INSOLENTLY, GO GO - EPISODE 8

Yeon Doo, in shock and tired, makes her way toward camp

Yeon Doo receives a video shot by one of the Real King members of her and Kim Yeol. Yeon Doo uses the video's time-stamp to help clear Kim Yeol of theft, when Teacher Im, the Principal's lackey, can clearly be seen in the background of the video. The video was shot after Kim Yeol was seen in the office, and the lackey still has his USB drive with him at that time, as seen in the video. Kim Yeol has a rock-hard alibi for any other time, so they have no choice but to let this slide. But when Principal Choi refuses to let him take a make-up exam, Kim Yeol's father comes to the school with a lawyer and intends to sue on a number of charges.

Soo Ah's mother tries to smooth over the incident with her daughter's fraudulent sexual harassment charge by sending Teacher Yang, Teacher Im, and the students to camp. Soo Ah, riding with Yeon Doo, strands her at a stop down the road from the camp. When the students find out, Ha Joon heads out there on a bike and sees Yeon Doo, bloodied from a fall, slowly ambling down the road, and she collapses into tears in his arms. An enraged Kim Yeol grabs Soo Ah roughly and demands answers...


"What have you done!?!" Kim Yeol screams at Soo Ah.

Soo Ah just keeps cranking the bad girl up to 11. It's almost ridiculous, except it's played very well and egged on by both her mother and her tutor, who seem to think that winning is the only thing. She only seems to show a momentary remorse for her actions. Then she's back to her old tricks. Following Kim Yeol's return, Teacher Yang made an offer this episode to help students who needed it to aid them in getting back on to the straight and narrow. Soo Ah looked particularly defeated at that point. I wonder if that's where this is going.


Yeon Doo�cracking the ice around Ha Joon's heart

The addition of Yeon Doo into the social circle seems to have disrupted the natural order of things, which may be why Choi wants her gone so badly. She's a rabble-rouser, she's not totally focused on grades, and she formed attachments with the members of Baek Ho rather than leave them alone. Particularly Ha Joon. We've seen a couple times where he's reached out as a friend rather than keep things bottled up. And Yeon Doo's friendship (not to mention getting him first aid stuff to patch himself up) has given him a reason to smile, which we have seldom seen before now.

The romance seems to have stalled, at least this week, but I have to imagine the last episode will show us what's what. Now it just seems that Yeon Doo and Kim Yeol and all of them are just friends, comfortable and at ease with one another, united against Principal Choi and Teacher Im, who seem to take a perverse delight in handing out punishment points like candy on Halloween. While Soo Ah introduces an element of conflict, it's nice to see the rest of them recognize that, despite grade points, they're all just kids.


Kim Yeol threatens to complain to the Dept of Education, unless Teacher Im does him a favor....

This episode we also see the return of the triumphant Kim Yeol, who holds the threat of a lawsuit over Choi and Im's heads. It's nice to see him have the upper hand again. He's a likable fellow, even when he's kind of being a jerk, and you can't help but root for him. His jerk moments have largely fallen off now that Yeon Doo's been accepted among his peers, and now you see him doing things to protect his friends. There are some absolutely cute moments where he says things like, "Well, I'll drop the lawsuit if you do me a favor..."

I've been pleasantly surprised how good this is. The fact that they temper the dark stuff with comedy is nice because it's not over-the-top ridiculous comedy, it's just a light tone that takes you to a more pleasant place. Makes this show a must-watch, IMHO. Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!

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