Oh, woe is me. Part of my brain that is shipping the OTP and cheering on the gang of Gyesoo Clinic is swooning over the fan service. The ordinary viewer part is saying "meh" (with a Gallic shrug). The cynical reviewer in me is facepalming and asking, "why was this made?".

Let’s take a step back, Poong 2 is watchable and more enjoyable if you are a fan of S1 but at the same time a fan might feel cheated as well. Why is that so? I'm not sure I have a simple answer but let's have a look-see.

As I recall, S1 was cut to 12 episodes. The story progression slowed down towards the end and the development of the love line was arrested, possibly in view of the upcoming S2. After watching S2, my conclusion is that it is not up to the standard of S1. At best, it is a dubious sequel. At worse, a cynical exercise to milk the popularity of Poong 1.

Please let me explain. In Poong 2, the bulk of the side plots are superfluous to the main OTP plot. They padded out the runtime but contributed little. The ghost of Jo Tae-hak was largely a storm in a teacup which ends abruptly. The royal inspector plot was just a power trip of a vindictive and twisted man. The Princess subplot is probably the pick of the bunch, and it is cute in the end but even so, it is largely about an entitled person lording over others (many doors were harmed in making of this show). The plot involving the new governor Ahn is just bad. The man is a blundering fool with a sadist streak and too much power for his beeches. He is a horrible human being, period.

That is lazy writing in my book. Want more angst? Just add an antagonist who love to abuse their powers for little gain other than to make our protagonists’ life difficult. Not once, not twice but three painful times! After each round of maltreatment, the clinic just regroups and carries on. It is a zero-sum game.

Furthermore, the medical practice side seems to have been further simplified to a few cure-all acupuncture points and a bunch of extras milling around the clinic. The so called psychiatry side is very vague, more fanciful than realistic. It is dramatised to be sure but it also makes the palace intrigue and power trip storylines even more egregious.

To be fair, I do like how each member of the found family is given their moments in the sun. However, that can be integrated into S1 if they choose to. If we look at both seasons combined, I'd have to say that they padded it out to 22 episodes with filler subplots. If they had made Poong 1 tighter and have a normal 16 episodes run (instead of the 12 we got), we won’t need a S2. The decent S2 contents can easily fit inside 4 episodes including all the key developments in S2/E10. There is even room for extra skinship. ;)

BTW, airdropping Woo Do-hwan into the show to plug his upcoming Joseon Lawyer drama is either cute or cringey. Take your pick.

Acting from the regular cast is good as expected. The ML carries the show with able supports. I'd still question the chemistry between the leads though. They are cute together but not exactly pulse raising. The new support cast is mostly par for the course. I'd say the last episode is the only one worth a rewatch.

Like I said in the beginning, part of me wants to give this a higher score but the rational side realises that to do so would be sending the wrong signal. Peace out.