[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Who Are You - School 2015" Episode 5

So-yeong (played by Cho Soo-hyang) was Eun-bi's tormentor in the past and appears to have come back to haunt Eun-bi in her guise as Eun-byeol. It's difficult to get a good read on what So-yeong wants- this episode definitely implies, though it does not state outright, that the real reason for So-yeong's transfer is that she was expelled from her last school after Eun-bi's apparent suicide exposed a plethora of disturbing bullying behavior. One would think that such revelations would have made the girl a bit more reflective.

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To the contrary- So-yeong even goes so far as to provide an explanation of how the sour relationship between Eun-bi and herself got started out. And it's a rather disturbing story for exactly the reason that Eun-bi says. What kind of person thinks like this in the wake of a horrible tragedy? So-yeong's big ah-ha moment really isn't one. Any moral human being would have the exact same reaction. So-yeong just doesn't realize this because the only time she owns up to being a monstrous person is with Eun-bi- or someone who looks exactly like her.

What really makes the situation tense is that it's not clear where the story can go from here. So-yeong may not have realized it yet, but she has just as much to lose as Eun-bi. It's really just a question of who the classmates are going to believe- the person who they think they've known their whole lives, or the the one who transferred in the middle of the term because she harassed a former classmate to suicide? So-yeong most definitely does not want a public dialog on this subject- but again, it's not clear how well she's actually thought this through.

Elsewhere, little snippets remind us that I-an really does have a rough time of it here. The poor young man's going to be destroyed when he finds out the truth about Eun-byeol. And what's worse is that Tae-kwang is definitely itching for a masculine rivalry for his own complicated emotional reasons. It's tough stuff that's surprisingly compelling given how every other problem in the drama seems much more serious.

But then, all that is really just the advantage of a very strong production. "Who Are You - School 2015" is consistently tense, heartfelt, and shocking. Kim So-hyun puts in excellent work as the beleaguered main characters, and the rest of the class is equally excellent. While the drama will probably never escape the inherent absurdity of the switched twin plotline, when accepted for what it, "Who Are You - School 2015" is powerful stuff.

Review by William Schwartz

"Who Are You - School 2015" is directed by Baek Sang-hoon and Kim Seong-yoon, written by Kim Hyeon-jeong-II and Kim Min-jeong-II, and features Kim So-hyun, Nam Joo-hyuk, Yook Sung-jae, Lee Pil-mo, Lee David, Kim Hee-jung-I and more.

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