Research Group: Episode 1 (First Impressions)
by solstices
Enjoyable and surprisingly filled with coronary heart, Research Group dives proper into its underdog story with a zippy tempo and energetic zeal. It’s not a narrative we haven’t seen earlier than, but it surely executes it with an entertaining enthusiasm that’s chock-full of comedian e-book struggle choreography and hilarious comedic timing.
Editor’s be aware: Weekly drama protection will proceed.
EPISODE 1
The hero of our story is YOON GA-MIN (Hwang Min-hyun), a bespectacled boy who genuinely desires to review laborious and ace his exams. He’s additionally the one one awake in his total highschool class because the trainer drones on, too used to this sight to trouble waking anybody up.
All of Ga-min’s diligent note-taking has him continually coming in second and third place… from the underside. Decided to tug up his grades, Ga-min resolves to kind a examine group — however sadly for him, his classmates are far more concerned about throwing punches at each other and loud night breathing their manner via classes.
In comes the brand new homeroom trainer LEE HAN-KYUNG (Han Ji-eun), whom Ga-min immediately acknowledges as his type and supportive non-public tutor from years in the past. Han-kyung apologizes for quitting abruptly again then, citing private causes which she doesn’t elaborate upon, and Ga-min extends sympathetic concern for her because the earlier homeroom trainer give up after barely a month.
We quickly see why — not solely are the scholars rowdy and impolite, however the principal additionally turns a blind eye to the rampant smoking. One troublemaker LEE HYUN-WOO (Park Yoon-ho) is especially nasty, throwing an iced espresso on the blackboard and slapping the dwelling daylights out of a classmate for annoying him. A struggle nearly breaks out between Hyun-woo and Espresso Man, with all of the unruly college students ignoring Han-kyung’s request to return to their seats — however surprisingly, Hyun-woo listens, and the remainder of the category follows swimsuit. Huh.
Zeroing on one notably studious child (the one different one, actually), Ga-min follows the reticent KIM SE-HYUN (Lee Jong-hyun) round like a misplaced pet till Se-hyun lastly agrees to assist him together with his math issues. Because it seems, Ga-min has a intelligent thoughts, he simply applies it to all of the unsuitable locations. Se-hyun: “Should you put a cake sliced into three components again collectively, it turns into complete once more, which is why 0.33 x 3 = 0.99 might be rounded as much as 1.” Ga-min: “What concerning the cake bits caught to the knife?” *cue confused noises*
Noticing how Se-hyun genuinely places in effort into finding out, from his hunched neck to the calluses on his finger, Ga-min proposes they kind a examine group and go to college collectively. Nevertheless, Se-hyun rejects him harshly for 2 causes. The primary, which he shares with Ga-min, is the gangster’s son PI HAN-WOOL (Cha Woo-min), who created an app to rank the coed physique in line with their combating capability. As for the second cause, it’s a heart-wrenching secret that Se-hyun hides — he lives in a semi-basement together with his alcoholic father who pressures him into studying sensible expertise, even going so far as to throw away Se-hyun’s examine notes.
The turning level comes when Hyun-woo extorts cash out of Se-hyun, ruthlessly beating him to a pulp. Coming into the fray with a fireplace extinguisher that incapacitates the bullies inside its fog, Ga-min slings Se-hyun over his shoulder and carries him out to security. As an alternative of expressing gratitude, although, Se-hyun argues that Ga-min made issues worse as a result of escaping will simply drag out his torment. He doesn’t have the posh of finding out, when he’s struggling to outlive on this horrid college.
Nonetheless, Se-hyun’s a great child at coronary heart. Even when Hyun-woo threatens him with a baseball bat, he doesn’t hand over Ga-min’s identify, and Hyun-woo prepares to strike — just for a kick to splinter his bat. Because it seems, Ga-min has been usually preserving to a grueling train routine, believing {that a} wholesome physique results in a wholesome thoughts. That places Ga-min in tip-top form to knock Hyun-woo out with a single punch. Oops.
However even then, Se-hyun rejects the examine group thought but once more, declaring that Ga-min isn’t positive about himself both. “Isn’t that why you wore a masks?” says Se-hyun. “Because you’re afraid of being singled out and picked on.”
The subsequent day, Ga-min enters class to search out Se-hyun’s math notes beneath his desk, aww. However he’s rudely interrupted by Hyun-woo hurling a chair at his head and ordering everybody else out of sophistication. Setting Se-hyun’s pocket book aflame, Hyun-woo assaults Ga-min with a wrench, having realized he was behind the fireplace extinguisher incident. To everybody’s shock, Ga-min simply tosses Hyun-woo apart — however he’s too late to avoid wasting Se-hyun’s pocket book, whilst he desperately places out the flames together with his naked fingers. Obvious with a chilly fury in his eyes, Ga-min calls for that Hyun-woo apologize to “Se-hyun-ie,” awww.
Livid, Hyun-woo hurls his burning backpack at Ga-min, just for Ga-min to leap into the air and spin-kick it again in direction of him. The impression knocks Hyun-woo out, and Ga-min rushes over to shake him awake. “Apologize to Se-hyun earlier than you cross out,” calls for Ga-min. Deeply moved, Se-hyun walks again into class, and the sight of Ga-min’s blistered fingers units Se-hyun off in guilt and gratitude. “Why would you go thus far for one thing like this?!” yells Se-hyun, hurling his burnt notes into the trash. “I’ll do it,” Se-hyun declares, eyes brimming with emotion. “Your examine group.”
Waaaaaah. The boys’ budding friendship is tugging at my heartstrings already, and I like the little flashbacks that present simply how honest Ga-min is in direction of Se-hyun, like how he rapidly shushed the safety guard so Se-hyun wouldn’t be woken up from his nap. At its core, Research Group is a straightforward story, but it surely commits to its narrative and doesn’t attempt to be one thing it’s not. That frees up room for it to mess around with its execution — the present is snappy and doesn’t take itself too severely, with fast cuts and dynamic music cues that give it a enjoyable comedian e-book vibe. It feels nearly harking back to Boyhood, simply with rather less slapstick absurdity and a bit of extra delicate melancholy within the boys’ backstories.
Ga-min is so earnest and endearing that I discover myself naturally rooting for him, whereas Se-hyun is teeming with a lot sympathetic pathos and repressed emotion. He has such a great coronary heart beneath all of the defenses he’s stacked up excessive out of necessity, and I need him to discover a confidant in Ga-min. The examine group is shaping as much as be a secure house for them each — a spot the place Se-hyun can lastly pursue his personal goals, and the place Ga-min can show his naysayers unsuitable. Additionally, Hyun-woo’s completely going to get a redemption arc, proper? Proper?
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