Tide of Love – Season 2 Review

Haejun is a university art student. He comes from a poor family and has to support his sick mother. Desperate for money, he accepts an escorting job. His client is Jaehun, a wealthy man who hires him to fulfill his twisted sex fantasies. Jaehun has a warped view of power dynamics and loves putting Haejun in helpless positions. Despite their toxic relationship, feelings start to develop between them.

Now that Haejun and Jaehun are officially dating, Haejun gets to enjoy all the perks of having a rich boyfriend. They live together in Jaehun's luxurious villa, where Jaehun covers all of Haejun's living expenses. He even sets up a private art room stocked with supplies, so Haejun can paint whenever he wants. Unfortunately, Haejun's grades have been slipping. His professor warns him that he'll fall behind on his schoolwork if he doesn't attend more online classes.

At first, the relationship seems to be going well. Jaehun rearranges his schedule just to spend the holidays with Haejun. They have a lovely time together, full of romance and sex. However, Jaehun's possessive streak starts showing. Whenever Haejun attends class or talks to anyone, Jaehun gets upset. In his twisted little worldview, Haejun belongs to him. Ideally, Haejun would never leave the house or speak to anyone else.

Things get more complicated when Jaehun's friend Suhyeok reappears. They seem friendly enough on the surface, but Suhyeok is secretly working against him. He wants to blow up Jaehun's relationship with Haejun. Suhyeok goes behind Jaehun's back to plant seeds of doubt wherever he can. It works. Haejun grows curious about his boyfriend's past and starts digging.

Haejun discovers that Jaehun grew up in an abusive household where his violent father regularly beat his mother. It's a painful history that largely explains why Jaehun behaves the way he does, especially in the bedroom. Haejun wants to understand more, but Jaehun refuses to talk about any of it. To learn more about Jaehun's background, Haejun has no choice but to keep communicating with Suhyeok on the sly.

Haejun isn't very good at hiding his secret communications with Suhyeok. Jaehun notices his boyfriend acting sketchy and starts asking questions about where his loyalty lies. As his insecurity grows, so does his cruelty. He starts putting chains, collars, and handcuffs on Haejun as punishment, making it clear who's in charge. Haejun is disturbed. As far as he's concerned, Jaehun has crossed a line. The dynamic between them has gotten way too twisted to ignore.

I have no idea why Tide of Love 2 was made. Who asked for this!? Out of all the BL dramas to get a second season, they picked the worst one that doesn't deserve a sequel. In case you've forgotten, the original series was toxic garbage. Even though the main character was vile and mistreated his love interest, the story still pretended his abuse was romantic. Season 2 doesn't get any better. If anything, it doubles down on every problematic trope. Tide of Love 2 is as sleazy and shameless as ever.

I still hate Jaehun's character. Ugh, he's such a controlling creep! He begins this season as a sugar daddy, spoiling his boyfriend with expensive gifts. By Episode 3, the real Jaehun is back in business. The jealousy is back. The possessiveness is back. And oh boy, the sadistic streak is BACK. Some of his dialogue this season is unhinged. Obey me! Don't you dare go anywhere! How dare you think you're entitled to privacy! You need to be punished! OMFG. Are we watching a BL drama or a hostage situation??? Since nobody ever calls out Jaehun's nasty behaviour, he gets to be the biggest asshole with zero consequences.

Poor Haejun is treated horribly by his toxic boyfriend. Jaehun uses handcuffs and collars to punish Haejun when he misbehaves. Step out of line and you'll suffer! Jaehun also loves wrapping his hand around Haejun's neck to remind him who's in charge. Super distressing! It gets to a point where I see warning signs everywhere. Every red flag in the domestic abuse handbook is checked off one by one. Haejun tries to leave this relationship a few times, but his Stockholm syndrome is too strong. He keeps going back to Jaehun. Noooo, you need to escape that evil bastard!!!

Tide of Love 2 has no moral compass, so the most disturbing scenes get treated as erotic content. It looks at Haejun's suffering and goes, "Ooh, that's hot!" Although Jaehun and Haejun have lots of sex, I'm not turned on at all. Many sex scenes have uncomfortable power dynamics since Jaehun asserts dominance over a helpless Haejun. The icky circumstances make it impossible to enjoy the couple's physical intimacy. And for a BL drama so committed to sleaziness, Tide of Love 2 never actually shows anything explicit. The camera cuts away before things turn 18+.

Jaehun's actor (Jung Myeong Cheol) is camping it up. He embraces his character's villainous side, bringing the role to life with a theatrical flair. His co-star (Kim Hyun Seo) looks uncomfortable with the kissing and seems to resist his partner's lips. In his defence, I don't blame him for being over it. The smut scenes are excessive and serve no purpose to the plot. Haejun gets choked, manhandled, and exploited every episode. It's unnecessary! Very few actors go this far in other BL dramas. He deserves a better role than a sleazy low-budget series that treats him like a piece of meat.

If I'm held at gunpoint and must say something positive about Tide of Love 2, I'll admit it's better than Season 1. As a longer series, there's more of a "story" (yes, the quotation marks are necessary). There's slightly more "character development". The sequel explores Jaehun's childhood trauma to make us feel sorry for him. It doesn't work. Overall, Tide of Love 2 is still a bottom-tier BL drama. The main character sucks. The romance is rotten. Even the sex scenes are a total turn-off. This series feels so gross that I need to bathe in holy water to wash the filth away.