This review may contain spoilers
Ghosts, Chemistry, and One Very Emotionally Constipated CEO
Review
(WARNING: Potential Spoilers — I'm Not Saving You from Any Emotional Damage)
We've all seen dramas where one of the main characters is a ghost, or where somebody can communicate with the dead, but The Master's Sun takes that idea and gives us a protagonist who absolutely did not ask for any of this. Tae Gong Shil can see ghosts, and unfortunately for her, they don't exactly understand the concept of personal space.
Instead of being some cool supernatural ability that she gets to use whenever she wants, it's basically ruined her ability to have a normal life. She's constantly exhausted, constantly frightened, and constantly trying to get away from the dead long enough to have a little peace and quiet.
Then she meets Joo Joong Won.
And suddenly she discovers that when she touches him, the ghosts disappear.
Temporarily, anyway.
Which obviously means Gong Shil now has a very good reason to stay as physically close to this man as humanly possible, whether he likes it or not. And considering Joong Won's personality at the beginning, he most definitely does not like it.
The funny part is watching these two slowly figure each other out because they couldn't be more different. Gong Shil is desperate, emotionally open, and just trying to survive her bizarre existence, while Joong Won is guarded, arrogant, selfish, and very much convinced that his money and his ability to control everything around him should be enough to keep his life exactly the way he wants it.
Naturally, that goes beautifully.
By the time these two start developing real feelings for each other, the chemistry is doing a lot of the heavy lifting, and thankfully the chemistry is GOOD. Gong Hyo Jin and So Ji Sub worked really well together, and I also enjoyed the dynamic between the main four because it never felt like the second leads were simply there to create a generic love triangle and disappear.
The supernatural cases are actually one of my favorite parts of the drama because the ghosts aren't just there for cheap scares. Gong Shil ends up helping them resolve whatever is keeping them attached to the living world, and a lot of those stories are surprisingly emotional.
Some are funny, some are creepy, some are heartbreaking, and then there was the dog.
The dog got me.
I was not prepared for that one, and apparently the writers looked at my emotional stability and decided it needed to be removed from the premises immediately.
That's one thing I really liked about the show. Even though the overarching romance and mystery are important, the individual ghost stories give the drama these little emotional detours that make Gong Shil's ability feel like more than just a convenient plot device.
She's not simply seeing ghosts because the writers needed her to see ghosts. She's actually helping them, and through helping them, she's slowly learning how to live with the thing that once made her feel completely isolated.
Of course, because this is a K-drama, we eventually have to encounter the dreaded amnesia trope.
And I hate it.
I don't think I've ever encountered an amnesia plot where I'm sitting there thinking, “Wow, this was absolutely necessary and improved everything.” Usually I'm sitting there thinking, “Really? This is what we're doing now?”
That was pretty much my reaction here too.
Thankfully, it didn't completely derail the drama for me because by that point I was already invested in these characters and their relationships, but it was definitely the part where I started side-eyeing the writers.
The chemistry between Gong Shil and Joong Won is what kept me fully invested, but I also really enjoyed the chemistry between the main four. Everyone had their own relationships and dynamics, and the story didn't feel like it was forcing every single interaction into a romance just because it could.
And then there's Joong Won himself, who is exactly the kind of male lead that could've become incredibly irritating if the actor hadn't been able to pull off the character.
Thankfully, So Ji Sub knows exactly how to play that kind of emotionally guarded, arrogant man without making him completely unbearable. You get to watch him slowly soften without losing the personality that made him Joong Won in the first place, and that's something I always appreciate.
The story kept me engrossed right through to the end, and even though I would've preferred a slightly more satisfying ending, I can't say I hated what we got. It still gives you enough to understand where everyone ends up, and emotionally it lands close enough to a true happily-ever-after that I'm willing to accept it.
My brain: “Okay, this ghost mystery is actually pretty good.”
My emotions: “WHY DID YOU MAKE ME CARE ABOUT THE DOG?”
My snacks: “We survived another ghost.”
In the end, I finished The Master's Sun feeling like I'd just spent seventeen episodes watching one very traumatized woman discover that the thing she hated most about herself could actually become the thing that connected her to other people.
And somehow, between the ghosts, the romance, the comedy, the mystery, and the occasional emotional gut punch, it all worked.
(WARNING: Potential Spoilers — I'm Not Saving You from Any Emotional Damage)
We've all seen dramas where one of the main characters is a ghost, or where somebody can communicate with the dead, but The Master's Sun takes that idea and gives us a protagonist who absolutely did not ask for any of this. Tae Gong Shil can see ghosts, and unfortunately for her, they don't exactly understand the concept of personal space.
Instead of being some cool supernatural ability that she gets to use whenever she wants, it's basically ruined her ability to have a normal life. She's constantly exhausted, constantly frightened, and constantly trying to get away from the dead long enough to have a little peace and quiet.
Then she meets Joo Joong Won.
And suddenly she discovers that when she touches him, the ghosts disappear.
Temporarily, anyway.
Which obviously means Gong Shil now has a very good reason to stay as physically close to this man as humanly possible, whether he likes it or not. And considering Joong Won's personality at the beginning, he most definitely does not like it.
The funny part is watching these two slowly figure each other out because they couldn't be more different. Gong Shil is desperate, emotionally open, and just trying to survive her bizarre existence, while Joong Won is guarded, arrogant, selfish, and very much convinced that his money and his ability to control everything around him should be enough to keep his life exactly the way he wants it.
Naturally, that goes beautifully.
By the time these two start developing real feelings for each other, the chemistry is doing a lot of the heavy lifting, and thankfully the chemistry is GOOD. Gong Hyo Jin and So Ji Sub worked really well together, and I also enjoyed the dynamic between the main four because it never felt like the second leads were simply there to create a generic love triangle and disappear.
The supernatural cases are actually one of my favorite parts of the drama because the ghosts aren't just there for cheap scares. Gong Shil ends up helping them resolve whatever is keeping them attached to the living world, and a lot of those stories are surprisingly emotional.
Some are funny, some are creepy, some are heartbreaking, and then there was the dog.
The dog got me.
I was not prepared for that one, and apparently the writers looked at my emotional stability and decided it needed to be removed from the premises immediately.
That's one thing I really liked about the show. Even though the overarching romance and mystery are important, the individual ghost stories give the drama these little emotional detours that make Gong Shil's ability feel like more than just a convenient plot device.
She's not simply seeing ghosts because the writers needed her to see ghosts. She's actually helping them, and through helping them, she's slowly learning how to live with the thing that once made her feel completely isolated.
Of course, because this is a K-drama, we eventually have to encounter the dreaded amnesia trope.
And I hate it.
I don't think I've ever encountered an amnesia plot where I'm sitting there thinking, “Wow, this was absolutely necessary and improved everything.” Usually I'm sitting there thinking, “Really? This is what we're doing now?”
That was pretty much my reaction here too.
Thankfully, it didn't completely derail the drama for me because by that point I was already invested in these characters and their relationships, but it was definitely the part where I started side-eyeing the writers.
The chemistry between Gong Shil and Joong Won is what kept me fully invested, but I also really enjoyed the chemistry between the main four. Everyone had their own relationships and dynamics, and the story didn't feel like it was forcing every single interaction into a romance just because it could.
And then there's Joong Won himself, who is exactly the kind of male lead that could've become incredibly irritating if the actor hadn't been able to pull off the character.
Thankfully, So Ji Sub knows exactly how to play that kind of emotionally guarded, arrogant man without making him completely unbearable. You get to watch him slowly soften without losing the personality that made him Joong Won in the first place, and that's something I always appreciate.
The story kept me engrossed right through to the end, and even though I would've preferred a slightly more satisfying ending, I can't say I hated what we got. It still gives you enough to understand where everyone ends up, and emotionally it lands close enough to a true happily-ever-after that I'm willing to accept it.
My brain: “Okay, this ghost mystery is actually pretty good.”
My emotions: “WHY DID YOU MAKE ME CARE ABOUT THE DOG?”
My snacks: “We survived another ghost.”
In the end, I finished The Master's Sun feeling like I'd just spent seventeen episodes watching one very traumatized woman discover that the thing she hated most about herself could actually become the thing that connected her to other people.
And somehow, between the ghosts, the romance, the comedy, the mystery, and the occasional emotional gut punch, it all worked.
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