Asked about this seemingly cruel actions, the farmer replies: "Oh, he'll obey commands, but first, you have to get his darn attention."
Consider us mules, then, pliable to the suggestions and ideas churned up by years of being glued to K-dramas but occasionally so jaded that we need our attention to be... got.
The opening moments of Teach You A Lesson, then, are a close equivalent to getting hit in the head with a plank, as a black-clad "school inspector" power-slaps a bully into semi-consciousness.
With that, series director Hong Jong-chan (Juvenile Justice, Doctor Stranger) gets our attention, and we obediently tag along for the rest of the ride as he unspools the tale of the Education Rights Protection Bureau (ERPB), a special Ministry of Education-sanctioned outfit tasked with upholding the rights of educators and students across South Korea.
Led in the field by ex-Special Forces officer Na Hwa-jin (Kim Mu-yeol, a Juvenile Justice alumnus more recently seen getting his face kneed into a first-class airliner seat by Ma Dong-seok in The Roundup: Punishment), the ERPB is directly under Minister Choi Gang-seok (Lee Sung-min, Handsome Guys, Misaeng: Incomplete Life).
Choi and Na share a bond, which is gradually revealed to us and is pretty heart-rending, through flashbacks anchored by a bright-eyed Ha Young (The Trauma Code: Heroes On Call).
Mainly, this 10-episode show focuses on the various ills plaguing the school system of its own peculiar universe, which you tell yourself can't be real, even if it's not sufficiently far-fetched to be a dystopian extrapolation.
Children bullying children, parents tormenting teachers, gangsters preying on students to add to their ranks, illegal "study aid pharmaceuticals" being peddled in quiet corridors – it's a lot to handle for the minimally staffed ERPB, which also needs to contend with sabotage by Choi's political enemies.
Na is backed by junior inspectors Im Han-rim (Jin Ki-joo, Midnight), his former subordinate in the military; and tech wiz Bong Geun-dae (rapper-actor Pyo Ji-hoon) – earnest enough in their duties but written somewhat erratically, to the point that you'll be rolling your eyes at their frequent hysterics almost as much as you'll be rooting for them.
The supporting characters' occasional excesses aside, the show rises (and doesn't fall) on the shoulders of Kim, delivering pointed observations to perpetrator and victim alike that bring springs of compassion bubbling up even in the most dehumanising situations; and Lee, delivering ministerial pronouncements with the sort of authority and conviction we'd all love to see more often in both life and fiction.
Based on a controversial webtoon, Teach You A Lesson steers clear of its source material's more divisive content (as if having a trained killer beating up kids and thugs wouldn't already raise an eyebrow).
Instead, it strives to get people thinking and talking about the issues and ills it portrays, without delving too deeply into any of them.
And talking, we are. From parallels being drawn to our own educational institutions' anti-bullying measures to Kim receiving a DM from a Malaysian teacher about how the show resonates here, thousands of kilometres apart, the show has certainly generated buzz.
If it does dwell on violence, or at least specific acts, it is to remind us that once a line gets crossed, there's no walking it back.
The most significant thing Teach You A Lesson says in this regard, then, is that we can only strive for redemption and hope for forgiveness.
Important things to bear in mind, until the next time we need to get hit in the head with a (figurative) plank. If only mules could remember as well as elephants can.
All 10 episodes of Teach You A Lesson are available to stream on Netflix.
Summary:
Fight Back to School IV
