Let’s start with the bad, and end with the good. I’m using Viki subs. Not sure if they’re the same as IQIYI.

A. The Bad Points

I’ll limit myself to two negative things because I don’t want to focus on this.

1. Inaccurate and unrealistic depiction of search-and-rescue

Again, I’ll limit myself to just two most egregious examples in the first 15 minutes.

a. When the hero, Kang Hyun Jo (HJ), was rushed to the site without changing clothes and shoes

I get that the viewers were supposed to sense the urgency of the moment. This is wrong, though.

Like firefighters and policemen, park rangers must wear their PPEs (personal protective equipment) while on duty to minimize risk of serious workplace injuries. Failing to wear the proper gear or to bring the right equipment because of an emergency isn’t a sign of heroism, but of stupidity and recklessness. It’s like fireman rushing into a burning building without his helmet, pants and jacket, boots, and gloves. Park ranger GooYoung (played by the actor from “Psycho But It’s Okay”) endangered the rookie and the whole team by not allowing Hyun Jo to get suited up. As the heroine would say later, their job “is to come back safely from a dangerous place.”

b. When team leader Il Hae (played by the actor from “Hometown Cha Cha Cha”) rushed to the side of the ranger who was hit on the head during a landslide

I get that he was upset to see a teammate injured but grabbing the unconscious guy by the neck then shaking him to wake him up is wrong.

Why? Two words: spinal injury.

I think actors playing park rangers or first responders should at least know the rudiments of first aid.

2. The confusing objective of the cinematography

I wonder how many directors of photography (or cinematographers) were hired for this production and if they consulted the PD (or production director) before filming.

Look: I get why the director shot YK looking through her binoculars for the missing child at this precipice. Personally, I think it’s silly because YK was just looking at treetops, and we all know that the missing boy (and any creature smaller than a tree) will be hidden under the tree canopy. lol.

But I understand that the intention here was to a birds’ eye view of how vast the terrain the park rangers must cover to find the boy.

I also get why the camera was shaky when the heroine, Seo Yi Kang (YK), was running in the bushes. This shaky cam is a technique used by the director to give the audience a sense of anxiety, fear, and terror.

When the camera was shaky here,

the director was attempting to put the viewers in YK’s shoes so they can “feel” the tension of crashing through the bushes. The shaky cam was supposed to give a realistic feel.

However, all this realism is neutered when the cinematography switches to a panoramic view. Take for example the opening scene. The viewers were shown a presentation of the national park as a narrator described the setting of the drama. This scene felt like a documentary.

“For a very long time, as many years as the mountain existed, countless people have visited Jirisan. (lol. It’s funny though that the old pictures featured mostly of men.) For some people, this mountain has been a land of hope that holds the spirit of their loved ones. But for others, it’s been a spiteful land of death and deepest sorrow. Still, many people, bring their own stories to climb this mountain, but not everyone goes back with hope in their hearts. This place is still the border. The border between exploding hope and severe devastation. Between life and death, where a beginning and the smell of blood coexist. Jirisan…is the land between this world and the next.”

In other words, Jirisan is an in-between land, a liminal space.

Lol. I discussed liminal space here, right?

The word “liminal” may look highfalutin, but you’ve seen its cousin before — the word “subliminal.” Their root word comes from the Latin “limen.” “Limen” means “threshold.” If you look at your front door, you’ll see a plank of wood (or a step) that separates the outside world from the inside of your house. When you take a step and cross over it, you’re said to be crossing the threshold.

With that image in mind, you can now understand “liminal space” in two ways.

One, it can be narrowly understood as a SPACE that you cross over to get from one place to another, like that threshold between the exterior and interior of a house. Or two, it can be metaphorically understood as a MOMENT in time when you take a step and cross over from one state of mind (or state of being) into another.

Liminal space is about this crossing-over. It’s basically a transition period. And liminality – as used in the title of this thread — simply dwells on this transition period between two spaces and moments in time.

Source: On Liminality

In my opinion, the director could have prepared a better opening scene. He could have shown visually that Jirisan is a mystical land between “this world and the next.” The dry opening scene didn’t at all match the shocking ending scene of Episode 1 when Psychic HJ was revealed to be in a coma for over a year.

I also didn’t sense that Jirisan was a mysterious place even when the skies darkened and the fog thickened as the young boy was in the wildflower field. I thought it was just a sudden change of weather.

Neither did it dawn on me that the thunder and lightning, and the falling branch in Episode 1 were supernatural forces acting on HJ until the end of Episode 2. The mountain was sending him a message.

To me, the director didn’t seem to know which visual style and special effects would most effectively convey the otherworldly-ness of the mountain other than by dimming the lights and turning on the fog machine.

But oh well….let’s move on to the good.

B. The Good Points

Remember my BoD disclaimer: these are my opinion. If you don’t agree, don’t bug me. Just create your own.

1. The parallelisms

I like how YiKang and HyunJo mirror each other. I’ll give two instances.

a. In 2018, he arrives at the Haedong Ranger Station at Jirisan National Park in a cab. He remains in the cab for a moment, observing the place. Then he gets out and walks up the stairs. Multi-colored ribbons are tied on the railings. He’s dressed in a uniform blazer. He’s ignored when he walks in.

In 2020, she arrives at the Haedong Station in a cab, too. She, too, remains in the cab for a moment, and stares at the building. She moves through the corridor on her wheelchair. She’s wearing her uniform blazer, too. Everybody’s anticipating her. GooYoung doesn’t look pleased to see her back.

b. She’s called “Demon Seo.” Demon because she’s a daredevil with a ferocious temper to boot.

But she calls him “Crazy.” She climbs up a cliff on her own on a rainy night, and he suddenly appears beside her.

YK: Are you crazy? (she uses the word “michyeosseo”) Did you follow me? Where do you think this is?
HJ: (huffing and puffing) If I’m insane, so are you. At least I won’t be lonely, being in a crazy pair. I thought…I’d regret it if I didn’t come. Isn’t that why you’re here, too? Let’s say he really is alive. He’ll die if we don’t rescue him now. Seeing as I am here already, please take me with you. You said a search is done in pairs.
YK: If you whine along the way, I’ll kill you.
HJ: It’s not like you’ll notice if I whine.
YK: It’s more dangerous than you can imagine.
HJ: Isn’t our job always dangerous?
YK: Our job is to come back safely from a dangerous place.

Note: this is the reason she came back. She probably senses that she left HJ’s spirit in the mountain and he’s sending signals to her. Hence, she must bring him back from that liminal space between life and death.

YK: (continuing) We must be a pillar to each other. If you get blown away, so do I. (she hooks them together) If I fall, so do you. So, let’s both be careful.
HJ: Copy.

When he says “Copy,” he means that he understands what she’s saying. But copy also means that he’s following and mirroring what she’s doing.

2. Opposites

But of course, since this is kdrama, the two leads must still start off as polar opposites so they can complement each other in the end.

It’s clear that Demon Seo is the athletic one while Psychic Kang is the one who gasping for air every time he follows her. When they were introduced, she warned him, “Search is done in pairs. You know that, right? Fix your shoelaces and stay close. If you lag behind, I’ll abandon you.”

Note: his shoes seem to be a problem for him.

Then, in Episode 2, Demon Seo thinks HJ is a softy, unlike her.

Killer: I’m lost. I need some help.
YK: Pfft. This is the problem with newbies. (she’s talking about HJ) They’re too nice. And not a good judge of character. You look like a crook from the get go. How could he have been tricked by you?
Killer: You’re with that rookie, huh? So? Even if you’re a ranger, are you saying a woman can stop me?
YK: I’m not like that rookie. I always bring a satellite phone with me. (and then the police and the other rangers appear)

But to me, the most conspicuous way they’re difference from each other is their response to a crisis. Demon Seo identifies with the survivors, and people left behind by the victims while HJ feels connected to the victims themselves because of his “psychic” abilities.

In Episode 1, Demon Seo relates to the pain of the grandma of the missing boy. This is because she too has a grandma who lost her son to a mountain flood. In Episode 2, she relates to the pain of the daughter whose father had gone missing. This is because she remembers having an argument with her father before he passed away.

In contrast, Psychic Kang empathizes with the missing person because he can see them.

YK: Now tell me the truth. How did you find this place?
HJ: I saw this place. It’s not my first time. I keep seeing where missing hikers are on this mountain.
YK: (scoffing) You really are crazy.

That was how he connected to the missing boy. He went through the boy’s journal, realized that he was a bullied in school, and saw the message, “Please help me.”

Of course, as the story progresses, their perceived strengths and weaknesses will help them solve many of the missing cases in the national park.

3. The signal

I’m aware that the writer of this drama also penned “Kingdom” and “Signal.” I watched the opening and ending of “Kingdom” first season, I knew that the genre wasn’t for me. As for “Signal,” I skimmed through it and thought it was a creative spin on time-loops. With the help of a mysterious walkie-talkie, a criminal profiler was able to solve cold cases by communicating with a police detective living in the past.

I expect this drama to reprise the premise of “Signal,” but I hope the open ending in “Signal” will have a conclusive and happier ending here.

Obviously, instead of a walkie-talkie, the means of communication between past and present in this drama is the stack of rocks. The significance of a stack of rock is explained to Demon Seo and Psychic Kang by a cultural resource staff.

Staff: How did you learn about this place?
HJ: Well, umm…let’s just say the mountain told me.

Staff: The mountain? That’s believable. People have been serving Jirisan from before the Three Kingdoms.

Note: According to Wiki, the Three Kingdoms period began in 57 BC and lasted till 668 AD. The resource person was saying that since the ancient times, the mountain was believed to be a sacred site.

Staff: Being an object of faith for such a long time can’t just be a superstition. There’s energy in this mountain that’s difficult to explain.
HJ: That’s what I mean. This time, for instance, there’s no reception here, but a text message was sent. The mountain saved the kid.
Staff: Ah.
YK: Stop the nonsense. So what? What is it, anyway?

Yes. It’s understandable that she considers all this talk nonsense as her father was killed by a flooding in the mountain. She’s curious why the staff is making a big fuss about the stack of stones.

Staff: Oh this? This is how the red commies communicated with each other.

Note on the red commies or “partisans.” I believe he was referring to the North Koreans who were engaged in guerrilla warfare in South Korea, or enemy territory.

Staff: (continuing) When they fell behind from their team or was out of contact, they made a secret code like this to communicate.
HJ: That’s still there?
Staff: They pick a spot that no one else will discover. A place that won’t be destroyed in the wind or rain. Like this place.
HJ: What do those trees signify?
Staff: It was to notify their location. Or so we assumed.

And once the staff left, the two look at the stack of stones closely.

HJ: This place must be quite valuable. This here could be useful when we can’t use radio or cellphones on the restricted trails. It’s perfect for signaling a lost hiker’s location. Look here, senior. Pretend these rocks are Bidam Cliff. Here, stick a twig in it. See? It’s right where Sangsuri Rock is.

My comments:

a. The cultural resource staff assumed that the stack of stones was made during the Korean War. I wouldn’t be surprised if HJ/Psychic Kang had been the one to build it and leave it there for them.

b. Just like how some “red commies” couldn’t keep up with the others, Demon Seo and HJ have a different pace. I’m not surprised that HJ was the one who suggested using this signal since Demon Seo is always threatening to leave him behind, and he’s always falling behind her.

c. The stack of stones is not something unusual. They’re similar to cairns that some hikers build along the trail to guide them.

Historically, cairns were intended to mark specific places and junctures in a trail to keep travelers from straying too far. They were also used to mark where a cache of supplies like food and water were located.

It was their very own form of GPS that helped them get back to their starting points or final destinations after a long journey. There are ancient/historical cairns that still remain today. Very few remain and those that do could be considered as national landmarks.

Source: Trailandsummit.com

d. HJ intended to use the signal for dead zones where cellphones and radio didn’t work. So it’s an interesting idea that he’s also using it to communicate with Demon Seo while he’s in the “undead” zone or the liminal space between life and death because he’s in a coma.

e. To me, the reason he’s having visions of this is because

4. Last but not the least, the theories

To me, the primary appeal of this drama is not the romance nor rescue missions, but the mystery. It’ll be fun creating theories and guessing what will happen next.

Take for instance, the faceless creature who appears in front of the rookie ranger at the end in Episode 2? I think that’s Psychic HJ’s spirit. And the reason he appeared to that rookie ranger is because she was the one who created the stack of stones according to Demon Seo’s specification. In effect, she became the “mediator” or “medium” between the living but wheelchair-bound YiKang and the undead/comatose/wandering spirit HyunJo.

I also think there are three timelines for YK and HJ:

a. the past 2018, when they first met and worked together until 2019

b. their current time 2020, when YK returns to the station, after being hospitalized for a year, to try to solve the mystery of the stones and sticks

c. and the future, most likely in 2021, when HJ will finally be revealed to be sending her the signals so she can find and rescue not only the missing people, but also bring him back safely from the liminal place. She said that they were going to serve as a pillar to each other. If he were blown away, so would she. And if she fell, so would he.

Conversely, he’ll guide her in their current year 2020 with the stack of stones so the person who caused the accident that nearly killed them in 2019 will be brought to justice.

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Okay. Gotta run.