Teen thriller K-drama Hierarchy just released on Netflix and left us with many unanswered questions. Riddled with a series of plot twists and cliffhangers, the seven-episode series began with a gruesome murder and ended with fans exclaiming, “We didn’t see that ending coming at all”. Curious to know who committed the big crime and what happened to the Jooshin High teens in the end? Our ‘Hierarchy ending explained’ article below covers it all, plus we explore the possibility of the K-drama returning for season 2.
Penned by About Time fame script writer Chu Hye-mi and helmed by legendary director Bae Hyun-jin, known for hits like Alchemy of Souls and Big Mouth, Hierarchy has the potential to become one of the highest-rated K-dramas of 2024.
It keeps up with the appeal of thriller school dramas andfocuses on the dark secrets kept hidden within the walls of the elite Jooshin High School in South Korea.
Spoilers ahead!
Hierarchy ending explained: Who killed Kang Ha’s brother?
The June 2024 K-drama opens with a student running across the street screaming, “You are all crazy! I’m going to expose it all,” when he is run over by a car and left to die.
The scene then shifts to the elite Jooshin High and the school’s “it” couple Jae-i (played by Roh Jeong-eui) and Ri-an (played by Kim Jae-won), where the former lets a three-and-a-half minute racing match decide the future of their relationship. While Jae-i wins the race and breaks up with Ri-an, the latter is unable to accept the truth and decides to win her back at any cost.
Amid such a tense atmosphere, enters Kang Ha (played by Lee Chae-min), the new ordinary scholarship kid who smiles at everyone but is actually on a mission to unearth the truth behind his brother Kang In-han’s murder. His list of suspects includes Jooshin’s top, wealthiest students Jae-i, Ri-an, He-ra (played by Ji Hye-won), and Woo-jin (played by Lee Won-jung).
Meanwhile, flashbacks offer audiences an insight into what happened months prior, when In-han too was a scholarship student at the school. Before he was murdered during the night of a party, In-han was a victim of brutal bullying at Jooshin. He was also quite close to the queen of the school, Jae-i. When Kang Ha learns about the same, he decides to use Jae-i to root out who is responsible for murdering his brother and starts building an intimate bond with her.
However, over the next few episodes, Kang Ha ends up falling in love with Jae-i and comes clean about his real reason for getting admitted to Jooshin. Unable to keep secrets anymore, Jae-i confesses that she might be the reason behind In-han’s death. She explains how she grew up with an abusive, power-hungry father and no one but Ri-an was worth protecting in her life. Kang Ha learns that Jae-i was pregnant with Ri-an’s child and In-han, her closest friend, was trying to help her keep the secret. However, Jae-i not only suffered from a miscarriage later but also learnt that In-han was no more. Heartbroken, she broke up with Ri-an, believing their love brings tragedy to their closed ones. Jae-i further informs Kang Ha that while she is not sure who killed In-han, she regrets the fact that she played a part in making him a target at Jooshin.
Later, in a heart-wrenching finale, Kang Ha uncovers that it was Ji-soo (played by Lee Jin-hong), one of the teachers at Jooshin Academy, who killed his brother
Throughout the seven episodes of the thriller K-dramaHierarchy, viewers find Ji-soo sleeping with Woo-jin. On the night of the murder, a bruised In-han runs away from his bullies at the school party and stumbles upon Ji-soo and Woo-jin making out in a hallway. In order to save her job, Ji-soo chases after him in Woo-jin’s family car and she runs him over. She then grabs In-han’s phone and camera pen which recorded the entire night and leaves him to die.
Woo-jin later discovers the camera pen and phone and, ridden by guilt, turns them over to Jae-i. The latter immediately provides Kang Ha with the evidence, who hands them over to the police. Soon, Ji-soo and the students who beat up In-han on the night of his death, are arrested.
Hierarchyending explained: Where does Jae-i disappear?
Over the seven episodes of the K-drama Hierarchy, Kang Ha, Kim Ri-an and Jeong Jae-i get involved in a heartbreaking love triangle and find themselves going their separate ways in the end.
Jae-i, in a final confrontation with her father, tells him that she has always been afraid of being thrown out and abandoned by him, just like her mother. She then leaves him by choice to start a new life. She drives away and reaches a house by the sea. In the ending frame of Hierarchy, viewers see Jae-i meeting her mom.
What happens to Jooshin in the end? Will there be a season 2?
형을 그렇게 만든 인간 내가 꼭 찾아낼게.
주신고로 전학 온 강하, 첫 등장부터 매콤합니다. 高몰입 하이틴 스캔들 <하이라키>, 지금 오직 넷플릭스에서. pic.twitter.com/gHQIAVuvD7
— Netflix Korea｜넷플릭스 코리아 (@NetflixKR) June 7, 2024
At the finale episode of Hierarchy K-drama, Kang Ha breaks the existing hierarchy at Jooshin and urges the scholarship students to raise their voices against bullying. He also uncovers the institutional corruption at Jooshin that extends beyond the school and allows powerful parents to treat teenage relationships as extensions of their business deals.
Later, after Jae-i moves in with her mom, a post-credit scene takes viewers back to the school, hinting towards a probable second season of Hierarchy.
As the credits roll, He-ra finds a body drowned in blood at Jooshin. Meanwhile, Kang Ha walks down a corridor with a different look altogether and sends a message to someone. The scene then shifts to Ri-an, who is standing in front of the corpse with He-ra and his classmates. He receives a message which reads, “You look a bit worried”. The credits close as he breaks the fourth wall and directly into the camera.
Watch Hierarchy on Netflix here.
(Hero and featured image credit: Netflix)
