Forest of Secrets: (aka Stranger) Episodes 1 & 2

August 17, 2020 6:25 AM - Season 2, Episode 1

On a foggy night, two college students drown at the beach. While Si-mok investigates, Yeo-jim tracks down a man who was at the scene of the incident. / Police and prosecutors each prepare members for joint discussions on investigative authority. Dong-jae brings Woo Tae-ha some cases of interest. (tvN Korea, Netflix)

meaaw Review Episode 1: Shi-mok, Yeo-jin begin the new season with a gritty case

MyDramaList - Stranger 2 show page

Dramas Over Flowers episode 1 & 2 review:
Saya: The commentary on the system I think is really what these episodes have done best, so far. There was one particular dialogue in the second episode that I found really powerful—the conversation that Shi-mok has with Chief Prosecutor Kang Won-cheol (Park Sung-geun), where Chief Kang tells him that it would’ve been impossible to indict in the closed case, and his points are legitimate: the burden of proof is with the prosecution and it HAS to be prove that the thing they did was the direct cause of death for it to be indictable at all.

Yunah: Agree. Everything the Chief Prosecutor was saying wasn’t wrong.

Saya: And Shi-mok doesn’t disagree, but his point is different: that in closing the case so quickly, instead of the slow turnaround, he’d deprived the couple of the time they would have to develop remorse. And I find this thought incredibly striking—like he’s saying that the fundamental purpose of the law isn’t necessarily to execute a certain kind of justice, but to instil morality. When we talk about the law, we always make the distinction between what is “legal” and what is “right”, and that they aren’t necessarily the same. But what Shi-mok reminds us as viewers, as much as his superiors, is that a justice system has a more foundational goal not of punishment, but of conscience.

posted by oh yeah! (3 comments total)

Probably won't be doing weekly threads for the whole run of the season, as it seems like the S2 story is going to unfold much the same as S1, full of red herrings and shocking reveals episode by episode rather than being the kind of mystery with enough clues given to actually know what's going on as it's going on, but the Dramabeans recaps aren't up yet, so, I wanted somewhere to celebrate the show's return.
posted by oh yeah! at 6:32 AM on August 17, 2020

Thank you for making this thread, ohyeah! I’m really enjoying Season 2 so far.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 11:50 AM on August 17, 2020

Dramabeans episode 1 recap: "IT’S HERE! *ahem* tVN’s Forest of Secrets 2 is finally on the air three years after its first season’s run, returning with the same writer and the majority of season one’s cast including our leads Jo Seung-woo and Bae Doo-na. The hype for this has been real, and with the rarity of second seasons in dramaland as well as the high praise for the first season, this drama has a lot to live up to. We begin with our former special investigation team members scattered across cities and agencies, but thanks to a suspicious new case and tensions brewing between the police and prosecution, it looks like their paths will once again merge."
posted by oh yeah! at 9:23 AM on August 18, 2020