Duty after School: Part 2 (2023)

Unpopular Opinion :>

Starting from Part-1 of DAS, I was impressively amazed by the unique storyline, because most "fantasy" is only time-travel or zombies. But this drama totally stood out from others, when I started this drama I loved how the performance of each actor were amazing, there are some idol actors and they did a wonderful job too. It is sometimes fun, sometimes sad and sometimes worried but the feeling I got while watching this is indescribable. Although most people hate Part 2 for the ending, I love it because of how different it is from others. As someone who is obsessed with sad endings, this is not just "sad" this portrays many life lessons. I liked their friendship, and the adventure but what I love the most is the tragedy of this drama, of course, it's acceptable for a high-school student who worked extremely hard their whole life for their future ahead, and when everything got ruined he might become crazy. This is a masterpiece, and I love how the last 4 survive and go on different paths, it is life, no matter how we were too close at some point, one day we all will be on different ways, have different futures, and a different endings. I didn't wrote any review for Part-1 cuz most people have the same opinion as me but I wrote for this because of my different thoughts. :)

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Great premise succumbing to strange writing choices

I don't need a drama to have a happy ending, that's not at all why I dislike the ending of DAS so much (other than me having basically hate watched a drama for the first time overall) but the ending of Duty After School didn't feel earned. Had they all been massacred by the aliens I feel like much less people would have complained about the ending, even though it would have been just as sad. I think the issue comes up with this decision clearly having been made in the last two episodes. While yes Yeong Soo had been established from the get go as weird and a bit of an outcast at times, none of his behavior previously was showing signs of being prone to psychosis, sexual assault or violence. So to be faced with a character suddenly doing these things from a viewer's perspective is odd.

From a character perspective or even real life you definitely never know when someone will snap, you might even call the sudden change realistic in that case but again, we are watching a drama, we are a viewer from the outside who thrpughout the drama always had a 3rd perspective on everything happening with details unbeknownst to the characters. So based on that perspective it didn't feel conclusive. Instead it felt like they were suddenly looking for a reason to give the viewers a shocking ending. Especially the way it cut immediately to the end of the literal apocalypse with the solution to the very problem they spent 8 episodes fighting being mentioned on the side with a quick "Oop they developed a new weapon and now all is well." Those two aspects in combination were jarring when you just spent a whole drama watching characters being focused on survival just for it to all end abruptly by something they didn't spend time building up to.

There is of course so much more wrong with the drama than the ending but I don't wanna write more paragprahs about all the plot holes, strange characterizations or bad chemistry. In the end the acting is really great, the premise is fun but the drama succumbs to a lot of bad choices and for me personally, a lack of relatable or even just sympathetic characters.

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Hectic Ending but Still...

The sense of confusion you got after Kim Chi woke up at school and found out everyone is still alive...

SNAP BACK TO REALITY when Na Ra woke him up from the shooting scence followed by a fore event of Jang Soo getting attacked by a sphere then turned out to be Yeong Soo starting off a mascare,
a part of me wished this wasn't true and would be saved by anthor SNAP BACK TO REALITY moment but it didn't...

The ending rapping scene got me smiling while wiping my tears like (those mfs have just broke my heart how could they sing just like that)

My takeout from the ending/show is when Kim Chi said "The most important thing in life was the warmth of my friends"

The ending is very witty and depicts the delusions and scenarios we make up in our minds to overcome the pain

the show made me feel every humane feeling deeply and that's enough for me

Ohh... and the very ending scene of their graduation really twitched my heart, I don't see it as an alternative ending
it's a consolidation from a parallel universe

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umm this was the ending ? SPOILERS AHEAD

I loved the first part so much, i think it did quite a good job but the second part is where it all went down hill. Where did Won Bin go ? He was with the class and the next season he wasn't. Maybe the actor couldn't film or they didn't want to write his character in but they could have at least did some goodbye or mention where his character had left to.

We're transported into this new place where the characters have well, changed drastically since the leaders passing, which i honestly thought the character development had gone quite well.. well that was until the ending.

To get started, the kids break up into teams and continue killing the spheres and going out for ammo, food, resources, etc. This results into two of the biggest events in part two, the prison scene and one of their friends dying and they don't know how. The prison scene i think was one of the worst scenes to happen in the show but i can let it slide if it was necessary for the plot. however i think the sexual assault scene was completely unnecessary and did nothing but show that BoRa actually did care for Ae Sol all along. But that couldve easily been portrayed in other ways. The classmate's death was semi necessary to create animosity between the characters but i hated how they portrayed it to be something suspenseful just for him to have fallen to his death because of the spheres..

The ending though is really ridiculous as we have another sexual assault scene followed up by everyone's death. Yeong Soo's character in general was so horrible from start to finish. He's poor so he still cares about college while the world is ending ? i suppose there could be someone out there like that but it still felt so pointless. Then he starts hallucinating and going "insane" and sexually assaults soyeon all because he continously made creepy advances towards her and then felt insulted by her ?? then hallucinates and kills his whole classroom because "no one can find out what happened" as if the bodies with gun shot wounds won't be retrieved later?? it all just felt like a very lazy and unjustified ending. I don't mind having only a few survivors at the end but .. that was a horrible way to go about it honestly. Maybe that was supposed to be the point though ? to not give hormonal, stressed, angsty teenagers hold mass weapons of destruction ?? regardless though, there was so many plotholes and the ending was done very poorly.

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WHO WROTE THIS STORY?

On positive side: The casts and their acting is good. They do good job on their character. The music is pretty good. Liked the OST at the end of the show. Thats all the good thing about the show. I was looking forward to this show as this was unique compared to other apocalyptic shows. I liked the setting and the casts so I had high hopes. First part of the show is pretty good but not impressive. Still very watchable and also good enough for rewatch but whats up with the 2nd part? Who wrote this story. How does this even make any sense to end the show like that. Sure some people may be pretty crazy about their grades and achievements from school but this is too much like damn. I watched all 10 episodes and all for this half based ending that doesn't even make sense??. Yup I am nobody to write this kind of review but if you guys got too much time to waste, this show is the one. What a waste

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If you liked the first part DO NOT WATCH PART 2

After watching part 1 of DAS I thought I had an idea of what was to come. I knew that of course our cast was pretty big so there were going to be some deaths. But I did not expect the last plot twist.

First, where TF is Mr. Won Bin?

Second, the plot of the prisoners.. was that really necessary? I mean we get to know that it has been a month since when Mr. Lee and the explosion at the university. It is not bad to assume that the prisoners have been there for more than a month... how are they still alive? and how did the spheres not make an appearance to them? The prison is empty so that would've shown the prisoners that something was going on.. and there were windows in the cells too. Aside from the illogical holes, the sexual harassment plot of the prisoners to Ae Sol was also not necessary like we get it.. they are prisoners that probably murdered someone but really?

Last, and most definitely the most disappointing part was Guk Yeong Soo's arc.. I mean what? Honestly, I would have been fine if the characters that died, died in the spheres instead of GYC.. i would've been fine if they all committed suicide together because they decided not to return to society or something. But really?
If they had to go this route, why not develop this arc more throughout part one? The foreshadowing that GYC is slowly going crazy in would have been better than just snapping due to the CSAT being canceled. No, PTSD - or having the science Uni kids making our cast fight each other in order to obtain the resources... or literally anything.

+ small point: the main conflict of the drama (the spheres and how to kill them, etc) was handled off camera?!

I have seen some reviews saying that the joy at the amusement park was the ending but for me, the ending was with part one of this series. This show died when Mr. Lee and Won bin died. But I would like to commend the actors and actresses on this drama because even though the writing was bad, they did such an amazing job with the script.

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My Version of the Final Episode

HERE IS WHAT SHOULD'VE HAPPENED:
The students leave to go to Seoul to reunite with their parents. On their way they find the group that were heading to Seoul killed and that cements their idea that is best for all of them to remain together. They come across an amusement park and turn their dreary journey into an opportunity to enjoy themselves because they are uncertain of how the future will be. Footage of Su Cheol's death is found, and the others watch it. Yeong Soo is tripping balls after the cancellation of the CSATs and comes across So Yeon. He attacks her as she tries to fend him off and is knocked out. Il Ha comes across Yeong Soo kissing So Yeon and beats him up. During the fight a gun goes off and Il Ha is injured. Thinking that Il Ha is dead Yeong Soo tries to cover it up. Yeong Soo is found by the others who rushed to the area after hearing the shot. Yeong Soo is tied up and the students leave the area as spheres are drawing near. The group carries an unconscious Il Ha and a tied-up Yeong Soo to a nearby school to take refuge. Yeong Soo is paranoid that Il Ha will wake and tattle and manages to escape his ties and in his poor mental state conjures phantom spheres that he must defeat to earn more credits for college. He mistakes the other students and kills a few of them before they manage to stop him. The noise of the gunshots attracts more spheres and the injured and uninjured fight their way out losing more students in the process. Il Ha and his friend die in the fight to escape. The ones that survive eventually manage to find a way onto an abandoned outpost after the escape. Later the govt announces a new weapon and the alien threat is neutralized, and the word starts to rebuild. There is a memorial at the school to honor the students that were drafted in the military and didn't survive. A plaque with each of the fallen were at the base of the memorial to honor their sacrifice and bravery.

I thought the sudden death of so many of the students too abrupt and a poor ending for their growth, sacrifices, and struggles. So, I made an ending that was more honorable and didn't piss on the hardships that they endured and the on the people that they lost on the way while retaining the core of this poor episode.
This season overall was okay, and I would've been fine with it, but the end scenes were too much to justify that ending. To me it betrayed the previous episodes, including the previous season. It made all that happened a joke, basically pointless, a waste of time. I've seen people justify that there was a reason to his madness, and it was a fitting ending. But it could've been written better. Il Ha should have a heroic ending protecting a friend from the spheres. It would have fit more since people died because he was afraid. If Yeong Soo had is final break it didn't have to be a near complete massacre. I enjoyed the previous episodes before the last. I was just disappointed on how abrupt it was.

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Something that should’ve NEVER happened! Spoilers

Where do I start….

Part 1 was fantastic. It wasn’t totally perfect as there were some mistakes here and there, but overall It's a really good drama.

Part 2 was a mess from beginning to end. Nothing made sense! I had to double-check to see if I was watching the right drama because It felt like a completely different drama. I mean so different that you could honestly watch part 1 as a standalone series. In part 2, There were far too many plotholes, the pacing was weird, and the WHOLE second part felt rushed! I barely felt sad for any of the characters because I was confused. In the end, I was left with so many unanswered questions.

In terms of it being a realistic ending, I guess it all depends on how you look at it. For me, It didn’t give realistic because it was 16 vs 1. They were all better shooters, stronger, braver, and probably smarter than him. So for only 4 to survive doesn’t make sense. I think everyone was stuck on them being teenagers and forgot that they were technically trained soldiers. Trained soldiers who fought spheres, prisoners, and survived on their own. So I feel the minute Young-Soo shot Jang-Soo when he opened that door, they should’ve had their guns aimed and ready. Or even when So-Yeon told everyone what Young-Soo did, they should’ve been at least cautious. The Webtoon ending definitely made a lot more sense.

In my opinion, they should’ve waited to release part 2. Part 1 didn’t even have time to shine before they released part 2, which for some people ruined the whole drama. Now, I know DAS was made 2-3 years ago, so it’s hard to gather all the actors/actresses and reshoot part 2. Especially those who have current dramas or upcoming dramas, but they should've waited to see people’s reactions and go from there. From there, they could’ve either released the already-made part 2 or waited and tried to reshoot part 2. I don’t know about anyone else but I would’ve been fine with them reshooting part 2 and releasing it a year or two later.

Overall I still absolutely love part 1 and will continue to re-watch it. However, Part 2 I will pretend it doesn’t exist. It was alright, definitely traumatizing. I wouldn’t re-watch it.

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Such a Disappointment

This part 2 had so much potential and all it needed to do was to follow in part 1's footsteps. I'm pretty sure that we all loved the aliens' CGI, the way the students interacted with each other and with the soldiers and how they were trying to survive and find out what was behind the invasion and how to stop it. Well, part 2 took all of it from us.

It started after a timeskip (why?!) and all the students suddenly were miraculously good shooters, not afraid of the aliens anymore, not even the bigger ones. It was set in winter, yet the fact that the aliens could be killed by cold was simply glossed over by the fact that they somehow adapted to it. Won Bin was gone and absolutely no-one mentioned him even ONCE in the whole drama. We all should have probably stopped watching right after this, because it was clear that part 2 was beginning to steer in a totally different direction.

Instead of a sci-fi thriller, we got a psychological drama. Only a few aliens appeared, and they were mostly just talked about. We didn't learn anything new about them. At the end, it was explained that the army made some super deux ex machina weapon that killed 99% of the spheres. That was so cheap and still left us with so many unaswered questions. But not as cheap as one of the students going mad and killing almost all of his classmates. It was like the part 2 was an entirely different drama.

My final rating is 6.5/10, just because the actors did a wonderful job and the post-credit scene made it a little bit better.

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Sad but makes sense

Honestly feel like the whole story was well written even with the tragedy at the end. It feels very realistic because they are kids, even if they were pushed into war and grew up, you can't deny that they are still teenagers. So as annoying as all the whining and fighting was, it makes sense. Adults would be just the same, maybe even worse, we saw that during covid. As much as part 2 sucked for my heart I liked that it all ties together, realistically how likely were they all to survive. What really stuck was the ending where CSAT was "back to normal" with the protesters outside and students still taking exams with barely an explanation. That is the most real thing because as much as the adults say they care how the system is, they won't do anything about it. This entire show portrays the failure the adults are to kids, putting them in a war and convincing them that it was normal and proceeding to allow them to continue whilst holding the biggest exam in their lives like a reward in front of them as if they couldn't just die any moment.

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I dont just get that ending

I dont even know what to say. If im mean please i am sorry but the ending was shit. How will that guy just kill everybody. At least if they wanted to end the film quickly they could have made the spheres kill tyem not that guy. And whats this na, after all the whole drama on spheres and everything, tye endjng was suppose to be action and good, but i was shocked to see everyone killed by the guy, at first i thought maybe they will survive but what was that na, they died. And what was the thing they should in the ending abiut, when they should all of them in the class.
Aaah
The ending was a total trash
That was the worst ending i have ever seen
The film was aaaahhhh

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