Just finished part 2 & I have to admit that it's been a while I've felt such immense satisfaction after finishing a series. As for a makjang drama, it fulfilled its purpose to the brim. The writers understood their assignment, ate it & left no crumbs. Considering part 1, part 2 was even more compelling, insidious, chaotic & bold. I was half expecting to get some sort of bittersweet ending, but I'm more than relieved now. Also loved our executioner couple's dynamics. They make such a powerful duo.
Finally, the Glory proved again: "Revenge is a dish best served cold"

In short, story ended satisfactorily, but I wish Netflix had dropped Part 2 within few days gap because I had trouble recollecting some of the names and people.

If Part 1 had cruel bullying scenes, Part 2 has horrifying domestic violence and even the tamed down gratuitous scenes were repulsive to watch. Every antagonistic character got a fitting ending even though, at first I thought Yeon Jin's ending seemed lame compared to the intensity of her crimes and her feeling no remorse, but the drama added a great twist to it.

The only thing that I felt out of place was Yeo Jeong, his backstory and his plans for his own revenge, so I was glad when they tied a tiny part of it to Dong Eun's story and wrapped it up by giving a new purpose to Dong Eun's life.

To conclude, I felt Part 1 was stronger because it was about building a "Go" house through emotional manipulation, but Part 2 was all about watching the pieces fall in place and ruin the opponent. I would recommend this for a watch, if one can withstand violence. My ratings: 8/10

Agree 1000% with @emsel regarding the violence. I actually FFd through it and didn’t care if I went a few frames too far. When brutality goes that far I always wonder the reason for showing it to us.

Stomach turning violence doesn’t elicit sympathy or increase awareness for me, it simply grosses me out. Why shove our faces in it? We alI know bullying is at epidemic proportions in SK, and these stories may in some way help SK viewers demand more from their government in increased legal protections for children and women. Maybe I’m too squeamish, but I believe if they cut away before the attack takes place the point is still made. At this juncture, school bullying storylines seem to relish showing the viewers horrible images. It’s gratuitous and disgusting.

On a lighter note: How about that quick topless scene? Completely unnecessary in relation to the story. I don’t mind nudity at all, but that was just plain weird. It almost felt like a product placement ad for the plastic surgeon. I half expected his name to be mentioned.
“Nice boob job.”
“Thanks, I went to Dr. Chu at 123 Apple Street.”
Lol!

I do not split seasons for the very reason that I had some issues with this one. It is hard to remember important side characters who show up for an instance in part 2. These episodes were not as strong as the first 8. The direction, editing and lighting in parts were bad. The mini-flashbacks to explain a scene could have been handled in a more linear fashion. Despite these issues, the show was very well done and there were several great individual performances.

Dong-eun’s plan at the end of the first part seemed to start to line up if her bully group would destroy themselves. My questions at the end of part one were:

Yeon-Jin to kill Myeong-o to stop his murder blackmail? That sort of happened, or at least she went to prison for it.
Sa-Ra to die from withdrawal or a fatal OD since Myeong-o no longer gets her good drugs? Almost, but her own drug use and attempted murder was good enough to cause her own demise.
Yeo-Jeong to kill Hyeon-Nam’s husband and maybe someone else then he imprisoned for life where he will kill his dad's killer? Yeon-Jin’s mother taking care of the abusive husband was outside-the-box coincidence that accented the point that antisocial behavior may be genetic. And it seems Yeo-Jeong will have that prophesy in a weak play for another season (?)
Do-Yeong to eliminate Jae-Jun to protect Ye-Sol? That actually did come true, in a round about way.
Yeon-jin to go insane if her marriage, husband, child and career taken away from her? All those things were taken away from her by Dong-eun setting people in motion against her and her paranoia took hold of her (especially at the shaman’s ritual, which really did not much to the story itself).
Hye-Yeong to have marriage canceled resulting in a life in poverty; or take Yeon-jin’s wrath for being a betrayer? She canceled her marriage to be with Jae-Jun, but he quickly cast her aside like trash. Her injury would doom her chance to have a dream life.

In the end, all the bullies had their life ended or destroyed indirectly by Dong-eun’s putting their secrets into the light of day but there were a lot unanticipated, intervening causes that one could call karma. The second half did have a little back and forth chess match between the parties. But it really did not have the full tension of part one. I thought the last episode and half were the weakest part of the show. The romance angle to me was a non-starter beyond Yeo-Jeong’s early puppy crush. The push to get his dad’s killer in a prison he would suddenly be working at was hard to believe.

I think Song Hye Kyo was good in this role: her gaunt demeanor and cold expression suited a broken character. The main cast was good but not overboard in their meltdowns. Side note: Lee Moo Saeng and Jung Sung-il should play evil brothers in a project. Overall, a very good drama.

Super enjoyed spending my saturday marathoning through the second half! Of course some of it is so ott it's ridiculous, but that's the point of a good revenge drama, it makes you go through hell with the characters so that when the comeuppance finally gets dished out, it feels personal, ha!
For years I thought revenge and makjang weren't my cup of tea, but since My Name and especially Devil Judge, now I know.
But, yes, it was a super satisfying ride. There's just this thing that annoyed me and made me login here just to ask: why the hell didn't Kang Hyn nam bring back / go to her kid after getting rid of that nasty husband got his deserved demise? It was bugging me out so much to see her grieving and missing her kid but doing nothing about it.
Just want imo Kang to be happy!

The second part was too long for me. Watching bad people competing against each other wasn't so fun. They were so cliché, there wasn't any depth in them.

I don't understand why they waited for the second part to explain Joo Yeo-Jeong's father death. Again, it was just because the killer was a villain. And the fact he woke up during his surgery of the arm and could take a scalpel was ridiculous. In a general way, I thougt JYJ's character was useless in the story and Lee Do-Hyun was looking way too young and bland for a revenge story.

I missed the go scenes. I think it was the best thing in the first part.

At the end, I was disapointing for Dong-Eun. She didn't really get justice for her but for So-Hee's rape and murder.

I liked the direction of some scenes like when Ha Do-Yeong is in the dressing room and realizes that each bag means his wife cheated on him.

Overall I enjoyed the 2nd half of the drama, but, not the ending. I really didn’t feel the chemistry between Dong Eun and Yeo Jung. It’s probably to cliche, but I think she and Do Young should have fallen in love, gotten married, and she becomes Ye Sol’s mom. Then they could have sent pictures of the happy family to Yeon Jin in prison. To me that would have been a more satisfying ending.

So I’ve finished The Glory and while I enjoyed it overall I would preferred if all the episodes had been released in one go. I kept getting confused with some of the characters. Additionally I found the tension in part 1 to be more satisfying and I wished they had skipped the ‘love story’ altogether. It felt contrived and gave me flashbacks of Why Her? A cute ‘executioner’ with puppy dog love for what is supposed to a blood thirsty revenge thriller…for me it did not work at all. If they had eliminated all that puppy love stuff it would have made for a much tighter and clinically executed show. I found that also led to a rather boring ending and I felt let down by the last couple of episodes.

I must say some of my favorite scenes were the go scenes from part 1 and I wish Ha Do Young had more screen time. The chemistry between him and Moon Dong Eun was fire.

I never thought I would see this side of Kim Eun-sook's writing. No doubt she is one of SK beloved K drama writer. The acting is great, the casting is right (I can't say SHK is improving, I don't think she is great actress, but with right role that suits her, it does wonder), and what I like the most from the glory, the satire and the dark humors hit the right spot for me, I laughed a lot and definitely entertain.
Good bye Yeon-jinaaah *in SHK's flat voice*

I found the scene with Jeon Jae-joon getting pushed off that building very satisfying. I just wished they showed how he survived the truck of doom. The girl that got stabbed in the neck(can't remember her name) in the hospital trying to curse Jae-joon was very funny. I also love the fact that Yeon-jin and her mom are in the same prison but her mother doesn't acknowledge her and Yeon-jin finally sees how it feels to be bullied.

Moon Dong Eun mother my god! that actress did the hell out of that character I didn't think I could hate someone more than the main characters but that woman !! She actually got off easier than the rest of them.

Just finished part two and I must say, they stayed true to the story and managed to avoid being a disappointment, not even once, which is usually hard, considering the expectation that usually builds up after watching the first season of any good, interesting show. Most importantly they never forgot about their side characters, they didn’t leave any plot undone and they managed to say goodbye to every character who our main character was done with, they also gave us a glimpse at the lives of our friends at the end too.
I like the revenge squad so much, though I don’t want these people, specifically our couple to only be accomplices, I want them to move on from their pain and I want them to be able to be friends and lovers without thinking about the past that connects them, cause I believe a person who’s good at heart will have a hard time moving on from all these incidents. No matter how much each one of them deserved the doom that came upon them, at the end of the day, one would have preferred they had remorse sooner or never did their evil acts at all, rather than drowning in cement, for example. At the end of the day, I have no complaints about how things wrapped up, and I’m really looking forwards the season 3, if it ever comes, I believe the fact that they didn’t ignore our doctor’s pain and suffering and didn’t use that plot so that they could fill up the episodes with something other than the main story, is one of the strong aspects of this drama, and I believe the director had a good understanding of the writer's ideas because I noticed I couldn’t find any hole in production or rather how every scene was presented, so well done team. 🙂

Wow, did The Glory #2 have enough screeching? I had to turn the sound down because so many characters screeched at the top of their lungs. I find it hard to believe it’s representative of SK women, but they sure seemed to push it.

All constant shrieking does it take me out of the story. JMO, it’s lazy writing because I find it impossible to believe that so. many. women. shriek or screech like that. It got old quickly.

There were many things not to like about this drama, but one thing I liked and admired was the last episode. I'm always complaining about how episode 16 of most dramas is kind of flaccid and boring, with no narrative tension. This one left a lot of resolution open until the last minute and gave a lot of information about the characters right up until the end. Throughout both halves of the show, each of the episodes benefitted from a really great sense of pacing. I didn't feel like they were making up the plot as they went along. Since the overall pacing and plotting were so good, my attention was held throughout and I enjoyed every successful characterization and line reading.

See, this is why I need weecaps & recaps because I need other people to explain and spell out things to me; I miss things or don't understand things. For instance, why did the creepy teacher hate Dong Eun from the very start? I watched part one and I don't remember her doing *ANYTHING* to get the title of an "unruly bitch". Next, there was proof that the teacher was a pedophile for a year and the other teacher told no one or did nothing?! I saw the creepy teacher taking pictures but then the scene with Dong Eun & the other teacher made me think "am I somehow wrong? Did they set him up?"
And then the creepy teacher gets to get a settlement when HE was taking pictures of the girls?!

Next, I don't understand why Dong Eun was able to bribe anyone or even get the time of day from anyone. Just because she's the mother of a teacher does that make her a teacher or anyone really with any type of power in the school? What is the logic here? I do not understand! Clearly she is an embarassing alcoholic, so why wouldn't people just call the police when she was causing all these disturbances?
And I thought Korea was all about privacy but she can just go somewhere and get information? AND she can somehow get her daughter's money? What?!

Are people not allowed to get away from horrible toxic people? The abused wife can't leave her husband. The neglected daughter can't get away from terrible mother. The murderer was able to get his victim's son's address.

Oh, this is so anger inducing haha

Absolutely amazing. What a gripping, bleak, terrible drama! I have a lot of thoughts about the premise and the severity of the revenge, but I'm trying to get them all in coherent order before I post.

All in all, I'm quite impressed by the entire cast. This bleak, desolate acting is probably the best I've seen from Song Hye-kyo in the last few years - and I'm glad mama has still got it :)

The entire cast did a great job, I am so impressed. I will say though, that I had a thing for Yeon-jin's husband throughout. I liked Do-yeong, but Yeon-jin's husband was my main man.

The thing I liked most is that almost ALL the antagonists/villians were victims of their own making. "Victims" might be wrong word but my point is they were undone by their own actions. All were selfish hypocrites without a loyal bone in their bodies.

It's really nice that the kids all ended up going abroad because good grief, the shadow these people could/would cast over their lives is immense.

I never quite understood the need for the doctor (I don't remember anyone's names except Dong Eun). I guess they gave him the murdered dad backstory to give him some damage and make him open to helping someone get (possibly bloody) revenge on people? Oh, and he also gave her a place to stay.

I personally wasn't interested in their romantic relationship and once again I wonder why people can't just be close friends? Objectively, she seemed to have more chemistry with Do Yeong. No, I didn't think or want her to end up with him so she could really turn the knife in Yeon Jin but again, there didn't need to be a romance at all. They could just have chemistry and go on with their lives (which is exactly what ended up happening anyway).

The color blind guy's end felt particularly earned. So many different hands had a part in his demise and is it most satisfying that no one will ever know or care? Though, now as I'm writing this, I'm wondering who is going to take care of his dog? Maybe the mute flight attendant? Oh, she can't even do that job now, right? Yeah, she really might benefit from a dog companion.

I was very surprised about the boobs being shown. It's just funny how in one instance they made her look like a barbie doll and then in another instance they were *BAM* haha
I've got some airhead tendencies so I'm not sure what exactly they were going for (aside from some kind of power play on the flight attendant's side) but to me, it just ended up being kinda unintentionally funny/amusing.

I think this can tie with Goblin as the best KES work, in my books. Part 2 was even better but that maybe cos i wasn’t sure what to expect in Part 1, so i felt the setting up got a bit slow at times. Part 2 was livelier with all the actions and seeing what Dong Eun set in motion come to life.

I enjoyed this show so much . The whole cast was so good and SHK really came into her own in this role. My main points are;
Love the fact that the revenge didn't require Dong Eun to get her hands dirty she mostly incited the villains to destroy themselves and each other.
I agree that Yeon jin husband was scrumptious ,the actor really brought his A game to every scene he was given.
My Favourite scene is the end confrontation between Dong Eun and Yeon Jin in prison when Yeon jin states that she regrets nothing except that she didn't get away with it and Dong eun smiles and says something like the most satisfying thing is that Yeon Jin will spend all that time in prison and never understand how she ended up where she did which drives Yeon Jin crazy.
Initially I took that to mean Yeon Jin would never know that technically she didn't kill Myeong as she did not deliver the fatal blow. Later on I thought it meant that since Yeon Jin refuses to reflect on how her actions brought her here she will never be able to adjust to where she is .She would still be the entitled villain but trapped in a place that refuses to cater to her. So she will constantly clash with her environment rather than accepting it which will eventually destroy her mentally and emotionally.

Binge-watched this over this past weekend, and overall I am quite satisfied with the ending. Although it didn't reach the climatic effect I was expecting, it still was satisfying. I am glad all of them paid somehow for what they did. Did they really learn their lesson? I don't think so, and that's what I missed the most from the conclusion of this series. I also thought some parts were far-fetched and a bit makjangy (Dong-Hee's mom character was a bit much I think, and Sa-Ra's fight with Hye-Jong was out of the blue and exaggerated; same with Jae-Joon's death, I mean what are the odds that Do-Yeong would follow him and know exactly where it would be to push him to his death?). I wanted our favorite Mom, Ms Kang to be reunited with Sun-Ah and to find real peace and happiness, but she seemed gloomy and still sad, until she was called once again by Dong-hee. Finally, I wanted to see more of Gong-ryan, her character played a major role, but we've only see glimpses of her life. Overall, a very binge-worthy drama!

The super satisfying part for me is that Yeon-Jin may have made our protagonist drop out of High school but she made Yeon-Jin drop out of her marriage ,being a mother and a weather girl ,she really paid her back.

Just finished Part 1 and 2 in 1 go.
I don't even dare to look the bullying twice, it so cruel. I can't give a justice for the person who bully others, even though they just young, it just so wrong.
They way the bullies 'friendship' crush and they fight and killed for each other is so satisfying. Yeon Jin not really kill 2 people and she doesn't even know is just a big twist and I love it.

Watching this that reminds me of the articles about how k-artist 'accuse' to be a bullier during their school. It could be wrong, it could be right but whoever the bullies I hope they get what they deserve and make atonement, while the victim can find their peaceful and happiness.

I'd heard about The Glory's gore so I had decided not to see it. But then the part 2 came and it got hyped too, so I got curious. I saw the 1st ep and knew that I definitely wanted to watch it. Idk what pulled me in but I continuously binged its episodes. The story, the characters and the whole chemistry feels so real; and I cried too.
I thought The Glory (just like other kdramas) would have 16 eps, but now ater completing I got to know it was 8-8. Thank god for that coz I really wanted her to have her revenge and closure as soon as possible.
One thing that I really liked was the fact that she really didn't have to do very bad things, the bullies were soo messed up they did everything on their own and to each other. Ig it makes sense and brings a full circle that she wanted to get her revenge so bad coz they were indeed so bad they brought each other down.

Late to the party, but I just finished my 1st watch of this show, all 16 episodes in one go. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, beanies! Since you covered so many topics, I just wanted to share my reaction to this show.

This felt very much like a procedural drama and reminded me of "Parasite" of "Shawshank Redemption." Although the show did a good job concluding character arcs, I didn't feel total satisfaction because the show didn't wrap up the Dr's plotline. It was insulting to get a "coming soon" preview instead of a revenge-redemption for his arc.

Bullying: It made me think about celebrities who have had their careers upended by the recent wave of cancel culture in K-entertainment. For those who claim they were bullied by a celebrity, did they patiently plot their revenge like Dong-Eun? Did they get satisfaction from tarnishing the targeted celebrity? Did the celebrity actually "repent" or did the agency take care of it for them? Etc.....