Summary
Class 2 of Weak Hero isn’t going to be as straightforward as the premiere implied. Episode 2 introduces a couple of new characters and angles, as well as delivering some of that action we’ve been waiting for.
Weak Hero Class 2 picks up right where it left things in Episode 2, but it messes with expectations a little. The obvious and expected showdown between Si-eun and Hyo-man doesn’t happen, at least not in the form we thought, and a couple of new characters are introduced to complicate the high-school politics. It’s a bit silly how easily everyone seems to fall for very basic subterfuge, but this season is clearly getting its ducks in a row, so I can live with a contrivance or two.
Anyway, as it turns out, Si-eun’s reputation has already done a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to humiliating Hyo-man. Their beef immediately after Si-eun transferred there led to Hyo-man finding out everything he could about him from his neighborhood, and he was clearly rattled by what he heard. So, when Si-eun intervenes in the beating Jun-tae was getting, Hyo-man is quickly made to look stupid by Si-eun’s ability to take — and avoid — a punch.
Si-eun doesn’t lift a finger in retaliation here. He doesn’t need to. Instead, the scene shifts focus to a new character, Go Hyun-tak, who is an acolyte of a mysterious expelled student named Baku. There’s a minor mythology established around Baku in this episode, which depicts him as a kind of peacekeeper who had protected the students and kept the bullies in line, both in the school itself and the local area (we later see some graffiti on the wall that is simply a message from him telling the school’s students to stop fighting.)
Hyo-man stepped up in Baku’s absence, but he’s still wary of Hyun-tak. When he intervenes, he terrifies Hyo-man with a wheel kick that sends his Vans whistling just past Hyo-man’s nose as a clear warning. The situation is left alone, but it becomes clear immediately that Hyo-man isn’t going to let it go.
(L to R) Yu Su-bin as Choi Hyoman, Choi Min-yeong as Seo Juntae in Weak Hero Class 2 Cr. Darae Lee/Netflix © 2025
In the meantime, Si-eun begins to bond with Jun-tae, who has impressed him with the stunt of returning the phones, even if he seems to have completely misinterpreted Newton’s Third Law (he thinks it describes an action prompting another positive action, rather than an opposing force). As a thank-you for his rescue, Jun-tae provides Si-eun with some magnesium tablets, which finally help him sleep.
This bonding arc contrasts with Hyo-man’s revenge plot in Weak Hero Class 2, Episode 2. Hyun-tak isn’t as sold on Si-eun and doesn’t believe the rumours about his historical acts of violence, so he’s suckered in by a really obvious scheme by Hyo-man to force the two of them into a fight. Hyo-man trashes Hyun-tak’s clubhouse and locks Jun-tae in there so that Si-eun will rescue him, incriminating Si-eun in the vandalism. Through some choice rumours planted here and there, Hyo-man convinces Hyun-tak that Si-eun wants to fight him. Hyo-man and his goons plan to jump in when they’ve tired each other out and pick up the scraps.
This plan almost works, too. Hyun-tak confronts Si-eun and goads him about Su-ho, leading Si-eun to attack him with a pen. The fight is relatively evenly matched until Hyo-man arrives with his goons and a baseball bat, and they’re able to get the upper hand. This is when Baku arrives unexpectedly, complete with his own soundtrack, red hair, and a basketball, and he dunks the ball so hard on Hyo-man’s head that it knocks him unconscious.
There’s something almost off-puttingly manga-esque about this sequence that threatens to undermine some of the more grounded character work, but the show is based on a manga, so this would be a weird hill to die on. Baku’s inclusion should ideally give Si-eun some allies, creating more of a gang-war feel rather than a one-man crusade, but based on how much Class 2 is already messing with expectations, it’s probably too early to tell.
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