Wing3dBean

I was right in my review for Part 1. This instalment did further break my heart, but it was also cathartic. The part of me that felt hopelessly and helplessly angry was soothed.

🦋What I Liked🦋

1. The actually made me cry (kinda). Basically, balancing tears were wiped several times - I rarely cry while watching a TV show. In fact, you'll never see me claim that I shed tears or was on the ground sobbing because of a movie/TV show. The fact that this show, specifically, the last half of the finale, had me out here fighting tears.... standing ovation to them. They wrecked me

2. The Romance - It's not a fairytale romance, but I'm happy that for a while, LJY and CHT got to be happy together. To be the loving couple that they could've been had all the crap not happened. Had life been just a little kinder to them. They were truly beautiful together

3. The revelation of CHT's DID - Listen, the face reveal in ep 5 was great. However, the montage(?) in episode 6...?!?!?! That was incredible. I loved seeing her running on the street, and you could see all her personalities reflected in the glass windows of the stores she passed. It shows you not only who she's been, but also how she's always been running and morphing to become someone else to get away from the trauma of that night.

PS. That scene also reminds me of the book 'The Girls I've Been', not the plot per se, but the title

4. The clock - I'm not sure if we see it in episode 9 or episode 10. But I loved them adding it. It not only shows you when her life basically stopped (in her mind), but also when it starts moving again. Like the broken clock, she'd been stuck in her trauma, in her childhood bedroom, for 10 years. And finally, finally she was able to start moving again. I shed a tear.

5. The BTS shots at the end of the finale - After how badly they broke my heart in the 2nd half of the finale, I was happy to see all the funny, happy, silly shots of the characters as they were filming. It soothed something in me and allowed me to go to bed with a lighter heart

6. How the villains' lives turned out - They thought they got away scot-free once that night was over and LJY & CHT left, but life said no. For example
a. Big K - Were it not for him going after high schooler LJY for his dad's debt, helping frame him for drugs, and actively stopping LJY that fateful night, maybe, just maybe, things would have turned out differently. Now, he had to walk around with a bum leg all his life. And he really hates that

b. Ouyang Ti - He was plagued by nightmares of LJY coming for him again. Nightmares so bad that he'd wake up screaming. But that shit wasn't as good as him peeing the bed. Every time I remember that, I laugh. For somebody with his ego.... oh that shit must have KILLED him inside

c. Ouyang Ti's mama - She raised and protected a demon that came to abuse her in its adulthood. I never felt bad anytime Ouyang Ti insulted or hit her. Those were just the consequences of her actions.

d. Wen Ling - Ordinarily, I wouldn't be happy hearing about a woman (or anyone really) being tricked into debt and forced into sex work. However, for her, she deserved it. Not only did she live CHT there that night, but she made things much worse when she actively spread rumors (with glee and spice) of how CHT apparently 'wanted it'. Her having to live with her videos all over the internet and a broken mind showing her the ghost of CHT by her side was a fitting ending IMO

e. Jung Tai - The thought of him working in a high school literally made me wanna puke. However, the knowledge that he had to struggle finding a job and him being exposed as a vile bully b4 his death made me very happy. A nod to this, it was sad to see how the principal would've been willing to protect him had those clips of him not gone viral. They gave him a job knowing his background, and would've kept him on and let the girl drown. This is how society constantly protects vile humans, allowing them to flourish and keep harming others

f. Chen Li - Funny thing, I hated him most of all. I literally sent my friends a 10-minute rant about this man. How one manages to be both selfish and a coward is truly beyond me. He was a bully who stood with the bullies but thought of himself as better than them because he never 'actively' bullied people. Because the others 'forced' him to do it. He deluded himself into thinking that he was just an innocent bystander. Boy, please🙄

He also never thought of CHT till his pregnant girlfriend pointed out the assaulted girl at the hospital. Then, his stupid ass decides to find CHT to apologize. In what world is that thought process normal? Not only was this incredibly thoughtless, but it also highlights his selfishness. He only wanted to apologize to dissuade his guilt. I'm glad he was bled out like a pig at slaughter, and I hope that pesticide turned his insides into a soup.

7. I do appreciate them highlighting how the law, society, and loved ones fail the victims of sexual assault. Like in CHT's life, everyone moved on, but she remained stuck in that prison in her mind. Unable to leave to face the world outside. Of course, not every victim ends up with DID as a coping mechanism. Some go to therapy or find positive coping mechanisms, while others cope in other harmful ways. But I think we can say that some parts of the victim's lives do remain, in some ways, stuck in that moment for a chunk, if not the rest of their lives. It is a sad and unfortunate reality

🦋What I Didn't Like/Didn't Quite Understand🦋

1. The villains should've suffered more - When I finished part one, I wanted to see the 6 (well, 8 really) suffer. I wanted them to die slowly and painfully. I wanted them to see death coming for them, but not quickly. I wanted them to face their death with fear and pain. Unfortunately, they died too quickly for my liking. Perhaps the showrunners (?) didn't want to paint LJY as some sadistic killer. But as a sadistic watcher who enjoys watching villains get what's coming to them, I'd have been more than fine with a little (a lot) torture. Refer to the murders in the second season of 'The Victims Game'. At the risk of sounding unhinged, they were beautiful

2. I don't quite understand why he killed that boy - From how I see it, I think the people working on the script wanted to show us how the murders and pain of his life had fucked up his brain. It was all too much that he eventually broke and killed the kid. However, I feel like this cheapened the character. LJY was never one to kill indiscriminately or for the joy of it. His purpose was to get rid of the people who actively harmed CHT. So his murder of the boy makes no sense.

You could also argue that he saw himself in the young boy. How his abuse at his parents' hands reminded him of his abuse and neglect at his parents' hands. And maybe he saw his killing of him as a way to save him from this cruel world. So he doesn't become another version of LJY. But still, that line of thinking just doesn't align with who we know LJY to be. I just.. IDK. No matter how much I try to spin this, I still don't like or understand why that had to be a part of this story.

3. LJY's smile - I hated how fake it always was in this installment. I know why it happened, but I hated it so much

4. The letter - I really wanted to know what it said

🦋Other Characters🦋

1. Fatty - His life was relatively good tbh. I mean, he did live partly in fear of Ouyang Ti, but that's neither here nor there. With that said, the violence of his death was perfect.

2. Fan Wei Ting - He happily remained and ass and r*pist all his life. Like with Fatty's case, my joy came from the violence of his death

3. Chien Yi (Chein Ya?) aka Lisa Mimi - I wanted her death highlighted too. I *think* they showed glimpses of it in the 1st part, but I'd have liked it here too

4. LJY's mother - My thoughts from my review of part 1 remain. She deserves a reserved spot in the hottest parts of hell. And that's all I have to say about that

All in all, despite the parts that I didn't like or understand, I do think that this was a nice conclusion to the series. It tied up everything pretty nicely. I am sad that they both died in the end, but I'm happy that they met again in the afterlife and finally got to celebrate Christmas together