For viewers who like legal Korean dramas, Law School imposes a bravado befitting of its polished structure and portrayal.
But for those not usually drawn in a dialogue-heavy narrative, the series might take a while to finish.
abbyinhallyuland watched Law School on Netflix
Episode Recaps: 01 & 02 | 03 & 04 | 05 & 06 | Mid-Series | 09 | 10 & 11 | Review |
- Main Cast: Kim Myung Min | Kim Bum | Ryu Hye Young | Lee Jung Eun | Lee Soo Kyung | David Lee | Ko Yoon Jung | Hyun Woo | Lee Kang Ji | Kim Min Seok
- Streaming Site: Netflix
- Addictive Meter:
- Overall Rating:
- Rewatch Value:
- K-Dramas of Similar Vibe: Judge vs Judge | Defendant | Doctor Prisoner | Miss Hammurabi |
Law School Quick Plot Recap
An unlikely incident happened at Hanguk Law School when one of the educators and former chief prosecutor Seo Byung-ju (Ahn Nae Sang) was found dead.
The police and prosecutor are quick to react to pin the crime to Professor Yang Joon Hoon who had a rift owing to Prosecutor Seo’s involvement with Assemblyman Ko Yeong-su. Even Seo Joon-hwi, the nephew of the deceased, along with his fellow classmates were subjected to the investigation.
Along the way, the students of Professor Yang face personal issues that all intertwined to Assemblyman Ko. Vying for the presidential post, he abuses his power by orchestrating multiple counts of law manipulation.
By following the course of dignified law, Professor Yang and his students made a difference as upholders of justice.
Law School Peak Points
Expertly Constructed Story
Inciting the initial hook of Law School would be the puzzling murder of a professor who inadvertently involved his fellow colleagues and students in the school to be questioned.
As the story presents endless possibilities and surprises, its second half directs its target to how the main hero pushes the villain to pay for his sins.
Unlike typical school set series, Law School has quite a finesse storytelling where heroes and villains engage in casual icy talks that do not escalate to raging banters.
Prioritizing the message of how the legal system aspires to achieve the perfect different definitions to those seeking it, the series drew the viewpoints of people with significant knowledge of the law.
From there, viewers easily grasp common cases often overlooked because of the gaps mandated by the law. Some of those include differentiating self-defense versus grievous bodily harm, defamation, and leaking suspected crime.
In particular, it sheds light on the distinct effect of online media to mislead public opinion and to protect evil perpetrators who have access to its misuse.
Engagement To Audience
Once you embark on the episode lessons of Law School, you feel like a part of the cast for some reason. Sometimes, you even feel like a student as well. But then, a certain type of patience is required for this series. It does not appeal to your emotions strongly but gravitates in equal parts to your thoughts and emotions.
Conceiving an intriguing scenario and spinning a web of stories that navigates to the law and political system of South Korea, the series bravely displayed how the laws of the land would never be perfect. But just like any discipline, the process of teaching should be perfect.
We saw how Hanguk University law school students acknowledged the reality of how life can be altered, saved, or destroyed. As future practitioners, they get a taste of how protecting the innocent or proving the wrongdoing requires unswerving conviction and valid pieces of evidence.
Familiar stories that we or someone we know might have gone through are also what will make the audience reel into this drama. Tinged with underdog element against a villainous politician, who won’t be interested enough to be part of this justice-seeking class.
Well-Executed Character Portrayals
Law school students and professors comprise the protagonists of the series. By presenting a big cast, it smartly incorporates a villain count that is relatively not big.
Since Beethoven Virus, Kim Myung Min is an actor I root for especially in the drama genre. His commitment to the roles he has portrayed has always been top-notch. Suiting up as Yangcrates is no exception. Likewise, the seasoned actors who joined him in the “educator side” gave impressive renditions to their roles.
Through shared studying times and practice law cases, the students featured in the series gave a refreshing facet to student problems in K-Dramaland. A novelty since Korean youth dramas has been capitalizing on bullying and school administration corruption in recent years.
Kim Bum, Ryu Hye Young, Lee Soo Kyung, David Lee, Ko Yoon Jung, Hyun Woo, Lee Kang Ji and Kim Min Seok had represented the faces of university students that have real problems. Some made wrong choices and learned from them. We, too, got plenty of life lessons based on their predicaments.
Law School Series Musings *Spoiler Alert
Straightly traversing the world of Korean law school students, this cleverly written series made the most of its material. Focusing on its unique set of characters and intertwining each story to the big picture, gave us a feeling of sitting down listening to an eloquent public speaker’s long talk.
Without romance and overly heartbreaking moments, Law School might not fit your preference with its chill yet intelligent approach. True, it follows the checklist for good-prevails-evil narrative and it’s not something new as well. But its far-out and dynamic storytelling utilizing the cast perspectives secured its unrivaled charm.
Down the last stretch of the series, when we can all sense that the final mission to catch Assemblyman Go is in motion, I had a quick moment of disengagement from the series. His story dragged to a point where I did not feel happy anymore when justice finally befell him.
Nevertheless, the conspiracy of the heroes to trap him was quite commendable. Prosecutor Jin’s retribution I also felt to be not needed anymore since he was a picture of a stronger villain than the main one, to be honest.
Youth drama worth recommending…
Kim Myung Min and Lee Jung Eun anchored the bulk of the veteran actors’ group’s presence the same way Kim Bum and Ryu Hye Young represented the young actors’ team. They are all phenomenal to the characters they suit up to. Providing strict but efficient mentorship, the drama also traverses on the roles of educators in building commendable work ethics for their students.
Giving stand-out synergy as a team especially the actors in the main roles, the series brims with messages on determination, bravery, self-worth. Most importantly, it sheds light on the gravity of pushing for awareness of the governing laws for common people. That is through seeking help from the right people equipped with the know-how.
For a change, we see a chasing-personal-dream story played by students that people can relate to. The sentiments of would-be law professionals are captured without filter to what their minds think and hearts feel. That for me, makes the fictional premise engrossing because of the realistic serving.
The series will probably change the way you view school-set dramas, JTBC’s latest legal series offering has piled a bunch of convincing points worth watching.
Catch up on the latest episodes of Law School on Netflix!
Photos: JTBC
[wpedon id=”3227″ align=”center”]
