Head over Heels Episode 6

THAT ENDING WAS DELICIOUSLY GREAT LIKE DAYUM BUT NOW I HAVE TO KNOW, WHERES GYEONWOO????

OMG YK THE EVIL SPIRIT YEOMHWA’S WORKING FOR THAT RESIDES IN THE HAUNTED HOUSE, NOW IT ONLY NEEDS ONE MORE SACRIFICE TO BECOME A DIETY. Now gyeonwoo has started to come to terms that what seonga did as a shaman, e.g touch him and whatnot, that it was for his safety since yeomhwa placed a curse for gyeonwoo’s grandmother to go to hell and gyeonwoo begged yeomhwa to take the curse away, but instead she was about to place a curse on him, but it didn’t work because of the toy amulet jiho had given him, but then yeomhwa sensed the amulet magic and was about to take away the toy amulet from gyeonwoo’s house since yeomhwa tricked gyeonwoo into taking her to his house since in order for the curse to go she needed to be in his house (obviously this was a lie) but luckily seonga came in on time and took the amulet away from yeomhwa, and confronted her since seonga knew yeomhwa was never going to life the curse on gyeonwoo’s grandmother, which makes gyeonwoo burn the photos of his grandmother which had the curse on them to take the curse away. And for seonga to do all that really moved gyeonwoo. Now we see gyeonwoo and jiho doing an all nighter together and gyeonwoo tells jiho that gyeonwoo knows that jiho is a human amulet to .protect him, and gyeonwoo searches seonga’s shaman name online (he got the name from yeomhwa) and he finds out how she was forced into shamanism by her birth parents and that she was bullied in middle school for being a shaman. Later on, we see ji ung running away from his abusive, newly-released-from-prison father and ji ung didn’t know where else to go so he enters the haunted house, but he didn’t know he was the LAST offering for the evil spirit. So boki (ji ung’s pet’s spirit) called for seonga to save him to which she rushed over to the haunted house to save him, but GYEONWOO FOLLOWED TO (IDIOT) SINCE HE WAS WORRIED AND NOW JI UNG PROBABLY DEAD OR NEAR DEAD, AND THE EPISODE ENDS WITH GYEONWOO’S BODY NORMAL BUT THE PERSON SPEAKING FROM HIS BODY WAS ENTIRELY DIFFERENT. NOW IM WORRIED SINCE SEONGA AND JIHO WORKED SO HARD TO KEEP GYEONWOO ALIVE AND NOW I THINK HIS BODY WAS ACCIDENTALLY OFFERED FOR THE EVIL SPIRIT TO USE KINDA LIKE A “HOST” BODY, FOR THE EVIL SPIRIT TO BECOME A DIETY.

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Well, I have very mixed feelings towards this drama.

Head over Heals is very interesting story-wise. I very much liked the deep cultural representation it brought, from Shamanism, to folklore, to history. It made me want to conduct research on spirits, ghosts, and the grim reaper (one of the topics I am most fascinated by). The cast is very charming, and characters like Do Ryeong, or as he is known: The “Flower Master,” very witty yet kind-hearted, and a nice callback on the cultural aspect of how men can be shamans. On that line of argumentation, I kind of liked Bongsu a little bit more than Gyeon U because he had more of a character in general. His story sparked my curiosity, and I am so into joyful tragic characters and backstories as a whole. He is also a child; it made me feel very protective of him, knowing that he was a victim of war and all he wanted was to be loved. Nonetheless, he acted like a child who was holding and playing with dangerous tools (aka the arrow scene), PERFECT depiction of what he was doing before his death. I am sure it is not a big deal that some of us would like him more, as Seong A is made to be since she likes Gyeon U more, and that's what both the main lead and the spirit really care about.

On another note, I did not know how to feel about Yeom Hwa. She is definitely an anti-hero and a grey character, a bit more lenient towards the villain archetype. She lost her baby, and the realization she could not protect them even in death is very upsetting. Yet, it definitely is not an excuse to torment Gyeon U, as he was a child himself at some point, and she did not have any empathy for the kid who died in the first few episodes in an accident; like, she moved on very quickly. General Dong Cheon is also very captivating, a mother at heart and a very wise one too. Her death was certainly emotional. Still, I just could not comprehend how Yeom Hwa was blaming the entity in a way. I mean, she cast the spell, was about to summon the grim reaper as a murderer, forcing both Bongsu and Gyeon U to be on the other side, and was protected by her mom as she died for her. Not to forget she was the one who was blinded enough to make Bongsu possess Gyeon U through casting spells, manipulation, and causing harm.

I felt bad for Ji Ho in a funny and not-so funny way. His tragedy comes from being left out; nobody thanked him for all of the stuff he did. He had to confess to his friend in front of her very obvious non-lover (which was kind of weird), then was rejected by her, was kicked by Bongsu on few occasions, was dumb enough to also indirectly cause the death of the General by giving the obvious non-villain the ring, etc. He is a great person and he remained kind, although I wish he could have protected, or at least stood up for, Seong A when she was a push-over.

Other than that, I really could not understand characters like Hye Ri and her motivations, and whatever they did in episode 11 could not make me stomach her. I loved the representations of the Suicide Spirit and wondered why the grim reaper wouldn't be by his side, side by side. However, the grim reaper only appears when there is certain death, plus the ghost spirit already looks like the grim reaper in a way.

Seong A is also kind of a push-over. I like her and dislike her at the same time, since I couldn't see much character development or motivation. I would like to say more about her, but that's what I am mad about: I don't really have much to say about the FL in the same fashion that I do about the supporting cast.

Story-wise, I like the idea of the drama. Still, it felt like... too much? I have finished it in 2 days, yet I felt like it was a week already. Too many events happened, and the second half already felt like Season 2. A lot of questions were left unanswered and things were kind of unresolved (Hye Ri's motivations for causing the arson, how does Seong A feel now about being a shaman, how does Gyeon U feel about shamans now? their parents, how did he carry their misfortune tbg...). It felt kind of too packed and didn't make a lot of sense. Too many plots too. I just wished they could have stuck to one theme or made a Season 2.

The acting was very nice. I found myself tearing up every now and then and cried too, which I was not expecting (General's sacrfice, the punishment of the baby in the coffin because of their mom...) I just wish I could have paid more attention to the OST to be honest.

One other thing, I am beginning to dislkie the trop of "They protected me so I must protect them back and go over the same pain they have gone through to sympathise and feel bad for them), it is a little bit unrelatble and repetitive, you don't have to suffer or go through the same things they have gone through to feel their pain and to have a redemption arc or to love them more.

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