South Korea · Drama · 2020
Stranger Season 2
Binge Brief
- Aired 16 episodes on tvN between 15 August and 4 October 2020.
- The finale on 4 October 2020 drew 9.408% nationwide, the season's high (Nielsen Korea).
- Episode 5 on 29 August 2020 was the low point at 6.041% nationwide.
- Across 16 episodes the season averaged 7.265% nationwide and 8.414% in Seoul.
- Broadcast on Saturdays and Sundays at 9 p.m. KST, with Netflix streaming it the same day outside Korea and China.
Synopsis
Stranger Season 2 is the 2020 continuation of tvN's prosecution thriller, and it moves the fight from a single murder to a clash between two institutions. Prosecutor Hwang Si-mok, played again by Cho Seung-woo, and police officer Han Yeo-jin, played by Bae Doona, end up on opposite sides of a national argument over who should hold the power to investigate crimes: prosecutors, who want to keep control of every inquiry, or the police, who want the right to run their own.
Si-mok starts the season at the Tongyeong prosecutors' office, where two bodies are found on a beach and a damaged fence makes him doubt the accident ruling. Yeo-jin now works at National Police Agency headquarters under Choi Bit (Jeon Hye-jin). Both are pulled into a joint council of the two agencies, while Si-mok keeps asking for the drowning case to be reopened. When prosecutor Seo Dong-jae (Lee Joon-hyuk) goes missing in episode 7, each side runs its own search and blames the other.
The Stranger season 2 cast adds Choi Moo-sung as Woo Tae-ha of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, and Yoon Se-ah returns as Lee Yeon-jae of the Hanjo Group. Lee Soo-yeon wrote the scripts again, while direction passed to Park Hyun-suk. The 16 episodes aired on Saturdays and Sundays from 15 August to 4 October 2020, and Netflix released each one on the same day outside Korea and China.
Stranger Season 2 cast
Episodes
| Ep | Title | Air date | Status | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Posted to the Tongyeong prosecutors' office, Si-mok spots a broken beach fence near two drowned bodies, but Seoul closes the case as an accident. | 15 Aug 2020 | Aired | 7.627% |
| 2 | Si-mok pushes to reopen the drowning file as the turf war between prosecutors and police heats up, and Dong-jae hands the Supreme Prosecutors' Office damaging material on police chief Choi Bit. | 16 Aug 2020 | Aired | 6.415% |
| 3 | Yeo-jin brings Lieutenant Jang Geon onto the joint council, Si-mok looks into a sergeant's suicide at Segok Police Station, and Yeon-jae hires a lawyer to answer bad press about her company. | 22 Aug 2020 | Aired | 7.014% |
| 4 | The first council session stalls, Dong-jae meets Yeon-jae about a former prosecutor's death, and Choi Bit orders Yeo-jin to get ahead of his inquiry. | 23 Aug 2020 | Aired | 6.442% |
| 5 | Yeo-jin tells Choi Bit the Segok death may be murder, then copies a sealed file after a visit to Anyang Correctional Facility turns up a face she knows. | 29 Aug 2020 | Aired | 6.041% |
| 6 | Si-mok learns what the sealed file says by his own route, while Yeon-jae courts the editor of The Sungmoon Daily. | 30 Aug 2020 | Aired | 6.281% |
| 7 | Dong-jae vanishes, the prosecution and the police launch separate searches, and Choi Bit wants Yeo-jin to prove no officer was involved. | 5 Sep 2020 | Aired | 6.502% |
| 8 | Choi Bit meets Woo Tae-ha of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in secret, Si-mok questions Yeon-jae at Hanjo Group, and reports point to an officer in the kidnapping. | 6 Sep 2020 | Aired | 7.493% |
| 9 | Messages from the kidnapper turn the public against the police, and Yeon-jae digs into Choi Bit's link to the former prosecutor's death. | 12 Sep 2020 | Aired | 7.190% |
| 10 | Si-mok's superiors steer him away from the dead former prosecutor, and someone claiming to have seen the abduction posts online. | 13 Sep 2020 | Aired | 7.203% |
| 11 | The online witness names a Segok officer as the abductor, Si-mok and Yeo-jin reconstruct the scene, and Tae-ha calls for prosecutors to take over the case. | 19 Sep 2020 | Aired | 6.843% |
| 12 | Tae-ha and Choi Bit talk privately about the former prosecutor, and Si-mok's hearing condition returns during the second council meeting. | 20 Sep 2020 | Aired | 7.458% |
| 13 | Defying orders, Si-mok ties a student assault case from Dong-jae's past to the Tongyeong drownings. | 26 Sep 2020 | Aired | 7.179% |
| 14 | With a search party out for Dong-jae, the two leads chase a Tongyeong suspect, and the fake witness is called in for questioning. | 27 Sep 2020 | Aired | 8.837% |
| 15 | Si-mok presses Tae-ha about the former prosecutor and is threatened in return, then he and Yeo-jin find the circle of people involved reaches Choi Bit. | 3 Oct 2020 | Aired | 8.307% |
| 16 | Warrants filed by both sides bring down senior figures in each agency, and Si-mok and Yeo-jin are each sent to a new post. | 4 Oct 2020 | Aired | 9.408% |
Frequently asked questions
What is Stranger season 2 about?
Stranger season 2 follows prosecutor Hwang Si-mok and police officer Han Yeo-jin as the prosecution and the police fight over investigative authority. A drowning case in Tongyeong and the disappearance of prosecutor Seo Dong-jae tie its two storylines together.
Who is in the Stranger season 2 cast?
The Stranger season 2 cast is led by Cho Seung-woo as Hwang Si-mok and Bae Doona as Han Yeo-jin. Lee Joon-hyuk plays Seo Dong-jae, Jeon Hye-jin plays Choi Bit, Choi Moo-sung plays Woo Tae-ha and Yoon Se-ah plays Lee Yeon-jae.
How many episodes does the Stranger 2 kdrama have?
The Stranger 2 kdrama has 16 episodes. tvN aired this Stranger 2 Korean drama two episodes a week, on Saturday and Sunday nights, from 15 August to 4 October 2020.
Is Stranger season 2 the same as Secret Forest 2?
Yes. Secret Forest 2 is the literal English rendering of the Korean title, 비밀의 숲 2, while Stranger season 2 is the name used internationally, including on Netflix.
Where can I watch Stranger season 2?
Netflix holds Stranger season 2 outside South Korea and China and released each episode on the day tvN aired it in 2020. Streaming availability differs by country and changes over time.
Who wrote and directed Stranger season 2?
Lee Soo-yeon, who also wrote the first season, wrote Stranger season 2. Park Hyun-suk directed it, taking over from the directors of season 1.
Should I watch season 1 before Stranger season 2?
Cho Seung-woo advised viewers to watch season 1 first at the online press conference held before Stranger season 2 premiered in August 2020. Several characters, including Seo Dong-jae and Lee Yeon-jae, carry over from the first season.