Early Access: Doom At Your Service E1

E1. I've heard so much positive buzz around this show, that you can safely consider this as me entertaining my FOMO, even though I've just backed away from a show where a lead character is predicted to die. I mean, isn't this kind of similar? Technically?

However, I rationalize that while Oh! Master marketed itself as a rom-com and then unleashed the fantasy out of left field, this show is telling us upfront, that this show is very much fantasy-driven, and our heroine is very much supposed to die. Being upfront about it definitely helps, though I will also say that Dong Kyung's Very Bad Day was rather hard to watch. Just how much awful is one person supposed to take, on any given day?

Right away, Dong Kyung's reaction to her multifocal glioblastomas diagnosis - that she can't afford to take a whole week off from work for a biopsy - tells us so much about her. Not only is she not well off, she's also very busy (and probably also oppressed) at work, and she also seems  extremely responsible, probably to her own detriment. I mean, most people wouldn't remember to remind the doctor, who seems to be moonlighting as a writer, that his scripts are due, after he's just told them that they're likely going to die in 3 to 4 months.

Also, that beat, where Dong Kyung chooses to pay her hospital bill in 3-month installments instead of 12 months - because she remembers that she likely only has about 3 months left to live, shows us how honest and decent she is, on top of being honest. She's not about to pay the bill in 12-month installments, because she won't be alive for most of those 12 months. It seems that she'd rather pay what she owes, rather than leave debt behind when she dies.

It also occurs to me, that her choosing 3 months instead of 12 months, shows us that she's more.. fatalistic than optimistic? As in, an optimist would choose 12 months, as an expression of hope, ie, I'll still be here to pay it, just wait and see. But Dong Kyung doesn't entertain that kind of hope. Even though the news comes as a shock to her, she doesn't attempt to fight it. Perhaps that's just how beaten down she's been, by life.

I think it's important to note that even though Dong Kyung's having an awful day and appears to be quite fatalistic about it all, she doesn't allow herself to indulge in self-pity. When her boyfriend turns out to be married, and she gets accused by his wife of attempting to steal her husband, Dong Kyung is firm in the way she stands her ground.

She doesn't stoop to tossing water back at the accusing wife, even though she's been drenched right away; neither does she throw a pity party for herself. She maintains her composure and states things from her perspective. And then, she chooses grace. Even though she doesn't have to, she tells the woman to go ahead and blame her, and live a long and happy life with her husband and child.

Not only that, when the pregnant wife collapses and needs medical help, Dong Kyung turns back to help her, even though there are other people from the cafe rallying round the woman. She even starts to fill in the paperwork at the hospital for the woman, writing down her husband's name and phone number. When the wife asks to talk to her again, Dong Kyung shows compassion for her by saying that they can talk when she feels better. And she even reiterates what she'd said at the cafe, telling the woman that she doesn't have to worry, because Dong Kyung herself has only 3 more months to live.

Dong Kyung could have easily turned this into a pity party; after all, she's just found out that she doesn't have very long to live. Yet, the way she handles this conversation, is with dignity. Even though she's clearly sad, she remains calm and matter-of-fact, and even wishes the woman well, as she leaves.

To make Dong Kyung's day even worse, it turns out that her boss is an unreasonable turd, she encounters a slimey guy taking secret videos of her on the train, she gets rained on, her brother is inconsiderate and wayward, trying to trick her into sending him money, and all this, on their parents' death anniversary.

That's one heckuva bad day (which therefore isn't exactly fun to watch), and therefore I can understand why Dong Kyung would wish for the world to end. Especially when we see through flashback how her relatives hadn't wanted to take care of her and her brother when their parents had died, and talked about sending them to an orphanage, during the funeral wake itself. With so much pain and angst in her life, I can't blame Dong Kyung for drunkenly wishing doom on the world.

It's interesting to me, though, that even though Dong Kyung makes that drunken wish, she doesn't even look that bitter, as she wishes it. She laughs ruefully, and I get the sense that she does wish things were different, but I don't feel actual malice in her wish.

I do prefer Seo In Guk when he's playing mysterious and sardonic, like in Hundred Million Stars From The Sky / The Smile Has Left Your Eyes, rather than when he's going broad and comedic, like in High School King. In which case, I do feel that Doom is a great role for him, because this is the kind of dead-inside energy that I personally think suits him best.

It's an interesting premise, that Doom does the work on behalf of a deity, but is subject to a human's will. In other words, he has a lot of supernatural ability, but he doesn't have the authority to use those abilities as he wishes. On top of that, on his supposed birthday - even though he's never been born and never been human and therefore technically shouldn't have a birthday - he gets to become the wish of a human.

I can see why Dong Kyung's wish to destroy the world would jump out at Myul Mang, and appeal to him enough, that he'd seek her out. Apparently, he's wanted to destroy the world for a long time; he just never had the authorization to do so. And now, Dong Kyung's wish could give him that authorization. I guess that means that her wish.. is actually also his wish?

The path to getting Dong Kyung to believe Myul Mang's statement, that he's Doom personified, and is there to grant her wish, is mildly entertaining. I don't think it's meant to be super funny, since this is all a pretty dark premise that involves Dong Kyung'd impending death, but it's treated with a relatively light touch, which gives me hope for how the rest of our story might jive.

Park Bo Young might not be leaning hard into her aegyo right now (which is probably why I'm feeling a little confused, because she's usually required to dish it out in big servings, and it is such a strength of hers), but her dainty petiteness definitely lends a touch of cuteness to everything. Even when she's just touching the walls in Myul Mang's house in her dreams, her smallness just makes the moment pop, for me.

Also, Dong Kyung taking a good while to come around to the truth in Myul Mang's story makes sense, because it's completely plausible from her point of view, that she's started to hallucinate because of her brain tumors. I mean, that makes more sense than the idea that Doom's been visiting her, right?

I must say, the cinematography is pretty, in this show. Particularly when we are having a Supernatural Moment, whether it's looking at Myul Mang sipping tea in his own house, or that scene at the end of the episode, where the Truck Of Doom is approaching Dong Kyung, there's a magical, ethereal quality that Show manages to communicate, in the way the shots are created. The suspended water droplets framing the scene when Dong Kyung decides to take Myul Mang's hand is beautifully done, and I feel effectively drawn into that moment that's suspended in time.

So far, I find this a pretty effective and efficient set-up, and I'm curious to see how this agreement between Dong Kyung and Myul Mang affects them both, going forward. For one thing, we already know that Myul Mang should no longer be able to hear Dong Kyung's thoughts, since he's said himself, that he doesn't hear the thoughts of those with whom he has an agreement. That ought to equalize the playing field between them, just a little bit?