This review may contain spoilers
Jaw-droppingly GOOD! A show about survival.
Ok so one night I was on the Netflix front page and impulsively clicked on this drama because of Kim Donghee's face in the preview; seeing it pop up was a pleasant surprise! Since I really enjoyed his portrayal of Hamin in A-Teen, I had high hopes and was super excited to watch him act in another high school drama. Turns out his new role as Jisoo, like Hamin, fits that straight-A model student trope, so clearly he excels at these types of characters.In the many directions this drama could've gone, I gotta say I never expected this drama to turn out this way. Don't be fooled by the label of "high school drama". If you think this is going to be your typical high school rom-com with conflicts related to academic pressure, social belonging, people drama, and filial expectations, you're in a for a big surprise because this drama takes all of these to the next level.
*Just how far are you willing to go to ensure a good, stable future?*
This drama raises the question of the moral integrity of criminals. Are crimes crimes regardless of who is doing it and what they do, or are they forgivable under special circumstances? Are they always driven by greed? What if they were necessary for survival and weren't hurting anyone? Those were the questions floating in my mind as I watched.
Our male protagonist, Jisoo, is this hard-working, ordinary high school student who normally keeps to himself and lives a pretty mundane life. Except the one thing people around him don't know is that he anonymously works as the head honcho of a prostitution, or as he likes to put it, "protection service" app that pairs buyers (prostitutes/gigolos) with sellers (clients). If the participant is confronted with a dangerous situation, one middle-aged man named Lee Wang Cheol's job is to step up and protect them. So he ends up doing most of the dirty work, while Jisoo organizes everything behind the scenes.
In the beginning, we learn that Jisoo lives alone. Both his parents abandoned him years earlier, leaving him to fend for himself. That's why he needs this high-paying job and uses the money he makes from this job to pay for all his tuition, fees, and bills. As viewers watch scenes displaying his work ethics at school while doing his job at the same time all for the sake of achieving his dreams to graduate, we find ourselves admiring his level of conscientiousness and can't help but empathize with him, even though deep down we understand what he is doing is wrong. At least in my case, I was rooting for him the whole time. It didn't seem right to not want a good kid like him to succeed in life, so I kept praying that he wouldn't get caught. haha
Then a girl named Bae Gyuri, a member of the same club Jisoo is in, comes along and that moment was when everything changed. She eventually found out about Jisoo's secret part-time job through snooping through his stuff. Eager to escape her constricting life, she told Jisoo that she wanted in. Although Jisoo was reluctant at first, after multiple blackmail threats of exposure and destruction from Gyuri, the two agreed to join forces, becoming partners-in-crime. Their relationship dynamic and vibes reminded me a lot of the main characters in another Netflix show I love called The End of the F***ing World.
Soon after the two got caught up in dangerous situations they never thought they'd be in. People who were against the app sought out their identities and wanted revenge on them. Jisoo's plans of staying safe through distancing himself backfires and things turn into a matter of life and death. The two start lying, fleeing, and doing everything they can to save their source of income. I had to sit and watch as Jisoo's life started falling apart little by little and the worst part is there was nothing I could do about it. I guess the thing that shocked me most was how far he was willing to go to keep his job a secret. Of course, if caught, he would get sent to jail but curiously, in his mind, not graduating and having a stable career was worse than getting arrested. The frustration felt as if taking one step forward was two steps back. Every attempt at concealing themselves only made matters worse.
By the end, the character I became extremely attached to was Mr. Wang Cheol. Him acting as a (grand)father figure to Minhee made my heart ache. Hats off to Choi Minsoo for his realistic, melancholic portrayal. You can tell he is wise, really cares for Minhee and would do anything to protect her despite her protests. That's why I was so affected by his death. Although I saw it coming, I still bawled my eyes out during the final battle scene between him and the karaoke house owner. The coolest thing about this Ahjussi, though, was how tanky he was. haha I mean he was able to withstand damage from a mob's attack AND getting a f*cking axe in his back, started walking not long after he woke up after being unconscious, went back to fighting a larger mob, suffered repeated punches, kicks and stabs, and still ended up having the strength to beat the shit of psycho karaoke house owner. What an absolute legend!!! I respect his commitment and sense of duty to the job.
Kitae was the character I didn't know how to feel about at the end. I detested the way he bullied the kids for no reason. Just seeing his smug face made my blood boil. However the last few episodes somewhat humanized him as it depicted his heroism. I think they were supposed to be his redemption episodes since he stood up for Minhee. But don't hate me if I say I can't forgive him for being a d*ck and a heartless boyfriend to her. But now that I think about it, the question again is is he truly worse than Jisoo? Or Gyuri?
The final thing I want to mention was the creativity in the host of symbols and metaphors scattered throughout the drama. Scenes like the one of Gyuri imagining bullets through her parent's head represented the true feelings towards her parents. The hermit crab represented Jisoo tendency to retreat into his shell and when his dad stepped on it, he was crushed as well. The self-burial dream scene represented his own (metaphoric?) death and the loss of hope for his future. Every scene was incredibly well shot and delivered. The actors performances were mind-blowingly intense and raw. When they sobbed, screamed, and cursed, I was able to feel their mental distress and insanity through the screen. These actors will definitely go far in the future.
As for whether I would recommend this drama, as much as I love this show, I can't say it's for everyone. If you like fast-paced, dark shows and can handle seeing lots of blood on screen, I'd check it out. They should have put a trigger warning because there are some R-rated scenes. The violence can be pretty shocking. I'm glad I gave this a shot though. This might be my favorite drama this year thus far!
Was this review helpful to you?
What a wild ride!
DAEBAK in all caps!!! This drama was such an exciting and wild ride and so easy to binge. I started watching it randomly because it showed up in my Netflix recommendations and I'm so glad I didn't judge it by its teenage angst looks. This really is a thriller more than anything, full of unexpected and extremely frustrating twists. It's also super dark, and violent, so don't let the High School setting fool you. More than anything it's a twisted coming of age story about a shy and awkwardly passive yet extremely ambitious student who's nothing like he seems.Kim Dong Hee is brilliant as Ji Soo! I love when characters who should be "bad" are the story's hero. There's something fun about rooting for the supposed villain, and Ji Soo is so sympathetic that I was invested in his story from the very beginning. This is also the story of the most toxic relationship ever! That's where Park Joo Hyun comes in as Bae Gyu Ri. They are a great match in the worst way and I loved despising her, although she too had her sympathetic moments. Their relationship felt real, not just playing up cheesy chemistry. This isn't really a romance, it's more about a deep connection between two unlikely friends that gets way out of control. Still, the dynamic between her aggressive narcissistic personality and his soft-spoken and passive nature became addictive. I wasn't impressed with either of them in the dramas I've seen each of them in previously (A Piece of Your Mind, and Itaewon Class), but I was very impressed with them both in this.
The entire cast is also amazing! With a story like this is very easy to get on a soapbox and make the characters too one dimensional just to make a point. The cast helped make all the most unbelievable moments seem plausible. I absolutely loved Mr. Lee and the Homeroom teacher. Min Hee and Kwak Ki Tae were annoying and also very real. The true villains were a little campy but still sinister enough to be effectively scary. The character I liked the least was the female cop, but that's not because of her performance. I really cared about what happened to all of the characters, and that's impressive for a shorter drama.
However, the heart of this story is literally watching how one bad thing slowly leads to another until the story picks up to an unrelenting pace. It's like watching a train fly off the track and keep picking up speed. This is the kind of story that makes you want to yell at characters through the screen for their actions! I liked the earlier episodes better than the later ones, the final episodes were much more action-focused, but I was hooked the entire time. It also all happens at a pretty fast pace since there are only 10 episodes, which felt like the perfect amount for this story, although I do wish it had a better ending. That's my only complaint. I can appreciate the imagery, and there are a lot of cool imagery driven scenes, but I just want to warn folks that the ending is an open one. Whether that's leaving room for a second season I don't know, but I wish they just had a definitive end. This didn't ruin the story at all for me, it just stopped me from rating it a 10.
Would I watch this again? Definitely. The thrill of the unpredictable would be gone but I think rewatching Ji Soo's journey, knowing where it all leads, would still be very entertaining. It's also visually exciting, so there's no way that I would be bored.
Overall I would definitely recommend this drama, but with a warning for those who find the subject matter too sensitive. The lines between what's morally right and wrong are continuously crossed (that's obvious by the disclaimer with each episode). I personally found it refreshing that a KDrama wasn't afraid to get gritty with the subject-matter without adding a preachy moral lesson. I also like stories about imperfect characters and this drama has plenty. Don't judge a book by its cover is definitely a reoccurring theme. This drama is the perfect example of that, with the perfect title too. If you're looking for an addictive and easily binge-able drama, with a teen Bonnie and Clyde meets Fight Club's self-discovery sprinkled with Parasite's morality mood, then without giving too much away I definitely recommend that you add this drama to your watch queue. And If it's all too intense it's the perfect length for a one day binge with still some time to watch an episode of something more lighthearted once you're done. Or, if you're like me, you can start watching it all over again.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
The problem with this drama is it was extremely boring and frustrating. The whole of this drama is made to make us question the MC actions however there are numerous SC who show us that they are wrong. First of all, the premise of this drama is that the guy is a pimp and how after someone finds about this everything just goes into a downward spiral. There are numerous problems with the fact that this drama is boring. Let's start with one of the main problems. The characters seem to not have many motivations and are doing things for only one viable reason. This makes them appear quite flat and bland. They have little to no ambitions and the whole point of this was to make the characters be simple but their life complex. This idea sounds good on paper but when it is executed there is just a big old mess of ideas and themes they want to take up. To show so many problems make it unclear what direction the drama wants to go and makes the whole ride a bit messy.
This can be shown within the characters themselves. For example, Seo Minhee is a girl who offers compensated dating and gets one bad experience which ruins the way she views the business. She grows from this experience and views the world differently due to this incident. She becomes closer to Mr.Lee and genuinely wants to pursue a better life. Now, this premise sounds interesting and it could've been interesting however they make her a truly flat character who doesn't seem to have any motivation to do what she does. There seem to be no reasons for her offering services like that at such a young age it's just forgotten about. The only reason that is shown is that she loves her boyfriend though there never seems to be any evidence of this to follow through.
Another good example is Seo Minhee's Boyfriend, Kwak Kitae. This is the classic school bully trope who has an army of cronies under him. They show him as smart, quick, strong and an egoist. This is another example of an extremely interesting character who's gone to waste. I must admit I am a bit favourable to the actor of Kwak Ki Tae but the way they presented him was extremely one-note. He's just pure evil, there are no motivations, no ambitions. It's just that he's a bully and he's obsessed with his pride. Though he seems to have a soft spot for his girlfriend they never expand on that and instead shut it down by saying he's doing it for his pride though it doesn't expand on why. The problem with this character is that he's such a one-note bully and that would be fine if the drama presented itself as a Makjang however it didn't so this character becomes flat and boring.
The MC themselves are not people without problems and they probably have the most. While you do eventually get used to these characters, they both are extremely frustrating to watch and also have little to no motivations. They are presented as the ACE of their schools however we never see anything to back up that claim. Throughout the show, they seem to be doing extremely stupid actions that will land them in trouble. However, I did like the romance arc as their chemistry was natural and it was charming when they showed hints of their feelings. They both aren't interesting enough to carry the show or be in most of the scenes and this wasn't the actor's fault it was more of the script that gave this problem.
The ending is one of the most frustrating scenes I've ever seen as they just wanted to continue this for a new season. As almost everything is tied up but they still needed a few strings loose for a new season. It doesn't truly make sense why this happens and why they couldn't wrap up everything and make it end. This move was more to make sure this drama would renew for another season than just end it once and for all.
This drama was frustrating and missed a lot of great things it could've done. It had an interesting premise, fantastic promotions but was done badly. I wouldn't recommend you to watch this drama and wholly agree with the rating I have given!
Was this review helpful to you?
Terribly stupid execution and awful characters all around.
This is a short review. A more in depth review will be posted on my blog.I cannot in good conscience recommend this drama to anyone. I would have absolutely dropped if I wasn't buddy watching it. To say I was disappointed was an understatement. The concept behind this drama was so intriguing and would have really been great, but I kid you not when I say that everyone in this show is fucking stupid. EVERYBODY.
The show, although well acted and directed, is actually completely illogical. No character growth, no flow of story. Nothing.
Episodes 1 - 2: Fine
Episodes 3 - 8: Stupid
Episode 9: Interesting
Episode 10: Irrelevant
Skip it. Thank me, later.
Was this review helpful to you?
At first I wasn't sure whether I should watch Extracurricular because of the trailer that didn't really speak to me. (Specifically the girl shooting her parents by whistling and the gory genre is not up my alley) But nonetheless clicked on it and didn't stop bingewatching until I finished its short but sweet 10 eps.
Yes. its that good.
-Main Characters
I loved the male lead's unique personality (awkward potato at first, but very chaotic neutral near the end) But as the story went on the awkward potato became less awkward and more things started happening not according to what i thought he was like in the beginning. So it fell a bit into the abyss of -every male leads personality ever- . Luckily because of the story and the choices he got to make in that story made that abyss a lot more -background. Near the end his personality became a bit more stable, and some traits came back more frequently (but darker hehehe).
I was amazed at the female lead's personality, which sadly seems to be an unpopular opinion. Personally I wouldn't like FLs who are the forever damsels in distress and cant seem to live their lives without the male lead saving them. But as a matter of fact, Gyu Ri was more badass than Ji Soo throughout the whole drama. What people found annoying (From what I've read) is that she is born in a rich family and shouldn't mind others' businesses. But what no one seems to get is the way she is feeling and her goals/ intentions, and just describe her as annoying because she doesn't do exactly what the male lead wants her to do. That exact point makes her a more believable and realistic female character.
Story
The initial setup was amazing, you immediately notice this is not your usual Korean drama. The amount of swearing, violence, the prostitution plot and mentioning of things that are usually not mentioned in kdrama ever (homosexuality for example) are already a few of the ways why this show is unique. They even had a few non-korean pop culture references (Ji Soo underlined the sentence 'Life is strange before the storm hits' for example)
The story itself is almost completely unpredictable. its a rollercoaster ride in the dark and you missed all the safety exits, whereas now it is impossible to get off. The premise started out fairly simple (except the ml being a pimp basically) with not much going on, tho the further you get the darker the issues become. Until you reach the point they cant get out, nor do you know where you would have gotten out if you were one of the lead characters. Near the end the choices they made became somewhat illogical, but not unbelievable (still could figure out the why) and the angst was very well portrayed in those situations. I cant tell much else without spoiling so I hope I at least convinced one person to go and watch this very good and addictive show.
(I gave the music an 8 since it was good but not 'I need to shazam this' -good. Rewatch value became an 8 because i never rewatch anything, yet feel like it wouldnt be boring to rewatch it if I wanted to)
Ps: I loved kwak ki's dimples, and the old (not that old but ok) -man, also really hoping for a season 2!
Was this review helpful to you?
There's barely any point to this whole series. The premise started off kinda interesting, but it grated on your nerves soon after because of how roundabout and pointless it is. The reason I watch dramas is to feel good, but so many things about this drama's plot pissed me off. The first two episodes were meh, the middle part was wholly forgettable (it was mediocre), and the season finale was a complete shitshow. I have no words to describe how HORRIBLE the last episode was. It's as if every single character development flew off the window and the writers just threw in every possible shock value to the last 30 minutes of the series. Totally didn't make any sense at all. I ended this drama feeling like I've been robbed of the 10 some hours I spent watching this series.
There is zero character development, absolutely ZERO. I ended this drama hating everything and everyone, ESPECIALLY Oh Jisoo. He's totally useless, totally uncool, the absolute lamest main character I've ever seen in a K-Drama in my entire life. Bae Gyuri was a b#tch but at least she's got stronger personality (I still hate her too, though). Seo Minhee didn't even have a character, she's just... there. Kwak Gitae is a classic piece of sh#t bully that somehow made it to the main role...? Sure didn't feel like it because of how little role he played. The actors and actresses did a great job in acting but they're playing for such poorly written characters I didn't get any enjoyment from watching.
Music? What music? I didn't remember anything remotely interesting about the music aspect of this drama.
Rewatch value is big fat zero because you'll have already seen how absolutely terrible this drama is. I won't touch it again with a 5 ft pole.
Overall... it's bad. Don't watch it. I'm not sure why so many people liked it, maybe their tastes are vastly different from mine, maybe I'm just too skeptical, but I hated watching this drama. I'm watching dramas to have fun, and this drama was NOT it.
Was this review helpful to you?
BEST HIGH SCHOOL DRAMA OF 2020
As many people before me have already said, this is not your typical high school drama. This is not the typical love triangle or rich-poor story, (the only other high school dramas I’ve seen are ‘Extraordinary You’ which had the whole comic world concept which made it exciting and maybe ‘Cinderella and the Four Knights’ can be considered high school too. I wanted to watch the ‘School’ series but then it seemed kinda boring and repetitive and I was scared to drop it, which I hate doing). This drama shows the darker and more dangerous side of the high school experience which includes themes such as smoking, and bullying which are relatable to almost everyone who went to high school and some that are less relatable such as sex trafficking and gangs. A good, exciting and educational break from the cute but at times unrealistic and annoying love lines that happen in a Kim So Hyun drama, for example (I don’t hate her, she’s the one that I can think of at the moment if I think of romance-high school drama). All being said, I don’t hate high school dramas or love triangles in general, I’m just expressing my preferences as someone who usually avoids high school dramas.Going back to Extracurricular, I started watching it as soon as it came out because it was showing on my Netflix. I knew it was coming but as the main leads were high school students I thought that maybe I was not going to like it but then the illegal activity after school mentioned in the synopsis made me curious. I stopped it for a couple of days in between and went to finish Sky Castle with my sister and then Kim Dong-hee made me wanna finish it. He is a high school student in both these dramas but the difference in the two characters is astronomical. Like Ji-soo, woah, what in the world are you doing!? And Park Joo-hyun was so good too, I loved her. We’ve seen many female characters in dramas that are unhappy with their parents and hate their life but she took action and did something about it, even though what she did was illegal. She portrayed her character so strongly, showing all the emotions and making Gyu-ri a real person not just a character in a story. All the actors did such a good job. I was feeling all the emotions while watching it.
As for the ending, wow again. I’m not going to say much as I don’t want to spoil but I wanted a season 2 at first, as I always do, I don’t want to let them go if you get what I mean, I just want the story to keep on going (only if the drama is really good though). But now I think that season two is not needed. What are they even going to show? Even though how they left the ending is just too much to decide on our own as viewers, I feel like maybe another season is not necessary. But if they decide to make it, I wouldn’t mind.
One of the most exciting high school dramas ever ⭐️
Was this review helpful to you?
I started it as it was a psychological thriller and after watching 2 episodes i knew i would take a breath only after finishing it.
Instead of blaming fate for the life Bae GyuRi(Female lead) is leading, she just tries to stay strong and is not afraid of doing anything to just make things in her life easier . JiSoo(Male Lead) is no different,in order to lead a decent life in the future he gets ready to do anything to earn quick money .After watching this drama i was really amazed to see how a person can change based on the situation he/she is in.It perfectly depicts the inner conflicts of humans(Should we do the right things? or do things right?)
This drama got me so indulged into it and literally i was hoping for an ending which would be favourable for both the leads.When i thought OK,now things are getting better for them but then came BOOM.... plot twist and then again i thought, it will get easier for them atleast NOW!!! and then another BOOM BOOM ending followed.Though i did not understand the behaviour of few characters at the end,I thoroughly enjoyed this drama.After completing it i was left with No Regrets,No Disappointment and No Thoughts.
Was this review helpful to you?
This is the kinda drama that even when the main character does bad stuff, you like them and you are obviously rooting for them to get out of the situation and have an happy ending, its not always so, anything can happen, he is doing something wrong and we cant deny that, they can get caught and die also.
I love the fact that they were realistic on what some teenagers actually think and talk about, sex, smokes, rebellion, top notch.
As frustrating as this drama was for me, the main cast jisoo being smart but actually very dumb, there were so many situations he could avoid with a simple lie, and Gyuri being so annoying and butting into jisoo life but there's really no drama without people like that right, i actually ended up liking her while watching it, she acted smart when she needed to, something i expected from jisoo, i love the girl that acted minhee(cant remember her name) followed all her films,shes a very good actress, but i didnt feel she was the right person for this role
I liked gitae, he didnt mess up anything really and helped even though he didnt know he was doing so, finding out that he actually cared was nice.
I kinda like endings like this, but i need more, whats gonna happen really
Was this review helpful to you?
Seriously though, I hadn't even heard of this show before it premiered on Netflix. I decided to give a go basically on a whim. Like I recognized the lead because I had just watched Itaewon Class (which I wasn't a fan of btw), and was like sure lets see what this kid can do as the lead now.
Well damn! Took me by surprise and then some. A gritty and fantastic show that I was completely hooked on. I can see why this is a fully Netflix show and not something that was on a Korean channel. No channel would have greenlit this. The entire theme and characters are pretty dark. There is no fluff or sweet k-drama fantasies here. There are no typical k-drama caricatures here either. The characters are unique and realistically fleshed out. All the actors do a great job and you can tell that the director really let them loose.
Honestly I have nothing really bad to say about this show. Maybe only that I wish it was longer. Maybe a second season? Though I'm not really sure where they would go with it, but I would be on board. As long as they put the kind of passion into it that they clearly did with the first.
With Kingdom, and now this, I really hope more writers, directors, and producers look to Netflix to make their more daring projects, that would more than likely be stifled if handled by a Korean station (even the cable ones).
If you are looking for something more dark and daring than your typical k-drama fare, don't hesitate on this one. GO AND WATCH IT! NOW!
Btw, I loved the intro theme, despite it not really being a full song. It was short, but I still never wanted to skip the opening theme.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
what's the point
Of course it's my own perception, but as pedagogue I won't advice you to watch Extracurricular.Youth dating for money, robbery, emotional and psychic pain and school youth bullying eachother are a daily reality all over the world. Perhaps a point of discussion in the Korean society, always good to discuss these thema's but I don't need to see that in a K-drama.
I'm a happy and positive person otherwise I would be tent to get in a depression. I was really happen to finish this K-drama, so I could start a new one and forget Extracurricular.
Definately not my cup tea, an average 6 is far to much.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
A Concept with Potential, But a Failed Potential at that...
This show has a pretty good concept, However, Netflix is back at it again with dissapointing originals like no other. The show is predictable and hard to watch due to either too fast pacing and vice versa. OST was a banger, but the acting wasn't. In the show the MC is portrayed as the ace of the school, but in his weak actions and his over-emotional personality, I see no ace in him at all, kind of reminds me of a certain Netflix movie (which suprisingly did better), 'White Yagami Syndrome' anyone? Honestly, the show is such a let down, it has a fun concept, but ultimately failed due to poor character writing and poor pacing.Was this review helpful to you?
