In 2017. Around 31, 000 school students suffered severe bullying at the hands of their classmates in Korea. In 2019, the numbers had risen to 44, 000. In Japan, a bright young introvert named Asahi was bullied so much he planned for 12 years to avenge that humiliation at his reunion by planting handmade bombs at the venue, also by adding arsenic to the beer. When his mother was told that he had resigned from his job as a chemist, she discovered his plans which he’d written meticulously down in his diary. She called the police and even though he did not attend the reunion and the bombs did not go off at the venue, he was arrested. In the fictionalised version of the Cheongju Bullying case where rich kids bullied a classmate by branding and burning her over 20 days with a curling iron/hair straightener, Netflix has created a compelling drama that must be watched. The show is called The Glory. The title offers no respite from the relentless assault on all our belief systems: good and evil, the existence of God, that children are essentially good, forgiveness is a virtue, there is justice for all and, yes, motherly love, and that revenge is bad. Or is it? Watch it because we cannot begin to fathom the viciousness that has become the currency of bullies and how kids everywhere are being traumatised by a constant assault not just in real life but also on social media. CNN had commissioned a study of middle schoolers across the US to study the effects of bullying via social media. They realised that kids were clicking up to 500 pictures before they chose to wear what they were going to wear to school. K-dramas have tackled bullying in school in many different forms, but none this powerful. Or this haunting. And even though you want to look away from schoolgirls, cackling at the misery of the girl pinned on the chair by a lad is used as a temperature check of a curling iron. The skin on the girl’s arms sizzles and she lets out a blood-curdling cry. You scramble for the remote, but if you know this actually happened, you watch. Fifteen minutes into the very first episode, you are calling out to Moon Dong-eun to not jump into the cold Han river. You want someone to stop the teacher from slapping her because rich parents of the bullies have put undue pressure on the teachers. You look admiringly at the girl, forced to work in a factory, a restaurant, studying through the night in the corridor to take the GED exam (like the 12th grade board exams in India). All is not lost. A fellow factory worker, a child just like Dong-eun tiptoes to the room because she does not want to disturb Dong-eun’s concentration. But she’s been wronged again and again, so it is natural that we as audience support her in her quest to bring these bullies down one by one. Her list is rather alarming, and the first one that strikes me as awful is the betrayal by her mother. But more than that are the three girls who have lived lives untouched by the violence they unleashed on Dong-eun. One is born rich, so she works as a weather forecaster for fun and fame. She is Park Yeon-jin. So evil and so unrepentant that you shudder in parts where she stares at the camera and laughs that evil, fake laugh. Lim Ji-Yeon acts so well, you are tempted to throw the nearest book at her (or a brick). And it’s not that the other bullies aren’t horrible. They make for a loathsome brat pack. The two girls Choi Hye-Jeong and Lee Sa-ra are just as bad. Choi Hye-Jeong is a flight attendant and Sa-ra is a painter. If Hye-Jeong is addicted to couture clothes and bags, Sa-ra is addicted to weed. The two boys in the bully gang have grown up to be awful. One is an heir to a country club and clothing store, and the other plays his muscle. Dong-eun is not alone in her quest. She bumps into a young doctor who helps her emotionally to stand firm and promises to support her no matter what. The phenomenal actor Yeom Hye-ran as Kang Hyeon-nam is a housekeeper at the home of the Chairman of the Semyung Educational Foundation. But she, too, is a victim of domestic violence. Her husband beats her and their daughter regularly. She makes a pact with Dong-eun and becomes her spy, in exchange for the killing of her husband. Devil’s bargains aside, Dong-eun’s purpose takes shape in front of our eyes and we see the gang of bullies get divided, come apart and turn on one another. I was taken aback when Yeon-jin’s child came into the equation. Would Dong-eun be so blinded by her thirst for revenge that she would harm the child? The game of Go (which is like a strategy board game, a sort of mixture between Chess and Monopoly) played with white and black round pieces is used as a metaphor and rather well. The handsome Jung Sung-il is Ha Do-yeong, Yeon-jin’s husband and CEO of Jaepyeong Construction firm. He is fascinated by Dong-eun’s game and seeks her out to pit her wits against him. And it is during their game that we understand why the game has been used. As Dong-eun says, It is a game where you get to ruin someone’s house. Clues to the end come at you from Episode 8 where the doctor playing a game of Go with Yeon-jin’s husband, admits, I am helping someone get their revenge. And I need to do the same as well… Is the doctor seeking revenge for his father’s death going to be season 3? More clues are given when the doctor’s mother, who is also a doctor and runs a big hospital in Seoul tells the cops that they are not going to perform the last rites of a patient, and neither are they going to touch the body for autopsy because the death of the young girl occurred in suspicious circumstances. In the end when the mother of the girl lying in the morgue is taken ill, we realise why the doctor had an interest in helping Dong-eun. The ending comes at you like a googly, bowled by a master bowler. You like how the evil Yeon-jin does not give up and plots and plans more evil instead of coming clean. You are happily distracted by the prisoner’s story as well. But just as the credits roll, even the last thread that was introduced right in the beginning, is tied up neatly. You reach out for that cup of strong, dark coffee because you have discovered how radically dramatic and fantastic Korean storytelling can be. (You can watch all 16 episodes- seasons one and two — of The Glory on Netflix)
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Song Hye Kyo And Lee Do Hyun’s New Drama By “descendants Of The Sun” Writer Kim Eun Sook Confirms Final Cast
I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered byWe use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. Please also read our Privacy Notice and Terms of Use, which became effective December 20, 2019.
Concluded its epic, 16-episode tale of revenge on Friday when Netflix dropped the second half of the Korean drama. The story follows Moon Dong-eun (Song Hye-kyo) as she sets into motion an elaborate plan to enact revenge against the five classmates who severely bullied her as a teenager. It’s a simple plot, elevated by devastating performances, masterful writing, stunning direction, and epic music. And it’s anchored by a central, driving question: Will Dong-eun succeed in getting her revenge — and
She? The final episodes definitely give a clear answer to those questions, while throwing in some unexpected twists in the process (and even teasing a possible season 2).
The Glory Part 2 Ending Explained: Is This Really The End For Song Hye Kyo And Lee Do Hyun’s Show?
Is the dynamic between Dong-eun and Park Yeon-jin (Lim Ji-yeon). Yeon-jin has always been Dong-eun’s main target, as she was the ringleader in brutally bullying Dong-eun and others in high school. The voice-overs we hear throughout the series are framed both as Dong-eun’s inner monologue
As letters to Park Yeon-jin. These are not missives that Dong-eun ever intends to send
I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered byWe use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. Please also read our Privacy Notice and Terms of Use, which became effective December 20, 2019.
Concluded its epic, 16-episode tale of revenge on Friday when Netflix dropped the second half of the Korean drama. The story follows Moon Dong-eun (Song Hye-kyo) as she sets into motion an elaborate plan to enact revenge against the five classmates who severely bullied her as a teenager. It’s a simple plot, elevated by devastating performances, masterful writing, stunning direction, and epic music. And it’s anchored by a central, driving question: Will Dong-eun succeed in getting her revenge — and
She? The final episodes definitely give a clear answer to those questions, while throwing in some unexpected twists in the process (and even teasing a possible season 2).
The Glory Part 2 Ending Explained: Is This Really The End For Song Hye Kyo And Lee Do Hyun’s Show?
Is the dynamic between Dong-eun and Park Yeon-jin (Lim Ji-yeon). Yeon-jin has always been Dong-eun’s main target, as she was the ringleader in brutally bullying Dong-eun and others in high school. The voice-overs we hear throughout the series are framed both as Dong-eun’s inner monologue
As letters to Park Yeon-jin. These are not missives that Dong-eun ever intends to send
I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered byWe use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. Please also read our Privacy Notice and Terms of Use, which became effective December 20, 2019.
Concluded its epic, 16-episode tale of revenge on Friday when Netflix dropped the second half of the Korean drama. The story follows Moon Dong-eun (Song Hye-kyo) as she sets into motion an elaborate plan to enact revenge against the five classmates who severely bullied her as a teenager. It’s a simple plot, elevated by devastating performances, masterful writing, stunning direction, and epic music. And it’s anchored by a central, driving question: Will Dong-eun succeed in getting her revenge — and
She? The final episodes definitely give a clear answer to those questions, while throwing in some unexpected twists in the process (and even teasing a possible season 2).
The Glory Part 2 Ending Explained: Is This Really The End For Song Hye Kyo And Lee Do Hyun’s Show?
Is the dynamic between Dong-eun and Park Yeon-jin (Lim Ji-yeon). Yeon-jin has always been Dong-eun’s main target, as she was the ringleader in brutally bullying Dong-eun and others in high school. The voice-overs we hear throughout the series are framed both as Dong-eun’s inner monologue
As letters to Park Yeon-jin. These are not missives that Dong-eun ever intends to send
