New BTS Docuseries Is a Bittersweet Snapshot of Their Emotional Transition Into Chapter 2

Chronicling BTS’ impressive journey is a tall task, given everything the seven-member group — which consists of members RM, Jin, Suga, J-hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook — has accomplished since debuting in 2013 (and still has yet to do). But Disney+’s eight-part docuseries, BTS Monuments: Beyond the Star, does an effective job of turning 10 years’ worth of career-defining achievements, history-making “firsts” and the hardships endured along the way into digestible snapshots of a once-in-a-generation talent for fans, commonly referred to as A.R.M.Y. (acronym for “Adorable Representative MC for Youth”), to reminisce over and the uninitiated to discover amid the group’s temporary hiatus while the members serve out their mandatory military service.

Each episode is a taut half hour, hardly sufficient time to dig into each of the group’s milestones but enough to offer fleeting glimpses into the members’ experiences, perspectives and emotions during key moments in their history. A lot of ground is covered in the docuseries, from their difficult early days to the creative renaissance they felt through the release of the Most Beautiful Moment in Life albums to their meteoric global rise soon after to their last group concert for the time being in 2022.

Much of the footage seen and the sentiments expressed have been well-documented throughout the septet’s existence on various platforms such as BTS’ official YouTube account, BANGTANTV (see: Suga’s ongoing talk show, “Suchwita”); Weverse (the group’s preferred digital platform); interviews; social media; concert and yearly memory DVDs; their 10-year oral history book, Beyond the Story; and other complementary content, like their pandemic-borne reality show, In the Soop.

It’s when the members openly share — more so than usual; they’ve mostly been open books their entire career — their private, innermost thoughts and insecurities about significant shifts outside of their control that the docuseries is truly illuminating and eye-opening. Notably the devastating impact COVID-19 had on their best-laid plans and mental well-being, the pressures they felt with military service looming and the growing pains of rediscovering themselves as individuals during a time of transition (or “Chapter 2,” as they’ve often called this period).

Previously unseen footage, like the group’s heartbreaking reaction the precise moment they learned their 2020 Map of the Soul world tour was canceled due to COVID, a particularly heavy conversation Jimin and J-hope had after a 2021 Permission to Dance On Stage concert about the “worst-case scenario” of not being back on stage until after military service and RM admitting he contemplated quitting only to realize performing was their purpose, also add weight to their circumstances.

With all seven members currently enlisted in South Korea’s military (the country requires able-bodied men up to a certain age to serve 18 to 21 months as part of conscription), and a planned group reunion aimed for 2025 once they finish, it’s refreshingly bittersweet to hear the members — in their own words – come to terms with the unpredictability of the future, one that’s still unwritten, and what BTS will evolve into when the time comes for them to reunite.

“What are the messages we can convey as BTS?” rapper and dance leader J-Hope asks. “I don’t think the members know the answer to that in our current state.” Most of the group will be in their 30s by the time they fulfill their service; entering a new decade of life has deeper meaning than just turning a year older, which they express in the doc. As singer and oldest member Jin astutely observes, they’ve reached the top many times over after 10 years of chasing. But maybe it’s time for them to “do what we’d like to do as we move forward.” As leader RM, the group’s philosophical rapper, sums up, “We’re finally trying to grow up.”

The penultimate episode spends significant time with the members as they navigate their solo paths and careers, adjusting to living separately and prioritizing their own interests after largely putting the group first. Their daily routines are quite ordinary to the everyday person, but extraordinary for them — for instance, V plays video games, listens to music and works on songs; Jungkook drinks, eats and sleeps. In a notable moment, Jimin and Jungkook have fried chicken one evening when Jimin recalls a friend telling him he seemed “severely depressed,” presumably amidst all the shifts taking place. “I think a lot changed after that,” he admits, revealing his anxieties over finding what his definition of happiness is — the answer still a work-in-progress. “I want to be happy and I wish the same for everyone else.”

By the final episode, the group is well into their Chapter 2. (Jin is seen getting his hair buzzed ahead of his military enlistment on December 13, 2022 with Suga and Jungkook watching. Jin Facetimes V afterwards.) It crystallizes for the viewer that whatever form BTS takes in the future, the members’ genuine happiness — and not necessarily Grammy awards or No. 1 albums — will be key to their longevity and motivation. And whatever their time apart brings can only add surprising new hues to the group’s overall colors. “In the past, it was important that we stayed together every day. But now that 10 years have passed, you don’t have to always be together to be a family,” Jin wisely says. “You’re family as long as your hearts are one.”

There’s still plenty of history left for BTS to write. BTS Monuments: Beyond the Star serves as a densely packed time capsule that distills the group’s fruitful experiences at a time when they must take a momentary career pause. “Regardless of the form we take, even if we may change, I hope that BTS can stay BTS,” RM says of the future. At the end of the day, as long as they remain united, onstage or off it, that’s all that eventually matters. As V says to close out the docuseries, “I’m thankful that we remained seven for the past 10 years.”

Philiana Ng is a Los Angeles-based writer covering TV, celebrity, culture and more. Her work has appeared in The Hollywood Reporter, Billboard, Entertainment Tonight, TV Guide, Yahoo Entertainment, and The Daily Beast, among others.