KAD
This review may contain spoilers
Numerous plot twists!
I watched this immediately after The Gift Season 1, and it just took me by surprise how good Season 2 is (I've watched a couple of Thai Season 2s which didn't live up to expectations).
Season 1 was good and interesting, but definitely not perfect, with many logic lapses unanswered. Season 2 took the basic plot from Season 2 and soared. Rather than see Season 2 as sequel to Season 1, I feel that Season 2 is the meat and Season 1 was the prequel.
The start of Season 2 was slow and introduced several annoying characters from the new batch of Gifted students (so naive and trusting of the system! Why aren't they questioning what the teachers tell them? Why didn't they ask for their seniors' side of the story when they had direct access?). It didn't help that Third's potential was portrayed in such a scary manner - the lighting and angle. Wave was also anti-social, but he wasn't portrayed in that manner.
It's not just the new Gifted students. Even Pang got on my nerves with his indecisiveness.
But from ep 5, things got wilder and wilder. The plot went crazier and crazier.
[SPOILERS]
Ep 5 - The scene when the Gifted confronted Korn about what he did. The tears which overflowed Pang's eyes when he asked Korn the reason for his action.
Ep 6 - Where everything went crazy. Like, OMG WTS they killed off Korn just like that. And as if not enough, they killed off Time just like that. (Those were my thoughts at that moment, but we know that they survived)
This was where Nanon's acting shone most for me in Season 2. The scene where he stood in silence when Korn jumped off the ledge before his eyes. The single stream of tears rolling down his cheeks when Time died. And finally the outburst he had in his room, shouting and choking on tears on the floor. That was very convincing.
Ep 6 - I agree with the ladies that they should find Korn first to find out the truth, since given the authorities' track record, the fact would probably be glossed over if they found Korn first. However, I don't understand the ladies' blind support for Korn, because regardless of his reasons, he did spread the virus (in his own words) and that is a criminal act to be punished for. I don't get why Claire doesn't understand Punn here. To be betrayed by a friend, to be stabbed by a friend, isn't it normal reaction to get angry? I empathised with Punn here, but following his change in character in subsequent episodes, I felt angry with him for losing trust in his friends so easily.
[/SPOILER]
I think that was what worked for me in Season 2. There might be some gaps in the plot still, but those could be easily overlooked as the plot charged onwards with tons of plot twists in each episode.
There was no particular person who won my full support throughout Season 2. There were moments where I empathised with a character, and moments where I disagreed or feel angry with him/her. Rather than lose interest, I actually felt more engaged in the series because the characters were multi-layered and realistic. It's actually easier said than done, because it's easy to make the viewer feel annoyed with the characters to the extent that they stop caring and drop the series all together. Well-balanced in here!
I think another reason I found Season 2 better executed is the storytelling style. In Season 1, over half of the series was presented in an episodic style where we were introduced each student's potential in each episode. It wasn't easy to build a strong connection between episodes and make sure each character remains relevant to the plot beyond their episode. Season 1 didn't manage to do this well.
However in Season 2, woah. There was a strong central conflict delivered from ep 5 onwards and every episode goes to pushing towards the final resolution. Every single episode had a plot twist that caught me by surprise.
The acting of all of the cast members this time round was very impressive. Nanon, Chimon, Gun, Fiat had very intense scenes to act out and they fully delivered, going beyond their usual range of emotions and facial expressions.
I appreciate that the final episode gave closure, but was open enough to create thought provoking questions about the aftermath. Season 3 please! I think Pang opened a can of worms, and the gang should return to solve it!
Season 1 was good and interesting, but definitely not perfect, with many logic lapses unanswered. Season 2 took the basic plot from Season 2 and soared. Rather than see Season 2 as sequel to Season 1, I feel that Season 2 is the meat and Season 1 was the prequel.
The start of Season 2 was slow and introduced several annoying characters from the new batch of Gifted students (so naive and trusting of the system! Why aren't they questioning what the teachers tell them? Why didn't they ask for their seniors' side of the story when they had direct access?). It didn't help that Third's potential was portrayed in such a scary manner - the lighting and angle. Wave was also anti-social, but he wasn't portrayed in that manner.
It's not just the new Gifted students. Even Pang got on my nerves with his indecisiveness.
But from ep 5, things got wilder and wilder. The plot went crazier and crazier.
[SPOILERS]
Ep 5 - The scene when the Gifted confronted Korn about what he did. The tears which overflowed Pang's eyes when he asked Korn the reason for his action.
Ep 6 - Where everything went crazy. Like, OMG WTS they killed off Korn just like that. And as if not enough, they killed off Time just like that. (Those were my thoughts at that moment, but we know that they survived)
This was where Nanon's acting shone most for me in Season 2. The scene where he stood in silence when Korn jumped off the ledge before his eyes. The single stream of tears rolling down his cheeks when Time died. And finally the outburst he had in his room, shouting and choking on tears on the floor. That was very convincing.
Ep 6 - I agree with the ladies that they should find Korn first to find out the truth, since given the authorities' track record, the fact would probably be glossed over if they found Korn first. However, I don't understand the ladies' blind support for Korn, because regardless of his reasons, he did spread the virus (in his own words) and that is a criminal act to be punished for. I don't get why Claire doesn't understand Punn here. To be betrayed by a friend, to be stabbed by a friend, isn't it normal reaction to get angry? I empathised with Punn here, but following his change in character in subsequent episodes, I felt angry with him for losing trust in his friends so easily.
[/SPOILER]
I think that was what worked for me in Season 2. There might be some gaps in the plot still, but those could be easily overlooked as the plot charged onwards with tons of plot twists in each episode.
There was no particular person who won my full support throughout Season 2. There were moments where I empathised with a character, and moments where I disagreed or feel angry with him/her. Rather than lose interest, I actually felt more engaged in the series because the characters were multi-layered and realistic. It's actually easier said than done, because it's easy to make the viewer feel annoyed with the characters to the extent that they stop caring and drop the series all together. Well-balanced in here!
I think another reason I found Season 2 better executed is the storytelling style. In Season 1, over half of the series was presented in an episodic style where we were introduced each student's potential in each episode. It wasn't easy to build a strong connection between episodes and make sure each character remains relevant to the plot beyond their episode. Season 1 didn't manage to do this well.
However in Season 2, woah. There was a strong central conflict delivered from ep 5 onwards and every episode goes to pushing towards the final resolution. Every single episode had a plot twist that caught me by surprise.
The acting of all of the cast members this time round was very impressive. Nanon, Chimon, Gun, Fiat had very intense scenes to act out and they fully delivered, going beyond their usual range of emotions and facial expressions.
I appreciate that the final episode gave closure, but was open enough to create thought provoking questions about the aftermath. Season 3 please! I think Pang opened a can of worms, and the gang should return to solve it!
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