Why is the title of this kdrama “Head Over Heels”?

Well, the most obvious answer is because our female lead SeongAh (SA) falls madly in love with GyeongWoo (GW). The metaphorical meaning of “head over heels” is to be smitten with love (some people may call it infatuation or lust) that you feel as if your life has been flipped over or turned upside down.

The second possible answer calls to mind GW’s first appearance in SA’s life. She tells him, “[You] walked into my shrine upside down when we first met.” In this sense, “head over heels” refers to his upside-down entrance at their first encounter. For a shaman like SA, his appearance portends his death, so she’s moved to save him. However, she doesn’t tell him that her spirit mother dissuaded her because of the law of equivalent exchanges. That is, to keep him alive, she must put her own life on the line.

Now, I think the title has a third significance. I mentioned it in passing in my Episode 7 write-up, but I’ll explain it here. The title “Head Over Heels” tips us off that the usual tropes found in a romcom are being upended, reversed and turned upside down.

I’ll give two examples.

First example: the trope about the second male lead (2ML).

The 2ML is the hero’s rival for the girl’s affection. Serving as counterpoint to the hero, he’s generally depicted as more approachable and likable than the hero. And if it wasn’t for that pesky little thing called irrationality…err…love, he deserves the happily-ever-after with the heroine.

In this kdrama, however, the 2ML trope is upended when JiHo becomes a loyal friend to BOTH his love interest and his love rival. Whenever SA is absent from the scene, he takes on her role as guardian of GW and rescues GW from dire situations.

In Episode 5, he volunteers to become GW’s human amulet and gives GW his most precious action figure as protection.

In Episode 6, he defends GW against lurking ghost by fouling him during their basketball scrimmage.

In Episode 7, he rescues the lost GW/BongSu from wandering the streets all night.

In Episode 8, he endures not only GW/BongSu’s body punches but also the humiliation of a public love confession.

Thus, in this kdrama, the 2ML trope is turned on its head. The way JiHo interacts with GW contradicts our expectations of a typical 2ML’s behavior, leaving us viewers confused and bewildered. And confused and bewildered is how we experience falling “head over heels” in love VICARIOUSLY through the drama.

Second example: the trope about the evil spirit/devil/destroyer of the world.

If we listen to the blind elderly shaman, we would be quaking in our boots. She says, “My recitation of the sacred text chasing away evil should’ve given him unbearable pain in all parts of the body starting from the ears, eyes, mouth, and nose. But in his case, only his ears hurt. I’ve never seen something so menacing in all 70 years of my life.”

But we can do better by listening to the Tarot card reader because she alone hints at the duality of Bongsu. Of the Devil card, she says, “They’re like the Devil, charming but also dangerous. Of the Death card, she says, “The Death card doesn’t just mean one’s passing. An end is always followed by a new beginning. Death means rebirth, a new beginning, and a time for a closure.”

Look here: of all the characters in the story, only BongSu went through death. That’s why he can openly diss the bad shaman YeonHwa.

YH: The longer you stay in a human body, the more real the pain of death feels when you leave it. This amulet will ease the pain of death.
BongSu: (looking at the amulet, then at her) Have you died before? Do you even know the pain?
YH: I have been in pain that was as bad as death.
BongSu: (scoffing) Bullshit.

Savage! Her psychological distress! her deathlike pain! her trauma! can’t compare to actual death. Of course!

To me, the Tarot card reading directly applies to BongSu. His rebirth in GW’s body gives him a new beginning and time for closure. He may have committed dastardly deeds in his previous life, and kept “countless grudges,” but his rebirth basically gives a clean slate.

That’s why his escape from the haunted house looked so appropriate –

He flung the doors open,
stretched his arms wide as if making a grand entrance on stage,
shut his eyes from the blinding sunlight,
stepped on the cursed talisman doll,
inhaled all that clean mountain air,
then ran downhill with glee.

He’s been given a FRESH start.

That’s how the trope of the Evil Spirit or Devil Reincarnated is turned on its head again…or upside down.

In Episode 8, it’s made clear to us that BongSu isn’t as wicked as we feared him to be. Here are some moments that makes me believe that an appeal to his goodness – or better nature – can work in the future.

1. In the haunted house

He greets SA, “Hello, Shaman.” But instead of paying him the same courtesy, she shouts at him to get out of GW’s body. He says hello again and approaches her. She keeps ordering him to leave GW’s body and starts throwing shaman salt at him. He picks up a rock, saying, “If I’m to get out, I’d have to kill this body or you.”

From inside the mirror, GW yells, “NO!” because he thinks BongSu is about to stone SA to death. Instead, BongSu throws the rock at the mirror. He picks up a broken piece and walks toward SA. It appears as if he intends to stab her with it. He says, “Why are you so reckless? You’re a shaman. Then, you must know who I am. Right?”

Then, a memory of SA dancing with the lighted lantern flashes in his head. He drops the shard of glass. He says, “Come on, don’t be like that. Shouldn’t you say hello back?”

He leans closer and touches her neck. And the lip gloss amulet activates. They don’t understand the situation. He blames her for it, “That’s not fair at all. You think you can do whatever because you’re pretty?”

(Lol. In this unguarded moment, he reveals that he finds her pretty.)

Then, he suggests a bet between them. He says, “If you catch me before [Yeonghwa] does, I’ll grant you a wish.” He adds that he hopes she wins because he likes her more than Yeonghwa.

Two things:

One, this brief interaction is important because it tells me that BongSu isn’t an antisocial killer. He doesn’t have an antisocial personality disorder. In fact, he wanted her to observe social niceties; he controlled his impulse; he restrained his aggression; he wasn’t indifferent to her obvious sign of fear and didn’t revel in it; he was frustrated about the situation, but he didn’t take it out on her; he gave her an out with the bet; and he could distinguish a good person from a bad one.

Two, I don’t think he realizes that, with the wager, he just transformed himself into her wish-fulfilling genie. There was no call for him to do that because he had all the advantages. With this bet, he gives her the opportunity to be his master.

2. When he escaped from their hand-binding in the dead of the night, he didn’t try to harm her while she was sleeping.

When he saw the translation error she made on the spell book, he found her ignorance amusing. He muttered that she had to be way prettier to make up for her lack of brains. It’s good to know that a little bit of aegyo from SA can disarm Bongsu in the future.

Then, when she stirred in her sleep, he immediately jumped back into bed and  held her hand. I was cute that he wanted to play along and pretend that he was powerless. This indicated his willingness to cooperate with her and please her.

3. When the blind senior shaman raised her cane to strike BongSu and SA and separate them, BongSu pushed SA away from harm and grabbed the cane. This tells me that, despite being an Evil Spirit, he will still instinctively protect SA.

When you think about this, SA is safer with BongSu than with that wicked shaman, Yeonghwa.

4. Then, when the BongSu attempted to stab the blind senior shaman, only SA could talk sense into him and stop him. She appealed to his innate good nature, and, even though, he resented it and felt aggrieved because it was the blind shaman who first moved to strike them, he yielded to SA.

For some reason, I’m reminded of that fairy tale “Beauty and the Beast,” when Belle tamed the beast.

5. After BongSu made a promise before the senior shamans not to hurt people and apologized for his display of rage earlier, he stuck out his hand for SA to hold. This tells me that he was ready to yield to SA’s control and submit to her influence. This also displays his trust in her.

Their pinky promise signals a new understanding between them.

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

I must end here. Will edit/add tomorrow morning.