The Glory: Part 2 (Review)

22 March 16, 2023March 17, 2023

by DaebakGrits

After slowly ramping up the tension in Part 1, the second half of The Glory picks up the pace as our heroine closes in on her prey. Although there are a few obstacles in her way, her road is mostly clear, and it becomes apparent that this revenge story isn’t so much about the journey as it is about the violent and satisfactory ending.

PART 2 REVIEW

The Glory was not a drama I expected to finish — let alone enjoy — because revenge stories, in my opinion, often require the largest amount of suspension of disbelief. So much can go wrong, especially when every piece of a character’s plan hinges heavily on the predictability of humans. And when you have a protagonist like MOON DONG-EUN (Song Hye-gyo), who announces her intentions early on — thus losing the advantage of the element of surprise — it seems even more unrealistic that her revenge will be enacted successfully. But a large part of this drama’s appeal stems from Dong-eun’s confidence that she will be successful, and given that she’s had 17 years to plan the perfect revenge, the anticipation lies not in will she execute her plan but in how.

The drama’s first half clearly established the reasons the audience should root for Dong-eun, and certainly didn’t pull any punches in explaining Dong-eun’s backstory. It was violent, gruesome, and left lasting scars — literal and psychological — on Dong-eun. The sheer injustice of the situation made me vicariously vengeful, and who cares about pragmatism and plot holes when all you want is to watch the story’s villains fall from their towers and burn in their own personal hell?

The Glory: Part 2 (Review)

Revenge K-dramas also have a history of shying away from the line between heroes and villains, and more often than not, the protagonist of a revenge drama tends to naively uphold a code of morals aligned with the very justice system that either failed them or helped to create the opponent they’re up against. Quite frankly, even though we don’t want our heroes to act in a way that would cause them to do a stint in prison, a goody two-shoes doesn’t make for a very compelling main character in a revenge drama, especially when the antagonist is someone who doesn’t play nice and has a distinct advantage over a character that plays by the book.

Dong-eun, however, doesn’t follow a boringly virtuous path. Her toe crosses into a gray area that verges on villainous. Her hands are clean, but only because she skillfully manipulates others into doing her dirty work for her. Again, do things go unrealistically well for her in this regard? Yes, but it wasn’t terribly noticeable until Part 2, and by that point I was too invested in the outcome of Dong-eun’s revenge to care everything fell into place a little too easily and — perhaps — even better than Dong-eun expected.

The Glory: Part 2 (Review)

While the whole of The Glory was steeped in the baduk metaphor, Part 1 focused more on the early stages of the game as Dong-eun put the pieces of her plan in motion and began constructing the net around her opponents. Part 2 was all about her closing in and entrapping them, and as things escalated, there was an uptick in pacing that made Part 2 feel like a distinctly separate chapter of the overall story.

In looking back on the series as a whole, though, I wish the two parts had dropped together as a complete series — and not just because the wait in between parts suuuuucked. One minor complaint is that the gap between the release dates made it harder to recall important details from Part 1, but the biggest issue is that it’s easier to make comparisons between the two parts.

Even though Part 1 was slower and may not have served up much in the justice-porn department, it was richly crafted and character driven. In contrast, the second half of the drama felt rushed and less polished. I enjoyed Part 1 more, but I also can’t help but wonder if the overall series would have been better if the events of Part 1 had been condensed to allow Part 2 to have better pacing.

Despite the aforementioned negatives, though, I enjoyed this series immensely because of the characters. Dong-eun was hardened and focused, but like an icicle she shined like a diamond under the right lighting. And although writer Kim Eun-sook decided that JOO YEO-JUNG (Lee Do-hyun) was the light that brought out our heroine’s smile, and I have mixed feelings about this particular relationship arc.

On the surface, Dong-eun and Yeo-jung make an interesting pairing. Both have experienced traumas that spark a strong desire for revenge and establish a mutual understanding, but the personas that they display for the public are polar opposites. Yeo-jung hides his pain behind a smile, and Dong-eun has learned to wear her literal and figurative scars as armor — and a reminder — of why she cannot lose her focus. Unfortunately, while neither of them are a prime example of stable mental health, Yeo-jung is emotionally dependent on Dong-eun in a way that makes it objectively difficult to support their relationship even though they have sweetly endearing moments together in Part 2.

The Glory: Part 2 (Review)

But honestly, the real reason I can’t fully stand behind the Yeo-jung and Dong-eun pairing is because HA DO-YOUNG (Jung Sung-il) is a far more captivating character. There was never a blatantly romantic moment between him and Dong-eun, but their baduk matches had an undercurrent of curiosity and subdued flirtation that left me wanting more. I can’t deny that it’s more realistic, given the circumstances, that this particular ship didn’t sail, but that doesn’t stop me from wishing Dong-eun had snatched up nemesis’s man as part of her revenge. At the very least, though, I would have been happier if Dong-eun and Do-young had more one-on-one moments in Part 2.

Instead, Part 2 saw Do-young coming to terms with his wife’s duplicity and then, when he realized that there was no redemption for PARK YEON-JIN (Im Ji-yeon), doing what he needed to do in order to protect his daughter. It seems unlikely that Dong-eun would have predicted the extent Do-young would go to retain his paternal rights (no spoilers from me), but it was satisfying to see him become a silent ally when their objectives aligned.

Do-young was also a great foil for all the abhorrent parental figures in this drama. He may not have been Ye-sol’s biological father, but he was the only genuinely caring parent in this whole drama. Dong-eun’s mother, on the other hand, is a massive piece of dog feces that someone has tracked in on the carpet. Her chaotic sloppiness disgusted me, and every time she was on screen, I felt uncomfortable and my sympathy for Dong-eun increased tenfold. Of all the characters in dramaland, she’s the one I’d most enjoy seeing hit by a truck of doom, and while I’m glad that Dong-eun found a way to eliminate her mother from her life, it was honestly less makjang than I would have liked.

Yeon-jin may have been the main antagonist of this drama, but she was far more palatable than Dong-eun’s mother — and not just because she was more aesthetically pleasing. But, as is often the case with the natural world, the beautiful and colorful creatures are usually the most poisonous and deadly, and Yeon-jin is no exception. Im Ji-yeon did exceptionally well in the role, projecting both Yeon-jin’s confidence and then, when the moment called for it, twisting her face to reveal her character’s darker, ugly side.

That said, Yeon-jin as our main villain was a bit of a let down because I never really felt like she could go toe-to-toe with Dong-eun. Admittedly, she’s a former bully turned bitchy socialite — not a gangster boss with a posse of henchmen to do her bidding — so realistically she probably wouldn’t be much of a match for Dong-eun, who was far more intelligent and had the advantage of many, many years to plan her revenge. But still, I was hoping for a more prevalent cat and mouse dynamic. Instead, Part 2 was more like a game of Jenga; Dong-eun pulled one key piece and caused Yeon-jin’s tower — and friend/support group — to collapse around her.

The Glory: Part 2 (Review)

Once Dong-eun has enacted her revenge, she no longer has the motivation to keep living. I can’t say that I’m surprised by her suicidal thoughts and intentions, as it’s very in line with the character, but having Yeo-jung’s mother show up and talk her down from the ledge seemed too random. I’m also a bit uncomfortable with the idea that Yeo-jung and another revenge plot — this time against the man who killed Yeo-jung’s father — becomes Dong-eun’s new reason for living. It further perpetuates my belief that her loveline with Yeo-jung is entirely unhealthy and imbalanced. But hey, whatever keeps her going, I guess. Not to mention, we really did need some closure for Yeo-jung’s backstory, which largely factors into his ability to sympathize and align himself with Dong-eun’s cause.

It feels a bit odd to say this — in light of the gratuitous violence, sex, drugs, and generally darker themes — but The Glory has a weirdly happy ending. The bad guys got their just desserts, and their punishments were befitting of their crimes — in that they were equally violent and gory in most cases. Everyone’s favorite zaddy Do-young went on to live a peaceful life with his daughter in the UK, and even though KANG HYUN-NAM (Yeom Hye-ran) didn’t reunite with her own daughter on screen, we at least know that Hyun-nam wasn’t going to feel lonely for much longer, as she was recruited to help Dong-eun and Yeo-jung with their next revenge plot.

I don’t know what it says about the current state of K-dramas right now, but when a dark, Netflix-produced show delivers one of the more gratifying drama endings of the year, I think we need to pull together and host an intervention for the dramaland rom-com writers. Who’s with me?

The Glory: Part 2 (Review)

Required fields are marked *

1 Britney

March 16, 2023 at 6:51 PM

I think one of the funniest things that happened in part 2 is when Do Young & Jae Jun had their fight and Jae Jun told his lawyer friend to not hold him back and the lawyer friend said he wasn't touching him haha
I feel like there was some symbolism there haha

Required fields are marked *

neener ~ Inside the Magic Shop ~

March 17, 2023 at 10:43 AM

Another Jae-jun funny moment for me was when he went to Ye-sol's school, a teacher asked him what brought him there and he answered by car, LOL! Unfortunately, Netflix translated it differently. For me, that showed Jae-jun's character, ridiculously direct to the point. Or maybe it wasn't meant to be funny but it's definitely my humour xD

Required fields are marked *

2 jillian

March 16, 2023 at 10:46 PM

Ha Do Young or Jung Sung Il was definitely the breakout star of this entire show. I was more captivated with him than Yeo Jeong. Dong Eun's scenes with him was more compelling and I was sad that there were less of that in part2. I did consider a love line between them but that would be too cliche. I accept their separate lives but would have wanted more interaction.
Plus I would have liked it better if there was no love line between the leads. Friendship at most was tolerable since as you said, there was an imbalance in their relationship. It would have been better if Dong Eun found someone else that was not remotely included in her revenge.

I agree with the Jenga comparison. You can also say that their house of cards fell down. Yeon Jin was definitely floundering in the end. She was not so mighty after all. She thrived because of her connections once Dong Eun removed, manipulated or distracted them, she was no longer an effective villain. I still enjoyed their scenes together. Another scene I enjoyed was Hyeon Nam's slap to her former employer. It was very satifying indeed.

Required fields are marked *

3 Scottie

March 17, 2023 at 3:49 AM

The romance did also not work for me, a partnership and friendship would have been more credible, Dong-eun and Yeo-jung made a very good team.

Revenge dramas need a watchable villain and I really enjoyed Im Ji-yeon as Yeon-jin. She was quite a simple bully, relying mainly on her aggression, good looks, wealthy status and a few friends. She had no answer to the clever manipulations of Dong-eun, because she never had to be clever herself. The way her real character was exposed despite her elegant façade was beautifully played.

Required fields are marked *

ladyjaye

March 17, 2023 at 4:27 PM

To buttress your point, in real life, the bullying and machinations of (very) rich people are often pretty mundane: they are terrible and abusive because they know they'll get away with it.

Regular people can't usually get away with that much evil, so we have to plot and layer our actions so our wicked acts end up seeming complex. But for the truly rich, it's extremely straightforward. Just see the Murdaugh murders for a recent example. They just kept on being evil until they couldn't. Arguably if they hadn't embezzled money from other rich people, they'd never have been caught, too.

Required fields are marked *

4 Rose

March 17, 2023 at 4:17 AM

I really liked this drama, despite the fact that I think lots of key parts of the revenge were based on luck, for example, the fact that the hospital owner decided to freeze the victim's body and the fact that the very same owner happens to die a brutal death and his son happen to fall in love with the main character. Honestly, even if all these hadn't happened the fact that a random guy decides to invest in a random woman's revenge plot so much was pure luck. The part that I can understand would be how our main lead relied on the fact that the 4 bullies will end up bringing each other down, that's nature in my opinion, but still so much could go wrong, with so many characters, luckily, it did not. I would also like to add that I personally was happy that non of them showed remorse to the very end, looking back at each one of the bullies' life, there are lots of reasons why they ended up the way they did, one could say maybe non of these would have happened if someone has actually cared for them and tried to help them solve their inner conflicts, but that never happened and at the time the revenge starts we are way past that time, they are given the chance to remorse but they don't, so I would say that's on them, and yes, completely on them, cause as it was once said in another good revenge drama, every person is capable of doing evil acts, they just simply choose not too.
Thank you for giving us the chance to hang out here and discuss our favorite drama ^_^

Required fields are marked *

5 welh

March 17, 2023 at 5:07 AM

THE GLORY is in the running for best show of 2023, even though part two did have some flaws. The subject matter was a big draw for most people. The revenge factor in part one was well laid out (big kudos to Jung Ji So). Even though Dong-eum started the bully group against each other, outside factors and coincidence was the real story engine in part two. I think there were several great performances in the series. I think direction and editing was awkward in part two. The romance angle was DOA; SHK does NOT need to flirt with a male lead 10+ years younger than herself. (Is that some contractual rider from her agent?) Solid series, highly recommend it.

Required fields are marked *

6 Anna Nguyen

March 17, 2023 at 7:26 AM

I...didn't hate the ending wow. I was afraid the ending would not land but kinda liked they just became this dark duo taking revenge against the bullies for others. Would be fun to see a side story where they set up some kind of agency.

Lim Ji-yeon did such a good job being the villain though. Kinda outshone the protagonist. Glad SHK finally got a hit show that suits her acting style.

Also that random nude scene? Why? The snarky comments between frenemies would still have been funny without the audience seeing lol.

Required fields are marked *

Anna Nguyen

March 17, 2023 at 7:29 AM

Also was pretty funny that they had the character Jae-joon perpetually in a robe ready to have a spa day in his fancy bathroom - with guests over lmao.

I was so scared too with the scene about the dog allergy but that didn't go anywhere haha. Phew.

Required fields are marked *

sumi

March 28, 2023 at 1:06 PM

Maybe because I was watching The Glory while also Taxi Driver (1 and 2), I couldn't but compare the two. So, if you want a gritty, dark, truly horrific revenge story, you can go with Glory. If you want to humoristic revenge story, you have your Taxi Driver team! And I would definitely pick either of these two over Kokkdu any day of the week! But seriously, Glory definitely delivered in comeuppance for the bullies. I know some folks felt Jae-Jung's ending was abrupt and "too easy", but I can see how him living as a blind man would not have been punishment enough, as his wealth could have gotten him out of that situation still. So, maybe dying was the only way to give him his punishment. I will say that it seems the two male bullies (who were also rapists) ended up dead, while atleast the female bullies went on to live even if in deplorable conditions.

Required fields are marked *

7 Britney

March 17, 2023 at 8:39 AM

I don't want to say this is a criticism, I don't even know if this will be considered a criticism but the thing that makes the revenge in The Glory kinda... ehhh to me is the predictablity (as @daebakgrits mentioned) and luck (as @Rose mentioned). I know this is a show so you have to suspend disbelief and honestly, I really didn't think too hard or critically when watching the show (which is probably why I didn't notice or retain things) .

The thing that I did like is that all the antagonists were brought down by their own actions. For instance, no one forced Yeon Ji to keep being a bitch and threaten the abused wife following her husband's death which her husband witnessed first hand. No one forced the flight attendant to post that video and mock & threaten Sera over it. No one forced the color blind guy to try to act as if he were that girl's father out of the blue while also embarrassing and traumatizing her.

I'm not sure if it was revenge or delayed comeuppence because they all ended up paying for recent things, not what they did in the past.
Plus so many things happen that couldn't have been planned for; Dong Eun became a teacher before Yeon Ji had her daughter (I think). She didn't know at first that Yeon Ji was cheating on her husband (or did she?) And even if she did know, there was no knowing at first the daughter was the result of the affair.
Haha I might end to rewatch the first 2 episodes haha

I thought the best revenge moments were when Dong Eun showed Yeon Ji how her own mother sold her out and when Dong Eun committed her mother to the mental hospital.

Required fields are marked *

8 bogumlips

March 17, 2023 at 8:50 AM

In my opinion, they should have run all 16 eps together to keep the momentum going. But all in all, I really enjoyed it.

Required fields are marked *

9 hacja

March 17, 2023 at 9:17 AM

When I saw this I knew that viewers would highlight the romance as the weak point based on "chemistry" OR (in my opinion, more perniciously since older women actresses are always criticized if they are paired with younger male actors, unless its a "noona" romance) the age difference between the actors.

In my opinion, though, the problem with the relationship, if there was one, was the way it was written. (and the more I think about, the more I think it was written that way on purpose.)

Despite having Yeo-jung declare his devotion frequently, at no point does Dong Eun even acknowledge it until the very end. In fact, there were moments of genuine chemistry between the actors which I could go through and highlight, but I won't bore people with the recitation, because they were always undercut, again, on purpose, I think. Dong Eun simply is using him (as he asked her to, but basically, in that regard she is really heartless.)

Near the end, she provides gifts or thank yous to everyone who helped (including a suggestion to Do-young that she was genuinely attracted to him and didn't want to hurt him) whereas she dumps the guy who helped her the most, Yeo-jung, in the cruelest way possible, after calling him out on a snowy night and pretending to like him. It truly was as if she was wreaking revenge on him, and I think it would have been more appropriate for the story for him to try to commit suicide. Then Dong-eun could have seen the consequences of her manipulation on people who didn't deserve it, and the story would have been even more morally ambiguous.

On the other hand, having Dong eun called back from the edge with the promise of another revenge, rather than for love of Yeo-jung was appropriate, the kiss was also appropriately emotionless on her part, as was the flat "I love you" as they entered the prison--which I took to mean that both characters were still imprisoned by the desire for vengeance as a driving force in their lives. So in that respect the relationship was appropriately handled--the love was always one sided, even at the end, and I think the disappointment I have in it was that the writer and director simply did not want to make it romantic.

Required fields are marked *

spazmo

March 18, 2023 at 1:26 AM

wow. you put in words what was bothering me on many levels...

she was chillingly effective at being emotionally FLAT.

Required fields are marked *

Jingbee

March 18, 2023 at 4:03 PM

Although I did not mind the romance but but this perspective does offer a better explanation of why it had to be.

Required fields are marked *

10 elle

March 17, 2023 at 2:45 PM

I found the change of focus in the last episode confusing and disappointing. I personally would have preferred a true revenge story or a redemption story. The finale tries to balance both, and the result is a bit bland to me. Pick one, not both.

I binge-ed this drama -- both parts. I found it quite watchable and gripping, but for me the finale was weak. I struggled with our main couple standing side-by-side ready to manufacture more revenge plots together. What a surprisingly happy ending! It's a bit too fairytale for me, especially for a revenge drama.

Required fields are marked *

11 ladyjaye

March 17, 2023 at 4:22 PM

You said it - Ha Do-young was an extremely compelling character and I'm sad we didn't get more of him. The actor did a great job of selling a ruthless man with a calm veneer, and I just wanted more, more. I also felt he and Dong-eun complimented each other way more than revenge guy, but that's a flaw in the writing, not because of the actor.

All in all, there were a bit too many tidy fixes with flimsy plot explanations, as things go, and Jae-jun's ending was too sudden and painless for me, but again - that's a flaw in the writing, so well take it like that.

Required fields are marked *

12 Justhere

March 19, 2023 at 9:49 AM

Right..so now jae joon is gonna be declared missing and investigations will b fine , of course part 2 is done but ha doeung opened up a huge problem for himself ? He moved to the ik but how long before the body is discovered...he didn't have to kill jj but drama went fully revenge camp is part 2....so it's not all glory for ha doeung..

Required fields are marked *

Justhere

March 19, 2023 at 9:51 AM

Typos -begin not b fine
Uk not ik gosh
In not is part 2

Required fields are marked *

13 Viki

March 19, 2023 at 3:27 PM

Finally binge watched from the beginning this past few days and I gotta say, everything made sense and even the ending wasn't a let-down like a lot of K-dramas. This is definitely another good Kim Eun Sook drama. I really like that the main focus of the drama is on revenge and that romance takes a backseat...at points I would have preferred if there wasn't any romance in this drama at all...but it's Kim Eun Sook, what do we expect? Anyway, great characters to root for and great characters to hate on.

Required fields are marked *

14 sakuradaydream

March 19, 2023 at 5:55 PM

i really said "i am speed" when I went to log in just to say that this review is beautifully written and summed up all of my thoughts! Thank you @DaebakGrits !

Required fields are marked *

15 Qingdao: likes scented candles

January 19, 2024 at 8:15 PM

R&R=Revenge and Redemption...this drama tied up all the plot threads except Yeo-Jeong's revenge. And more revenge was the redemption of Dong-Eun--helping Yeo-Jeong and calling back Hyeon-Nam--BTW this arc could have used a few more scenes for the completion of the R&Rmcycle. Anyway, this entire drama gave me the same vibes as the movie "Parasite." Just when you though it couldn't get any worse, it did, yet the writer managed to hold the Glory universe throughout, all the way to the end and neatly resolve all of the arcs. This was often done in one quick scene, but brought satisfaction--oh so important in a revenge drama.

I quickly binged this entire drama as a "palette cleanser" after less intense dramas like Matchmakers, Park's Marriage Contract, My Demon, Flowers in Sand and Welcome to Samdal-ri. I really liked the 50-minute format of The Glory especially with all of its violence, abuse and tension. Wishing for more 50-minute episodes, rather than the 75-80 minute episodes of other shows. Now--off to finish Demon & Samdal-ri this weekend!

Required fields are marked *

The Glory