So much potential, but utterly wasted by trying to do too much

If there is one phrase to describe the show, it would be "wasted potential". Honestly, up until episode 12 or 13, i was planning to give the show a solid 9/10. The writing crew and director clearly knew how to tug on the audience heart strings and watching Hyunwoo and Haein come to terms with the very real possibility of Haein dying just as they finally reconcile brought tears to my eyes. Kim Soo-Hyun and Kim Ji-won have such amazing chemistry and Kim Soo-Hyun continues to prove he is one of the best actors at subtly showing how the character is feeling with microexpressions.

BUT. There is a MASSIVE but here. The show throws any potential out the window the second we hit episode 14. For reasons that I can't even begin to guess at, the writer team seems absolutely married to keeping the character of Yoon Eung-Seung involved until the very end. Up until episode 14, it felt like he was an omnipresent threat lurking in the background. He gave stakes to the relationship between Hyunwoo and Haein, because it meant Hyunwoo didn't have infinite time to win back Haein. If he waited too long or screwed up too many times, she would fall for Eung-Seung. But once it became clear the Haein will always choose Hyunwoo every time, the bit got old. MASSIVE spoilers head - having a murder framed on Hyunwoo, and then sending him to the hospital TWICE after he gets out of prison in the span of two episodes was just too much. We spend more time trying to unspin the various webs of lies that Eung-Seung has spun for Hae-in and dealing with the drama of the murder case and all the "random" accident Hyunwoo has at Eung-Seung's hands that the relationship between Hyunwoo and Haein is left to the side. It ends up being very hastily cleaned up at the end of episode 16 and you can feel how rushed it was. The writing team needed to realize that once you wipe a character's memory, it becomes incredibly important to have them build back those memories over a decent time span so the audience can experience the highs and lows of how confusing and terrifying it is to not even know who you are. But instead, because of this weird Eung-Seung second plot, Hae-in basically magically recovers most of her memory after reading her journal and a few random interactions with Hyunwoo.

And just to put the "missed or mishandled plot hooks" cherry on top of this cake, there is an entire subplot about how the traumatic event that started their spiral into divorce was due to a miscarriage, and it's never addressed. Both characters independently seem to want to address the hurtful things they did or said to cope, but not once do they have a face-to-face conversation about it. It doesn't help that by the end, Hae-in doesn't even remember what she did because of the stupid memory loss plot line.

TL;DR - fantastic first 2/3rds of a series, only for it to come crashing into a brick wall right at the finish line. It truly feels like had they just rewritten the final 3 episodes to avoid Eung-Seung, the show would have been an easy 9 or 10 out of 10.

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Lot of potential, but comes crashing to a halt in the final episodes

TL;DR - Worth a watch, but don't get overly invested.

If there is one way to sum up My Demon, it would be "wasted potential". It had a phenomenal cast, a plot that initially seems gripping, and a promising OST. But it then proceeds to spend 16 episodes doing nothing with each of those elements.

Starting with the OST, it immediately grips you episode one with TRUE - YOARI. But aside from True and Whenever Wherever, many of the songs quickly wear out their welcome due to repetition. It feels like the producers found a song for each emotion they wanted to evoke, and then just played that song to invoke a feeling, with no real diversity or writing to back it up. Perfect example - using the main song TRUE when Jung Gu Won returns to save Do Do Hee. Theoretically, a great scene, if we hadn't heard the song over and over, in addition to the scene just not really landing right due to improper build up.

Which brings us to the next issue - the writing team squandered a phenomenal hook with the plot by trying to shoehorn in every single kdrama trope you can imagine. Secret God hiding behind the scenes as a beggar? Check. Protagonist losing their OP powers to force tension? Check. Extremely forced break-up in the final act? Check. Weird trauma connecting the ML to FL to force said break up, without any proper explanation or payoff? Check. If they had just kept the plot focused on the murder of Chairwoman Joo and properly hidden the true killer better, it would have been a vastly more interesting show. Unfortunately, it quickly becomes apparent that Jung Gu Won will simply snap his fingers to get Do Do Hee out of any situation, but then oddly not actually see it through immediately, because then we'd have no show. This becomes increasingly apparent when they keep randomly mentioning Jung Gu Won's need to fill contracts as a demon, but only when they need to manufacture a time crunch to remind the audience they should actually be caring about the demon vs god plotline instead of the murder mystery part.

The only thing that saves the show from being totally bland and average is the chemistry between the cast. Both the ML/FL and the SML/SFL make adorable couples with tons of great moments. it feels like they were written by an entire separate team of writers compared to the rest of the plot. Watching Jung Gu Won awkwardly try to play homemaker with Do Do Hee was some of the best moments of the show. It's just a shame that it comes grinding to a halt when they decide to shoehorn in the weird connection of Jung Gu Won actually having signed a deal with Do Do Hee's father and being there on the day of his death. It's clear they were trying to force a confrontation by trying to make Jung Gu Won responsible for Do Do Hee's parents' death, but it isn't written well enough to make sense. He never actually does anything to her parents, but then basically dumps her and runs away out of shame, only to come back and then they never really address it as a couple? It is entirely overshadowed by the fact that she dies to save him, and then he resurrects her and dies himself for breaking one of God's rules. It felt incredibly hamfisted, like the writing team needed to hit a set number of cliches per episode so they forced it in there to be more like Goblin King or Tale of the Nine Tailed. After all, what good is a fantasy kdrama without the MC "dying" in the penultimate episode?

So overall, it is a perfectly serviceable show, just not very unique. Each thing it does is simply done better, in another show. Want ill-fated romance and tragedy? Goblin King. MC with cool superpowers that chooses to give it up to be with FL? Tale of the Nine-Tailed. Tragic past-lives connection? Destined with You. Burning chemistry between the leads with a romance that will both make you laugh and sob at the same time? Crash Landing on You. My Demon is basically an amalgamation of a bunch of different shows, and it does each thing just slightly worse than the show it's copying.

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Absolutely perfect show, through and through.

What is there to say about Crash Landing that hasn't already been said? Amazing OST that will bring tears to your eyes just hearing it? Check. Interesting backdrop that provides compelling motivation for the leads? Check. Second lead syndrome so bad you will watch a whole other drama just to see the two second leads interact again? Check. Main lead chemistry so strong it quite literally launched their relationship? Also check.

Every bit of this show is dripping in love and attention. There are very few dramas where I will listen to every song in the OST after finishing, but CLOY is one of them. The only other one that comes to mind is Hotel Del Luna. The OST succeeds at pulling on all the right heartstrings to make you fall in love with the characters, or cry your eyes out when they are in pain.

Despite a lot of the clichés, like having met before and forgetting each other, somehow it works in this drama. I think the fact they only reveal the past meetings of Yoon Se-ri and Ri Jung-Hyuk after we have already fallen in love with them as a couple helps this fact. Often times, it feels like writers use the whole past lives or past meetings as a crutch to force the audience into rooting for a couple that may be lacking in chemistry. This is not the case here. You can feel the magnetism between the two main leads from the first few episodes, and it never lets up the entire show. The scenes between Yoon Se-ri and Ri Jung-Hyuk in the interrogation room with the NIS makes you heart ache, and you can see how both of them are so in love with each other that they are willing to inflict unimaginable pain on themselves just to help the other.

The supporting characters are also amazingly well-rounded. The second lead syndrome here is so real, i went and watched Dinner Mate afterwards just to catch another glimpse of the secondary couple. My one complaint is that the tragic ending for the second couple feels like it undercuts a bit of the message. Had they ended up together, it would have shown Seo-Dan that love that blooms naturally is better than trying to force it with someone who does not love you back, and Goo Seung-Jeun would have proven to himself that someone can indeed love him and he is not (at least not entirely) the bad person he makes himself out to be. Seo-Dan had an understanding of him that no one else did.

You find yourself rooting even for the background characters. Captain Ri's squad all have their unique personalities, from Sergeant Pyo's facade of cold uncaringness hiding his sensitive inner personality, to Private Tang's naivety and boyish wonder. Each is so unique, yet feels like they could be real friends if they did exist. The village also has a wonderfully petty but loving dynamic. They will fight over small things, like any small town, but when big issues arise (such as when State Security agents come to kidnap Manbok's family) they band together like family.

Speaking of the village, as a Korean, I love that the show didn't go all-in on the "DPRK is a crazy place, look at all these weird rules like mandatory hairstyles and obsession with the Dear Leader" narrative. They showed the country as you would expect to find in any other country that has been plagued by decades of poverty and war, slowly crumbling under the thumb of an oppressive state government. There is famine, plague, and all other problems you find in unstable, authoritarian regimes around the globe, but avoids any of the over-the-top characterizations of North Koreans as weird fanatics obsessed with their god emperor.

Overall, this show is a 10/10 in every regard. The OST will bring back memories no matter how many times you listen to it, you will find yourself rooting for the second couple just as hard as the main couple, and the chemistry between all four is off the charts. The show manages to strike a great balance between humorous moments and deeply sad or contemplative ones. I still go back and rewatch it now and again when I need a good cry or want to have my heartstrings pulled.

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