The thread is open.
All 13 episodes drop today. Goodness gracious!
Cast: Bae Suzy and Kim Woo Bin
Where to Watch it: Netflix
Screenwriter: Kim EunSook
Where’s @WEnchanteur? Come on, @WEnchanteur, flay this drama for its screenwriter. I know you want to! 🙂
I don’t mind spoilers but please do announce the episode number before commenting. That way, I can either read or delay your post. Shukran!
Let’s enjoy the show.
@pcml,Oh I didnt know this was here. I have been laughing so hard, you would never have heard the end of it.
Right now ep.4 I am laughing at the Roombah, cleaning up the uneven paving stones inside the lamp. Furnishing the hide-out.
So many funny touches.
Daniel Henney doing what I cannot say…
and then, unconnectedly, Grandma reads the diary (so far a sort of truth-or-dare one-handed-event) written by the truthtelling quill pen of the angel Elijah, and what she reads is “I like Daniel Henney” a statement which, since the quill has not made it disappear, must be true of our little psychopath.
Hi @pkml3 and @IB, I watched only Episode 1 so far. Points that jumped up at me…
– Rather too much exposition by Genie to explain his situation. The monologue (with some scenes interspersing) goes into 4 minutes and 30+ seconds. I felt it went a 2 minutes too long.
– Anti-social personality disorder – interesting in one sense to watch it manifested, but at the same time, it makes Suzy’s acting somewhat dull/boring. (At this stage I prefer her in WYW Sleeping).
– Pseudo-Christian concepts – There’s a belief in ‘he’ who is presumably god who is the creator who created angels, then the next day (Thursday) genies and on Friday, humans molded out of clay to replace genies. (So we have a Creator god who creates in 7 days??)
The role of the evil angel seems to be attributed to Genie – the one thrown out of heaven into hell, who requested that he corrupt humans and land them in hell too.
I usually will give a series some 4 episodes to draw me in, so we’ll see.
EPISODE 1
It occurs to me that in her past life (yes we have another pseudo-Christian/reincarnation mash up show) GY’s soul was supposedly others centred ie she spent her 3 wishes on others, and hence her pure human soul caused Genie Iblis to disappear in the ground. By contrast her present soul is in a ‘clay’ or a person with antisocial personality disorder. We wait to see how she’ll spend her 3 wishes.
Iblis keeps an hourglass suspended in midair in his lamp, with sand that is the remains of her clay self of her past life. The sand does not flow through the hourglass at all. A fitting metaphor for how time has stopped for Iblis because he cannot let go of the fact that the girl proved him wrong. Not every human being could be corrupted.
He’s going to have a heck of a time trying to corrupt Ga Young. She’ll probably corrupt him first Heheheh!
@Pm3. Ahahahahahaha. It’s Kim Eun Sook.
You know I disliked her a lot during a long time, with her boring dramas or just innacurate, unable to do high-concept. While I’m agree she was good on surprising lines.
It ended I stopped to dislike her because I’ve watched older dramas from her (and good ones, like “On air”), and also “The Glory” that was really the drama making me like her again.
Then, I can’t be sure about this new drama. I’ve lot of doubts.
But when I have some time I’ll try to watch? I’ve kdrama watchers french friends that are addict to suzy, so I will be pushed for watching. As for me, Suzy is a good average actress. Not the most pretty one, but pretty enough. Not the best acting skill, but better than any cringe new actress. So, by default, I prefer to get Suzy than a bad actress. She was in my favorite dramas (not really because her but mostly the writer).
Thanks to think about me. I’m quite solitary and I’ve a lot of work to do about writing. I’m living almost like a monk.
@GB re exposition —
I wonder if the long voiceover was an attempt was to avoid the unavoidable by making the fictional mythology/theology front and center..
I know releases are scheduled well ahead of time, but why not release it next year instead of in the middle of the Gaza crisis? Everyone is over-sensitive right now.
all– I watched the series yesterday, laughed a lot and squeezed out a tear or two. Good entertainment, some new twists on old themes (e.g.the ‘village’).
Wont do spoilers but I like clues — watch out for Kim Me Kyung! She is the prime mover of half the plot! Wonderful main cast…and two mythical beasts, a jaguar and a white owl, who date in their human forms!
Episode 1 – It’s nice to know that Genie has met his match. He can’t best the master who never values what others do.
General Comment after Episode 3-4
So we know our Genie’s name is Iblis and I know I’ve heard that name before so Chatgpt did some work and this is the result:
“…in Islamic belief:
Iblis (إبليس) is a specific being — usually described as a jinn, not an angel — who refused to bow to Adam when God commanded the angels to do so.
Because of his pride and disobedience, he was cast out of God’s presence, but granted respite until the Day of Judgment. After that, Iblis vowed to tempt and mislead humans away from the right path.
So:
Iblis = the name of the rebellious being (the devil figure).
Shayṭān (Satan) = a title or category meaning “adversary” or “one who leads astray.” There are many shayāṭīn (plural) — demons or evil spirits — but Iblis is their leader.”
We get to hear Iblis mentioning both these names, a couple of times. Since Show set his location to be in some part of the Middle East (Dubai), the names are ‘local’ to that area.
There’s the other guy with supernatural powers and lots of money, Ejlael but I’m guessing it’s another way to spell Azrael.
“In Islam, the Angel of Death is called ʿAzrāʾīl (عزرائيل) (also spelled Azrael in English). His role is to separate the soul from the body when a person dies, acting under God’s command.”
Each of them seem to have their animal familiars – so that’s more like witchcraft?. Iblis has a Black Jaguar and Ejlael has an Owl. So now we are getting a mash up of beliefs in jinn with dark angels or the angel of death, plus reincarnation and witches and goodness knows what else. 🧐🤨🤪
I was wondering, was Twelve like this or was it more organized theologically?
While I watched I consistently believed in KWB’s character emotionally (arrogant, vulnerable, ironic and vengeful), and thus didnt really notice the vague ambling between theologies until afterwards.
I thought substituting the Dubai group tour for the usual chaebol Seoul-swank was inspired.
I started to watch. Few observations.
At 20 minutes in episode 1, I got something making me dislike the drama. Ki Ka Yeong accepts there is a supernatural genie in the desert, like it’s a banal event. It was too unbelievable. But next episode, we learn she’s psycho, and it’s why she doesn’t react at this kind of surprise.
As there was expo before, (and we learn she has sociopath problems) it would have been better to include the part “not surprised” here.
Next, episode 2 was filled with many situations looking random and nothing moves forward. What’s a pity is at this point, I couldn’t find the tone of the drama.
Then later, I started enjoying because of the backward tone (a bit absurd), and how nervous is the script. Maybe I don’t like slapstick, shallow storyline or ultra-fantasy mess, but I find the execution great. It jumps from a dialog directly in the situation they speak about. Each scene has lot of (silly) surprises. The story is slow-paced but the scene-to-scene is fast paced. I was surprised about how brutal and effective it is. I don’t remember another drama using that in this way and so often.
About mythology/religion used in the drama. I don’t put a lot of attention at that because: after dozen of dramas of this kind, they always do the same. They pick-up a bit of everything they need, can be even from different sources or mythologies, mix that, and rebuild a new fictional mythology.
So, you could have a drama with a granma has God, angels looking like ice statues and super-heros zodiac knights from Greece, fighting Chthulu for thousand years, and someone finding an image of that in Rome, from 1500, as absurd as it is.
I don’t see lot of sens to argue about that. By the way, it has been done in hundred of other movies or series, or japanese animes.
About exposition. GB mentionned the long time.
I didn’t feel the time passing because it was interesting story. The voice-over had a montage, to keep it showing. Just after, there is the resto scene, with short flashbacks. In the quickest way possible, all this expo was done, winning lot of screentime. I liked it, it was nervous. At this point I was thinking I would enjoy much more what came after.
I just asked myself if it was possible to skip all of this. Then we know nothing and we discover this little by little, as revelations during the episode. I can’t rebuild that in my mind, but maybe it could work? Maybe the writer tried then changed her mind?
What was a bit painful later, episode 1 to 3, there is lot of repetitions of what we already know, in the dialog. I was worried we get into a Goblin nightmare “see the sword? so you see it now? the sword, hey, the sword, see it?” and nothing happens.
The drama exploits lot of characters, instead of focused plotline (what I prefer). Many scenes looks like embellishments rather than a continued story. As if it has too few story points, then add this, add that, creating a shallow effect.
For example, episode 5, the little fight between the djinn and angel in the soju bottle. It’s like dropping a candy or taking a ride on the merry-go-round. It looks funny but empty. I barely see what change between before and after, story wise. And there are a lot of scenes like that.
Mid- Series Review (mild spoilers)
@pkml3, @WE, @IB,
I’ve reached Episode 7, which I guess makes this a random mid-series review of sorts. After an uncertain start (for me) I began to see how the strange unrelated bits fell into place and appreciate the challenges faced by the protagonists. I like that we get a more balanced view of a person with anti-social personality disorder. We get her point of view, the villagers’ and her Granny’s point of view.
Typically, she feels nothing much but Granny more than makes up for that. I am touched by how, with her limited ability to care or feel, she does have a great deal of care for her Granny, and recognises plus approves her friend’s, Min Ji’s loyalty.
Perhaps the strange editing, cutting to various seemingly unrelated scenes was Show’s way to initiate us into the strangely ordered and yet fragmented world of Ga Yeong. It is with a great deal of pathos that we find out why she chooses to do what she does. Most of the disjointed bits are targeted towards one end.
What’s the fun experience in this watch? The fact that I relate more with the genie than I do with the human LOL.
MILD SPOILER(S)?
Iblis is so out of his depth with Ga Young (as most viewers without experience with anti-social personality disorder might be) that he is repeatedly shocked by her unexpected reactions, and often is intimidated by her … I identify with those feelings and find Iblis relatable!
And when Show is funny, it is hilarious.
Reverse tropes
Female protagonists take on ‘manly’ roles, even become mistaken for a man, or behave masculine, but still retain their female identity.
Between humans and the jinn or ‘angels’ there is also the trope of the more powerful/magical creatures being the servants of human masters.
Also Genie is more like a child, playful, naïve and innocent, and yet he can be like a psychopath in that he can kill without remorse.
We get to see that it does not take much for ‘normal’ people to degrade themselves, whereas someone without a sense of guilt or empathy is able to make more moral choices, albeit out of being rule-abiding more than anything else. And there’s a (serial?) killer about who might be considered the ‘real’ psychopath.
The title is “Genie, make a wish” – so Genie is the one who should get a chance to make at least 1 wish!
= = =
I have to say that Suzy is holding her own in this role. She’s less attractive than in WYWS, but more electrifying. The child actress who plays young GY, is deserving of an award.
It’s a testament that the Show is worth the watching for me, because I am engaged in the emotional (or lack thereof) journeys of the characters.
= = =
What I Want to See in This Order
– What happens to Granny…. In a ‘right’ ending, things should go back to being as they ought.
– How GY and her supernatural cohort bring the murderer to justice.
– How the 5 lives/characters affected by the wishes turn out, and whether they will have character development.
– The title is “Genie, make a wish” – Will Genie make a wish to become human?
@GB, I like that list of reverse tropes.
I was impressed by Suzy in this part, too. She was scary and consistent.
The child actress who played her younger self was terrifying. The scenes of the FL’s upbringing are both vivid and comical. They give the character’s narrative a solid anchor.
Review at the end of the Series
While it was a fun ride, it felt a bit uneven. There were many back and forth scenes and then some lull periods. There were perhaps too many sub-plots to cover, and Show did a valiant job in trying to cover it all, with a resolution of sorts for each, but I think one was not completed. There were a couple of times that I wondered if there had been scenes edited out, which would have offered greater continuity between action such as when and why GY decided to fly to Dubai again.
Show has a pretty high death count and Iblis is, as expected, a grey hero as he kills ruthlessly while able to be friendly and compassionate towards some individuals. There was more blood-letting than expected and a large cast (82!!!) of both ordinary folk and villains of some kind or other, in both past and present lives.
I liked the concept that we should never judge. A person whom others judged to be ‘evil’ from birth, was able to make good choices, and to even choose for the good of others. A most un-psychopathic way of behaving but it showed growth in the female lead’s character. In the end, despite the many selfish choices that had been made, individuals stepped up to be generous, self-sacrificing. So there was the theme of humans being able to be noble despite their many failings.
While there were good moments of levity, most of it evaporated in the last quarter of the series. There was a lot of emotional weight towards the end… it was rather intense. I liked that all came to their expected endings according to the rules that the show set, however after this, it turns out that the harshness of the rules were relaxed. The denouement by comparison felt a bit too light. Perhaps it can be said that ‘god’ once he’d had his way, was willing to give a second chance?
As to the questions I posed above, about what I wanted to see at the end, I’m happy to say that I did indeed get to know the answers. And it was a nice twist in the end that instead of separation due to the differences between genie and human, the human was given a new lease of life as a genie.
And it has to be said that it was kind of fun watching Daniel Henney acting both debonair and undignified, and Song Hye Kyo with too much eye makeup, but having some good cameo screentime. The question after all the episodes is whether I’d rewatch this series, and I do believe I would.
Shades of Goblin/Guardian: The Lonely and Great God
SPOILERS!
Instead of goblins and grim reapers we get jinns/genies and the angel of death. In Iblis there’s yet another ancient hero who is mostly alone. He is created to serve human masters (tied to them with 3 wishes), only to have them forget him after the last wish is granted.
Both Goblin and Iblis are punished by ‘god’ for their arrogance. Goblin was punished more for killing too many and the weight of lives weighed him down with the sword in his chest. Iblis is punished for refusing to obey god. However unlike Goblin, Iblis does not seem to be aware of when it was that he was being punished.
Like Goblin, Iblis is old and powerful but in the modern world he is naïve and ignorant like a child. They each had their frenemies and faithful servants.
This Writer has a concept of god who orders creatures about, gives them rules that they must abide by, who metes out punishment, but who at the same time is gracious, who seems to listen to the pleas of some and who bends the rules or seems to forget them.
Death is not necessarily the end. All the relatively good characters popped up again in some form or other. I did feel that because in the end, death did not have the last word, the emotional heft of the earlier scenes lost their meaning, or felt cheapened. I suppose that’s the way it has to go since viewers want a ‘happy’ ending that is not consistent with the rules of the dramaverse. (I felt a bit sad for Min Ji. The ones she loved all had to leave her. However she also made the choice to continue without her BFF).
Heaven and hell are places that souls can reject and avoid entering, and god can’t do a thing about it. Souls who refuse to enter either place can bargain with god.
The childhood meeting trope – the old supernatural guy would have met the heroine when she was very young, and end up falling in love with her. The girl would also be the one who would ‘save’ the hero ultimately.
Both had to die according to the rules and be forgotten by the ones they loved, and they had to wait for a period of time before reuniting with their loved ones. The first thing both did when they returned from their period of separation was to kiss their girlfriends. LOL.
Oh yes (@agdr03!!!) the kissing scenes were rather nice but there were only 2 of them. 🙂
Correction, I believe there were more than 2 kiss scenes… maybe 3? Whoever is watching, let us know!!!
I’m stuck in the middle of episode 6.
I’m going to consult my therapist and ask if I should continue watching. 🤪
@WE, shall I be your therapist and advise you to watch until the end so that you can have some catharsis fuming over the writing that bothers you? You’ll probably need more therapy when you hear that I’d actually rewatch this Show LOL.
@GB, currently, I’m watching with few french dudes and we mostly take the trashy comedy as something funny. The scenes are fast, surprising and silly.
Alas, I can’t be always here for watching because I was full in rewriting, so missed “Bon appetit” with them. One of the friend was watching “Dream High” after everybody said him go-go-go! (they like a lot suzy, hey). To support, I was quickly watching some bits in fastforward and find funny moments.
I started editing episodes, but was sick during a time, and now I’ve difficulty to work on editing. I’ve gone overworked after months with the rewriting. So probably I need a little rest and watch kdramas, but it creates also frustration in myself.
I’m fed up of dramas with Gods and unlimited blurry super-powers. “My demon” was the one too much. I’ll never watch things like “doom at your service”. I ban from my life any kdrama with gods or goblins or super-boogeymen. But wait, I’ll still watch the one with Shin Se-Kyong. Ahaha. The charm of the actress is stronger than the plot.
But ok, at least Genie is good for comedy scenes. Although the goals were mentionned, it remains blurry for me. Why he should kill her if he can corrupt her. Why he should die if he can’t. What if he never ask her to do a wish and she dies at 90. I should stop thinking and take anything like it lands.
By the way, just few days I didn’t watch and I already forgot everything about the background plot. It’s quite bold because I say there is no plot, and the little it has, I forget. Damn. I guess it will be a heartbreaking ending where someone has to die. Or maybe saved by God, who knows? I don’t really trust the romance so I won’t be sad.
At this episode 6 now, I highly suspect something: as if by chance, the other people making a wish make one or two, but not the last one. It would a speeeectacular twist that the last one give proof they are not corrupted. I don’t remember if the bet is none of them are corrupted, or if just one is enough.
Hi @WE!
Your writing and editing should be a fun and relaxing activity, similar to taking a break to enjoy a hobby. If you’re overworked and stressed instead then you need a break from the break! You’re putting unnecessary pressure on yourself, I believe.
My, my … I have been with you all the way over the beauty and charm of actresses like Kim Tae Hee, but unfortunately Shin Se Kyung does the opposite for me. BTW the lovely Song Hye Kyo makes cameo appearances twice.
The speed and silliness of this series continues for most of the time except for a few bits that seem a bit unnecessary. Like the one you pointed out of Iblis and Jllael fighting in the jar or whatever. It seems they do that a couple of times … possibly to remind us that they are still ‘at war’.
After the 2nd half it gets a bit more serious.
“Why he (Genie) should kill her if he can corrupt her.” – It’s because she was foolish enough to include his killing her in her wishes, I believe.
“Why he should die if he can’t.” – He was allowed to try and corrupt humans but if even 1 was noble enough, he was to accept death from the Jllael angel of death.
The romance turned out okay. Not too sickly sweet or fantastical. However the one thing that was not spelled out was why his memories were deliberately suppressed.
The bet/wish with Genie was that there were to be 5 persons to be given 3 wishes each and at least 3 had to be uncorrupted by the wishes in order for Ga Young to win. It was a close shave or a 50-50 I think, and in the end neither one wanted to win. Ironic, isn’t it?
@GB, Shin Se-Kyung in “Fashion King” and “When a man love” connected me deeply to the actress, while before she was just a pretty one. The roles were perfect for her.
About Genie, I understand you rewatch. I find it rewatchable just for the comedy. I’m in Ep7 and there is an awesome scene citing the previous dramas of the screenwriter, and ending with a 4th wall break. If you know a bit the dramas, you notice ML is dressed like his own character in “The Heirs” with a band-aid on the cheek. It’s so crazy. I’m actually enjoying the drama and don’t feel I have to force myself for watching.
Thanks for the plot clarifications.
In the middle of Ep8 : Song Hye Kyo. 😍
Even more pretty than in Descendants of the sun.
I need a romance drama with her, exactly in this makeup/dressing style.
Meta comedy continues, with the Genie just saying she took the face of an actress she like on Netflix. This drama turns to have the best comedy, if I put apart few slapstick scenes.
@WE, glad that you’re enjoying the funny. So now we know that genies watch netflix. 🙄
@GB, I get it now, about the fight scenes.
The fight in the space (superman like) is funny.
Now, on top of other threats about wishes, there is one more simple and easy to trust: after her last wish, she will forget him. A big classic: introduce something audience liking the romance will worry about.
@WE, what was it about the fight scenes that you understand?
Yes, always this writer gives us the forget the beloved or the lover sort of ending. But this time there’s a twist.
@GB. Fight scene. It’s about what you said earlier, that I would understand by watching more of them. Then, now I understand.
I’ve finished Ep10. Ep9 slows a bit, but Ep10 even more. (I’m not in the romance).
I was enthousiastic about the comedy in the drama, so I posted that on MDL:
This drama is top tier about comedy.
The comedy has a large scope and can please anyone.
You like slapstik and goofy? You get that.
You dislike slapstik? So many scenes are situational comedy.
You want more? Absurd, non-sens comedy? You get a lot.
Black humor? Ditto! Good smart lines? Lot lot lot.
More subtle “off” comedy with tone and acting details? Yes yes!
Comedy from screenplay/editing using scene transitions or various visual tricks? Yes again!
Now, SPOILER, I’ll say my favorite scene from the whole drama until now.
You won’t see it coming.
I swear you, you can’t guess what it is.
Yeah.
Oh Oooh, curious?
Let’s go.
It’s in Episode 6, at 18:29.
Iblis is just sitting in a place of Seoul.
AND… For no reason, just random, an unkown girl comes in.
Starts a speech “I read face traits”.
Just the feeling of this. GOOOOOOSHHH!
No idea why she does that, but just the tone is SO believable.
Then watch what comes next in the scene.
It’s in the details of acting, the voice, everything.
And when she leaves, the fake smile and instantly the grim face.
Here, it’s a peak of comedy like I don’t meet often.
I’m at Ep11, the drama becomes slow and a bit painful.
But no matters what, just this scene made me happy to watch. Just this ONE scene.
@WE LOL, I rewatched that scene. That was someone who was trying to pass off as a student of Physiognomy and maybe a fortune teller. But listening to Iblis spout the truths about angels and genies scared her away because to her, he was a ‘weirdo’. Unfortunately he chased her across the town into passing traffic, just to have a friendly listening ear. Too bad!
It’s done, I ended it. A bit difficult to digest Ep 12 and 13, a bit messy, then a bit boring. No emotion hit me. Romance? poops! Like if there was no one. 😑
I had to fight a bit to watch last two. Ultra-happy ending that is was almost depressing, like everything was shallow. I enjoyed a final 4th wall break in the last scene.
The drama is worth a rewatch for comedy, Ep 3 to 8, maybe 1, 2, 9, 10 too.
The drama has the same structure as Goblin or TKEM.
No high stakes during a long time, then finally, something dramatic happens.
So a looooong stalling situation most of it.
And add some 👅☂️👓🐶🌷💩🔥🍗🧀🔨🤡 until to get to the point.
This writer likes to create this “blocked situation” of stillness.
She doesn’t want to write story going from A to B to C to D to E… to Z.
There are some half-A, half-Q, half-T, floating in the air.
Maybe with a frankenstein chirurgy, makes a kind of thematic meaning. 🤯
Obviously, nothing dramatic can happen when characters have godly super-powers and nothing can hurt them or anyone they care about. So, it was difficult to care about them too.
But Ep 11 makes that possible, and it was a good dramatic moment. The episode was also well prepared with various foreshadowing going in collision.
The reason I still enjoyed the endless dragging is the comedy. 🥳
Aish, forgot to say:
The story is slow paced, but scenes are fast paced.
It’s bold about scene changes, often avoiding slow transitions, using ellipses, match cut, going to the point they care about in a flash.
I add that to the qualities, it’s a big one. Rarely saw that in kdramas.