Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Extracurricular’ on Netflix, a Darkly Funny South Korean Series About a Teenager Living a Double Life

Netflix series Extracurricular arrives via South Korea, which boasts considerable credibility when it comes to cinema, but hasn’t contributed nearly as much to the current new golden age of television. Will this show — about a high-schooler managing a cadre of prostitutes so he can pay for college — be yet another drama on the pile of international streaming content, or will it be the one to set Korean TV apart?

EXTRACURRICULAR: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: An abstract kaleidoscopic image slowly comes into focus: Lego figures and other toys being rummaged through.

The Gist: Jisoo (Kim Dong-hee) is the rummager. He finally finds what he’s looking for: a 9V battery. A black mask over the lower half of his face, he plugs it into a handheld taser and watches it crackle to life. Flashback to a day or three earlier: Jisoo meets with his homeroom teacher, Mr. Cho (Park Hyuk-kwon), who calls him a model student. His grades are perfect. But Mr. Cho says Jisoo is practically invisible. He makes no ripples. He barely speaks, even. Asked about his interests and what he wants to do with his life, Jisoo gives bland, nondescript answers. Mr. Cho calls him annoying and dishes some advice: “You need to cause a little trouble.”

Oh oh oh, if he only only knew. Jisoo lives on his own, his parents apparently kaput, and to get by and save for his higher education, he runs a prostitution ring. Using an anonymous robot voice over his phone, he’s only known as Uncle, arranging rendezvous through Mr. Lee (Choi Min-soo), who drives teenage girls to their clients, and provides security; we see Lee give a creepy perv a good pounding after he smacks around one of Uncle’s valued employees. Money is exchanged anonymously via a bus station locker, and only Jisoo and Lee have a key. Seem airtight? Yeah, no, probably not. But Jisoo has rolls and rolls of cash hidden, so maybe the proof is in the pudding?

Minhee (Jung Da-bin) is one of Jisoo’s workers and classmates; he knows this but she doesn’t know this, and if it doesn’t seem relevant now, hoo boy, I bet it’s gonna be. Jisoo’s interested in Gyuri (Park Ju-hyun), especially when she’s been playing soccer with the boys and comes in all sweaty and emanating pheromones willy-nilly. You thought Jisoo had very little to say before; when she’s around, he’s got a mouthful of mittens.

The planets align for Jisoo when Mr. Cho forces him to join his lame-ass Social Issues Club, and the only other member is Gyuri, and she ends up having a fairly liberal view on their next topic: sex workers. Jisoo and Gyuri end up at a cafe on a date that he thinks is a date-date and she thinks is an opportunity to work on an extracurricular school project to beef up her stupid transcripts. Isn’t that how these things always go? He tells Lee and the girls to take the day off so he won’t have to conduct business in the middle of awkwardly blurting out some personal stuff about not having parents to Gyuri over coffee. She’s on the cusp of feeling sympathy for this emotionally porcelain weirdo when his phone blows up because Minhee went to work anyway and is now ball-gagged by the aforementioned creepy perv, who wants revenge on Lee, who’s having his flip phone repaired and can’t take a call. So Jihoo ditches his date — who notices he has two cell phones; curious! — and digs out his taser.

Our Take: The irony of Jihoo is rich. Here’s this teenager, running a sex ring; meanwhile, he stumbles and flumps over his own hormones like a colossal doofus. Extracurricular‘s premise is ripe for dramatic plunder: How’d he get started in this business anyway? What happened to his parents? Will Gyuri love him or loathe him? How long will he maintain the ruse? Is he redeemable or will he go full Walter White and not care about his many moral compromises or know when enough is enough?

Tonally, the show balances a vibrant visual sense and offbeat comedy with dark undertones. It flashes bits of comic violence and taut suspense that seem inspired by master of tone Bong Joon-ho; Extracurricular occasionally activated the same pleasure sensors tickled by Parasite and Snowpiercer. The debut episode’s near-miss ending isn’t entirely satisfying, but that’s not likely to stop you from binging the crap out of this show.

Sex and Skin: Only implied whatnot and things so far.

Parting Shot: Gyuri hovers over Jisoo as he sleeps at his desk at school, eyeballing his two highly suspicious cell phones.

Sleeper Star: Park Hyuk-kwon shows zero interest in playing a typically rheumatic teacher. He’s colorful in performance and delivers a few one-liners with brilliant comic timing.

Most Pilot-y Line: “Are you an amphibian or what? Why are you always drenched?” Mr. Cho asks Gyuri as Jihoo stands by, probably feeling a little moist himself.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Extracurricular is good, funny stuff. Mash the NEXT EPISODE button!

John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Read more of his work at johnserbaatlarge.com or follow him on Twitter: @johnserba.

Stream Extracurricular on Netflix