I like the fact they're not rushing the love story for now. Watching them texting is enough for me because I know it's the first step.

Everything is so competitive in Korea, it must be exhausting. The issue is the students are caught in the middle.

I like the fact the characters are not totally bad or good, just human beings.

How does the show do this??? I was so stressed throughout these episodes and my feelings were really ambiguous about the leads. But episode 4 end, made me so emotional. I fondly recall very few teachers who made me love a subject. It wasn’t about marks. It was about the joy of studying.

What a beautiful ending. And it was liberating to see her go back to her roots. Of what it meant to be teaching her students. I especially loved the intense scene where she was calling out his mistakes. You can see he is going through a lot of emotions but they don’t fight. He changes his class and notes but he isn’t wholly convinced. The friction was so strong with absolutely no words said. So after that, this scene nicely closed the narrative.

I am in no rush for the romance to develop. It’s going at a wonderful pace.

The gray witch assistant’s mistake turned out to be very costly. It was hilarious when he asked the top student to be a ‘spy’.

P.s I have this feeling the mother character is going to turn difficult at some point. This PD has given me bad mother PTSD since SITR 🙃

The show and the romance are both slow moving, but neither ever feels slow to me. There's a lot of dramatic tension built into the premise, even though you wouldn't imagine that a hagwon where teachers hiding a promotion scheme would lead to so many scenes where I'm nervously hoping they don't get caught, lol. It's somehow a lot more suspenseful than many thrillers!

At the same time, one thing I really appreciate about the show and its relationships is that they showcase intelligent people talking and strategizing with each other. There's still an inherent sense of hierarchy, but it will dissolve during these exchanges, especially between Junho and Hye-jin. There's such an affectionate respect for each other there that is the perfect basis for more. I do feel like we're watching them fall in love as if in real time, in a logical, but still passionate way that feels real. I can see exactly why they're drawn together, why they (or Hye-jin) might resist it, and why ultimately things could evolve to something more. I can also see how that's going to be problematic for the people around them, but we'll get there.

Watching Hye-jin giggle as she and Junho texted back and forth said a lot about feelings that I don't think she's even allowing herself to acknowledge at this point. And Junho is so sure of himself and his feelings for her that sometimes, it borders on obnoxious, but he always knows exactly when to pull back in a way that only makes him look more charming. I thought the actors vibed together better in these episodes, too.

So far, I'm loving this. It's my favorite live watch at the moment and the one I drag out slowly to prolong the pleasure.

I have mixed feelings about this week’s episodes. I was expecting more of school (teachers and students) latest dynamic after the intial episodes. Instead, I was bombarded with the usual cutthroat rivaly between academies. Already the show has managed to making us viewers side with Daechi by showing with how dirty they try to sabotage the free lecture. I know it's a lot easier to write about competition amongst academies than teachers and academies relationship (in any shape and form) especially since the show got lashed out a bit by portraying unfavorable teacher last week. Here hoping that the writer will continue to use that plot somehow sooner especially with the other new employee around. I'd like that they wrap it up nicely for everyone in Daechi. Truth to be told I was irritated seeing how she approach the FL. She should take her dissatisfaction to the director himself. It's not like she willingly chose the ML to work with in the first place.
It's clear to see that the ML adores the FL especially after they spent so much time preparing for the lecture. I'm glad the ML didn't act merely as a lovesick younger male; he already gave good suggestion and was able to change FL mind bout the free lesson.
Despite their talking about how teaching as tutor at academy is only about getting students good score at school, I love seeing how they actually quite passionate about their job as educators.

I thought their free lecture was so good. It had me looking up Park Wan-seo and wanting to learn more about her work! That scene did a lot to flesh out Hye-Jin and Junho as both educators and potential romantic partners. Instead of her telling us about her teaching philosophy, we got to see that she does more than “teach the test” — she can foster a love of literature in her students. And the flashbacks to them working together conveyed the mix of respect and adoration which which he long has regarded her, as well as the way her guard comes down around him. Who knows if the writing will crash and burn later (please don’t!) but the free-lecture arc was really well done.

I loved these episodes. It established a good baseline for the romance. I am really liking this.

Definitely liked these 2 episodes more than the first two. I love how they don't rush the romance, it's a slowburn and it's working. Also really liked the whole "competition arc". It's enjoyable and interesting to watch at the same time, as I'm really starting to get the picture of how competitive this whole field of work is.

This is a wonderful show. The director builds tension in subtle ways, so that even though the stakes may seem small, we feel the characters' anxiety.

The subject matter is a little too close to home for me; I'm a teacher, and my child recently went through the college admissions insanity at a competitive high school. I keep thinking about how even though the U.S. and Korean admissions systems are really different, the result is the same: money gets laundered into "merit." Even the kids who succeed often end up mentally ill and burned out. The way the hagwon teachers analyze teachers' old tests would be considered cheating here. Of course in the U.S., elite college admissions is really opaque, and wealthy parents hire college consultants, enroll their kids in expensive extra curricular activities, and buy access with donations. Either way, it's not really a meritocracy.

This still had some focus on pedagogy in these last two episodes, so that was pretty impressive, even if they did play up the cutthroat nature of hagwon competition a bit too much for my taste. In fact, they missed an obvious pedagogical technique that I sometimes had to draw on in my years of experience as a teacher: hire a gang of thugs to come in, bust up the rival class, and crack a few heads as a warning. Or, since this was the Korean context, why not hire one of the bullies that inhabit every school classroom, and if students dare articulate the rival hagwon's interpretation of Park Wan-suh, have the bully and the gang pour milk on their heads, or lock the critically challenged victims in a store room to derisive laughter?

But, back to pedagogy, I fail to see why stressing Park Wan-suh's mother, as Hye-jin did, was a more effective literary teaching technique than the "grey witch's" "boring" emphasis on the way a story captures an eternal antagonism (or something like that--reading captions in English made what they were teaching a little unclear.) Besides, given that the story Hye Jin was teaching was about a mother, wasn't Hye-jin committing a biographical fallacy, assuming that the author was just fictionalizing events of her own life? How will that improve his test scores?

Of course, maybe I'm just being a little defensive of the "grey witch" since I'm crushing on the actress playing her, Seo Jung-Yeon. In fact it occurred to me that one way she could bring in more money was to advertise classes at all male senior care centers. We would flock into her classes. Oh, and one other thing on that--obviously Seo-Jung-Yeon is not 60. She's a youngster at 48. But the fact they were marveling that she was "still teaching at 60" irritated me a bit!

OMO OMO OMO, I'm in love with this show already.

First of all, forget what I said about Wi Ha Joon's acting last week. I'm totally buying his performance now. 😆

1. I LOVE our FL. She's so refreshing to see.
I like how natural she is. She isn't a scary We-All-Lie kind of teacher, but she isn't a saint-2013 either. She's just Hye Jin.
I'm here to see her growth.

I kinda have a love-hate relationship with her rule of "I do wtv I want, so you can do the same too".
She does what she wants, even when it affects others, but she's ready to deal with the consequences. And because of that, she also expects others to do the same and knows she has no right to blame them.
That's something that I respect, but I also wonder, why can't she just avoid conflict from the very beginning? 😆 But okay.

2. Teacher Nam.
At one point I was even wondering "why did they hire her?". It seemed like they wouldn't let her do anything. But maybe that's what the academy really wants? They present obstacles because they want the teachers to really fight for their place there.

At the end, she didn't give up and got what she wanted.
Good for her.
I'm also glad she cleared the air with Hye Jin. I was getting a little scared things where going to get out of control.

3. Talking about control... What about the school teacher?
He wants to give extra classes where the kids get to discuss/debate topics, and his boss told him that was a waste of time because it wasn't about the exam?

But isn't he the one that make the exams? He literally said his complementary classes where about this specific textbook (the one for the exams).
It's not like they're going to talk about something random, so what's the deal? I'm confused about that.

4. Joon Ho... I'm starting to like him more and more.

He has his moments that make me go "this guy decided to change his entire career but knows nothing about how a hagwon/the world works".

But that same innocence seems to be what the show wants to protect?

The disappointing look when he figured out Hye Jin had change as a teacher. And later the loving eyes that screamed "this is MY teacher"... That made me cry.

I like how his love and respect for Hye Jin represent the beginning of his love for learning.
And I like how much he wants to share that love with others.

And I'm so happy they shared that love for learning with that kid.
The way that man threatened the boy to go there as a spy was so gross.
I'm glad our leads didn't cancel the event.

The build up to the free lecture was well done that I felt every note of that music. The assistant to the White Witch made a huge mistake by making the smartest kid go to the lecture, those kids would believe his words more than any poster/advertisement. As what they've been saying in the show, it's the word of mouth -- that will put you in the map in this Daechi neighbourhood.

Also, definitely one of the places I will visit when I go to SK. It's tough living there as a high school student. I even had a rule to myself that I will not do any school-related stuff at home (thankfully, I managed xD)

For the romance, it's cooking very slow.

It's interesting that as international audience we see the perspective of each side while apparently this drama has been creating issues ever since it came out. And now, people (knets) are pin pointing something as well this week. Silly. Or maybe their points are valid. Idk.

I’m kind of crushing on the Daechi director! This actor played pretty much the same role in Something in the Rain, a supportive boss. But here he has way more screen time and we get a sense of his character’s personality. (And he looks good in a suit. 🙃)

I'm rooting for the new academy teacher. she's trying to survive like everybody else, but she knows she is a lot of steps behind. and then she has to accept the obvious favoritism just because that guy is an ex-academy student. he could be a genius, but until then, he didn't teach a single student while she had experience. everybody in her situation would feel the same things and I'm glad she is trying to find a way for herself. unlike the majority here, the leads annoyed me a lot and the whole "the love of being a teacher" bit with the 1x1 free class didn't change that.

I loved the smart student. I hope he changes academy because he doesn't deserve to get blackmailed like that ever again. give him a scholarship, daechi!

I was watching a video about different education systems and the narrator said South Koreans take education very seriously and they produce excellent test takers. I felt awful when the grey witch lectures how one's life outcome depends on one test question. Poor kids.
In the same video I mentioned above pictured the Finnish system and that was a delight. The show is alright, I tend to like workplace shows anyways. However, I keep feeling terrible for those young people spending so many hours just to get that one question right.

Like most Knetz say, this drama is BORING and leads have NO CHEMISTRY. I never get the hype with the male lead too

I’ve been watching this drama and engaging intellectually as opposed to emotionally as unlike some other beanies, I find the mechanics of their hagwon world - I have no way of knowing how accurate or not its depiction is - interesting but disturbing.
First of all, I have to get this off my chest that I find it sexist if not misogynistic to label the other super lecturer as “the Gray Witch”. Witches have had a history of being persecuted and prosecuted in many parts of the world and the word carries a pejorative connotation in English at least. I don’t know if the mythology of witches existed or not in Korea but Shamans come somewhat within the word’s orbit even if Shamanism is considered a religion. I wonder if the word “witch” is freighted in the same way in Korea as in many other parts of the world so I am prepared to acknowledge that my visceral reaction is because of the cultural and historical knowledge that I bring to the word. Not my favourite obviously as many misogynists actively accuse women of being witches who dupe and exploit innocent men as they are predators. Fancy that.
Apart from this, I am not impressed with the nepotism at the heart of Junho’s recruitment and the fact that he has been elevated to a teacher position without any prior teaching experience in Korean literature is bonkers. I know people fall into jobs and change careers but teaching well is very hard work and a former office worker - no matter how bright and capable of acing the relevant entry tests - is unlikely to be able to do the requisite heavy lifting so I rolled my eyes hard at this.
Also, I don’t get the thing about Wee Hajun. He is fairly blah to me but I do think the leads have some chemistry. I’m not watching this for that though so I feel liberated.

she has a LOT of hair.

These episodes grabbed my attention and I enjoyed them more than the premiere week. All the strategizing and moves between the two Hagwons was interesting. The battle music made me chuckle. I could do without the English song though.

The slow burn pace of the leads' romance is just right too.

Great recaps, @dramaddictally. A special thanks for the background info on hagwons' targeting specific high schools. I had not sufficiently worked that out, and so I was bit confused.