★★★★
The 2017-2018 Korean drama, starring Lee Seung-Gi as Son Oh-Gong, Oh Yeon-Seo as Jin Seon-Mi, and Cha Seung-Won as Woo Ma-Wang. Also known as “A Korean Odyssey,” based on the Chinese classic novel “Journey to the West.”
Brief synopsis: Son Oh-Gong, the Great Sage Monkey demon, has always had a troublesome relationship with the Heavens, but this time he’s certainly done himself in. When Ma-Wang the Bull demon sends a little girl to acquire the Princess Iron Fan in his possession, Son Oh-Gong uses the little girl to escape his imprisonment. But the girl isn’t completely useless. In exchange for releasing him, she creates a contract that will oblige Son Oh-Gong to come to her whenever she calls his name to protect her from the monsters that plague her life. But Son Oh-Gong, the wily monkey, removes her memory of his name and expects that they will never meet again. That would be Son Oh-Gong’s ideal, but destiny seems driven to ruin his life because he meets the girl Jin Seon-Mi again as an adult, and not once has she forgotten him although she may not remember his name. But it seems that darker workings are in their midst, malice and evil that may only be removed from the world if Jin Seon-Mi, Son Oh-Gong, and Woo Ma-Wang work together.
This drama could have come with a big bright orange banner that read “Welcome back, Lee Seung-Gi!” It was easy to tell that it was a drama meant to celebrate him.
Big story and lots of characters that are just so lovable! I loved the cast and the drama they created. All of their acting was above reproach.
The plot itself was deeper than I would have expected. I thought that it was be mostly about Oh-Gong and Jin Seon-Mi, but I hadn’t thought about giving Ma Wang such an integral role and backstory. The other supporting characters had a similar effect— General Frost and Summer Fairy, Bu Ja, PK, Secretary Ma, and even the Grandmother Peddler and the “grandson”.
So frankly, I was impressed. “Hwayugi” was very entertaining for a concept that typically takes up the space of an entire epic. I liked it! The emotions between the characters were so strong and I was with them every step of the way!
I’ll admit, I lost a lot of interest in the last third of the drama. Episodes 15-17 were difficult to keep up on because their methods seemed a little repetitive and the problems just kept adding up. I guess I like watching victories and conquests, very climatic moments. Then it makes sense why I can’t bear the problematic episodes very well.
The ending hurt my heart a little. It left a lot of things unrealized that we hoped a happy ending. We hoped that Ma-Wang and his son would be able to reunite and start something. But no. We hoped that we could somehow save Bu Ja and let her and PK be together. But no. We also hoped that we could bring back Jin Seon-Mi before the end of the episode. That ended on a cliff-hanger, although she was certainly not all dead. Oh-Gong was still alone.
Even though the final episodes were a bit disappointing, I can’t say I didn’t like it completely. 4/5 stars!
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