Ep. 1-16
Pupule rating 3.7 (out of 4)
Netflix
Director: Yoo Je-Won
Writer: Yang Hee-Seung
After two grand-slam level series, Kingdom and Itaewon Class, to begin my subscription, The King: Eternal Monarch was a disappointment. I couldn’t get past the second episode. Meandering, assumptuous (yes, I made a word up) and completely lacking a character to empathize with.
Then I tried OMG. Ghost story/supernatural. Cooking show. Comedy. Mystery. Love triangle romance. Drama. Horror? I really do not believe any other TV or movie industry can get this all into one show without making a mess in the kitchen, so to speak. Somehow, South Korea does it well.
Not perfectly. There were times when I wondered. But the emotional impact, the time and risk factor a viewer puts into the variety of characters, carries the series. I’m not a big fan of clean endings. SPOILER ALERT: Every main character survives, somehow, even though two police officers are killed.
Rather than plow through the plot and it’s strengths and weaknesses, I’ll summarize my favorite characters.
Ghost Girl (Kim Seul Ki as Shin Soon-ae)
The concept of a ghost who jumps (possesses) someone hoping to settle an unresolved issue can make sense. But in this case, the ghost wants to lose her virginity before proceeding to heaven. And all of this comedic behavior funnels through the Timid Restaurant Girl, so why would Ghost Girl rank higher? Without her, there is no story. She brings the verve once she is on camera, the frustration and, ultimately, the quest to solve the mystery of her death. Her scene with the Shaman Lady in one of the final episodes, two hard-headed individuals embracing because of their compassion, was powerful.
Timid Restaurant Girl (Park Bo-young as Na Bong-sun)
What she did by being essentially two personalities in one body was masterful. Convincing as a shy, fearful young woman. Comically aggressive and bouncy when possessed by Ghost Girl. Over the span of 16 episodes, this could have failed miserably. Instead, it was utterly, consistently entertaining. Imagine being born with the ability to see ghosts. Yeah, I might be timid, too.
Shaman Lady (Lee Jung-eun as Seobinggo-dong)
Often times, she was a caricature type of symbol, and the laughs are many. The rough exterior and the eventual big-hearted mother figure she played to Ghost Girl was a very satisfying element in this series. It wasn’t a primary relationship, but the strength of her back-and-forth with Ghost Girl brought the show to a higher level. It’s the difference between a B- and an A+.
Restaurant Chef (Jo Jung-suk as Kang Sun-woo)
Chef Kang was constantly a curmudgeon of sorts, even though, by my calculation, he is only 37. (And Timid Girl is 29, though she looks 18.) Chef, like the lead in Itaewon Class, was in the (enviable?) role of a strong male in authority who is romantically — passively and aggressively — attacked by strong female(s). One aspect that really separates Korean show from American is this: In the US, Chef would have had sex with at least one of the main or minor characters. This would be a Showtime or HBO program, maybe AMC. There may or may not be nudity, but the implication would be clear. In this show, we don’t get anything really close to it until the latter stages. The threat or possibility of it is there, but it is not a core essential. And it works.
Police Captain (Lim Ju-hwan as Choi Sung-jae)
The sometimes sappy nature of this story has us, or me, believing that this dude is on the up and up. A saint for marrying a woman in a wheelchair. The twist comes in the latter half of the series, and it’s really dark gray. Is it his choice to be evil? Is it the evil spirit, the charcoal gray smokey CGI around him?
Chef’s Sister (Goo Jae-yee as Kang Wang-joo)
Her minutes were limited, but the storyline of her being a ballerina nearly killed by a hit-and-run driver is compelling. To the very end, she believes in her husband, the Police Captain who was the driver. It’s a bit much to ask, that he survives a suicide attempt and she is there by his side, but I can live with it. As my old pal @fatlark would say, this is so not Korean ending.
Ghost Girl’s Father (Lee Dae-yeon as Shin Myeong-ho)
He was perfect. Too perfect? Maybe, but he had to be. It explains why Ghost Girl and Timid Girl want so badly to look after him and his declining hole-in-the-wall restaurant.
Ghost Girls’ Brother (Lee Hak-joo as Shin Gyeong-mo)
This lazy, immature guy never caught a break until the final two episodes. Was it necessary? Probably, to balance the goodness of their father.
The restaurant crew provided some of the comic relief. But that location was always more interesting while they and Chef were simply working their magic with entrees over the cutting boards and gas ranges.
Final note: The elements I liked about OMG and Itaewon Class include a common thread, the locations. Not everything was glitzy and modern. Many scenes they returned to in every episode were in working-class neighborhoods. Working folks. Passion and anger, joy and heartbreak are always at extreme levels regardless of income and property values. I’m just glad there’s a good balance in the Korean shows I’ve enjoyed.
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