The drama continues in episodes 9 and 10 of Moorim School, with Chi-ang in the hospital after being injured in the previous episode. Shi-woo saved Soon-deok and they meet Sam (Samuel Okyere), the security specialist for Moorim, and Soon-ah at the hospital. It’s decided that Soon-Deok and Sam will stay with Chi-Ang until he’s able to return to Moorim. Meanwhile, Wang Hao’s cronies are attempting to ensure that Chi-Ang doesn’t find out that his father ordered the kidnapping of Soon-Deok while also trying to make sure Chae Yoon doesn’t remember that the person who put him in a coma is Hao.
Here are the most important revelations from these episodes (spoilers):
- Chae Yoon and Dean Hwang Moo-song used to be best friends and rivals before Chae Yoon was attacked by Juk Poong, a secret society within the Moorim Association, 18 years ago.
- Shi-woo and Soon-ah are siblings, but neither have realized it yet. Shi-woo is also beginning to remember his past, bit by bit, in his dreams. Shi-woo was saved by Soon-deok’s father and this is connected to Soon-deok’s father losing his eyesight and his hesitance to allow her to attend Moorim. He subsequently finds out that she’s been secretly attending Moorim. He forbids her from going back, causing the dean and Shi-woo to come and try to convince him to let her come back. The dean also approaches Shi-woo about potentially being his successor to Moorim Insitute, and when Chi-ang finds out about this, it causes further tension between the two friends.
- Moo-song seems
to suspect Bubgong, the meditation professor, for the kidnapping attempt while Bubgong continuously tries to force Moo-song’s hand, even revealing that the Chintamani, the mysterious treasure, is real to everyone at the school. - Chae Yoon continues to search for answers about the incident 18 years ago, but every time he gets close to answers, anyone able to help him has either disappeared or dies mysteriously right before meeting with him.
- The school is in a frenzy because of the Moorim Competition that not only is the students’ finals but a competition open to alumni. Moo-song seems to believe that it will help draw out their enemies and make it easier to combat them. In order to help the students prep for the competition, Moo-song asks one of the professors to bring in a new professor to help out. It turns out this professor is an alumni who Moo-song originally asked to help protect the Chintamani.
- Once Chi-ang recovers, he’s informed by one of his father’s associates that he won’t inherit the company unless he becomes the top student at Moorim Institute. This fuels him to start training harder and becomes callous to everyone else. He also vows to Soon-deok that he will become stronger so that she will fall in love with him, but it feels like he doesn’t believe his own words. Chi-ang also investigates an affiliate to his father’s company since it was their building that they took Soon-deok to. This causes him to begin to suspect his father of being involved with the kidnapping.
Once again the writers of Moorim School produced two jam packed episodes. It’s become darker with the conflicts between students starting to collide with the conflicts concerning the Chintamani and Juk Poong. Since the situations have become more tense, it’s only appropriate for them to adopt this darker tone. The mildly campy and playful moments that Moorim School frequently had in previous episodes have lessened to the point that it feels like we may no longer see them.
These heavier tones are most prevalent in scenes between Chi-Ang and Shi-Woo. Since Chi-Ang was previously a comedic and light-hearted character, seeing him be serious and angry reinforces the shift in the show’s attitude. Hongbin does his best to convey the anger and struggle that is simmering just beneath Chi-ang’s surface, and for the most part he succeeds. Lee Hyun-woo continues to shine as Shi-woo, expertly portraying his struggle between being a good friend to Chi-ang and his developing feelings for Soon-deok. The only weak spot is when he’s trying to show Shi-woo’s resolve to confront his past. It just is not convincing enough that Shi-woo truly wants to learn about his past; maybe Hyun-woo is trying to convey being at peace, but it unfortunately doesn’t quite work for the show.
The writers have so far maintained the quality 
of writing and pacing from previous episodes, though episode 10 felt more rushed. They are approaching the end of the drama and there are still many questions that need to be answered. While they answered a few questions in these episodes, they also introduced new ones. Is Bubgong actually on the same side as Moo-song or is he playing both Moo-song and Wang Hao? How exactly did Soon-deok’s father lose his eyesight and will seeing him help Shi-woo remember more about his past? It will be interesting to see how they manage to explain all this in the remaining 6 episodes without sacrificing the show’s standard. There is a lot that needs to be resolved, and they certainly have their work cut out for them.
(Images via KBS)
