Not to say this season was bad. There were quite a few elements I enjoyed a lot. It was simply not as good as season 1. Why? Because there was little to no development nor arc for the 4 out of the 6 main characters - they already went through it in the previous season.

First of all, in terms of the plot, the mystery seems impersonal since for the longest time we don’t really know why it’s even connected to the leads. It’s just something they come across by an “accident”. In season one Pan Seok was the connection between the male lead and the ghost. Here… it just happens because the plot needs it and there are no personal stakes and the few connections we have are not enough.

Characters wise, I liked the two new leads. Eun Sil was a great addition, but I feel like there was not enough focus on her - how she manages the village, how she interacts with others. Il Young is probably my favorite character. Obviously he had some issues and a dark past, but also seemed like a good person. That contrast made me curious about him. They did well in establishing the mystery parts like how he was able to leave the village, how he knew Thomas, what was his connection to the crimes happening in the outside world.

I feel like we only got glimpses of the village here and there and it was never truly the center of the show. The aspects I actually liked the best in season 1 were the storylines about the ghosts, not the investigation happening in real life. I wanted to see more of the ghosts perspective - depth of regret only someone who has no chance to fix their mistakes can have. Not to mention the whole idea of kids, their understanding of death and where they currently are, how the learn to be happy for the ones that leave the village - aspects that were not really explored enough.

Il Young is probably my favorite character. Obviously he had some issues and a dark past, but also seemed like a good person. That contrast made me curious about him. They did well in establishing the mystery parts like how he was able to leave the village, how he knew Thomas, what was his connection to the crimes happening in the outside world.

As for the rest of the main characters - nothing changed, nothing improved, nothing got worse nor better. They were all rather stagnant. Kim Wook got glorious hair and they tried to give Jang Pan Seok some interesting arc of not being able to let go of the past and traces of his daughter… but I felt like they dropped the topic at some point without conclusion.

The whole real life investigation was just mediocre at best. Random generic bad guys with no depth, little to no established motivation and awful fashion sense. The only good thing about the investigation was the fact we’ve got to see Shin Joon Ho a little bit more.

Production value was great - great sceneries, great set design, good special effects, nice visuals as all tvN shows have.

Acting was great - with this cast I expected nothing less. They did an amazing job with the casting, especially taking into consideration how many kids were part of it. Sometimes finding even one child that can deliver a believable character is hard, here they were able to find quite a few.

Overall, it’s exactly what one would expect from a second season - enjoyable, even if it did not get anywhere near the quality season 1 had.