Enigma Black Stage

Not For Everyone

The best and most inappropriate way I can describe this is imagine if Dario Argento (Italian film maker known for Suspiria) and Orson Welles (of Citizen Kane fame) got really drunk and decided to have a threesome with The Manchurian Candidate- Black Stage might be the head scratcher, imaginary love child of that drunken encounter.

If that sounds intriguing, this second season of Enigma is for you. I thoroughly enjoyed the fusion of old world belief with contemporary celebrity culture, although the execution was a little clunky.

I truly wish they had done two or three more episodes to really explore some of the post-modernist, Marxist, and capitalist social indictments that seemed too tacked on to really make for cohesive themes. This is a series that suffered from brevity- a more expansive third act might have made this a real contender for classic status.

It feels incomplete and my high rating is more of an appreciation for what was there instead of what was missing.

Season one started by sowing chaos on a small scale while season two attempted to bring that chaos to a national stage. Again, the brevity of the story, the lack of revealing the impact on the watching audience, and a budget that couldn’t allow for a more expansive story really makes the narrative they were attempting to tell feel incomplete. Ironically, a character speaks at length about what happens to understanding when chapters in a book are missing or skipped. This season feels like some of the best chapters were referenced instead of given to the audience.

But I enjoyed it. It was different (which is becoming increasingly rare) and if you are a true fan of horror that attempts to hold a mirror up to society, give it a shot. Even imperfect horror is better than no horror at all!

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The Perfect Follow-Up!

After watching the first season of Enigma, I was super curious to see what they were going to do to follow it up. Frankly, I was fine with the open ending of season 1, but was super glad they decided to continue with the show. I LOVE seeing Win as Ajin, and I was really curious as to how they would up the stakes for a season 2 and BOY did they!!

As Ajin continues on his journey to hunt for Enigma, he moves on from the high school and instead gets involved in a competition where actresses are competing to be in a famous director's newest project. However, there's something sinister behind the scenes - the lead actress will get to wear the dress created by the director's grandfather, but there's somethin dark lurking in its creation. Ajin guides Plengpin through her journey to win the top spot, but the pair might regret ever entering the competition.

I LOVED the way they continued this story. Sticking with the idea of competition between women from the first season was a great way to keep the story feeling cohesive, but it's very clear that they are no longer dealing with an amateur like in season one. The magic and the villains are so much more intense - and the chemistry between Ajin and Plengpin much better than season 1 (mostly because the female character is, yknow, an adult). The backstory, both with Ajin and this mysterious dress, were incredible. It really made this season feel more thought out than last, which I really appreciated. The twists at the end had me SHOCKED and I can't wait for season 3! As always with shows of this length, I would have loved another episode or two to really dive into some of the backstory, or to flesh out the finale a bit more, but overall it was such a great watch. If you even remotely enjoyed season one, this season is worth watching!!

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felt like it was more abt ajin than enigma

i like how they are going with the concept of black magic entering ppl's life when they are in a pressurized system like school, acting politics. all the characters were fun and the actors did a great job.
I'm just mostly confused on how this connects to the first season with the school and all. the first season had a layer of mystery abt it and focused on the black magic/enigma part but this season focused on the dress and ajin as a character so it did not have that thrill of the first season.
Its been a year since the first season aired and i don't remember it clearly but ajin as the character is a bit confusing from s1 and s2.
If they are going to do a s3 its going to kind of predictable

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they tried too hard

The tight, compact story-telling of the first Enigma with its brilliant use of sound, lighting, well-contextualised props and acting was abandoned in this 'sequel.' Instead it takes on far too much and flops around from this to that to something else. Many of its half-hearted social critiques were superficial cliches and just a way to get around plot holes. Like all the events which really should have stopped the contest being ignored with a quick "the show must go on'. That's not commentary on the industry, that's lazy writing.

And the amount of exposition? All of those long monologues may have been necessary to cram that much into five episodes, but it should have been an obvious signpost to the writers that they needed to drop some story lines and focus on one or two. They know how to do this, why didn't they here?

There were also several moments where it felt like they took violence and gore as an easy way out. It gets a reaction though, and that's popular.

Maybe the overload of things to react to is an attraction?

Acting was competent from the best known actors but not stellar; I've seen far better from all of them. JingJing nailed her late dramatic scene, but why her character was as she was? They didn't even try to explain that, let alone explore it (contrast Namsine in the first). Jew and MyDay were nothing more than cliches, chasing fame for I don't know, the sake of fame. They had specialisations in spell-casting rather than characterisation. I think Namtan was miscast, really rate her as an actress and this is the first I've seen her in where she didn't convince me - Anya had mood swings not nuance. That's on the writers and directors. Not sold on Toey's performance either. And they only played to Pompam's strengths briefly and late. (Also expected Anya to have a more substantial and interesting role. They obviously told a different story here than they were hinting at with the final scene of the first Enigma and that's fine, but they really dropped the ball with her character.)

Between the reality show framing and all of the jumping around from one thing to another, I found it difficult to stay immersed in the suspense and horror build-ups. That made it easy to notice the short-comings. Maybe it works better for those immersed in the broken attention and rapid focus changes of today's social media? I don't know. It didn't work for me.

Edit: The comparison to short form social media feels apt: a surfeit of small things formatted to grab attention and evoke big emotional reactions without taking time to explore and understand them. It's exciting on the surface. If that's what you're looking for, fill your boots. There's plenty of that here.

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A Step Above

Just like with the first season, its sequel also shines out for its great production, beautiful cinematography and good direction, leading to another visually stunning result.

Story-wise, the concept was much more interesting and complex this time, with the events taking place in a more mature setting involving intricate, grown-up characters who were actively involved in the plot and had their own goals and motivations. I was also glad to see the fantastic element dominating and being more fleshed out in this season, which was somewhat missing in the first one.

In regard to the acting, I can only praise the cast. Special praise goes to the girls, who truly brought their demanding characters to life and demonstrated the fruits of their hard work.

Overall, having not been amazed by the first season of this series, I can safely say that it doesn't hold a candle to the sequel. For me, this season elevated the show to its entirety and it's a must-watch for those who enjoyed "Enigma".

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One Disappointing Spell

I guess my expectation was set to high for this series because I really enjoyed the first one. This had a very creative story concept, but it failed with the execution. The first episode was a little chaotic, but it did succeed in grabbed my attention. Unfortunately, the script quickly unraveled by the end of the second episode. I was done after watching 12 minutes of the third episode because the script became a complete mess. I love supernatural storylines, but this went beyond my threshold of suspended belief. Weirdly, it was the non-supernatural story element that had no logic which did me in. On a positive note, the whole cast did an amazing job. I give them kudos for trying to make what they had work (well in the two episodes I watch). This also had outstanding cinematography, special effects, and FX make-up.

Random Note:

This had a great cast and production quality, it just missed a good script.

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Magia Oscura Moderna!!

Si eres el tipo de persona que le gusta lo retorcido pero sin llegar a lo excéntrico o fantasmal. Esta serie es para ti. Un viaje por el mundo del entretenimiento tras bambalinas mientras todos ocultan sus intenciones para conseguir un "vestido tradicional tailandes maldito". Yo en serio no sé cómo rayos se le ocurrió esto al creador de la historia.

Ya tenía el precedente de la primera temporada, el cual me había entretenido bastante. Así que me vi esta segunda esperando algo similar.

A nivel de historia creo que esta muchísimo más completa que la primera temporada, se preocuparon más por los detalles, agregaron más elementos y le dieron un desarrollo más completo a cada personaje. Aunque los efectos siguen siendo bastante promedio (como se puede esperar de GMMTV), si debo decir que hay una mejora considerable, ya que se atrevieron a usar más recursos que en la primera no.

Amo inmensamente esta saga y su diseño visual, por la manera tan bizarra pero estética en la que combinan conceptos de la magia oscura, el chamanismo y la ciencia, con la cultura tailandesa antigua en un mundo moderno. Porque da esa sensación de que es real, pero sin que lo sientas fantasioso, como en harry Potter o maldito, como una película de terror. Sino como algo que es posible que ocurra en el mundo real. Crearon un balance realista sobre algo falso (o no, quien sabe), y en verdad espero que se sigan manteniendo fieles a eso.

Considero que esta temporada fue más oscura, y me encanta. Incluso como tratan de fusionar el tema de la magia, con el lado oscuro del entretenimiento.

Lograron sintetizar varios temas al mismo tiempo, sin que se sintiera como un revoltijo de información. Cada episodio es super distinto pero conectado al mismo tiempo. Y eso provoca que el espectador quiero ver el episodio de la siguiente semana.

También observé un crecimiento enorme en la actuación de Metawin, aún hay cosas que ajustar claramente, pero ha mejorado mucho la manera en que transmite emociones y usa su cuerpo para proyectarlas, si sigue estudiando, será imparable como actoe. Y ni hablar de las actrices, unas maestras de su profesión. Disfruté muchísimo sus personajes y lo tramposas/manipuladoras que eran. Las super amé.

Una felicitación a todo el equipo, porque con solo 5 episodios lograron transmitir un poderoso mensaje. Y produjeron una de las mejores series tailandesas en lo que va del año. 10/10

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