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.

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