The Glory Part 2

A satisfying and great end, which is quite rare for revenge dramas usually.

Honestly I didn't know what to expect for this drama to be concluded, but I'm quite enjoying the ride Part one let us witness Dong-eun planting her seed of vengeance all around and preparing her ultimate revenge. So part two is when we're finally able to see how Dong-eun utilize everything that she have planned!

Have to say that I really was so excited here, since part one had been leading us to the climax and the climax in part two managed to keep the momentum going without faltering. And something that is worth to note in this part two was, that so far as much as she have been planning this revenge for so long... her side hadn't really taken any active aggressive actions against her enemies and instead use her opponents weaknesses and arrogance to cause them to lead themselves to fall to ruin. If that wasn't brilliant, I had nothing else to say. But seriously I'm enjoying the mind games. It's nice to see that as much as Dong-eun barely committed any illegal acts aside from stalking people, instigating and manipulating people's actions to suit her plan; she still managed to get her revenge plan going. It was pretty clever, like I know revenge is bad and all that jazz, but dang... technically it'll be hard to prove that she have committed any wrongdoing (cos ultimately the ones who ended up doing the deeds of destroying her enemies was not her.) Real world moralities aside, who would not enjoy a story where people who do bad things be punished and getting their just desserts? And in this story, we're seeing stuff like victims of violent abuse taking charge of their lives and taking back their honor and selfworth.

And as much as there's no glory in doing bad deeds or even of committing acts of revenge, I'm really glad that this drama had a happy ending for Dong-eun. I mean, in the past, for revenge dramas that aren't daydramas, we usually don't often get a real happy end... and the MC tends to get sad endings after their revenge was completed. But this trope didn’t happen to Dong-eun. And as much as this part 2, still have some loose ends left wide open... it's still a pretty good conclusion to the story. Got to say that the whole cast and production team really did well to make this drama so engaging.

While some might say that it's dissapointing that Dong-eun's revenge didn't end up becoming more violent, I really like this outcome since despite the fact that the original five bullies did bad things deserving of violent punishments, there are still innocent people like Yesol and Doyeong. And I'm just happy that Dong-eun's revenge did not end up consuming her and allowed her a chance of a happy end (to which many other MCs of past revenge dramas didn't get. )

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Clean ending/beginning to a game of Go

I don’t really understand why the drama was split into 2 seasons as S2 is an immediate continuation of S1- it was a little unnecessary to split the drama, in my opinion. However, I’ll ignore that when rating.

I really enjoyed how the drama ended- everyone got the punishment they deserved. The best punishment, I believe, was Park Yeonjin’s. Her biggest fear (being a failure of a mother) happened. Her one and only daughter claimed she no longer looked up to or felt comfortable with her mother. The best part about it? Dong-Eun had nothing to do with it! Yeonjin simply set herself up for the worst.

The ending to Yeojeong’s (Dohyun) story seemed a little fast but I think it was suitable because it just meant a new game was beginning. It was almost a reminder that everyone is playing a game of Go- Ha Doyeong, Yoon Sohee, Kang Hyeongnam. It was a simple yet fitting ending.

Thank you to everyone who worked on this drama. It’s a good watch but definitely not for the faint hearted!

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A truly satisfying second part of this captivating revenge drama!

I was once again super impressed by the scenario of the drama: every little details in the script were full of impact and meaning on the story. It was a real pleasure to see all the pieces of the puzzle falling perfectly together. Over and over, I found myself captivated by the plot which maintained a good pace, totally bingeable with its engrossing intrigue.

The performances of the ensemble cast uphold the ones from the first part. Even though we saw seemingly a bit less the teens actors, they remained consistently great. The relationships between several of the adults couples / pairings was further developed providing some truly emotional and sometimes disturbing scenes. I loved to see how evolved some of the most unsettling and quite toxic partnerships.

I continued to be totally immersed in the soundtrack: the songs ending the episodes were particularly moving with their agonizing vibe. Production-wise, the show maintained a high standard: quality of the sets with its luxury accessories and magnificent houses as well as gripping scenes kept luring the viewer deeper into the series.

I would recommend this to people that love the first part of the show (it would be criminal to not finish it) and that are in the mood for a dark revenge drama with a well-built scheme, beautifully directed and acted. Be aware that this series can be triggering.

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Well done and satisfying

I started watching The Glory with no particular expectations or much thought. All I knew was that it became hot topic in less than a week and appeared on my instagram feed continuously. So, I gave this series a chance, and I do not regret it!

Throughout the whole time, I was amazed by the beautiful cinematography, the well done plot, and the talented actors. I usually watch TV series with dark concept and more serious plot, so I have seen similar dramas, but this is definitely one of the best revenge dramas out there! I enjoyed both the first and second part; they were dark, well detailed, and insteresting.

There were a lot of overwhelming and sad scenes, some of them I cannot stop thinking about; especially when Yesol was crying while hugging her father and apologizing. That kid did nothing wrong, yet suffered so much!

I also enjoyed the romance, and could feel the chemistry between DongEun and YeoJeong.

The revenge was satisfying and very clever. I really liked the fact that the female lead didn't become a murderer herself but turned the bullies against each other. All of them either died or lost something very important. Yeonjin lost her husband, child, and the job she actually enjoyed. Jaejoon lost his vision and drowned. MyeongOh died painfully at a place he hated. HyeJeong lost her voice and her chance to marry into a rich family. Sara was humiliated and got into prison. All of them suffered and lost the same thing they took away from DongEun 18 years ago - glory.

I know some people expected more and were disappointed. However, I think it was satisfying enough and is definitely worth a watch!

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a veeery satisfying revenge story

honestly, this drama was flawless and the only thing keeping me from giving it a 10/10 rating was the ending, but not because it wasn’t good, but because I wanted to see the full disclosure of that man who killed Yeo Jeong’s father. I honestly wouldn’t have minded a whole other season just on this, but I honestly wish they had given us at least one full episode on this ark. I truly wanted to see that tearless psycho completely miserable and scared of his shadow and it was such a pity we didn’t get to see that. On the other hand, Dong Eun’s revenge was PERFECTION!
Honestly I wasn’t expecting it, ok that it was a Netflix production, but revenge drama’s do tend to disappoint me, as from the middle to the end they tend to soften up a bit… their culture or something, I guess. But The Glory held strong to it’s intense and dark premise from start to end, giving us a very satisfying closure on all the bullies. There were some moments where I wished for a happier ending for one of the characters, but then I remembered myself that this drama was quite realist, and revenge isn’t pretty and whoever gets into it, has to pay a price, and this character in question, paid her price for her own personal revenge.
Either way, this drama is dark, chilling and uncomfortable at times when you glimpse at the cruel and dark nature of some people (because let’s not kid ourselves that this is just fiction, there was a real victim in which this story was inspired on, just look it up on YouTube “real victim from the glory”), still is impeccable and such a great drama.
If you have the stomach to watch this kind of show, it’s definitely a 10 out of 10 must watch.

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Brilliant ending

Wow, what a cathartic way to finish the series. Everything really ties together in a surprising but really satisfying way in the end. I really appreciate how intelligent the characters are here, with each plot progression being intentional and decision-driven. Every actor continues to impress me, especially now that the plot unfolds and we get to see different sides of them.

I know the romance aspect has gotten mixed reviews, but I personally still enjoyed it. Even if the drama didn't have it, though, I feel like I wouldn't like the drama any more or less.

The last episode is a little bit rushed, falling victim to some typical kdrama tropes, but I think the show, overall, ultimately sticks the landing.

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Bingeable but lacks tension.

Hmmm. I really enjoyed the first half... not much the second. I think the main issue is that there's no REAL twists in this second part. While it can be excused for the first half as the story is being set up, it makes the second part feel pretty lackluster.

Yes, The FL did get her revenge but her ennemies were pretty passive. The only attempt at ruining the FL was [not gonna spoil] and that's about it. There's a couple of new revelations here and there but there's nothing really thrilling about what's happening because you never feel like our leads have anything to fear.

The leads ALWAYS have the upper hand and while it might be satisfying in terms of our mains getting what they want... it removes a lot of what is the main appeal of the genre i.e the tension that comes from being uncertain about IF this part or that part of the plan is going to succeed and IF NOT HOW are the main characters going to make their plan work.

Villains should at least have been given enough intelligence to gather and use their brains to fight Da Eun instead of constantly ruining each other... I guess that's the point of it, to show they're such ass*** that they basically ruined themselves without that much intervention from her or that they're so selfish that they can't even cooperate to get rid of a single foe... But still.

Overhyped? Honestly I don't know. I found the show bingeable, but most of the screentime was given to the villains.... and I honestly don't like it when that much screentime is given to characters I utterly despise.

I'd rather we gave more screentime to our leads. It would have been great if So Hee's mother had been included in the whole plan as well...

Overall a bingeable show... which surprisingly left me pretty cold. I found the end satisfying but the only characters who I felt really for was Yeon Jin's husband, her daughter and So Hee's mother. Da Eun was such a cold person ( with a good heart though) that I could never connect with her... As for Yeo Jung, I could never understand how he could fall in love with such a block of ice.... But I guess they needed to force some romance to have at least ONE character bring some warmth into Da Eun's life...

Won't be rewatching that one.

PS: Im Ji Yeon's performance was IN.SA.NE though. I dropped or disliked most of the shows she's acted in, but in this one, she really outdone herself... I'll be following her projects more closely from now on.

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There is no glory at the end

One of the best things about this drama is acting. The cast is nothing short of perfection making the story a lot more memorable and impactful. I really cannot praise them enough. And, while everyone deserves an A+, I feel like the supporting cast outshine the leads only because the villains are much more dynamic than the main characters.

One thing I like about Part 2 is that the villains are written to be so fundamentally irredeemable, they become destructive and often self-sabotage. These so-called "friends" ultimately become each other's worst enemy making their individual endings very satisfying. The storytelling and pacing continue to be smooth without filler arcs and incoherent content. I like that writers did not concoct unnecessary plot devices to create more drama. Everything is very well balanced.

While, for the most part, the story is well written, the ending becomes too contrived with unnecessary twists blurring the lines between good and evil. The good guys become murderers and the villain become victims. But, we are still supposed to be sympathetic to the "good guys" because the villains deserved it. I guess the writers wanted to convey that the world is not fair and at the end even people who seemingly can do no wrong are capable of heinous acts. But to me it makes the good guys no different from the villains, which is very disappointing because I rather liked how the writers portrayed certain characters to be exemplary in contrast to monsters like Park Yeon Jin.

I did not love the ending because it felt like Joo Yeo Jung's revenge story was thrown together last minute. The plot reached its logical conclusion with Dongeun finally getting her revenge. I was ready for the drama to end only to be forced to watch Yeo Jung's revenge arc, which at that point wasn't that interesting. It is not because his story wasn't compelling, but because it was not properly developed early enough and was only written as a tiny side arc in comparison to Dongeun's grand revenge. The ending did not really feel like a happy ending where the main characters get their revenge and move on with their lives. Now that their roles switched and Dongeun became Yeo Jung's "executioner", they got stuck in an endless loop of revenge with the last scene showing them entering the prison with Yeo Jung father's murderer. It made me feel bad for the characters because they deserved better than this.

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"While I know I didn't grow up to be good, eventually a spring will come when I will fully bloom."

I am a long time kdrama fan and lost touch somewhere around 2018. Since then I've tried to watch so many only to drop them after one episode. I remember i used to get these insane headaches because I'd stay up till 5-6 in the morning to complete a kdrama. Happy to say that 'The glory' brought back my headaches and I finished this in a day. I stayed up till late in the morning and got all nostalgic lol. Anyway, the storyline is gripping and intense and not dramatic or dragged out.

It was refreshing to see a stoic, calm, mature FL who is only focused on her aim. She carefully planned everything. A lot of the things she did made perfect sense. She had a fire inside her and was ready to destroy everyone but was equally calm. I love the character they decided to build with this story. I was able to find some symbolism and meanings here and there which was important for the plot, for Dong eun's character, which otherwise would be tagged as plotholes. Some spiritual symbolism like the mention of deities, church and their significance in the storyline was interesting.

*Some spoilers ahead*
It was powerful that although Dong Eun never had anyone all throughout her teen years and early 20s. No friends, and her mother betrayed her which resulted in never trusting anyone, but the people she eventually chose to trust never backstabbed her. And in the end the three people who saved her were three women who happened to be mothers - The investigator, her executioner bf's mom(I love to call him executioner bf lol) and the grandma who saved her from dying. They all were the mother she never had.

I saw a lot of people saying that the FL and ML had no chemistry. Tbh, I think they had enough chemistry. Definetly there were some tension between Ha Doyoung and Dong eun but her lifegoal was not romance or even peace. All she wanted was revenge and maybe find some peace in that. Yeo Jung was perfect for her. They both had their own traumas to deal with and were reserved for that very reason. Expecting Dong eun to maybe go with Ha Doyoung would just be cruel. She never harmed Ha Ye Soul but expecting her to be a mother and raise her abusers daughter would be nothing but cruel. She doesn't deserve to go back to that hell. She will always be reminded of her bullies and would never actually get out of that life. We do not want that melodrama, especially when it took so long for her to make peace with what happened. I'm glad there were no such storyline, no humbleness, no romance that would deviate the FL from her aim. She was exactly who she was when she first started planning.

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S1 top notch, S2 not so much

S1: No revenge story is complete without first showing the deeds that need avenging. In the case of The Glory, it means sitting through scenes of brutal bullying. So you better be ready cause it’s just too heartbreaking and infuriating.

Pros:
+ Well written slow-burn revenge
+ Engaging, suspenseful, satisfying plot
+ Amazing acting
+ Strong foundation for later stages
+ Memorable dialogues
+ Great OST

Cons:
- Some scenes can be a bit boring and unnecessary but it’s not a big issue.
- ML and FL lack chemistry.

————

S2:

Pros:
+ STUNNING acting.

Cons:
- I wish we had a more powerful confrontation and revenge, more insights, less romance (maybe a little hint at the end and that’s it).
- Still lack of chemistry from both M&F leads. I always felt awkward watching their interactions.
- Some plots, scenes and deaths were UNNECESSARY (the b00bs CGI, Dong Eun’s mother being too present when she’s not worth it at all, Hyunam’s husband & Jaejun deaths..). I disliked how the drama made it so “normal” to just kill the bad guys. That’s not a great message to deliver in my opinion. There are other ways to punish these people rather than killing them.


Final thoughts:

Kudos to ALL the actors. THEY CARRIED the show, they OUTPERFORMED. I truly fell in love with each one of them. The actresses that portrayed young Yeonjin and Dong Eun are extremely talented. S1 left me speechless, was impactful, heartbreaking and gave me hope for a cold deserved revenge. Sadly, S2 didn’t really deliver on some important aspects, was poorly executed and left me disappointed. However, I am happy that Dong Eun got her revenge and happy ending. That’s all that matters..

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i was expecting more

finally watched this drama. idk if it’s because i waited so long to watch this but i had really high expectations. well, it didnt meet my expectations. first i did not understand why they did this 2 parts, was not necessary. should’ve been 16 episodes instead. anyway, acting was good i am going to give them that. song hye kyo ate, also lim jiyeon and park sunghoon too, both were so good. but the story? i’m not so sure about that. dong eun only said i am going to that and this in part 1. i thought she was really going to something big you know. she just posted an online article? and she humiliated sara. in the end she literally didn’t do anything, like they already destroyed each other. i was expecting much more from her since she talked so big. i’m still not sure if i liked it or not.

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