The second season of Forest Of Secrets (or Stranger for Netflix viewers), eagerly anticipated by the fans of the original installment, finally premiered after 3 years on tvN as well as Netflix and has so far aired 6 episodes. Though this post is based on the first 4 episodes as I have yet to catch up on the latest ones.

The new season has a strong start, laying the foundation of the rest of the series. It sees the battle lines drawn between the prosecutors and the police.  There is a council to discuss the conflict which includes Hwang Shi Mok (Jo Seung Woo) representing the prosecution, accompanied by new cast member Choi Moo Sung (as Woo Tae Ha), and the cops include Han Yeo Jin (Bae Doo Na) and Jang Gun (Choi Jae Woong) with new cast member Jeon Hye Jin (as Yeo Jin’s new boss Choi Bit).

Taking up the remaining plot line is the investigation of old cases involving the police. Seo Dong Jae (Lee Joon Hyuk) joins hands with Shi Mok this time for this but considering his nature of changing sides as per convenience, we cannot be sure about his intentions.

There is also forward movement with respect to Hanjo Group. Since the old chairman was involved in corruption scandal, now the reins are in the hands of his daughter, Lee Yeon Jae (Yoon Se Ah).

Forest Of Secrets 2 has familiar shades that we had gotten used to during the first time — same teams, tension among prosecutor/cops, background score, the relentless nature of our main leads to keep going to reach the bottom of anything that bothers them, even the funny bit where Shi Mok almost always gets interrupted before he starts eating, camaraderie and conflict induced emotions. It helps to create a bond with the new season.

The new characters help in bringing freshness to the show. The cases are intriguing and I hope that forms the main part of the drama because the prosecutor-police conflict is frankly not that interesting. It tends to get too repetitive and hopefully won’t be discussed ad nauseam. We are still under dark about the true nature of Choi Bit and Tae Ha but nothing is black and white in the world of Forest Of Secrets. Maybe except Shi Mok and Yeo Jin. I want to see their partnership again but looks like there will be some friction this time.

Overall, it’s a satisfactory start but I’m waiting for that ‘mind-blowing’ feeling!