The main thing S2 lacked

I did enjoy S2. There was just one profound thing that it lacked in comparison to S1:

Emotion.

Personally, the connection with the S1 characters was far superior. Ali, Ji-yeong, Sae-byok, Sang Woo and Jun-ho in particular. Their stories, reasonings and morality were strongly conveyed. The dramatic deaths were heavy. The end of the marble game scene actually made me cry.

Gi-Hun tricking Oh Il-nam, and the plot twist at the end. The bonds and betrayals just packed so much more of a punch. Even Mi-nyeo sacrificing herself to take down Deok-su was kinda poetic (or crazy, depending how you look at it)

I didn’t feel anywhere near as much understanding or compassion towards the S2 characters, except maybe slightly to the mother and son (not sure of their names), Hyan-ju and of course Jung-bae.

To me, most of the S2 characters felt slightly inauthentic, recycled, or stereotyped / box-ticking (and I’m not referring to the trans character, she basically carried the season). Their stories just were not quite as thought-provoking as they were in S1. Jun-ho’s importance was overlooked as well.

The overall storyline was captivating, but more in the sense of just wanting to know how it turns out, and less of the why.

I still enjoyed watching though, especially the final showdown. In general it just didn’t hit as hard for me. Hopefully S3 will bring back some of the emotional intensity. What do you think?