Hierarchy (2024)

A thought-provoking series that critiques society and delves deep into self-discovery

‘Hierarchy’ is a hidden gem that requires analysis to understand its message and appreciate how it’s presented on screen. The characters are presented to viewers the same, stereotypical way they are perceived by others in the series. Jae-i is portrayed as someone who doesn’t easily get influenced or bothered by others as she leads a perfect life. Kang Ha, as someone who’s so optimistic and new to the school that he’s naive to its dark truths. When pushed to their limits by the vulnerability of their regrets from the past and fear for the future, the main leads slowly unravel their facades. They reveal themselves to be the total opposite of how they seem at first glance. Viewers can only guess what they’re thinking, which adds to the intrigue and plays a big part in capturing the audience’s attention. This is an engaging series that’ll pull one in with just enough information to make them want to see where it's going and understand the leads’ motives behind their actions.

The show follows the story of two individuals who are both victims of the harsh world, regardless of their differences in social class. Despite having problems that seem contradictory, Jung Jae-i and Kang Ha provide each other with strength and solace. Their shared support enable them to overcome their struggles, even though they're on opposite sides of the conflict. By prioritizing understanding, they use past tensions to become stronger than the problem and move on from what once held them back.

It shines light on the important aspects people often neglect in life, such as letting go and its impact on both ourselves and those around us. The female lead’s mindset is split in two parts parallel to the plot and highlights the changes that letting go can make. She becomes a better version of herself after she is shown reflecting on her thoughts with the only source of light being a strike of colour. Rainbows signify hope and new beginnings. It's following this scene where she reconciles with the lost part of herself and lets go of her unnecessary burden, represented through her lost baby, that the events take a turn for the better.

Eight teenagers are under a crushing pressure to stay fit into the roles society and their own families cast them in. They want to break free, but their fierce desire to escape their predetermined futures remains confined between the walls of Jooshin highschool. Run by two of the country’s most influential chaebol families, its goal is to provide the heirs of the top conglomerates with the best education. With important reputations to adopt from their rich and demanding parents, the successors of these groups have grown in hiding. Jung Jae-i and Kim Ri-an’s true, imperfect selves are locked behind flawless facades that push them to become people they don’t want to be and blind them from the real world and its injustices.

Jooshin’s recent death was driven by the desire to keep concealed what they wanted to hide the most within the school’s walls; which is the importance of fame and influence rather than the focus on actual studies and the well-being of students. When someone of lesser importance in society brings light to the case the school tried to cover, the students whose reputations are at risk of being tainted try to push him out and stop him from discovering the truth. Because at the stem of the reasoning behind the student’s death lies the school’s dark reality.

When the scandal threatens to reveal the truth among their concealed lives, all the top scholars struggle to find a place to stand ground, aware that only one can remain at the top of the hierarchy.

With the support of other scholarship students who have been victims of disrespect, Kang Ha orchestrates a scheme to destroy the school’s unjust and toxic hierarchy. He believes that change is necessary because the students of today are those who will determine society’s future. Kang Ha predicts that the social classes will limit those who are of less wealthy families. By stringing together clues from the past, he plots to bring down the school and give justice to those who have been wronged. Wanting to be the hero in the story, Kang Ha fights to differentiate the good from the bad and balance the consequences in a way that’ll only hurt those responsible for it. But with the close and conflicted bonds within the school, achieving that goal proves to be more complicated than anticipated. He’s forced to step back and reflect on what it is he truly wants.

Jung Jae-i and Kim Ri-an’s love for each other is stronger than anything else. It’s only a matter of time until the two leaders of the school will be forced to sacrifice their secrets to a case that threatens their reputation and the school’s. Even with the possibility of losing each other’s hand down the road of lies, secrets, and rivalry; they continue caring for each other with the same love they wish they could give their own selves. This dependency they shared with one another formed the base of their relationship and proved to be unhealthy. It ends up serving to Jung Jae-i as evidence of how unfit her current life was for her, resulting in their break-up and eventually prompting the start of her new life. It was only after letting go of the opportunity of what they could be together by giving up their future as parents that Jung Jae-i not only managed to see what was right for her own self, but also gained the maturity to set things right with those around her whom she caused harm.

What He-ra and Kang Ha have in common is that they both are in positions that set them up to seek revenge on Jae-i. However, the growth they underwent through the friendship she provided them with enabled them to realize the true source of their problems. For He-ra, it was her selfishness and greed. She wanted to have Ri-an by her side to give disillusion to her family’s monetary problems and assert her power as it progressively grew uncertain. Her numerous attempts fell flat and ultimately led to her disliking Jae-i; whom Ri-an claimed was the only one he had an eye for, even though those feelings of his remained unreciprocated following their break-up. It took Woojin, someone equally selfish and greedy, to make He-ra realize it was her own selfishness that caused her hatred for Jae-i. She came to the realization that it was her own self that held her back from coming to a resolution to her problem—a problem that could only be resolved with Jae-i’s help. By only caring about gaining enough money to stabilize her family’s financial state and wanting revenge on Jae-i for taking away that possibility, He-ra was blinded by her own pride. Had she overlooked her own problems and favoured understanding between friendships and societal classes, she would have had the opportunity to solve her worries. Before her family’s financial crisis, the only things He-ra possessed was money and power. She ended up going from being chased after for her power to being the one doing the chasing. Somewhere along the journey she took to get through her highest and lowest point in life, she gained a trustful and understanding personality.

As for Kang Ha’s situation—his strong desire to find the reason for his brother’s death—its cause was actually the teacher that was initially portrayed as a good and caring individual. What led to In-han’s death was her selfish desire to become part of the ones of more importance and authority, by dating Woojin. When the killed scholar had posed a threat to her reputation, her desire to stop him drove her insane and she chose her chance at being at the top of the hierarchy over his chance at life. This highlighted a greater problem within the school, because it meant that the teachers, who are supposed to be guardians for the students and protect them, were influenced by the hierarchy. So in the end, the problem for Kang Ha and He-ra was the hierarchy and it was by succeeding in bringing it down that Kang Ha got the revenge he wished for.

Kang Ha loves to care for those who are victims to the cruelty of the world. Thus, him going to Jooshin high to get justice for his bullied brother and consequently falling for Jae-i, who was struggling to carry the weight of her regret and guilt. This is the reason why, in the end, he's simply content with knowing that she shared the same feelings for him as he did for her. Seeing her give him one of her happiest of smiles, which he wanted to see all along, was the only closure he needed to their relationship. Kang Ha sees In-han, his deceased brother, through Jae-i because of how they share the commonality of being treated unfairly and feeling hurt. So through the smile he put on Jae-i’s face, it was as if he was also able to make his brother feel better and see his smile. As for Jae-i, who felt that she failed to protect In-han in the past, she sees him through Kang Ha. So although she let In-han down by not standing up for what was right or being by his side like she was for him, she ended up protecting Kang Ha. This happened following Kang Ha’s sentence that she started living by, which was to protect, no matter what, who you care about and love the most. This allows viewers to make the realization that between both male leads, it was clearly Kang Ha who had won over her heart; bringing an end to their love triangle. In the end, it was Kang Ha who got what he wanted most, which was seeing Jae-i smile at him and getting closure to In-han’s struggle through her, as well as ensuring the school a better future and having the bullies acknowledge their wrongdoings.

The series closed off Jae-i’s path to self-discovery, which she paved with her own sweat and tears, by leading her to her mother. This reunion showcased her immense character growth since Jae-i grew up in fear of her father throwing her away like he did with her mother; whom he deemed worthless. She let that fear control her life and hold her back from living the life she actually wanted, feeling obliged to live by his expectations. In the end, she made decisions based on her own will and was able to face her new life with a smile because she was no longer scared of being a failure in the eyes of those around her.

Through his decision to attend Jooshin and get revenge on those responsible for his brother’s death, Kang Ha used the traits he shared with his brother (caring and understanding) to carry on his brother's legacy. Not only did he solve the school's mysteries and get it punished for its insensitivity towards scholarship students (something In-han always wanted to achieve but did not have the chance), but he also transformed the ruthless students into better people. It was through Kang Ha that Jae-i was able to gain the courage to face her problems instead of running away, like she had done in the past after discovering her pregnancy. By caring for her and providing her with assistance, she ended up facing her struggles head-on and setting things right. She embraced her struggles as part of who she is, permitting her to move on from the many things that had been holding her back (her guilt of In-han’s death, feeling like she wasn’t able to tell Ri-An about their baby, her unhealthy relationship with her boyfriend) and lead her life with the best version of herself that she found through Kang Ha’s love for her.

Though Kang Ha got his revenge in the way where the school itself had to acknowledge its mistakes, the ending scene sets up an enthralling conclusion to his journey in uncovering Jooshin’s wrongdoings by implicating the others. An immobile student (suspected to be Jae-i’s brother who caused her much torment) is laying on the ground and yet the focus is placed on the top students, highlighting how someone is a killer. Just like how Jae-i ends up facing her fear, they all might have to relive the torment of a student’s death and face it with a better approach.

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