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Pierce Conran

3.5/5 stars
Lead cast: Lee Hye-ri, Chung Su-bin, Kang Hye-won, Oh Woo-ri
The high school thriller has long been a popular genre in Korean media and it is no surprise why. Febrile teenage emotions mixed with the pressure cooker environment of Korean education result in tales of brutal competition and explosive drama.
The new teenage thriller Friendly Rivalry understands this appeal all too well and escalates it by pitting leading characters against each other who are torn between self-interest and empathy.


They do good things, some later revealed to be for the wrong reasons, and they also knowingly do bad things, either because they feel they have to or to help someone else. The drama comes from the fact that these characters constantly yo-yo in opposition. Occasionally they briefly bounce in unison, before breaking apart again.
This friction leads to the central dynamic between the lead characters that gives the show its title, which could also be translated as “competition of good intentions”.
The kinetic energy derived from all the emotional fireworks drives a show that is electrically staged and rhythmically edited. It should be said, however, that while the series thrives on mystery, it has a habit of running out of steam after its many reveals.
It searches for new emotional peaks but like the many drugs that eventually appear in the show, those highs provide slightly diminishing returns over the show’s breathless run – 16 half-hour episodes now available globally on Netflix, two months after the show’s initial Korean premiere.

The background is the Chaehwa High School, which, like many institutions of learning in prime-time K-dramas, from The Penthouse and Hierarchy to the recently concluded Undercover High School, is described as the most illustrious high school in the country.
Much like those aforementioned shows, we enter the halls of Chaehwa through a new transfer student who feels out of place. This is Woo Seul-gi (Chung Su-bin, Chief Detective 1958), who grew up in an orphanage in the countryside.
Seul-gi was bullied for being an orphan in her previous school, where she understood that she could stop her mistreatment if she could be recognised as the best student in the school. With some pharmaceutical help, she threw herself into her studies and elevated herself above her classmates.
She managed to enrol in Chaehwa in Seoul, but here she is one among many gifted students, and most gifted of all is the beloved Yu Je-yi (My Roommate Is a Gumiho’s Lee Hye-ri, a member of Girls’ Day).

Je-yi takes an immediate shine to the new transfer student, for reasons that baffle all the other students, not least Seul-gi herself.
Seul-gi is suspicious and, although Je-yi does begin to win her over, she never completely lets her guard down. It becomes clear soon enough that she is right not to, but it would not be accurate to say that Je-yi’s duplicitous new friend is not on her side. Simply put – it is complicated.
Je-yi’s two closest classmates – it is unclear if she has any real “friends” – are Joo Ye-ri (Kang Hye-won, Boyhood) and Choi Kyung (Oh Woo-ri, Way Back Love). The materialistic Ye-ri and the studious Kyung embody fairly broad stereotypes, but the show makes the effort to explore what makes them tick.
Ye-ri hides behind her looks and nice things, yet her appearance also leads her down a path that makes her confront where she came from when she accepts a business card from an escort club scout.

Kyung pushes herself harder than anyone, but without some of the secret help that fuels Ye-ri’s success, she is always second best. Her nervous drive is compellingly tied to her sexual drive by way of her liberal masturbation, something we do not see very often on Korean TV.
After a very strong start, Friendly Rivalry delves deeper and deeper into a mess of drugs, medical malpractice and exam cheating, but more often than not these prove to be distractions from the show’s greatest assets – its characterisations and the titular relationship between its leads.
Another big element of the show that mostly falls by the wayside is its “GL”. GL stands for girls’ love and many were drawn to the show by the promise of some queer romance between its leads – still a rarity for a mainstream K-drama.

Some of the show’s best early scenes teased this aspect of the show, but instead of exploring that angle, the show opted for the edgy but relatively safe haven of its familiar crime beats.
With strong production values and engaging performances, particularly from Lee Hye-ri, who is quickly turning into one of Korea’s best young actors, Friendly Rivalry has much to offer, so long as you do not mind the bumpy ride.
Friendly Rivalry is streaming on Netflix.


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Starring Lee Hye-ri, Chung Su-bin, Kang Hye-won and Oh Woo-ri, this new Korean drama has much to offer – if you don’t mind the bumpy ride


Starring Lee Hye-ri, Chung Su-bin, Kang Hye-won and Oh Woo-ri, this new Korean drama has much to offer – if you don’t mind the bumpy ride.


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.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Starring Lee Hye-ri, Chung Su-bin, Kang Hye-won and Oh Woo-ri, this new Korean drama has much to offer – if you don’t mind the bumpy ride

Starring Lee Hye-ri, Chung Su-bin, Kang Hye-won and Oh Woo-ri, this new Korean drama has much to offer – if you don’t mind the bumpy ride