Dever Após a Escola: Parte 2 (2023)

Une deuxième partie qui se casse la figure (à ne pas (re)voir)

Pour rappel, je n'ai pas lu le webtoon (qui semble être différent sur pas mal de points), de ce fait mon avis ne concerne que le drama.

La première partie était incroyable. En revanche, cette deuxième partie (épisodes 07 à 10) se fracasse au sol et est de pire en pire au fil des épisodes. Après la perte de Lee Choon Ho, on pouvait voir plusieurs scénarios se profiler. Notamment celui qui fait totalement vriller le groupe, car leur point d'ancrage n'est plus - ce point d'ancrage étant LCH, évidemment. C'est plus ou moins ce qui arrive, mais si maladroitement que je me demande même si j'ai bien interprété les choses.

Concernant le final, on s'attendait à une effusion de sang. Nous l'avons ! Mais pas de la bonne façon...

<< SPOILER >>

Tout au long du drama, Young Soo ne s'éloigne jamais de son obsession de l'examen d'entrée à l'université au point qu'on fini par le trouver étrange. Pourquoi nourrit-il une telle obsession en temps de guerre ? Si on en découvre les raisons et qu'elles sont louables, le final du personnage passe totalement à côté.
Il fallait un méchant. Un méchant humain qui ne soit pas un chef d'armée ou une autre bande de lycéens. Non, il fallait que le mal vienne du groupe original. Young Soo était ce méchant.
On dit souvent qu'il faut se méfier de l'eau qui dort. Young Soo était une rivière calme tout au long du drama, mais à aucun moment il n'a montré des signes et c'est bien tout le problème. Ce n'est qu'au dernier épisode qu'il pète une durite et si l'acteur est brillant, la façon dont il change du tout au tout perd son intérêt. De plus, comment a-t-il pu faire un tel carnage sans être arrêté avant ?

Encore une fois, lorsqu'on y pense on voit que Young Soo ne se souciait de personne si ce n'est lui-même. Et malgré ce point, la fin est un massacre dans tous les sens du termes.

<< //SPOILER >>

La fin est là, mais sans aucune satisfaction, d'autant plus qu'on nous projette deux ans plus tard sans en savoir plus.
En fin de compte, il était inutile d'aller sur une deuxième partie avec quatre épisodes supplémentaires. Un de plus aurait été suffisant pour donner une bonne fin à ce drama en évitant le scénario de celle-ci, car mal amené et géré.

Bref, je conseille vraiment la première partie, pas la deuxième. Cela dit, je suis curieuse de découvrir l'œuvre originale.

Leia Mais

Last episode ruined the show

Last season I started the drama without any expectations. The trailer and synopsis didn't got me excited for the drama. Even then I started the drama as I love the zombie/alien invasion genre. And man, it was just the best drama of this genre alongside Sweet Home for me. Yes you heard it correct it was better than All of us are dead. This got me thinking that being on a good platform like Netflix hyped up All of us are dead. And it also had a better known cast than Duty After School. Not that Duty after School was released on a bad platform but there was no hype for the drama. So this what one could say don't judge a book by it's cover.

This season I came to watch this drama with high expectations. As the first one had set high standards for this one. And man what the hell was that. They started from zero and by the end of season 1 they were the IT drama And by the end of the second season they are again back to being zero. I haven't read the webtoon but from what I heard things don't end this badly in there. Its like the writers and directors thought that this drama wouldn't not be a big success so they just tried to finish the story in the first half. Guess what the first half became a big success in the international market. But they can't change the ending they have already shot.

The last 30-40 minutes felt like an eternity and just killed the drama for me. How great it would have been if the writers just ended the season at ep 9. And look at the good response the show is gaining and hen changing the ending they have decided for the show. It was a 9 rated drama till ep 9. And if anyone reading this is planning to watch this season. Never watch the final ep of this season. You will just be pissed off and annoyed.

I must say in a real world that would have been the most realistic ending. Now that I think this whole drama has been the most realistic one out there. But reality is often disappointing and this is what happened to this drama. We came to watch a drama but got hit by the hard reality.

Leia Mais

Even as a Korean, the metaphors and underlying message is complete BS

Edit: wow apparently the WEBTOON is very different from the show. Damn you director. This is why you never trust these people to adapt an original work.



I went into part 1 with no expectations and was very pleasantly surprised with how good it was. I had high expectations for the second part but it was unfortunately complete and utter trash.

There is an underlying message the author tries to convey with the story. Not going into too much detail, the author tries to make the CSAT and the Korean education system a big focus, along with student mental health issues, but fails miserably. The author attempts to use the spheres and military as a metaphorical device to symbolize the messed up education system, with the students and even parents agreeing for them to become reserve forces just for extra points, and also with how students and kids are greatly influenced and indoctrinated by adults. I feel the show does a great job exploring the issues with how students and minors are basically powerless against adults and the government, and the use of the military was great in that respect. However, the theme about the education system was done very poorly.

The CSAT is a life-changing/career altering test that Koreans take extremely seriously, and it is not unrealistic that it takes a large part in the students' decision making. However, this plot point should've ended by the first few episodes, or it should have been handled in a more realistic way. Instead, in first part even I as a Korean, and many others seem to forget about the whole CSAT plot by the first few episodes. The author probably knew this and they try extremely hard to make the underlying themes more evident in the second part by taking away all of what made part one good.

First, no more spheres. They are basically not a threat and nearly completely irrelevant to the plot in part two. The tone shift amplifies this as the whole situation does not seem dire anymore. The tone shift just feels so off, and makes the second part seem like some teen drama. Also, the whole spheres having intelligence thing and them adapting to the cold feels like such wasted potential.

Second, the plot holes are horrendous. What happened to the second in command under Commander Lee? And the three students they saved? I doubt Won Bin would have just left the students to survive on their own. Also at the end when they defeat the spheres, I highly doubt the world, much less South Korea would have recovered that fast if at all. The sphere attack realistically would have been a catastrophic event for the world economy, and would have caused more than an economic collapse especially for South Korea. I mean, they lost more than half of the entire military, and who knows how much population was lost. Thinking logically, how could anyone expect to even be able to go to university or even find a job after? The entire world would fall into the greatest recession in history, people would be burning money for heat. Also, they don't even show us if Chiyeol and the others parents and family are alive. Or what happened to the four survivors, or even if Chiyeol and Nara got together, kept in touch, etc.

Third, the whole Yeongsoo plot. Even as a Korean who grew up in poverty and whose parents/grandparents lived in extreme poverty (much worse than whatever Yeongsoo was complaining about), I can not sympathize with this guy one bit. Sure, perhaps we are not supposed to sympathize with him. But obviously, he is used as a plot device to criticize the Korean education system, poverty, and mental health issues. Still, what they did with him just seems so forced and feels so off. Instead of his actions being even a tiny bit understandable, he just seems like a psychopath. In this case, using him fails to criticize the education system or the poverty in Korea, or even the mental health issues, since he just seems like he is the way he is due to his personality and mindset rather than a result of a cumulation of all these issues in Korea. Like damn, I know poverty is hard and I also suffered with extreme mental health, but not for one second would I even think of SAing someone else or have violent tendencies towards another. He honestly just seems weak to me, and that undermines the message of the story. His breakdown is not a message about student mental health, not when its done this poorly.

I get the author likely meant well with trying to convey these messages, and perhaps did not mean for the spheres to be the main focus for the story, but a poorly written story is a poorly written story. If you want to convey a message, or criticize/discuss societal issues, you at least have to have a decent story and plot to back it up. I am not sure if the webtoon is exactly the same as the show, but the second part is a such a waste of great potential from the build up of part one.

(sorry for the mess of a review, it is my first and likely last, i just wanted to vent about my disappointment and share some thoughts as a korean fluent in english who watched the show)

Leia Mais

Felt rushed

After binge watching part I of "Duty After School," I had been eagerly waiting for part II to come out. 22 days later, lo and behold, it did. I watched it and it left a bitter taste in my mouth.

First of all, I expected the story to continue where part I had left off. That is not to say I hate time skips! That is only if they're done well. The end of Part I introduced surviving characters from another high school. Unfortunately, they fell victim to something more dangerous than the spheres: plot holes. Where the heck is Won Bin? Where are the students from the other high school? There's little to no mention of them in Part II. A lot seemed to have happened in the time skip, information that--had been simply left out--and that's not good. As a lover of thrillers, I hate being left in the dark. On another note, I did appreciate that the writers elaborated on Bo Ra and Ae Sol's relationship, and allowed the former to have great character development over three episodes.

To address the big elephant in the room: the ending. God. For those of you who have read the web toon like myself, many will agree with me when I say it felt rushed. Of course, it makes sense... I knew Young-Soo was going to go nuts sooner or later, but come on, why did it all happen so fast? For him, missing the CSAT was more than just missing mere test, but equivalent to missing his future; it was equivalent to poverty. Why was that a reason for him to do *THAT* at the end? His motivation seemed nonsensical. The webtoon version of his character portrays his fall into madness more clearly, over tens of chapters. Additionally, the ending leaves so many unanswered questions about our survivors. The writers introduce Kim Chi Yeol's perspective at the ending, probing the question "was this war worth fighting for?" However, what the hell happens to the other three?! Yes, I get it, you're trying to deliver a message to the watchers. The writers have to understand that--what made this series for a lot of people--were being invested in the characters. We want to know what happened to the others as well; why aren't they together with Chi Yeol? Lastly, this is a personal pet peeve because I'm in the military myself. Everyone just sat there for a good 10 seconds after Jang Soo gets shot before taking up arms--the writers seriously just nerfed the badass characters portrayed at the beginning. And where is Yeong-Soo's fireteam partner (battle-buddy)… it's common to work in pairs in the military, especially when you're armed. I like the idea of a non-stereotypical happy-go-lucky ending. However, the execution could have been much better.

Now, there are things that I would've personally loved to be addressed. Come on, man, why you gotta leave us in the dark in regards to Chi Yeol x Na Ra? They introduced this crush in the first season, but most of it is just monologue in Chi Yeol's head. I believe many of the watchers want to peer into Na Ra's mind. Also, Ae Sol's story is just way too sad. She finally becomes good friends with Bo Ra, only to see the latter get massacred by some delusional nerd who ends up dying. I'm sure many of you all share my frustrations here.

Not to say it's fully bad. This series has got bang on actors/actresses that paint a great image of teenage kids stuck in a long and arduous losing war. The only down side is that they weren't put to proper use (because of the story). Additionally, the music is good. I am personally a sucker for orchestral scores over the random rock and roll songs with lyrics. It really establishes the emotional environment for story-telling.

Overall, I would not even be mad if they remade this whole second season with much better pacing. Like please, fix it. Although in reality, it may have been because of budget cuts that caused them to rush this or a variety of other reasons. Anyways, if you do not want to be heart broken or disappointed... just stop at season 1, my friends. Or go read the web toon.

Leia Mais

A lot of nothing

If I watched Part 1 when it initially came out, waited for Part 2 and then watched Part 2 after it was released, I probably would've been more upset because Part 2 was a bit useless.

There was barely any character development. Upon watching episode 1, it felt so corny seeing all the students work together so cohesively and confidently while killing the spheres but it also gave me a sense of comfort cos it felt like they all grew closer and had come to a place where they all respect and understand eo well.

But nope. A few episodes later and you realise that nothing has changed.

It's just so frustratung because, at the very least, towards the ending of Part 2, we still shouldn't be having issues like distrust between the characters. If you want to add 'betrayal' to the plot, do it in Part 1 when everything was new or at the start of Part 2 and resolve it immediately after. After the high of episode 1, I just thought that we were at a stage where the students would be respecting each others' opinions, completing their responsibilities, not whining, not crying, making reasonable decisions and so on. But a lot of characters just remained the same from Part 1: we still had Il Ha being agressive and sometimes displaying bullyish attitudes towards the CSAT kid, CSAT kid still only just worrying about score points, we had the useless princess girl always whining for her mom, we had Hui Rak being the loudest complainer, we had Ha Na always faking sick to avoid going on missions, we had Ae-Sol all of a sudden being a sickass shooter but then making a stupid ass decision in episode 2/3 that made the remarks Bo Ra always said about her justifiable, and more that's not at the top of my head rn.

Part 2 just felt like a let down. There wasn't much more progression. The prison arc was so unecessary and felt like filler. I'm not exactly sure what the purpose of Part 2 was. Especially after watching the last episode, the whole series just feels so pointless.

The only thing I enjoyed watching this drama was the small glimpses of camaraderie between the students and also their relationship with the Platoon Leader in Part 1. Unfortunately, the little bonding moments we got wasn't enough to save this clusterfuck of a show and it's mainly the fault of the writing.

Everyone did a great job on their roles, it just sucks they weren't given much of a plot to work with.

Leia Mais

What the hell was that?

First of all, where's kim won bin? Although he survived with the kids in part 1, he suddenly disappeared in part 2 and wasn't even mentioned at all.
Also, what happened to the kids they found in part 1 whose leader had abandoned them? They suddenly disappeared as well.
I coud sense the change of tone/atmosphere of the series from the very beginning of episode 1, instead of the fear and horror the monster creatures made them feel, it was now replaced with fun and laughter..very weird.
And instead of focusing on those creature, no this part focuses on romance between the kids, and non-stop giggling and baby screams.
Finally, what the hell was that ending? Did they survive through all of this to get murdered at the end by their psycho classmate who got crazy because of exams cancelation?!!
For me, part 2 was pretty much irrelevant to part 1 and wasn't necessary at all.

Leia Mais

Not that good, but definitely not that bad either

If you ask me, Duty After School Part 1 was mid to begin with. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't nearly as good as people were making it out to be. A lot of things didn't make sense and were poorly written/executed. So what about its second part? Well, it’s more or less the same thing.

The direction they took is not surprising at all. The show was never truly about aliens more than it was about the people at the core of conflicts, who are dragged into them and pointlessly sacrificed in the name of wars. Wars they are fighting because they are told to, because of a so-called “duty”: a word that minimizes the fact that you’re exploited by people far higher than you, who could never understand what you went through, and also frankly don’t care. Duty After School is about what damages war —in all its aspects— inflicts on individuals, and indeed, there's absolutely nothing unexpected about a kid going absolutely crazy after being deceived over and over, realizing his entire life is ruined.

Now, was that done well? Not really. One of the kids killing another/everyone was foreshadowed a lot —and really, I had been expecting something like that since the first part already— but it still felt rushed. We could honestly have done without the sexual assault and incel bits too. It would have been so much more impactful if Yeong Soo wasn't an awful and insufferable bitch to begin with, but only a decent guy becoming completely broken because of the lies and deception of the adults. If he simply was a person who had lost his last hope, the only thing that tied him back to his life as a regular student, then it would've actually meant something. It made sense for him to be the one to do it, and if he wasn't a total creep forcing himself on an unconscious girl, his descent into madness would've been interesting to analyze. But I don't want to analyze the psyche of a sexual assaulter, thank you very much.
A long time ago, I remember reading someone’s comment about how SA was impossible to forgive/understand compared to murder, and it's something that has stuck with me ever since. I think many things can push you to take someone's life, more or less valid reasons, but I don't think anything can excuse being a sexual abuser. So with those weird incel moments Yeong Soo had, I just think it took a lot away from the message without actually bringing anything worthwhile in return. We already had the prisoners trying to assault Ae Sol, did we really need more? Why?

To comment on a criticism that I’ve seen a lot: personally I don't mind the fact that the characters died "for nothing". Sometimes life is that way, and I think TV shows shouldn’t shy away from that. It hurts even more when a character dies pointlessly, but it usually always carries a message or builds up to something more later in the story. They had been hinting at something like that for a while, and in a way... it's just realistic. And reality usually isn’t all that pleasant. In this case, it’s the entire point of the show. Those kids didn't need to be drafted to begin with. EVERYTHING was pointless right off the bat, and we knew. What are the consequences of dumb decisions taken by the government? Ruined lives. Pointless deaths. From the first episode, many horrible events could’ve been prevented, yet they weren’t. It’s only fitting it ends like that. Even those who survived will never get back to a normal life, and there will be more useless deaths in the future. Many will lose their lives to all the trauma they got from this war.
The show itself tells you it was all meaningless. Two months after everything happened, they were able to get rid of the spheres with new weapons. They could’ve very well quarantined everyone while they tried to find a way to get rid of the aliens, but decided against it. Why? Because to the government, to the military, people are not really people. They are cannon fodder. And not treating people like human beings gets you there. Dropping weapons on random untrained and traumatized kids’ hands gets you there. Giving weapons to teenagers is never a solution. That’s all there is to it.

The way I see it, the first part of the show was more about kids fighting weird aliens, while the second part was about how it affected them as human beings. In my opinion, it’s an improvement and made that season more interesting.

There are still many flaws, obviously:
-Some people can just shoot way too many bullets with one magazine (e.g. that creepy prisoner, Yeong Soo at the end), which was already a problem in Part 1;
-How was Yeong Soo able to drag Il Ha to the sea, how did he have the time to weigh down his body with rocks, without getting blood all over himself, when the rest of the group arrived so shortly after having heard the gunshots? Il Ha is about his height and weight, it wouldn’t be easy at all;
-Some deaths were frustrating because, come on… Il Ha turns his back to the guy who just threatened to shoot him?;
-Then Na Ra prefers trying to wake up Chi Yeol rather than trying to stop the guy who’s shooting her remaining friends… uh. Not sure I understand the reasoning, especially when that could very well get both of them shot. I get you certainly don’t act completely rationally in such situations, but I would’ve been more convinced if she had simply been frozen in fear;
-Apparently Kim Won Bin disappeared without it being explained, but I honestly don’t remember exactly how Part 1 ended so yeah, I’ll let you check for yourself;
-The fact that the show kept bringing up the university extra points was honestly so annoying. I know, that’s the thing students are holding onto, hoping to get back to a normal life, but also who fucking cares? I mean, for it to matter to a few characters like Yeong Soo, sure yeah. But the fact that they treated it like most still cared after so long, and that learning they might not get them would be a “tipping point” for a lot of students was so weird to me. The lie in itself is awful, yes, but also… are you really thinking of going back to school after that? I think most people would have a “idgaf, I just want to see my family and take a long break” mentality. The fact that we had to wait until the very end of the show for them to explicitly say it didn’t matter at all, when Chi Yeol left the exam room? That was pushing it. They did say that some weren’t fighting for the points anymore (around ep 8/9 maybe?), but I still think it was made too important throughout the whole series. Every time I heard about those fucking points, I wanted to slam my head against my desk;
-There’s another message in the show that kinda got lost on the way. So I believe there is some criticism made about the university system and elitism in South Korea but also… I’m not sure an alien invasion and war trauma are the best ways to denounce that? It also felt a bit cheesy, in a bad way. It makes sense for Chi Yeol to think the only things that mattered were his friendships, caring for and supporting each other. In his situation, it’s a logical conclusion. But what is the lesson that you are trying to teach your viewers there? That university isn’t all that important? That it doesn’t define your worth? That friends matter the most? Not to say I disagree with that, but it’s also not that easy in real life so it just falls flat. Plus, I just watched a kid decimate all his classmates, I’m not really in the right headspace to care about your criticism of university, how it pits students against one another etc. I don’t think the parallel they’re trying to draw works very well here.

Overall, Duty After School Part 2 wasn’t great, but it wasn’t worse than Part 1 (which I gave a 6/10). It's just different. I’d even argue it was a tad bit better. I know the ending won’t suit everyone’s tastes, and in fact most will dislike it, but I can’t say it’s an awful ending. It could’ve been improved by being less rushed, but it was fitting with the tone and the message of the show.

Leia Mais

This is my first time writing a review if anyone of you think it's inappropriate just comment anything I will remove it right away...
This is just my opinion but please watch Part 1.. It's really good but then this part 2 it's ok for me also...
I know some of you excited for the second part like most people!.
Some of them disappointed of the ending, I see so many people angry with the ending and I get it is not the cup of tea for everybody, but to be honest Well at least they FOLLOWED the WEBTOON..
if you are a WEBTOON fanatic you will also understand the ending..
So sit back relax and just enjoy the show. :)

Leia Mais

a WTF drama!

Part 1 was ok good. Also made me cry expecially when sgt.Lee decided to sacrificed himself and those kids cried a lot. I was looking forward to part 2 hoping that maybe sgt.Lee wasn’t dead at all. But part 2 was so disappointing! I’ve been looking for the other military man (sgt.Lee's subordinate). And to think that this is about spheres killing humans, part 2 is 100% different. Only the beginning and prison part were spheres attacked. The rest is all about their trust issues, stubbornness, and psychological problem. They could have just stick to the original theme and had the possibility to turn it into series just like The Walking Dead. but to dismay, the writers killed almost all of the outstanding characters. Even the ending is so !@##. Only showed kimchi. Where's the other survivors?!They weren't given a justice to their characters. The writers just killed them that fucking way for that fucking reason.

Leia Mais