288. Hwayugi 화유기 (2018) Korean

Lee Seung Gi, Cha Seung Won, Oh Yeon Seo, Lee Hong Ki

Drama Rating: 7/10     Neck Score: A+

Why does it have to be a thing when the Hong Sisters have a really great, funny drama that you're all invested in and then when it comes to the climax it's underwhelming and then takes a nosedive to mediocre in the last few episodes? Why does that have to be a consistent thing?! It's like they paint themselves into a corner they can't get out of without a bunch of crap happening. I hated the last few episodes of Master's Sun and Big. I think I may have even mentioned this in the review for The Greatest Love (which is one of the few that doesn't fall into that trap). Hwayugi is no exception. By the last episode we were not having it, it was boring and unnecessary, and we only made it through it through cracking jokes about how boring and lame it was. No one wants a series worth of mopiness shoved into the last episode. What makes it worse is that it was so good up until the last bit, where it fell flat on its face. So good that I probably would have given it an 8, but the ending knocked it down a whole point, and I had to think hard on the rest of the show to give it a 7. It almost went as low as a 6, that is how lame the ending was.



So, the best parts of the show were all the characters and situations. The plot itself was a bit weak, since it revolved too much around the geumganggo, which got old way too fast, but apparently saved the day in the end, so we're supposed to be grateful to that. Whatever. The Hong Sisters always have some trinket that becomes an extended metaphor that you wish they would just leave behind, but it goes on for forever. I think we probably said once an episode: "Can you please just take the geumganggo off. Please?" But the characters themselves were hilarious.

They are all demons from mythology, based on the Chinese classic Journey to the West. These are mythical beings and deities who have a much different attitude towards humans. They mostly just ignore them, think they are annoying, or use them for their own gain. It seemed confusing because one minute they would seem like they were all best friends with Jin Seon Mi (Oh Yeon Seo), then they would be fine with killing her, no problem. Different set of moral standards. They are also really petty and constantly getting revenge and playing tricks on each other, which leads for a lot of good times and some beautiful bromances. Really, the number one selling point of this show is that Lee Seung Gi and Cha Seung Won are together again. Their bromance is hilarious and adorable. They literally spend the first third of the show fighting, the second being petty but also supportive, and the last third as true brothers, even though they would deny it. This bromance was literally the best part of the show, even though some of their petty revenge would seem a little extreme to some, considering they are immortal demons, they are funny.

I was pretty invested in Pal Gye (Lee Hong Ki) and Bu Ja's (Lee Se Young) plot line. I loved that zombie. She was the best.  Lee Se Young has some mad acting chops. I really missed her when her plot got mopey. Same with the General Frost/Summer Fairy (Sung Hyuk). I loved those two as well, so when things got sad, I was sad. There were a lot of sad things when the story actually picked up and the shiz started happening. When that creeper villain dude showed up.

I've always had a crush on the great sage monkey king character, from all of those kung fu and other Chinese movies I've watched growing up. I knew from the start that Lee Seung Gi was going to be the perfect fit for that role. I was not disappointed either. Son Oh Gong was perfect as the bad tempered, cocky, trickster deity, who is super smart, but also super childish and mischievous. I liked seeing him develop from a super butt to a hero without actually changing his character, just his maturity level. Him going through all the stages of love from being petty to being a noble idiot, not that I like those. His fomo when he wasn't in the group chat, but being too proud to admit he wanted in. His monkey stuffy he left at Jin Seon Mi's office so he could spy on her and his petty revenge on her assistant Lee Han Joo (Kim Sung Oh). Can I just say how much I loved that Kim Sung Oh played her very ordinary guy assistant who was her "normal person" advice giver? He is just the best, and I loved him. I also loved the growing relationship between him and Son Oh Gong, to the point that Son Oh Gong would protect him as well, and come to him for relationship advice too.

While I love Oh Yeon Seo, her character was probably the most stagnant. I liked her for the most part, but she had way less character growth which was sad. That was probably because the monk she was based on was super naive and good like that too, so it makes sense, but I would have liked to see her not caught up with the same problems over and over. Still, she did a good job, and the OTP was a good one. They had good chemistry and were fun to watch.

Obviously there was plenty about this show that I loved, so it was sad that they ended it so lamely, once again. But it is still worth watching, even though the climax was anti-climatic and they threw a lot of boring crap in the last episode instead of giving us some satisfaction. Not that they didn't give us plenty of that earlier. That boy can kiss! However, I can't help but be petty too and say that it could have been much better, and much of what happened was very lame and unnecessary. There, the end.