Y’all, I had a lot of fun with this one! The first two episodes brought the comedy and tap danced on tragedy. But they held it back just enough for us to get the stakes of what is really going on in this high school and just why our guy Jeong Hae Seong is the one to handle it.
Check out our recap of Episodes 1 and 2 of “Undercover High School” below!
“Undercover High School” Episode 1 Recap
We start with a high-risk heist, which turns into a high-speed chase for our NIS team to recover priceless historic treasure. However, they were not able to do it in one piece (not for a lack of trying, though! I mean, sticking your hand and body out of a car in mid-flip is a choice, and I’m not saying it was a smart one either).
Despite a dangerously perfect slow-motion walk with the villain and treasure in his hands, the treasure just so happens to be broken, and the reason it is broken is because Jeong Hae Seong accidentally shot it with a bullet. He wasn’t aiming for it or anything; it’s just that he fired his gun in the air as a warning, which ricocheted off several things and ended up hitting the statue. Bummer of a thousand bummers because that is what gets his team in trouble.
Jeong Hae Seong is okay, though, because he is the only competent member of the team. So while his entire team will most likely be fired, he, and his immensely impressive fighting skills, would just be sent to a new department.
Hae Seong has a heart which is why he agrees to an impossible assignment to save his team – go undercover at an elite private high school to find $800 million worth of gold bars of National treasure. At first, he says no, because the idea is ludicrous. How can he pass for a high school student?
However, when he goes somewhere to ponder, we are privy to a flashback from Hae Seong on his not-so-thrilling high school days, where he was beaten up and bullied relentlessly for being an orphan. So the real reason he doesn’t want to do it could be that he has horrible memories about high school.
But the team boss is his uncle, who raised him when his father died in the line of duty, and Hae Seong doesn’t want him to get fired, or to lose his job himself, so he agrees.
He also gets himself a drink alone which is when he meets our adorable teacher, Su A, who had a miserable night with her fellow teachers entertaining her vice principal for his birthday. Long story short, she got drunk, embarrassed herself by pulling off her Vice Principal’s wig, and promptly went to her mother’s restaurant to drown her sorrows in soju. This is the restaurant where Hae Seong is at, too.
While here, his and her peace is disturbed by some underage high school kids trying to not pay for their meal. Su A tells them they better pay! But they step back at her and act like they are not above punching a woman. So Hae Seong steps in and takes them all out to help her out. Oh, and she thought he was super cute as well. This becomes important later.
That week, the team makes a plan for Hae Seong to infiltrate the high school, find out where the treasure is hidden, and get out of there. But upon entering the school, Hae Seong quickly realizes that high school nowadays is nothing like it was when he was a kid. There’s social media, and live streaming, and soccer in the hall, and words that kids say that mean something but he doesn’t know what.
But he does encounter a trio of ruthless bullies which makes him think that high school is the same after all.
After his little cousin gives him some tips on high school life, he sets about not making himself noticed and finding the treasure. His desk buddy tells him about a really old building on campus, so Hae Seong sneaks in to see if the treasure might be hidden there. But he is welcomed by a gun in his face.
“Undercover High School” Episode 2 Recap
Episode 2 opens with the gun on Hae Seong’s head. It’s our lovely teacher, Su A, who is serious about catching this intruder in the hopes of getting promoted to full-time teacher. But she can’t catch Hae Seong because he shines his flashlight in her face and boogies out of there.
Hilariously, later that night, we find out that they live right next to each other. Oh, I cannot wait for the high jinks that this will deliver.
One thing I didn’t mention in episode 1 is that Su A recognized Hae Seong from that drunken night and scolded him for drinking as a high school student as well as fighting. So, he is on her bad side immediately. She is also his homeroom teacher so he will see her all the time.
However, she is not an observant homeroom teacher, or perhaps she is purposefully ignorant because she does not notice that Hae Seong’s desk partner is being horribly tormented by that trio of bullies I mentioned earlier.
The frustrating part for Hae Seong (and us, the audience) is that Hae Seong cannot do anything about it or risk blowing his cover.
This becomes too much to handle at lunchtime when the bullies spit in the desk friends’ food. So Hae Seong puts the bullies in their place, which gets caught on a live stream, which gets back to the NIS.
Now Hae Seong is really in trouble and has to solve this treasure thing immediately. So, he breaks into the really old building on campus and is followed by the deskmate friend who previously told Hae Seong about a haunted tale that happened in the building that involved a dead body buried under the floorboards.
Someone is in the building either removing or adding floorboards, and Hae Seong gives chase to apprehend him, which leads him to a hidden room with tons of clues on the wall about the $800 million gold bars and where they might be located. He calls his team and tells them that this case might take a bit longer.
Meanwhile, the deskmate friend pulls up the floorboards and finds a body of bones underneath!
And that is where episode 2 ends.
Side Stories
- Some other stories going on that might tie into the main plot are that the owner of the school is the one that might have the $800 million gold bars. She also seems very evil.
- The head bully is in some kind of trouble with gangsters and needs ID cards, so he goes to the deskmate’s grandmother to trick her into giving it to him.
- And Hae Sung’s little cousin who goes to the school might be in a bit of trouble with the top kids but it isn’t really clear if she is or not. They just mention that she somehow got onto the student council because the student council president is her friend. Otherwise, her parents would have to be wealthy or well-known to get on the student council.
Annoyingly, the bully is on the student council because his father is an important elected or appointed person in the city.
Alright, and that is our episode 1 and 2 recap of Undercover High School. There were some definite funny parts, and I would say this show mostly keeps it light and fun. But there are also some 180-degree serious parts that make you wonder if this is a comedy or a realistic drama. Right now, I am enjoying the tone, though I do hope stays mostly on the light side.
Let us know how you liked this episode, and be sure to stream every episode of “Undercover High School” on Fridays and Saturdays on KOCOWA+!
