Reviews

starting from scratch with clenched fists

teach you a lesson didn’t arrive with much fanfare. on a netflix already saturated with action kdramas, it was easy to overlook. but those who stayed, stayed for a reason. and anyone who watched knows exactly what i mean.

the series is an adaptation of the webtoon get schooled, by chae yong taek and han ga ram, and it exists in the same universe as study group (2025). the premise is both simple and provocative: in the face of a total collapse of teacher authority and rising school violence, the ministry of education creates the agency for the protection of educational rights a special force with legal powers to intervene in troubled schools using methods the conventional system would never dare.

what worked

the concept is a deliberate act of boldness. the idea of a government agency using physical force and psychological pressure to discipline students is uncomfortable by design and it’s precisely in that discomfort that the series finds its strongest material. it doesn’t try to convince you this would be a good idea in real life; it presents it as a necessary fantasy in a world that has already hit its limit.

the episodic structure works in the series’ favor. each episode introduces a different school, a different problem, a new victim. the spoiled child of a powerful politician who has never faced consequences. a school gang that terrorizes anyone who tries to study. a teenage influencer who ruins teachers’ reputations with lies. four juvenile delinquents convinced they are above the law. a mother obsessed with drugging her own child to guarantee academic results. the catalog of system failures builds up with increasing weight episode by episode.

what elevates the series above a simple episodic action drama is the emotional thread running beneath it all. the agency wasn’t born out of nothing it was born from personal tragedy. ga-yun, daughter of minister gwang-seok and fiancée of hwa-jin, was a teacher who always believed in standing up for what’s right. she was killed by a student she was trying to protect, after confronting him about drug dealing at school. it’s this loss that unites the two men and gives the agency its true purpose.

the cast is one of the series’ pillars. kim mu-yeol plays hwa jin with a restraint that conveys the weight of someone who has seen the system fail in the most personal way possible. jin ki joo as im han rim brings the energy the series needs to avoid becoming too rigid impulsive, determined, and genuinely capable in the action scenes. pyo ji-hoon as bong geun dae proves that intelligence is its own kind of strength. and lee sung min as gwang-seok anchors the entire institutional structure with the quiet authority the role demands. special mention to the actors playing the bullies throughout the series their performances are genuinely unsettling.

teach you a lesson is one of the year’s best surprises. it nails the basics focused storytelling, action with real weight, characters you care about, and a finale that feels earned. the series has something genuine to say about the south korean education system and the price the collapse of institutions exacts on the people inside them. and it says it with fists just as it promised.

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Ambiguous Ending

Okay. So I get that he really liked her. That is okay. What isnt okay is that he hid his brother's murder of her entire family. He could have allied himself with her to take down his brother but instead he chose to hide the truth and work opposite her. Perhaps that could have changed their ending. However, prior to all of this he took away her family, job, and personal freedom. Yes, he offered his life for her but it was all a situation that he started.
It was nice to see a FL who didnt cave and wasnt weak. She chose revenge and helped another woman find closure and get revenge as well. I love seeing women support other women.
Everyone acted very well. I see people complaining about the lack of chemistry. There wasnt supposed to be. It was a one-sided obsession disguised as love. She didnt like him. She only stayed for revenge. The acting was done very well.
My main issue was with the ending it was ambiguous at best and left hanging for a potential second season at worst. Honestly, i dont think this story needs another season. She got her revenge and moved on.

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Giving them a taste of their own medicine ...

this wasn't just another school drama about bullying , this had some depth in victims' stories and the main storyline , yet it was rushed and made no sense sometimes .
what was different and great about this that they didn't just punish the bullies , they made them go through what they put their victims through which was very satisfying to watch.
this had a great potential yet it was rushed in some stories and what didn't make sense for me is how they got all that authority like ML got away with beating a lot of guys even students although they deserved it but it didn't make sense and the only time he went to jail was when he stood against that teacher who sold exams to students , it didn't make sense .
the final episodes where his fiancee's killer stabbed him like he stabbed him 4 times and he walked after that like nothing had happened this drama lacked logic sometimes .

this wasn't perfect yet it was very entertaining to watch.

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Ai and may are both black flags. I was getting angry every second. Their dynamic is just confusing at least for me. And Ai assaulted may and it’s just like wtf. Ai and may broke up and got together a total of like 3 times. They are supposed to be rivals because their company is against each other but I don’t know it didn’t give rivals. From the start they already kissing each other. When may put the little recording under AI’s table to get “information” but didn’t end up getting anything I feel like she was lying when she said she just wanted to hear her voice so it wouldn’t cause suspicion.

Overall:
The plot and storyline is great and probs would rewatch

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why r yall constantly defending lu feng when he’s a textbook narcissist

If I read one more comment about how the little brother is annoying and how he’s destroyed his brothers relationship I’m gonna lose it. I’d like to gently remind everyone that lu feng as opposed to yu chen is older and *should* be emotionally and mentally more mature but instead chooses to act like a 4 year old whenever a conflict occurs. Not only is he lacking any empathy or critical thinking skills but also he likes do mistreat and deliberately hurt the person he claims to love. It’s come to a point where his behaviour is so utterly pathetic that I dislike his character even more then all of the homophobic parents together. And let me tell you I’ve watched a few dramas and I have never felt that way before. I’ve never even written a review before but my hate for this fictional man has reached a point where I’m gonna implode if I don’t write it down. That being said I don’t condemn people that enjoy the drama, like or defend lu feng (or only just a little bit). I understand that red and black flag characters can be fun to watch. BUT I need the people to lose the „I can fix him“ or the „He’s just misunderstood“ mentality regarding really problematic, toxic men. Not only because of the whole misogyny and patriarchy thingy but also just because I find it really annoying. Thank you and good night.

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This show sucked, it was nothing like what I seen in the trailer. The trailer made it seem like something it was not going to be. Everything was all over the place. The editing is horrible. I watched every Monday though. Goryabambi should have kissed and shashakris should have kissed as well as krisgorya but that didn’t happen. This show is not 18 plus like they said it was. There were only implications of it. Praewmin whole relationship was just a mess. I wouldn’t say min is even gay, praew was pushing so hard I feel. Min obviously wasn’t interested in her but she just got along with it due to pressure. They don’t seem like a couple, their chemistry in the show is not giving couple. Praew is a yellow flag I would say because she keeps trying to push a relationship onto min even though she clearly don’t want that, but at the end min gave in because she felt bad.

Overall:
Pretty shitty show but I probably would rewatch it again only for shashagorya though because their storyline and characters are the only interesting thing about this show.

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I NOW BELIEVE IN SECOND CHANCES

The first time i watched Goblin, i didn't really enjoy or understand the hype

i thought people were exaggerating, i thought it was boring, infact i remember dropping at E8 amd then later grudgingly completing it

i saw an edit of Goblin recently and the OST sent chills down my spine

then i wondered why i didn't really enjoy it, so I decided to rewatch

from the moment I started the first episode i couldn't look away

i felt like this magnetic force kept me glued to the screen

all the other dramas i was watching felt like bland cardboard

i literally couldn't look away till the last episode

i believe this is one of the greatest dramas ever made, believe me there's nothing like it

I've adjusted my rating to 10 and i don't even think it's enough

it's like Crack, you want to inject it in your veins, you'll look for this magical feeling in so many other dramas but you'll never find it

I'm convinced that i have to rewatch so many dramas that i hated or was indifferent to in the past

because this was such a gem, such a masterpiece

p. s. the final minutes of episode 2 is one of the greatest scenes ever made. OSTs, aura, everything 10/10

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