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Kokdu: Season of Deity: Episodes 3-4

With the hospital corruption plot taking a much needed backseat this week, we learn more about our cursed god — namely what his 99 days on earth entail and how it impacts him psychologically. There’s still plenty of laughs to go around, though, because Kokdu is prepared to woo his way out of his curse even though his personality is a bit… lacking.

 
EPISODES 3-4 WEECAP

Now that Kokdu has reason to believe Gye-jeol is the reincarnated version of Seol-hui, he tries to confirm his suspicions by first getting her to admit that she recognizes the ring, but she’s not willing to answer his questions. Still freshly incensed that he just got her fired, she’s itching for a fight and indifferent to his sudden interest in her.

Her angry words, however, trigger a memory from his past and practically confirm that she’s the woman he’s been searching for all these years. Not wanting to waste any time after centuries of agony and waiting, he immediately tries to go in for the curse-lifting kiss… annnnnd it goes about as well as we’d expect. She backs away, storms off, and leaves him hanging — and still cursed.

After receiving counsel from Gak Shin and Ok Shin — who are humorously quick to point out that Kokdu’s personality is a massive hindrance to his ability to court a lady — Kokdu realizes that he’s going to have to put in more effort to woo Gye-jeol if he hopes to ever lock lips with her. So to get back on her good side and set the groundwork for some romance, he must first rectify his most recent mistake.

Kokdu may be ancient, but when it comes to dating, he’s got the mindset of a true modern chaebol, thinking his money and looks are all he needs to seduce a woman. Cue: suspiciously perfect job advertisement for a doctor to run a small clinic and perform house calls. Oh, and the doctor must also be a woman in her thirties who graduated from a provincial medical school.

Totally not sus at all, but the alternative is for Gye-jeol to work for her cheating ex-boyfriend JUNG YI-DEUN (Lee Jung-joon), a golf pro in search of a private team doctor. And if the flashbacks of her breakup are any indication of Yi-deun’s personality, then I can’t blame Gye-jeol for wanting to check out the too-good-to-be-true job advertisement.

It comes as no surprise (to us) that Kokdu is waiting for Gye-jeol at the clinic, and — with a little convincing and assurance from Kokdu that the deal is legitimate — Gye-jeol signs the contract. But, of course, Kokdu has the magical ability to make additional clauses appear on the back page of the contract after she’s signed it, and the fine print stipulates that Gye-jeol must date Kokdu for a period of 90 days or else she owes him ten years worth of rent.

Amusingly, because Kokdu has no sense of modern-day inflation, he lowballs Gye-jeol, and Cheol is quick to help her calculate that ten years at Kokdu’s asking price is an absolute steal for her in the long run. Unfortunately, Gye-jeol doesn’t have the credit needed to secure a loan from a bank, so if she wants to pre-pay the ten years in rent and get out of the ridiculous loan she needs to find a private lender.

Not everything is light and fluffy this week, though, as we get more insight into Kokdu’s curse and abilities. For starters, we learn that the voices flood Kokdu’s mind every night at precisely 9:09, and the next time the clock chimes at the reckoning hour, Kokdu’s target is a man guilty of abusing and murdering his adoptive daughter. I know Kokdu is tormented by the voices that drive him to kill, but I’ve got to say, it was pretty satisfying to watch him serve up some divine justice against a very deserving individual.

Kokdu puts the bad guy on ice (literally) and is almost caught during his escape because his powers are on the fritz — thanks to his most recent encounter with Gye-jeol, who wished for every bone in his body to break. And because her wish is Kokdu’s command, that’s exactly what happened (again, literally). So instead of easily teleporting out of the hospital, Kokdu has to make his getaway in the ugly gold goblin-mobile because his bones (and his powers) are still recovering.

And if the car wasn’t flashy enough to draw everyone’s attention to it, Kokdu foolishly decides to intentionally rear end Cheol, who was still parked outside after interrogating the murderer. Cheol gives chase with his siren blaring, but Kokdu’s powers return in the nick of time, and he’s able to teleport from the scene — not that it matters, because Ok Shin’s precious one of a kind (and easily traceable) gold car is now in police custody.

Kokdu, however, is unconcerned that the car will lead the authorities to them, and with a freshly cleared head, Kokdu continues his romantic pursuit of Gye-jeol, who is in the process of acquiring a private loan from MOON MYUNG-JA (Lee Young-ran), a wealthy local ajumma. Gye-jeol is a magnet for shitty people, though, and with Kokdu’s suspicions nagging in her mind, Gye-jeol starts to wonder if the hallucinations Myung-ja’s husband is experiencing are a side-effect of — wait for it — poisoning.

Sure enough, after Kokdu says Myung-ja’s name four times, she’s put under a hypnotic spell and she spills all her secrets to Kokdu. Yes, she’s been giving her diabetic husband her asthma medication, but not because she’s trying to cause him harm. Supposedly, she thought she was protecting him by keeping him mentally unsound (and away from the gambling den), and by drama logic, this somehow makes her actions acceptable. Yeaaaaah, good intentions or not, shouldn’t Gye-jeol be duty bound as a doctor to report Myung-ja?

Meh! Who cares about that when we learn that Gye-jeol and Kokdu have yet another connection: her mother. That’s right, after Gye-jeol’s mother met her tragic demise in front of a young Gye-jeol, Kokdu was the one who escorted her to the afterlife, and their encounter was a memorable one.

Of all the souls Kokdu escorted, Gye-jeol’s mother was the only one to see his pain and comfort him. To reward her for her kindness, he granted her wish, and like every other self-sacrificing K-drama mother, she only thought of her daughter. Her wish: if Kokdu ever met Gye-jeol — whether it be during Gye-jeol’s life or in the afterlife — he is to cater to her every whim. Well, that certainly explains some things.

After remembering the promise he made to her mother, Kokdu no longer believes that Gye-jeol is his destined curse-breaker, which means he’s sooooo done with being her suitor. The timing couldn’t be worse, though, because now Gye-jeol is interested in him, and while he would love nothing more than to put some space between them, she decides that they should try being “some” together.

Because Gye-jeol has the ability to magically boss Kokdu around, he becomes the most (unwillingly) attentive suitor imaginable — reluctantly watching her clinic when she needs to run errands and becoming her nurse when she makes house calls because it’s what she commands. Desperate to put some space between them, Kokdu blackmails Gak Shin into being Gye-jeol’s nurse, and even though she intentionally tries to bomb the interview, Gak Shin gets partnered up with Gye-jeol. Meanwhile, Kokdu gets some much needed bro time with Ok Shin. (Can we all just stop and pause to appreciate how amazing Cha Chung-hwa looks in a miniskirt? How can I have legs like hers when I’m in my 40s?)

Try as he might, though, he can’t avoid Gye-jeol for long, and when she’s summoned to confirm the identity of the man who mysteriously disappeared after she hit him with her car, Kokdu is forced to tag along. At the police station, she’s surprised that Yi-deun is claiming to be the victim. Well, he’s obviously lying, so why is he telling the police that she hit him with her car? And why is it that when Gye-jeol recognizes PARK CHOONG-SEONG, the real victim, on a poster at the police station, everyone says he died a month ago?

Something fishy is certainly going on, and guess what? It all ties back to Chairman Kim, whose company is trying to release a new revolutionary arthritis medication. It’s unclear if there’s something wrong with the medication (probably), but we do learn that Choong-seong is a whistleblower in hiding. Too bad Gye-jeol and Kokdu called an ambulance before Yi-deun explained that Choong-seong, who’s in dire need of a surgery after his run-in with the hood of Gye-jeol’s car, cannot go to a hospital and be identified.

When the ambulance arrives on the scene, Kokdu pretends to be the patient in need, but while he’s at the hospital being checked over, the clock strikes 9:09pm. Kokdu is driven insane by the voices, and Gye-jeol, assuming he’s having some sort of mental health crisis, tries to calm him down. She gets too close, and Kokdu grabs her by the neck.

Even though she’s in pain, Gye-jeol covers his ears with her hands and commands that he only listen to her voice. Immediately, the cacophony in Kokdu’s head subsides, and Kokdu discovers that there is a silver lining to the annoying promise he made to Gye-jeol’s mother. And so begins Kokdu’s new nightly routine of visiting Gye-jeol just to hear her magical command, which has the unintended side effect of making him look like a super attentive boyfriend. (LOL at the My Neighbor Totoro shoutout.)

Gak Shin, however, is annoyed over Kokdu’s renewed desire to keep Gye-jeol around. Not only is there a bit of jealousy going on (she totally has a crush on Kokdu), but the longer Gye-jeol sticks around, the longer Kokdu is going to force Gak Shin to be Gye-jeol’s unwilling nurse.

The God of Rumors decides to drive a wedge between the two and manufactures a scenario in which Kokdu stands Gye-jeol up on their scheduled picnic date. Gak Shin’s timing couldn’t be more unfortunate, though, because Chairman Kim’s most trusted henchman, JOONG-SHIK (Kim Young-woong), found the business card Gye-jeol dropped while caring for Choong-seong.

Chairman Kim instructs Joong-shik to silence her, so while Gye-jeol is waiting for Kokdu to show up on the date he wasn’t aware he was supposed to be on, Joong-shik pushes her over the lighthouse railing. As she falls into the ocean, she calls for Kokdu to help her, and because her wish is his command, he hears her plea for help and pops over to save her.

After fishing Gye-jeol out of the ocean, he cradles her in his arms, showing genuine concern for her wellbeing, but when she opens her eyes and looks at him, she calls him Oh-hyun. All doubts that she is the woman he’s been looking for are gone, but when she leans in and kisses him, it’s unclear if her actions have broken his curse.

Although parts of this plot have moved at a breakneck speed, my guess is that the kiss doesn’t count because it was some form of Seol-hui doing the smooching, and the curse stipulates that Gye-jeol must fall in love with Kokdu — the godly cantankerous being that Oh-hyun has become. Now that he’s confirmed Gye-jeol is the woman he’s been seeking, though, I’m eager to see the resulting shenanigans that are bound to escalate now that he’s back to wooing her for reasons other than her noise canceling abilities.

Overall, I found this week’s episodes immensely more enjoyable that last week’s, but I do think this drama is still searching for its identity. Outside of the main fantasy romance plot, which is both humorous and surprisingly touching at times, the story doesn’t quite seem to know what genre it wants to be. It’s a weird amalgamation of a medical drama and a murder mystery — with an unexpected side of Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha.

I’m used to K-dramas throwing everything and the kitchen sink into their plots, so I really shouldn’t be surprised at all the genre bending, but this story really is it’s strongest when it’s focused on our OTP. Then again, I could also watch an hour of just Kim Jung-hyun making goofy faces and be completely satisfied and entertained, so I might be too biased to comment on what direction the plot should take.

 
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Someone posted elsewhere that the writer and director appear to have have different senses of humor. I see that now. The writer is writing the wackiest of wacky comedies, the director is filming a rom com.
Also, I don't think the kiss actually breaks the curse. I'm not sure which, I believe it either causes him to see her past lives or causes her to see her past lives. I'm not sure is they made that clear.

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Yeah, I also got the sense that the drama is meant to be funnier and wackier. KJH is bringing it out its wacky side and I love how he makes these fun ways of delivering lines and moments that I don't think other actors would even dream of, but it's not enough to save an entire show. I don't think the writing is helping either. The tonal shifts are weird, so I'm not surprised if the directors just chose a direction and stuck with it.

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I believe the stipulation was that she had to fall in love with him/ tell him she loves him to break the curse. The kiss was to see her past lives so he could confirm who she was.

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Very tonally dissonant show. One minute Kokdu is crying in agony and the next he's talking sweet nothings with Gye-jeol. Kokdu and the two gods (and maybe FL's brother) are the only interesting parts of the show. Least interesting is the Chairman as the perpetrator of ALL the crimes (watch him be the hit-and-run-driver who killed Gye-jeol's mom too!).

About the curse, I don't think the kiss breaks the curse? It allows Kokdu to see the past life of the person he's kissing - in this case he's able to verify that Gye-jeol was Seol-hui and they had a history together. To break the curse Gye-jeol needs to tell him she loves him - which is why his underlings were mocking his inability to make her fall in love.

P.S. The make-up in this show is SO white and everyone's skin has been filtered to the point of making them look like dolls. It's very distracting.

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Thank you @daebakgrits for the weecap. I haven't watched the episodes yet but I am keeping up with everything through the weecap. I am a little hesitant about whether I drop the show or not. The weecap makes the drama sounds much better and I don't know if I will get the same excitement watching the drama.
Fellow beanies help me out please

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To me, the recap doesn't capture the strength of the show at all, which is the strong physical comedy acting of the lead actor. If you're into that kind of thing, the show will be a blast. Other than that, the show is still finding its footing, though the murder/punishment scenes are quite cool too.

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Read the weecaps.

I started watching KKokdu, because Mr Queen is one of my all-time favourites, and KJH delivered a stellar performance (as did the other actors).

Kkokdu however is such a mess. The weecaps make it bearable and are way funnier than the actual drama.

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I think so too. My Queen was a stellar show with both leads outperforming themselves but I can't stand watching the female lead here. Moreover, the plot is chaotic.

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I might be in minority, because I was not that impressed with this week's episodes, despite liking previous ones more. Yeah, pacing became better and there was little to no hospital thriller... and same can be said about story's substance. 2 more than hour episodes, and all that happened was Kkokdu finally confirming Gye Jeol is indeed Seol Hui - something we all thought was already done at the end of Ep2! Really, show? At some point I even started to doubt myself and thought that MAYBE the point of all this back-and-forth "is she-isn't she" was for Kkokdu to fall for her without connecting the dots... But nope, we just wasted time delaying the inevitable. Meh. Another meh for adding EVEN MORE fated connections between leads in form of FL's mom. No, sequence was touching, but did we really needed that to keep main plot going?

Kkokdu's (or 3K because I'm lazy) eccentricity also was much less funny this time, or maybe I was just not in the mood for centuries old deity acting like a terribly spoiled teen nearly ALL THE TIME. 3K's quieter moments were much more touching - him crying after another reluctant murder, teleporting to Gye Jeol's bedroom because he was thinking about her too much (lol, dude) and being all sorry and flustered about the fact, passing out from relief on her shoulder after she silenced voices in his head... Last one was pretty much the best scene of the week - acting, emotions, visuals! Bittersweet moment of Kiss Of Confirmation kind of felt flat after it, or maybe it was supposed to be like that because 3K already KNEW the true in his heart. Anyway, does this mean Gye Jeol will also start remembering things? Now that's what I'm looking forward to!

Romcom part was okay, I guess. Endless jokes about 3K's lack of stamina - divine and otherwise - and how it can ruin his seduction plans were as amusing as they were risky, and jealous 3K was great (that proud "Me? I'm her "some"" declaration had me rolling), but everything else... idk. Totoro cosplay - fine, it was cute and sudden, I'll give show that. Cardboard ex, bitchy rival (save the nice bro from her, someone!) and dumb drama about broken car can go to hell together tho. Can we have some actual development next? Pls!

P.S. I've decided that KJH looks the best in maroon. Sorry, total black classic, you just didn't stand the chance)))

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I love this drama. Nothing makes sense and it isn't consistent, but I laugh. I think I enjoy how bad it is, so I am just going with the flow.

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I was there until maybe the last half of episode 4 where the whole thing just got too terrible. I think I'm out.

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I agree with @daebakgrits recap, that thus far, this show is not coming together. Of course its designed to be a somewhat nonsensical fantasy, highlighting both the comedy and the romance of the two leads. As far as that, its okay, but even here the bickering alternating with the romantic scenes just seems off.
As an aside, I also don't think the lead actor is that great in physical comedy. The way his skill at physical comedy would appear when he is forced to obey, and he doesn't make those moves funny in my opinion--he exaggerates the moment of obeying in a way that is awkward not not comic. His making faces also isn't that funny to me. Its not as if he has a huge range of funny faces--his go to humorous face is a spoiled boy pout. And as @gikata points out, his unrelenting behavior as a petulant teenager is not very funny, Again, not that the fantasy has to make sense, but why was he totally transformed from his human form as a loving guardian into a baby-like manchild? Is that because the boygod remakes all humans in his image?

The vengeance part would be satisfying IF the villains were cartoonish as the rest of the show. The second villain depiction, though, showing the adoptive Dad killing the girl as she hugged him--was just sad. So we see the villain as a frozen corpse and then Kkokdu for what are supposed to be hilarious impulsive reasons maniacally wrecks the car by smashing into a policeman, and then after that scene is finished and the other God cries about his beloved car we're suddenly back to the main leads with a weird pursuit of a loan. Then in episode 4, the evil medical director pops back into the picture. Something is not right with the script continuity here, in my opinion. I'm happy to go with the flow, as @kafiyah-bello is doing, but I every time I start, the show stops flowing!

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Thing is, KJH was very good in physical comedy in all his previous shows, which leaves us two possible explanations why he's not as great here: 1) he kind of lost his touch after long hiatus, 2) it's director's fault. Given how unimpressive everything else about the drama is so far, I'm leaning to the 2nd option. Totally agree about drama (and its script) not really knowing how to mix star-crossed lovers fantasy melo with a silly romcom, let alone with medical thriller. Maybe it'll all get better once romance start for real? At least then we can just ignore everything else)))

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This weecap make the show seem seem funnier than I thought it was when I watched it this week, which leaves me mostly agreeing with the criticisms I just read in comments above.

But let me just point out that while Kkokdu is busy not hearing the voices in his head at 9:09, evil-doers are not getting punished. Is it too much to hope that he'll do some catching up later?

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This is another logical inconsistencies of this drama: constantly killing people, because the "court of public opinion" (aka voices in his head) are telling him, makes him a serial killer as well. Especially, since he REALLY has to kill the bad guys, and not just take them to another place/the afterlife. (I am not going to delve into the fact, that the court of public opinion more often than not is plain wrong.)

I really like KJH as an actor, but KKokdu as a "person" is plain off-putting, and not only because throttles his "love interest" several times in each episode.

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As far as serial killers who manage to restrain themselves from throttling their love interests go, it's super romantic. By that I mean, I think I'm out.

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Thank you @daebakgrits for the weecap. I thought about watching these episodes, just in case the show had a rough start, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. The tonal shifts in the first two episodes were too jarring. It sounds like that’s still the case, so weecaps it is for now!

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I really am not interested in the romantic aspects of this show. The things that appeals to me most are Kokdu, his minions, and the way his powers work. I know it is supposed to be a bad thing (I mean it is a curse after all) and he's being tortured by hearing people's sadness and gripes but at the same time I didn't want her to stop him from punishing people. I know it's supposed to be romantic and healing and all that and yet once he was using her to prevent hearing those cries, I felt disappointed. I feel bad that victims will again not get any karmic justice for what they went through. I know my perspective is different but what can you do?

So much doesn't make sense in this show so the karmic revenge was a draw for me.

I was pleasantly surprised by the Yu Jae Seok cameo haha
It just made me think of him on Korea #1 where he worked at the sauce place (like in this)

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this show is super confusing, the CGO is pretty bad and I'm still coming back. let's see how long my patience will last.

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*CGI

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I wanted to love this drama but the FL is ruining it - just like she did in Woori- at least she was ok in Dr. Lawyer. I finished Episode 4 - and not sure I’ll continue- thanks for the reviews !

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What's interesting for me in this drama is Kim Jung Hyun's goofy acting, Cha Chung Hwa & Kim In Kwon interactions, and the 9:09 serial killings... Beyond that everything else is messy. I almost dropped it after episode 2 but I decided to give it another chance, and thank goodness it kind of gets better (more bearable to watch) every episode.

And yes the noise-cancelling ability of Gyejeol for Kkokdu is cheesy, but hey I do still want to see Kkokdu taking revenge to evil guys on behalf of the public.

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This drama is such a grossly overacted mess. Kokdu is just too absurd for me to get immersed in the story. I’ve tried but I can’t let go of the feeling that it was a mistake to play him in such a hammy and over the top way. So far, the only moving moments were from their first lives.
I am not going to last the distance with this.

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Not sure what the show is focusing on, giving closure to the sad past life romance or solving the hospital corruption case :(…the only thing that really drew my attention in the show is the beautiful scenery. anyone has any idea where is the filming location? (With the red lighthouse)

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I think the script writer is greedy trying to throw in many elements to hype up the drama. But what direction is the drama heading towards? A rom com? A thriller? A mystery? A dark comedy? A mix of everything? I have seen all that in other Korean drama. Running out of creativity? I still have some expectation though. Hope the show will get better and not disappointing towards the end. The only thing I love from this drama is Kokdu, his “overacting over the top” character. That “overacting” is not annoying. Kim Jung Hyun working his magic in this drama is the positive element in this drama.

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