The final episode of the school thriller <Friendly Rivalry> ( U+tv , U+mobile tv ) starring Lee Hyeri has been released. <Friendly Rivalry> is similar to <Sky Castle> in that it uses the fierce academic competition among the Korean upper-middle class as a thriller element. It reflects the common concerns of recent Korean crime dramas in that it deals with youth drug problems, school rankings, and excessive spending habits. However, it is novel in that it portrays the various desires of teenage female characters as the subjects of the story. Casting adult actors Lee Hyeri and Kang Hyewon, whose careers viewers are familiar with, as high school girls was something of a gamble. However, it matches well with the characters' maturity and helps give this drama more thrills than just a school drama.
The drama is set in the prestigious Chaehwa Girls' High School in Daejun-dong. The symbolism of the neighborhood name is clear. Woo Seulgi (Jung Soo-bin), who went missing as a child and grew up in an orphanage, moved to Daejun-dong to find her family in her third year of high school, has a hard time keeping up with her studies. Seulgi is obsessed with studying because she was bullied in the past and only received treatment after her grades improved. In the countryside, she illegally obtained ADHD medication and maintained her position as the top student in the entire school. However, in Daejun-dong, the test questions are based on the academy's pre-study scope rather than school classes, so Seulgi is in a difficult situation because she does not have money for private education. It is also difficult to obtain medication illegally. At that time, Yoo Jaeyi (Lee Hyeri), the queen bee of Chaehwa Girls' High School, approaches her. Jaeyi saves Seulgi from her predicament, offers to give her academy's past exam books for free, and gives her medication.
Yoo Jaeyi is the daughter of Yoo Taejoon (Kim Taehoon), the director of a general hospital. She is admired by students for her brilliant mind and perfect looks. However, behind the scenes, she steals her father's hospital medicine and sells it to children. It doesn't seem like she's motivated by money, but she just enjoys doing bad things. She uses, threatens, and abandons her friends. However, she continues to act cool towards Seulgi. When Je invites Seulgi to her house and sleeps with her, and when they play together at festivals, there is a tense sexual tension between them. The fact that Jaeyi's intentions are unclear is the key factor that makes the atmosphere of this drama unstable, and Lee Hyeri perfectly portrays Jaeyi, who hides a cold, cruel, and rebellious side behind the mask of a lovely model student.
Up to this point, it is the realm of school stories. However, a full-blown crime story and psychodrama are added. Woo Seulgi's father was a teacher, and when Jay took the college entrance exam, he became a member of the college entrance exam committee and died for a suspicious reason. It is not a far-fetched idea in Korea that someone would go to the trouble of murder to steal college entrance exam killer questions, since a leaked exam paper from a high school in Gangnam has been covered by the major media for several years.
The secret surrounding the death of Seulgi's father is shared by several students of Chaehwa Girls' High School. Choi Kyung (Oh Woori), who has a perennial second-place complex, witnesses Seulgi's father and older sister Jaeyi having sex while masturbating at school after school. Joo Yeri (Kang Hyewon), a luxury brand fanatic who tries to succeed with her looks instead of studying, is hired by Jay's father Yoo Taejoon to run errands, and while doing so, she learns that Jay's family is involved in this case. The main characters are three-dimensional characters who compete, are jealous, and check each other, but sometimes cooperate based on a sense of justice, curiosity, and friendship, and each has their own stimulating narrative.
Jaeyi's father Yoo Tae-joon would be just a crazy idiot if there really was such a person, but he is a dramatically charming villain. Recently, with the popularity of comedian Lee Soo-ji's 'Daechi-dong Jamie Mom' character, there have been opinions expressing fatigue, recalling the long-standing trend of blaming maternal responsibility for the overheating of private education. But here is Daejun-dong Jay Papa Yoo Tae-joon. He has made his two daughters compete against each other since they were young, referring to Cain and Abel. He didn't care if his daughter sold her body to a teacher to steal test questions or sold drugs to her competitors. He thinks that whatever it takes, it's okay as long as she does well. He promises to pass the company to the stronger and more successful one, and cruelly punishes the daughter who falls behind. He even uses his major to personally design and control his children's diet and medication. He is a typical patriarch who pretends to be upright on the outside, but creates and dominates a structure of oppression on the inside. Thus, from a certain point, the drama unfolds into a confrontation between the father and the girls, who are cruel absolutes.
As the drama progresses, viewers suspect that Jaeyi chose Woo Seulgi, who holds the key to solving the teacher murder case, as his partner in order to bring down his father. Maybe it's because of sexual love. In any case, there seems to be something strong between the two. But is that really the case? <Friendly Rivalry> succeeds in hiding the truth and arousing curiosity until the last episode through big and small twists and mysterious main characters. I want to give high marks to actress Lee Hyeri, who discovered the narrow intersection between her bright and young image and dark genre drama and made full use of it. Although there is an original webtoon of the same name, the thriller elements surrounding the murder case are strengthened and the visuals are also well-made, making it a drama worth watching.
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