulated his way into his friend's home and checked out this friend's mom's lingerie and lost his rights to visit their house and Munho's response to him like a responsible adult and educator should have said wasn't to explore more of his motivations behind these despicable actions but to ask Kang what he needed to do to be able to keep visiting the same house, Munho's fate had been decided without him ever realizing it.
Notes from the Last Row was an amazing watch, thoroughly engaging with great pacing from start to finish. It utilizes 6 episodes with zero filler.
While I found the ending pretty underwhelming (explained further below), it is made up for by the whole journey from episode 1 to 6, and by the spectacular performances from the whole cast. Especially veteran actor Choi Min Sik who steals every scene he is in as Munho, as well as Choi Hyun Wook who was impressive for all the vulnerability and confidence he bought to his role as Lee Kang.
Choi Hyun Wook made Lee Kang innocent enough to not truly dislike even though it would be completely justified to hate him. I truly could not imagine anyone else playing him. Likewise, Choi Min Sik always manages to make me feel uncomfortable on screen in a good way lol. Here too he made me both unbelievably annoyed in moments as well as frustratingly sad for him in others. His display of microexpressions were a marvel to watch and there is a whole film school worth of great acting from him in this show too that makes this a worthwhile watch all on its own.
What I loved the most about this show was that it doesn't pick sides and allows all the characters from main to supporting cast to have flaws and not be either good or bad.
With respect to the ending, I personally thought they didn't need to bring in that lousy reasoning for Lee Kang's manipulation and betrayal. Not only was it not convincing enough, but it also felt like the story went back on itself and its characters because up until that point, Lee Kang was presented as someone with genuine psychopathic tendencies. It's obvious in the way he has no remorse for using people and situations to get what he wants with a genuine lack of understanding for the consequences of what he does. I felt like simply presenting him as a psychopath and someone who can innocently ask in the most sincere way with a straight face what the big deal was about voyeurism, to be the only ending this story needed. They really didnt need to complicate it by giving him a reason to do this other than the pure enjoyment someone with his mental framework and childhood got from messing with an older guy who kept underestimating him and trying to "teach" him while being completely unfit for that responsibility.
Amongst the supporting cast, Munho's wife was the most interesting (and frustrating) character who I couldn't yell at enough through the screen to pack up and leave. Not only was she in a one-sided marriage for decades, but this poor woman still cared enough about her husband's pride and feelings that she could defend him embarrassing *her* in a public setting without a single question while also apologizing to him even when she never got one in return. I felt so much sympathy for her just as much as frustration. There was integrity in her actions until she finally stops playing the role of a perfect wife (in the most disturbing and unnecessary way imo, but I could also empathize with her to some extent for choosing to do what she did).
Which brings me to the fact that this show has some genuinely disturbing moments that go beyond the usual horror jump scares but are scary because of the way it exposes the darkness and messiness that is possible within the human psyche. From moments of voyeurism and inappropriate relationships, infidelity, and manipulation, these disturbing themes are explored without any sugarcoating.
The beginning of the drama gave me major Parasite (the movie) flashbacks for the "infiltrating someone's home" aspect before the rest of the story unfolds in a whole different direction.
At its core, this is a story that explores the consequences of one's own actions and the inevitable lessons that might come from the most unexpected of sources at the most unexpected moment.
For every time Munho neglected his wife and marriage by carrying his first love in his heart and prioritizing writing over being a decent husband and person, or selfishly hoped for his friend's fall from grace while also coveting his fame and success, for every moment he projected his own insecurities and inability to learn from criticism onto his students and the people around him, from the moment he took in a student with great talent to nurture him only for his own gain, he ended up paying with all of the very same things he took for granted all his life.
It's a bittersweet full circle moment of one man's whole life coming to a complete stand still with the mirror turned right back at him. What he chooses to do with that mirror is all that separates his future from redemption or further disaster. A question, like I said earlier, the drama doesn't answer.
Highly recommend for a weekend binge!
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