Sweet Home Season 2

Sweet Home Season 2 wants to be the Aliens to Sweet Home's Alien.

Think about it; Alien and Sweet Home are primarily Haunted House pieces. Doom is brought upon the everymen when human indifference and greed unleash monsters they themselves have borne. Interpersonal relationships must be balanced while they strive to survive. In expanding that world a la Aliens, we introduce marines and motherhood. Without the nuance.

For me, SH2 is a crushing failure in multiple respects. It really pains me to say it. It totally dispensed with everything I enjoyed about S1 and didn't bother replacing it with something comparable.

There is essentially a three episode arc featuring the S1 cast getting to a sports dome shelter with thousands of others...which is then bombed for reasons too stupid and infuriating to go into. Many plot threads from this three episode mini arc are just left blowing in the wind. It's a shame, since it had to have cost a fricken fortune. All but 6 of the original cast are summarily killed off in stupid ways for no real pay off. The only one I bought was Ryu Jae Hwan's monsterization; considering the shit he pulled in S1, this felt satisfying and a proper conclusion to his story.

This cast cull is not narratively appropriate in any way; it is in service of replacing a bunch of female characters with Interchangeable Army men. I cannot tell you how angry it made me. Not only did we dump these women- which includes the little girl, mind you, who essentially got fridged for her brother's (barely-there)story- but we didn't bother to replace them with equally compelling male characters. Most of them lacked sufficient development beyond their one-note traits. Mad Scientist? Check. Haunted Military Commander? Check. Fresh-Faced Soldier Boy? Yep. Military Asshole? Check, Double Check and Triple Check.

Because we're under the auspices of the military, there is no longer collaboration or egalitarian character interaction. SO all these new characters can only interact in this hierarchy. People are being demoralized, abused and screamed at by soldiers who resent having to protect them. All problems are solved with guns or threats. Most of the Army men are the worst kinds of people. We watch civilians being abused and used for labor, the army constantly going on that this is what they're owed for the protection they offer. There was one line that stuck with me; it was a throw-away by a soldier extra receiving his rations, 'I joined the army because at least I'd eat well'. It was pissy, the implication being that he wasn't getting what he was promised. Like. BRO. THE APOCALYPSE HAPPENED. NO ONE wants to be here. You're still eating better than everyone else, with a side of complete power, so SHUT THE FLIP UP.

I cannot emphasize how much of the season is about Army Shenanigans and How Little I Cared. Again, you can see them aping Aliens with the Crow Platoon being the Colonial Marines. The Crow Platoon, now cut off and on their own, moves the survivors underground, into a...subway system? IDK, there's clearly utility and infrastructure spaces, but most of it gives off a weird dungeon vibe. Chief Ji is the 'facility manager' of whatever the hell this place is, and she allows them to stay, which somehow creates a weird power imbalance between she and the army. This location couldn't be that far from the sports dome, and yet it also seemed to be connected to the Super Sekret Military Base, but also to another character's hide-out. It's one of those shows where you walk for ten minutes and you'll meet a cast member you haven't seen in a year.

Okay, so we're in Shit Bunker, 1 year later. The Army rules the civilians like evil overlords. Essentially, the army guys do whatever they want, and what they want seems to be threatening and abusing the same people they're meant to protect. And getting mad that there's a mortality rate to MONSTER HUNTING. We get a few new civilian characters, most of which are sus or unappealing (Creepy Priest? Check. Selfish Bimbo? Check. Old Woman Who Exists To Die? Check. Worse, there's a mentally disabled man whose story could have been sweet, except you can SEE them just using him to make issues for the sake of complicating the plot. How does his story end? In Bury Your Disabled, of course!)

Every single character's story is somehow a secret- something happened in their past, or they're sneaking around for some reason the audience isn't privy to. Except, if you don't know what anyone is doing or why they're doing it, why should we care? There is no narrative through line like Hyun-Soo's that serves as an anchor. It's just a bunch of fairly awful people doing inscrutable things- most of which there's not much resolution to, unlike, say, Pyeon Sang-wook's S1 revelation that he was hunting a child rapist and murderer.

For a launch of an expanded Sweet Home world, there has been very little world building done. Nothing about how this new society functions, and because there's no basic foundation nothing true can grow or be explored. The civilians do some kind of nebulous 'work', but it's never clear what, since they're not allowed outside much. In the hundreds of people there seem to be zero professionals of any kind, just a lot of filthy people cowering and doing virtually nothing to create a sustainable society. Even in S1 the characters knew their situation was not going to work long term; that food and water were going to be a problem. We're not seeing any solutions to anything here. Have they spent the last year setting up agriculture, getting solar panels doing some underground hydroponics? Naw. But batteries have become currency, even though the facility seems to have electricity, and you don't see people using any electronics, so what are the batteries for, exactly?

Monsterization has also become victim to this lack of focus. Clearly, nobody knows what they want to do with it or what they want to say with it. The intimate process that was the transformation has been lost. Very few characters undergo it, though the threat of it looms large. It seems like no one in Shit Bunker has monsterized in the last year. But, the landscape roams with CG monsters- some are unique, but there's a particular Trash Golem design which they used multiple times. Quantity has overtaken quality, here. They spent a lot of cash on animating way more monsters than I think they really needed. But again, Army guys! Gotta have those big, action set pieces- like Aliens!

The whole curse aspect has gone by the wayside. The Mad Scientist believes that monsters are the vaccine for the plague that is humanity, because of course his nihilistic ass does blah blah blah, who cares?

The first monster is actually good; a momma monster protecting her baby. This set piece is effective; the Momma monster doesn't actually hurt anyone. Hundreds of people die, but it's all from friendly fire because the soldiers are so terrified and gung-ho they just shoot and immolate fleeing civilians. It plays like a tragedy on multiple fronts. They attempt to continue that nuance when Hyun-Soo encounters monsters at The Sekrit Facility, and some mystical woo-woo happens which drives him to be reminded that monsters are, or were, human. They still have feelings, or memories. But that's about all the exploration about the nature of a transformed monster there is.

Unfortunately, you can't do a 'oh, people are just scared because monsters different' with a side of 'Feel guilty for viewing them as inhuman' and expect it to have emotional resonance when most monsters can and do slaughter people indiscriminately and act as the primary in-universe threat. It just fundamentally doesn't work.

But it's still Aliens! Lets talk about motherhood, shall we? We have quite a few mother-child relationships about, starting off with that mother monster on the freeway. Actually, that one's the best. The others are really uncomfortable for non-thematic reasons. The biggest one, of course, is Seo I Gyeong from season 1. She gives birth on a lake of ice while an explosion blazes behind her. It's an arresting image, but also endemic to the issues plaguing the show as a whole; It has replaced intimacy and honesty with spectacle. Nothing here is authentic and I hate it.

Hyun Soo got really downgraded in the character department. Song Kang looks great naked, but doesn't really have a lot to do, unlike his great first season arc. He also completely disappears from the narrative after apparently having been killed, which...just..like...why? When you dispensed with so many other characters, why would you ice the one we all had emotional resonance with?

This was a major disappointment to me. I wouldn't have even minded that this was filler between season 1 and season 2, but in order to do that you'd have to have exposition, world-building and some emotional core. It's bereft. It's a hollow Aliens rip-off that gleefully jettisoned everything that made Sweet Home Season 1 so good without realizing that those very things- compelling characters and human connection- where what made Aliens good. Not the Army.

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Good Enough

Korean Drama '' Sweet Home Season Two '' takes things from where the first season left things off, with the residents leaving their apartments and venturing out, trying to find a new safe place, while they also fight the army forces that have their own agenda.

It was nice, first of all, to learn more about the creatures and the mutations, even though the drama doesn't go too deep into it, probably leaving things to be explored further in the seasons that are yet to come.

However, and even though there were some characters that were interesting to follow, the drama was too short and, thus, it had to present things rushly and not elaborate too much on each of them, which was a minus, as the story stopped following the already known characters and went on introducing new ones and new situations. Thus, it left a lot of fans of the first season unsatisfied, as their favorite ones didn't have much screen time, and it was hard to keep up after a while with all the new characters and too little information about them.

The performances, on the other hand, were pretty enjoyable and the CGI decent enough.

So, overall, five out of ten.

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Bittersweet Home

Buckle up because this is going to be a long review.
To preface, I rated the first season 10/10. As someone who can't stand the zombie genre, Sweet Home was an endearing take to an outbreak scenario. Everything worked for me. This season, not so much.
Let's start with the positives.
Those first three episodes were mind-blowing. The emotions the cast and crew wrought from me, I was on the edge of my seat unsure of what was going to happen. What I loved was the continuation of the survival story, where we're with our characters, despondent, on the edge of giving up, and hopeless. They're being attacked by monsters and soldiers, and there is no mercy. The glimpse of the bride and her husband broke my heart, it was short, sweet, but such a powerful scene, and it hones into the idea of monstrosity not being simply a physical as we watch the husband shot and the wife becomes a monster in her grief. These 3 episodes had twists and surprises, and such amazing interaction between the characters, and we saw the writers really take on audience feedback from the first season and input it. We watched bad guys vs good guys, good guys vs good guys and bad guys vs bad guys. The deaths of Ji-Su and Soo Young were raw, and so beautifully real. They weren't heroic deaths, they were bleak and cruel and raw. It reminded me of when Game of Thrones had deaths that just shook you to the core, because they were so unexpected (before it became a redundant theme and then not a theme at all). Even the off screen death of Hye In, which people might have felt robbed but I liked it because in war, we forget the facelessness of those who die, and so we who've watched her since episode one, to see her disappear without explanation, was poignant. Like, this is what happens. She becomes a body in a pile and if there's no one to grieve her, she'll be forgotten.
I also really enjoyed thinking about how you saw survivors become soldiers, which is an interesting aspect to bring into an apocalyptic korean show, because it showcases that most of them can take on the role because they've taken part in military service, so I enjoyed that aspect. Also as the audience, you do wonder in that situation whether you'd be better off with soldiers or alone.
Seeing some of the OG monsters, love me the half head dude, so creepy.
Eun-yoo being a badass, was great, wish I'd seen more. Hyun-soo being the gentle monster, you just want to give him a hug.
The ending of the show also with Hyun-su and the potential for a dual personality, I loved. That was such an interesting concept to bring and I'm sad we only got a glimpse because I like the idea of, we're no longer fighting against ourselves but rather against the enemy. And seeing Eun Hyuk again, that was *chefs kiss* and I applaud them for keeping it under wraps for so long, I had no idea he'd come back. I was honestly expecting to see him presented as a full blown monster, so to see the humanness intrigues me, because is he still the same on the inside?
Okay, now to the negatives, which lost this show 2 stars (but gained half back with that ending). Ready for a rant because I am.
Episodes 4-8 felt like they were recreating the first season on a grander scale, but without anyone I cared about. Seriously, I can't tell you the name of any of the new characters because I didn't care. They had way too many which left me sitting their bored, waiting for someone familiar to come on. We had uninspired military guy 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8. Wait, I didn't mind Mr. Kim, but they didn't quite get the morally grey right with him. We had the survivors who I didn't care if they'd all been blown up. Count it, we had 3 women in this show who were obsessive over the guy of their choice. A priest, who, I dunno, what was his purpose? He was edgy? Instead of introducing all these people, they should've kept to a smaller group and figured out something different, even if it was fighting another small group. Because this just felt like 4 episodes of Sweet Home Big Brother.
Ah-Yi. Why do they always have to ruin a show or movie by having these bratty teenagers who are half sociopath half pixie dream girl? I'm so special, I hate everything, let's make monsters. You know what I would've preferred? Seeing Yi-kyung as a mother, adapting, struggling as she's watching her baby grow too fast, worrying about someone hurting her. I craved a mother daughter relationship. Instead Ah-Yi turned her mother into a monster and then left. Let me guess, next she's going to team up with Sang Wook because monsters are awesome?
I found the dynamic between Hyun-su, Eun-yoo and Chan Young super interesting and thought there was something we could've had more time on. This is what the second half of this season felt like. Could've ended up in the same way but boy they should've gone a different route on some of this stuff.
At this point, I don't even know who we're going to have left to resist monsters because the group gets smaller and smaller, and I don't care if most of them become monsters of die. Like what's the end goal at this point? Because first season it was clear. Survive. This one? No idea, felt like it flopped all over the place.
The girl and man with the caravan. What was their purpose? No idea. Did they have potential? Sure, but so sick of having female characters being half insane. Like take them out of the story, and you could've literally kept going with barely anything changing.
This season asked more questions than it answered. Did we ever actually find out what was in the suitcase? I can't remember at this point, I started skipping scenes towards the end, because while the mad scientist was interesting, it felt like the whole season was him gearing up to do something. This whole season was a set up for season 3, so I am hoping they end this show at season 3 and make it truly epic because it fell flat this season.
Will I watch season 3? You bet, they've set up some interesting things, I just felt disappointed they didn't choose a more enticing way to set it up. Because the first season was an interesting dive into the human psyche, the second season had me like, there are too many humans, I don't care about any of their backstory.
Come on season 3, fighting!

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Prep for the finale

If I were to compare, I enjoyed season 1 a lot more story wise, season 2 seemed more like a filler and preparation for the season finale. The CGI did get a lot better in some scenes, with season 1 already having amazing cgi as is.

Majority of the original cast was killed off (to no surprise) but the main gang lives on which I enjoyed. Season 2 is mostly introduction of characters that I assume will play a role in season 3, tho personality and story wise, they weren’t super interesting to me.

The mixture of military, emotional battles, and theorizing was nice.

There is definitely a lot of loose ends in which I hope season 3 answers.

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Ótima temporada de transição e preparação

O investimento para a produção da segunda temporada de Sweet Home com certeza foi bem mais alto do que da temporada anterior. Os gráficos de CGI melhoraram e o cenário expandido também reflete um maior investimento na produção.

Diferente da primeira temporada onde toda a trama se desenvolveu no prédio onde os personagens estavam presos, nessa nova temporada há uma expansão do mundo. Finalmente temos um vislumbre do que estava acontecendo fora do confinamento onde eles estavam. E a expansão do universo de Sweet Home significa novos personagens e novas óticas. Acompanhamos os experimentos e a visão de mundo do cientista (maluco, literalmente), dos militares, dos sobreviventes, e dos monstros. Sempre com a dualidade entre monstros versus humanos. Quem é o verdadeiro mostro?

Nossos protagonistas da primeira temporada tem menos tempo de tela, mas faz sentindo para ampliação do universo. Embora eu quisesse ver muito mais da Eun Yoo, Hyun Soo, "Sam Wook" e Yi Kyung entendo que era necessário expandir a história e isso implica na adição de novos personagens. Confesso que esperava que houvesse algumas perdas/mortes dos personagens da primeira temporada, mas não esperava perdas tão significativas como ocorreu.

No geral acho que foi uma ótima temporada de transição e preparação para a resolução que deve vir com a terceira e última temporada. Estou ansiosa por isso.

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Une suite quelque peu redoutée...

Lorsque j'ai vu l'annonce pour une saison 2 et 3, j'avoue que j'ai un peu fait la grimace... (Ayant lu le manhwa entre temps, je m'étais bien rendue compte que la fin de la première saison était +/- celle de l'œuvre originale, de fait, je me suis demandée ce qu'on allait bien pouvoir nous inventer pour tenir non pas une saison mais 2 de plus.)

Je me suis donc lancée plus que septique. (Bon, le fait que j'aie lu des critiques en diagonal n'a pas vraiment aidé x'D)
Lors du lancement du premier épisode, je suis très vite mal à l'aise, est-ce que la situation était vraiment horrible ou il faisait trop chaud dans la pièce ? Les deux j'imagine... Le ton a directement été donné... Les survivants étaient loin d'avoir vécu le pire ! Encore une fois, on nous montre toute la cruauté dont peut faire preuve l'être humain lorsqu'il est poussé au désespoir. (Je vais pas m'en plaindre, c'est pour ce coté plus "psychologique" que je regarde ce genre de série ^^)
Je pensais donc que la suite serait sur le même ton... Finalement pas. Cela devient assez vite "plat", les attaques pas si fréquentes que ça... Les personnages principaux assez absents... On dirait que cette saison est faite pour mettre les "éléments déclencheurs" de la saison 3 en place. (À voir, si mon hypothèse est juste lorsque j'aurai vu la saison 3.)

J'attends donc de voir si je serai plus convaincue par cette dernière saison =D.

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OMG

Como eu estava ansiosa por esta temporada e ameei! SONG KANG EITA HOMEM LINDO!
Cha Hyun Soo é a pessoa mais querida que existe neste mundo, o fato dele resistir de se transformar e ser meio monstro meio humano é incrível, o controle que ele tem das situações, ele fazendo de tudo pra salvar quem ama, suas cenas são épicas. Quero ele pra mim! A rainha dessa temporada foi a Lee Eun Yoo, o tanto que ela amadureceu, a pirralha ficou durona, tomou a posição da bombeira na primeira temporada. O soldado Chan Young conquistou meu coração!
Algumas mortes realmente partiram meu coração, foi triste ver nossa família se desfazendo aos poucos. Queria alguns personagens vivessem mais um pouco... Mesmo com o desfoque no hyunsoo, a série continua maravilhosa.
O FINAL GENTE O FINAL EU GRITEI FOI TUDO QUERO 3 TEMPORADA

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« L’humanité est un virus. Les monstres sont le vaccin. »

Le chaos continu dans cette société brisée. Une société où une part monstrueuse sommeille en chaque être humain. Il n'est pas nécessaire d'avoir muté pour en être un. Suite directe de la première saison, aucun risque n'est prit, tandis que l'intrigue amène de nouveaux personnages.

Des militaires en rafale, des survivants (beaucoup) à peine survolés ou simplement idiots dans leurs actes. Des personnages de la première saison deviennent soudainement capitaux (Yi Kyung, en particulier). Je n'ai pas grand-chose à dire dessus, c'est amené de façon logique.

Les CGI sont du même acabit que la première saison. Cependant (et c'est le plus triste de Sweet Home 2), on perd tout l'intérêt du bestiaire instauré. On délaisse sa richesse aussi fascinante que repoussante pour des monstres qui ont fusionné avec des voitures, ventilateurs et autres. Si vous connaissez Hellraiser, alors certains auront quelques souvenirs du cénobite en mode lecteur CD. En réalité, tout l'intérêt de Sweet Home (les monstres) est devenu pauvre, malgré la créature du début qui était magnifique (et pétard, j'avais envie de botter le cul de pas mal de gars sur cette scène). Parce qu'en réalité, la plus humaine de toutes, c'était elle !

Sweet Home 2 se termine sur un cliffhanger avec ce qu'il faut de suspense. Encore une fois, la société se retrouve pointée du doigt, car après tout, peu importe les envahisseurs, le véritable monstre, c'est l'Homme.

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J’étais prête pour la tempête… j’ai eu un courant d’air...

Franchement, après une saison 1 aussi intense et poignante, j’étais contente de retrouver tout ce petit monde, enfin, ceux qui ont survécu 👀... Mais là, j’ai eu l’impression qu’on a étiré la sauce… sans vraiment en retrouver le goût 😅

On repart là où on s’était arrêtés, mais le souci c’est que le cœur du récit s’égare un peu 🤷🏼‍♀️. On a du drama, de la tension, des enjeux, mais ça traîne, ça s’éparpille, et ça veut trop en faire sans aller au bout des idées... Les nouveaux lieux (le camp militaire, la base souterraine, etc) auraient pu tout changer… sauf que je suis restée un peu paumée dans le “pourquoi” et le “où ça va” 😵‍💫

Je dis pas que c’est nul... Il y a des moments stylés, quelques scènes bien sanglantes 💉, les monstres sont toujours bien foutus 👍🏻, l’ambiance reste pesante, le visuel est propre, rien à dire là-dessus. Mais la tension émotionnelle qu’il y avait dans la saison 1 s’est évaporée... Ici, on passe beaucoup de temps à expliquer plutôt qu’à ressentir 🥱. Et perso ce que je voulais, c’était avoir les tripes retournées, pas faire une analyse stratégique du virus 😅🧬

Côté persos, Hyun Soo est toujours aussi complexe et captivant, même s’il est trop souvent relégué au second plan 😮‍💨... Et le reste du cast ? Bah… y’a de bonnes intentions, mais aucun n’arrive à me happer autant que ceux de la S1... J’ai pas retrouvé cette alchimie, cette urgence humaine qui faisait battre mon cœur 💔

Y’a quand même quelques fulgurances dans cette saison. Des moments où j’ai eu l’espoir que ça reparte comme avant… mais ça retombe vite. Et la fin... On la sent venir à 10 km. Elle relance les enjeux pour la suite, mais elle m’a pas mise KO non plus 😩

Bref, "Sweet Home 2" reste sympa à regarder, mais pour moi ça manque d’émotion, de rythme et de consistance... C'est une saison de transition un peu molle, qui installe des choses pour mieux rebondir après 🤷🏼‍♀️ ?!? J’espère... parce que pour le moment, je suis pas rassasiée, juste frustrée... 😑✌🏻

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? Reseña – Sweet Home Temporada 2 (2023)

🔥 Reseña – Sweet Home Temporada 2 (2023)

⭐ Calificación: 7.0/10

Género: Horror, acción, thriller postapocalíptico
¿Vale la pena? Sí, aunque es muy diferente en tono a la primera. Más enfocada en acción y en expandir el mundo.

📖 Sinopsis:

Después de los eventos del Green Home, los sobrevivientes se enfrentan a un mundo exterior completamente tomado por los monstruos. Hay más caos, más acción militar, y nuevas revelaciones sobre los infectados especiales como Hyun-Su.

💥 Lo mejor:

Expande el universo de Sweet Home: conocemos otros refugios, facciones y formas de sobrevivencia.

Hyun-Su sigue teniendo un desarrollo interesante, y su vínculo con Ui-Myeong crea mucha tensión.

Las nuevas criaturas y combates son más grandes y ambiciosos.

Vuelve a aparecer Eun-Yu con más protagonismo.


😬 Lo menos bueno:

Hay menos enfoque emocional, más estilo “guerra contra monstruos”.

La narrativa se fragmenta mucho al dividirse entre tantos lugares y personajes nuevos.

Algunos fans extrañan el horror íntimo de la primera temporada.

Se siente como una "temporada puente" hacia algo más grande.


💭 Opinión personal:

Es una temporada visualmente poderosa, pero más fría en comparación con la primera. A veces se siente como una historia distinta. Aun así, mantiene la esencia del dilema humano: ¿qué tan monstruo eres por querer vivir? Me dejó con ganas de ver cómo cierran todo en la tercera.

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