Netflix's 'Teach You a Lesson' literally beats school bullies at their own game

In Netflix's "Teach You a Lesson," the school bullies finally meet their match: a former special forces soldier carrying a government badge and a license who fights back as brutally as they do.

The 10-episode action drama, which premiered on Netflix on Friday, follows a fictional Ministry of Education task force that intervenes on the victim's behalf when school violence spirals out of control. Adapted from the popular but controversial webtoon "Get Schooled" (2020–), the show's central premise — discipline through physical force — is already stirring debate of its own.

Actor Kim Mu-yeol stars as Na Hwa-jin, a former special forces operative turned field inspector at the ministry's educational rights protection bureau. Jin Ki-joo plays Hwa-jin's fellow inspector Im Han-rim, and Lee Sung-min does the same as Education Minister Choi Gang-seok, who backs the bureau to the hilt. Pyo Ji-hoon, known as the rapper P.O from the boy band Block B, stars as Bong Geun-dae, a brilliant but bumbling official who helps crack cases and serves as the show's comic relief. As its title suggests, the series doles out swift, satisfying revenge against its antagonists.

The bureau's first full-team effort occurs in episode 2, when it tackles a case at a boys' vocational high school. Students brawl to get scouted by gangs and torment weaker classmates during classes, and the teachers are powerless to stop them. One victim, Kim Hyung-joo, played by Jeon Bong-seok, attends the school to learn how to repair cars but has no one to protect him. To Geun-dae, who has gone undercover as a transfer student, Hyung-joo warns, "It's too late for me to move to another school. I need to learn how to repair cars and make money fast. You should transfer before it's too late."

When inspector Hwa-jin first arrives at the school, he goes to the teachers' office and explains why the bureau exists. "Desperate kids […] should be able to go to their classes without being harmed," he says.

Hwa-jin then herds the entire student body into the gym and, quite literally, teaches the bullies a lesson, leading to a cathartic, crowd-pleasing action sequence. When the gangsters connected to the students show up at the school, he faces them with merciless force. Only then do the bullies drop to their knees and say, "We're sorry. Forgive us. Otherwise, we're dead."

While there is controversy around the original webtoon for reportedly justifying corporal punishment, the series earns its emotional pull by keeping the victims at the center of its plot. For audiences who can sympathize or empathize with the victims, the fantasy of a former special forces inspector who spares nothing for the wronged and hits their tormentors twice as hard is enticing — especially since the other episodes demonstrate how students can be harmed by parents and teachers as well.

The show's apparent suggestion that corporal punishment is the way to repair that broken authority has been less well-received. Within the story, the bureau comes into existence after lawmakers amend the fictional law regarding teachers' rights so that "no limits shall be placed on an inspector's methods of education." That setup follows the webtoon's premise that a 2011 revision to the enforcement decree of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which banned direct corporal punishment, was the decisive blow to teachers' authority.

At a press conference on Friday, director Hong Jong-chan related the project to real-world news.

"I had seen so many frustrating stories in the news," he said. "I was drawn to the fantastical premise of the [webtoon]'s educational rights protection bureau, such as the way it tackles real-world frustrations head-on and takes the victim's hand from the victim's point of view, which is why I decided to take on the project."

But he acknowledged the controversy surrounding the webtoon.

"I fully understand the concerns about the original," he said. "I approached [the show] carefully, through a refined lens. I tried to create a good story."

The webtoon of the same name, which began serialization in 2020, won a following for the same brand of strong-arm justice. However, it drew controversy over expressions that appeared to demean women and people of color and over its episodes that respond to violent incidents at schools with more violence. In Korea, specific episodes were deleted, and the series went on a three-month hiatus. On its North American platform, the webtoon was pulled entirely. The fallout even reached the show. Actor Kim Nam-gil, who had been tapped to play Hwa-jin during the planning stage, turned down the role following fan opposition.

BY JEONG EUN-HYE [[email protected]]