Alchemy of Souls Season 2: Light and Shadow

The sequel that shouldn’t be made

The first season established solid chemistry and relationships, especially between the lead, which is one of the most engaging element of the show. Although changing the female lead fits the narrative of the story, it also inevitably forced the audience to reacquaint with a new character. The personality of the new female lead is so vastly different from the first season that it no longer feels like a continuation but seems to be a completely different person. And because Jang Uk’s attraction to this new Naksu was not clearly explained, it doesn’t feel like he is drawn to elements of Mu Deok that he finds in her but appears more like he is simply attracted to the comfort she offers. Their rekindling feels more like a betrayal of Mu Deok than a reunion and is extremely unsatisfying to watch. The general writing is sloppy and the scenes are mostly unnecessary and does not add value to the narrative.

They should have extended 1 or 2 more episodes to season one and wrap up the show. Watching season 2 took away so much of my enjoyment of season 1 that I wish I could unwatch it.

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An engaging sequel, but not a necessary one

Even though I’ve marked my review as a spoiler, I really don’t think I’ve given out anything you didn’t anyway expect. But still read at your own risk.

Let’s start with the good. But before that, a very special shout-out to whoever has styled Lee Jae Wook this season, my man is always charming but he looks drop dead gorgeous here. Moving on:
-This part is as engaging as its former; there are times when I’m mad annoyed, but I never skip seeing the episode on time. Even when an episode feels like a filler, I’m invested.
-Most of the cast is just great as we know, but I’m mentioning it again just for Go Yoon Jung who possessed the seamless ability to switch between Naksu and Bu Yeon (basically memory-less Naksu) perfectly.
-GYJ and LJW had electric chemistry, weirdly I felt it more in the parts where Naksu had lost her memory and Jang Uk thought of her as Bu Yeon. The push and pull and the tension was just WOW. They were so natural together, and the show really utilised their chemistry well with all those kissing scenes lol.
-The word building for part 2 was also great, a new world where the ice stone was exposed to all seemed colder, darker and more hopeless (the rules like in first part, were very convenient though, even more so here)
-The show as a whole never loses its humour; there are so many things I can complain about, but they always manage their tone of serious with good laughes in between.


The bad:
-The show has since season 1, been way too obvious about the bad guys. Jinmu’s evil smirks, the unanimous assembly and the King being dumb power-hungry idiots, Seo Yul’s cousin having hidden intentions, the queen only caring about soul-swapping for a more beautiful body - it’s all so panifully obvious about whose intentions are evil and we know above all somehow it is Jinmu heading them all.
-Some characters have just been around and not done much when needed. Seo Yul has a good amount of screen time but has never added anything substantial to the big moments. Jin Cho Yeon being the younger daughter of the Jin family could have brought chaos in her own ways, but she comes and goes when needed. Master Lee is ofcourse a must mention, he gives his speeches, does not reveal what he knows to the right people, and vanishes away as he pleases.
-One thing this show is consistent in, is keeping the love story at its core and centre (much at the expense of all the other plot lines). As much as I like seeing Naksu and Jang UK’s love story, it’s pointless to have these many dedicated one sided love lines. Crown Prince and Yul for Naksu, a very useless Lady Yun Ok for Jang Uk, Sol-i for Seo Yul (this at least made sense plot-wise so I’ll let it go). Like just get some of them together, what’s the harm? I was convinced in part 1 that towards the end Yun Ok and Seo Yul could have a romance but they somehow made her very annoying and mean for no reason in part 2. Dan Gu and Cho Yeon love story also came with very little build up, they were cute, but that’s it. There could have been a lot more to their love story, but I guess they had to save screen time for Jin Mu’s smirks. I’m very glad though that Kim Do Jo and Park Jin got their fair share of romance in this part.
-Naksu’s reveal, in episode 9 (very concerning and stupid by the way how Jang Uk did not realise it was Naksu inspite of NUMEROUS hints and a similar way of talking), was pretty underwhelming. I enjoyed their scenes before it too, but it felt like a different love story all together so at this point I expected passion, drama, something? They were like let us feign ignorance. I was like okay. That’s it? It felt a little too underwhelming. I was atleast expecting a typical moment compilation.
-I am not someone who complains about logic and stuff a lot in a kdrama, especially one of fantasy genre, but all in all there was a lot of stuff that could have been solved easily. Crown Prince could have just sided with Jang Uk earlier and the show could have wrapped up sooner. There were these filler romance episodes in between too, that were fun to see, but added nothing to the overall plot line. As usual again, we never saw Naksu in full form. This part has and will always annoy me. This show actually teases us since the beginning that this is a Naksu show, but part 1 ends up being more about Jang Uk’s journey. That is why I walked in part 2 with lower expectations.

All in all, what bothers me is when a show has all the right elements and can easily be one of the best ones out there, but screws itself up by underutilising some of the characters and messing up the storyline in the dumbest ways imaginable, I felt this was a problem in part 1 as well, but even more so here.

I assume if you’re reading all this you’ve obviously seen part 1 and are wondering if you want to see part 2 as well. In spite of all my complains, I won’t say I didn’t enjoy it, which is why the rating is still that high. This part is as I said, very engaging. I’m annoyed, but I’m somehow always entertained. And if you are someone whose main interest is the romantic aspect, this part precisely serves that, and very well until the first 8 episodes. The chemistry is great in both parts, but I felt it is even better in this part.

The show absolutely did not need the part 2, a lot of this could have been wrapped up in S1 if the show had lesser filler episodes, but since we are here, and we are invested, your core reasons to watch can be to follow all our beloved characters storylines and seeing most of the cast look even better in their new get-ups. It’s best to keep your expectations at rock bottom, storyline wise, and actually watch for the romance.

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Huge letdown compared to season 1

With S1 of Alchemy of Souls, you had a legit really good drama. The story was so interesting and intense right from the first episode. Like it had everything Suspense, action, amazing music, amazing romance, and phenomenal cinematography. Even the ending was so incredible and satisfying.

S2 of Alchemy of Souls though, was nothing but disappointment. The feelings which we left from S1 were simply not there anymore, no excitement, no attachment nothing. The Female lead for S2 couldn't captivate. I mean she was all looks no acting. Jung So-min was sooo much better and she kept the show going. I couldn't find an ounce of Naksu in Go Yoon-Jung.

Now I don't think a season 2 was needed, because the screenwriter for Alchemy of Souls just extended the show with no intentions of giving it a superb ending. Nothing significant happened, and it felt like it was a good show with a bad ending, keeping it precise would've been better. I'm being super generous with my ratings because of how much I loved the first season, which I highly recommend. The second season not so much.

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Playboy Jang Uk

The sisters turned Jang Uk's character into a Playboy in season 2.

Then Uk kisses her thinking of her with Jin Bu Yeon in ep 4, that is (a new love interest), since he didn't know it was Naksu yet.
It's just that he wasted no time "changing" women this season. Uk goes to the cliff where Naksu had met her death and says goodbye to her, and goes drinking to his room and that same night he already has Jin Bu Yeon lying in his bed!

He walks with her back and forth thinking of her as "Jin Bu Yeon" until ep 8. And they even kiss without the revelation! Worse yet he asks her to marry him and almost makes love to her thinking she is another woman!

In ep 9, he finds out who she is and RAPIDLY agrees to be with her, he didn't even think twice about it!!!

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Way too dragged out

This part felt twice as long as it needed to be, and it was very hard to feel any stakes compared to the first part.

The plot was really dragged out. It got even more annoying when side characters had information and just didn't share it because "it would happen anyways." It really made the plot move way more slowly than it needed.

Second, after the serious note we ended the first part on, the second part really needed to match the high stakes in the first one. Instead, the drama tried to repeat the funny and light-hearted vibe we started the first drama in, relying on parallel scenes and humor. It felt out-of-place and doesn't really move the story forwards.

Aside from this, it was very romance-focused, giving us a push-and-pull between the leads that got very repetitive when I would've much preferred for the story to move forwards faster, especially since it felt like the antagonists had stayed exactly where they were in season 1.

Honestly, I just didn't really buy into the romance. After the epic love story we got in part 1, the one in here felt watered down and I didn't really see a reason for the main lead to fall for them again.

I generally found it very difficult to connect the female lead we saw in this one with the Naksu from part 1. While I think it's fine for her, having gotten amnesia, to be brighter and more innocent, I wish we still saw more moments of sassiness and less scenes that just referenced part 1 to be clever.

Overall, it really just feels like they spent too much time on the romance and humor and ended up cramming the plot in the last 2 episodes. I'm glad about how the story ended up, but really didn't like how we got there or how it was paced.

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Let's try to save season 2 of AOS

As many have already said, season 1 of Alchemy of Souls was a 10/10. There was not a character that wasn't well characterised, there was not a moment of dullness despite the length of each episode, the chemistry between characters (all characters, friends just as much as lovers) was peak perfect.... but then season 2 came and ruined it all.

My personal opinion is that there are contingent mistakes to it, but that the main mistake is that JBY and JUK shouldn't have fallen in love. This could have easily been done and the plot would have carried itself just as well: instead of him saving her because he "missed her like crazy" when having literally no real connection to her (there was no proper build up to this, Maidservant Kim called this out herself), he could have saved her out of 1) the fact he needed her for the reasonable reason that is wanting to take the ice stone out 2) pity. Secondly, their relationship should have been built up as JUST a good friendship (at least from JUK's side), just like it did when Mu-deok and JUK first got to know each other. This would have been much more endearing to watch, especially because the audience knows who JBY actually is: instead of having the audience watch JUK basically move on from Mu-Deok, it would have been much better to have us glued to the screen seeing JUK rejecting his true love because of his ignorance. Then, the moment of truth would have felt MUCH more impactful (here it is dutiful to note that there was also a directional issue with the way the show handled this plot point: the scene in which JBY and JUK make out is much much longer than the scene in which the two characters make-out after the realisation, which makes it seem as if for JUK Mu-deok is not that special after all) - The realisation should have come as a shock for JUK, he should have fallen to his knees crying like a baby, instead we got some stoic looks and a mere hug from him.
That was the main mistake in my opinion, because it broke the most important plot point of the show: the two being an inseparable match.
About the contingent mistakes, I think there is a very evident one: when Jin Mu shifts bodies, it is immediately clear that it is him even if it's another person acting him out because his appearance but especially his facial expressions make it very clear. That is not the case with JBY and Mu-deok: I get that having lost her memory, JBY won't act as tough as Mu-deok did, but their facial expressions or at least their aesthetic should have been resembling for the whole thing to come out as it should have (the way they kept their hair for instance), instead JBY felt like a whole new person (hence, a whole new love interest).
This issue could have been resolved without having to cast a different actress? I think so, because in the very last ten minutes of the show we see a JBY that finally feels like Mu-deok.
I could probably keep going, because there are other issues with this second season (such as the way JBY's gaining her memory back was handled, or the fact that the final battle felt like slicing a piece of cake - literally), but I will end my review here and go mourn the potential this show had.

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Disappointing

I liked the first fighting scenes with Naksu in Part 1, she looked impressive so when she got burned and Mudeok became FL, it was jarring but I soon fell in love with Mudeok as Naksu. Then found out Mudeok won’t be Naksu in Part 2 -again that was jarring.

Really wanted to give new FL a chance because of the fighting scenes in Part 1. Happy with new Naksu with no memory acting more like Buyeon. But when Naksu’s memory came back, waited for Naksu to appear but she didn’t, just felt like she was always Buyeon still. Was it bad acting? Don’t think so because Naksu in those fight scenes was bad ass. Bad directing? Did directors sleep through those scenes? Even a scene where she dresses herself like assassin Naksu, trying to regain her physical strength (like when she was Mudeok) to get revenge for her death and soon-to-be death and Yul sees her and warns her to not do this in case people recognises her as Naksu, and she’d be hunted, then she decides to continue to dress as Buyeon. But even dressed as Buyeon, Naksu can’t hide her personality.

So Naksu didn’t act like Naksu so the interactions with ML didn’t feel right. The whole romance with ML didn’t feel right. It was unclear who he actually snogged, that long kiss between them was when he thought she was Buyeon - the confusion to the audience or maybe just me,made him not very likeable as a ML, like he was cheating on Mudeok/Naksu so made the kissing scenes very uncomfortable to watch. And if Naksu was Naksu, she would have been furious that he made out with Buyeon. That would have been a good scene to show Naksu was back, her throwing a few knives at his face!

It would have been better to end AOS at Part 1 and Part 2 was a totally different story altogether, that way I could have enjoyed the romance in Part 2 without the characters acting out of character bothering me so much.

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Forced,devastating even

Im not sure if the FL even watched Season 1. Maybe the writers failed her? It doesnt help that her skillset is not at the level of the FL in Season 1. The great "reveal" was underwhelming although the ending was satisfying. Unfortunately it took great mental gymnastics to force yourself to believe the body switch. I will say that some of the plot lines were incredibly interesting and the side characters were so endearing that I dont regret watching it but it feels physically painful to endure the romance so i will rewatch season 1 and stop at episode 19 and pretend thats the finake!

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Tiring...disappointing...unsatisfying...frustrating

After finishing this I honestly regret ever starting Season 1 because that made me obligated to finish this and oh what a glorious disappointment it was.
Let me start first off by ticking off the few things I liked:
1. Go yoon jung seamlessly filling in for Jung so min. She impressed me a lot in the first episode and she has continued to do so. She just did not have much to go forth because of Hong sister's misogynistic handling of her character as well as the female characters in this show but I will come back to it later.
2 Acting of the cast was top-notch.
3. Crown prince's character development was done well He left the most impact on me in this show overall.

Now, to the things I did not like and why it was a disappointment:
1. Naksu....ahh...the level of regret and pity I have for the absolute character assassination she had to go through to elevate the male characters, it's borderline disgusting. I just could not believe that in the year 2022-2023 two female writers would be this level of misogynistic. Unbelievable. The 2nd half of AOS showed us that they are never gonna raise her to the equal status any of the male characters possess but we still foolishly pressed on just to be dealt with utter disrespect of a character who could have been so much MORE. In part 2, both she and jin bu yeon, another badass character was reduced to nothing but 5 mins of mentionable screen time. Jin mu might be the cause of their deaths in the show but they were killed without kindness at the hands of Hong sisters.
Hong sisters' misogyny was not only confined to those two characters but also reduced ALL of the female characters as conniving, mean, dumb, and spoiled one-dimensional idiots whose only job was to put up with orders and requests from the male characters. Maidservant kim who was the only exception is nothing more than a glorified mother figure whose identity starts and ends with her young master. It is downright criminal and blasphemous what these writers did to such talented actresses.
2. Other than the middle school romance disguised as a fated lovers' angle and the last-minute mythical creature/let's-show-how-cool-the-male-lead-is plot device, I guess they could not come up with anything that is actually creative. But at this point, that's to be expected. Jin mu's divination bell strategy stays largely forgotten to the point he also forgets about it and meets a demise that is so anti-climactic it's laughable.

I honestly can go on and on but at this point, I am so tired. I just finished it for the sake of finishing it but I like I said wish I never even started it because what a FUCKING DISAPPOINTMENT. Toward the finale I just wanted it to end. I did not feel anything for the supposed "deaths" that eventually meant nothing. The nonexistence of a plot, the utter 180 of an assassin whose only goal was to serve the man, and even after pulling off an astounding rebirth was more interested in finding a man than remembering who she is, the shoved-down romance that would make you literally CHOKE, the absurdity of lengthy draggy episodes filled with nothing but nonsense. I wish I never started it. I am never watching anything ever from the Hong sisters. The only reason I think anyone was interested was the CGI and action but even that was missing in part 2 so anyone who does not have a lot of time on your hands I URGE you to watch ANYTHING ELSE.

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