- High School

Muntinlupa City

A Critical Analysis on Episode 2 of the TV

Series, Girl from Nowhere: Season 2

In partial fulfillment of the requirements in Reading and Writing

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 A Critical Analysis on Episode 2 of the TV Series, Girl from Nowhere: Season 2

The suspense series "Girl From Nowhere" gained international acclaim after Netflix included it to
their growing roster of Thai titles. “Girl From Nowhere” in particular was a major sensation in the
Philippines, lasting in the Top 10 on Netflix for months. After the series' unexpected popularity, season 2
is produced immediately by the team and aired. The series become an astounding success because of the
relevant social issues tackled in a school setting with a mysterious and charismatic female main character.
Each episode is a stand-alone story carrying the same premise: Nanno, an intriguing new girl, begins her
first day at school by slowly unearthing the hypocrisy, double standards, and secrets of everyone around
her and making sure they never forget it. Nanno is the new girl at school, and three things stand out about
her: her enigmatic allure, her witty quips, and her unfathomable ability to resurrect (or haunt the living)
after many deaths. Each episode tells a separate story of Nanno's questionable methods of seeking justice.
Nobody knows who (or what) Nanno is; all they know is that she is karma incarnate and enjoys playing
cryptic psychological games. Despite the protagonist's doubtful morals, the episodes address a variety of
societal concerns that are currently relevant.

Much lighter than the second season premiere, episode 2: “True Love” is about precisely that, with
Nanno attempting to open up a woman whose old-fashioned, conservative views about boys and girls, men
and women, have blocked her off to love, rather than seeking vengeance on those who have wronged her.
Miss Naruemon (Penpak Sirikul) is a stern elder teacher at an all-girls school that is obliged to admit male
students due to financial constraints. Nanno is a student there, and her interfering and encouragement results
in the implementation of increasingly harsh measures to keep boys and girls separated.
Episode 2 is a breath of fresh air, offering a much more hopeful view of young love. As the episode
progresses, it gradually exposes itself to be essentially a love story for Miss Naruemon, and indeed she is
unaware of until the very end, and it has some things to say about modern dating being controlled by social
applications, though it is by no means a criticism.

The story in this episode depicts sexism and ethical principles in society especially among adults.
The female professor strongly disagrees in merging female and male students in an all-girls school as she
thinks it can affect the girls’ ethics and school’s values. However, the stern professor acted unreasonably
because of a past trauma: the loss of her best friend as a result of an abortion. Since then, she believes that
all girls should be protected from young boys’ reckless behaviors and harmful influence. Also, The
professor's ethical principles imply sexism, as male pupils are discriminated against by the teachers in this
scenario. Teachers are so concerned with the purity of young girls that they stereotype and condemn men.
It led to implementing irrational school rules and harsh disciplinary acts.
Furthermore, Nanno convinced the educators with the idea of anonymous online chatting in order to see
the students’ real attitudes and motives. Students were given an app that allowed them to communicate with
faceless, genderless strangers. As time passed, all students' frustration on interacting with the opposite sex
became unmanageable. When a couple was caught alone in a classroom, the professor retaliated with
violence against the male student.
Nearing the end of the episode, there’s an underlying theme here about internalized homophobia. During
the professor’s farewell speech to the school, the application revealed the identity of each users. It turns out
the professor was conversing with a female colleague and assistant. She was taken aback and in denial of
their relationship and her sexual orientation but the female colleague pursued her to open her heart to love
anew, regardless of gender.

In my perspective, I admire how this episode portrayed social issues that are less talked about.
Ethical principles are not always good, it can make people be close-minded. Society are changing rapidly
each day, they have a more diverse way of thinking than before. We should not only educate the youth but
also the adults. In addition to this, harsh disciplinary became normal to elderly on most Asian countries
which is definitely wrong because discipline is not equal to violence. Another theme is sexism, this is a
widely recognized among women but not on men. We should normalize acknowledging the seldom cases
of discrimination among men too just how we do for women. Moreover, we should normalize dating online
because we are now living in a world that is technologically advanced. It is harmless if you only let out
personal feelings instead of personal information of your identity. Finally, I really admire how they
perfectly portrayed internalized homophobia. Nowadays, people have homophobic instances
unconsciously, such as denial of your sexual orientation to yourself and others, degrading their own selves,
etc. Internalized homophobia manifests itself in varying ways that can be linked to mental health. It is a
must to spread awareness on this as it can not only be harmful to one self but also to others.

This series is worth watching because of its depth in dealing with societal issues, particularly those
involving young people. With its own twists and turns, each episode leaves a great lesson. It serves as a
wake-up call for individuals who are ignorant of and unconcerned with their environment. This series
explores the essential topic that adolescents encounter today in a variety of ways, from practical and realistic
to darker and more deceptive. Overall, this series is extremely well-made and engaging. It's a brief and
efficient morality tale in which everyone learns something about themselves and life; nevertheless, these
lessons are sometimes learned the hard way.