DramaAjumma

Wow. Thank you for that measured response.
I think the show improved somewhat after Episode 9 or 10 but the first few episodes made me cringe badly.
I definitely agree the pacing is off in many instances. And the show is somewhat better when it takes on a more serious tone.
It sounds like the key problems stem from the source material.

In the hands of a better writer/director this could have been a much more nuanced show. There are flashes of good ideas but that's all. Just flashes. This is one of those instances where the experienced cast elevates the script. I don't think those early episodes helped establish the show's creds with those jarring tonal shifts. The screenplay doesn't really do anything differently that better shows have done. In fact, for a seasoned watcher of C dramas, the storyline feels like a composite of a whole list of revenge period shows that have come before it. Even Princess Agents with all its flaws had better world building.

Take for instance shallow fake Di Ziyuan. It's a good notion but badly executed. She's so obviously not Di Ziyuan and becomes trashy soap opera fodder instead. Han Ye was rather too passive/reactive in the early episodes which is probably why his character drew a lot of criticism. And this is a comment from someone who thinks that he's a great character. My favourite in fact. But his character was underplayed at the start so that other characters could shine. To me this is lazy writing and amateur storytelling.

The other criticism I have of this show is one I have with many C dramas. They consistently make a muck of the "show not tell" principle of writing. We are constantly being sledgehammered over the head by characters about how to think about another character and various situations. Some characters are just there literally to tell us how a character is feeling. Then the amount of really important stuff that happens off screen... Not to mention the repeated exposition dumps.

If it wasn't for the fact that this show was starring Gong Jun, Dilraba and Liu Yuning, I think it would have gone the way of many web dramas into the blackhole of internet oblivion.

If the shoe was on the other foot, I think people would be condemning him soundly.
I don't think anyone should be resorting violence -- male or female.
And it isn't as if he knew she was pregnant with his child.

Princess Anning never said a truer thing than this... That Han Ye has never lived for himself.

Haha. No. Unfortunately I'm a bit bogged down by other commitments. Sadly I don't see that there's any category for Revenant in AO3.

I really love Oh Jung-se in this. He's been a character actor for so long and everyone knows how great he is. But in this show... a brooding tortured soul and all that eye acting. It's unexpectedly hot.

The words fanfic did cross my mind after that ending. But I will not succumb. :D

First episode was a blast but I found the writing of Chinese counters a bit clumsy. The teamwork was terrible and very convenient for the baddies. I guess they don't want to spend too much time setting up the stakes. I have a lot of time for Kang Ki-young normally but his Mandarin... not so much. :D

A very entertaining start. More clowning than usual. But there was some heavy subject matter.

No worries.

No romance. And it's honestly not that scary. It's the music.

I'm watching it on Netflix.

She's always had this ability.

As a police procedural detective show it was very decent. But as a suicide prevention, anti-materialism allegory grounded in K folk religion it was fantastic. I enjoyed the plot, learnt some history and the entire cast acquitted themselves admirably.

I loved the ending. The journey started with one lonely person who could see ghosts and now he has someone to talk to who knows exactly what it's like. Whatever one might be inclined to read into their relationship, it's lovely that they can find some consolation in each other. Maybe even have other adventures together.

It's one of my favourite K dramas this year. Thank goodness the second half of the year is turning out to be better than the first.

*Off to watch season two of Uncanny Counter*

How is that a plot hole? It's explained all throughout the show.

Probably via the camera.

This show is definitely done on the cheap.

Whenever he gets there, it can't come quickly enough.

I agree that it's not as good as You Are My Hero mainly because a lot of stuff gets dragged out especially the horrible mother. But I don't think FL is cunning. I think she just wants her cake and eat it too. She wants everyone to get along.

No actual love triangle. Just two people who need to get their act together and make up their minds if they want to be together.

She was being starved and she was injured.

Finally we get a face (and a name) to the evil spirit. Someone down the thread asked why she has a backstory and Hong-sae doesn't. That's because she is a key character in the story and always has been. She's been manipulating various people from the start. She drives much of the narrative. But more importantly she's still a victim of a terrible crime that wasn't considered a crime in her so-called community.

But it seems to me anyway that said pubescent spirit wants to live vicariously through someone else. To have the kind of life she always wanted but could never have. To be an artist. To be loved. To have people who care about her. To have a belly full of food. This was her resentment. That she never had agency. She was forced by circumstance to struggle her entire young life. And then to add insult to injury, she is cursed to walk the earth as a spirit with a big chip on her shoulder.

Of course it's wrong to steal someone else's life. And then there's the matter of taking away someone else's agency.