The Teenage Psychic 2 (2019)

I enjoyed the first season of Teenage Psychic because as flawed as it was, it had a certain charm. The second season lost that luster for me. The stories didn’t have the same heart to them and the mediocre acting couldn’t cover over those problems.

(This review contains spoilers from S1)
The story takes up after the first season, and Xiao Zhen is now seventeen. At the end of S1 she had found her smile and her confidence. At the beginning of S2 she’s back to the mumbling, mopey teenage psychic having lost everything she gained. Even the drama club abandoned her for a new “psychic”. Teacher Kim’s ne’re do well brother is in town and starting his own charlatan temple in a psychic competition for devotees. If all that wasn’t enough, Ah Le is back and in the body of an asthmatic suicidal high schooler to take care of unfinished business.

Fandy Fan as Zhang Yu Xuan/Ah Le must have been given the notes to smile all the time. He began to look exhausted from forcing the tight grins. Guo Shu Yao’s notes must have read, never ever smile or look anyone directly in the eye. This time instead of being at ease with each other, the couple felt awkward. There was no urgency or depth of emotion for the two, knowing their time together was going to be limited. Apparently, Ah Le was able to cure Yu Xuan’s health problems just by mind over matter and working out. Also in the awkward department, after living abroad for 2 years, Xiao Zhen’s mother returned home unaware her daughter had been working as a medium at the temple. She’d wanted Teacher Kim to cure her of her visions. No warm greetings or hugs, it was the strangest reunion. Another awkward familial problem, Teacher Kim reprimanded his brother as being opportunistic but Xiao Zhen’s mentor often sold people things they didn’t need to make a buck. The weekly spiritual problems lacked the dramatic weight of the first season. The storytelling jumped around in an erratic manner siphoning off any emotional punch.

Teenage Psychic 2 was in desperate need of energy and heart. Two mopey psychics were two too many. Three bickering adults were three too many. And if they were going to be bold enough to kill Ah Le off in the first season, let him stay gone after the meet and greet at the end of S1. Forcing another actor to try and capture the character’s charm was a disaster. I would also like to have seen Xiao Zhen continue growing as a young woman and a medium instead of regressing so badly. The message of this season seemed to be the living have to keep moving forward, I wish the writers would have learned that lesson and let these characters do the same.

26 January 2024

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