Kim Bum's "Law School" Has Us Rooting More For Kim MyungMin As Characters Continue To Exist In A Grey Area

One of the most highly anticipated Korean dramas of 2021, "Law School", starring Kim Bum, Kim MyungMin, Lee JungEun, and Ryu HyeYoung has officially premiered on Netflix worldwide and while the similarity to "How To Get Away With Murder" is stark, there is something special about "Law School". Perhaps it is the 'K-Drama' flavour and the short number of episodes that add just the right amount of kick to the series as one is already intrigued from the get-go about how the problem posed at the beginning of the drama is going to be resolved. Kim MyungMin plays Yang JongHoon, a former Prosecutor turned Professor, Kim Bum plays Han JoonHwi, a first-year student and prodigy coming from the National Police University, Lee JungEun plays Kim EunSook, a former Judge turned Professor, and Ryu HyeYoung plays Kang Sol A, a first-year student who is attending law school through special admission.

Other characters include Kang Sol B, definitely, the smarter of the two, played by Lee SooKyung, coming from a family of lawyers and naturally gifted in the art of argument; Seo JiHo, an ambitious young man who studies law for the benefits it brings him socially, played by Lee David; Jeon YeSeul coming from a top-ranking University, played by Go YoonJung and Yoo SeungJae one of the best gynecologists, played by Hyun Woo. Right off the bat, it is easy to notice that there are a lot of characters who might be officially deemed as "supporting" characters but who also have very interesting plotlines going on within the main narrative. With each character comes a parallel set of possible motives for the central problem of the drama, as we will soon find out.

Spoiler Alert!

"Law School" wastes no time in the pleasantries of an introduction as we're thrust right into the middle of a court session, albeit it's a moot court with a group of extremely sharp (well, most of them) law students arguing a case. This scene is set in October of 2020.

Han JoonHwi sits in as the Defendant and Kang Sol A as the Judge. The atmosphere is tense but before it can go on any further, Professor Seo ByungJu, played by Ahn NaeSang asks for them to take a short break as he isn't feeling too well. After a prolonged period of time passes, YeSeul goes into Professor Seo's office, only to find him unconscious. This is when we first meet Yang JongHoon as he arrives at the scene and immediately starts inspecting the surroundings and safe to say, he makes a strong impression without delay.

Soon after, we're taken back to March of 2020 where Professor Yang is taking a class on criminal law. His teaching method is distinctly Socratic which implies that he prefers to teach through posing questions at his students rather than feeding them theories and answers. As such, students cowering from intimidation and trying to avoid being called on is a common sight in his class. Professor Yang has a special eye on Kang Sol A, who he remembers interviewing during her admission process. At the same time, Han JoonHwi seems to fascinate him too but it's still not too clear who he thinks highly of and who he doesn't.

A lot of developments take place in the next twenty minutes as we find out that Professor Seo, who we just saw having passed away, was accused of accepting bribes, after which he ended up donating the money to the University. The moot court was built through the same donation and following this generous act, he was appointed as a Professor in the University almost immediately. This clearly raised some red flags, especially for JoonHwi, who we find out later is actually his nephew. JoonHwi attempts to nullify his appointment by posting a QR-coded petition that students would have to sign in order to be in the same study group as the genius himself. The authorities find out and JoonHwi is "tried" at "court" by his fellow students, as a result of which he is pronounced "not guilty".

On the other hand, we're also shown that Professor Yang was the Prosecutor in Professor Seo's trial, which has driven quite a rift between them. Clearly, Professor Seo is resented by a good number of people, and rightfully so because we also find out, quite shockingly, that he was involved in a hit and run and has been colluding with a detestable criminal who was the only eye-witness of the accident, to keep himself safe. In order to do that, he also helped reduce the criminal's sentencing, owing to which Judge Kim EunSook retired from being a Judge and took up teaching.  At this point, Professor Seo isn't looking too great and the motives for his murder are abundant.

However, when Professor Yang is taken in by the police as the major suspect for his murder, chaos is unleashed. There's no one the viewer can trust and no one who looks innocent. However, the audience's instinct is sure to lean towards rooting for Yang JongHoon and Han JoonHwi.

Overall, this was an incredible premiere week, enough to carry over the maximum percentage of viewership to the next episode. However, the fate of the series really depends on what happens in that episode and whether that ticks off surrogate satisfaction for the audience.