Netflix’s Parasyte: The Grey primarily follows three characters: Choi Jun-kyung, Jeong Su-in, and Seol Kang-woo. Su-in is brutally attacked by an incel when the titular parasites are dropping from the sky. Usually, parasites take over their hosts’ brain, but the one that enters Su-in’s body is only partially in control of her body because it divides its attention between healing Su-in and fighting her attacker, thereby making her a mutant. Kang-woo’s elder sister becomes a parasite, while his younger sister is murdered by them, and that spurs him to fight the alien invaders. Jun-kyung’s husband falls prey to a parasite, and she becomes the leader of Team Grey, a special unit formed to fight the body snatchers. When these three protagonists learn that the lead parasite (which jumps from the body of a pastor to Cheol-min and then to Won-seok) is going for the mayor, who is poised to become the president of South Korea, they band together (along with a fourth parasite) to take him down. At the time of writing this article, Netflix hasn’t announced a second season of Parasyte: The Grey, but since the ending of the first season has a delicious teaser, I can’t help but speculate. So, let’s get cracking.
Spoiler Alert
Will Shinichi be a part of Choi Jun-kyung’s team?
In Parasyte: The Grey, Yeon Sang-ho and Ryu Yong-jae largely use the original as a rulebook so that the functioning of the parasites and the themes can be fleshed out in a new and original way. There are shades of the characters that we are familiar with, but it’s a fresh take on the IP. But right at the end of the show, they drop a bomb of a revelation. Choi Jun-kyung enters her office, and her assistant tells her that there’s a journalist waiting for her with information about the creatures. Jun-kyung seems concerned, which is understandable after the ordeal she has been through. When the journalist turns towards him and introduces himself, he says that he is none other than Shinichi Izumi (played by Suda Masaki).
Those who are watching the Netflix series without reading the manga, watching the anime, or the live-action films, will probably not understand the gravity of this surprise. However, those who are familiar with the franchise will know that that’s the protagonist of the manga, the anime, and the live-action series, thereby making the live-action Netflix series a sequel to the manga. The show doesn’t go into much detail, but Shinichi’s appearance means that the plot of the manga precedes the story of its South Korean counterpart. The age of the character checks out, too. The manga took place from 1989 to 1994. Shinichi was a high schooler back then. Suda Masaki is in his 30s. And it makes sense that he has become a journalist. He has extensive knowledge about the inner workings of the parasite, and he knows how they’ve fundamentally changed the world. He has probably dedicated his life to dispelling misinformation about the parasites while educating them about how coexistence with humans is possible.
Since Choi Jun-kyung has learned the same from Su-in, it’s possible that it won’t be too hard for Shinichi to convince her to not treat all the parasites as the villains of the world. At the end of the manga, Migi apparently disappeared from Shinichi’s psyche, leaving him with some of his powers. That’s what the show hints at by letting the camera linger on Suda Masaki’s hand. Who knows what has happened in these 30-ish years? Maybe Migi has returned, and he’ll be aiding Shinichi and Choi Jun-kyung in recruiting the good parasites and humans, while weeding out the bad parasites and the selfish humans who want to aid their cause. By the way, there’s a small chance that it’s a totally different parasite that’s pretending to be Shinichi and is about to misuse the reputation that comes with the character to his benefit. I love how Parasyte: The Grey didn’t do a lot of fan service throughout the show and kept the best for the last. In doing so, they’ve taken my excitement for a second season to the stratosphere, and I can’t wait to see more of Shinichi, his relationship with Satomi, and how he has evolved over the years.
What lies in Seol Kang-woo’s future?
Kang-woo has seemingly put his life of crime in the rear-view mirror, and he’ll be working with Choi Jun-kyung in Team Grey. But does that mean the crime world has forgotten about Kang-woo’s deeds? Parasyte (the manga as well as the Netflix series) shows that, while alien invaders can do evil things because of their lack of empathy or the “orders they’ve received from their maker,” humans can do evil things despite having the free will to be the best versions of themselves. We saw at the end of the manga that it wasn’t a parasite that threatened the lives of Satomi and Shinichi; it was a flesh-and-bone human rapist who barely knew them. Similarly, it’s possible that, out of the blue, some criminal can jeopardize Kang-woo’s life. Think about it. Kang-woo has left a trail of blood because of his reckless nature. He has gone clean now, but that doesn’t mean that the relatives and friends of the gangsters who have died around him are simply going to forget about him. So, in Parasyte: The Grey Season 2, Kang-woo’s past can come to haunt him. How he’ll face it and reckon with the fact that he is the villain of someone else’s story will probably form the crux of his character arc.
How Will Jeong Su-in and Heidi’s Relationship Evolve?
Two things happened at the end of Parasyte: The Grey Season 1: Su-in was offered a position in Team Grey, and Heidi promised Su-in that she’d never be alone. Jun-kyung requesting Su-in to be a part of her parasite investigation team makes total sense. She is an asset, and she can help her identify parasites with her telepathic superpowers. Su-in is an empath, and in a world that is baying for blood all the time, she will be able to knock some sense into Jun-kyung and her trigger-happy team. However, what I am interested in seeing in a potential season 2 is the progression of the relationship between Heidi and Su-in. It’s so different from the one between Shinichi and Migi. It took a lot of time for Migi to empathize with humans and treat Shinichi as an integral aspect of his existence. He even dehumanized Shinichi to a dizzying extent, and Shinichi had to re-learn how to act as a human. In stark contrast to that, Heidi turned out to be Su-in’s hype parasite. She constantly promoted Su-in’s soft nature and assured her that she’d never leave her side. I want to see what else Heidi can learn from Su-in and vice versa. As much as I like the 15-minute handicap that the show uses to alternate between Heidi and Su-in, I hope they find a way to give both of them an equal amount of screen time. By the way, it’s totally possible that the makers of the show will use this to build up an emotional breakup between Su-in and Heidi. If that’s the case, I am all for it because I love to cry while watching something as absurd as Parasyte.
Will Season 2 continue the story of Season 1?
Initially, I thought that the Netflix series was titled Parasyte: The Grey to differentiate it from the manga and the anime (which is called Parasyte: The Maxim). While that is the case, I have a feeling that the yet-to-be-announced Season 2 of Netflix’s Parasyte is going to be something entirely different. You see, The Grey in the title is a reference to the Grey Team, which is led by Choi Jun-kyung. Since the parasite invasion is a pandemic, it’s totally possible that the second season will focus on a totally different team with a completely new set of characters located in another country. Choi Jun-kyung said that there are several task forces spread all across the globe, with the Grey Team being the quickest to assemble a proper squad, and maybe we’ll see how they are dealing with the parasites in their country. That said, Shinichi’s appearance brings up an interesting conundrum. Shinichi dealt with the parasites in the ’90s. The Netflix series takes place in the 2020s. Hence, it’s totally possible that the parasite invasion we see in the show is the third or fourth wave, and there are several other teams that have responded to it in a discreet fashion. That can cause a dent in the hubris of the South Koreans, which will lead to some form of conflict. Since conflict leads to good stories, I welcome it. Anyway, those are just my thoughts and expectations from Yeon Sang-ho’s Parasyte. Please feel free to form your own theories and share them with us.
