rue

I liked S2 better than S1, maybe because of the actors or something, but there’s more to it than just that.

In the first season, Beom Seok's character was honestly way too annoying for me to handle. I get that he was being abused at home, and that's tragic, but it still doesn't give him the right to act like a bully to everyone else. Watching him cross lines and manipulate people while also being a victim felt… frustrating. It made me think, victimizing villains doesn't make their actions okay. Just because someone suffers doesn't mean we should excuse everything they do. That's why, even though I understood his pain, I hated his character in S1... it was hard to sympathize with him fully.

Then comes S2, and I immediately felt a difference. The same manipulation trick was there.. Baek Jin being controlled but this time it didn't feel as unfair or annoying because there was at least one character who didn't just stand by and watch it happen. Park Humin actually called it out and didn't let it slide, which made the story feel more balanced. I think that made the show so much more engaging for me this time around. You could see the tension, the conflict, and the moral consequences more clearly, and it was satisfying to watch characters take responsibility instead of just being victims or villains in isolation.

The characters felt less one dimensional, the story didn't make excuses for bad behavior, and the dynamics between them were more intense and believable. That's why, for me, S2 definitely won over S1.