A Second Look At Hierarchy: Things I Loved

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntczSnSogQ8

Hierarchy is a Korean teen mystery scandal with seven episodes. I watched it in the past, and I've rewatched it again to write this review.

The drama takes place at Jooshin High School, a prestigious institution founded by the reputable conglomerate, Jooshin Group. Jooshin High is a playground to the children of South Korea’s most rich and powerful. The school gives its students an usual amount of social freedom, which they unfortunately misuse to abuse scholarship students. This abuse leads to the death of one.

Hierarchy explores the mystery behind that death, but the main drama heavily revolves around the complex love lives of the top four elite students:

THE TOP FOUR

1. Kim Ri-an - Extremely privileged, pressured & lonely.

   (played by Kim-Jae-won from King The Land), son of Jooshin Group’s charitable CEO, a powerful conglomerate that’s a rival to Jaeyul Group. He's considered the King of Jooshin High School and commander of the bullies.

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2.  Jung Jae-i - cold, gloomy & mysterious.

   (played by Roh Jeong-eui from Crushology 101), daughter of Jaeyul Group’s perfectionist CEO, a powerful conglomerate. Girlfriend of Ri-an, and considered the "Queen" of the school by association.

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3. Yoon He-ra - ambitious, manipulative and sociable,

   (played by Ji Hye-won from Justice), daughter of an International Trading Firm, Yoon International. She likes wealth and is attracted to Ri-an, but she's Jae-i's best friend.

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4. Lastly, the cautious, loyal, and secretive, Lee Woo-jin

   (played by Lee Won-jung from My Perfect Stranger), son of a politician. He has a not-so-secret crush on Yoon Hera, but explores an indecent relationship with one of his teachers from Jooshin High instead. A lowkey character who knows more about the mystery than we think.

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The first episode starts off strong with the scene of Kang In-han, a scholarship student, running away from something.  He claims that everyone at Jooshin High is crazy and threatens to expose them all when he’s brutally hit by a car and bleeds out into the street.

Life resumes at Jooshin High School, and a new scholarship student takes the stage. The charming and upbeat, Kang Ha (played by Lee Chae-min from Bon Apetit Your Majesty + Crushology 101). He may seem cute and clueless, but it’s all a mask hiding the determined desire to solve the mysterious death of Kang In-han, his non-identical twin brother.

It doesn’t take Kang Ha long to draft his first list of suspects: The school’s A-list. Mainly, Kim Ri-an, the son of the school's owner. Kang Ha learns Kim Ri-an ruled the school with an iron fist, and his late brother made the grave mistake of befriending his girlfriend, Jung Jae-i. This places a fixed target on his brother's back.

In episode 1, Jae-i dumps Ri-an for mysterious reasons she refuses to disclose. By the end of the episode, Kang Ha kisses Jae-i on a dare at a party to provoke Kim Ri-an.

He succeeds successfully. But as for this drama?

Comments left were:

“Failed remake of ELITE.” 

“Don’t waste your time watching.”

“Weak attempt to westernize K-dramas.”

“Boring, and unoriginal.”

I’m probably one of the few who enjoyed watching Hierarchy, and would like to dismiss these claims. Yes, there were parts I didn’t like just like everyone else, but overall, there were some details in the show that pleased me, although I do have to admit at some moments it DOES get boring. You can tell that Hierarchy was heavily inspired by ELITE, BUT there are other influences. I'd argue there's at least a pint of Gossip Girl, the drama and characters itself are still very different, and arguably its own show. Regarding the sentiment that Hierarchy was a “Weak attempt to westernize K-dramas.” I think the audience was painfully ignorant of two things, and the show failed to explain this to the viewer so they could understand. As for the cliches- Some critics might say the writing was lazy but there were some moments in the show where I was genuinely surprised because it had little details that surprised me and weren't like normal kdramas at all. Anyway back on to my previous point. The audience was ignorant of two things:

1. The rich kid/ upper-middle class kid experience. At rich kid schools, Kids are taught to be less... traditional. Rich kids schools are more concerned with helping kids assimilate globally in case of travel or migration to another country (because think about it, rich kids will most likely be traveling, studying abroad or living abroad). That's why we see that Jooshin has clubs like football, yoga, and cheerleading.

2. People don't know what International Schools/ Rich kids schools are actually like.

As I said before I think the viewers didn't know what Korea's upper class schools are actually like, so it would have been more interesting if we got to see more of that in Hierarchy. The show introduced us to a gorgeous school but failed to truly show it off even though most of the scenes were shot there.

Regarding the other comments comparing it to ELITE, here's an explanation:

CHARACTER SIMILARITIES & SIDE NOTES:

• Kim Ri-an seems to be inspired by the A-holish hot-head, Guzman.

  But Ri-an is less condescending, intimidating, and a seriously loyal lover. He attempts to manage his violent emotions through extracurriculars like fencing and kick-boxing. Some viewers were displeased with his acting, but I think the greater issue lies with how the character was written/directed. There were two moments he showed a significant amount of emotion that stuck out to me:

  1. His crying scene after finding out Jae-i's secret.

  2. His crying scene when embracing his Mother after telling her he wished she threw him away like his Father.

  It was a bit jarring compared to his tamer expressions before that, I feel that if he was written to be more condescending, confident, or intimidating, it wouldn't feel that weird to see him show such levels of emotion. Most scenes he's just standing there looking seriously handsome, mad, or timid before Jae-i. It wasn't enough, for me at least. Felt like something was missing.

  
  

• Jung Jae-i seems to be inspired by the mysterious Carla x free-spirited Marina.

  But, she's less promiscuous.

  Although... she's hinted at being more wild than she lets on as she always says: "I hate guys who get clingy." Meaning she's possibly had guys before Ri-an, and possibly had casual flings. It would also explain why she thinks of Ri-an highly despite his King-of-the-Bullies shenanigans. The show fails to answer these questions so we can only try to read in-between the dialogue that seems to be very telling.

  
  

• Yoon Hera - The ambitious Lucrezia.

  Only Hera is less scandalous, and a "nice" mean girl. Polite to your face but a B behind your back. Like Lucrezia, she's greedy, seductive, and selfish but loves her friends. Even if she tries to date your ex-boyfriend...at least she waited.

  
  

• Lee Woo-jin - Polo x Ander.

  Like Polo and Ander, Woo-jin's a passive bystander at first, but he takes action towards the end of the season. Like Ander, he's loyal to his friends, and does have an addiction: Having a secret relationship with his homeroom teacher. Unlike Polo, Woojin isn't slow. He's astute, shameless, and at times, manipulative.

  
  

• Kang Ha is his own person, but some times he feels like either a more mature green flag version of Nano, or a cooler version of Samuel.
  

  I may compare these characters to Elite, but they are still very much their own characters, as you can see.

  
  

Now, for those of you who don't know Hierarchy also received negative feedback for its writing. The show had gorgeous sets, wardrobes, and an obviously huge budget, but the writing was rushed and sadly unfinished.

The drama lost its impact and momentum after episode 1. The deeper we dove, the faster Kang In-han’s importance faded as we realize he was just some sad sucker who got involved in the blender relationship drama of Jae-i and Ri-an. By the time we get to the revenge point, it felt underwhelming, but personally I thought the ending was realistic. I'll explain why later.

THINGS I LOVED: [SPOILERs BELOW!!!]

• The personified phones.

  If there’s one thing I hate in K-dramas, it’s that phones are always naked, and the latest models- Unless, it's a political or serious drama, only then will they get the details right. I know normal k-dramas do this to advertise the phones, but I still hate it, half the time it doesn’t even suit the character’s financial circumstances or their personality. You can still advertise the phone and also the phone case. So seeing Hierarchy let the cast have gorgeous phone cases really made me drop my jaw when I first saw it.

  
  

• Jung Jae-i doesn't end up with Kang Ha. 

  I actually loved this because it was refreshing. Although I did question Jae-i's intelligence at first, it made sense. From the start Jae-i was trying to run away from Ri-an and her issues, but by the end she stops and confronts him and the truth. For those who complain why she went back to Ri-an I'd like to leave you with a quote by Keanu Reeves.

"If you're a lover, you gotta be a fighter. Because if you don't fight for your love, what kind of love do you have?" - Keanu Reeves.

Technically, Ri-an never abused Jae-i, so of course she still had love for him. She had many good heart-warming memories with him. Ditching him without explanation would make their relationship feel cheap & weak, she'd have no growth (that's why I think she was the type of girl who had flings in the past, used to discarding guys and throwing them away) and kinda like she's getting a get outta jail free card from taking accountability- She never asked Ri-an to stop the bullying of lower class students (in the past), she never confided in him about her issues, and she never confronted him about his need to bully Kang In-han for getting close to her. She tells Kang Ha in confidence that there were things she enabled, and things she and her friends didn't know were bad because they were never taught it was. We see this proven to be true throughout the series, the adults ARE barely around, and some of them don't even call out their kids on their bad behavior (Side note: Yoon Hera's Dad for example, listened to his daughter vent instead of pointing out that it was wrong of her to go after her best-friend's ex. He was hurting financially at the time, so I think that might have also played a part in him not saying anything, perhaps he hoped she could seduce Ri-an. That aside he treas Hera like a Princess.) So it makes sense that instead of dumping Ri-an, Jae-i decides to go long distance instead, separating herself so she and Ri-an can grow separately, heal, and reunite someday. Although I love the result, I wish we got stronger swoon-worthy scenes with Jae-i and Ri-an, aside from the flashbacks. The flashbacks of Jung Jae-i and Ri-an tells us they are skilled actors, immediately viewers can feel their love and realistic dynamic etched in the flashbacks, but since in present day, the two and their friends are less expressive it feels jarring... almost like you're watching a different show. I'm not complaining about the flashbacks being too expressive, just that it would have been nice to get a better scene explaining everyone's shift in attitude. We can guess why because of what we're shown, but it'd still be nice to get a stronger explanation.

• Hierarchy's revenge arc was weak but realistic.

Towards the end of the season, Kang Ha reports his classmates to the police with all the evidence he collects. The A-list are questioned by the police, but the ones who takes the damage are the adults. The reputation of the school, Ri-an's mother, Jooshin Group all take a hit. The homeroom teacher and the Principal are fired, Jae-i’s Dad is embarrassed by her scandal and exiles her, the political campaign of Woo-jin’s Father is destroyed. That's it. The kids are okay. It's a weak but realistic ending considering the kids were not the ones who killed Kang In-han.

And so little changes at the end, we see the bullies try to be painfully nicer to the scholarship students, but that's it. In the last episode Hera confirms our suspicions and says “I don’t see a quick fix for any of us or Jooshin.”

You can’t stop kids from bullying others that easily, especially if it's school culture. You can get it to stop temporarily, but it’s gotta be beaten or shocked out of them ALL for them to learn their lesson. I think Hierarchy intended to tackle the school's issues in its second season. Season 2 would be a perfect time to introduce new characters, challenge the present A-list, and use the histories of the previous cast to bully them. Perhaps the new principal will also be stricter, make changes to school rules, and even harbor a secret agenda of her own? From what I saw in the last episode, my impression was that she's a woman who’d worked hard to get where she’s at and finally arrived.

• [Unpopular Opinion] Kang Ha and Yoon Hera

In the beginning, Hera is the first one to greet him. She invites him to the party and even though she messes with him, I got a whiff of chemistry there. She already stated she finds him cute like a puppy, so seeing the two sitting together eating street toast at the end was adorable.

It'd be interesting if Hera broke her own rules for Kang Ha about only dating rich guys and grew closer to him during the second season, earning the ire of her former friends. Her relationship with Kang Ha will cause friction with her relationship with Lee Woo-jin. Sparking long anticipated conflict between Woo-jin and Kang Ha, all this time Kang Ha thought Ri-an was solely to blame. Maybe we'll get new scholarship students? Maybe even a girl this time to make Hera feel possessive over Kang Ha?

I say all of that but we probably won't be getting a second season.

• Choi Won-young

The most intimidating character in the drama wasn't a student of Jooshin, but an adult, Jae-i's father, played by actor Choi Won-young. A profit minded perfectionist who never misses a beat in reminding Jae-i present herself promiscuously or be like her "slutty" Mother.

My favorite scene is the hunting ground. He's wearing orange tinted sunglasses, and he does the little head nod to Jae-i, wordlessly giving her the go ahead to take a shot at the rabbit he just missed. An actor with skill, experience and presence, even in the little details! Not saying the other actors weren't skilled, but I think the other characters weren't developed enough script wise for them to go ham.

I was shocked by the story development, he seemed like a Father who loved his daughter at times even if strained but in the end his view of women ends up devaluing her long before she ever even devalued herself. With a Father like this it would make perfect sense Jae-i began to sleep around, looking for love or something to fill the void inside her.

• The Symbolic Shadows

  The show tries to convey things with shadows at times.

  
  

  1 The Race Track. Jae-i and Ri-an stand far apart but their shadows are holding hands. This could possibly even hint that they'd get back together even if separated.

  
  

  2. The huge shadow of Ri-an's Mother on the wall of her office, as he stands there watching her you can tell deep inside he's a little boy who wants his Mother's love and to spend time with her, but she's too busy for him.

  
  

ENDING THOUGHTS:

One thing I wished the drama answered is why Ri-an hates scholarship students so much, we never get an explanation but I suspect it has something to do with his Mother. Ri-an is tended to by staff but emotionally neglected by his Mother. He wants to spend time with his Mom but she's always busy working. I think her generosity to the lower class and neglect of him, sowed resentment towards the lower class inside him. We only see Ri-an apologize to Kang Ha after his Mother finally hugs him and they grow closer, so I'm convinced there's a connection, and the show didn't have the time to highlight this. Seeing that there were only seven episodes, something must've happened that resulted in them having to rush the script? Or maybe I'm mistaken and it wasn't rushed... We'll never know.

While we don't get an explanation from Ri-an, we do get some from others.

1. Jooshin students that pay, also help pay for scholarship students’ tuition, they think they’re owed submission.

2. “Do you know what kind of place Jooshin is? It’s a jungle. The kind of place where if you let your guard down for a second, you get eaten. But there’s one thing everyone can agree on. That this school should be a living hell for anyone too poor or underprivileged. Isn’t that why we look down on scholarship students and treat them like they’re invisible? Do you really expect me to end up like them?” - Hera.

At one point, it seemed like Hierarchy wanted to give viewers a look into the lives of rich kids, but it failed to commit and make viewers care for the cast, or fully show off their personal lives and relationships. Some viewers aren't going to make the connection that rich kids face more pressures and responsibilities than scholarship students, and may look to things like anxiety medication/drugs, and bullying as a coping mechanism unless it's presented in a stronger way or flat out said. Since, scholarship students have less to stress about in their personal lives in comparison. I wonder if the drama meant to say Jooshin's students refuse to let scholarship students have any advantages in school performance?

If you're going to write bullies, the audience doesn't need to like them, they just need to relate or at the very least understand them.

  In ELITE, the series gave us very good reasons as to why the rich kids disliked the scholarship students. They disturb and negatively influence the environment. Which is terrible to say, but we see that things only take a turn for the worse with them there.

Example 1: Guzman's sister (Marina), was given an STD by a scholarship student. Another scholarship student (Christian) helped connect his best friend (Ander) to a drug dealer, temporarily making him an addict, and another (Samuel) and his brother (Nano) stole from his family & friend's (Carla), which lead to the brief imprisonment of his Father and death of his sister.

Example 2: Lucrezia wants to win a scholarship, and needs to be at the top of the class to do so. And she is until a smart muslim scholarship student (Nadia) shows up and tops her in the class ranking. Her non-exclusive boyfriend (Guzman) also falls in love with that student and dumps her.

Example 3: Polo's girlfriend (Carla) is seduced and stolen away by Christian, another scholarship student. And later, becomes a murderer and manipulator.

Lastly, I wish we had a bit more time with Yoon Hera and the other characters. It feels like Jae-i was given most of the spotlight but other characters needed some as well, and one of those was Yoon Hera. I know viewers don't like her, but I found her interesting. She's literally the opposite of Jae-i. Jae-i has more wealth, but she's not as cherished. Meanwhile you can tell that Yoon Hera is literally a jewel to her Father. He treats her like a princess, cooking for her himself, listening to her problems, and even hiring body guards to monitor her movement at school so she doesn't get kidnapped- this is a treatment not even Jae-i or Woo-jin seems to have. (Ri-an is monitored by his Mother through Principal, and other staff so we know he gets similar treatment). Yoon Hera is truly blessed, and typically this can lead to a person being terribly spoiled but we don't see a bratty attitude given to her parents, only to kids at school, which tells us it's all a behavior she possibly learned to survive and socially climb the ranks at school.

I really loved seeing how much Yoon Hera loves her Father, one would think she might snap since her Father pampered her (maybe her Mother keeps her humble) but she wasn't. Even when her Father went out of his way to get her an expensive dress for Jae-i's going away party, she still wore a cheaper outfit to help them save money. She also began to cling to Ri-an for financial survival, it was no longer about attraction and being the new Queen of Jooshin, but staying financially afloat. Both Jae-i and Yoon Hera are trying to survive in their own way, but Yoon Hera's story is put on the back burner since Jae-i's is more dire. The few moments we have with Yoon Hera makes me feel more convinced she could become Kang Ha's best friend in Jae-i's absence, even if she may secretly associate with him to save face and pretend to be mean to him publicly. I also have a feeling Kang Ha may not mind as much if she shares insider information with him, as we could tell Yoon Hera likes to network with others, and once again she was the first character to greet him and the only character to go out of her way to talk to him even though EVERYONE ignored him. And at the very end she seeks him out on her own and sits next to him.

Overall Hierarchy was an interesting world to explore while it lasted. We weren't shown enough, the show became very telling and slightly boring towards the end. It's unfulfilled potential still haunts me, I think it could have been a masterpiece or at least one of my favorite shows if given more time and care, something on par with Gossip Girl and ELITE.