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Extracurricular korean drama review
Completed
Extracurricular
1 people found this review helpful
by ellie
Sep 8, 2020
10 of 10 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 10
Story 10.0
Acting/Cast 10.0
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 7.5

Not Your Average Drama

The minute I began watching this drama I knew this would not be like any of the others I'd watched so far. Similar in tone to Parasite and many other Korean movies, this drama portrays a very realistic and gritty take on life and what it takes to survive.

The strongest point of this drama is its plot. Void of stereotypical cliches, it leaves you on the edge of your seat guessing what will happen next. Although high schoolers running a prostitution business seems extremely out-there and unrealistic, the genius-level writing of this drama has made me realize that this may very well be reality for people living not only in Korea, but other developed countries too. I'm glad that this drama is a Netflix Original, because it would not have been as dark nor as great had it been picked up by Korean networks that have to abide to the KCC's laws. I have never felt the way I've felt over the course of this drama, from developing a strong attachment to Oh Jisoo in the first few episodes to being disgusted with myself & his actions in the last one. The characters are all extremely well written and I enjoyed watching them struggle to conform to the rapidly changing circumstances. The actions & motivations of the four leads are such that you can never truly root for any of them despite either having begun as a favorable character, or become one through their character development. While there are some questions that remain unanswered, the open ending of this drama has me believing that the story is not complete and we will get a 2nd season in which those questions will be answered. In all, the plot will have your brain running a mile a minute, thinking of theories and motivations for days after completing it.

I have never been good at telling good & bad acting apart, but judging by the way the lead four, especially Gyuri & Jisoo made me feel, I think their acting is nothing short of amazing, especially Kim Dong-hees's. He portrayed such strong emotion, especially anxiety, that I felt my stomach bunch up into knots while watching him.

The only reason I have given a less than stellar rating to the soundtrack is because, while it was good, it wasn't all that memorable. I watched this drama a few months ago and yet when listening to the soundtrack I fail to place what scenes the songs were used for. On top of that, I felt like the theme song was kind of cliche. To me it felt like the stereotypical theme song for a dark, crime drama rather than being one that really mirrored this story. To be honest though, this drama was so good that even a less than perfect soundtrack did not detract from it. Like I said before, the plot is so entrancing that you will barely register the soundtrack. Perhaps that's what happened with me.

Rewatch value-wise, I gave it a lower score not because I would not enjoy rewatching, but because this is the type of drama you can only truly experience once. It is riddled with plot-twists that leave you gasping for air, akin to Parasite, and I just do not feel like you can re-experience the same feelings while rewatching it because you know what will happen next which is absolutely essential for this drama. With that being said, if there was ever a device invented that let you wipe shows from your memory, I would be first in line so that I could watch this for the first time again. I am planning to rewatch it with my friend soon, so who knows, I might feel different about it then.

TL;DR: Absolutely amazing drama, will have your emotions running high. Must Watch.
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