REVIEW: ‘Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area’ Part 2 Runs Away With It All

Money Heist, the Spanish heist thriller created by Álex Pina, became one of Netflix’s first international phenomena. The concept has been revamped from a Korean perspective with Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area, which aired Part 1 earlier this year. Directed by Kim Hong-sun and written by Ryu Yong-jae, Kim Hwan-chae, and Choe Sung-jun, Money Heist Korea Part 2 continues the take on an existing series that is fresh and unique, even if it carries some similarities.

If you didn’t watch, Money Heist Korea takes place in 2025 in a newly united Korean Peninsula. The North and South were brought together to build a stronger economy. Like the original series, Money Heist Korea has a packed extended cast that embodies and plays with the tropes that are so ingrained in the heist genre. Only here, the added layer of reunification means that loyalties are pushed and tested through the lens of the North and the South, with characters coming from both. But while the first part of the series managed to focus on a stellar heist and the tensions rising as plans are complicated, Money Heist Korea Part 2 shifts focus to the personal.

Ditching the non-linear storytelling, Money Heist Korea Part 2 manages to weave in flashbacks and tell the story from right where we left off with some emotional underpinnings. While Part 1 was all about the how of the heist (the set-up, the players, and the execution), Part 2 is focused on the why. Why is Berlin so determined? Why is the heist happening now? And why this specific group of people?

Money Heist Korea Part 2 shifts the very foundation of the series. Connections are drawn, boundaries are established, and ultimately the series hits and runs away with its stellar ending at full speed. The shaking of the series’ foundation comes most solidly from Berlin. Initially a ruthless leader in the group, his brutality winds up having reason. It isn’t about power, or even money; it’s personal. By crafting an emotional background for Berlin, the showrunners take him from villain to hero in a way that feels dynamic instead of forced. The best part of the series, like the Spanish one before it, is that there are layers to it. The intricate heist is the set piece, and unraveling the characters and the class structures they’re beholden to allows the narrative to unfold uniquely, even as an adaptation.

Without revealing a lot of the plot developments, the importance of seeing North Korea’s torture and South Korean apathy towards it after reunification takes center stage in the series. The balance of greed and individual emotional drive makes the confrontations with increasingly corrupt police and politicians heavier. As the two sides converge, this Part 2 of the series changes who you’re rooting for and plays with the gray area of morality in every way that it can.

All that said, Money Heist Korea Part 2 also packs in the action, not just the emotion. With gun fights and infiltrations at more than just the Mint, the series takes a violent turn and is the better for it. The stakes seem higher than where we last left our group of would-be robbers, and the addition of plenty of action sequences assures that the audience knows that. A shakey cam during one particular infiltration in Episode 9 is expert execution of action choreography and cinematography.

Instead of focussing on one particular moment at a time, the series manages to move the camera through fight sequences in a way that captures everything happening in the room and does so without unnerving jump cuts and senseless motion blur. Action in Money Heist Korea Part 2 excels — especially when it shows the same scene from different angles. Every moment of action has a narrative payoff that makes every choice fall into place.

Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area Part 2 is a stellar finish with surprises along the way. With compelling characters, fantastic action, and a runaway ending, this is one of the best series of the year on Netflix or otherwise.

Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area Part 2 is streaming December 9, exclusively on Netflix.