It follows the story of filthy rich parents who go about extreme ways to make sure that their children gets accepted into Korea’s top 3 SKY universities (Seoul, Korea, Yonsei) to satisfy their own greed. The drama, despite being a light comedy at times, is extremely heavy, dealing with topics like depression, suicide, toxic parental expectations, and broken relationships. It highlights how flawed the education system is and how it can break children going through it.
What’s especially brilliant about this drama is it’s story and complex characters. Despite having almost all their main characters frustratingly flawed, and even downright evil, which would usually put people off, the story is so compelling that this actually becomes a draw. You’d end up caring for all the families, which makes it even more heartbreaking when you have situations where one family can’t be happy without making another devastated. The adult actors are breathtakingly talented, so much so that it makes the children actors who are by all means decent, seem bad in comparison. This is also the only flaw I can find with this drama. The direction really shows its charms during its intense scenes, making scenes that were already emotional absolutely unbearable. It really is one of the best directed kdramas.
Special mention for episode 17 which is without a doubt the single best drama episode I’ve ever watched, with the heartache I felt from watching it still lingering
TL;DR if you’ve ever felt suffocated by the education system, this will be a hell of a relatable and emotional ride.
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