viola

romance development!

Good for Hye Jin and Jun Ho. I professed my disbelief last episode at the preview of Jun Ho kissing Hye Jin because I thought it was too soon for it, but my doubts have been cleared this episode. The plot progression and pacing was quite satisfactory in that I felt the kiss at the end was completely earned.It was so refreshing to see Hye Jin actually yell at the Director during their confrontation. She had all the right in that situation to express her true feelings because we as the audience can feel how much she was hurt. She raised a very good point that the Director broke the trust between them and of course trust is something that is very difficult to get back. I was also frustrated at how the Director made that long speech without ever once truly apologizing to her. Hye Jin deserved to yell and curse and let out her feelings. Do I think this conflict between her and the Director is solved? Not really, even though the Director got on his knees later to apologize, mostly because he did that under influence of alcohol. Tell me why Korean mean always have to be drunk or utterly miserable before they let their pride down and admit their wrongdoing.Otherwise, this was a Jun Ho and Hye Jin relationship-centered episode. The conflict where Jun Ho says that he doesn't want Hye Jin to keep sacrificing for him or keep seeing him as someone she needs to take care of felt very realistic even though it obviously hurt Hye Jin's feelings to hear it. He did the funny thing of trying to draw the line and then immediately doing a 180 by pulling her back to him. The part where he tells her that he wants her to go because if she stays then he'll want to keep her was a cleverly written piece of dialogue. Especially the part when he tells her that she can read between the lines aka understand that this is because he's attracted to her as a woman, which is a fun callback to how they're both Korean Lit professors, so they're both used to interpreting a passage and the author's voice.Pyo Chang Sub is still being really hard-headed, and since we've had so little time with him since episode one, he comes off as quite frustrating in his endeavors. I imagine that the next episode will still be centered on Hye Jin and Jun Ho's relationship, judging by the preview.

Read More

a sign of more romance to come?

I feel like I keep repeating myself in these reviews because I keep saying "good episode", but listen, it was a good episode? I did actually gasp out loud during one of the scenes, and that was when Si Woo expressed his intentions to switch hagwons directly to Director Choi Myung Sun's face. Even though we, as the audience, already knew that he'd switch -- it was still a surprising moment for him to say so out loud to a character that's been established to be very intimidating and scary, especially since Si Woo seems to be the kind of student who is very polite and listens to the adults around him. I also gasped at the end of the episode preview, but that's for the next episode.Hye Jin really is my favorite character of this series. She's just so cool and extremely refreshing in a society where women are instructed to downplay their achievements and exhibit modesty at all times. She's also not written in a "grrl power" kind of way, where her superiority is constantly talked about or displayed without any real meaning or build-up behind it. The story's done a fantastic job at establishing that she's a confident person with the intelligence and talent to back up what she says. The line when she tells Jun Ho that she wasn't shocked by Choi Myung Sun's offer because she believed that she deserved that kind of offer was a banger line. Of course, I also enjoyed at how she shared her troubles with her lawyer friend about how she doesn't know if she wants to take this offer, and her own hesitance is so strange to her. We can tell that part of that hesitance is because of her attachment to Jun Ho, but I wonder if she a.) realizes that or b.) has realized that but is slowly coming to terms with it.The other characters kind of recede to the background during this episode, which is fine because it is undoubtedly Hye Jin's episode. It is Hye Jin who has to deal with the consequences of their special lecture failure, it's Hye Jin's history with the hagwon that makes her punishment feel so bitter to us as the audience, and it's Hye Jin's emotions and decisions that control the flow of the events in this episode. For example, it's essentially Hye Jin who gives Jun Ho his first student, because she decides to step aside for him. The best thing a drama can do is keep the audience wanting more, which I definitely felt when this episode ended. I'm curious to see if Hye Jin will leave Daechi Chase, and I'm curious to see how Jun Ho will try to either convince her to stay or the reasons why he'd let her go.

Read More

rises above my expectations

Episode four hit it out of the park. It kept up with the momentum from the first three episodes. The pacing was tight and the directing was pretty stellar. I enjoyed the misdirection used before the special lecture. And it worked really well because both Daechi Chase and Daechi Choi(?) have such similar buildings, so the misdirect and the initial confusion played out perfectly.We finally get confirmation that Jun Ho does have feelings for Hye Jin beyond being an important instructor to him. I loved the use of the present and past with the special lecture combined with Hye Jin teaching Junho in the past. I did laugh at the use of black and white because Wi Ha Joon does not look like a high schooler when he's out of his uniform, so they had to have the black and white to tell the viewer that this is a past scene not a present scene. The interweaving felt natural and highlighted just how important Hye Jin means to Jun Ho, which was very nice to see. And obviously, Jun Ho cemented his importance to Hye Jin in this episode. He was there for her when she was in the middle of her crash out, and I think that established how Jun Ho is someone she can rely on and is someone who will always be on her side. I think having that and knowing that is more important than the physicality of their relationship in breaking down the barrier of instructor and student.I liked how Nam Chung Mi's character was further established in this episode. Rather than someone who's one hundred percent driven by ambition (not that there's anything wrong with that), she's someone who's consideration of others has always blown up in her face, which is why her decision to step into Hye Jin's territory makes sense. I wonder if she'll decide to sort of team up with Hye Jin and Jun Ho, or make her own way in the academy. It was touching to see her be the only instructor who remained behind and who looked in to watch the lecture.I am surprised by the preview of Episode 5 and it looks like the Director might get rid of Hye Jin? Which would be kind of crazy to do, but also very interesting to see. Like, the Director and Hye Jin have such an affectionate relationship and long history between them. But the Director is also someone with a lot of pride, and because he believed so strongly in their proposition, that his disappointment in them could explain why he chooses to throw her out. Just interesting stuff. This is what makes a drama entertaining to watch, more than just crazy events happening, it's how they build the characters together in relation to one another that makes a story really shine. I'm looking forward to seeing how episode five pans out.

Read More

introduction of a new character and plot point

Episode three is still going on strong, which is nice because most dramas kind of dip a little after the first two episodes. This time we have an introduction of a new character, Choi Myung sun, or the White Haired Witch, who is set up to be a potentially strong opponent for Hye Jin and Jun Ho. I think Pyo Chang Sub was equal to Hye Jin opponent-wise, so it's fun to have someone else who a.) can hold their own and b.) is familiar with how hagwons work. She's basically someone who understands the hagwon playing field, as opposed to Pyo Chang Sub.We got more from Nam Chung Mi as well, as one of the new hires along with Jun Ho and the English teacher. I think her frustration at not having the same opportunity as Jun Ho is quite realistic. She's been established as someone who works tremendously hard despite not being from SKY. I also feel for her frustration. She's also someone who wants to make waves, but she was given advice not to while Jun Ho is sailing on onward, so I definitely understand if she tries to undercut Hye Jin by teaching Chanyoung High because as the show likes to hammer in: every instructor is out for themselves. This is a cutthroat industry where no one is your friend.Seeing the teachers feel hurt and annoyed by the promotional advertisement is one thing, but seeing Hye Jin actively try to smooth their ruffled feathers shows that she's intelligent enough to try and not alienate everyone around her, while also being proactive about taking advantage of opportunities. I think she and Jun Ho match each other's drive, and they do have a good rapport/chemistry with each other, as both colleagues and potentially something more.

Read More

a good second episode

A good connecting episode. It built up a lot of what the first episode introduced and in a way that I felt made the characters a little more interesting, especially Jun Ho. He's clearly a very confident character, and his confidence does come across as arrogance, especially in the first episode, but with his interactions with Hye Jin and especially his parents, his determination really comes through? Like he's not someone who's just full of hot air or living with rose-colored glasses, he's also someone who is determined to make his way. He sets goals and makes promises that he's fully confident in carrying out. I think that makes him more impressive as a character, and it makes his potential journey much more interesting to watch because I absolutely would like to see how he fails and how he bounces back from that failure.I also liked Hye Jin's conflict in this episode. She's someone who's made it clear that she's pretty much concerned with results, but then her own thoughts and actions come out to be contradictory, because she was so concerned with Jun Ho as a person. I really liked the juxtaposition between her and Pyo Chang Sub. Chang Sub who looks down on her for not being a "teacher", and yet he's the one making his students' lives harder because of his own pride, while Hye Jin swallows her pride in order to let Jun Ho go his own way. So technically, you could say that she is way more of a teacher than Chang Sub is. I liked how we also got more from the hagwon Director, who has a strong relationship with Hye Jin. He cares about her as a person and as an instructor. He's also not from an educational background. I liked the small detail we learned that he used to make movies and he's only in academies because he pivoted from a previous failure. It makes his obsession with "star quality" make much more sense now.I enjoy the hagwon atmosphere because it feels familiar, but it's also different enough that it's not pulling me into terrible PTSD memories of after school studying. I do think it's interesting that we don't have a main "student" character, and instead are relying on more minor characters to relay the students' perspectives. I wonder if that will change in the future. But overall, a good second episode.

Read More

better than i expected

oh man the trauma of the test-taking hagwon atmostphere did rear in my head but luckily since it's not student-focused or centered i was thankfully rescued from going down into a rabbit hole of my past.i like seo hye jin as the main protagonist and the character. she's a woman who gets down to business and knows her own mind, but she's also caught between the desires of her clients/customers and the aggressive hostility of the educational institution that she technically profits off of. she's mature, responsible, and very realistic.i think pyo chang sub the high school teacher is a good "villain", in that he's not technically a villain in that you understand where he's coming from. he's also a realistic character. that deep-seated inferiority complex that all kr men have and cannot handle except in the most aggressive bull-headed ways. damn. i wonder how this conflict will be resolved, hopefully not in a makjang way.wi ha joon make a positive impression in this role. he's playful, mischievous, and clearly very optimistic. but still mature in a way that i like for hye jin, who deserves a guy who knows his own mind and way rather than the standard kdrama asshole. i like their conflict, it feels real and makes sense, especially since hye jin sees jung ho as her greatest accomplishment and who technically achieved all the right things and made the right decisions, so she's really thrown off by the fact that he's veered off the golden path. she still sees him as her student in a way that feels refreshing. less someone she raised and more as a sign of her success.

Read More