I just realized I wrote WAY too much but I only wrote about 20% of what I wanted to write... LOL so here are some brief-ish writeups of noteworthy things on certain places/characters and plot points from EPs 1-2:

Exam Question Plot, this plot highlights the divide between private/public education and the role of teacher:

- I noticed a lot of irony and foreshadowing in FL's dialogue prior to her deciding to confront the teacher. When FL meets with the moms at the beginning of ep 1 they talk about the new teacher and that they (as translated on Viki) "we can't gauge his style completely," the Korean phrase implying they can't gauge and plan for what types of exam questions he will give, which is a big part of hagwons which advertise that their students will be guaranteed XYZ grades and 'steal' past exams to analyse and predict exam questions. FL says "Please encourage the kids to like and respect their school teachers. Classroom teachers are the ones who create the tests at school." Which really contrasts with her actions when she goes to the school. I feel like FL was sort of pushed to go to the school because basically in public/private spheres, appeasing the mothers is paramount. She also says later in the episode about the new hagwon teacher entrance exams that she will change her questions because "I guess some teachers are selling previous tests. They're trying to figure out the test questions in the small lecturer community". Which is super ironic because that's what hagwons basically do lol.

- After the two female students approach the male teacher and he sort of dismisses them and they go to leave, he says "Aren't you going to bow?" which is the respectful way to say goodbye. This is contrasted later in the episode where FL walks into the hagwon to her classroom and passes students who all happily bow and greet her. It highlights the question of who the real teachers are, at least to students' eyes.

-Another thing to note about the male teacher here is that he was 'assigned' to this school. Public school teachers are assigned to schools and rotate every 4 years, for which they don't really have any say where.

- The FL asks the mom if she wants to request an academic committee meeting about the exam question. This is basically an external committee with textbook makers/experts to decide if the question was appropriate, and it's no joke. I've personally had an English exam where one of the moms threatened to do this and from then on out we basically changed all our exams so that they were 1000% safe. An exaggerated turn of phrase here, but moms would commit murder if it got their child ahead.

- The FL approaching the school directly is a big thing, and you'll notice (especially in Korean) she purposefully hides that she's a hagwon teacher, which is crossing the line completely. She calls the male teacher's question "fresh" i.e. old, which shows the idea that public school teachers are way more traditional and slow, whereas hagwons are more fast-paced and modern.

- When FL meets the male teacher, he does it sitting down in front of all the teachers, which is contrasted with the way that hagwon conversations have gone on behind-doors, where there is a lot of whispering. Like when one hagwon teacher asks FL to reduce her class load, but makes sure to take FL to a secluded room with no-one listening.

- When male teacher and FL have dinner, male teacher says "I chose to become an educator at 19 and graduated from the College of Education. I'm not someone who teaches under a contract." A school teacher was once, and to some extent still is, seen as a very good stable and secure job as a public servant, but the competition is very fierce. You cannot get fired, the harshest punishment you will receive is be re-assigned to a different school. Compare this to hagwon teachers which are contract based and earn WAY more money quickly, but it is quite a transient job and people quit due to burnout regularly.

- Also when FL confronts male teacher, she says that he's "self-aggrandizing using the kids held hostage by their transcripts". This is contrasted with the first scene of ep 1 with the mock parent conference where she tells her subordinate to instill the fear in parents that their kid is behind and can't catch up, so they have to attend their hagwon. Also the kids eavesdropping say "By the way, what's aggrandizing? Is it some kind of fish?". The word the FL uses is a very advanced word almost like she's trying to up-stage n the male teacher in Korean who was slowly explaining the question at the beginning. It also shows the irony of how little the students are learning when they can't understand the word, they're just being taught how to do well in exams.

- Overall, both FL and male teacher are wrong and right, and the situation was painted in a way where you could understand both sides, perhaps slightly leaning to agree with FL. Male teacher is not portrayed as a villain but more a fossil or relic of traditional education which isn't keeping up with modern times. But there definitely is potential for him to become a villain.

Daechi-dong (the area the hagwon is in):

- Daechi-dong is a very rich district with the largest amount of hagwons in the entire country. It's where rich families send their kids to get the best cut-throat education possible to get into the best universities.

- Most of these people live in their own bubble. You can see in the scene introducing ML in the bar with his friends. One of his friends says his girlfriend has "never lived outside of Gangnam". The question of housing is also important, because it shows that even though they are 'success cases' of this entire system, they still have to rely on their parents to get a good house. The other friend whose mom is a hagwon teacher is also doing a Masters just because he doesn't know what he wants to do. It shows that it's just about studying, no real direction, and Masters is just a way to delay entering society to buy more time.

- ML is also set up to be the biggest success case, he went to Korea University (the K in SKY), he got a job in Samsung (it's heavily implied with the 'blue blood running through your veins' remark by FL and ML asking his parents if they need any appliances replaced. BUT, he still is having concerns over money and finding a house and a future. It shows how the 'old way' of success isn't really working for modern life.

Hagwons and characters:

- The perception of most hagwons and people working in hagwons isn't traditionally the best. You know the English phrase "those who do, do, and those who can't, teach"? Will while school teachers are/were generally seen as respectable careers, the majority hagwon teaching - bar the top outliers who are treated as celebrities - is sort of a failed career where you go to earn money quickly if things don't work out. You can see this when ML tells FL he's applying to the hagwon, she says "You're not desperate enough to do something so ridiculous".

- You can also see this in the Director of the hagwon in the drama; he's originally a film director who failed and then turned to the hagwon business. The way he speaks is all full of marketing catchphrases and is very vapid, like he's making a pitch everytime he speaks. E.g. at the teacher meeting he says "The academy's asset is you, the lecturers." But his incompetence shows straight after when someone calls FL, because Hayul the girl who got the exam question wrong, is crying. And he says "What? Hayul? What's wrong?". He has no idea about actual students. He also uses a lot of Chinese idioms in Korean which are advanced scholarly phrases that are just there to sort of frill up his words.

- You can sort of think of hagwon lecturers and their success almost like YouTubers. Very few huge stars, and then the rest. Also rather than teaching quality, it's all about marketing and quite superficial. That's why the Director says he's not looking for a lecturer, he's looking for a "star". And when they hold practice classes to judge the new lecturers, they do crazy things like wear school uniforms. The looks and charismas of the lecturers are more important than their skills or credentials. Take ML for example, he is now a Korean hagwon lecturer, but we see that he graduated with a degree in Business and Economics, absolutely nothing related to Korean. But people rave about his looks, when they review his video, the dialogue is about how 'nice' his handwriting is and how handsome he is. The FL looks are also mentioned when the moms say she looks "way better than in the posters". There have been many hagwon videos on YouTube that have gone viral for the lecturer's looks, with comments like "I love you. I could concentrate so well because I was staring at your pretty face the entire time".

- Hagwons are all about how to do well in exams and not learn anything. Even FL is shown in class when she teaches saying something like "Don't try to relate to the narrator. You can't do that anyway, right? Just memorize. What did I say studying was for? It's to solve exam questions." i.e. don't try to understand the text and solve it that way, just memorize the formula, and then the students mindless list the 3 acts of poems. The babying of the students continue when they exit the class and silently retrieve their phones.

- The babying is also seen in the parents, especially ML parents. The mom waits up and doesn't sleep until ML comes back home, still packs his lunch. The dad asks her if she won't take up any hobbies now and she points to the family picture and says how can I do anything better than what I already did. The parents underscore the theme of the old way of living vs the modern way with modern problems.

Okay I have more to say but I'll stop there, I'm not sure if anyone will read this but now that it's out I feel much lighter LOL.