Wooriga Mannan Kijeok

While a relative newcomer to Korean TV drama, I know good acting when I see it, and there are some excellent performances here. The two daughters, particularly Miho, were able to say so much with a look, a gesture, body posture and movement. The main actor certainly earned his salary, particularly in the first half, and his hometown buddy sidekick was funny without being cringey.

The problem was twofold: the script writers obviously loved It's A Wonderful Life, and they managed to write themselves into a corner they couldn't get out of. The person who watched it with me wondered if we were seeing a parable of divorce. I replied wondering why the writers thought the Afterlife would be run like an incompetent company. The story just kept getting weirder and weirder, and I was getting so tired of all the emotional angst on the part of all the characters that I nearly walked away. The action takes place from March to May, but we are treated (subjected) to a Christmas carol at one point--a reference to It's A Wonderful Life--and an odd little moment of song and dance. However since it was only 18 episodes I hung tough, just to see what they could possibly do to redeem the mess. The last episode does redeem the tangle somewhat, but came dangerously close to a cop-out.

SPOILER: Miracle that we met was a surprise of a drama. Originally I've started it for Kai, as the story was kind of odd and it didn't seem anything special from the description. After the first episodes, the story got me hooked (and I realized that I wasn't going to see Kai that much...). So, the plot focuses on a man who dies and his soul is transfered into another man's body, who happened to have the same name. The guy wants to go back to his family, but it is kind of hard for anyone to believe him. So, that far, it was funny, sad, dramatic, tragic and had a good amount of mystery to keep the interest high. However, and this is my only regret about this drama, towards the ending, things went way off the track. It felt that the writers were losing grip of the story and where it was heading. But the last episodes, especially the 17th were such a disappointment. I was about to give a way too low rating to this drama because of the way the story had turned out. And then, the last episode was just perfect. Everything went back to normal and we had a happy happy ending. Now, about the performances, all the actors were really good and just perfect to express the right amount of emotion without overplaying it. Also, the costumes and settings were really nice as well.

Whatever your favourite genre is, this drama has them all. Although classified as a comedy it is also a thriller, mystery, crime, romance, love, cooking show as well as having an intriguing supernatural background which, just like glue, holds all the pieces together. I love Korean dramas when the quality is as high as this one. The acting is impeccable whether you are in the midst of a tragedy or having a sudden urge to dance. Even the young actors did a spectacular job. The acting is so realistic you will dive completely into "their" reality. The cameramen did a spectacular job in shooting this drama from every possible angle and perspective and the special effects are very well done indeed. I would recommend this drama to everyone but to depressed people in particular because it contains a jewel for the heart : unconditional love!