SunOh

"Maybe if we had a better childhood, things would have turned out differently. Others have happy memories to remember, but we don't."

The true meaning of the title is beautiful: Can you escape your sins?

Again, I love stories that aren't truly about revenge. But it's a great base for any story. So this one spoke to me. Season 1 was agressive from the start, and yet so fun and refreshing. Season 2 was the real deal. I came for the villain protagonists and I was not disappointed. This was a story of broken people who went through hell and redeemed themselves.

How Ra Hee's plan failed but she prayed to God for the Five to redeem themselves and said she knew her fate was already written, like when she prayed to give her a second chance when she fell down on the snow. The tree scene where she reunites everyone means everything (the metaphor of planting a seed). Plus the fireflies making this moment even more magical. They started to question Ra Hee and themselves until they all found each other at the same place. But of course it wasn't that easy and they were still doing mistakes, until Myeong Ji's death and her last words happened.

My favorite scene was Ra Hee and Do Hyeok exchanging a look when she saved him before dying.

And Ra Hee's story... After they made a pact with the devil, she became what she hated, a subordinate, to the man who betrayed her at that. And that's why she looked empty compared to Season 1. It lasted for a while until the only thing that could break her happened, aka seeing the moment of Da Mi's death.

Hwang Jung Eum did one hell of a job. The scene where she repeatedly slaps herself, saying she doesn't deserve to punish, she's not human, she doesn't deserve to cry... Wow. And that first episode marked history for me. It was the first time I genuinely cried and felt anxious.

Of course, Season 2 had a different vibe from Season 1, but I loved both. I cried a lot in Season 2. But Season 1 gave me chills so many times, it was pure adrenaline.

The fake news theme: It's a critic of provocative Korean media, headlines, youtubers and society (people going along and writing malicious comments). I wish reality could be like the end of Season 2 where a law was created against them.

And about the deepfakes... That was also close to reality by now, with AI getting stronger than ever.

Even K's story was very tied to the theme of "being fake". I loved the plot twist (definitely did not see it coming lol), his story and his character in Season 1. As a protagonist, Matthew wasn't that convincing for me (but I liked the bromance with Do Hyeok, and the betrayal made it even better), so I found that the twist strengthened the drama. It was cool how K didn't know that Lee Hwi So was scared of water because of trauma in prison. But first of all, it would be a revenge story like Penthouse, and second of all there was no "personal scene" to connect with the viewer apart from when it was actually the dad. Do Hyeok as the ultimate protagonist is what I'm talking about! I liked better how focused the drama was on the Seven. K's mask, his laugh and his inimaginable schemes is everything I love, but he was not a complete cartoonish villain either, his story showed his frustration and you could see his expression when he ordered to kill his real father and he called him "Son." Uhm Ki Joon was able to show a great range here both as the protagonist and as the bigger evil. Kim Do Hoon's acting when he killed his mother (with a biblical painting at that, his mother's favorite) and had tears behind the window was awesome. I was very glad he still appeared in Season 2 when Do Hyeok faked his appearance.

The plot twist did have me shocked though. K was really fun to watch when he kicked them down the stairs after torturing them in the amusement park. The ending of episode 12 with the Six teaming up against Matthew and Ki Tak jumping off the cliff with him and into the water before verifying his identity was great too.

The switched at birth twist was also peak makjang (Do Hyeok being the biological son). There was a flashback in high school where K saw Do Hyeok with his mother as he learned about Do Hyeok's true identity, Do Hyeok had a genius mind and was good in everything while he was pushing himself until he got nosebleeds. After K killed his mother, his father was going to send him to some island so he was forced to replace Lee Hwi So with him, but while he wasn't really happy with his new face he did like being respected and his true goal was Seongchan Group.

The new villain's twist... I personally found him scary lol. He had no sad backstory like K, just cold. Honestly with K's new hair (well, he just wanted to be more like himself than Matthew) he looked a little pitiful in front of Chan Sung who was taller than him. I hated him when he was keeping Mo Ne's mom captive... (Btw, it was really important to not end the episodes too quickly because there were scenes like Ra Hee saving Mo Ne's mom and also the scene where she listens to Da Mi's video and chooses the name Medusa because of it.) And well, it showed that Mo Ne was seriously unlucky to end up with him. And to say this is pretty close to reality for women getting with abusive men... I was so happy when she stabbed him and Do Hyeok and Ki Tak came, what a relief.

Do Hyeok and Mo Ne's romance was everything to me. I was so sad and scared for her when she left Do Hyeok after the campfire with the others. It was beautiful when Do Hyeok was saving Mo Ne's mother and the fire brought back his trauma, and she hugged him...
(My favorite FMV of them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unkRg__8GsE)

I liked everything from Ra Hee and Ki Tak's relationship and backstory, Jin Mo and Paeng Hee's story, the kids, Jin Mo and Myeong Ji's romance (the bonding between them in Season 2, the hatred, revenge and tragedy... thanks god they were alive still), even Cheol Woo and Ju Ran's romance, Ju Ran's mistake due to Ra Hee's revenge, Cheol Woo hating her and then reconciling. Considering how serious Myeong Ji's character got, the only "comic relief" characters left were Cheol Woo and Ju Ran. But because of that, it made sense that Cheol Woo would meet a tragic end. As a cop, he redeemed himself by trying to protect the others.

The ending: Symbolic and well thought-out for everyone. Also poetic and spiritual. K's parallel to Ra Hee with the shot in the leg and burned down to the ground by Do Hyeok was amazing as well.

I also loved the start of Season 1 with Da Mi's appearance as a ghost (white dress and long hair) which makes you wonder if she's going to return from the dead. Then my favorite arc of Season 1: the divine punishment on the deserted island. The paradise illusion with the food and drinks on the ship, the fruits on the island, the unicorn, and then the disillusion that reveals it's a trap from hell. The illusion of water, brutally killing a monster only to realize those were real people after waking up (and the centipede), thinking it's Da Mi's curse, getting hit by a wave, fighting and leaving on the boat as the Seven's reunion (with some epic BGM).
(This video also shows what a few of the "victims" on the island did: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWdbz3t-VNM)

And how could I not mention the Mission Impossible reference with the BGM during the mirror scene at the end of Season 1? Well, it wasn't even the only reference to fictional stories since there was also the Skull Island (possibly), or The Ring when Da Mi came out of Mo Ne's TV The Ring, and Marvel was also mentioned.

The Island arc, Season 1's finale, Season 2's underground prison arc, those were all unforgettable. I will always be grateful to Kim Soon Ok, my favorite screenwriter of all time thanks to this drama. I haven't watched The Last Empress yet, only Penthouse but this was a beautiful end to her "makjang trilogy." Maybe that's too personal to include, but when it was almost over with Season 2 I watched it with my best friend when I was going through a hard time, and those are unforgettable memories to me. Even if logic took a backseat to spectacle, it didn’t break my immersion, quite the opposite. All in all, it was a very powerful and exciting drama.

Season 2 even had video game vibes with Medusa's hacking abilities and that one Watch Dogs-coded scene (incredible directing and to say this is the first main work from the Season 2's directors) or K literally playing with Do Hyeok in the car (Ra Hee having to risk everything to save them and rightly getting mad for being so naive).

There was also an artistic teaser for both seasons, I'll link them in the comments.

Plus, like in Penthouse, the opening is very symbolic as you get to watch it and analyze it every episode but it's a shame that just like with Penthouse, Viki only showed one version of the opening. Again, I'll link the one with K.

Season 1's opening:
The first statues: Anonymous commenters.
The nail holding Da Mi's bobble: K's hand. (see the tattoo on his nail)
Ra Hee: Greed, spikes growing, but also a foreshadowing of her amputation.
Mo Ne's dress: Childbirth.
Do Hyeok's fire: His family's tragedy.
Jin Mo looking at Do Hyeok with a knife behind his back: He was behind the fire.
The snake on Jin Mo's arm: K.

Season 2's opening is more biblical. The snake biting the apple (the original sin). Ra Hee being the last one to break, becoming the shield of Medusa that Do Hyeok is holding and turning K into stone.