Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
Starring: Park Eun-bin, Yang Se-jong, Ong Seong-wu, Jo Hye-joo
Where to watch: Netflix (12 episodes, 1 hour each)
To watch or not to watch: A decent supernatural Kdrama mixed with romance, intrigue and well… drama, if you are into that sort of thing

Cheon Yeo-ri (Park Eun-bin) is a chaebol heiress to a successful hotel chain, is essentially an orphan brought up by her grandmother, lives in a large house alone and is haunted by ghosts since a life-altering accident she suffered when relatively young. Ma Kang-wook (Yang Se-jong) is also an orphan brought up by his grandmother, is a public prosecutor, lives alone in a large-ish house, has had a heart transplant when relatively young. Both of them are connected through one incident which led to one person’s death and both of them having alterations to their lives. Anyway, this is not important. What is important is that Yeo-ri can now see and interact with ghosts; specially the ones which have lost their lives due to human intervention. She helps them get closure and move on to the afterlife. She is also able the pass on the ability to any other human who touches Yeo-ri, making her life lonely and isolated, as this is not an ability appreciated by the recepient. Since Kang-wook is a public prosecutor, he also works on the same cases, and their paths cross when they are working to solve the cases. Again, the cases are not important. What is important (again) is the incident which happened when they were both relatively young, and which changed their lives. As is obligatory in any Kdrama with a chaebol lead, Yeo-ri is also dealing with relatives who are waiting for her to fail so they can take over the business. There is another man in the mix Kang Min-hwan (Ong Seong-wu) who is also an heir to another prestigeous hotel chain which is looking to merge with Yeo-ri’s business. And he is important to the story because he is the cog in the Important Event which changed the lives of the leads. It is all pretty simple and simply complicated as is seen in any generic Kdrama.

If you have seen The Master’s Sun and Oh My Ghost!, and that is the level of supernatural element you appreciate in Kdramas and is expecting something similar here, then you will be disappointed. That trope is only a device here to show the misfortune that has befallen the female lead, and is in no way giving to a larger plot. It is a typical chaebol shenanigans of corruption, shareholder voting, takeover bids, etc. which are again, typically played for a joke. What is the selling point of the series is the plot is mildly interesting, there is one arc which is refreshing and ties to what they are showing on the screen and doesn’t stick out as a filler. On top of that, Park Eun-bin has given a great performance, and Yang Se-jeong has expressions on his face, which is quite atypical of Kdrama male leads. Their chemistry is believable and they do interact with each other well. This is also a less problematic dynamic from what is par-for-the-course, and bodes well for the shift happening in K-entertainment.

Listen, the agenda of the Kdrama is not to make people sit at the edge of the seats, biting their nails and/or stress-eating popcorn. It is pure escape from the reality which plagues us everyday, and it gives us beauty – in the cast and their surroundings. The ending/resolution is also a foregone conclusion and provides catharsis. This is an unwritten but well-understood contract between the makes and the audience. This series does that. If they had played the supernatural element with ghosts a bit more, it might have appealed a bit more, as that is something Kdramas do well, and is largely absent from other mainstream content. But what they do is decent. Watching too many dramas with chaebols can lead to a fatigue, since there is only so much the trope can provide in terms of novelty, and it is also a sub-plot, used to generate sympathy from the audience for Yeo-ri. The leads had more emotional range than a single muscle which is another plus and a step in the right direction. Otherwise it looks like their face has had too much time in the gym and has all range of movement.
All in all, not a bad watch. Shut your brain, watch it and let your troubles stay away for 12 hours.