On June 7, 2024, Netflix unveiled “Hierarchy,” a teen K-drama that delves into the world of Jooshin High, an elite high school attended by South Korea’s richest families. The K-drama tackles sensitive topics such as power dynamics, physical violence and bullying, culminating in the brutal death of a 17-year-old student.
The protagonist, Kang Ha (played by Lee Chae-min), is a scholarship student at Jooshin High, determined to avenge the death of his brother, Kang In-han. Ha infiltrates the school, intent on uncovering a well-kept secret among the privileged students, often referred to as “royalty” within this elite institution. His mission is to identify and confront the culprits responsible for his brother’s murder.
In the final moments of “Hierarchy,” the main protagonists, Kim Ri-an (Kim Jae-won), Jeong Jae-i (No Jeong-ee), and Kang Ha (Lee Chae-min), become involved in a cathartic love triangle , take different paths. However, the post-credits scene hints at the possibility of a renewal for a season 2 with a new high school principal and a seriously injured student.
All episodes of “Hierarchy” were released online on June 7, 2024 on Netflix. The story begins with the brutal death of Kang In-han, a scholarship student at Jooshin High School, hit by a car in the street. His younger brother, Kang Ha, in turn joins Jooshin High School as a new scholarship student thanks to the school’s “Noblesse Oblige” program, with a well-kept secret. No one knows that he is In-han’s brother and that he is here to avenge his death.
Kang Ha finds out that his brother has been the victim of intense harassment from the school’s wealthier students for befriending one of the elite students, Jung Jae-i. Among all these fortunate students, four of them were considered untouchables: Kim Ri-an, Jung Jae-i, Lee Woo-jin, and Yoon He-ra.
Kim Ri-an is the heir to the Jooshin Group, the conglomerate that founded Jooshin High School. Jung Jae-i is the heiress of the chaebol family of the Jaeyul Group, a rival of the Jooshin Group. Yoon He-ra is Jae-i’s best friend and the daughter of the CEO of Yoon International, while Lee Woo-jin is the second son of a member of parliament. All of them play a major role in the harassment and death of Kang Ha’s brother.
The K-drama “Hierarchy” shows Kang Ha’s efforts to gather evidence and uncover the true cause of his brother’s death. He provokes Kim Ri-an at every opportunity, convinced that Ri-an is responsible for his brother’s death. However, despite everything, he develops feelings for Jae-i, Ri-an’s girlfriend.
In the last two episodes of the first season of “Hierarchy”, Kang Ha obtains videos showing his brother being bullied at school. He recovers these recordings from the school principal’s son, Nam Ju-won, who was secretly using them to blackmail Jae-i and planned to reveal the truth about her and her friends.
Nam Ju-won confides in Kang Ha that his mother, the principal, was ordered by the president of the Jooshin group to closely monitor the cloud data of all the students’ mobile phones. He revealed that his mother collected records from every phone connected to the school’s Wi-Fi and passed them to the president of the Jooshin Group, who is also Kim Ri-an’s mother.
Nam Ju-won secretly retrieved these recordings from his mother’s laptop and was determined to expose the rich kids and their acts of harassment. Kang Ha manages to convince the principal’s son and takes these videos to the police, which triggers an investigation.
However, Kang Ha was still unaware that his brother In-han had used a spy camera to record the torture he suffered until his final moments. The spy camera, disguised as a pen, had disappeared since In-han’s death. In episode 7 of Hierarchy, we discover that the spy camera was in the possession of Lee Woo-jin, Ri-an’s best friend and son of a politician.
In the last episode of “Hierarchy” season 1, Woo-jin gave this spy camera to Jae-i while confessing that he tried to protect Han Ji-su, their homeroom teacher. Han Ji-su and Woo-jin had an illegal affair throughout the K-drama and in episode 7, it is revealed that she was the one who hit In-han with her car, resulting in his death. Jae-i gave the spy camera and footage to Kang Ha to help him arrest Han Ji-su and get justice for his brother.
Kang Ha takes the evidence to the police, including the video of Han Ji-su hitting In-han with his car, leaving him for dead, and flees. Meanwhile, Han Ji-su tries to flee after being expelled from Jooshin High School for having an affair with a student. The police burst at his door and arrest him for murder and hit-and-run.
The police also obtain warrants and a search order against Jooshin High, where students involved in bullying children from disadvantaged backgrounds are being questioned. Jung Jae-i visits In-han’s grave with Kim Ri-an and they both vow to right their wrongs. Meanwhile, Jooshin High fires the principal and Jae-i Jae-i tells Ri-an that she is leaving for New York.
“Hierarchy” ends with Jae-i promising Ri-an that they will meet again in the future before going their separate ways. She explains to him that to be together, they must each find their own identity and happiness, away from their families who never took care of their mental health and well-being. Ri-an apologizes to Kang Ha for not intervening when In-han was being harassed, but Kang Ha tells him that he can never forgive him.
Kang Ha eventually succeeds in eradicating the bullying culture at Jooshin High and begins to form a new friendship with Yoon He-ra. In the last scene, Kang Ha runs to find Jae-i before she leaves for New York and hugs her. He apologizes for developing feelings for her and blames himself for his decision to leave. Jae-i reassures him that she is leaving to find herself and that they will see each other again.
The end credits of “Hierarchy” show Yoon He-ra discovering a bloodied student lying on the floor of a classroom at Jooshin High. The whole class is shocked and terrified when Kim Ri-an receives a message from an anonymous account. Meanwhile, Kang Ha is seen walking down the hallway of Jooshin High with a sinister smile before the end credits roll. Netflix thus suggests that a second season of “Hierarchy” could be released with a new plot.
What did you think of the Kdrama?