K-drama fans feel Hierarchy wasted chemistry between two main actors
Netflix Hierarchy characters He-ra and Woo-jin were a surprise focal point for fans who felt the actors’ on-screen chemistry was wasted.
While the focus was on Kang Ha’s quest for revenge muddled in a love triangle between Jae-i and Ri-an, He-ra and Woo-jin caught fan interest. The two had been friends for years, but He-ra always pined after Ri-an.
At the same time, Woo-jin was in a secret relationship with his teacher that was turning sour. The tables turned in Episode 4 when He-ra meets with Woo-jin. He became flustered by her looks and received a kiss on the cheek.
It sparked a one-sided love for Woo-jin. As Hierarchy progressed, the two characters became closer with Woo-jin doing whatever possible to protect He-ra from the fallout of the whodunit storyline.
Fans saw the sparks between the characters but were upset that Hierarchy threw away a possibly good side romance.
“They should have make them a couple, the chemistry was right there,” said one fan on X/Twitter.
Another chimed in how many believed the two characters would be a main couple based on the trailers.
“It’s funny that before the release, we were all convinced that Woojin and Hera were together as a powerful couple, only for it to turn out that Woojin has a one-sided love for Hera. Anyway, the chemistry is still on top; They carried the whole show,” said the fan.
Fans almost universally want He-ra and Woo-jin to have been a couple, with one saying, “WOOJIN HERA NEED MORE SCREEN TIME IN S2. Their scenes are the only thing that stands out in the drama.”
There’s another main reason why fans felt Hye-ri and Woo-jin’s on-screen chemistry was wasted.
“They saw the potential and yet they let their chemistry go to waste,” said one fan, who posted a TikTok video edit revealing the actors starred in another K-drama together.
Ji Hye-won and Lee Won-jung both starred in the time travel K-drama My Perfect Stranger. It just so happened that their on-screen characters are also students.
Ji’s character is a sentimental and innocent teen who begins to take an interest in Lee’s brooding and closed-off character. It’s a typical good girl/bad boy blossoming romance.
Second-lead romances are nothing new in K-dramas, but Hierarchy not making He-ra and Woo-jin something more than friends just didn’t sit well with fans.
Hierarchy is available on Netflix. You can binge-watch more K-drama with a similar storyline to Hierarchy, the secret code to Netflix’s full K-drama library, and new series to stream this month.