MPL88

“Dude?”…oookay. Lol. Anyway, why are you even commenting on my comment? If you decided to sit through the poor writing until a “coherent story” formed then good for you. If you loved the show, good for you. Why do you care what someone whom you don’t know thinks about a show you enjoyed? I mean I’m flattered that you value my opinion so much…but it’s not that serious. Lol.

I don’t care if it has a 9.5 rating , probably more for the actors than the “story,” Lol, SMH. That has nothing to do with MY viewing experience. I found this show was poorly written so I dropped it. That’s my opinion . My right. Not sure why you’re trying to police “hater” ratings for the show. Lol. Are you getting something out of doing this? Do you get paid if the show only have good ratings? It seems you’re personally offended that I didn’t think what I saw of the show was good? Which I ‘m guessing is why you resorted to name calling.

You need to take a breath . Go outside and touch grass. There is more to life than getting your hackles up over someone else’s differing opinion of a show that sadly it sounds as if you have come to live for. In case you didn’t realize, this show is not reality. It’s just one costume C-drama in a sea of costume C-dramas with generally the same stories, costumes , sets and sometimes the same actors. It is entertainment for viewers, who will enjoy, or not, and a paycheck for the cast and crew. Nothing more. Nothing less. No reason to behave like a petulant child because everyone didn’t love the show like you.

I’m only 2-3 episodes into this. Though I am entertained I don’t know for how long. Just a lot of stuff doesn’t make sense. For instance, why would the sect have two people with limited powers, especially Qingyue, guarding the gate? Qingyue meets a strange man in the woods, who saves her life, and immediately “takes responsibility” for him even though it is obvious this man is not a mortal. She doesn’t bother to ask what he is and where he’s from . She just moves him into her home knowing that could mean trouble for her. The writing vaguely implies that she’s obsessed and desperate for romance but fails to lean into this and show this obsession. As a result, her risky actions make absolutely no sense.

Additionally the FLs actions are inconsistent at best. She comes off as naive and not very bright. But then has the astuteness to understand that she was being used by Senior Lyu. Now she’s “married” the god of the heavens and is risking life and limb to spend her wedding night with him because the romance novels she reads says she must do that or her marriage will suck. I mean, I don’t even get why she was so willing to marry this god. Yeah he saved her life and is good looking but I am not sold on love at first sight between them. And don’t even get me started on the “humor” in weird places and random characters doing random stuff without context. So far this is not very good, but it is entertaining, I just don’t know for how long with the poor writing.

Thanks for the clarification on Kkot. I’ll need to go back and watch her scenes because somehow I missed that she previously rescued children.

I enjoyed this but there were a few things that didn’t make sense:

The timeline for how Hongrang ended up working for Kkot didn’t make sense. He said he was born to a nobleman’s home as a slave. They used him as a human talisman for their son. He ran away and that’s how he ended up in the clutches of the “painter.” So how did he get away from the “painter” and end up training as a soul reaper? The one aristocrat who knew him corroborated some of his story. Said he ran away, but then also said a woman suddenly showed up and paid a large sum for him and his mute friend. So was Hongrang returned to the aristocrat’s home after being held captive by the “painter”? Then sold to Kkot?

How did Kkot come to command a group of soul reapers and why were they so loyal to her?

How did the other painter, Du-reyeong fit into the child kidnapping plot? He obviously knew of the snow man and was keeping the kidnapped children on his property but didn’t have any interactions with the Prince. So was Sin Yeol Guk, giving this painter money to hide the kidnapped children to ensure the Prince wouldn’t be implicated if things went south?

Jae-yi mentioned that as a child Hongrang talked about seeing the snow man and dreaming about him. I wonder if his father, Sin Yeol Guk, was planning to secretly sell him off to the Prince because he was suspicious of him being his child. During an argument with his wife, he accused her of infidelity and Hongrang possibly not being his. If Hongrang had not died by freak accident I wouldn’t put it past Sin Yeol Guk to have planned to get rid of him otherwise.

Hongrang had been poisoned with so many toxic chemicals as a child. He was likely sterile, which is probably why Jae-yi never got pregnant.

I expected this too. Considering they’d been intimate several times. But then realized Hongrang was likely sterile due the chemicals he was poisoned with for years as a child.

Watching this now. The story is mediocre at best, but the love story has potential. Unfortunately the shapeshifting FL takes me out of the story everytime it happens because they have the new actress - shapeshifter, acting in several scenes before going back to the original actress. Hard to invest in the character if her face is changing every episode.

Based on the way the story is going this supernatural element was not needed for the story to work. This was a miscalculation by the writers. At this point I don’t know if I’ll finish this so so drama.

They should’ve just killed her off giving Haru more man pain which would’ve been on brand for his character. Or had her leave town in an effort to protect herself. My point was they gave her quite a bit of screen time then benched her for like 3-4 episodes before coming up with the silly kidnapping story only for her to be released unharmed. Once all her research disappeared she should’ve disappeared with it. The time the writers spent trying to figure out what to do with her by having her stay at Haru’s house and toying with whether they wanted her to have a romance with him or not, they could’ve used to tighten up the story. After her research was destroyed she was no longer relevant to the story not even as a side character.

Thanks for the backstory on the Japanese clans but most westerners are not going to know that history. With the show being released on a western platform as a Netflix original they should’ve done a better job explaining the history behind the clans. It certainly would’ve made for a more coherent series.

Agree with your review. I’m on episode 7 and about to turn this off due to all the dumbness.

The romance is minimal but the “love” between the leads becomes the central drive behind most of the plots in the series. This makes it difficult to buy into the leads actions because they had no chemistry. The love story had no build up. It was sudden and forced. And again, lacked chemistry.

Wow this is so boring. Love the actors in this but the story just isn’t interesting. Will not be finishing this one.

Eh. I think a revenge plot would’ve been silly. Plus been there done that with The Glory. I think it’d be difficult for any series, any time soon that is, to top the brilliance that was that revenge show. That said, I do think the writers could’ve tightened up the story a bit by tying the present more to the past. The crazy gardener was in the present and past. He was obviously practicing shamanism in the present and I’m guessing he may have been practicing in the past. They could’ve created a story around him being after the spell books in the present. Hence his obsession with HL.

I agree with some of your points about women in the series. Though HL was kind and extremely likable, she could make some very foolish decisions. SJ wasn’t excluded from foolishness either. I can name a couple of instances where he did really stupid things. NY, the SFL, was insufferable and not needed. She should’ve disappeared after the 3-4th episode. HL’s office colleagues were absolutely awful compared to what SJ encountered at both of his jobs. There was no reason to have those women behaving that way. The point could’ve been made that HJ was an outcast without her colleagues being nasty. I severely disliked the fact that after the way they treated her she still wanted to get “close” to them and be friends. They were not the type of friends she needed. They’d stab her in the back if it gave them a leg up over her. Unfortunately K-dramas are notorious for this, having their leads, especially FLs, overlooking nasty behavior and betrayal from “friends” to in the end reconcile the “friendship” that’s not worth saving or starting in the first place.

Something similar happened with SJ’s parents. The father’s behavior toward his wife, SJ’s mom, was disrespectful and cruel. Him crying over his business troubles and bringing a food truck to her movie set was not sufficient in rectifying his abhorrent behavior. I don’t believe he once apologized. So I get when viewers throw out the misogyny word, when referencing this show and other K-dramas as women are often made to be crazy and nasty. Or if they are nice they are often treated like sh*t but made to forgive their abusers.

Despite some of my qualms with the show I enjoyed it, mainly due to Rowoon and Jo Bo Ah. They played extremely well off each other and carried this show completely. I really don’t think the supporting cast did much to make this show engaging save for Eun-wol. And I that was because the side stories weren’t all that interesting to me.

SJ spent most of the series broken up with NY. He broke up with her in EP1 and got back together with her in EP5. In EP7 the NY found out about the “cheating” and was willing overlook it but SJ broke it off for good a few days later.

I can see why some people saw his actions as cheating but I honestly didn’t see his behavior as cheating (though it was) probably because the writers put zero investment in his relationship with NY. None of their interactions came off like a couple dating. He obviously wasn’t into her but just kept her around because she was easy. She didn’t demand anything from him. She knew if she did he’d walk away. So he didn’t have to put in any effort. He’d have companionship and sex when he wanted it and keep his father on ice about finding a suitable girlfriend/potential wife.

Agree about Rowoon and Jo Bo Ah. They had great chemistry. I’d love to see them do another romance drama together.

Yes. It was Hong Jo as a child. Don't know why she was taken to the shaman's temple. Where were here parents? Where had she lived up to that point? It's not like she was a baby when taken there. She was at least between the ages of 8-10 years old.

I like @ Sometimes1 theory, that she was taken in by the shaman who taught her how to cast spells. But you'll notice in the flashbacks Hong Jo also had the gift of sight. She could see the future. So perhaps that's why she ended up at the shaman's temple? Due to her already having a natural ability for the supernatural.

Anyway, I think she is the red hand, but I think the curse that was put on Shin Yu, could've possibly been by the shaman who mentored Hong Jo. There may have been a misunderstanding that led to the belief that Shin Yu betrayed Hong Jo when in fact, it could've been the people around him. His family wouldn't have ever let him have a life with Hong Jo. So it's possible they saw her as a threat and had her killed which is why Shin Yu is "responsible" for her death.

@Sometimes1 - Good point about there being no intimate relationship between Shin Yu and Na Yeon. Though I do think them having never slept together after two years of dating is absurd. I think they likely have done the deed, but their physical intimacy is pretty much none existent. The lack of physical contact is why she's messing with the construction CEO. Hence her comment to him in EP10, that she's just messing with him because Shin Yu makes her lonely. Lonely = he gives her no time for dates and subsequently no time for physical intimacy.

Despite all this he was cheating on her. He was having an emotional affair with Hong Jo which is the worst kind. But honestly that didn't really bother me due to what was believed to be the love spell. Now once it was determined that his feelings were true, that's when he needed to end things with the SFL. He was trash for keeping things going once he knew he was in love with Hong Jo, but at least he ended things for good in episode 10 and was firm with his decision.

The only reason why I'm still watching this show is because I love the chemistry between the leads and I'm still intrigued by what may be going on. When I look beyond this, I find the show a bit of a mess right now.

So we learn the gardener is behind the stalking, at Na Yeon's behest, but then he also has his own agenda to destroy Hong Jo and Shin Yu. Na Yeon being unable to let go Shin Yu because she truly likes him and is only cheating because he makes her lonely makes no sense. I was hoping her involvement with him was related to something in their past lives, but looks like the past life stuff is only going to be between Hong Jo, Shin Yu, Aunty in the nursing home and perhaps the gardener?

I thought episode 9 was a nice set up to moving the story along, perhaps putting more meat on the bone about the past, and how and why it's tied to the present. But it seems to have stalled out with the the whole do curses work or don't they. Hong Jo apparently did another spell (we never found out what it was) to do what to Shin Yu? But apparently him showing up at the festival was proof the spell worked. It would've been nice to know what the spell was. So now we have more vagueness with the spells and the messiness with a work romance gone awry. Sigh.

At least the red hand is back, but why did it stop before? Was it due to Hong Jo's healing spell? If so, did the gardener's spell override it? If so, how and why? We didn't see him in the past,, but he obviously has a bigger role to play in this than we thought.

At this point I'm leaning towards JK being the stalker. He moved into the same house she's living in. When confronting SY about coming to see HJ he always says "our" house. I feel like that's a bit much since he and HJ are not dating and do not live together. I don't like the fact that he answered her phone while she was in the kitchen getting more beer. It could've been just to create drama, but I didn't like that.

Also, in the pictures of SY and HJ it appeared to be all from the night SY showed up at HJ's place drunk and she took him home. The only person who knew about all that was JK. And right now, he'd be the only person who'd have a reason to send those pictures to SY girlfriend as he's been trying to get him to leave HJ alone for a while and to do so always mentions the girlfriend.

In the previews for the next episode it appears JK is trying to get HJ to take sleeping pills. I find this very odd and don't like it. I'm sure I need to see it in the context of the episode, but from what I've seen thus far I'm not liking it.

The only thing I can't figure out is the doll hanging from the tree with HJ's pajamas on and SJ's name stabbed to it's chest. Only someone who knew HJ and SY would be in the woods that day would know to hang the doll there. As far as we know only three people knew HJ, SY and EW. We can rule out HJ and SY and don't think it would be EW. Though that would be a crazy twist. So who was it?

This is very interesting. Thanks for posting! If Na Yeon and her family are descendants of Lady Yoon, that would explain why she's still involved with Shin Yu despite knowing he's in love with Hong-Jo and she (Na Yeon) is having an affair with another man. It's a situation of keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

If this is indeed what's going on, my question now would be why the need to destroy Shin Yu and his family now? The era of monarchs are over. Yes. Shin-Yu's family is wealthy, but it doesn't appear as if they hold any type of political power or are even interested in being powerful people.

Looks like things will pick up in the next episode and we'll get a look into the past. Hopefully in the next couple of episodes, we'll get a clear understanding of what happened in the past and how it connects to what's happening now.

Yes. The red hand stopped molesting him. He also stopped having severe headaches and shaking hands. All these ailments seemed to have stopped after Hong-Jo did the healing spell on him. So I'm guessing the spell may have worked.

I was shocked to learn Deuk-chan has been in love with Do Ha all this time. I mean where did that come from? I got the impression that he cared for him like a brother not that he was in love with him. I guess that explains why he didn't care when his wife decided to file for divorce. He didn't want to be there in the first place and wanted to be with Do Ha. SMH.

I'd figured out he was the killer several episodes ago, but I was hoping his motive was about the success of his entertainment company and fear that Jeoim would hold Do Ha back, which would subsequently hurt the success of Deuk-chan's business but unfortunately it was about unrequitted love.

I think Deuk-can died in the accident and Sol Hee will lose her ability to detect lies (at least temporarily) due to being so close to the car when it exploded. Don't know what more story they can tell in these last couple of episodes cause it feels like the story is finished to me.