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[Drama Review] 'The K2' - Episode 2

Posted by AllK_Maknae21 pts Tuesday, September 27, 2016
YoonA, Ji Chang Wook

Have you ever watched a thrilling drama yet wonder where all the action is? Wonder no more, as 'The K2' has been saving it all for this episode. Like any good show, it is always the second episode that packs the punch.


SEE ALSO: YoonA marks 10 years as main MC of the 2024 MBC Music Festival, bidding farewell to the role


Quite possibly the real bad bish of this series. Look at that side eye.  


Episode two finally delivers what the pilot was lacking - more intense dialogue. Not only were the fight scenes a lot more elaborate and less 'Street Fighter' in episode two, but also the storyline got juicy and fast! Yoo Jin's assistant has a little more time under the limelight and proves to be just as dastardly wicked as Yoo Jin. I sense her playing a more prominent role in future episodes as she was shown to have a lot of involvement in the capturing of Girls' Generations YoonA's character Anna, the death of her mother, and even the alteration of her memory as she is seen drugging Anna as a child and tricking her into following her to Spain.


Viewers can feel a bit more at ease because questions were finally answered as we discover a bit more about certain characters. Yoo Jin's secretary wasn't the only character revealing more back stories - Anna is shown to have spent some time in a hospital and even convicted of the murder of her mother. This portion of episode two was a bit tricky as it revisited the murder scene quite often. While episode one portrays Anna walking in on the murder of her mother before being captured, episode two shows Anna giving her mother sleeping pills to overdose with. This led her to believe she was guilty and killed her own mother. 



YoonA skillfully plays the role of the traumatized Anna.


Rehashing these events are a key element in making a drama's storyline more ambiguous but also entertaining, such as Anna being frozen in the street and the blinding lights of cars tossing her back into her troubled past. 


As the episodes continue, hopefully, it will disclose more information regarding the matter because Anna's past is still unclear. While viewers are learning she is the assemblyman's daughter, Yoo Jin expresses how Anna is her source of power over the assemblyman and for winning the presidency. Too bad that all started going downhill once a famous designer, Jean Paul, uploads a photo of Anna during one of her many escapes, running through the streets on Instagram. #OOTD. 


Viewers can also enjoy Ji Chang Wook's character Je Ha even more as episode two portrays him as the total badass he is supposed to be. The J.S.S security chief reveals Je Ha was a Special Ops. Agent, trained with higher skills than soldiers in Iraq due to his time spent in the Black Stones - which is another PMC (Private Military Company). He was believed to even be working under ISIS (crazy, I know) until he was found again in Korea. 



Finally, a gun showdown occurs during a flashback in Je Ha's past.


I wasn't expecting Je Ha to be bionic or have some sort of superpower, but the whole renegade cop act is worn out in my opinion. It fits the plot but isn't the real flash in the pan concept-wise. Believe it or not, Anna's past seems more ambiguous and unique in comparison.


That aside, the drama starts to escalate into something more complex. Je Ha was unaware he was being hunted down by new foes but continued pulling all the stops to be sure he wouldn't be found so easily by anyone. Stealing army uniforms and hiding out with farmers, he blended in the best way any drifter could... that is... until he was captured!



"I don't like when people yell," whispers Je Ha before breaking his hands.


The best fight scene hands down occurs when a hit man gets involved. My desire for intense action was fulfilled when Je Ha is preparing to break the hitman's hands with a hammer (which was totally boss) until it is revealed to Je Ha that Yoo Jin and J.S.S are the ones hunting him down.


Surely many viewers anticipated another game of hide-and-seek but I must say, despite his sudden yet impressive confrontation right in Yoo Jin's living room, his capture was pretty disappointing. You wouldn't think someone with such a colorful past and top training would be captured so easily by Yoo Jin's secretary and escorts by tasers. But it made for the best escape and fight scene after!



If only they had their guns aimed at Yoo Jin instead...


While Yoo Jin thought she owned Je Ha with her bad bitch line "You won't kill me next time, because there won't be a next time," Je Ha strikes back and let his skills do the talking - which made this drama finally live up to the action-packed trailers. Je Ha's cringeworthy escape from the handcuffs in the back of a car had me holding my hands in disbelief. While the possibility is debatable, it was clever to see him pour oil over his wrists and slide his hand, in spite of its peeling his skin back, free from the handcuffs. 



This scene had me screaming like the viral "No, No, No, No, No" cat.


Unfortunately, this evolves into another 1 vs. 10 battle scene, carrying on somewhat unrealistic fighting styles yet again. The fact that viewers are left questioning what else he could possibly do to escape is what makes these fight scenes more enticing compared to the previous episode. Je Ha luckily takes down a group of men while being tasered and battered a bit himself, which diminishes the Superman-like expectations viewers may have established since he suffers some hits himself.


Whether he was wounded or not, I still found myself amazed by this escape and figured that would be the only jaw-dropping moment, being 50 minutes deep into the drama after all, but episode two didn't hold back. Je Ha doesn't just escape and walk away, he walks right back upstairs and holds a gun straight to Yoo Jin's head. 



I made that same face at my old boss everyday, I WILL CUT YOU.


The crazy in me was yelling, "Shoot her- take her down NOW!!!" But Anna was right there with me as she walks in on the crucial moment shouting the same thing. Of course, episode two ends with Je Ha looking her in the eyes, realizing who she is and then- boom, end credits. Leaving the viewers, including myself, looking like the WTF Jackie Chan meme, impatiently waiting for Episode 3 of 'The K2.'


SCORE

Plot........................8

Performance...7

Pacing...................8


OVERALL............7.6

  1. YoonA
  2. Ji Chang Wook
  3. THE K2
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