Duty After School (2023) Episode 3

Duty After School episode 3 starts with Hee-rak and Tae-man having a minor feast at the convenience store while other students hide or run for their lives. As Hee-rack and Tae-man are about to leave the convenience store they see a sphere but cluelessly start to play with it. The anxiety this scene gives!

Soon they realize they are in trouble and start running around the store fighting the sphere. Finally, Hee-rak locks the sphere in the freezer where it starts dying.

The other students also try to survive by fighting off the sphere and helping each other. Lieutenant Lee saves Bo-Ra and Soon-Yi; in the process, Na-ra saves him too. Most of the kids finally meet at one point under the direction of Lieutenant Lee and Kim Won-bin. They are shaken to their core and can’t believe what is happening.

Kim Won-bin updates Lieutenant Lee about the number of casualties and gives him a watch from Soldier Seo Ja-yoon.  He also tells Lieutenant Lee that he gave the students three bullets each.

Lieutenant Lee addresses the student and tells them that the divisions of the spheres that fell from the sky attacked them. The spheres are what he has been training them to fight against. As he speaks, he senses movement and asks the students to follow behind him with their weapons ready. He throws his hat to see if a sphere will attack but it turns out to be Hee-rak and Tae-man. He quickly asks the students to hold fire but No Ae-Seol fires and nearly kills them. No Ae-Seol is still running on adrenaline and fear so Lieutenant Lee tries to assure her everything fine.

The students return to school and they look like they have been through hell and back. Other students wonder what is wrong with them and what happened. In a flashback, Lieutenant Lee remembers what happened after the sphere attacked his division. He was told by his superior about the mobilization order and the drafting of high school students. He was surprised that the military wanted to use the CSAT exams to get the students to join the military. Lieutenant Lee was against the idea as he knew it was a trick but his superior argued that it is better to train them and give them a fighting chance.

The Grade 3 Class 2  get to class and Ha-na apologizes to Bo-Ra and Soon-Yi about not opening the door. Park So-Yoon makes up her mind that she wants to go home and other students start packing their books.  Bo-Ra tries to get the students to calm down but they insist on packing. Lieutenant Lee finds them in this situation and orders them to sit down.

He proceeds to tell them that it is dangerous outside and school is the safest place. So-Yoon remains unconvinced and Lieutenant Lee tells them it is the only place they can train to save themselves. Soon-Yi who desperately keeps crying for her mom begs to go home and promises that they can stay put at home. Lieutenant Lee asks them how they plan to go home and what happens when the spheres attack their home. He informs them the night training will proceed as scheduled and leaves.

The students decide to vote on whether to stay or go home. They all vote to go home except Young-Soo, who still hopes to sit for the CSAT and wants the extra points. Hee-rak gets frustrated and Tae-man reminds him to calm down as it was their fault they left the group first. Kwon Il-Ha also gets angry at  Young-Soo and starts a fight with him. The class president asks him to calm down and brings up Yeong-hoon. The argument gets heated and Yoo-Jung slaps him for being indifferent towards Yeong-hoon.

On the other hand, Bo-Ra points out that Ae-Seol is a danger to herself and others and should go home. This forces Na-Ra to step in and defend her. Most of the students feel like the adults are fooling them and using the CSATs to get them to bend to their will. They vote again and Young-Soo still chooses to remain behind. Kwon Il-Ha loses it and ferally attacks him. In the end, Soon-Yi gets on her knees and begs Young-Soo to agree.

After the voting, the student leaders, Yoo-Jung and Young-Shin meet with Lieutenant Lee who informs them there is no home to go to. Their parents are most likely in a shelter. Yoo-Jung asks for him to take them to the shelter too and he tells them they can’t just leave at will. Lieutenant Lee reminds them they are now soldiers in a war and as such, they will not leave.

The other students get angry and sad to hear this news. Chi-Yeol tries to check in on  Kwon Il-Ha and he lashes out at him. The night training goes on as scheduled and Lieutenant Lee works the kids to the point of exhaustion. Yoo-Jung breaks down and says she can’t do it anymore. Later as they rest, the students lament and Soldier Kim Won-bin reminds them that Lieutenant Lee is only watching out for them.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant Lee goes to check on the sphere that fell on the school ground and remembers how hard the military tried to come up with weapons that can destroy the spheres. After many trials and errors, they found out that only depleted uranium ammunition works on the small spheres. Unfortunately, they didn’t have enough ammunition or soldiers and that is why they recruited high school students.

After dinner, the students meet and plan how to escape. They decide that they need to send some students to confirm if the parents went to a shelter, They choose  Chi-Yeol as his home is the closest, Jang-Soo and Young-Shin volunteer to go and Deok-Joong is also forced to join. They try to sneak out of the school premises but are spotted and after being chased by the soldiers around the school, they finally get caught.

Lieutenant Lee punishes all the Grade 3 Class 2 students and reminds them they have no privilege as students. They are soldiers after the punishment he asks if they still want to go home. He tells them that should anyone try to leave it will be considered desertion and they will be tried by a martial court. In other words, they will be shot down. The students return to their barracks and spend the night thinking and reevaluating their options.  They don’t believe that Lieutenant Lee will shoot at them but it is not something they want to risk.

Young-Shin comes up with a new plan to tell students from the other classes the truth about the situation. The news of Yeong-hoon and Teacher Park Eun-young ‘s death spreads quickly like a bushfire among the students. They decide to follow the Grade 3 Class 2 lead and mobilize themselves to break out.

The students protest and leave the classes heading towards the gate after lunch. The commander ​​Park Young-Il and the soldiers try to stop them. Park Young-Il pulls out his gun and shoots in the air as a warning. Lieutenant Lee arrives and tries to remind the students about CSATs but they are adamant they don’t need it anymore, they want out. Lieutenant Lee orders the soldiers to force the students back.

During that commotion, a sphere drops and an attack ensues. Lieutenant Lee orders the students to return to class but it is too late, the spheres are already attacking. The soldiers do their best to fight off as many as they can while also protecting the students. Most students don’t make it even though they tried to help each other. The commander, Park Young-Il tries to flee in his car but is attacked and killed. I can’t believe he gave up on his soldiers to protect himself but it is still relatable!

Chaos continues as more spheres drop and students die. Yoo-Jung mobilizes some students to run to the classrooms. Soldier Kim Won-bin is unable to save Woo-taek. Young-shin finds Ae-Seol and protects her. They keep saving each other but it is clear that Ae-Seol is having a breakdown of some sort but who can blame her?  Na-Ra, however, grabs a gun and starts shooting like a skilled soldier. Thank God for her bravery, she saved many.

The students and some soldiers manage to make it inside the school and barricade themselves. They worry that the spheres keep falling and they might not be safe anymore. Lieutenant Lee and Kim Won-bin strategize on how to take the kids to safety. They order them to grab their gear from the barracks and give them ammunition. They give them orders and explain their exit plan.

Kim Won-bin and Lieutenant Lee take lead as the kids follow closely behind, armed and ready to shoot. They get to the ground floor and Lieutenant Lee orders them to run to the military cars outside. Na-Ra and Jang-soo provide cover for them as other kids run to the trucks.

Soon-Yi sees a plane falling from the sky and has an emotional breakdown and refuses to get on the truck. The others beg her to get in and others provide cover. Ae-sol is unable to shoot her gun.

Unfortunately, one of the students, Kim In-Hye fails to make it to the truck. Lieutenant Lee stopped the truck too late.  Kim Won-bin nearly misses the truck too and they drive off.

The Episode Review

So many students lost their lives and I feel In-Hye’s death could have been avoided. The truck could have stopped to allow her to get in. I am glad Kim Won-bin made it to the truck.

This was quite an intense episode, the spheres keep on dropping and the students barely managed to survive this time. They were heavily outnumbered and undertrained.

On to the next episode to see who will survive and where they are going. Will they get to their destination in one piece?