The premise of Café Minamdang caught my attention. A former criminal profiler is pretending to be a shaman with the help of his sister, a genius hacker, and brother, a private detective. This promised to be a lot of fun. However, the execution seems to have ruined whatever uniqueness there could have been in this story.

As soon as I started watching episode one, I felt a strong sense of déjà vu. I was introduced to a rich, eccentric, handsome, slightly narcissistic guy, a strong, independent woman, incompetent detectives, and a murder case. Sounds familiar? Well, this is essentially Strong Woman Do Bong Soon. Shaman Nam Han Joon gives the precise same vibes as CEO Ahn Min Hyuk – same exaggerated mannerisms, same ability to analyze people and figure things out quicker than the police, same tendency to fall in love at first with a woman who beat up several bad guys because she is strong and can protect him. The two main characters have, of course, also known each other when they were younger because K-drama scriptwriters consider it unthinkable that two people might have a romantic relationship without having a past together. I can go on pointing out similarities, but I think that you get my point.

Instead of centering the narrative around Nam Han Joon and his gang's scam, the production team went for what has been done many times: a murder investigation, which probably ends with an underwhelming revelation, and a little romance on the side. The comedy element is not funny in the slightest.

As if all of this was not enough, this series features the worst female lead that I have ever seen. I usually try to focus on the positive qualities of each character and do not judge them quickly, but I can confidently say that Han Jae Hee is a b*tch. Her character is an insult to women. She is the worst possible version of a Mary Sue, and this makes her not only uninteresting, but also incredibly annoying.
In a time when positive representation of women has become an important issue, it is discouraging to learn that women are still characterized like that. A woman who can stand up for herself and has proved to be a skilled professional in her field should not be depicted as rude, insensitive, and frustratingly narrow-minded. A woman detective should not be portrayed as someone who stalks and uses physical violence against civilians while claiming that the law must be followed. When Nam Han Joon told her that she was not cut out to be a detective, he was right. It is great that the story does not focus on their relationship because if I had to see more of her, I would have dropped this series.

Overall, scenes with Han Jae Hee aside, this series is sometimes entertaining, but it is nothing special. I keep watching for Nam Han Joon, who has become likeable despite being too much in episode one, and his gang. However, I will probably drop it and plead justice for Seo In Guk – he deserves to work with better scripts.

Edit: I dropped this series at episode seven.