After giving the first season a high rating (9.0), I was hoping that I could give Busted 2 a similar rating but no. And here's why:
(I'll try to keep this as unspoiler-y as possible)
* The Stories/Cases: The Cases were nice for the most part but a bit repetitive like how they used the same premise twice for different cases. There also was SO MUCH DRIVING. I don't mind if you send them different places but all that effort and then they only solve 1-2 puzzles at each place? What a waste. Also, they had a whole season culminating in a honestly thrilling finale only to basically never mention it again after Episode 1. Yes, some people get "recycled" or have some kind of impact on the story but still.
* The Cast: (Here's where they lost the most points)
I already knew that Kwang Soo wouldn't be part of it, so I am not subtracting points for that. My Main Problems are two in particular - while I know that everyone has a role to fill, static roles get boring REALLY fast. Sadly I have seen very little change in their respective roles. Jong Min is the Stupid One, Sehun is the Competitive One and Jae Wook is the One that should but doesn't (if you know what I mean) - and that's exactly what leads to problem number 2. Min Young is intelligent, she's clever, everything fine and dandy. But her being seemingly the only clever one does a serious disservice to the rest of the team. At nearly every puzzle she is either the one to solve it or the one that gets called when someone gets stuck. It gets boring and annoying really REALLY fast and doesn't put her in the best light. Another thing that kind of irked me was the fact that, although doing very little himself, Jae Suk was nagging the others whenever he got the chance - about Jong Min saying something dumb, about Sehun being competitive, about his own perceived intelligence, he always found something to nag the others about. Also, Busted 2 is an especially LOUD show this time around - every time something unexpected happens, the ladies (and some of the gentlemen) screech or shout into your ears, giving you tinnitus.
* The Ending: Oh My God! Please, let's not talk about the ending. Apart from it being pretty obvious how it all is gonna end, it was just unsatisfying. I was hoping for some twists and turns and while there were twists, they couldn't soften the bad decisions that were made regarding that ending. The Ending could have been stellar, sadly it was more like a soft fart in a tornado just to keep the door open for a potential season 3.
All in All it is a fine show but I simply expected more after season 1...
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Excellent follow up to the first season, I loved it very much and did not disappoint me. The production is just mind-blowing, some of the sets and the scale of the cases is unbelievable, as well as the guests in this season. I appreciate that they expanded the world building in this season in a way, that created a unique show, but at the same time, if you did not see the first season, you could watch this one anyway. They created a new overarching mystery using some of the guests who showed up in multiple episodes which made the interaction with the hosts just a whole different kind of entertaining. They also kept a nice balance of individual/stand alone cases and inter connected ones.
The addition of Lee Seung Gi was very nice. He has a good sense of what the audience likes and he brought in a nice dynamic. I also read that because of Ahn Jae Wook's scandal they re-edited some of the episodes and it is true that he just appears in the bare minimum, but you notice it only when you focus on it. I am glad that they kept him on and didn't make any weird zooms on the others or edit him out completely.
The second season is still very, very funny, but the funny moments are not abundant like they were in the first season. I was trying to get into it with an open mind, but I just have to comment on the fact, that it was missing Lee Kwang Soo a bit. Other than that, this is still one of the best variety out there and time just passes by when you get into it.
Was this review helpful to you?
Jae Suk- pretty much the same from the first season and again very funny to watch.
Min Young- you could tell this season she was a bit out of it during some episodes because at this point everyone came to just rely on her and it wasn't really fair.
Sehun and Sejung really stepped up this season and were less background players and more main role.
Jong Min- as always, the idiot, but it seemed more exacerbated this season. Must admit though I felt in a couple episodes that he was actually really trying.
Jae Wook- what happened? He was practically nonexistent this season. It honestly just felt to me that he was there to fulfill some sort of contractual agreement.
Looks like there will be a third season and even though this latest season was a bit of a disappointment, I still look forward to it.
Was this review helpful to you?
the level of the twist was vernica mars s4 level.. and I actually think this season felt more scripted and that they had more adlib in the 1st season. I mean, it's not a drama, but it's not a variety show..
the camera work sucks and and editing was too rushed during the solving of the puzzles.. it's not all bad per say, but I prefer crime scene (which I highly miss) and the great escape.
the cast though were 10+ everyone did great, especially the girls❤ the best part is that they actually let them have their own characters. and sehunnie baby did great too!
it's kinda smart that they used high skilled actors for the side characters, it almost felt real ;p
my rewatch values are either a 1 or 10, and this is fine with one watch ;p
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
I score this...100/10
I just finished watching this drama, and let me say, i don't think I've ever laughhed so hard in my life. This drama is so full of energy, and is so funny. It's hard not to laugh while watching. Having Lee Seunggi join the cast was really nice. The whole series there was twists and turns, and i just loved keeping up with the whole thing. Trying to find out the culprit is honestly so much fun!! And can i just say the twist at the end of the series shocked me so much!!! There needs to be a season 3 for this drama, like it can not just end like this. From episode 1 one there was so many twist, but the ending twist beat them all. Some of the new guests made me laugh so hard, i actually started crying. Honestly, this season was alot better than season 1. I mean i love season 1, it's funny and the guests are just wow. But this season everything was connected to one another, it made me think so many times, and over all it just seemed more planned and natural to be honest. Anyway i hope Busted! has a season 3!!Was this review helpful to you?
The best part of it was that the people watching could also play along sometimes when the detectives were solving problems which made it interactive.
I think both seasons were equally as good as each other. I really loved the fact that lee seung gi joined the cast, it was fun to see him interact with the other detectives and take part.
However i was sad that lee kwang soo had to leave due to other shootings but pverally the show was still entertaining.
I CANT WAIT FOR SEASON 3 especially since LKS is returning but i do hope lee seung gi will carry on being a cast memeber to.
If your looking for something fun, easy to watch and something with suspense then this is your drama to watch. Thank u !!!!
Was this review helpful to you?
Definitely an upgrade from Season 1
This the second season of Busted and it was really a great upgrade from the first season. The story is still connected from the first season but it's independent on it's own. There's a new plot line to watch for. The episodes are really upgraded from the previous season and it can still wrack your mind because when you're about to make your guess and be confident about it you will never be too sure until it revealed what's true.Changes on the cast didn't affect much in terms of the excitement. The new characters were as good as the previous cast that left. The guests are still high end like the previous season and keeps you from wanting more. The comedy is still there but the mystery will keep you on your toes as the plot twists are unpredictable.
I'm already waiting for the third season. Full season from Season 1 is highly recommended.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Best season of Busted series
범인은 바로 너 season 2 is still the best season from all season of 범바너 seriesI love how well written this season and the pace was great and all episodes and stories were intertwined with each other and all of them centered to the flower killer
Yoo Jaesuk, well he's Yoo Jaesuk, the main character even though he's not the smartest but he always excecuting the crucial parts
Park Min Young, the brain, what would busted team do without her
Kim Jong Min, comedic releave, he's funnier in this season
Ahn Jae Wook, a reliable oldest member, too bad his scandal happened
Sehun, he did way better than season 1, more relax and always thinking out of the box
Sejeong, the reliable youngest member and happy pill, she and Park Min Young literally the brain of Busted team
Lee Seunggi, even though he's * he is still a great additional though he joined in the middle of season 2, Sehun and him are funniest duo
Lee Kwangsoo, he only appear in episode 1, it's sad but the team still carried on without him
Was this review helpful to you?
Fun but Slightly Disappointing Compered to Season 1
As the title explains, Busted Season 2 essentially continued the previous season's unique premise and continued teasing out the storyline with a slightly modified cast and format.After episode 1, it seemed like Season 2 was going to be even better than the first. However, the show had more bumps in between than expected.
First of all, the bickering and pure variety moments of the show still prevailed, providing numerous funny moments. However, it struggled to create a solid overarching story. While Season 1's story was by no means perfect, it managed to make each episode feel like a piece of a cohesive puzzle; however, Season 2's story felt disjointed.
One particular episode was the Iz*one episode, which felt unnatural and insignificant. While the writers did succeed in tying everything together in the final episodes, the episodes just didn't feel satisfyingly connected. So, while there were some more scenes and the cast was much more immersed in their characters, none of it added anything.
Therefore, Busted 2 was fun and definitely interesting, but didn't have the same satisfaction and allure throughout the series. as Season 1.
Also, shout out to Kim Min Jae. His character was probably one of the best and I constantly looked forward to seeing him throughout the series.
Was this review helpful to you?
It's a variety must-watch
I don't have much to say about this except that I howled with laughter all the way through the season. It has such a fantastic cast, and the situations that the crew put them through were so funny. I really, really hope I get to see these people interacting again someday.Thanks to this season, I will be looking for a drama with Lee Seung Gi. I'd say the same for Kim Sejeong, but I became a fan of hers after watching Season 1 already - and the reason I started the show at all was that I already liked Sehun and Park Min Young. The cast is just A+.
Was this review helpful to you?
watch at your own risk!
personally, I gave 10 for this season because some things really shocked me and I laughed a lot, but this review here is being done in a more critical way to alert people who want to watch it.differently from the 1st season, I feel that the episodes of this one had more production and development. but on the other hand, people who decide to watch this one may find it difficult to continue the first eps, because of the lack of kwang soo and some things like: they forcing min young as the genius of the group, which doesn’t mean she isn’t, but it gets boring with them reinforcing it all the time; you can miss jae wook a little since they cut his screen time, and lastly, the fact that some cases were not 100% completed during the season which can leave some people frustrated (like me). despite the negative points, in many episodes we can still see their friendship and naturalness being the same, and appreciate the good choice of guests (who were amazing)!
Was this review helpful to you?
Sadly, this season had exactly what made me almost drop season one - too much script. The thing I loved about season one was the fact the cast was rarely ever seriously in the characters, and they themselves kept making jokes about the games and the "seriousness" of the cases. Here we got the opposite of that. Everything has been scripted, and with the ending like that I felt like no games nor cases were truly organic.
There was also less variety in the cases and "supporting" characters, since all the cases were strongly connected. The best episodes were the ones that felt the most different from the overall theme.
Sadly IZ*ONE's episode felt like a filler and did not have the same level of excitement like the others. Same goes for episode 9, which was nothing more than a heavy exposition and explanation. More than half of it was us watching the cast watch something else, and definitely not enough interactive elements.
The star of the season was for sure Min Jae. His character was fun to watch, and even more entertaining was when he broke out of it when the jokes were too much to handle.
I still had a lot of fun watching, but I do feel a small dose of disappointment compared to season one.
Was this review helpful to you?
