Finished WHERE STARS LAND: Lee Je-hoon is a bit of all right, and I liked Chae Soo-bin very much in I Am Not a Robot, so I thought I’d give this romantic story a try. I’ve never seen LJH be anything else other than tightly wound, so I did enjoy him unbending shyly to admit his feelings.

I was taken by the scene where he reveals himself to her, stripping off his shirt to show the bionics/machinery keeping him on his feet — because she’s freaking out, thinking it’s a sexual reveal which she’s not ready for! Nicely done. And I LOVED the no-nonsense female boss — too many workplace dramas are just unrelieved bullying and toxicity, when all it takes is one good manager with integrity and guts (thin on the ground everywhere, I’d say) to make a difference.

However the end of this show was such shite that I had no interest in the leading couple any longer. He was supposed to be dying of toxic inflammation from the brace, so we’d be justified in expecting him to keel over any moment, and for her to INSIST on him taking the brace off, but he just wanted to be a big boring shame-filled martyr (and be useful to the plot by becoming the Hulk at the climax).

Despite his extremely fragile state of health, all we saw was the odd nose-bleed and dizzy spell. AND, at the climax, he became a blur of miraculous hulk energy, downing a whole tribe of bad guys, AND saving his brother with a feat of strength AND feeling OK for a cozy reconciliatory chat with his brother. This completely destroyed the dramatic tension, and I was rolling my eyes at double speed. (I actually thought it worked well to find out that both brothers had actually been looking out for each other in their own way. BUT.) Only then does he have to have a bit of lie-down, and the obligatory year-long disappearance.

The fact that the reunion DIDN’T EVEN SHOW HIS FACE, made me think that LJH couldn’t bear to be part of this stupid ending and had exited long before. Not only that, but we got a repeat of the lame robot vacuum-cleaner joke.

GOBLIN: Taking advantage of my new Viki sub to finally watch this. Am up to about ep 6. All the main cast are wonderful. Lovely atmosphere that combines epic with whimsical. Beautiful design — the Goblin’s bedroom, with its barrel-shaped roof and conservatory windows, has filled me with envy. Also, best use of a hat. And for once, a male lead’s ambivalence about pursuing love is utterly justified. This can’t end well!

Haven’t quite figured out why some living humans can see dead people and some can’t. Touched by grace? Or have I missed something? I always miss lots on my first watch.

The Reaper trying to do romance is hilarious – his obsession with having a business card! So glad to see Yoo In-na delightfully playing the mysterious cafe owner who quite likes the look of this sad-sack dead-man. Happily she is erasing for me the only other character I’ve seen her play– the worst passive-aggressive 2nd female lead ever in You From Another Star.

I’m braced for tears with this. But getting laughs too. Actually one of the scenes that got to me the most was set in a hospital waiting room. (It went something like this…) Lee Dong-wook is hanging out there with a group of Reaper colleagues exchanging professional chitchat. One assumes they are there for patients who are about to die.

A crash team led by a desperate ER doctor are trying to revive a man in cardiac arrest. It doesn’t look good for the patient. The Grim Reaper, suitably hatted, walks over. But what’s this, the Reaper is addressing the doctor, looking him in the eye, giving him the formal speech, saying “… died of overwork…”

The doctor asks plaintively, “Am I dead?” The camera moves over to him lying on a stretcher – yes, he is dead. Meanwhile the patient is alive and reviving. The camera then shows one of the crocs has fallen off the dead doctor’s feet. The croc is overturned on the floor – the heel worn way down to the inner.

That’s it. So low key. Beautifully done. On to another scene.