I'm buying everything Midnight Hagwon is selling expect Wi Ha Joon's acting. He doesn't feel natural most of the time. Like he's forcing his smile a little too much. And he also seems to be one of those actors that has more chemistry with his bro than the female lead.
That said, I'm hoping that the dynamic switch we had at the end of episode 2 helps with the romantic element of the drama.

1. I love the FL.
I like her big heart and sincerity. I like that she learns from her mistakes and tries to correct them (a brilliant quality for a teacher). I like how responsable she is with her job. I like how proud she is of it, and has a clear vision of it's purpose.

I liked watching how she kept emphasizing to the mothers and students that they should respect the teachers from the schools. She knows that both, the schools and the academies, has their own value. And I liked how she kept emphasizing to the annoying teacher that he should hear the students. She was there to protect/help her student and not to start a debate about education, ahjussi!

I also liked how she's the type to say something like "I love my job but don't recommend it". 😂 She understands the reality of the world she lives in. She just wanted to keep guiding her student to the "best" path according to standards of the society they live in. She obviously crossed the line, but when she was called out about it, she fixed her mistakes. She's an admirable queen.

2. The ML. I don't know if it was the acting, or because of the way the FL and his parents treat him, or the fact that he talks like everything is a joke, but I can't take him seriously.

And that's why I didn't try to understand him either. Is he trying to become independent? He wants more money? He wants to be famous? I don't get it. 😆 I hope next week will be better (his POV).

3. Work life.
Why is everyone on that office so charming and lovely? isn't this probably the first (and last) place in kdramaland to have such a healthy work environment? If this was any other drama, there would've been already 3 scandals because the FL had drinks with her male boss, make coworker, and male ex-student. 😂 And probably all of them would be in love with her.
I like that people here can talk without it becoming a crime.

I also like that she's good at her job and popular, and that doesn't mean half of the people in her office hates her for that and wants to bring her down.

I'm a little scared the new employees will start with the jealousy, tho. They could think Joon Ho is getting especial treatment.

As i was watching these episodes the Ahn Pan-soek formula checklist kept whirling through my mind.

-The slightly opaque color grading
-The neutral coloured clothing of the cast
-Half the scenes being shot at night
-The indie-pop english language soundtrack
-The slighly loud music/scoring when characters are speaking.

and of course the May/December romantic pairing at the centre if it all.

Despite the formula i found the first 2 episodes to be engaging, we got a good introduction to the characters and the setting, im sure the central conflict will be introduced in the next few episodes.

Im definately sticking around.

I was quite elated at the thought that the ML would NOT be the FL leads responsibility. At one point, the director was saying that he would give the other team leader time so he could be placed in the other team. But no, once FL changed her mind, ML was in her team. I was really hoping that it would not be an icky boss/subordinate dynamic for once. I shudder to think about what actual workspaces in Korea are like for young singles, if this sort of love affair is routinely accepted in dramas.
(Yes, I know that there is lots of unreality in dramas- its the 'routine' bit that bothers me. If they just did it in dramas occasionally I would sigh, but not be so concerned)
On the plus side, the director has made it clear that FL does not have the hiring/firing decisions.
I think the major conflict for the drama has already been flagged as the fight with the school teacher.

Somehow this show reminds me of Crash Course in Romance and a bit wary of how this would play out. Crossing my finger, the show doesn't take the same route as CCIR so I can enjoy this one. Liking the FL so far and in need of more story from the ML as to why he insisted on changing path on his career. I don't buy his reasons, yet.

Not that rating has impact on me, but still find it unbelievable how some people can already judge a show that has just aired. I assume they did it unconsciously.

A lot of my thoughts about this come from my 45+ years career in education. But because of that, I wonder if this will be appealing to any but fellow educators and Wi Ha-joon fans. I did not find the character of the FL initially very appealing. (More about her professionally later). As for the ML, I’m sure his motives about quitting his job are mixed, and include his interest in the FL in some way, but I didn’t sense any immediate rapport with the FL. It was mostly him trying to be friendly and relaxed, and she being both condescending and, as her friend pointed out her, strangely hostile. I’m sure that dynamic will be explained, but it wasn’t a promising start, because there seemed to be no reason for any sort of extension of a past student crush on his tutor.

I could see someone who wasn’t interested in education just being a little bored, actually, because right now there wasn’t much chemistry between the leads, and it seems the setup is fairly predictable — they’ll fall for each other, if they haven’t already, and there will be a “scandal” when the two leads get involved, and since these for profit academies are at the mercy of parent customers, one of them will be fired, testing their love. Etc. etc. I guess the one interesting possibility, as @dramaddictally points out, will be if there is some major reveal about one or or both of the leads and what that might be.

But let me get to the education part, and here I know this will be even more boring to most than my opinion about their romantic chemistry, so I’ll post it in followup comments that can can be skipped.

First, the tension between the hagwons and the public schools, with differing levels of compensation for the teachers, but with the hagwons leeching off the public school teachers initial presentation of the subject, has been dealt with in other shows. But with my sympathies entirely on the side of public school teachers. I really felt the FL overstepped in her confrontation with the teacher. I know we were supposed to feel sympathy with her because she was doing it for the student, but his judgement as to the right answer was not unreasonable. And what was the issue—an interpretative question about whether it was paradox or irony?—man, that is just a good argument for not giving multiple choice questions when teaching humanities. Please, all you high school teachers of literature and history out there, avoid multiple choice questions whenever you can! That's why I think the teacher made the right move in going to essay questions, regardless of his rivalry with the hagwons.

Thank you @Dramaddictally for your thoughtful review as ever! Show is off to a good start with the groundwork laid out with little glimpses of the obstacles and romance to come. Seo Hye-Jin's forewarning that colleagues will either compete with or use you is prescient seeing that the director of the academy is wanting to use Lee Jun-Ho as a marketing strategy and consequently making him Hye-Jin's competition. Jun-Ho countered this well by suggesting the teacher/student story, which will throw him and Hye-Jin together more but how long will that last further down the track when, I suspect, falling student enrolments begin to occur?

Did I enjoy these two episodes? Yes. Did I have a Wikipedia page by the hand to look up stuff about the education system in Korea? Also yes. Do I actually understand it? Not really.

But despite that, there's something compelling about the stories. I'm on board for now, so let's see where this takes us.

More than having feelings for Jun-ho, I think Hye-jin thinks of him as the 18-year-old boy she met 10 years ago. That is why she was too at ease around him and tried to convince him out of the instructor's job as a noona taking care of a younger brother.

I don't think they have already feelings for each other.

Jun-Ho is Hye-Jin's pride, she saw him doing great things and she could say he was her student. Her life is only her job but the sacrifices are worthy because thanks to her there was people like Jun-Ho who did great. I think it was more her pride that makes her act like this than feelings for him.

Jun-Ho was pretty honest, he chose another job because he wants to be free from his parents' money, something that is very complicated today.

I don't understand why she didn't tell him the realities of her job before, the first time they talked about it.

I liked both characters. Jun-Ho is very confident and charismatic, it will be interesting to see if this new job will tame this confidence or not.

Hye-Jin is very capable but she doesn't seem to have a life outside her job. She doesn't seem to see that her colleague looks pretty interested in her.

The debate school - academies already started with the The National School Teachers' Union complaining about the portrayals of teachers, the education system and the fact the drama focused on academy.

I think they should have waited for the end of the drama to see what the drama's message is and not after 2 episodes. But the Korean education system is problematic and they should be honest with that.

Otherwise, it was fun to see so many familiar faces! A lot of actors want to act with this PD.

I'm liking it so far and we shall see how this will play out.

The characters in an An Pan-seok drama always come across as more 'normal' and 'realistic' and this one is no exception. No need for serial killers!

The education pressures in Korea are a frequent drama topic, but rarely shown as well as here. The pictures of the many tall tower blocks, where thousands of people live in cramped flats, are used to show the background and reason for the extreme competition for the top grades.

I am also on the side of the school teacher. He is a frustrated educator who cares about his subject and the children, but has to deal with the pressure of the parents and kids who are basically trying to buy grades - not education and knowledge - from academies who are in it for the money. I like that the school teacher is trying to make a stand, but I fear that this is a futile battle.

The academies don't have it so easy either, as Fl explained to ML in her rant about the kids: a rise in grades is the achievement of the child, a fall in grades the failure of the teacher!

Watching Ahn Pan Seok PD’s dramas is an immersive experience for me. Right from the first frame, I am reeled into the world of his story telling. This drama is no different. There is something familiar about all this, yet it evokes a sense of anticipation or rather trepidation. Having seen his dramas, I find his social commentary very fascinating. There were some intense scenes these two episodes. The one between the teachers.

The conversation between the leads when she finally switches gears with him was so well done. How do you romance with an existing teacher-student dynamic? This is how you do it. In that one scene, we see how everything changes. Both the leads are awesome here. I only see their characters. I always liked Jung Ryeo Won, and its nice to see her here. Wi Ha joon, as the young, ambitious albeit a tad overconfident and reckless youngster, is perfect!

I look forward to this journey.

This show so far is a near miss for me. It's not quite hitting--why I don't exactly know. The romantic aspect is still a work in progress as they have to transition from teacher/student, "my pride"/"my transformational teacher" relationship, to a place of more equals. The main's chemistry in the posters and the press tour has yet to spark for me (but maybe that is appropriate before the transition to co-workers).

The biggest problem of the show for me, however, may be my constant ill-ease about the whole education system in Korea. The tension between the schools and the hagwons is real as so much of the college admission process rides on a single test. Teaching to the test is different than teaching to inspire learning, critical thinking, or life skills. I think School 2013 set up the tension really well--here, it feels icky and so stressful somehow; more Sky Castle, less School 2013. Maybe it's true to the current educational pressures, or maybe it's because the three main teachers presented all seem to have motivations that are partly rooted in their own self interests and self preservation/advancement. I felt stressed the whole time, and it's unclear who's actually serving the interest of the students (short or long term). Even in the scenes between the leads, which are supposed to be a bit of haven for that stress (or is it?), have that awful realistic stress about the educational system present so that it was hard for me to enjoy their banter. Funny enough though, for a show so much about the education system, not a single student was fleshed out on the show--Jun Ho doesn't really count as he has passed through it and out--so it feels like a bunch of adults trying to tame and game system while the nameless students are trying to survive.

It's still the set up episodes, so I will continue to watch. However, I was surprised at how much these episodes left me with a sense of uneasiness, a stark contrast to the muted soothing colors of the show's posters.

i am conflicted. not a noona romance drama fan but have been waiting for wi ha joon to land a lead role. i just dislike the way women are written/portrayed in the dramas ahn pan-soek directs. the leading men are written extremely well as passionate protectors but the women tend to have an irrationally emotional side or carry this painful (sometimes pathetic or self-indulging) nature that just doesn't rock with me.

but is this drama worth watching if i have these thoughts already or do i need to consider a different mindset?

So I would echo @hacja, he said it far more eloquently than me, but I was 100% on the teachers side, outside of physical violence. So I hope the discussion over it in the show is well thought out as well. The gauntlets have been thrown. As for Hye Jin's response to Jun Ho wanting to be a hagwon teacher, I saw it as her being upset her student didn't want better for himself. I didn't see the romance. I get it, I am a lawyer and discourage everyone from being one. I think we will eventually get to the romance, but not yet.

Thanks for the recap @dramaddictally I had difficulty settling into the first two episodes of the drama and intentionally sandwiched it in between Dare to love and Crash which are both light and funny. The music reminded me of Simon and Garfunkel tracks and I was looking up the song lyrics to see if it was written for the drama as the words seemed to imply or if it was actually from that era. The music took me to the film The graduate which was about a married woman having an affair with a younger man. I didn’t like the music or the film at the time of watching and the association has clouded my engagement with this drama.

I think the fact that Junho has had a longstanding friendship with the son of Hyoim who is now his colleague and there was a competitive nature to the relationship to the point that Hyoim immediately thought about his parent’s reaction to his change of status is going to be an issue later on. The too chatty newbie who demonstrated an inferiority complex when chatting with others during the interview process is going to be questioning the interview process seeing Junho’s special treatment by staff in senior positions. I am calling that Junho’s mum seems to be showing signs of a potential life threatening condition; heart attack as a stress reaction or cancer diagnosis to be seen as dying wish to conform so mum can die happy. So school v academy, social status, conformity and the crisis of housing and job security for those under 40 are all themes this drama will explore. I will be hoping to stay for those elements of the story.

I admit to a huge amount of bias towards this director's work--it just checks all my boxes, even when the script might occasionally let me down--and so I came into this drama primed to love it. So far, it hasn't disappointed me for a second. I love the pace, which is languorous and thoughtful, but never slow, and the way even the most mundane, everyday conversations feel elevated and important.

I can't speak too much yet about the chemistry of the leads, because the romance is very much in its beginning stages. Jun-ho clearly already has feelings that go beyond respect and affection for his former teacher, and there's a certain amount of flirtatious swagger there, but it's pretty subtle nonetheless. He's obviously motivated by a wide range of things about which we're only seeing hints. I know he boiled it all down to money, and that early conversation between the friends established that social class based on where you live and work is a constant concern/obsession, but I have a feeling there's a lot of different emotions and desires driving him to want to take this job at this point in his life. I find that WHJ has a very elegant presence and he's best at portraying guarded, somewhat aloof characters (see "Little Women" and "Worst of Evil") but I'm guessing that as his character evolves his portrayal will, too.

Jung Ryeo-won is an excellent actress, and her character is, in some ways, who I want to be when I grow up: emotionally controlled, able to project calm when her feelings are anything but, self-assured, competent, and kind. She also has a beautiful speaking voice! Seo Hye-jin as a character is a bit opaque at the moment; I'm not sure what drives her to do this job and why she was so opposed to working with Jun-ho. But that's what the rest of the drama will surely show.

I absolutely loved the two scenes between Hye-jin and the teacher she challenged. There was so much great writing and acting in those moments as the two went back and forth, first in the school and then in the restaurant. Hye-jin never openly loses her cool, but it's clear that the way that teacher characterizes her and her profession gets under her skin. I'm not sure I fully understood every moment of those scenes, but my take was that the teacher acted in part out of a real frustration with the state of the educational system as transactional, with academies selling test-taking skill as a product that overrides any real intellectual curiosity or respect for the learning process. At the same time, that teacher undeniably crossed a line when he was so confrontational towards Hye-jin, especially when he grabbed her shoulder and called her a parasite. Yet even when he was composed and careful in the restaurant, his warning about fighting a war against her was chilling. That said, because those scenes were well written, I found his position somewhat sympathetic, even if he's not a likeable character. It is a shame that students and parents must...

I love the recap @dramaddictally

What I love so far:

The educational set up
The struggle of the FL to do what's right vs doing it correctly
The obvious pride she takes in her work, but does not sweep the tough parts under the carpet
The realistic frames of scenes

What I do not:

Wi Ja Hoon: I loved him in RIABB. So was looking forward to see him as a lead. But as of now, he is missing the mark. Perhaps his name choice was wrong because now I can't stop thinking if only this was Lee Junho....

The unrealistic framing of scenes that would go against the characters' judgement as portrayed. A teacher continuously meeting her ex-student at night (even crossing a line and rightly called out for it); Her going to meet the teacher in a private room...his not facing any repercussion for being violent with her....

I do not like inconsistency in character portrayal, especially in a slice of life kind of melo.

Halfway through the first episode I was thinking with relief that I can drop this show. By the end of the second I'm looking forward to next week. Mark of good storytelling: I want to know what happens.

This is the sort of K-drama I've been hoping to see for 8 months. A proper Korean show, not some Netflix product. I grew increasingly delighted as each supporting character appeared in turn. What a great cast. When I first started watching I thought 'The lead resembles Jung Ryeo-won', Then I realized 'Ach! It is!' and my delight grew. As long as the series doesn't end with anyone abruptly deciding to become a mortician I'll be happy.

I'm not that in the educational background of this drama bcs korean system is so over the top and alien to my reality that it loses me along the way, BUT I do love both leading actors so I gave this a chance.

however, I feel like something is missing. I cant pinpoint what bcs I liked their chemistry, the conflict, even WHJ's acting. in theory, everything should be working for me, but there's something not there yet.

The first episode of this show just stressed me out! The poor students getting frantic over 1 ambiguous question in a school test, the tension between the 2 teachers, the overall pressure on everyone because of that one exam, the rat race- oh it was a tough watch.

It just brought home the difficult road ahead for my son- he doesn't face these exams for a few years yet, but to see children here start prepping from grade 5 or 6 is just scary. The intense competition that grinds down the brightest child into a dull machine makes me question everybody's choices and why we're at this point. It all seems so futile to me at this stage in my life, but what choice do kids have if they have aptitude for a certain field, but that means utter slavery to books for the next many years!

Anyway, the characters per se haven't quite caught me yet. I'm still to understand their motivations so far. Why is she so reticent and discouraging, yet inexplicably excited for him to join? Why does he actually want to become a teacher at her hagwon?
But I found that was true for One Spring Night as well. That took a couple of eps to reel me in, but it later hooked me so well and good that its been my #1 Kdrama ever since.
Hoping this reaches somewhere near that standard for me.

I really like "One Spring Night" (but not Something in the Rain). This one has a different writer, but they're all by the same director, and you can tell in the style. Not sure about the OST in this one either, to be honest.

I worked for six years at a big international school in Asia (but not SK), and had plenty of Korean students, so I can relate to a number of topics raised here around Hagwon culture, extreme expectations and pressure, and the differences in teacher-student relationships and expectations around boundaries. Where I'm working now (Australia) schools are extremely wary of any blurring of lines, a bit more so than in Korea it seems to me. More so today than 10 years ago as well. I'm making assumptions in the story line here, but a lot is implied by the show title, posters, synopsis etc so it's not outrageous to make some guesses.

Seems the age difference is meant to be about six or seven years - does that seem right? Right from the start he was trying to be flirty, but she was firm enough in drawing a line from what we saw so far. However, he's a very (socially) confident kid and grew into a charming young man, so after some time it's not so outrageous that two people of that age gap could grow fond... However... at what point, and to what extent is was there mutual awareness?