Updated: May 2, 2022. As per suggested by @Growing_Beautifully, we’ll have four episodes in this one thread. 🙂 –pm3
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The thread is now open for reviews.
I’ve been waiting for this kdrama since last month. I don’t know why it was pushed back a month but it’s finally here.
In a nutshell, a police officer and a magician with his supernatural sidekicks join forces to fight criminals.
Episodes: 16
Premieres tomorrow Saturday, April 22
Can be watched on Viki so expect the subs to be slow. Oh dear! “Again My Life” is also on Viki, Saturdays and Sundays. Will they have enough subbers?
Let’s enjoy the show.
@packmule3, those if us in Viki who watch through a Roku device have been unable to get into the app and the fault us Viki’s my Any atte my pt in at remediation isa no go if done I no one’s own through Internet instructions. It is as if the app is not loading and run into an eternal in loop. I hope they resolve it soon.
Thanks for this thread @pkml3. It sounds like the kind of show I will check out.
BTW, @pkml3, please open a single thread for Reset. It’s a simple time loop show that we may comment on slowly over the next 15 weeks. Thank you!
Kalispera Everyone,
The Christ is Risen!
I have watched the two episodes and it flows. I like the story so far!
I want to see what it will happen next!
@Cleopatra, Happy Easter to you and yours. I hope it was beautiful and meaningful.
I am now faced with making choices to join the various BOD discussions. For several days now my Viki wasn’t loading on my Roku device. I went to the internet to look up diagnostics and found out that the problem was on Viki’s end. So I waited and just found out that it had returned to me with my huge watch list and the suggestions from the intrepid BOD community. I was missing Again My Life that I had started and love-Lee Joong-ki rocks. Reset is definitely promising. I. Also got hooked on Legally Romance(but given its many episodes, I’ll watch it slowly). I won’t even talk about Netflix.
Being hooked on BOD is like being in a candy store-so many choices, great discussions and all that temptation.LOL
@Cleo, The Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!
A blessed and joyous Easter to you!
Are you watching this show? I’ll try and watch it too, although I’m not sure if I’ll hang on.
I only managed to watch Episode 1 and a bit of Ep 2 of FNOS! (I truncate it to Showtime! for myself). Let’s see,… it seemed to be making itself to be exactly as its title ie it was a ‘performance‘. It was over-the-top, the comedy was farcical, even slapstick-y, the expressions exaggerated… the music was Showtime music… it seemed to want to make sure the viewers knew it was a Showtime Show. Most of it was overacting and unnatural, but I felt it was deliberate and the actors had fun. There were parts that got me laughing and/or rolling my eyes at the same time.
Interesting to see our not-so-easy-to-work-with Park Hae Jin trying to look serious while doing ridiculous stunts, and keeping a straight face, while his ghosts act up. Jin Ki Joo, I found sweet in The Secret Life of My Secretary. She holds her own against PHJ as feisty police officer.
The ghosts might steal the show. I like their chorus of protests and sounds of woe. They were pretty cute.
It looks like the growth arc of our magician, Cha Woong is for him to soften up with Policewoman’s Seul Hae’s help, and to embrace something of his granddad’s shamanistic tradition. It looks like a fun and silly ride at the start!
Hi @OAL, too many choices and not enough time!!! That’s my situation too.
I came back to make 1 short comment on Episode 2.
Managed to FFD it. It was better than Ep 1, less showy and got into the meat, plus the hints of backstory for perhaps both Seul Hae separately or jointly with Cha Woong… (I couldn’t tell).
They had their ‘meet-not-cute’ in Ep 1 LOL, and their proper-meet-cute in Ep 2.
I was hoping for more magic shows, but the BTS of Cha Woong’s magic got me ROFLOL.
@GrowingBeautifully, Looks ,Ike we’ll have two magic dramas with the Netflix, Ji Chang Wook drama The Sound if Magic in May. It’s a mini magic time. Hope to see both but now concentrating on Again Life, My Liberation Notes and Our Blues. In My Liberation Notes, I am so curious about Mr. Gu, who I find is very charismatic. There are so many dramas out there that I’m getting overwhelmed. But if this is the worst problem I have, sobeit….
LOL, yeah @OAL, these are the kinds of problems we can get behind!!
Yup, I remembered that “The Sound of Magic” will also be airing soon (next week Friday?) so we’ll be straddling 2 magic shows. I tend to feel that JCW’s show might be more magical than ‘Showtime!’ … I guess when we know that it’s ghosts who are doing the heavy lifting (literally!!) the acts lose their magic LOL.
Happy Easter to you, @Cleopatra!
I skimmed through Ep 1. I agree it flows well. The first episode can be tricky to handle because so major and minor characters have to be introduced at the same time. But the editors did their job well here.
Kalispera @Packmule3, @OAL and @GB Unnie!
At the moment, I cannot seem to be in the mood to watch kdramas, tv in general. I only watch “Tomorrow” regularly and most likely I will continue FNOS.
I tried to watch “Sh**ting Stars*” but I wasn’t in the mood. I cannot seem to follow you on “My Liberation Notes” even though I would love to.
I mostly enjoy various Kim Woo Bin’s posts I see here and there from “Our Blues”. I am happy he is acting again.
I do hope you are all okay! Time is of essence of course. 🙂
Hi @Cleo, I understand how you feel. Even though I’m having a bit of time now, I’m not in the mood to watch much. I prefer to rewatch something familiar.
I’m actually feeling very fortunate. On Saturday I had a fall that gave me a lump on my head, aching body and a bruised/swollen toe. Everything is subsiding now, so I’m fine. I can walk around carefully and will probably stop limping tomorrow. I have to do the grocery shopping!!
So I’m celebrating with a relaxing rewatch.
I hope you’re fine! 🙂
@GB Unnie!
Please take care! I was kinda shocked when I read that you fell!
Did you go to the Hospital or called your doctor?
Yes, it seems I am a bit tired and I am taking some serious time off.
I am feeling much better thank you!🥰
@Cleo, I slipped on a wet floor at home. Since I had no signs of concussion or fracture, I didn’t bother to go to a doctor. I’m recovering well. I was up and about outside the home today. Just have to be careful when I walk and climb down the stairs. I might limp a bit if I walk ‘wrong’.
@GB Unnie,
Please take care and if you have any symptoms go to your doctor!
You might have strained anything. It takes time to heal, so take it easy!
Annyeong BOD’s 💚
Just want to say that I am watching this show and I can’t wait for the next set of episodes. I love the ghosts haha. they provide the comic relief. Yea, @GB, knowing this, it loses it’s magic. i still love the magic tricks though. it’s obvious that Cha Woong made a way to make his gift profitable – for him and his employees 🤪. I’m excited how the show will progress and we’ll find that maybe Seul Hae will restore Cha Woong’s faith in humanity ~ enter romance 💗. We can already tell that he’s bothered after seeing SH smile at Capt Seo. oh boy. but i want to see how they will work together along with his ghost employees in catching bad guys.
is there a mystery to SH’s dad’s death that maybe chief Seo is hiding? why isn’t he allowing SH to be part of the Detective Police unit? he also tries to avoid talking about her. shady! the shaman was there the night he died as well? hmmmmm. and we also have a mystery guy who lost his memory and can hear voices from a genie bottle? i’m intrigued.
@gb hope you heal up nicely.
until next episode.
To @Cleopatra, I understand how drama fatigue works. I think recent dramas were very intense as are some of the new ones like Liberation Notes. In addition, there is so much content that it’s mind boggling. Sometimes a little quiet time helps to clear the cobwebs. Looking forward to your comments and news when you’re ready to come back.
To GB, I hope you heal soon. It’s a pity our feet don’t come with treads so we can’t slip on wet floors.
This one looks fun! I am gonna check this one out durinv the weekend break! 😘
@GB, hope you have a good rest and do get well soon!💞💞💞
Backreading on @GB’s accidental slip… ouch! Hope you are feeling much better and resting.
Belated happy Easter @cleo!!! So I’m not the only one getting slugging on dramas these days. After taking hiatus during Holy Week, it’s kinda hard to latch on to the new shows. I’m only at ep1 of new ones and I stop.
Anyhow, I’ll get my drama mojo back. But I continue to read up on BoD. That’s something I don’t want to miss. 😉
Cheers!!!
Hey my agapimeni @Janey!
Thank you for your Easter wishes!
There are times we need to stop a bit. I guess that is needed as well.
The shows won’t go away…!
I do hope you will watch FNOS, so we can comment on the same threads!
Take care! xo
Dear @OAL,
Yes, the last shows were intense and I cannot keep up with the emotional ones all the times. I will post here and there of course and I will continue to watch easy going shows for now.
Although, I finished reading Pachinko I have stayed behind on the drama. I want to catch up though, I do hope that I will do so…
I do hope you had a great time and you are okay yourself!
I watched episode 1 and found some kind of comedy I like.
– Twist a scene or situation: the female cop go into the spectacle and think the magician is the robber.
– Car accident scene: the ghosts fear when the new dead appear. Then the magicien has also a fit of fear, then say something like “pfew, you scared me, I was thinking you were an human”. So good lines.
– Car scene in the forest: when he say they could be fired because they will all loose their job is the helmet is retrived. The 3 of them give their goal in life, and about the girl “the guild war next week”. 🙂
The episode is well constructed on the whole.
@WE, I’m glad you’ve started on this Show. It’s more showy in the first episode and starts to settle into the more familiar kind of rom-com after that.
Magician has to contend with not only the living and the dead but with a deity LOL.
I can feel the strings of the story here. I don’t know if it’s because of me, or the general audience do it to. What want the characters, how their values will interact. It’s like a mechanic. And of course add to that, the FL have a wound and want to catch the mysterious killer (a ghost possessing humans I guess).
I’m a bit worried that it will turn soon in a kind of procedural, like any ghosts stories. “Resolve the problem of the ghost of the week to go in afterlife”. SIGH. ^^
Happy to report that “From Now On Showtime!” did in fact get subbed timely! At least for the first two episodes, they showed up on Viki fully subbed at 9:00 a.m. central time on both Saturday and Sunday.
(I’ve noticed that lately tvN dramas–Military Prosecutor Doberman, Kill Heel and now The Killer’s Shopping List–are all taking a while to even show up, let alone sub on Viki. FNOS is not a tvN show.)
@Skayt, Interesting comment about Viki subs. Perhaps as you point out, there is a correlation between neteo4k of 9rigin and tye time elapsed for subbing. Maybe this has something to do with when the network makes the drama available to Viki. Then the team must be arraigned and work. We know the teams are still made up of volunteers. Viki subs also include annotations that explain history, culture , food, language. What a great comment @Skayt !
Thanks, @OAL! Hopefully this continues to be a pattern that will help out when we’re trying to put together our extensive watchlists now, with so many. If we know when things are dropping, we can better plan our days.
I’ll post something I noticed about The Killer’s Shopping List on that respective post.
@pkml3, I’m not sure if we really need a new thread for each episode. You could just change the title of this thread to Open Thread or we could include 4 or more episodes for 1 thread.
I just wanted to say that Ep 3 was more hilarious than ever, at least the first part. I’m still waiting to see some more warmth and genuine care in CCW, but maybe that’ll happen only in the next Ep.
Good idea, @GB. I’ll do four episodes in one if nothing much is going on.
I’m watching Ep3. The drama keep to be funny with its own sens of comedy. It’s not boring. Good surprise so far. I suppose I’ll watch it as long it’s ok like that.
I found a plot hole by omission. 🙂
If he wanted to be rich, he could have won at gambling a long time ago, or even used other means than magic.
The female lead is pretty damn classy in this scene.
Lots of comical details in the episode, impossible to note everything, what made me laugh among others is:
– The line “my intention is to work little and effortlessly, but impressively”.
– When he kicks the general’s portrait when he receives a visit from the crazy young Shaman.
@WE, I liked the farce at the beginning of the episode where what would normally be a romantic interlude with the girl holding up the semi-conscious guy, turns into an absolute concussion causing activity as she slams his head against any wall or protuberance available before throwing him into his bed. 🤒 🤕 😵💫 😂 🤣
I liked that Park Hae Jin allowed himself to be so knocked around, messed up and ‘ugly’ and that he did his comedy roles with gusto, especially the most embarrassing fire in his pants/flatulence episode LOL.
I’m about to watch Ep 4 now. I hope they can tone down the ridiculous a bit and still be comical, and add more heart into the characters.
@WE, as for the plothole… Although CCW is interested in money, and he does not mind the deviousness of using ghosts instead of the usual ‘magical’ trickery, I’m guessing that he’s supposed to be a bit more upstanding a citizen than a crook. He could definitely have won a lot at gambling with the help of his employees, but he seems to want to maintain a name as a great magician. In other words, he’s not entirely honest but he’s not a bad guy either.
The person he’ll most misinform is probably himself. He’ll never believe (and probably loudly protest against this) that he has feelings for the FL, Seul Hae, until her crush, Officer Hee Soo, keeps getting in his way. I foresee him getting grumpy if she pays Hee Soo more attention.
Show has already established that there is an element of competition between the two men CCW and Hee Soo, since Hee Soo chose him to demonstrate the martial arts defensive moves on. This is just going to get worse over the girl, Seul Hae, although at this stage, Hee Soo seems to only be a big brother towards her.
The mystery of why Hee Soo’s father the Chief Seo wants to keep Seul Hae out from promotion or going to the main police station remains simmering in the background. I have to rewatch the quick flashbacks in Ep 2 to see what info that gave about SH’s past.
@GB. The first scene yes, it was funny from the start.
The fire fart was grotesque, but what made me laugh was how it was made (profile view) and the expression of the ML at the end, when he try to do as if it was planned in his show. While watching the scene I was thinking first: The general won’t really sabotage the whole show? But what could he do then? I was curious. And he found a way to make the ML ridiculous, but in a way it would be acceptable for a magic show.
Many things about comedy is linked to acting, and this is rewatachable.
I wonder if anything in this will be parody. For example, the FL story.
“10 Years ago, a mysterious killer kill her father”
W manhwa plotline. ^^
It’s cliché and sounds parody in this drama.
It make me think a bit a comedy like “Psychopath Diary”.
There was already a little jalousy scene previously, I don’t remember when (episode 2?).
There is some plots awaiting here or there. The chief police. The other magician (why I feel he will be involved?).
Strange facts about this drama:
– Screenwriter Ha Yoon Ah. Unknow. Only drama “mystic pop bar”. I put on my drop list for a reason I don’t remember.
– Director Lee Hyung Min. Very high experience. This guy start in 2002 with the well know “Winter Sonata”. Made Strong Woman Do Bong Soon for example.
I’ll start ep4 now. 😉
Ep 4 – I played some parts more slowly so now I don’t know if the show felt slow because of it, but actually quite a few things happened and new stuff was introduced!
I’m assuming the illegal gambling crime is wrapped up. It seemed to take more time, as if we are to note something there. But it gave us a glimpse of a past life where CCW and SH had been close, and she’d possibly been killed when she protected him.
We also see that CCW is now definitely thinking about SH unexpectedly, while feeling bad that he blew her off over visiting her father’s grave.
We get snippets of the backstory of Seul Hae, her young life with dad and with Hee Soo.
We find out more info about ghosts from CCW’s point of view, and get introduced to an evil spirit and possession.
We may have double love triangles instead of just 1. But the troublesome new ‘shaman’ girl has already got herself an admirer in a young police officer.
I don’t think it’s parodying other shows, in that it’s not done entirely for comic effect, but there are similar circumstances. The one that hit me was how CCW’s Boru-boru Island reminded me of Healer and Moru-moru Island. Both the male leads want to buy an island to get away from the world, and live by themselves. Both had a photo of the island to look at and inspire them.
I watched the Mystic Pop-up Bar – nothing ground breaking there, the usual stuff with past and current lives, jumping into the spirit realm and righting wrongs.
Episode 4.
The desert island… ahah… Trope taken from Healer**. It has salt (and I guess salt keeps ghosts away). In other ghost dramas, there is often a sad story about the protagonist who has a hard life because they see ghosts. Example Master Sun. But other dramas, it is not so dramatic. Example Let’s Fight Ghost. Here, it is not dramatic because the ML is since childhood in this supernatural universe, with the grandfather who is a shaman, sees ghosts, etc. One cannot say that the ML has had an unhappy life because of the ghosts, and even he exploits them shamelessly. Hence the scene where he is more afraid to see a human than a ghost. He is jaded. So the idea of the desert island is rather absurd. Except as a parody.
And now, SLASH, the knife edge with Historical Flashback. It looks like a little bit of everything and anything will be added here. I wonder if there will be a mermaid. ^^
Does he really need an extra thing for with the FL crush? If I were him, I wouldn’t need it. 🙂
SML. At first he has no interest in FL, but I wonder if he doesn’t get jealous too. There are two scenes in the episode like this.
The general: I’m expecting a big gag that will make him lose all the light rays of his fan in one go. 🙂
The police chief: it’s outrageous at this point that the FL isn’t promoted to a detective position. This is the second time she has made a major arrest.
Stuff that made me laugh.
Booboo, the chin bandage: the comic came out of nowhere. Surprising. Mostly based on the actors.
High-5: the face she makes when she claps his hand!!! 🙂
The door in the basement: the kind of ridiculous detail. He puts his hand on it to rest thinking it’s closed, and he almost falls when it opens.
Training by the SML: ML is sleeping!!!
FL wants to find her father: saying this quietly as if to go buy a bowl of ramen: “Would you mind going to a mass grave?”. He answers by lecturing her on corruption. The nerve! When he just tried to steal 100 million twice in the episode. 😀
The closet: She’s stashed in the closet of clothes! Except that it’s a daydream. And then in the water glass.
The ghost blind date.
The crazy shaman who wants to marry the ML. “Do you have a girlfriend?”, “Yes”, “When do you break up with her?”. Then the confrontation with the FL. So hilariously stupid.
The picture on the island. With a lot of funny people drawn while he doesn’t want to see anyone there. ^^
Ok, Job done. The ghost of the week is sent to the afterlife. In a scene where his son cries in a really ugly way. I was both scared and with the urge to laugh. I can’t take this seriously, and it’s probably not the intended effect. Already the first ghost was impossible to take seriously. He has just died and left his pregnant wife, and he wanders around with the ML, as if nothing had happened, with a jaded look.
As I sensed… After years and years, the SML starts to take an interest in the FL. It’s his roommate who reveals the trick. All it took was for her to be close to another famous guy.
The young shaman and the grandmother get involved! A little more funny mess in the life of the ML.
The scene with the return of the assassin on the boat. Scary enough. The last shot: red moon, then transition to the red suit of the ML. And yes, the director knows how to do it.
The killer: a very powerful evil spirit. The scene with the old shaman says that the general might be afraid. He also says that he has lived so long that he has forgotten how he became a spirit. The evil spirit could be one of his old enemies from 2000 years ago, or the one who caused his death.
Hug scene: I thought that with the sunglasses, she was safe? ahaha. And why didn’t he bring two pairs of sunglasses? Because… we need a cliffhanger hug scene. 🙂
**Speaking of Healer, I realized that the writer is the same as the one of the drama “Sandglass (1995)”, the 4th highest rating in the history of Korean TV. 😉
Kalimera @GB And @WE!
I really enjoyed those two episodes! I am glad there is comic relief because I have realized that later on with the bad spirit and the killer things will become more solemn. So, it is better to enjoy these little moments.
I have this feeling I want to share with you that the reason the General’s fan is charging is because of the encounter with the bad spirit. He needs all the vibes he can get in order to defeat that demon. And…I think that one of them might die.
Anyway, we shall see!
@WE, it looks like you’ve enjoyed Episode 4.
Yes, the writer of Healer, Song Ji Na wrote Sandglass which I know is supposed to be good, but which I have not watched. I notice that Song Ji Na has also not had any works out since 2017.
I’ve watched ‘Masters Sun’, ‘Let’s Fight Ghost’, ‘Sell Your Haunted House’, etc. Spirit Possession shows… the one that impressed me was The Guest. That one was quite frightening at times.
LOL this show’s ML being afraid to see real people but if fine with ghosts. Does he think the deserted island has no ghosts?
Yes the SML only noticed SH more because she was in the company of another man. His father is not in favour of having SH as a daughter-in-law, though. That is probably part of the reason she’s not being promoted. Father wants to keep them apart most unfairly.
That’s an interesting thought. He’s getting too many too soon, isn’t he? He should work for it still, instead of leaching off ML. From the preview it looks like there’s going to be a connection between the 10-year ago killing of SH’s father with the grandfather of CCW and The General ghost deity.
This is likely too. There’s a convergence of people who are connected in the past and also will be with spirits who knew each other. At least The General knew that the evil spirit had been sealed and drowned.
ML is able to say this with a straight face: “People should lack in some ways in order to seem approachable, but I’m on a different level from mere mortals.” LOL FL’s smile may have been genuine because PHJ might in real life have that kind of attitude.
A bit of editing problem. She’s walking while wearing their one pair of sunglasses, but when he rushes to hug her, neither of them has the sunglasses on. LOL. Props had to get them off her before the hug or their expressions couldn’t be seen.
Hi @Cleo! Yes, I enjoyed having the laughs. I realise that OBS, 25/21, Soundtrack#1, Grid, Reset and Again My Life are shows with hardly any fun scenes. Only Business Proposal was light.
I hope the Killer’s Shopping List will be funnier than it was in the first 2 episodes.
@GB; “People should lack… ”
I missed that line and it’s a good one. Give the feeling he is so full of himself beyond limits. lol. Maybe it’s why the FL smiled?
Add to that “Liberation Notes”, a ground so heaaavy, really not the light comedy thing. I watched other dramas before to continue on that. I will try episode 2 of shopping list.
If one day you watch Sandglass, remove anything else. It’s the kind to binge watch with nothing around or others dramas. Then when you end it, you cry more tears than you have in your body. It has a feeling of old movies rather than kdrama, and the directing is great, even in a 4/3, it looks more cinema than the 16/9 dramas. I watched that first because of actress Go Hyun Jung. I had a crush for her after watching “queen seon deok”. I was also curious to watch an all time best rating. Without any more interest in the drama, just as a cultural educative thing about korean TV. If you need a subtitled link, I found one on a dramacool website. The channel give it for free on their korean website, but without subtitles.
Thanks for the info on Sandglass @WE. I’ll keep in mind that it requires focus and no distractions. 🧐
@GB, your emoticon with the monocle made me laugh! Look like you need to study hard!
It’s not because the drama is complicated. It’s very simple to watch. It’s more about the mood. It’s better to be immersed in this neurasthenic, tragic, melancholic, nostalgic, pathetic, harsh, beyond sadness vibe. So you are sure to be deeply devastated at the end (it’s such an enjoyement to watch dramas, lol). It makes the feeling to end a too good book, when you can’t say goodbye to the book.
For example, go to episode 1, from 26:30 to 30:08.
https://dramacool.city/movie/sandglass-1995-zp29zbrj/?ep=1
This scene at sunset, ending with a twilight walk.
It gives you an idea of the intensity, the poetry, the directing quality.
A melodramatic authenticity that we hardly see in later dramas.
Hi again @pkml3, please open up the next 4-episode thread for Episodes 5-8. Thanks!!