Hierarchy – K-drama Episode 5 Recap & Review

Outstanding Outsiders: The Kangs

Episode 5 of Hierarchy starts with us jumping back in time and seeing more of In-han’s past. He’s bullied by the other kids after staining Ri-an’s top. Seon-u is actually more of the lead bully here, and the group beat In-han down.

Meanwhile, Jae-i meets her brother, Jeong Jae-hyeok, who reveals himself to be blackmailing her. He wants money and for her to hand everything over, including being the heir to Jaeyul. He claims she’s not worthy and wants a notarized document to confirm she’s doing all of this for him. If not, he’ll show the video and everything else to their father. He apparently has backups too.

Back in the present, Ha reveals that he’s been doing all of this to get to the bottom of In0han’s death and who’s responsible for it. He did mean it when he told Jae-i he wanted her to smile but he needs her help. Jae-i walks away but as Ha follows, Ri-an comes up and questions him over In-han and their ties. The pair fight but when things ease up, partly due to Jae-i spiralling out of control, word spreads around school of the bond between In-han and Kang Ha being brothers.

In-han being mentioned in school is apparently disruptive to the other kids and an inconvenience. The Principal calls Kang Ha in and demands he make a choice of either transferring or being expelled. Ha refuses, standing up to the teachers but unfortunately, he’s told that he’s expelled. Well, that is until he shows off his phone which happens to be recording everything, including how the Principal boasts about being corrupt. Asa  result, he’s allowed to stay. At least for now.

Jae-i meets with Ri-an and tells him straight up that they’re not getting back together. She’s tired of hurting people and the decision is final that she’ll be going to New York. Ri-an though believes there’s no way they can stay apart and he’ll do whatever he can to stay by Jae-i’s side. He also reveals that he’s in love with her… Jae-i does not reciprocate.

Back home, Jae-i hears giggling coming from the lounge, where she finds He-ra and Jae-hyeok talk together. She’s apparently here to deliver an invitation to their farewell party. She tells Jae-i to stay away from Ri-an otherwise she’ll cause trouble. Just before they part ways, He-ra tells Jae-i to leave with her dignity otherwise it’s going to get messy.

Meanwhile, Tae-ho is bullied by the kids at school. Ju-won watches on silently as Seon-u throws his weight around. Kang Ha though, stands up for his friend and eventually a fight breaks out between the two.

When Ha comes out on top, Tae-ho taps out and decides that he can’t do this anymore. In confidence, he tells Kang Ha that being associated with him and working against the rich kids is way too much trouble and he dips out. He can’t exactly relocate away from the school so he needs to keep his head down and work.

As for Ju-won, it turns out he’s been conspiring all this time, with plenty of videos hacked in from the school’s security system. Not only does this protect his identity, it also allows us to see who has been blackmailing Jae-i during the series.

Speaking of Jae-i, she talks to Ha at school. She reveals that In-han was being bullied at Woo-jin’s birthday party. He ran outside and that’s where the accident happened. Jae-i points out it wasn’t Ri-an responsible for his death, but actually herself for getting him mixed up in all this and staying silent while he’s bullied. Jae-i asks Ha to help Ri-an, which hurts our protagonist deeply, given their hostility for one another. He eventually walks away.

Jae-i and Seon-u prepare to leave together, while everyone shows up at the party that night. Ju-won is there too, and continues to blackmail Jae-i. Only, he receives a message telling him “not to make it too obvious”, It’s now clear that Kang Ha knows about Ju-won’s ties. He knows that Chan-min is the anonymous account and he doesn’t want him to stop. In fact, he just wants to know what dirt he has on her.

He-ra heads home and finds the place full of post-it notes. Her mother is downstairs and begins sobbing, as news spreads that Gongseong Charmain’s son has been arrested on drug charges. As this spreads like wildfire, Ri-an and Jae-i show up at the party together in a car. This rattles He-ra, who listens as Ri-an decides that they’re going to start over and be in a relationship again.

As Ri-an stares Kang Ha down, he speaks to Ju-won and decides that he wants all the videos for himself.

The Episode Review

So it looks like the hornet’s nest has well and truly been kicked here and it looks like Ri-an and Kang Ha are about to go to war. There’s still no mention of Kang Ha’s parents, and the chemistry between the characters is definitely not working very effectively at all.

The “romance” between Kang Ha and Jae-i feels stifled and lacking, while the show itself is struggling to carve its own unique slice of the teen-drama pie. There’s just not enough here to help it stand out from the mass of other dramas in the field, which is a bit disappointing.

Hopefully the final two episodes can pick up and fire on all cylinders.