Yeon Sang-ho has become an expert in pitting indomitable human resilience against disastrous supernatural forces. As the world falls into disarray, the director pulls on the strings of human connections and reliance to create moving tales, especially so in the first season of Netflix K-drama Hellbound.
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That initial outing saw mysterious decrees condemn people to hell and monstrous figures deliver violent sentences (in displays called “demonstrations”), the world enters a frenzied ‘age of religion’. Against the background of warring factions working to indoctrinate people into their own school of thought, some of the show’s best moments were about simple human devotion: a couple who sacrifices themselves to protect their children, or a lawyer who refuses to compromise her moral code because of a decree.
Yet, the second season of Hellbound feels more like a macroscopic political disaster drama than an introspective work reexamining the repercussions of the cult of personality showcased in its initial outing. Years after the events of the last season – Min Hye-jin (Kim Hyun-joo) escaped with baby Toughie, Chairman Jung Jinsu (now played by Kim Sung-cheol) had disappeared and Park Jung-ja (Kim Shin-rok) was mysteriously resurrected – the usual players have all been displaced into new roles, and four organisations fight to gain control of public sentiment.
The South Korean government enters the fray with Lee Su-gyeong (Moon So-ri), a wily, manipulative and morally corrupt official who wants to wrestle power back from the Arrowheads by positing the newly resurrected Park Jung-ja and New Truth as paragons of divine word. Min Hye-jin trawls through the underbelly to find the truth of the phenomena and protect Toughie, who is now four. In the meantime, Jung Jinsu joins the list of people being resurrected, sparking a race against time to install a new messiah of God – all the while, we’re no closer to finding out why the demonstrations started in the first place, or why some sinners are seemingly being pardoned.
Granted, the show has always dealt more with who capitalises on disaster first than providing concrete answers. Yet, the second season feels like the audience are the unsuspecting civilians in Hellbound, sitting through political digressions without being provided explanations or opportunities to form their own opinions about right or wrong. Thankfully, the cast remains a strong selling point for the show, with Moon So-ri standing out as the cunning Senior Secretary Lee, who taps into a level of sociopathy that leaves us weirdly fascinated.
While the season does hint that there is more to the decrees and the concept of hell – along with a clue to what the monsters carrying out the sentence might be – having no information even by the end frustrates more than it intrigues. One can only watch people debate hypothetical scenarios instead of working to get to the truth so many times before it becomes exasperating.
Though, there are still moments of brilliance. Especially so when Yeon places a spotlight on moral bankruptcy and spectacle, such as the popularity of publicly broadcasting the demonstrations or how meticulously the government plans Jungja’s “new” image to manipulate public opinion. The director also never discards the inconsequential characters of the story – on specific subplot that we shan’t spoil ends with a gut-punching moment – reminding us that seemingly isolated power struggles claim the lives of the innocent even in fictional disaster-stricken worlds.
Hellbound season two premieres October 25 on Netflix.