The Glory Season 2 (2023)

I think it gets worse...?

I feel like this show started out strong and with a good idea but (imo) it slowly went downhill.

I’m such an empathetic person so watching the first episode was very hard, however I was intrigued enough so I persisted.

All of the flashbacks to Dong-eun’s past made me so sad for her and to hear her cry out in pain and just see the burn marks that remained on her skin for life was truly devastating. How messed up would you be if that actually happened to you!?

I just want to know what the real motive for abusing her was. I get that kids bully others to make up for their own insecurities, but this was horrific violence! And the fact that Dong-eun wasn’t the first victim? Why were these kids torturing innocent classmates? I mean, they displayed psychopathic traits but I don’t believe that’s what they truly were as they did show other emotions.

It’s really sad that Dong-eun’s adult life has been planned around getting revenge, but I guess if she didn’t there wouldn’t be a show about it lol. However, it does seem like an awfully long time to wait around to get ‘revenge.’ Practically 20 years! And then for Dong-eun to suddenly confront and talk openly with her past abusers and they don’t even lay a finger on her? If these four bullies truly hated her (for whatever reason) wouldn’t they have just killed her now? In the present?

I have to add that I feel very mislead by the clip Netflix provides as the trailer. I thought it was going to be about Dong-eun carrying out her revenge on the children of her perpetrators. That would have been far more twisted.

I LOVED the part where Dong-eun got her mother committed! Oof I was like, ‘in your face, bitch!’

That was so sad in episode 14 when we saw So-hee fall from the building whilst she was on fire.

Some anomalies I noticed were:
* In the flashback, Jae-jun and Yeon-jin made Ye-sol, and immediately after Jae-jun said something about Yeon-jin’s upcoming wedding to Do-yeong. In the present, Yeon-jin has been married to Do-yeong for 10 years so are we expected to believe that Ye-sol is 9 or 10? I swear they said she was only 8 at some point, but there is no way she is that old! So yeah, the story doesn’t add up there.
* Can someone tell me why Yeon-jin is in prison yet she has eyeliner on? ? it’s very minimal but it is definitely there lmao

Towards the end it became very apparent that the writers were trying to make Dong-eun and Yeo-jung have some kind of love story but… it was non-existent. We arrive at the final episode and they just kiss? Like, what? It just seemed so out of place when this drama is trying to represent a dark and twisted revenge scheme. We did not need that at all. I was simply here for the revenge.

Revenge we got, but it didn’t seem all that powerful to me. Myeong-o got killed so he didn’t suffer. Hye—jeong lost her voice which could come back. Yeon-jin ended up in prison (we don’t even know how many years) and she will be released one day and didn’t experience any physical harm?

I don’t know, I feel like the the revenge should have involved more harm and pain inflicted on the perpetrators, like what was done to Dong-eun. The only revenge I felt satisfied with was Jae-jun and losing his eyesight, but then Do-yeong pushed him into…wet cement…? And he drowned? Honestly, it was unclear to me - maybe I was just losing focus. I guess I am happy that Do-yeong got to play a part in Jae-jun’s downfall but I would have liked to see Jae-jun suffer eternally like Dong-eun had intended.

Because there were so many concurrent storylines, I feel as though it is likely that I missed some information or answers to questions that I had throughout the show.

I think all of the actors did a brilliant job, especially child and adult Yeon-jin. It was quite compelling to watch her character go crazy and then fall apart. It was funny when Sa-ra tore her down with the video of her bullying the other girl when they were in high school.

I thought the music was matched well to the scenes, and I particularly liked the rapid staccato on the violin. That was especially eerie.

I probably wouldn’t bother recommending this to anyone, but I’m glad I gave it a go.

-E

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It’s good I guess ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯

I have a tangled mix of thoughts and feelings about this show. Overall I think it’s good, and it’s extremely watchable (I binged Part 2 in three days). I’ll attempt to do a pros/cons list.
Pros:
- the writing is overall pretty solid. Dong Eun has quite a few iconic lines of dialogue, and a lot of the character interactions are interesting. The plot is generally well paced and moved quite quickly, which helps keep you engaged. Part 2 delivers on quite a few things that Part 1 sets up, so that’s good. As a fast paced thriller you do need to suspend your disbelief, but that usually just comes with the the territory.
- Dong Eun = A+ protagonist. I love that there is no hand wringing about whether she should get revenge, she is allowed to be dark and go all out on these awful people. Song Hye Kyo does an amazing job portraying the character’s quiet strength but also vulnerability.
- The acting all around is very good. I’ll definitely be on the lookout for Im Ji Yeon, she was truly a memorable and extremely hateable villain. Yeom Hye Ran also gave a great performance. The younger actors were also fantastic.
- Cinematography was excellent.
Cons:
- The romance. It’s so confusing how it just did not work for me. I don’t know at what point in the creative process the male love interest came in, but it felt tacked on. Which is odd, because it doesn’t seem like late addition: the character has an important role in the story and has his own backstory. A big problem might be the fact that the actors have no chemistry, which once again is odd since both of them are good actors. I’m having trouble explaining this, so I’ll use an example: the first time these characters say “I love you” to each other (I hope it’s not a spoiler to say that these two characters say this to each other at some point) they say it in the most bland way, in a scene where it doesn’t feel totally appropriate and there’s no real inciting event to cause them to say it. I don’t know, it seems on paper like this romance should be good but in reality it just didn’t work for me.
- The male love interest has some good lines of dialogue and his backstory is somewhat intriguing but it just never landed for me. Maybe they built too much of a puppy dog image of him initially that I just really had trouble taking him seriously. There’s also just way too much focus on him. In one sense this is a good thing, so he’s not just a one note character and serves no purpose in the story, but the last episode of the show is largely dedicated to him when this is Dong Eun’s story! I just thought that was silly.
- The violence and nudity seemed really gratuitous. I’ll once again use an example to help illustrate my point: there is a good portion of one episode where Hyun Nam is abused by her husband. We already know by this point her husband abuses her, and the scenes were so long that I was questioning why on earth we were still on this plot point when there seems like plenty of plot we needed to get to. The repeated instances of nudity and violence seemed unwarranted and like they were there for shock value, and I found it off-putting.
- Oh also the fact that this was clearly a normal 16 episode show split into two parts just annoys me on principle.
That’s mostly it. Like I said, I think objectively the writing is pretty solid, and I appreciate the unique angle on a revenge story. But the “romance,” main male love interest, and the gratuitous violence/nudity really lowered my opinion of it.

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Slow start, rewarding middle and deserved end

The Glory's part two is unarguably better than Part 1. The unravel of the story, the way every vengeance is planned and executed is extremely calculated. Also, I couldn't see other end if not the ending of Dong-eun's life, however in the last episode the series proved to be a little humane in letting her live and love. Although the last episode was interesting to watch, I think it could have followed the original premise of a cold hearted Dong-eun or else "warming" her heart throughout the episodes. Episode 15 was the best in my opinion, as it displayed the consequences of the perpetrators' actions.

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It’s beyond me how satisfied I am with this one. I remember hearing the announcement for the cast for the first part and hearing the complaints about Lee Do Hyun and Song Hye Kyo.. anyone who disapproved.. I’m so glad they were all so clearly wrong. Anyways..

Lee Do Hyun got me into this and I left with him having me wrapped around my finger.

This drama wrapped up the loose ends the first part left. It is compelling, beautifully directed, beautiful accompanying score, cinematography, all the way around this drama checks off the box. It has everything neatly out together where it’s not too jammed packed with information, characters, but it has a lot still and is intriguing. It is written well and is clever.. honestly not much to this review other than me praising.

I love the poetic justice that came to the revenge. The way I hated characters and sympathized with others. I’m so glad this drama went all out with revenge other than shying away.

I will add more to this and gush over it. But for me just finishing it let me say- I’m very impressed by everything and everyone in this drama. 10/10. Must watch- it’s very very good

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too much is too much

What starts like an original and powerful story with a lot of expensive technical support, soon becomes a real mess, with too many killers - about 7? - and rapists and whatever... Im sure the director wanted to make it big, so he/she kept taking out of his sleeve all kind of tropes and twists.
The cast was great - especially supporting parts, acting was on point, but the FL was not the best choice, and also the young villain was better than the mature one. No chemistry between the FL and the ML.
Kinda like a lakorn, but more polished.
Had they toned it down, it could have been a gem.

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Ótimo drama de vingança

Não tenho muito o que falar dessa parte 2, porque me agradou muito. No geral, é o que eu espero de uma série de vingança. Essa série tem suas falhas sim, como o final aberto sobre a vingança do protagonista masculino, gostaria que eles tivessem mostrado o que aconteceu. Outra coisa que não me agradou é o fato da vilã ter cometido os dois assassinatos, porque na parte 1 a série fez um mistério de quem tinha matado quem, e na parte 2 a pessoa mais óbvia era a assasina. Eu esperava q a parte 2 fosse impactante tanto quanto a parte 1, mas n foi. No geral, recomendo muito!.

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Good

The plot was pretty good and well thought out. I like that the FL did not give up her revenge halfway. My only problem is that my OTP wasn't the FL and ML but the FL and the villain's husband. Anyway, I am okay with how it turned out.
The acting was mostly good, but there were still some instances of good old Korean shouting. That said, the facial expressions were very on point and the director was quite clever to occasionally focus on it. The cast's clothing was also quite good, especially Yeon-Jin.
The music was good and brilliant in some instances.
Overall, the drama is worth watching and rewatching.

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Definitivamente este drama funciona melhor como um drama de 16 episódios. Acredito que o drama foi filmado para ser exibido assim, porém pelo formato das séries da Netflix serem mais compactos eles dividiram o drama em duas partes. Uma divisão mesmo. Não há uma sensação de fechamento de arco, mas simplesmente um corte. Ainda bem que esperei para ver a primeira parte logo que a segunda fosse lançada, se não fosse assim talvez eu nem tivesse visto a segunda parte.

Uma das coisas que me queixei da primeira parte foi o fato da Moon Dong se igualar aos seus algozes tomando decisões e realizando ação duvidosas. Nesses últimos 8 episódios, o roteiro tentou transferir boa parte das ações mais criminosas para os outros personagens, aliviando um pouco o peso da Moon Dong se transformar em um mostro parecido com seus algozes. Mas a pergunta que fiz lá na parte 1 permanece: sem a vingança, qual o objetivo da vida dela? Observe que ela decide não pular do prédio porque agora tinha o propósito de ajudar o Yeo Jung na vingança dele. Não foi amor, não foi perdão ou compaixão. Foi pela vingança. É uma vida triste.

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How Far Would You Go For Revenge?

I had started to lose interest in kdramas around April and slowly started moving away from it as I was unable to find a drama I could indulge myself in without quitting half way or not even bothering to catch up anyways. That was until the trailer for The Glory came out. Now, I would have to admit I am quite biased towards high school revenge plots and was pretty excited to watch this. I went in with high expectations and The Glory, without a doubt, exceeded those expectations. It was dark, gritty, it left me with that bitter feeling of revenge and hopelessness as we watched every single person involved in Dong Eun’s life absolutely fail her. And that was just what I wanted to see, the revenge of someone who has nothing to lose. In the end, I got what I came for and way more.

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A fantastic drama that could've been even better

Season 1 was an incredible build-up season and season 2 totally delivered on the expectations set by the previous one. Season 2 was a masterclass, but I felt like some things could've been better.

As anyone familiar with this drama knows, the story is about the main character's journey to achieving revenge. And I'd say that satisfaction from this drama would ultimately come from the antagonists' downfall -- and how it led to their downfall. So let's talk about who's ending I liked and who's ending could've been changed.

List of antagonists' endings I liked:
- Dong-Eun's mom
- Yeon-Jin
- Myeong-Oh
- Mr. Shin
- Yeon-Jin's mom
- Lee Seok Jae
- Kang Yeong Cheon

List of things that could be changed:
- Sa-Ra: Leading to her ending, the things that were happening to her was perfect, but the final thing she did to end everything was stupid imo.
- Hye Jeong: It would've been better if instead of her voice, her face should've been the thing taken from her.
- Jae Jun: They shouldn't have killed him. And Ha Do Young "killing" him just tainted Ha Do young's clean image.
- Kim Gyeong Ran: Her being revealed to have dealt the final blow to Myeong-Oh's death ruined things for me. Because of this, I felt like Dong-Eun failed to complete her revenge "honestly" at the last hurdle. It would've been better if she just sided with the antagonists, her existence in the drama was unnecessary to be honest.

Overall, the drama was great, and the Glory as a whole has great rewatch value. 10/10 would recommend.

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