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[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Who Are You - School 2015" Episode 6

The conflict between Eun-bi and So-yeong remains unresolved. In the first place, there's not actually very much So-yeong can do- her usual shtick of physical intimidation doesn't work without the surrounding cult of personality. People can and will question So-yeong's behavior, since they haven't grown accustomed to it. Evidence is another matter- while So-yeong does find better proof for her conspiracy theory, she's still hamstrung by the fact that there's no way for her to explain how it was acquired.

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The larger problem, of course, is just So-yeong's personality. Eun-bi doesn't want to have a fight about this any more than So-yeong does, but the way So-yeong acts like everything can and should be forgiven abruptly and arbitrarily is completely ridiculous. So-yeong's attitude is the real problem here. She hasn't figured out yet that to most people, abruptly jumping around from threats to apologies with no middle ground comes off as rather insincere.

This does beg the question- how did a young woman with so little an idea of how people operate become such an overpowering presence that she was able to single-handedly demote Eun-bi from class representative to victim who gets harassed in plain sight? The answer, is power. So-yeong can ask for favors from her dad, and get them without question. So-yeong's home situation is as yet unclear- but in public at least, she's the clear beneficiary of high class social connections.

Contrast this with Tae-kwang. He obviously lives in the luxury of privilege- but is too busy acting rebellious to enjoy much of it except for the video games. The opening interview was particularly funny- that is exactly the kind of answer he'd give in response to this kind of prompt. I find I'm somewhat torn on the question of whether we're supposed to be rooting for Tae-kwang or I-an- Tae-kwang is the more interesting character, but I-an is clearly the kinder person.

The conflict in that direction makes for one of the most convincing love triangles in recent memory- I'm not even sure whether I-an or Tae-kwang is supposed to be the first lead. While this episode lacks the normal high-powered punch "Who Are You - School 2015" normally delivers, this is such a consistently, broadly strong production that I don't even mind an episode with a relatively relaxed take on storyline development. The mystery of Eun-byeong lacks any obvious clues- yet the tension is in knowing that at any moment anything unexpected could happen. Such is high school.

Review by William Schwartz

"Who Are You - School 2015" is directed by Baek Sang-hoon and Kim Seong-yoon, written by Kim Hyeon-jeong-II and Kim Min-jeong-II, and features Kim So-hyun, Nam Joo-hyuk, Yook Sung-jae, Lee Pil-mo, Lee David, Kim Hee-jung-I and more.

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