Sang-Wook’s first sentence in the new season of Sweet Home does a great job to bring us back to the postapocalyptic world of monsters and humans: “It’s been a long time.” Technically, between them, it really hasn’t, but between us and the show, we’re meeting our old friends after a long three years of doubt. The show begins bang in the middle of the action with no time to spare. Netflix kindly recaps the first season before beginning the new one to jog your memory, but if you’re still a little blank, let us help you out a bit. Sweet Home is the story of the residents of the “Green Home” apartment buildings after a “curse” has taken over the whole world, converting humans into monsters. Now, initially, everyone assumes this is a virus because humans have physical symptoms like nose bleeds before they turn into monstrous creatures. More importantly, the monsters are a manifestation of human desires; for example, if the human is always hungry, they would become a monster that always wants to eat. A lot goes down with the Green Home residents, and there are very few survivors by the end of Sweet Home. Hyun-Su, who surrenders himself to the military, ends up in the custody of a back-from-the-dead Sang-Wook, who we realize quickly is, in fact, Ui-Myeong, another monster who is a special infectee like Hyun-Su and can control other monsters too. Where is he planning on taking him now, and what’s next for Hyun-Su?
Spoilers Ahead
What’s Ui-Myeong’s Big Plan?
Hyun-Su is frustrated when he sees Sang-Wook’s body taken over by Ui-Myeong (the sludge monster) and begins a fight the second he’s conscious. Ui-Myeong claims he killed Sang-Wook and a bunch of other people because he didn’t like the look in Hyun-Su’s eyes. We do know that his big plan is to save all the “conscious” monsters because he thinks it’s his main purpose in life. He truly believes he’s the chosen one, and he also thinks Hyun-Su can help him, which is why he’s trying to kidnap him from the military. Sweet Home 2 begins with a chase scene between Ui-Myeong and the military, including Yi-Kyung (our favorite tough girl!). Fighting ensues in the car that Hyun-Su and Ui-Myeong (you must picture Sang-Wook’s face with this name now) are in. You know, none of them can actually die, and they both despise each other, but Ui-Myeong needs Hyun-Su for his great plan.
The military knows about Hyun-Su being a special infectee because of Yi-Kyung. She’s keen on finding her fiancé, who was one of the first to be infected and later experimented on by the military. This is why the military is in pursuit of their vehicle and cannot have Hyun-Su killed accidentally. There’s a rumor that all those who were special infectees earlier are now useless, so having Hyun-Su would be extremely valuable.
In a mall, while trying on new clothes, Ui-Myeong tells Hyun-Su that he saved him because he thought he wouldn’t love being a lab rat (how considerate). He comes up with the name “neohumans” for their kind, neither fully human nor monster. Hyun-Su tells Ui-Myeong that he has no intention of killing innocent humans without reason like Ui-Myeong. The latter promises to stop doing the same, proving his point by saving one in the mall they’re in. Elsewhere, Yi-Kyung overhears some soldiers talking about the other special infectees being useless and decides to find out for herself.
What Monster Do The Green Home Residents Face?
On their way to the camp set up by the military, the Green Home residents realize that there are suspiciously no monsters or humans on the way to the camp. It’s almost as if they’ve wiped out the whole population, but they assume the people are all safe in the camps and the monsters have been slaughtered. When they enter the restricted area, they’re meant to walk the rest of the way because debris has covered the streets, and survivors themselves are made to clean it up. The military is absolutely savage, and anybody who may look like they have symptoms is killed on the spot with no remorse. Quickly, a monster appears from the debris, and in a fright, everyone begins to run. Chaos follows, and the military fires wildly at the monster, killing many innocent people in the process.
(Cold hearted) Eun-Yu is a little behind the rest of the pack while they’re walking, so she’s the first to have a look at the monster fast approaching. She tells everyone to run, and they find one of the good soldiers, who takes them in on his truck. Eun-Yu doesn’t arrive in time, but the man continues to wait, knowing they’re from the same group. There’s a soldier who sits on the floor, holding his dead mother in his arms after she dies in the present chaos. The soldier shoots himself right next to Eun-Yu, who has now seen it all. She’s become numb because she’s lost her stepbrother and Hyun-Su. She grabs the gun from the soldier’s hands, but it’s not really clear why. The other soldier reverses his truck to get her, and the residents manage to pull her onto the truck.
Is This Monster Dangerous?
The frog monster (I’ve just named her) is a mother, and it’s quite evident that she doesn’t actually want to harm any humans. In fact, it’s possible she came out of hiding to try and keep her baby safe. She seems quite conscious of what she’s doing, which is, in fact, similar to the womb monster from Sweet Home. When a girl gets separated from her mother and begins to cry, the monster grabs her. She searches for the girl’s mother and safely reunites them when nobody’s looking. Ultimately, after a lot of human casualties, the soldiers find the baby of the frog monster. One of the soldiers puts a metal rod through the baby’s chest, threatening the mother. She rushes back to her baby, only to get torched to death. Fortunately, the captain is more sensible and lets the baby go as a harmless monster. This is the “Crow Platoon,” specifically tasked with killing the monsters; however, the captain reminds them that they’re meant to kill those that are harmful to humans.
Is Sang-Wook Still In There Somewhere?
It seems Ui-Myeong is struggling with Sang-Wook’s body because his mind is still somewhat alive. While driving to the camp with Hyun-Su, Ui-Myeong suddenly starts having visions of Yu-Ri, the beautiful young asthmatic girl that Sang-Wook had become fond of in Sweet Home. It’s almost like she’s Sang-Wook’s light at the end of the tunnel because Ui-Myeong ends up crashing the car (killing a bunch of soldiers on the way) after being overwhelmed by thoughts of Yu-Ri. Hyun-Su escapes the overturned car. He sees a soldier on the verge of death, who asks Hyun-Su why they (the neohumans) are hurting them like that. Hyun-Su puts the man out of his misery and cries out loud because of what he’s forced to do.
We get a glimpse of the scientist who is running the experiments on the infectees, and he says that the monsters are a vaccine for the virus that is mankind. It could be an excuse for trying to tame the monsters. Elsewhere, Ui-Myeong finally wakes up and pushes himself out of the car. His body (Sang-Wook’s) is totally broken, and he’s unable to fix it. It’s as if Sang-Wook is fighting back hard; maybe he wasn’t fully dead when Ui-Myeong took over. Hyun-Su takes a broken Ui-Myeong and drags him towards the camp. Ui-Myeong is obviously terrified by the military experiments because his trauma seems to jump out at this moment, and he starts to beg for mercy. He tells Hyun-Su not to take him back there, especially in the condition he is in, but Hyun-Su obviously doesn’t care. Ultimately, he gets shot and falls to the floor next to Ui-Myeong, who curses him for leading them back to where it all began for him.
