Early Access: Undercover High School Episodes 1-2 – The Fangirl Verdict
Hi everyone!
Today I’m sharing my episode 1-2 notes on Undercover High School, because I am enjoying it even more than I’d expected to, and I was wondering if you’d like to join me? ????
These are my episode 1-2 notes, exactly as they appear on Patreon, ie, without screenshots (I’m saving those for the actual review).
I hope you all enjoy, and I hope you’ll consider joining us over on Patreon, for the rest of the discussions! ❤️
Episode notes:
E1-2. My friends, I am having a great time with this show, and I couldn’t be more pleased. ????
There’s just something about this premise that tickles my fancy; I just love the idea of NIS agent Seo Kang Joon going undercover in high school, and trying to lie low and live an unremarkable high school life, while trying to fulfill his mission without blowing his cover. ????
Of course, there’s suspension of disbelief required here, and Show knows it – and establishes it right off the bat, with that wild action sequence from episode 1’s opening mission.
From here, we know that:
1, a manhwa lens is probably best, for this show, and
2, Hae Seong’s got a bit of a wild, independent streak about him, sometimes – information that works nicely to fill in our understanding of his character, going into his high school mission. ????
Oh, and of course, there’s the thing where we learn that Hae Seong is a very skilled fighter, with excellent moves and reflexes – which definitely ups his appeal, not gonna lie. ????
That slo-mo shot of him walking away from the fiery wreck, with the broker casually slung over his shoulder, and the stolen artifact in his other hand, is quite glorious ????, and I kinda love the bonus beat, of colleague Yeong Hun literally crying in awe at how cool Hae Seong is, as an involuntary tear escapes his eye. ????
It’s too bad for Hae Seong that his bullet had ricocheted so wildly, that it had shot off the arm of the artifact, thus giving the Chief a reason to force him to go undercover in high school on a mission that has no guarantee of success – or risk being fired, and having his team dissolved alongside.
I feel bad for Hae Seong, yes, but not enough that I actually want the high school mission dissolved, because I am thoroughly smitten with the premise. ????
And also, I don’t know what it is, but Seo Kang Joon looks extra hot, while pretending to be a high schooler..? ????
There’s something about the nonchalant way he wears it, like school rules are but guidelines, and also, the way he saunters around, all laidback and kinda quizzical.
Or maybe it’s the fact that Show helpfully gives us that slo-mo sequence of a shirtless Hae Seong putting on said uniform; that probably upped the hotness factor..? ????????
Speaking of which, one of the things that is really tickling my fancy, is the fact that our female lead Su Ah happens to come across Hae Seong having a drink at her mother’s restaurant the night before his mission starts, and gets all up in her feels, from the smoldering sexy – and then, realizes to her horror, the following day, that she’d been having the hots for – gasp! – her student. ????
I am very, very tickled by this, and I love the running gag that Su Ah basically doesn’t really know what to do with Hae Seong, but is trying her darndest to get him to toe the line and behave, because she’s seen for herself that he’s the type of delinquent who would fake his ID and go drinking, despite being underage. ????
I do also feel bad for Su Ah, who’s a contract teacher trying to gain a permanent posting, and is basically being dragged around by the vice-principal – and now, even more so, after she accidentally pulled his toupee after downing those drinks that he’d been forcing on her, and therefore getting drunk.
Ugh. It’s not great, but Show’s approaching it with a light sort of touch, so I’m just rolling with it, and hoping and believing that schmucky vice-principal will get his comeuppance as a matter of due course. ????
Going back to Hae Seong, I am loving the idea that he’s trying so hard to lay low and not attract attention, but can’t help attracting attention anyway.
First, there’s the fact that he looks hot in uniform (heh), and so, the minute he walks into the classroom as the new transfer student, all the girls start oohing and aahing at how handsome and cool he looks. ????
Second, there’s the fact that the school bullies appear to be wired to target anyone new, who doesn’t have a powerful parent, and Hae Seong fits into that category nicely.
Related to this second point, is the fact that Hae Seong’s deskmate Dong Min is regularly harassed by said bullies, and it becomes harder and harder for Hae Seong not to get involved.
Watching all this, I find that I’m just waiting with bated breath, to see when Hae Seong’s resolve to follow orders and keep his head down will actually crack, so that we can see him unleashing some of his badassery on the bullies. ????
Of course, we do get to see that in episode 2, and I have to admit to feeling quite the thrill, to see Hae Seong land a punch in Tae Soo’s torso, after deftly ducking out of reach of Tae Soo’s attempted punch.
That was so satisfying to see, coz Tae Soo’s shown himself to be such a cruel, arrogant ass.
On that note, can I just say that Seo Kang Joon is doing a great job of making Hae Seong both badass-cool yet dorky-awkward, at the same time, and I marvel at the duality.
It’s quite trippy to me, that he can channel both those very different vibes, at the exact same time. I love it. ????
On a related tangent, I do also love the little touches, where we get evidence that Hae Seong’s very athletic, like the way he casually sits on top of the door frame on the roof like it’s most natural thing in the world, when Yu Jeong asks to see him there.
Call me a shallow fangirl, but I love those little beats. ????
What a contrast present-day Hae Seong is, to the Hae Seong whom we see in flashback, who’d suffered continually from bullying, because his classmates saw him as an unwanted orphan.
It was heartbreaking to see that Hae Seong had gotten beaten up on a regular basis, and that the teachers had turned a blind eye, even though it was clear to see that he was being targeted. ????
And what a sad backstory that we get, that Dad had been in the NIS, and had gone off to work one day – the day before Hae Seong’s birthday – and then had never come back.
I’m hoping that we get Dad’s return, sometime in the course of our story, coz I need to know what had happened to him.
With that kind of personal history, where he’d been bullied badly in the past, it’s little wonder that it’s so hard for Hae Seong to not say or do anything, when Tae Soo and his gang target Dong Min.
In fact, I am really loving this little friendship that’s growing between Hae Seong and Dong Min; it’s so endearing, honestly. ????
I feel like you can see Dong Min glomming onto Hae Seong, and really starting to blossom, because there’s finally someone on his side. ????
Of course, things aren’t looking great for Dong Min or for Hae Seong, what with Tae Soo pulling that stunt at the end of episode 2, of asking for Dong Min’s grandmother for her ID, for fraud purposes – and identifying himself as Hae Seong, in order to do the deed.
Ack. This sounds like a recipe for disaster. ????
And what is this about Dong Min and Hae Seong actually discovering actual skeletal remains in the floor boards of the abandoned building??
If those are real, I feel like the remains must have been planted there, to further fan the spooky ghost stories that have been circulating among the students, but.. why would that dude be hacking into the floor boards to find them?
Or maybe the dude who ran away had been searching for the gold as well?
Plus, there’s the thing where Chairwoman Seo sees that footage of Hae Seong investigating her secret data wall; I’m sure she’s not going to just sit back and do nothing about it?
Regardless of these potential obstacles, though, I’m pretty sure Hae Seong’s going to be just fine, since we’re only at the beginning of our story.
I’m confident that he’ll end up prevailing, and I’m pleased that I get to go along for the ride. ????
*This show is being covered on the Early Access Plus (US$10) Tier on Patreon*
To view episode 1-2 notes in Patreon, along with everyone’s comments, you can go here!
You can find my Patreon page here, and for all future episode notes for this show you can click here.
Episodes 5-6 notes will be out soon! I hope you’ll consider joining us!
It’ll be a way to have fun, and support me at the same time? ????❤️
PS: For more information on what the Patreon experience is like, you might like to check out my Patreon update post for March, which you can find here!
