Parasyte: The Grey is the ultimate palette cleanser after the disaster that was Sweet Home season 2. And this is coming from someone who absolutely loved Sweet Home season 1. It opened a new world of TV for me and I pushed past the boundaries of Hollywood being the only thing I watched. For many, Squid Game got them into K-dramas. But it was Sweet Home that did it for me. After DNFing season 2 after the water birth and the fact that they sidelined their own lead, I wasn’t able to find something that had the same vibe aka humans battling an inner monster and fantastic special effects. Then Parasyte: The Grey walked into my life and gave me everything that I’ve been looking for.
Parasyte: The Grey tells the story of Su-In, a young woman who almost dies after an attack. Her life is saved by a parasite alien kind of thing that fuses with her instead of taking over her because it had to heal her wounds first. In Hollywood’s hands, this would have turned into a creepy psychological kind of show where the parasite is evil. But it becomes evident really quickly that the parasite just wants to survive. And if it has to live within Su-In, it will. But not just to survive, but to protect. The parasite protects Su-In from the outside world and the other parasites that are trying to take her down because she’s a mutant, but also from herself. Now this part is my absolute favorite plot line of season 1.
This show made it so the parasite learned from Su-In and Su-In and learned from her. And it quickly became a caring bond that made it so both had something to lose and both cared for each other. It came to a climax when the parasite, lovingly called Heidi, brought Su-In inside of her mind to protect her from the outside world when she was captured. While inside her mind, Heidi kind of took her through this guided journey exploring Su-In’s pain. And it was really interesting as a viewer realizing that Heidi wanted Su-In to realize that she was not alone, that she survived, that she was not at fault for what happened, and that she was strong. All the other parasites that we had experienced up to this point wanted to survive but had no problem killing their host. Heidi didn’t want that.
Su-In herself was also such an interesting character. Yes, she mildly freaked out at what had occurred to her and that she wasn’t alone in her mind anymore. But I think it also gave her a sense of peace and belonging that she hadn’t felt for a very long time. No longer does Su-In have to face the world alone. And if she can’t handle something, she has someone who will literally take the reins until she is ready. That space to grow, gave Su-In an opportunity to realize what she had in her life and that she was more than capable of taking on her trauma and this alien invasion that wanted to take over the world, one church leader or mayor at a time.
Back to the comparison to Sweet Home. Both of these shows have a human being struggling with something monstrous inside. And when I call Parasyte: The Grey a replacement of Sweet Home, I don’t mean because I hated the lead of Sweet Home. I loved him. But I felt that the writing for season 2 absolutely failed the lead. Parasyte: The Grey did not fail its lead. Throughout the season we got to see Su-In at her lowest before slowly but surely transforming into this powerful yet content young woman who feels more grounded in who she is and the life that she leads now. And if this show never gives us more Su-In again, I’m content with the fact that she is okay. Or she will be okay. And this is coming from someone who hates ambiguous open endings. But this show managed to do it in a way where I feel comfortable in her journey.
Another character’s journey that I really want to talk about when it comes to Parasyte: The Grey is Kang-Woo. He was such a coward in the beginning, running from everything in his life. But like Su-In, there was a spark of needing to do the right thing. And I think the parasites coming into his life, even though they destroyed his family, was a pivotal thing that was good for him in the long run. He learned, like Su-In, to stop running. Instead, he walked alongside Su-In and found peace in this life while starting off on a new path. And if there was anything that I would like to see for Kang-Woo, it’s for him to be reunited with Su-In. Because the door is open for her to join him with The Grey. And I hope she takes it because the way that they cared for each other throughout season 1 was giving me the beginnings of a ship. And I’m a sucker for a ship.
Besides the character journeys aka my favorite aspects of Parasyte: The Grey, we have to talk about the special effects. I truly think that South Korean cinema and TV is leagues ahead of what Hollywood is doing. Hollywood is not as creative as some of the things that I’m seeing from Korean TV. And I truly believe in my heart’s heart that they would not come up with something like the character designs for The Grey. Every single parasite was utterly disgusting but done in a way that was also truly intriguing. I’ve never really cared about the ins and outs of monster design. But I would love to learn more about how the mechanics of the human head splitting apart and transforming into unique parasites. Because they had the framework with the OG anime, but there’s something different about the mechanics that are needed for special effects for a TV show. I want to know about the programs they used, what the writer’s room was like, and what went into each character design.
Seldom do shows make me curious. That’s especially true because I feel like Hollywood has kind of hit a wall with me. I thought I was finding a way out of it while still watching sci-fi-esque shows that I love when I entered my Sweet Home phase. But that hit a wall. And Parasyte: The Grey came to the rescue with a heroine that gave me the kind of feelings where I wanted to wrap her up in a blanket and protect her from the world. We also got a hero who wasn’t perfect but was given the chance to do better. And if you wrap that up with some of the craziest character designs going hand-to-hand with thrilling action sequences, and you’ve got one of the best shows of 2024. Parasyte: The Grey is the mind-boggling and eye-opening kind of show that reminds me there are still new and wondrous things to be discovered and created when it comes to TV.
Parasyte: The Grey season 1 is now available on Netflix.
