Summary
All of Us Are Deadseason 2 has to be careful not to make the same mistake that almost ruinedSweet Home. Two of Netflix’s most popular Korean shows,bothSweet HomeandAll of Us Are Deadwere renewed for new seasonsshortly after they debuted on the platform.Sweet Homeseason 3 premiers in 2024, only a few months after the second season, whereasAll of Us Are Deadseason 2’s release dateremains to be announced. As a fan of both shows, it’s difficult not to compare these two major web series.
There are many greatK-dramas available on Netflix, including original titles likeAll of Us Are Dead. With more and more K-dramas releasing on the platform every year, it can be easy to forget the impactSweet HomeandAll of Us Are Deadhad.Sweet Homewas the first K-drama to enter Netflix’s Global Top 10and set the stage for other major hits likeSquid Game.All of Us Are Deadwas also quite successful, and I hope that it will avoid a majorSweet Homemistake.
All of Us Are Deadshould avoidSweet Homeseason 2’s massive mistake of focusing on new characters in its second chapter instead of the ones viewers were already familiar with.There are many similarities betweenAll of Us Are DeadandSweet Home, including but not limited to the fact that they are bothK-dramas based on a webtoon.Sweet HomeandAll of Us Are Deadare also both horror shows following young characters as they try to survive monster apocalypses. Both series are big-budget productions released exclusively on Netflix.
Sweet Homeseason 2 was very different from the first season not just in terms of characters but also regarding the scope of the show.
Another important similarity betweenAll of Us Are DeadandSweet Homeis the long wait between seasons.Sweet Homeseason 2 arrived three years after the series premiered on Netflix, a massive gap during whichstar Song Kangappeared in three other shows. It’s relatively common for big-budget K-dramas to take a while to release new seasons, as seen withAll of Us Are Dead. More than two years after the release of the first season,All of Us Are Deadseason 2 does not even have a release date.
Jeon Bae-soo
Nam So-ju
The fact that viewers had to wait three years forSweet Hometo return made its season 2 problems even more noticeable, especially the focus on new characters. AssumingAll of Us Are Deadonly premiers in 2025, three years will have passed by the time the show returns. Therefore,I would find it very disappointing if, after waiting for three years to revisit the zombie K-drama,All of Us Are Deadsuddenly introduced a bunch of new charactersand sidelined the main ones. This is a problem I had withSweet Homeseason 2.
Why Sweet Home Season 2 Looked So Different
Sweet Home went beyond its webtoon on season 2
Sweet Homeseason 2 was very different from the first seasonnot just in terms of characters but also regarding the scope of the show. The first season ofSong Kang’s Netflix original K-dramatook place almost entirely in the Green Home building where Hyun-su and his neighbors had to sort out their differences to face the monster apocalypse. Season 2, however, took place in many locations and introduced a bunch of new characters. As surprising asSweet Home’s second chapter was, it was bound to be different from season 1 due to two major reasons.
Sweet Homewill end with season 3.
Firstly,Sweet Homeseason 1 covered all of the webtoons it was based on.In other words, there were virtually no stories from the source material left for the show to cover.Sweet Homeseason 2 had to reinvent the show by introducing new storylines, heroes, and villains. Additionally, with the destruction of the Green Building in season 1,Sweet Homecould not replicate the setting and the tone of its first season. In hindsight, I should have seen those changes coming as soon asSweet Homewas renewed for two more seasons.
The similarities betweenSweet HomeandAll of Us Are Deadare not the only reason why I worry that the latter will repeat the former’s mistakes.All of Us Are Deadhas also covered the entirety of the webtoon it’s based on during its first season, meaning it faces the same challenge asSweet Homeseason 2. The zombie show will now have to reinvent itself with original stories that are not in the source material. Additionally, it makes sense for a show to introduce new characters in season 2.
All Of Us Are Dead Season 2’s Perfect Story Would Make It A Very Different Show
A popular All of Us Are Dead season 2 theory about the zombies would make the Netflix horror K-drama a very different show compared to season 1.
For example,Nam-ra mentioned other hambies inAll of Us Are Deadseason 1’s finale. Her new friends could play a major role in the zombie K-drama, which also needs to introduce new villains now that characters like Gwi-nam and Dr. Lee Byeong-chan are dead. I believe thatAll of Us Are Deadseason 2 will be much bigger in terms of scale now that the school has been destroyed. Without Hyosan High, the show could take its story anywhere. Hopefully, this doesn’t meanAll of Us Are Deadwill lose track of what made season 1 so good.
Another controversial aspect ofSweet Homes season 2 was the time skip that happened between episodes 3 and 4.Sweet Homejumped a year into the future after Hyun-su was defeated by Ui-myeong, after which it was difficult to keep track of all the characters.Hyun-su was barely inSweet Homeafter the time skip, not to mention how other important characters like Ji-su were killed off. The momentum ofSweet Home’s first season was partially lost in season 2, especially after the time skip.
I believe a time skip could be beneficial forAll of Us Are Deadbut only if the show does not sideline its main characters. In fact, there has been a time skip inAll of Us Are Deadalready. The final scenes of season 1’s finale take place a couple of months after On-jo and the others arrive at the quarantine camp. A time skip would also helpAll of Us Are Deadincorporate the passing of time in the real world, as the characters are high schoolers in season 1. Having had mixed feelings aboutSweet Homeseason 2, I’m interested to see howAll of Us Are Dead’s second chapter will compare.
All Of Us Are Dead
Cast
All of Us Are Dead is a South Korean series that centers on a high school overrun by a zombie virus outbreak. The students, facing an unprecedented crisis, must navigate survival while combating the threat of becoming part of the undead horde.
