Undercover High School

Synopsis:

A 31 year old NIS agent, Jung Hae Sung, and his crew are tasked to find the missing gold of King Gojong said to be hidden in Byeongmun High School. He goes undercover as a studnet to challenge and solve the four ghost stories that almost every student who attneds knows, in the hopes that they would lead to the gold. While undercover he meets the headstrong contract Korean history teacher, Oh Su A, who is hoping to become a full time faculty member. As the two grow closer the secrets of the high school and the gold begin to unfold.

Review:

Hello, dear reader! Gosh, I am so excited for this review. Wow, so many new dramas were released toward the end up Februrary going into March. I was wathcing at least four different dramas all of which I wanted to write a review for. So, I've decided to include them all in a podast episode, which I am hoping to complete soon. Look foward to one of those.

Anywho, let's get into the nitty gritty. If you are new to my reviews I rate my dramas on mainly two categories: storytelling, and direction. Under Storytelling, I take into account not just the acting, but the writing, and music as well. It is usually presented as a percentage. Under the category direction, I consider both editing and direction, editing counts for 2 points while direction counts for 3. It'll be out 5. I call them my sticky notes because that tends to be what I write my thoughts on when I'm watching. For Undercover High School, I have the story telling at a 92%. Under direction I gave this a 4/5. Needless to say, I like it. I have no complaints about the directing and aside the from a little beef with the editing or writing the drama almost outscored Crash Landing on You. The editing is alright, it's nothing special, but I am curious what senes ended up on the cutting room floor.

As you already know, dear reader, I absolutely love a good spy story. Ugh, there is just something about a spy going undercover and the adventures that follow that really just suck me in. This drama was all that I wished My Perfect Stranger would be. Although, our leading lady, Jin Ki Joo, was at the helm for both dramas. I hope to see

Look how cute they are!

her in more projects like them. She's got the intelligence, cute charm, and gentle strength down to a "T." She is utterly charming in this drama. I like that she portray Oh Su A as almost the backbone of the story. She is that gentle strength or nudge that Hae Sung often needs to keep going. She is cuteness, she is grace, and won't hesitate to punch you in the face. The way Su A helps Hae Sung and keeps to her principals often reminded me of the quote from My Big Fat Greek Wedding, "The man may be the head, but the woman, she is the neck. And she can move the head anyway she wants." She is such a good character, and honestly a breath of fresh air from the loud strength that we typically get from female leads in Korean dramas.

This leads me to the main lead himself, Seo Kang Joon who plays NIS agent Jung Hae Sung. Gosh, I hadn't realized that I'd seen him in other dramas before. I suppose you

Gosh, look at that back. . .

can say that he hadn't really popped out to me as an actor until this series. I remember he did do well in,When the Weather is Fine, which if I'm being honest the series was a bit lack luster for me. It's been so long since I have seen the drama that I can't say what exactly I disliked about it. However, one of the actresses on my blacklist is in that drama. . . Not sure if that was it. Anyway, I do love him in this series. I wish he'd do more action dramas, they suit him. He was witty, active, charming, etc. He was great in the tense moments, as well as the romanic ones. He sold me on the actions scenes. . . I can go on. To say the least sold me in this character.

One complaint that I do have is that there were great scenes between the action and drama, but very little scenes with romance. Don't get me wrong, the writers did great at giving the audience intrigue. The director did an excellent job at making that intrigue translate onto the screen. The actors portrayed their chactacters perfectly. I just wish there had been more interaction between the main lead and female lead romantically. There are some whisperes of it here and there. The story, and actors infer that there is something between them, but not many scenes where we actually see it. There are scenes where each character has moments that make them realize there is something more between them, and it's clear they are both interested in each other, but it's not really professed out loud. There are small subtle flirtations, but then as we get into the series and the preverbal shit hits the fan, all that flirtation disappears without giving us anything solid. The one confession we have in the series is when he comes to save her from the allegations spreading that she is dating a student. He tells the class that he likes her a lot, but there is just something about the confession that felt a little insincere. Especially since afterward he acts like he didn't say anything. I'm talking about at night near the car when she asks him to dinner. He seems confused by her request, or somewhat oblivious that she's asking him on a date. While in editing did they cut something out? Was one scene put out sequence? I would have liked something more solid.

We know all the feelings are there, they know it's there, but I wan to SEE it. What I mean by that is some more scenes with a little more fliratation. Give me more scenes like at the dinner party when Su A walks in and Hae Sung so utterly besotted with her he can't keep his eyes off her, completely forgetting the fact that he is supposed to be a teenager. That moment before they go into the directors room is also just perfect, they got that eye acting thing down. I like to call it eye sex. . . If you've ever watched

Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries you probably get what I mean. They have this moment of understanding and flirtation all done with the eyes. I barely see anyone do eye acting these days and I'd say the king of eye acting is definitely Park Bo Gum, but when an actor can do it I get so giddy. Eye acting is incredibly difficult to pull off and both Seo Kang Joon, and Jin Ki Joo did it well. If they can do that, imagine how much better those romantic scenes would have been, or were. . . assuming they existed ang were cut out in the editing room due to time constraints.

The three stooges that are Hae Sung's crew were a great comic relief to help alleviate

from the heavy intense moments. However, I wish that they would have at least just one shining moment to show us that they aren't complete numskulls. If they were that inneffective how in th world did they even get into the NIS in the first place? There has to be some kind of intelligence that we the audience didn't see.

The last thing that i want to impart is my praise for the villanesse, Kim Shin Rok. Girl, where have you been hiding? This is the villain that I've been looking for in dramas. She's included that all too cliché miniacal villain laugh, but it only happens when she starts to

unravel and the psycho starts to come out. In the beginning of the series Seo Myung Joo is a classy, well put together, cold, and tightly wound woman with a scary intellect. Then as the series moves on and she realizes she's on the losing side, she starts to unravel. It's a solid decent into madness. I appreciated that we get to see the levels of her as she's starting to lose it. Then when she's left with nothing and there is no promise that the gold bars existed, that is her breaking point. UGH- the actress pulls it off perfectly. Gosh, she was so much fun to watch.

Anyway, thank you for joinging me on this little shpeal on a drama I may actually just rewatch because I enjoyed it so much. If you are new, dear reader, please subscribe and scroll through my other reviews. Thank you so much for being here. Don't forget to comment down below and let me know what you thought of Undercover High School. Goodbye, and until next time dear reader!