Started off as great, drifted in the middle and fell short to deliver good concept
This drama wants to give an important lesson - In case of grave situations, will you choose yourself or your loved one? In the recent self-centered world, there are people who still choose to sacrifice themselves to protect their loved ones. And our leads are one of them.This drama had good concept, very good cast and different vibes from other horror dramas. But unfortunately it did not deliver properly because of LACK of required content after airing half-way through. It started off as very FAST-paced and engaging, but soon it became dragged and went in circles and circles. There was nothing to keep you look forward to next episode. But last episode finished on pretty good note.
I wish they give another chance and make a season 2 with good story with the same cast.
The acting is great. Daniel kept his worth as ghost detective Da il. He is clever and deeply cares about the people around him. Eun bin is a good actress. Yeo wool was convincing. Both leads had painful past revolving around their family and so they understand each other. They had GOOD chemistry together but couldn't be explored more as it isn't in the story. But whatever time they had together, it was good. The bond between them was very different, more of two humans who shared SAME VALUES together.
Ji ah is really scary as Sunwoo hye. Killing people while sucking on a lolly-pop. she was an UNIQUE antagonist. She is smart and more powerful than the leads. Of course, little Sunwoo hye (Heo Jung Eun) is more scary. She made me cry in Oh My Geum bi! and here she is scary as hell.. Bravo to little actress!
This drama would have been better if there were only 10-12 episodes instead of standard 16 episodes. Just because of insisting the certain number of episodes, they ruined a very good drama. but the last episode was definitely saver.
Music is good. Some OSTs are memorable. Background score gives you goosebumps in some cases specially in Ji ah 's scenes.
Definitely NOT a rewatch.
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Well, "The Ghost Detective" is that kind of drama!
This drama has one strong message for all of us. You will do everything to protect the people that you love the most!!! And that is true. When we think that we are alone, that's not true! There are always someone who loves us and cares for us! Sooo we are not alone...!
I wasn't disappointed with storyline... It was just fine for me. And if there is going to be a second season, I will be watching it. This drama was a rollercoaster for my emotions.
All OSTs are beautiful.
Actors were awesome, all of them!
Choi Daniel was the best in this drama. He is going to my Top 10
He is excellent actor. When he was sad, I was sad too. His expression were brilliant. You could feel his sadness, his happiness, his emotions, everything...
Park Eun Bin was very good too. She followed Choi Daniel very well. The both of them, Da Il and Yeo Wool, had one of the most beautiful relationship in drama land. You could see and feel their understanding, affection, friendship, sympathies and love for each other. That was the best part of this drama. I cried with them.... Can’t wait to see them together again.
And Lee Ji Ah aka Seon Woo Hye... She was awesome antagonist. She was really badass and scary woman in this drama. Her acting was on top. I really hated her. Bravo!
Supporting actors were very good too and they all had a good connotation and friendship.
I'm happy and satisfied with this cind of ending, but at the same time I'm very sad... But the tittle of this drama is "The Ghost Detective", so it is ok...
This is definitely one of my favorite dramas this year! I know that is not perfect, but like I sad before...
Their chemistry was awesome!
Bravo The Ghost Detective team! Love you all!
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This show started out great - great atmosphere, great story, AMAZING theme song.
But they set up rules for ghosts and didn't follow them. The storyline started going in circles. They spent ages doing the same thing. It was inconsistent, and got terribly stupid. Please do not waste your time watching this junk.
Almost everything I'd like to point out that is wrong with this show would be a spoiler, so I can't do that, but this is the lowest score I've given to a show I've finished to date. I'm not sure how anyone was satisfied with that ending. It was horrible and made ZERO sense. The editing was choppy and confusing at times. And the last episode was not only pointless, but even in a world where there are ghosts - it defied any logic, and I just spent the whole last episode mad about it.
I cannot recommend this show to anyone and would never watch it again. Even for Daniel Choi (I think even HE was sick of this show by the last episode if the look on his face was any indication!)
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I watched this drama weekly with one of my friends. I not to watch dramas as they air these days but I ended up doing so not really expecting to love it as much as I did and to be strung along in anticipation every week. I really couldn’t predict what would happen or how it would play out and the big twist early on in the series really blew my mind since I wasn’t expecting it at all. It was so well done.
Another unexpected aspect of this show was the chemistry between the leads. God, if Lee Da Il and Jung Yeo Wool didn’t have rooting for them so hard…but even more than the hints of romance was the chemistry and relationship between all of the characters. You can’t help but fall in love with this odd band of unfortunate people: Han Sang Sub, Park Jung Dae and Gil Chae Won. I’m not even going to lie and say I did not have a slight girl-crush on Chae Won. She was bad ass and I loved how much she really was the least directly-involved character that whole mess they were dealing with and yet a huge responsibility ended up riding on her shoulders.
These relationships are what the drama ended up riding on as the plot kinda of fell through the roof. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it was nearly as bad as a lot of the comments I’ve read recently have declared. It definitely drags on a bit and recycles a few times but I think it actually played out well with what the production was given. Would this drama have been better at around a 12-episode length? Probably. But I’m okay with what they did. It drove me crazy with frustration at times but I think that is also a testimony to the quality of a plot if it can get you that riled.
I loved how smart and genuine (most) of our characters were. Jung Yeo Wool in particular was impressive with her ability to use logic to figure things out instead of waiting around for someone else to solve her problems. She had a laps there towards the end but I’m willing to forgive her because I love her so much.
Daniel Choi as Lee Da Il was so freaking perfect. My friend who was watching this with me and I have had the hardest time in the past getting through any of his dramas, despite the fact that we love him as an actor. The time has finally come: we did it. I’m sad that he has lost so much weight (gone are the adorable puffy cheecks of his) but HE~LLO gloriously defined cheek bones. The man is H-O-T.
The music is also A+. It really fit well with the series and helped enhance the mood.
I personally really loved this drama, despite some of it’s flaws. It’s not quite perfect enough for me to give it a 10 but I’d still highly recommend it.
Also, for those of you who are worried about it being scary: I can’t do horror at all and I was fine. I would say the scarier elements that were earlier on are more on the cheesy side than actually creepy. And later it becomes more of a psychological thriller than horror. You’ll be fine!
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Choi Daniels sex appeal
Great casting, overall exiting theme and the best work of Choi Daniel's career! I thought it was a solid thriller/ghost-drama that delivered some great episodes, BUT it fell through during the last few episodes. I guess that they painted themselves into a corner by all the rules of what ghosts could do or not do that they had to make up nonsense plot for it all to tie together in the end :/Although the last episodes felt even more unrealistic than a normal supernatural series episode should be, it gets an solid 7 from me! I was so taken by surprised by Choi Daniel, first time that I've seen that he actually has talent and some sex appeal so really enjoyed his role as Lee Da Il. Not only did I enjoy Lee Da Il, the supporting cast was per usual amazing. I didn't expect anything less from the comedic genius Kim Won Hae who can make any bleak drama funny with his wits and natural comedic gestures. Lee Jae Kyoon also showed that he is a force to reckon with as a romantic but hardworking policeman and Lee Ji Ah did an incredible performance as always!
I liked the casting but I feel like I could have loved it if the female antagonist Lee Ji Ah and protagonist Park Eun Bin had another scriptwriters that actually could make their characters a little deeper than water in a puddle. They made an amazing job with what they had but their lines were terrible from time to time, cliche after cliche.
The OST was great, especially the song "Dream Me" sung by Red Velvet's Joy ft. NCT's Mark. It really fitted the drama during a lot of the scenes and is a catchy song that I actually added to my regular spotifylists. Also liked Yoon Mirae's song, but what else can you expect from the OST queen?
Wouldn't rewatch it but that doesn't make it any less of a drama! A good watch, but when you get to know some of it's plotpoints I wouldn't see a reason to feel exited watching it again. As said in the beginning; A great cast and soundtrack with a bit of nonsense plot but a good watch which made me a bit scared at times! The Ghost Detective get's a 6.5 from me.
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This review may contain spoilers
Those who have watched "lets fight the ghost" drama would feel the similarity. At the start of the drama I was hesitating to watch next episodes but I could not stop myself from watching this drama. It is really amazing and I would recommend people to watch it. I wish that the director could do Season 2 also...Here the story starts with "a detective who only believes in what he can see through his own eyes, partners with a women who can see ghost. Together they trying to find out the mystery behind the suicides of unrelated people by doing so the detective loses his life and become a supernatural being to save his people who he loves and the people who loved him from an evil spirit." That's how this story starts. I doesn't want to tell the whole story as you would not
feel the suspense.
Actually I started to watch this series because it's Genre is supernatural and read the plot which actually a bit impressed me. So, Later I started watch I felt very interesting, suspense and thrilling. I really did not felt boring at all
not even a bit or slow moving instead I felt it fast ending.
Even though there are some flaws in drama like controlling people, people seeing ghost frequently and some more. But still each and every flaw has been covered by the actors good acting. Lead Roll "Choi Daniel and Park Eun bin's chemistry was good and their telepathic investigation method was great. I really appreciate actress "Lee Ji Ah" performance as I was even mind controlled by here. Her way of expression and evilness. Wow, Its really great.
Other that lead actors, to talk about supporting actors also done a great job. I wish this drama to be in success.
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I had HIGH hopes for this show because of the genre, the premise, and the actors! Great cast of talented actors.
But the show bombed. I've never given a 1 star to anything. This is the first.
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Don't waste your time. The first few episodes were great, but then it was like the writers gave up and the show went downhill.
I had HIGH hopes for this show because of the genre, the premise, and the actors! Great cast of talented actors.
But the show bombed. I've never given a 1 star to anything. This is the first.
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Even a steller cast cant save this monstrosity
This show started out with an amazing premise up to episode 6 or 7 THEN everything just wnet downhill when I realise the whole show was just trying to solve the "red dress" lady mystery...If I could get back the time I absolutely wasted on this show...... PLEASE TELL MW HOW ...... When 2 of my top listed actors CANNOT SAVE the monstrosity that is called " GHOST DETECTIVE"
I cannot recommend this show to anyone and would never watch it again. Even for Daniel Choi (I think even HE was sick of this show by the last episode if the look on his face was any indication!) as quoted by another reviewer .... please DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME ON THIS SHOW
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This review may contain spoilers
Not perfect but definitely worth it!
So i decided to watch this show despite the countless reviews detailing the plot holes and saying that the latter half was bad. Adding to that, the ratings were bad too but somehow i kept coming back to this page. There was something about the plot that made me want to watch in spite of all the bad reviews and bad ratings. And im so glad i did! I did not regret it for one minute. This is coming from someone who loves shows like Voice, Beyond Evil, Law School, The uncanny Counter, My Mister, Hot stove league, The Guest, Train, Signal, Kingdom, Vagabond, Stranger, Liar Game, Bad Guys, Hello Monster (there are lots more but these are the titles i can recall for the moment). Point is, I'm a huge fan of thrillers with action/mystery. The presence or absence of romance does not matter to me. Now that I've got that out of the way, lets get into the drama itself:Storyline: the plot starts strong. There are scary bits which are tastefully placed and are not meaningless jumpscares. The whole idea of a ghost who uses the darkest parts of the human mind and turns it against them was interesting to me. This was a ghost who was still mentally a 12 year old child. She wanted to be right as most 12 year olds do and she was angry. She took advantage of people and their darkest thoughts just to prove a point. Except there were two people who did not follow the straight line she had etched. And that is where her obsession with our main leads begins. All of this was skillfully done by the writer. Sunwoo hye's anger and hatred, the rules of the ghost world. And then the tiwst. Dealing with a ghost was bad enough but how do you deal with a reanimated body out for revenge with no means to kill them? I loved that little twist. However i give the plot 7.5/10 because while the plot was engaging, i feel like the writer took on more than they could handle which lead to some plot points not being concluded and leaving much for the viewer to deduce themselves. For example, why was that rich ceo going so far for the agency? I get that he was grateful to them for finding and returning his daughtet but even then you would expect him to be a little skeptical no? And seeing him smile in one or two scenes made me think that maybe he had nefarious purposes but at the end of the show he was just a money bank for the agency. Then there was park eun chong who in my opinion was an unnecessary addition to the show. He did not bring much to the plot and the show would not have changed much without him. Then there's the part about lee da il being back...dont get me wrong i was incredibly happy that the show brought him back, but what is he? Is he a ghost? An in betweener who can travel between this world and the land where ghosts stop before they move on to the next life? I could have really used atleast a hint. In my opinion lee da il is no longer a ghost, the biggest hint being when he changed his clothes without yeo wool having to offer them to him. Then the whole being able to control the evil spirit side. All of this made it seem like (to me atleast) that he was no longer a ghost.
I saw alot of reviews raising questions regarding plot holes, not just on this site but on other sites as well. Having read those reviews beforehand i was prepared to determine whether these were actual plot holes. My verdict? 80% of those plot holes are not actually plot holes. Why was sunwoo hye captured in the dash cam but not in the cctv? Simple, she wanted to be seen in the dash cam. She can choose to be visible to others. Another thing is that when yeo wool sees sunwoo hye for the first time, she is cradling her sister's head and in a close up of that scene you see that her hand also touches the hearing aid yi rang is wearing. That is in my opinion the reason why yeo wool was able to see sunwoo hye back then. Also we learn later in the drama that a ghost causing a startle response can result in them being visible to others. When yeo wool saw sunwoo hye she did not know she was a ghost. Yi rang had already been dealing with her for some time hence none of them were startled by her. While the restaurant manager was definitely startled. Another thing people complained about was the characters going of on their own and creating unnecessary problems just for the sake of 'conflict'. I disagree. Yeo wool goes on her own to kill sunwoo hye because she knows lee da ill will not let her. She believes she has the way to end sunwoo hye's killing spree and decides to act on it. Lee da ill acts on his own yes, but viewers forget that he kept detective park and kim gyeol in the loop so technically he never acted on his own. He was just selective about who he let in on the plan. Some viewers said that sunwoo hye being unkillable was ridiculous. No it wasnt. In the show's universe it made sense. Yeo wool was supposed to stab sunwoo hye that first time because she was willing to sacrifice herself. She knew that she might fail but still decided to go forward with it. But lee da il stabs her instead. Lee da il is a ghost and at that point he was unaware that his body lived. Hence he wasn't thinking about sacrifice. Him stabbing sunwoo hye broke the rules and so created an abomination. Viewers asked why did lee da il suddenly start disappearing and 1 a.m. that is already explained in the show so i wont get into it. A question i saw raised by a review in another site was that why didnt lee da il disappear with sunwoo hye the first time he held on to her the first time she disappeared at 1 a.m but was able to hold on to her in the last episode and take her to his body. The explanation is simple. Lee da il was a pure ghost the first time he touched sunwoo hye. She was evil while at that point he couldn't touch anything. It was painful for him to even touch her. Therr were too many variables as well. The first time it was sunwoo who was disappearing. In the last episode lee da il had been corrupted by the powers he had gained and so was able to touch her and keep hold of her. Also sunwoo was weak. Like gil chae won said, she was AB to ghost meaning a universal donor. When her abilities disappeared, so did her AB blood group meaning that sunwoo faced what we call in medical terms a tranfusion reaction due to mismatched blood. That weakened her beyond belief. Some people were incredulous about the whole poison the drinks to cause a mass murder. But in my opinion when you keep in mind that sunwoo is a 12 year old, it made perfect sense. Her ability to change clothes? She can simply control people and take their clothes. She doesnt even have to kill them for it. She can stay in different houses and the owners wouldn't even remember the next day. I hope i have answered most of the doubts viewers might be having.
Characters: i loved all of them. Yeo wool was a wonderful character. Brave, strong, relentless and willing to sacrifice herself in the end. Lee da il was an amazing hero. His little smile followed by "how dangerous can a ghost be" was when I knew he was going to be a terrific hero. I loved gil chae won too. She was a sassy character. This show proved that it is possible to have more than one strong female character and not necessary to add any conflict between them. I didn't like detective park initially but he grew on me.
Acting: it was perfect except for the guy who played detective park's partner. Everyone else was spot on. There were a few particular moments that stood out for me. When lee da il and yeo wool are sitting in the hopsital next lee da il's living body and talking, that particular moment when choi daniel changed the tone of his voice and you can hear the heaviness, the sorrow, the need to be next to yeo wool, the desperation to live with her, it was a great bit of acting. Then there is the part when gil chae won is telling sunwoo about her being AB blood group to ghosts, sunwoo asks why she is telling her that to which gil chae won responds with "to confuse you" the cherry on top was the smirk and head tilt. It was a nice touch. Park eun bin had several shining moments but one in particular was when she was possessed but sunwoo hye. Her walk, her smile, head tilt everything was spot on. I loved it
Chemistry: it was amaaaaazing. I love shows like these where the love story touches you deeply. It reminded me of the love story in train. It was beautiful and it made me believe that our two leads would overcome everything just to be next to each other. The first time they hugged was one of my favourite moments. You could feel what they feel. I truly want park eun bin and choi daniel to be cast in another show, an ocn show preferably.
The ending: i choose to believe that it was a happy ending. See the thing is, in the realm of fantasy anything is possible. In the realm of fantasy the rules are not so rigid. Being an avid reader, i have read so many books under the fantasy genre where ghosts become human, vampires become humans, people travel to the past, people have super powers. Even in kdramas like goblin and angel's last mission we saw impossible things happen. So why cant Lee Da Il become human again? I choose to believe that because his sacrifice was so noble, he was given a second chance and eventually he'll become human. He came back to the real world after he heard yeo wool's voice but he stayed away from her to give her a chance at a living normal life. But they found each other again. He was the most selfless hero i have seen in a long time and it is my belief that his selflessness was rewarded in the end. He'll become a human eventually and his ability to travel in between worlds will ensure that they won't have to make another sacrifice to get rid of ghosts. So in the end i will rate the drama a 9/10 despite its imperfections because i enjoyed it and it made me smile.
Here's to hoping that someone decides to cast these talented leads in another drama, preferably another mystery thriller. Loved them together.
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This review may contain spoilers
I really enjoyed about 40% of this drama. The beginning episodes, until right around Episode 6 or 7. Then, when it became clear that the entire story was going to revolve around pursuing the Woman in Red, and they kept going in circles, I started to lose steam. The only thing that kept me going for the next 10 episodes of the drama was the hope that Da Il would find and return to his body and finally get to have a life with Yeo Wool. But even that didn't happen. Yeo Wool and Da Il kept dancing around which one of them was going to sacrifice themselves to kill the Woman in Red, then Da Il finally took the plunge and killed his own body. I was angry when that happened, because there was a perfectly good option of the shaman girl doing something, but the writer decided "oh, suddenly she can't see or hear spirits anymore, all her powers are gone at just the wrong moment". Seriously?The final scenes of the last episode also pissed me off. I had resigned myself to Da Il being dead for good. But no, he comes back as a ghost again and what? Stays by Yeo Wool's side as a ghost for the rest of her life? I was frustrated that this was the creative choice the writers went with. It was so dissatisfactory. There is no hope for this couple. He's stuck as a wandering spirit, and they can never progress further than "what could have been". That love and longing can never be resolved. If they had instead shown us a reincarnation of them as a couple meeting for the first time, then I wouldn't have been so disappointed.
It would have been so much better if this drama had picked a path and stuck with it: either go the way of "Bring It On, Ghost!" and revive Da Il with or without his memories, or simply never give the viewers the hope that he could come back alive. Just say "he's dead" and be done with it. I hated that we were strung along with the delicious idea that Da Il could survive the ordeal, just to have him play the Sacrificial Hero card.
I really wish I could recommend this drama. The first six or seven episodes were fascinating and gripping, with an excellent creep factor with the mystery of the Woman in Red. But the writer failed to deliver a satisfying middle or end to what could have been an amazing supernatural/mystery drama.
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A must watch if you are looking for something totally out of the box.
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This review may contain spoilers
LOVED this show. I enjoyed every single character and the lady who played the "bad guy" was EPIC in her role.My only issue was the ending. To be honest, the way they ended it was about the ONLY way I wouldn't have been ok with.
In my opinion, he could have:
1. Died and stayed gone 100%. OR
2. Lived and came back as a detective with the agency later (but no one was aware he was still alive)
The ONLY thing that wasn't acceptable (to me) was him being DEAD and without a body and then RETURNING. Mainly, because then it puts our FML in the position of forever loving him but never truly being able to be with him. I don't like this scenario.
However.... I LOVED this show so so much otherwise.
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