The documentary BTS: The Return had a high bar to reach from the outset: How do you show a new side of the world’s biggest musical group? While their Netflix pop-doc debut may be the first time passive listeners become more familiar with the group, for many members of BTS’s dedicated (at times overprotective) fan base, ARMY, it follows their 11 HYBE-produced docs, long-running variety shows, and countless livestreams on the fan platform Weverse. It's no easy feat to present fans of the most-documented band of all time with something unique.
Still, the seven-piece is at an unprecedented moment in their career. The group has been on hiatus for four years; after all the members completed their mandatory military service last year, they moved to L.A. for two months to work on what would become their comeback album, ARIRANG. The matured boy group faced a crossroads at a moment when they were also at their most visible: Where does “a global emotional support system, a cultural juggernaut…[and] a multibillion-dollar economic ecosystem” go from here?
