I’m not going to lie about this: Episode 1 was a “Goblin” deja-vu. Let me list down the scenes and ideas this drama ripped off from “Goblin.”
I’ll limit myself to 15.
1. Jiah’s parents meet a car accident with no one in sight. Euntak’s mom meets a car accident with no witnesses.
2. Male Lead Lee Yeon watches the accident, perched from the treetops. Goblin Shin watches the accident from a tall building.
3. Young Jiah outwits the pair of Gumihos. Young Euntak outsmarts the Grim Reaper.
4. Lee Yeon is a demigod with superpowers. Goblin is a demigod with superpowers.
Sigh. The thought has crossed my mind that Lee DongWook is still stuck in a “Goblin” loop. Wasn’t his 2019 drama with his fellow “Goblin” graduate, Yoo Inna? He needs to move on from “Goblin.” He shouldn’t be a one-hit wonder. The best is yet to come but only if he dares to accept roles outside his comfort zone.
5. Immortal Lee Yeon has been waiting for 1000 years for his mortal girlfriend to reincarnate. Immortal Goblin has been waiting for centuries for his mortal Bride to reappear and help him die.
6. Lee Yeon carries an umbrella with him all around the place. Goblin has a sword stuck in his chest wherever he goes.
7. Weapon of choice: Lee Yeon kills his enemies with a sword. Goblin kills his enemies with a sword.
8. Jiah’s special talent is being unfazed by spirits and supernatural events. Euntak’s special talent is seeing ghosts…and seeing Goblin’s sword, of course.
9. Umbrella: Jiah spots Lee Yeon walking with an umbrella on the CCTV. Goblin crosses path with Euntak during a rainy day. Who could forget that scene??
10. First EVER encounter as children: Lee Yeon rescued young Jiah from the pair of Gumihos. Goblin disrupted young Euntak’s fan-gazing at the batting cage. From Episode 7:
11. Lee Yeon has to work for the gods to repay a favor. Goblin has to atone to the gods for the deaths he caused.
12. Jiah’s life is endangered by the Lee Yeon’s half-brother, Lee Rang. Euntak’s life is threatened by the Goblin’s bestie, Grim Reaper.
13. Lee Yeon is cold and tough on the outside, but is softie on the inside. Ditto Goblin.
14. Lee Yeon is bored and world-weary. Just like Goblin.
15. Forced relationship: Jiah tricks Lee Yeon to save her by falling off the ledge. Euntak accidentally travels to Quebec City with Goblin. That’s how their relationships begin — with the female lead latching onto the male lead.
There’s more but I’ll stop here because I’ve to continue reviewing “Dating in the Kitchen,” and “Alice.”
Thanks @pkml3. You’ve managed to do a lot of writing despite being so busy.
The world weary, petty and somewhat arrogant vibe was thing that reminded me most of Goblin. The other show where LDW was also a weird, not quite human character, was Blade Man, which I dropped.
Minor comparisons …instead of:
Samshin Granny connecting with the FL, we get Taluipa advising the ML.
Grim Reaper in teahouse, we get Hyun Ui Ong briefing the dead in the AI Office.
ML being lonely, he has a friend, a brother and the AI Office folks to chat with.
ML being summoned by the extinguishing of a candle, we have Gumiho strung along because he must repay a debt.
ML getting news from ghosts, Gumiho chats up tree and mountain spirits, and gets quite a lot of intel from Shin Joo.
🙂
Enough said.? 😂 I think LY’s umbrella is prettier than Goblin’s one. He’s is plain. 😂
Maybe true about LDW stuck in Goblin but I don’t mind him here really, I like the action and the story so far. Hopefully he will be able to get a drama where he will shine more. ☺️
*Sigh* I forgot to check mark the being notified option. So here goes.
LDW did another drama previous to this called Stranger from hell there he played a terrifying villain but it wasnt as popular in Korea? so I think he returned back to the goblin like phase instead.
I do agree with you though, I felt the director and the writer made the show a forced goblin/grim reaper “spin off”/try hard and it was a bit disconcerting, I was like i need to stop seeing this like goblin and try harder to get into it. Episode 1 for me the directing was of, and episode 2 the pace increased but I still didn’t care enough. I think i’ve mistakenly closed my mind off, once i thought it resembled goblin, i just don’t see a point in a show not having it’s own unique flare. Although i do enjoy the writing of the female lead but is that enough? Anyways I’m giving this my 6 episode rule, and I’ll try to be more open minded and stop judging it via goblin lenses. I feel like we’ve had some really interesting/unique dramas this year, and I don’t know if I’m feeling this reincarnation of lover with brooding depressed ML type story. But I want to like this a lot, so hopefully things change for me this week
@ nrllee watched “Stranger from hell” so she could correct me. I was going to watch it with her but I bailed out when I realized that it might be a horror show. My impression of LDW’s role in “Stranger from hell” is that he was playing his Grim Reaper role again. Except this time, a lot grimmer and grizzlier.
LDW also hosted a talk show last December. Mind you, it’s HIS talk show and his guest for his premier show was … guess who? I’ll give you ONE guess.
Gong Yoo.
🤪
That’s actually when it struck me that this guy was still on a “Goblin” mode and he needed to get out of this small box. After all these years, he couldn’t think of one interesting person other than Goblin Gong Yoo to interview again? 🤔 What else is there to milk from their relationship that hasn’t been written and dissected in Vogue and GQ?
It’ll hurt LDW’s fans when I say this but it has to be said. LDW has become a bore.
And I’m not sure if his manager, handler, company or adviser is to be blamed for his blue funk OR himself. He was such an interesting guy before. I’ve seen him on a couple episodes on his variety show “Strong Heart” and he cracked me up with his fountain of information and snippets. Now, he’s bland.
I think for this kdrama, I’ll reverse my 8-episode rule. 😂
Instead of sticking around till halfway to see whether it’s good or not, I’ll WAIT till midway its run before joining in to watch it.
As for the female lead, I was exasperated when she took that red hair from the bridal gown. Great! Wasn’t there an active investigation on the missing bride? Shouldn’t the police handle it? She just tampered with evidence. In real life, I hate it when over-zealous investigative reporters step out of bounds just to break a story. They make it harder for law enforcement.
Then when she fell from the balcony and stabbed him? Uh uh. No. That wasn’t a badass move. It was just asinine. 🤪
😂 I liked his umbrella carrying case. He can sling it on his back.
Yeah it has that handle 😁
@packmule3 I was going to watch Strangers From Hell but I bailed after Ep1. It was too creepy for me. It left me feeling unnerved. LDW played a serial killer dentist (?). He’s always given me a chilling vibe. Even when he was a Doctor in the drama Life, I couldn’t help but feel like he just looked like death warmed up. He’s perfect for those vampire undead roles. The pale skin and deep set dark eyes coupled with that gaunt frame of his…
We’re the 👯♀️ Scaredy Cat Twins.
He was handsome in that kdrama where he played a character with blades, “Blademan”? Growing.Beautifully mentioned it.
@pklml3 and Everyone
Yes, he was in Blade Man.
I actually only kind of liked him (to look at, and not for anything special in his acting) in one of the first few shows I ever watched… My Girl. Him as a guy trapped by his lies so that he couldn’t openly date the girl he grew to like because he had ‘made her’ his cousin was frustratingly fun.
The FL, Lee Da Hae was lovely there. So full of sass as an intrepid conwoman and liar. That was also the first show in which I saw Lee Joongi and thought he looked too girly. In that show’s interview, Lee Da Hae said that in RL if she had to choose between the ML type character and Lee Joongi’s 2nd MLS character, she’d choose the latter. LOL.
I’m getting nostalgic. Maybe I can find time to re-watch that very, very old show.
I watchedmost of the episodes of LDW’s talk show. He had some interesting guests-not just Gong Yoo, who I believe was there for thenostalgia angle and for ratings. He also had the professional Badulk (Go) champion, a woman professional golfer and a doctor specializing in longevity, along with show business guests. It was fun to see his interaction with his sidekick, comedian Jang Do Jeon and there were segments where he left the studio to dothings lime sing in a karaoke room with afamous vocalist and also playarcade games dressed in school uniforms. He also cooked in a guest’s home.
I find Korean variety/talk shows fascinating because thecuktural differences are telling. One thing that I do find off putting is how make-up and fashion is used on men. The flower boy/androgenous look is fine in BL dramas but seems to be a turn off with heterosexual romances, where I wonder whose lipstick will rub off during kissing scenes or where the guyliner has been applied too thickly, or with the men’s clothing being more chic than the women’s. It’s kind of like birdwatching wherethe malebirds have brighter plumage. I really like LDW’s face but he’s too made up insome scenes. Kim Bum, who probablyhas “prettier” features, looks very natural here and to my taste sas quite attractive, esprcially in bkofriend mode in glasses. I think a guy like Hyun Bin appeals to women past theirvteens-far more natural look. But anyway, maybe the men would be better served if like our favorite ZimbieDetective, they stuck to BB cream…. 😉