Oh My Ghostess

Oh My Ghostess

8/10

Oh My Ghostess 

Genre:                                   Episodes: 16                                   Year: 2015

Romance

Comedy

Supernatural

Synopsis:

Na Bong Sun is an assistant chef who can see ghosts due to her shaman bloodline. Because of her ability, she has always been timid and introverted, and not been able to make any friends. Shin Soon Ae is a virgin ghost with no memories of her life before death. She believes she has been blocked from ascending to heaven because she died a young virgin, and must rectify this grudge to move on to the afterlife. Soon Ae sets her sights on Kang Sun Woo, a handsome, confident chef, who happens to be Na Bong Sun’s boss. In attempts to seduce Kang Sun Woo, Soon Ae possess Na Bong Sun.

Cast:

Park Bo Young (Na Bong Sun/Shin Soon Ae)

Jo Jung Seok (Chef Kang Sun Woo)

Kim Seul Gi (Shin Soon Ae)

Lim Ju Hwan (Officer Choi Sung Jae)

Kwak Si Yang (Seo Joon)

Lee Dae Yeon (Shin Myeong Ho)

Lee Jung Eun (Seobingoo)

General Thoughts:

A delightful little drama that packs quite the unexpected emotional punch. The plot starts off pretty zany and humorous- what’s not to like about a sex-crazy ghost possessing a meek young girl in order to nail her handsome boss?

Yes, yes- take it off Jo Jung Seok

It then gradually becomes more and more serious, until you can barely remember that you started off watching a comedy- which is fantastic. It gives the drama the substance and emotional depth that most rom-coms lack, but gets there after such a gradual progression that it feels natural and unforced, and avoids the genre inconsistencies that occur in dramas that switch from rom-com to melodrama far too quickly. What really made the story (and the drama) so heartfelt and memorable was the cast.

Soon Ae acts like the rest of us fangirls would

Park Bo Young was just amazing, both as the shy assistant chef and the erratic, raunchy ghost. She was able to capture Kim Seul Gi’s quirky wackiness to perfection-  it’s almost hard to believe that Kim Seul Gi wasn’t actually possessing Park Bo Young. It was also a nice change of pace to see a K-Drama in which naivety and passiveness are seen as flaws rather than virtues- it’s like a big kick in the balls to all those Candy-girl dramas, which is great because I’m so thoroughly sick of Candy-girls. I’ve always liked Kim Seul Gi as an actress, as she’s got a fantastic knack of delivering funny, almost ridiculous characters in a totally believable way. Ghostess Shin Soon Ae is no exception, and she’s acted out with complete dedication- her flirtatious eccentricities are hilarious, but Kim Seul Gi also demonstrates her rarely exhibited ability to display deep, heart-tugging emotions in the drama’s more serious scenes. Jo Jung Seok is just a pure delight to watch onscreen, and is just the perfect actor for the role. I’m not sure many other actors would have been able to portray the prickly, seemingly arrogant chef without coming across as the world’s biggest d*uchebag. But Jo Jung Seok is able to give us an inherently loveable, charming character. He is able to accurately capture and showcase a man whose total arrogance is a wall built around his fears and mass insecurities.

Makes arrogance look good

He always gives the exact amount of emotion required for the scene, and the exact amount of blundering, stuttering excuses for his kind-heartedness. Also his chemistry with Park Bo Young is just off the charts. I genuinely believed that Jo Jung Seok had completely fallen for her (who wouldn’t?), all from the way his character would look at Park Bo Young’s character.

Actually like 90% sure Jo Jung Seok fell for her for realsies

While some K-Drama leads can often come across a little uncomfortable even in the final, true-love-is-realised stages of the drama, Jo Jung Seok and Park Bo Young are so comfortable and believable with each other. It’s the small things that really sell the romance- like the way Chef will give the teeniest, barely visible smile when Bong Sun does something cute, as if he’s trying to stop his complete adoration from taking over his whole face, or the way he’ll turn his face into her neck when he hugs her. Swoon. The support cast all did a brilliant job- shaman Unnie and Joon being standouts, though I do wish they’d gotten Joon more involved in the actual story, as he seemed like a really interesting character himself, and his interest in Bong Sun was brought in too late to really matter. All the chef boys were really delightful to watch, and basically made the setting for most girls’ dreams- being the only girl in a male-filled workplace and being surrounded by adoring older brothers. Chef’s crippled sister seemed sweet, but was a tad bland and the ending given for her and Officer Choi was a bit too happy-clappy, rose-tinted-glasses for my taste. Chef’s mum was also super annoying and involved, which I suppose was meant to be cute- but she totally grated on my nerves, especially when she wanted to push Bong Sun aside for that PD chick. On a different note, the mystery side of the drama could have been handled better.

Took an obscene amount of time- but she got there in the end

In all honesty, there wasn’t actually a whole lot of mystery going on. We all knew who the baddie was from pretty early on, we were just waiting for the rest of our characters to catch on that there actually was a baddie. And it’s no fault of Lim Ju Hwan as he acts out the evil, casual murderer splendidly- so splendidly that I wish we’d seen a little more of him on screen, rather than just camera pauses on his eerily calm face.

That dude was shady as all hell

It was as if the drama only scratched the surface on what could have been an excellent villain, but just as Lim Ju Hwan was starting to up his game and was given an opportunity to act his role to its full potential- BOOM. Drama over.

What Was Great:

Romance:

Oh boy was the romance in this drama done right. It was such a beautiful, natural progression of both Soon Ae, and particularly Chef’s feelings. With Soon Ae, it was rather bitter-sweet to see how her feelings for Chef grew- because we all knew (and so did she) that she couldn’t stay.

Most heartbreaking love-triangle ever

She fell hard for him after experiencing all the things she was never able to do in her own life due to Chef’s feelings for Bong Sun- like walk holding hands, or hearing that she was missed. A lot of the emotional turmoil in the drama was Soon Ae’s desperate desire to stay with Chef and experience a life with him- a life that Bong Sun can experience- but knowing that she could never have it.

All kinds of adorable

On a happier note, it was just so delightful to see the way Chef’s feelings began to grow and shift in regard to Bong Sun. At first he wants to encourage her (in his own rather short-tempered way) to stop being so withdrawn as she reminds him of himself in his younger, more troubled days. Then as Soon Ae takes the reins, he begins to view her as more of a woman- what with Soon Ae begging for him and sneaking into his bed and all. His concern and interest in her sudden personality change bring him to worry about her constantly and dislike it when she’s out of sight- to the point he’s a little restless and crazy when she’s not around. What the drama handled really well was that while the line between where Bong Sun ended and Soon Ae began wasn’t always clear, we always knew that there was a spark between Bong and Chef, and there’s a good chance they would have figured their emotions out without Soon Ae stepping in and speeding up the process. It was a huge concern going into the series (as it always is with body swap/possession dramas) - is the male lead falling for the host or the soul inside it?

Actually commented on confused feelings- first time for everything!

Thankfully this drama was able to navigate those choppy waters quite successfully. While there were obviously confused feelings between our three main leads, the drama actually explores their confusion and self-doubt and turns it into a plot point- rather than just ignoring it as so many dramas do.

We always knew who he was most keen on

The writers also kept the idea going strong that Bong Sun was the one Chef truly cared for with simple comments like ‘You’re the prettiest today’ or ‘I like you most when you’re like this’ during moments when Bong was in her own body, and not Soon Ae. One of the best parts about the romance in this drama is that it’s so beautifully unique in a backhand kind of way. All Chef’s bluster and arrogance-coated insecurities would fall short on most women- yet it’s this exact put-on confidence that really works for Bong Sun, because she’s just so quietly in love with him that everything he does is amazing, and it’s totally adorable and hilarious to watch, as we the audience are privy to all Chef’s little monologues and freak-outs while Bong Sun is not.

Chef:

Jo Jung Seok is just a joy to watch on screen. He’s handsome in a manly way that a lot of the younger flower-boys aren’t, and he just oozes charisma- even when he’s having a minor conniption when he’s been ditched by Bong/Soon Ae.

That man is just all kinds of handsome

His character is just so beautifully developed throughout the whole drama and it’s easy to see how he became a man with so many walls around him, and it’s charming to watch how Bong managed to slip by those walls to see what Chef was covering up and support him through all his issues. All in all, Kang Chef rates pretty highly in my top K-Drama Heroes list- false bravado and all.

Character Relationships:

What really let this drama hit home were its many, many relatable relationships between the characters. The romantic relationship between Chef and Bong/Soon Ae was really just the obvious tip of the iceberg.

Relationships all around

All our characters were connected to each other in some plausible way and helped shape and define each other. If not for Soon Ae’s trust in Officer Choi, she would never have called him and never have died. Had she not witnessed Chef’s sister’s accident, Chef’s family would never know about Officer Choi and Choi would have had no reason to go after Soon Ae. If Soon Ae hadn’t hidden in Bong Sun the first time, she may never have met Choi again and learned the truth of her death.

I do wish we'd got a bit more of Joon though

If handled poorly the whole situation could have come across as a blatantly obvious attempt to connect our characters by using ‘destiny’ as an excuse, but our writers were able to spin it in such a way that it was believable as pure, if unfortunate, coincidence. While the first half of the drama was about the hilarity behind a sex-focused ghost going after her host’s boss, the second half was all about the emotions and relationship complications that came as a result. While there were some rather heavy, melodramatic episodes, the emotional payout was well worth the angst- particularly when there was due reason for angst, and not simply angst for angst’s sake. The gradually developed relationships between all our characters are what made the ending so deeply moving and satisfying. The farewells from Soon Ae on her last day are just so bittersweet. It shows all the love she has for the people she’s leaving behind, and her desperate desire to stay- all while knowing she can’t. Yet in the end it’s her love for them that allows her to move on- Bong Sun and Chef are happy, and her family now knows that she never committed suicide. The relationship between her and the shaman Unnie was particularly adorable, but the most heart-warming moment of all was when Chef looked at her and called her by her own name. Oof, emotions. 

What Wasn’t:

Unbalanced Time:

For the first 2/3s of the drama Soon Ae was getting far too much time in Bong Sun’s body. While it was enjoyable to watch Soon Ae’s constant advances on Chef and interesting to learn a bit of her back-story with her father’s restaurant, unfortunately this meant that there wasn’t much time reserved for Bong Sun.

More of these scenes were needed

With Soon Ae spending so much time in Bong’s body it also meant that a lot of the romance coming from Chef that was directed at Bong was intercepted by Soon Ae- while one could argue that it was Soon Ae he was falling for in Bong’s body, I still firmly stand by that Bong was the original person he developed an interest in and Soon Ae just got his emotions rolling a bit faster.

Getting what she missed out on by stealing from Bong. Boo

For a good part of the drama it was as if Bong Sun was missing out on her own relationship- because while Chef would remember all these events and all these confessions, Bong never would. In the end this feeling of missing out was rectified when Bong told Chef the truth about Soon Ae and they virtually started again, but at the time it was extremely frustrating. While Soon Ae was a likable character, it was a little unsettling when she spent all that time in Bong’s body. It’s understandable that the drama was trying to play the sympathy card by showcasing all these moments that she never had when she was alive because she was murdered so young, yet in the back of my mind I couldn’t help but think that she was virtually stealing these moments off of someone else. On the other hand, Soon Ae was barely present in the last third of the drama, taking a firm backseat to Bong Sun. While Bong and Chef were sorting through the ghost triangle fiasco, the only time spent with Soon Ae was her watching Dad or moping at shaman Unnie’s house.

They were adorable when they worked together

What little time we had with the two girls being conscious (Bong Sun in her own body talking to Soon Ae’s ghost) were really golden and endearing, and I wish the drama had focused a little more on the budding friendship between the two girls rather than Soon Ae’s one-sided love with Chef, especially as their relationship had such a huge impact on how Bong chose to live her life.

Underutilised Villain:

Lim Ju Hwan delivered one of the more chilling villain performances I’ve seen in a rom-com, yet was strangely dormant for a long stretch of the drama. Also, any scene involving Officer Choi doing anything evil was dark- as in visually dark. It was hard to see what was going on in some of the scenes.

It was so obvious that mofo was evil

While the romance side of things was definitely interesting to watch, we all knew that the murder plotline was coming- the writers had given us some pretty heavy-handed hints that Officer Choi was somehow involved in Soon Ae’s death. I would have liked Officer Choi to be more active throughout the whole series rather than just in the final few episodes. We all knew he was a bad dude from pretty early on, but he didn’t really do much besides have long, creepy pauses and ignore that one time Soon Ae’s Dad got hurt.

Evil spirits were actually terrifying though

His lack of activity made him feel more like a human rather than an evil spirit- which I guessed him to be pretty early on. I mean, technically the evil spirit only recklessly killed that one stranger- Chef’s sister’s hit and run was an accident, killing Soon Ae was just cleaning up the evidence, and killing his partner and attempting to kill Bong Sun was just trying to get rid of people that were on to him. For a cold-blooded, evil spirit he sure was pretty docile for the most part. In the end the evil-spirit concept did feel a little rushed and poorly thought out, and I still wasn’t quite sure what Choi’s deal was- was he originally inclined to evil? We saw he had that potential when he considered suffocating his adoptive parents’ newborn, yet in his last scene he seems like a perfectly well-balanced individual who has happened to lose 3 years worth of memory. I’m just not buying that the love he received from Chef’s sister was enough to fill that gaping absence of family in his heart. But if he’s not inclined toward evil then that means that all his acts could be blamed on the evil spirit- but then why did we sometimes see moments of confliction or guilt? We saw that the evil spirit could come and go from Choi’s body as it wanted- the hit and run was clearly an accident and Choi was showing obvious signs of distress before the black fog (evil spirit) entered his body, took control and drove over the girl again.

His whole end story just made no sense. None.

By this logic, Choi throwing himself off the roof to kill himself wouldn’t have actually killed the evil spirit as it could easily have left his body on the way down. He wasn’t even dead anyway- so did the evil spirit survive or what?

Ughhh- we'd seen it all before

Flashback Overkill:

Oh my goodness the ridiculous amount of flashback sequences were killing me. Flashbacks into Soon Ae’s life that we’d never seen before were acceptable because, y’know…we’d never seen them before. But as Soon Ae was discovering her feelings for Chef, we were getting flashbacks to scenes that had happened 10 minutes ago. When Soon Ae looks at her hand I don’t need to see how she’s thinking of when Chef flinched away from her. Why? Because it legit just happened- we’re not so stupid that we can’t piece that together. It was the same kind of thing with Choi figuring out that Soon Ae was possessing Bong- there were only three or four hints suggesting that this was the case, but we got an annoying amount of scenes were Choi just sat there thinking about those same bloody moments over and over and over again.

Friggin’ Time Skip:

What even. Way to kill a spectacular episode. The finale was going spot on, exactly what we were all wanted until that stupid bloody time skip. We’d had our emotions pulled by Soon Ae’s departure and our remaining characters were left to get on with their lives- including the new and improved Na Bong Sun.

WHY?! WHY ARE YOU F*CKING OFF OVERSEAS?! WHY?!

Bong puts a lot more effort into her relationship with Chef and her cooking skills and then…what’s this now? Training overseas? For two years? Oh I’m sorry, I didn’t realise I’d switched over to the last episode of ‘Coffee Prince’. What a ridiculous, unwanted, overused way to kill an otherwise spectacular finale. The time skip itself I don’t really have an issue with- all our conflicts were wrapped up nice and tidy and I wouldn’t have minded a little trip in time to see how happily our characters were getting on- like shaman Unnie having great business again.

Because nothing says love like two years of abandonment

But sending Bong overseas was just unnecessary. It added nothing to the drama and meant that their relationship hadn’t progressed at all in the last two years. You could take that Bong venturing overseas was her living for herself as it was something she wanted to experience on her own, and that was a lesson she learned from Soon Ae (live while you can), but I feel simply studying/working at a different high-class restaurant that Chef didn’t own would have had the same effect without the complication of our leads not having contact with each other. While the rest of the drama had consistently realistic relationships, I just don’t believe that there wouldn’t be a shred of awkwardness between Bong and Chef after two years- particularly when they haven’t even been in contact for the last couple of months. Boo writers, what a cop out.

Re-watch?

Maybe. Although the drama did have some flaws, it was a very enjoyable watch overall. The zippy chemistry between Park Bo Young and Jo Jung Seok makes it worth a re-watch on its own, and the addition of Kim Seul Gi just makes it adorably dynamic.

Where can I join a workplace like this?

Reply 1997

Reply 1997

9/10

Reply 1997 

Genre:                                   Episodes: 16                                   Year: 2012

Comedy

Romance

Family

Synopsis:

‘Reply 1997’ follows the story of Sung Shi Won and her classmates as they begin their transitions into adulthood during the late ‘90s. Through different trials and circumstances the teenagers start to grow up, their love and friendships are tested and developed as they leave their childhood behind.

Cast:

Jung Eun Ji (Sung Shi Won)

Seo In Guk (Yoon Yoon Jae)

Song Jong Ho (Yoon Tae Woong)

Hoya (Kang Joon Hee)

Shin So Yul (Mo Yoo Jung)

Eun Ji Won (Do Hak Chan)

Lee Si Eon (Bang Sung Jae)

Sung Dong Il (Sung Dong Il)

Lee Il Hwa (Lee Il Hwa)

General Thoughts:

What a masterful piece of storytelling. It’s one of those rare, beautiful dramas where the director and writers are truly on the same wavelength and come together to produce a stunning, flawless adventure that says all it wants to say and more. The series was deeply nostalgic- even for those of us that have never been a teenager in South Korea during the ‘90s.

What being a teenager looks like in any country

While it defiantly has its in jokes and unique references to Korean pop-culture, it carries a sentimental tone that anyone who’s been a teenager can identify with. It comments on teenage troubles that are consistent across all cultures- family troubles, friend troubles, growing attractions, growing distances, growing up.

It seems incomprehensible that these people don't exist somewhere

The heart of this brilliant drama is its pure, unforced, raw emotion. It captures perfectly what being a teenager is all about- every situation is do-or-die, either brilliantly, dazzlingly wonderful, or devastatingly, horrendously awful. And it’s in this time of unbounded passion when we meet our beautiful characters. Each and every character shown in the drama is created in completion. Every detail of their being has been formed and specified by the writers and carried out by the actors. Its gives the feeling that every being that makes an appearance, no matter how short, in the series is a complete, unique, real individual. It develops such fondness and compassion for the main characters as we see them as whole people that we can relate to and identify with, and wish the best for. The relationships between our characters were a beautiful mess of tangled feelings and experiences. It gave each character purpose in the drama, as the two main stars could never have made it to where they were in 2012 without the experiences and relationships with every other character present. There are an uncountable amount of cameos and Korean pop-culture references, some which I understood (many I’m sure went right over my head), which added an extra, humorous dimension to the already fantastic, many-layered drama. The series was just meticulously thought out and well written, with a cast that made the story shine, and presented an interesting, realistic view on growing up.

Words can't express the feels-train this drama will get you riding on

What Was Great:

The Heart:

At the very centre, heart and soul of this drama was love. Not romance, but love- which was stunningly refreshing and gave the series a deep sense of substance. The story wasn’t just based around the romantic love between the main leads, but also the familial love and the love between friends.

Weep-a-thons...weep-a-thons everywhere

 It’s the deep affection and compassion our characters feel for each other that sucks the audience in and makes us believe that these are real, genuine people and relationships- more than just characters on a screen.

¿Por qué no ambos

The most striking and engaging of these relationships are Shi Won’s relationships with each of the brothers, and the brothers’ own relationship. The difference in the way Shi Won loves the two boys is so vastly different, yet so similar- and captured so perfectly. She has grown up alongside both of these boys, who are now men, and they are both part of her family. She cares for them both and can’t imagine her life without them, yet there’s an unexplainable difference in her emotions towards Yoon Jae- and the whole drama circles around her trying to uncover and explain what that difference is, all while trying to not damage either of the boys. But the true gem of the series are the brothers. Tae Woong, the mature older brother who has given up everything for his little brother, and Yoon Jae, the still maturing little brother who is trying desperately to catch up. The last few episodes really hone in on the different responsibilities each brother has towards the other, and it’s Tae Woong’s choice to completely step away from Shi Won (in a romantic sense) that is the most beautiful, complete, unselfish form of love presented in the whole drama.

Hoya will make your feelings take a beating. And you will love. Every. Moment.

The unchanging friendship between Yoon Jae and Joon Hee is also a strong example of the heart reflected in the drama. Yoon Jae treats his friend exactly the same the day before and the day after he discovers his friend’s romantic feelings towards him, and continues to act completely free of judgement.

The Ensemble:

The entire cast were just brilliant. From our stars to our cameos, every actor gave something unique and important to the overall outcome of the drama.

They're all simply splendid

Every one of the main cast delivered strong, relatable performances and were able to turn a comedic scene into an dramatic one without giving viewers emotional whiplash. The chemistry between the cast members was intoxicating to watch, and they all seemed to feed off each other’s’ energy to provide one of the most dynamic, heartfelt group of characters to date.

Also this story-line killed me

The Story:

I’m usually not a fan of time-skips, but in this case it was perfect. The slow reveals as each episode progressed revealed a little more about our characters, while sometimes simultaneously deepening the mysteries. The overall story was bizarrely simple- a group of friends growing up- but it is laced with such incredible depth and detail that it’s compulsive and addictive. Every small story arc provided new insights, emotions and complications, while also developing the main relationships and storyline. Everything flowed smoothly from one moment to the next. Flicking between the three different stages in our characters’ lives (1997, mid ‘00s, and 2012) gave the sense that we’d known these people a long time- much longer than 16 episodes (or one weekend) and added a huge extra layer of nostalgia to the mix- as if we’d been a part of growing up with these characters. Everything melded together seamlessly, and no questions were left unanswered.

Everything was satisfying

The Execution:

The heart, cast and story were all tied together wonderfully by what I can only imagine is an ingenious director. Each scene was perfectly balanced, and delivered the exact emotion it was intended to deliver.

Not one scene could have been improved

Voiceovers delivered poignant insights without becoming overused. The drama also had the mindfulness and the patience to use silence to evoke the maximum emotional response- sometimes a scene didn’t need a voiceover or a conversation to explain where the characters’ hearts were at, because we could see it and feel it through the way the scene was acted. The director had perfect knowledge of when an insightful voiceover, simple, ungarnished conversation, or pure silence would deliver the most heart-felt moment. 

What Wasn’t:

The Girl Friend:

I understand Shi Won’s friend Mo Yoo Jung, and the character is a perceptive look into how teenage girls function.

"OMG, let's break up"

But there were times I just found her awfully irritating. While she could deliver funny, heart-warming moments, she was by far the most underdeveloped and whiny character in the drama. Her only true shining moment was early on when she lopped all her hair off as an act of friendship for Shi Won. After that, she faded into the background a fair bit, and was only defined by her relationship with Hak Chan.

Re-watch?

For sure. It’s a masterfully created drama where everything works in perfect harmony to create a wondrous, emotional viewing experience. I’m so glad I jumped on the bandwagon late and can go straight into the series spinoff. ‘Reply 1994’ here I come.

Pretty damn close to perfection