This review may contain spoilers
An Underwhelming Outcome
After rewatching the series a couple of times, I can acknowledge that the ending of Duty After School might come as a shock to many. That was certainly how I felt when I watched the ending myself. However, I feel like the finale of Duty after School wasn't a proper sendoff. I feel like they could have built up the Climax even more. The finale felt rushed and undeserved. Also, there are a bunch of plot lines that were never explained again.
The Good:
1. The Cast
The cast was amazing, I can definitely feel the Chemistry between the characters. When I am watching a Kdrama, I always pay attention to the Chemistry because I feel like I can resonate more with the characters if I can sense the Chemistry between the characters. I also love the family vibe between the characters.
2. The Story
The story was great, and was very intriguing, but I feel like the pacing was a bit off compared to Part 1. I feel like the finale was a bit rushed. We see Yeong Soo's descent into madness, but they don't go further and elaborate on it. Instead Yeong Soo gets trigger happy and starts shooting up his classmates without any real reason.
3. Alternate Universe
I love how they incorporated a what if scenario at the end. After watching that finale, it was nice to see the characters alive and well. That way the last time we see them is them laughing and having fun not them suffering. Which is a nice touch. They're rap at the end was also great, it seems like the cast had a blast filming.
The Bad:
1. Abandoned Plotlines:
What happened to Kim Won Bin? He's virtually non-existent in Part 2. His fate is left ambiguous and none of the characters even mention him. I feel like there was a missed opportunity here, he could have filled in the role left by Lieutenant Lee.
What happened to Lee Na Ra? No Ae Seol? and Yoo Ha Na? They never appear again after Yeong Soo's death. Definitely a missed opportunity here. What were their thoughts and feelings afterwards? Where are they? Why don't they show up again? These questions are basically left unknown, and their fates are left ambiguous.
What happened between Chi Yeol and Lee Na Ra? Like I said before Lee Na Ra never appears again after Yeong Soo's death. Again, another missed opportunity, the show hinted that Chi Yeol had feelings for Lee Na Ra, but they never show him confessing his feelings for Lee Na Ra. Their dynamic felt unfinished and unresolved.
So, like what was the point of the Spheres? If you're going kill off most of the cast, it would have better if they had died to the Spheres. The entire point of Duty after School are High Schoolers being drafted into the military to kill the Spheres for extra college points. It would have made more sense for them to die to Spheres because that's the entire point of the show, if they had died to the Spheres then their deaths would have meant something. Instead, their deaths are meaningless because in the end the South Korean Government develop a weapon that eradicates the Spheres. So, they died for nothing along with a bunch of other students.
3. Yeong Soo's Character Arc
Yeong Soo's character development felt very rushed. He descended into madness within one episode. I feel like they could have built up his character more. His entire madman arc was literally just one episode. I feel like if his madman arc was explained throughout a plethora of episodes then we could understand why he did what he did in the finale. Him literally shooting up his classmates was so out of place. I get that he's having a mental breakdown due to the CSAT being cancelled, but like it didn't feel right to send his character off like that. I also don't like how he was perceived in the last episode. The scene with the SA was not necessary.
The Ending
Personally, I think the ending is kind of hit or miss for me. When I was watching the finale, I was shocked and disappointed. When Yeong Soo started shooting up his classmates most of them were done dirty. To be fair, they were caught off guard by Yeong Soo's betrayal, but like you spent so much time developing the characters and showing their personalities, and I feel like all of that was a waste of time because most of them died within a span of a few seconds. I think it would have been better if they put up a fight. Most of them were just standing out in the open and didn't even duck for cover., they basically just let themselves be huge targets. Speaking of characters who were done dirty, Kwon Il Ha's death felt so undeserved. However, I get the meaning, Il Ha has always been a bully to Yeong Soo, and it feels almost right that Yeong Soo get his revenge, but like the way Il Ha died was so disappointing. Mostly because Il Ha isn't really a bully anymore, sure there are some instances here a there, but he has definitely progressed as a character and his sendoff was not deserved.
Despite the underwhelming outcome I enjoyed this series a lot. Definitely one of the best Kdramas out there, and I implore you to give it a watch if you haven't already.
The Good:
1. The Cast
The cast was amazing, I can definitely feel the Chemistry between the characters. When I am watching a Kdrama, I always pay attention to the Chemistry because I feel like I can resonate more with the characters if I can sense the Chemistry between the characters. I also love the family vibe between the characters.
2. The Story
The story was great, and was very intriguing, but I feel like the pacing was a bit off compared to Part 1. I feel like the finale was a bit rushed. We see Yeong Soo's descent into madness, but they don't go further and elaborate on it. Instead Yeong Soo gets trigger happy and starts shooting up his classmates without any real reason.
3. Alternate Universe
I love how they incorporated a what if scenario at the end. After watching that finale, it was nice to see the characters alive and well. That way the last time we see them is them laughing and having fun not them suffering. Which is a nice touch. They're rap at the end was also great, it seems like the cast had a blast filming.
The Bad:
1. Abandoned Plotlines:
What happened to Kim Won Bin? He's virtually non-existent in Part 2. His fate is left ambiguous and none of the characters even mention him. I feel like there was a missed opportunity here, he could have filled in the role left by Lieutenant Lee.
What happened to Lee Na Ra? No Ae Seol? and Yoo Ha Na? They never appear again after Yeong Soo's death. Definitely a missed opportunity here. What were their thoughts and feelings afterwards? Where are they? Why don't they show up again? These questions are basically left unknown, and their fates are left ambiguous.
What happened between Chi Yeol and Lee Na Ra? Like I said before Lee Na Ra never appears again after Yeong Soo's death. Again, another missed opportunity, the show hinted that Chi Yeol had feelings for Lee Na Ra, but they never show him confessing his feelings for Lee Na Ra. Their dynamic felt unfinished and unresolved.
So, like what was the point of the Spheres? If you're going kill off most of the cast, it would have better if they had died to the Spheres. The entire point of Duty after School are High Schoolers being drafted into the military to kill the Spheres for extra college points. It would have made more sense for them to die to Spheres because that's the entire point of the show, if they had died to the Spheres then their deaths would have meant something. Instead, their deaths are meaningless because in the end the South Korean Government develop a weapon that eradicates the Spheres. So, they died for nothing along with a bunch of other students.
3. Yeong Soo's Character Arc
Yeong Soo's character development felt very rushed. He descended into madness within one episode. I feel like they could have built up his character more. His entire madman arc was literally just one episode. I feel like if his madman arc was explained throughout a plethora of episodes then we could understand why he did what he did in the finale. Him literally shooting up his classmates was so out of place. I get that he's having a mental breakdown due to the CSAT being cancelled, but like it didn't feel right to send his character off like that. I also don't like how he was perceived in the last episode. The scene with the SA was not necessary.
The Ending
Personally, I think the ending is kind of hit or miss for me. When I was watching the finale, I was shocked and disappointed. When Yeong Soo started shooting up his classmates most of them were done dirty. To be fair, they were caught off guard by Yeong Soo's betrayal, but like you spent so much time developing the characters and showing their personalities, and I feel like all of that was a waste of time because most of them died within a span of a few seconds. I think it would have been better if they put up a fight. Most of them were just standing out in the open and didn't even duck for cover., they basically just let themselves be huge targets. Speaking of characters who were done dirty, Kwon Il Ha's death felt so undeserved. However, I get the meaning, Il Ha has always been a bully to Yeong Soo, and it feels almost right that Yeong Soo get his revenge, but like the way Il Ha died was so disappointing. Mostly because Il Ha isn't really a bully anymore, sure there are some instances here a there, but he has definitely progressed as a character and his sendoff was not deserved.
Despite the underwhelming outcome I enjoyed this series a lot. Definitely one of the best Kdramas out there, and I implore you to give it a watch if you haven't already.
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