started out strong, lost all momentum and succumbed to common cliches

I was one of those people who had a high opinion (and rating) of this drama when it first started out. Coming from See You In My 19th Life and Destined With You, where the show's supernatural elements were a mere afterthought to boring, redundant past-life jargon and chemistry-less romance, I was happy to see the fantasy touched upon more often. Or so I thought.

The first 5-6 episodes were great in my opinion. They set up the scene quite well - the protagonist, antagonists, supporting group around each, etc... All of this positive growth dissolved nearly instantly when they lazily concluded subplots and introduced ridiculous new ones. The motives behind NSM trying to get rid of DoHee became more and more ridiculous as the plot went on. His evil streak being cut short and BOOM! them resorting to the tired trope of "well, he's hiding now so watch out!" The plot with former Chairwoman Ju barely being revisited until the very end. DoHee randomly being surprised her demon husband-bodyguard-savior(?) kills people brutally. Guwon's powers being literally useless for the most part until the very end?? Insanity. Its like they were trying to tease some avenues for exploration and then chickened out last minute. Don't even get me started on how the episodes just turned into cheesy romance scenes reminiscent of every kdrama ever. I had to fast-forward at one point because it felt like a 13 year old's Wattpad fanfiction turned TV. It doesn't help that the show kept wasting time flashing back to earlier moments of the show re: romantic moments. Like we really do not care can we get on with it? Don't get me wrong, the leads definitely looked good together at the very least. However, all their chemistry and substance evaporated into thin air the moment they stopped focusing on the plot and shifted towards pandering to lovesick viewers with 0 frame of reference for a decent fantasy romance depiction.

The constant parallels to Goblin, DWY, and SYM19L should've been a red flag from the start. Very rarely fantasy dramas stay consistent with the original tone of the show while balancing decent romance. And if they do, they risk major character assassination somewhere down the line (For example, literally EVERYTHING regarding Alchemy of Souls S2 - the side characters were butchered). The only saving grace for this series, in my opinion, was the OST and some cinematic shots. Its a shame because the cast was really good.

Side note, Jin Gayoung has got to be one of The most annoying side characters I have ever seen on TV. Her background gave 0 clue on why she was /that/ obsessive and its a shame she was only marginally likeable and mature at the very end.

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