bokminthe

Maybe, but that's the reason I mentioned "I should generally avoid this director because the scripts he picks, and that I assume he resonates with, I personally don't."
As you say it's partially the writer, but the director is accepting/picking/interested in those scripts and in making a series from them in his view, and directors also change certain parts of the scripts or how to approach them and film them, so when I don't like so many of the kdramas he has done, and him being the common denominator, I think makes sense for me to overall avoid his works, independently of the writer because at least on a couple of occasions the writers he has worked with I haven't disliked some other of their works under different directors.
But the writer is obviously also responsible as you say.

1. Yeom Hwa was hired by Gyeon U's family to get rid of his misfortune when he was still a kid. Her reasoning for using him now was precisely because of that accumulation of misfortune and his close to death experiences, making him an ideal vessel for the evil spirit.
2. It's kind of confusing as you say but she's trying to make Bong-Su his patron deity. Why? not quite sure/hasn't been explained in detail, but if I had to theorise I'm guessing good deities cannot resurrect people and it's mentioned in one of the episodes if I remember correctly that the deities had kind of cursed Yeom Hwa's baby for her actions, meaning the baby's soul is stuck for eternity. Something in those lines. So potentially only an evil deity under her command would be able to undo or do what she needs done to free her baby's soul. The question is why she thought an evil deity would do as she pleased? She seems acknowledgeable so I don't understand why, unless she just simply has that level of ego.
3. Not explained so far but theorising it could be what I said above.

They really had the time to explain her reasoning a lot better, especially as I feel like they're trying for the audience to sympathise with her (I don't personally at all). I feel we might get a couple more scenes in the remaining episodes but I feel they won't have the depth needed, what in retrospective will make the whole Yeom Hwa's ark quite unsatisfactory from a storytelling perspective. It already feels dragged out as it is with her repeated pattern of actions without more in-depth explanations.

As much as I'm overall enjoying this drama I have to admit the Yeomhwa plot is getting a bit dragged out and annoying at this point. I guess we all kind of guessed what happened at the end of today's episode was going to happen sooner or later, but the question is why. Clearly Yeomhwa didn't deserve more chances and by the teaser of the next episode we can already kind of see she hasn't learnt anything from what happened in this one. I guess plot says so...
I also found frustrating that Jiho lost his brains there for a minute in this episode out of nowhere (plot said so again I guess). You have a best friend who is a shaman and you ask advice of some dodgy shaman you met two seconds prior that you thought was scary? Make it make sense...

She had already told him multiple times in person to stop talking to her, it's not her job to keep telling him the same thing over and over. Her answering the phone and not ignoring him is giving him the message that he can keep calling and she'll always answer the phone. He'll rationalise it as "she says she doesn't want to talk but she always answers the phone ergo when she tells me she doesn't actually she wants me to". It's a classic sexist move of guys that think women want guys that keep pressuring and that actually "no" doesn't mean "no". Ideally FL should have just blocked him and gone to the police if it escalated but kdramas are generally always like this (probably also as a reflection of real life of course and how little the police there cares for these kind of situations) and my point is that it gets annoying as a plot device. Even worse considering how the kdrama ends in terms of the relationship between these too, it's sending the wrong message.
A guy that is willing to get physically abusive will do it whatever the circumstances, in this case if they had gone that direction it could have been because she was not paying attention to him or because she's paying attention to him but not giving him a chance and she's giving him attention but dating ML. "Well, she talked to me so she's interested". So taking that into consideration and that guys that are manipulative and try to control the narrative (either be in an angry way or playing the victim with puppy eyes) want to be present in the life of the other person in order to torture constantly. Personally I would grey rock as strategy rather than giving him the supply he's trying to get by believing that he's still relevant in my life or that he being annoying and calling continuously will make me think about him.

But if anything this also proves my point about the inconsistency of the FL as a character. She had the temper at times that in this type of situation she would have most likely gone to his office with the bat and threatened to play baseball with the balls available in the room, if you get my gist, but instead in those moments they made her cannon fodder; too patient, weak and soft.

I said he's an interesting character, that doesn't make him a good person. I don't need all characters to be heros or good people, I prefer characters that are imperfect or grey and ideally that they evolve and learn something along the way. He learnt something and, after watching the last episode, he acted on it. Doesn't erase his past and I wouldn't personally be with someone that has that kind of job for starters, no one that does a job of firing people has an ounce of empathy and they're only machines working for bad management and capitalistic greed. But as a character I can watch him and even enjoy his story or development (although would have preferred better and more depth for sure, it's left quite superficial anyway).
I don't think the two leads match much though and I don't think they would have liked each other realistically but I can give it a pass since I've seen worse scenarios in kdramas and overall the series was watchable even if nowhere near perfect.

Thank you so much for your words!
I have a completitionist problem, once I start a series I have to finish it😂 I need to work on that but meanwhile I guess at least I can write reviews to get it out of my system😂

In some situations I like the FL and how she acted but generally I find her exhausting to watch. At points they want to show she's independent and at others she's just damsel in distress and quite childish. It's giving me a whiplash. Mixing temper with childish will get you this I guess, but trying to sell it to me as strong willed or independent or even empowering is just making me facepalm.
Also, I think someone needs to teach to people in kdramas (or Koreans if this is indeed a norm there) that not answering the phone is an option. Why does FL keep answering and bothering to talk to Gi Se just to tell him to stop talking to her, what a waste of time and what a nightmare. I feel this is a very recurrent thing in kdramas and it's getting old as a plot device.

I find ML the most interesting character here tbh... although it's not like anyone else other than the two main leads is very developed as a character anyway...

Thank you so much for your words!!! and sorry for the late reply, I have been busy and I haven't been around here much recently.
Some period dramas that I enjoyed to various degrees (that I rated from 7 to 10) are Rookie Historian Goo Hae Ryung (what funny enough has the same FL than this one, but I feel like she did a good job in that one), Mr. Sunshine, Hwarang, Love in the Moonlight, The Tale of Nokdu. With fantasy elements: Alchemy of Souls, Arthdal Chronicles (the 4th part of this one, The Sword of Aramun was not as good though, definitely a downgrade from the previous 3 parts), Chicago Typewriter (kind of half period drama but like Mr. Sunshine not set during Joseon period specifically).

Very very true!!!

To me the whole speech seemed like another agenda. The one of making her as the worst person for abandoning her on purpose and being happy she did so. It follows the ideas of many pro-life people on how they view mothers that abort or abandon or give up their children for adoption and how sinful it is (they didn't pick to portray someone that abandoned or gave up their child because they had not other option even though it's the most common reason). And sure, abandoning your child that way is bad in any case, but here I think it was blatantly depicted as one of the worst ways possible for a specific reason. It could have been more real and nuanced but it isn't and it seemed way too on the face to me. Just my opinion of course.

No necesariamente raro, simplemente que es propagandístico. Lo demás ya dependerá de cómo lo vea cada uno, yo personalmente no estoy de acuerdo con lo que vende y a él no lo querría como ginecólogo ni en pintura.

No es de extrañar teniendo en cuenta el hilo que sigue el drama. Se han agarrado al lado que les convenía y que llevan vendiendo desde el comienzo y más teniendo en cuenta el tono ya patriarcal que llevaba el prota masculino explicándole las cosas a la comandante como si ella fuera tonta y encima insultándola pues no era de extrañar. Tienen ambos ideologías opuestas y uno iba a tener que ceder y no es de sorprender que sea ella.
Yo personalmente no dejo de lado mi moralidad, ética o ciencia simplemente porque me estoy muriendo, que es lo que han hecho aquí. No me parece muy realista de un astronauta tampoco. Pero una confrontación, aunque como dices más divertido también hubiera sido más realista del personaje de ella, pero como digo en algún momento iban a hacer que ella cediera a sus ideologías.

Yeah, it's very on the face to just be "we decided to make his character a pro-lifer for plot reasons", and Eve siding with him in episode 8 was just appalling to me. With Christians I also meant because of the topics and the references. They also have done an Adam and Eve in space type of situation. But very true what you say, it's difficult to pinpoint what the message is in general but they certainly have a pro-life agenda to fulfill and it's becoming more and more clear as episodes pass. Unless they pull a massive twist later down the road and it's kind of the only reason I'm watching at this point, but I highly doubt it.

I'm assuming you mean the actor himself? If so, I didn't know.

Only consistent character here in being awful is ML, kuddos to them for at least being able to maintain the character of one of them. If you thought like me that Eve was the only sane character they make her cross to the dark side by episode 8 so the romance can climax, otherwise it wouldn't work because their belief systems are technically opposite, so one had to give in, and it obviously had to be her as you all probably already saw it coming going by the overall tone of the series.

For those that watched some episodes and didn't like it I'm here to tell you it doesn't get better so don't bother. I really think this has some pro-life and christian investors for sure. At points I think it wants to be satire and parody only to do something that confirms that they're actually serious about it.

Totally! I can't see any way this is going to improve for me from now on because I truly despise ML's character and I doubt very much his views are going to change.

Adding to what airplane_mode said, after that, Kong Ryong pressures the rest of the crew to help him fertilize the last three eggs in exchange for his silence about the lottery ticket. He briefly helps Eve pick a new mate for the rat that he operated on and somehow this is presented as them rekindling. Kong Ryong makes a very unrealistic fertilization without microscope and manages to fertilize one of the three eggs he had (two of them die).
At the end, Kong Ryong meeting Eve in front of the rat container kind of looks at her like he's having feelings for her again, even though he had insulted her very badly earlier.

Personally someone that calls me a murderer for tossing some cells in line with my work, security and the rules I have to abide to and wishes I had died in the accident in previous episodes would be literally dead to me and there would be zero chances of any type of relationship after that, yet here they make her forget about it two seconds after and he's interested in her again once his ego has increased due to his fertilization success. Talk about a man-child for him and changing her personality to a more sweet disposition only when convenient so the "romance" works.
This is also paired with the argument moment when Kong Ryong defends that the fertilized eggs are already a baby. Take that as you will but personally let's say I wouldn't want him as my gynecologist. The hypocrisy of this as well considering a few episodes earlier he provoked a fire that could have killed an already alive person just to create some morulas on a petri dish. A tourist in space mansplaining to the commander things like he has some authority over anything is enough to send me.

I couldn't agree more!

I was generally enjoying this until episode 6 despite the unrealisticness and the inaccuracies. It has lost me completely with what happened in that episode and how it was tackled. It's also hilarious that they're trying so hard to depict the only sane and professional person there (Eve) as the bad guy.