D.P. Season 2 (2023)

Do not miss this gem!

This drama is not your typical drama. When it comes to topics this important in the society, i'm always cautious about it. But since i liked the first season i guessed i would like the second one and i wasn't wrong.

Each and every episode was important, a powerful story, a sad story , much more because part of it is true, real people in real life have actually suffered these abuses and that was the scary part.

The acting was fantastic, i mean Jung Hae In was phenomenal in this, i have loved him since his drama "one spring night" and it was an absolute delight to watch him in this one too, it's always nice to watch a versatile actor. Son Suk Ku i noticed him in " my liberation notes" and i was impressed! i am looking forward his next projects. Unfortunately i can't write about each and every actor, they all did a very good job.

If you are looking for a down to earth drama, with realistic acting, and heartbreaking stories and maybe a ray of hope, this drama is for you.! A 9/10 for me, i recommend it.

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Relevant, impactful and satisfying Season 2, I would have loved to have more episodes

The second season of D.P. takes place just after the events of the season 1, directly following the impact and consequences of its shocking ending. The story takes an almost slightly political turn as the external world (with the media and the overall public) gets more involved in the plot.

Instead of focalising mainly on the internal aspects and almost day-to-day life of the soldiers, the season 2 of the series brings a higher level view, with the cases followed by the D.P. military unit almost all interconnected and supporting somewhat a central storyline. I found this quite interesting, but maybe a bit less poignant regarding the more political parts of the script.

Special mention to the few "side-cases" followed by the D.P. soldiers: the writer still managed to bring something new to the table with topics not discussed in the 1st season and there were some properly gut-wrenching moments. I honestly would have wanted even more of those "side-cases" episodes, as it feels that so many issues regarding the military life could/should be discussed.

The cast is still as amazing as in previous season. The chemistry between our four main characters continues working superbly well. The antagonistic figures are also pretty convincing: it was quite easy to get scared of them and to root for the heroes without them being too caricatural. I was truly impressed once again by the various cameos / guest actors: their parts were overall small but really impactful and they are the ones that will leave on me the more lasting impression.

The production remains very good overall. There are some well-constructed sets that allowed really good action sequences scenes. I was totally immersed by the shift of atmosphere in some of the locations where the characters were brought for some of the storylines. The soundtrack is still not memorable to me but is efficiently conveying an almost gloomy and depressing feelings, totally fitting for the thematic.

I would recommend this to people that have seen the first season of the series of course. Even if I found the first season more striking and powerful overall, this second season is worth it and provide a satisfying conclusion to the story. I cannot get enough of these characters, so I would gladly watch if there are a season 3. There are indeed so much more stories on military life and deserters that could be told...but I also think a sequel is not needed and I am happy as well if it ends on this note.

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DP1 was excellent - DP2 is genius

I thought DP2 would dine out on the success of DP1, but it did not. It was better, bolder, darker. It did not have as much humour but I was okay with this due to the way S1 ended and the need to conclude the heart wrenching final scene. The writing, directing and acting were excellent. I have to give Jung Haein a special mention due to his brilliant acting skills. He says so much without saying a word. His eyes and facial expressions convey so much. I can understand why he was chosen for the face of DP.
DP gave a voice to all those men who were bullied, demeaned, abused, who did not receive help and support, committed suicide while doing their duty to protect their country and its people.
Well done Team DP. You deserve awards for Best Drama, Best Writers, Best Director and Best Actor for Jung Haein.
Will there be DP3? The ending may gives us a clue!

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You can’t beat the system, but you can try

I say this every time but it’s so much harder to put into words how you feel about something you love than the opposite. I don’t know why that is true for me, but I’m going to try my best.

This show is so spectacular. I’m so glad it shines a light on something I rarely see talked about. It is obviously a follow-up to the previous season and it doesn’t hesitate to get right into the cliffhanger it left the viewers off on.

This show is not an easy watch, hence why the rewatch value is not as high. Its deals with extremely dark topics and while it has its lighthearted moments, this season doesn’t have as much as the first. I think that was for the better though considering we really get into the systemic oppression and how prevalent it is this time around. Despite not being easy to watch, it is all the more worthwhile.

The abuse of power in the South Korean military and how the government plays a role in that is highlighted in this season and really makes the viewer think. An incident may be singular to a specific base, but the system that built the environment that caused said incident has a lot of the blame to take. This is what I think is one of the overall messages of the show. The system is what is flawed not the people put into it.

The other message I believe this show has is that even if you can’t beat the system, you can damn well try. And try as hard as they can these characters do. None of them are perfect, each making their own mistakes along the way, but that is what is driving them to do better. I understand some people didn’t like the lack of justice by the end of it, but this show hasn’t sugar-coated anything before, and they definitely aren’t going to now. The true reality is that a few people can’t take down a decades long way of doing things especially when backed by the government. It’s their willingness to try that matters.

This show is undoubtedly more so about the people that make up the system than anything. The deserters, the ones pursuing them, the ones left back at the base. All of them have a part to play.

The cast in this is once again fantastic. The main four were just as good if not better than last season. Seeing Junho’s progression as a character was amazing and Jung Haein acted his ass off. Koo Kyuhwan was also great, especially when we meet Hoyeol again and it’s clear he has been greatly impacted by what happened last season. I really liked that the characters of Park Beom-gu and Lim Ji-seop were given more screen time and depth this season. Both of the actors who played them respectively were great. The actor who played Kim Ru-ri was also superb.

The guest cast was also amazing. My love for Choi Hyunwook is strong, but he was genuinely really good here. Definitely the darkest role he’s had thus far in his career. But the real standout for me was Bae Nara as Nina. He absolutely broke my heart and was the story that for me was most emotionally impactful.

The ending of this season was also a tear-jerker but in a bit more of a positive way. I don’t see them doing another season, despite Junho still having a year left of his service, I think they said what they needed to say and will leave it at that. The purpose of this show is poignant and I hope everyone whether they liked this show or not at least comes away from viewing it with that in mind.

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This drama picks up where S1 left off, but I feel like the story didn't progress much within this season. Still working to change the system from the inside and working against even the military itself.

The acting is incredible as always. Every character does a really great job, but the two ML's and their bromance are always the best part to this drama. Their chemistry is incredible.

I wish we could get more episodes within a season because sometimes I feel like the stories that they are telling within them are important, but quickly told so you get to feel for the character... but it feels rushed. There were definitely less "cases" than last season I felt, it was mostly focused on the case that ended S1.

Incredible show, beautifully shot and masterfully acted. Speaks on some heavy topics that should be spoken about. Just wish we could get more of it!

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Only liked ep2
Last ep got too courty
Both mls suffer from severe depression but neither know or know how to treat it

Idk I feel like this should’ve been one season
It’s a more continuation than shadows detective

Tbh I didn’t pay attention to ep1 then everything happened in ep2 and afterwards it was like anime filler and now they’re back to continuing the same story

Like isn’t short hair the wife of that dude that used to work with evil guy? Now she’s suddenly a lawyer?
And yoon sunbae, was her brother in s1? Cuz I only remember 3ppl from that season the two from ep2 here and jun

I love watching the end credits the ost is on point ?

I didn’t like choi hyun wook but he did a great job here?

Humans suck… instead of saying I’m sorry my son was a monster and made yours turn into a killer… they bullied the mom…

The twist of that ahjussi kicking and the lady being that dudes wife ?
But then the twist of 2ml filming rui ???? the whole scene had me CRYING ? then that ending???? I’m not emotionally prepared ??????

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One of the best dramas

Seriously, what a good drama. The episodes kept me hooked from start to finish, the story is very well crafted. I felt so angry at that military militia, I really hope that next season they can defeat them.
I am completely surrendered to the friendship of Jun-ho and Ho-yun, they're so cute and care for each other so much, it is a sight to see the relationship of friendship, brotherhood and partnership that they have developed. Mr. Park is another sweetheart, he treats them like his children and that captivates me so much. I also loved the partnership that Mr. Park and Lim developed this season, and at the end, Mr. Park saying that Mr. Lim had to be well to protect the boys, that moved me.
And speaking of the ending, it was very realistic to show that that bullier from the first season continued his life normally outside the army (and that made me furious).
That extra scene in the last episode left me in doubt, was he really alive? It was an illusion, a dream of Jun-ho? I really hope it's true.
One thing I didn't see talked about was what happened to the character of Choi Hyun Wook, did he survive?
Another thing that touched me was Nina's story, it was so sad because she so deserved a happy ending.

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CONTINUAL PLOTS FROM SEASON 1

I was kind of predicted that Joon-Ho (Jung Hae-In) would deserted the ARMY from how he doubted himself on Season 1. So, it was predictable but with different angle to solve run-away soldiers or continual problem of the system. Basically, the change won't happen when the upper level officials keep blind eyes. When bullying persists and officials close their eyes to the suffering, soldiers bond to give up and one result is running away from the bad situation they're in. It started when a soldier Kim Ru Ri killed the whole squad in shooting spree, injured many and killed a few. He got caught back under security but found out Army covered the incident with possibly wrongful time decease - for the fact few more were died due to delaying rescue because of bureaucratic system of chain in command. Ahn Joon-Ho had the UB-file to prove the wrong doing, being chased by the people to hand down the evidence. He maneuver people around him to win the on-going case in court, got beaten up.

Not as many Deserters as the first season but more horrific plots. If Season 1 & Season 2 combined was more likely one regular Korean drama, The development of the characters were evolving, Joon Ho's supervisors matured in handling crisis, took risks to prevent the system's mistakes. There's an indication that might have Season 3 as Han Ho-Yul leaved ARMY for good while Joon-Ho was still continue his service. Jung Hae-In was great maintaining his charm in boyish tough look. I think he looked better in here than any other of his dramas. Little comic added lightness to this drama....

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Very different score to season one

Although they did a true continuation from the ending of season one, they probably should have kept it as is... based on this season two. The reasons why I loved season one, took a few steps back in this follow up. Unlike the pacing of a real feel previously, they've upped the dramatics and tried to do too much in a small number of episodes. Because they tried to do too much, there were multiple holes in the plot which became confusing.

However, it's not terrible by any means. Just that season two took the entirety into the average zone. There is potential for them to bring it back up to par if they manage to fill in the gaps on all the unanswered questions and provide the rationales for certain actions into a season three. For the time being, the slightly higher scoring on this is to give a nod to season one as I've already become invested in the characters from it (and because of this, season two still triggered a few tears).

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I need a S3!

PLOT

It may not be as strong as the first season, but still pretty amazing. The length of each season is ideal based on the ep duration. The plot is interesting. The progress and maturing between co workers relationships it's so obvious. The pushing aside their ego to support a reason and give justice to the unfair system is such a strong connection. All the bullying environment is so emotional and sad, that I was questioning myself "what would've I done if I had witnessed anything disturbing with my eyes".

ACTING

The whole crew is so good. But I have to point out Jung Hae In's performance. His serious face and the ability to play an action drama except of romance proves how he can adapt completely to each occasion. Also his bro chemistry with Koo Kyo Hwan was outstanding. Wish I see more of them together in the future.

S3?

Based on our main character, he has one more year till his dismissal from the army. As he said, the story just started, so I hope that they will continue it and show more internal fights of contrasting army's ignorance and avoidance of taking responsibility.

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How hard is it to stand behind your actions?

Very thought provoking season, once again. Script wasn't as stable as in S1, but delivered the message. Was happy when SSK & KSK got more screentime.

We humans have created the system with hierarcy. Then how come no one does anything if there's such a big & brutal phenomenom as here? How come grown-up adults cannot stand behind their actions and don't take responsibility when they're supposed to?

I really, really hope that, as this case is real, people could carry their responsibility even for this once. I really, really hope that ?? defence forces takes this case under investigation and comes out with concrete, long-span & influential actions in all of its levels. Same if this is happening in some other country.

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