'Stranger' Season 2 Ending Explained: Cliffhanger with Shin Hye-sun, Yoo Jae-myung cameo begs for a Season 3
'Stranger' Season 2 has come to an end, however, we have more questions now than we did at the end of 'Stranger' Season 1. We deserve a third season to watch how the battle between Prosecutor Hwang Shi-mok and Hanjo plays out as until now, the show has only targetted the small players in the form of Chief Prosecutors and Chief of Police. There needs to be a full-blown battle with Hanjo on one side and Shi-mok and Yeo-jin on the other. Until the very end of season 2, we did not meet Lee Seung-jae, who happens to be Lee Yeon-jae's brother and also someone struggling to wrestle the power out of Yeon-jae's hands.
The first season saw Hanjo play a central role, but this time, be it Lee Yeon-jae or her struggle with her brother took a backseat to another power struggle and that is between the Prosecution and the Police Department regarding who deserves to have the rights over investigating cases. Even as this struggle took center stage, the main players were Intelligence Bureau head Choi Bit and Chief Prosecutor at the Supreme Court office, Woo Tae-ha. The scheming that the two of them did to show each other down in the eyes of the public while trying to wrestle for power set the main scene and within its shadow was the search for truth.
The person who was on this tough path of digging the truth out was none other than Seo Dong-jae. Of course, he claimed that he was out to get information that would give him dirt of influential people. But then, just as Shi-mok had noted, there were no signs of Dong-jae having gone to the dark side, not after he heard his senior Lee Chang-jun's (Yoo Jae-myung) last words. At this juncture, the fact is that he was abducted and became a piece that the police and prosecution used without qualms to support their side in the power wrestle was the main plotline. So then, what about Hanjo, what about Lee Seung-jae and will Lee Chang-jun's wife Lee Yeon-jae who is currently the head of Hanjo do as her husband wished and run a clean business?
None of these questions have an answer. In fact, at the end of 'Stranger' Season 2, we did not even see if Woo Tae-ha received the punishment he deserved or if he managed to squiggle out of the charges. Did he not claim that he was influential enough to get a line-up of offers from private firms solely based on his connections? Would he be another addition to Hanjo's fleet of secret lawyers and if so will he choose Lee Seung-jae and Lee Yeon-jae? This is something that the show must answer and for this we need a third season.
Then, there is the matter of Shi-mok and Yeo-jin. We want more of their team-up, not on opposing sides but on the same side as they put up an energetic fight to weed out the corruption that is a result of Hanjo's influence. In hindsight, if Hanjo hadn't decided to ask Park Gwang-su to bring a member of the prosecution and police together, none of what had happened would have occurred. So this time around, we need Shi-mok and Yeo-jin to set their sights on Hanjo. Whether it is Lee Seung-jae or Lee Yeon-jae is something that will be decided based on how both of them run their business.
Then there is the cameo by Yoon Jae-myung and Shin Hye-sun. They appear as prosecutor Lee Chang-jun and assistant prosecutor Young Eun-soo as the two of them disappear in one direction, while Seo Dong-jae is stopped by Lee Chang-jun. This is an indication of how the show had seen the death of two of Shi-mok's colleagues while Dong-jae who was on the cusp of death had managed to survive. This also indicates that Dong-jae has more to do alive than dead.
So the main reason we need a new season is to learn what Seo Dong-jae said to the prosecutors who were investigating the connection between Hanjo and Park Gwnag-su's death. When asked if he had come across proof that indicated a connection between the two, he is just about to answer when the shot was closed and the season was wrapped. After suffering through a near-death incident, will Dong-jae's determination to stand by the law change? His smile definitely seemed cunning and it is clear that he has something up his sleeve, and we want to know what. So can we really get a season renewal for the show?
All episodes of 'Stranger' Season 1 and Season 2 can be streamed on Netflix.