Series Review: Detectives of Seonam Girls High School

I know I know, the show ended a week or so ago and you're wondering why I'm just now doing this. Well I was out of town for a few weeks and fell behind so I've decided to wrap things up in a nice little bow. I can't leave this unfinished and you wondering about my thoughts on the show, so here goes.

Character development is very important in a drama so I was very happy with how ours ended up by the end especially Ahn Chae Yool (Jin Ji Hee). She went from being virtually emotionless and friendless to someone who began to know what it was like to be happy and to need her friends around. By episode 12, you saw she heavily depended on the group and no longer desired to be alone. She matured in a way that's rare to see in a drama especially one that's less than 20 episodes long. Each case brought her closer to understanding herself a little more, to think for herself and do what made her happy. I guess we can credit Mr. Wise Old Owl (Kim Min Joon) for that because despite how creepy he was, he did help her realize her dream and to become more than just what her mother expected her to be. Chae Yool also learned to appreciate her brother, Ahn Chae Joon (Jang Ki Yong), more and actually ends up getting along with him by the end. Perhaps Yoon Mi Do (Kang Min Ah) can get some credit for this?  If it wasn't for her persistence then we'd never have Chae Yool be a part of the team at all. She was a great leader and friend to them all, even though she was there for everyone you saw them come together in order to help her. Yes, I'm talking about her relationship with Chae Joon. The entire time he continued to mistake Ye Hee, for her she was just happy to be around him. While I was happy that he'd finally learned the truth, I was equally as glad that he ended up loving her for who she was not and for who she wanted him to see. In the end, being yourself works out so much better than pretending to be someone else. Mi Do Mi Do Mi learned this.

With a drama like this, it'd be hard for each lead to get some spotlight, but they did a wonderful job doing just that for the others. Lee Yeh Hee (Hyeri) gained some depth as we learned her reasons for staying away and being called moron actually hurt her even though she didn't show it. She was shown to have some struggles and I was worried that she'd forgo her friendship with Mi Do and take advantage of his attention, but she didn't. She showed that her friendship was far more important than some guy and she assisted in showing Chae Joon he was spending time with the wrong person. Ye Hee and Kim Ha Jae (Lee Min Ji) had their differences and showed major discord, but both proved that their friendship and bond was much stronger than their disagreements - even if Chae Yool had to intervene. Choi Sung Yoon (Stephanie Lee)'s need for peace wasn't very surprising for a K-drama chaarcter, but she wasn't a pushover. She didn't allow anyone to walk over her or her friends, she was the glue that helped bind them along with Mi Do. 

There were many cases within this drama, but the main one was why Ha Ra On (Han Ye Joon) accused his uncle, Mr. Ha, of murder or well indirectly killing his former student, Choi Mi Rae (Lee Joo Woo). In episode 1, we saw a student fall of the school rooftop and that was later revealed to be Mi Rae. I personally liked how her suicide played a center role in the drama even if she was already dead when the show started. Each case somehow lead us closer to finding out happened to her and why she was being tutored by Mr. Ha. I won't speak on whether I actually believe he's partially responsible for her death because that can be left up to interpretation, but I will say it didn't end like I was expecting. I figured they'd say "yes" or "no" to the accusations, but they gave us an entire look at how Mi Rae was feeling and why she did the things she did. She loved Mr. Ha like he was her own father and only wanted the best for him even if it was a world without her in it. What I didn't expect was him to admit to being his happiest when she was around, he wasn't seeing her as his dead daughter, he saw her as Choi Mi Rae. I personally thought that was beautiful and enjoyed how they chose to end that arc. 

 Now, I have to tip my hat to the writers, director, & producers of this drama. I know everything shown within this show would not have been easily shown on a broadcast network such as MBC or KBS due to them having tighter restrictions on what's shown on tv. However, cable networks like jTBC can stretch it more and have more freedom to show normally taboo subjects such as teen pregnancy and how even in today's world, it's still hard for someone to be open about their sexuality. This show managed to tackle these and other topics in a way you don't see in many shows. It was very refreshing to see them give us stories, but shown from the perspective of a teenager. We may have wondered why they reacted or behave in a certain way sometimes, but it all came down to them being teenagers and not having the full capability to react the way an adult would. Each character had their own story arc and obstacles that allowed us to feel something for them other than 'Oh, they're just a secondary character'. We saw them laugh, cry, and get angry - and actually wanted to do all of those things with them. Not every drama gives you the opportunity to truly get to know a character and I am glad that Detectives of Seonam Girls' High School gave us that chance. 

Rumor has it the writer & director are working on season 2 to be pitched to jTBC. So cross your fingers that it gets picked up with the same cast!