Detention: Netflix's Hidden Gem

 Last week, I decided to rewatch a show I had come across in 2021, an 8 episode Taiwanese horror series entitled Detention. Detention is based on a video game of the same name by game developers Red Candle Games. I had actually heard of Detention way before Netflix had picked it up for a series. One of my favorite Youtubers, Super Eyepatch Wolf, made a video about Devotion another game developed by Red Candle Games. In this video, Super Eyepatch Wolf, made mention about Detention and my interest was definitely piqued. Devotion and Detention are really unique horror video games, with themes that directly relate to Taiwanese culture and politics. I'm not much of a gamer, but when I found this series on Netflix, I knew I had to binge-watch it. 

I really loved Detention upon my first screening of it. The script was well-written with engaging plotlines. The characters are dynamic. The horror element mixed with the history of Taiwan made for an intriguing and compelling story. All these things were reasons on why I decided to rewatch the series. Before I get any further, let's get into a brief synopsis of the show. 

Detention follows a 16 year old girl named Liu Yun-hsiang, who moves with her mother from Taipei, to Jinluan, in 1999. Yun-hsiang is under immense pressure from her mother to do well at her new school, Greenwood High. We later learn that Yun-hsiang's father is absent, living with his mistress and their baby in mainland China. Yun-hsiang's mother is convinced that if her daughter does well in this new environment, he will join them in Jinluan. Yun-hsiang also takes medication for hallucinations, which she desperately tries to hide. It proves difficult for Yun-hsiang to assimilate to her new life as Greenwood Highschool is extremely old-fashioned and set in their ways dating back to the White Terror. The White Terror was a period of martial law in Taiwan from 1947-1987 in which political dissidents including leftists and left-leaning inllectuals, were targeted through mass murder, imprisonment, and repression. As an example of how hardcore Greenwood is, Yun-hsiang is reprimanded for bringing her own copy of Brave New World as it was not on the school's syllabus. Yun-hsiang is also branded as a "devil", which her teacher Ms.Chao does after she is proven to be disruptive and unwilling to follow the school rules. While Yun-hsiang is dealing with the strict and conservative nature of the school, she also witnesses a senior commit suicide by jumping off an abandoned and alledgedly haunted school building, called the Hancui Building. Yun-hsiang soon finds out that the Hancui Building is indeed haunted. 

After Yun-hsiang's visit to the Hancui Building, she becomes haunted by the ghost of a former student named Fang Jui-hsin. Fang Jui-hsin is a very tourmented soul and it becomes apparent that she is using Yun-hsiang's vulnerability for her own nefarious purposes. However, Jui-hsin is yet another victim of the White Terror and Yun-hsiang finds herself relating to her despite all the warning signs. 

I won't go too far into spoilers. Besides, this isn't a recap post. One thing that I really love about this show is that the horror is more psychological than scary. Yun-hsiang goes through a lot mentally, over the course of the show. The viewer gets to follow Yun-hsiang as she gets more entranced by Jui-hsin as she further loses her identity. The effects of the White Terror are still felt in Jinluan even though it has been over for more than 10 years. Taiwanese culture and history was not something I was too familiar with before watching Detention. I recommend this show for lovers of ghost stories and history. It is an eye-opening watch about a lesser know period of history for those of us in the West.