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Kokdu: Season of Deity: Episodes 5-6

Our (not a) grim reaper has confirmed our doctor is the woman destined to break his curse. But instead of trying to hunt down her attempted murderer like a proper god tasked with killing sinners, Kokdu — and our plot — unexpectedly slows down to waste time on more worldly problems, like exes who don’t want to stay exes and patients with scurvy.

 
EPISODES 5-6 WEECAP

You know what Kokdu: Season of Deity and its titular character have in common? Both have too much time on their hands. It was never more obvious than with this week’s episodes that Kokdu (the drama) is really struggling to fill its eighty-minute time slot, and Kokdu (the character) embodies the overall laziness of the plot every time he reclines in his seat and watches from the sidelines while Gye-jeol and his demi-god minions do all the work.

Neither the drama nor Kokdu have the right to be idle — not when writer and director have thrown every genre and gum ball machine worth of plot devices at us. And yet, this week it felt like all the major plot points that have been introduced thus far — like, oh I don’t know, the fact that someone just tried to kill Gye-jeol last week — were put on the back burner to simmer while Kokdu and our story underwent (yet another) identity crisis.

This time the prevalent genre is small town slice-of-life romance, which means introducing a group of meddling neighbors who are overly invested in the pretty new town doctor’s love life. Apparently, all it takes to win over the townspeople and drum up loyal customers is to explain that one man’s WebMD self-diagnosis is actually scurvy — not leukemia. Suddenly everyone wants to pile into Gye-jeol’s examination room and vet her rumored boyfriend. Of course, by the time the neighbors have rallied to interrogate Kokdu and measure his worthiness, the situation between him and Gye-jeol has hit a brick wall.

You see, after finally getting confirmation that Gye-jeol was the curse-breaking woman Kokdu had been looking for, Ok Shin put in motion an epic proposal dinner intended to woo and wow her into kissing Kokdu. Unfortunately, before the romantic dinner gets underway, TAE JUNG-WON (Dasom) shows up. And she’s there to mark her territory and claim the amnesiac Jin-woo as her boyfriend.

Gye-jeol, however, is suspicious of her former best friend. After all, if Jung-won is capable of lying and stealing Gye-jeol’s boyfriend, then it’s not implausible that the b***h (Kokdu’s word, not mine) would also take advantage of the fact that Jin-woo has amnesia. Even so, Gye-jeol decides it’s best to put a pause on her relationship with Kokdu until Jin-woo recovers his memories.

During their romantic hiatus, Gye-jeol begins to question if her own intentions were pure. Perhaps she was the one being greedy, wanting a successful and rich boyfriend. Did she take advantage of the fact that he lost his memories in order to get closer to him? She later explains her fears to Kokdu and vows to make up for her lapse in judgment, but he responds from the insider knowledge that Jin-woo is very dead and so not coming back. He asks her what she would do if Kokdu is the personality that’s here to stay…

Gye-jeol’s immediate reaction is to reject the possibility because she needs Jin-woo to wake up and set the record straight. In her emotional, drunken state, she gets riled up and wishes for Kokdu to disappear — and, well, he does. Kokdu clutches his chest, and when his body hits the ground, his spirit has returned to the afterlife.

Luckily, Gye-jeol unknowingly says the magical words needed to bring Kokdu back, but the incident has both of them on edge. Gye-jeol is concerned about Kokdu’s health, and when Ok Shin tries to break Kokdu out of his hospital room using his rich earthly CEO persona, Gye-jeol puts her foot down and commands that Kokdu get back in bed. Kokdu, on the other hand, leaves the experience terrified that if he doesn’t get on Gye-jeol’s good side, she will wish him gone — and back to the afterlife — again. And if he goes back to the afterlife, then there’s no opportunity to kiss and break his curse.

Once again, Ok Shin is a demi-god with a plan. If it’s Jin-woo that Gye-jeol wants, then why not pretend to be Jin-woo? Thankfully, Jin-woo kept a meticulous set of diaries, so Kokdu reads up on Jin-woo’s life, learning just enough to fake his way through his next encounter with Jung-won. Turns out, Jung-won and Jin-woo did date, but Jung-won had the unbecoming habit of breaking up with him over the slightest infraction. (Man, this drama really wants us to hate her.)

Shortly before Jin-woo died, though, he called it quits — presumably with the intention of never getting back together. Jung-won, of course, cannot accept that they’ve broken up permanently this time around, and refuses to believe it until Kokdu proves he’s recovered Jin-woo’s memories. Jung-won may be excessively narcissistic, but she’s smart enough to suspect that Kokdu read Jin-woo’s diaries. Thus, she asks Kokdu out on a date in order to test Kokdu’s memories, which means Kokdu, Ok Shin, and Gak Shin pull an all-nighter studying Jin-woo’s journals.

The date test goes smoothly — right up until the moment an unexpected medical emergency falls in their laps. Ok Shin, however, was prepared for the worst case scenario and had a team of doctors on standby to feed Kokdu medical knowledge through an earpiece. Kokdu successfully fakes his way through a diagnosis, but he does so well that he has to accompany Jung-won and his pregnant patient to the hospital.

At this point, the drama decides it wants to be a thriller again, and while Jung-won tests Kokdu on Jin-woo’s memories, Choong-seong pays Gye-jeol’s clinic a late night visit. He heard from Yi-deun that she was friends with Jin-woo, the doctor he’d given his malpractice evidence to, and came to confirm the unsettling news that Jin-woo now has amnesia. Gye-jeol is happy to report, though, that Jin-woo’s memories have returned! (Huzzah!) Except for, you know, the fact that this whole conversation goes down in front of the hidden cameras Joong-shik installed in Gye-jeol’s clinic.

Before our bad guys — who have been mostly inactive since Joong-shik pushed Gye-jeol off the lighthouse — make a move, chaos erupts at the hospital. At the same time Kokdu’s patient needs an emergency C-section, the abusive husband of one of Jung-won’s patients sets the hospital ER on fire. As the hospital calls for an evacuation, Gye-jeol realizes two things. One, if they don’t help the patient, she and/or her baby will die. And two, Kokdu is still, well, Kokdu, and his lack of medical knowledge couldn’t come at a worse possible time.

She readies herself to do the surgery herself, even though she hasn’t performed a C-section since med school, but her own lack of experience and doubts have her turning to Kokdu in desperation. Jin-woo could easily perform the surgery…if only he could remember the ten-plus years of medical training he’d forgotten. She pleads and begs for Jin-woo to come back, thinking the adrenaline of the moment might send his memories rushing back to him. Instead, Kokdu collapses to the ground, but this time when his soul vacates Jin-woo’s body, Jin-woo’s soul returns.

Can’t say that Jin-woo’s return was all that surprising because, once they established that she could wish Kokdu to the afterlife, logic indicated that she could also wish for Jin-woo’s return. Given how much genre hopping this drama has done in its three weeks, I can’t help but wonder if the next phase of this story will be something along the lines of Ghost Doctor. Will Jin-woo and Kokdu now share Jin-woo’s body and swap out whenever there’s a medical emergency? I joke, but at the same time, it feels entirely too plausible.

I’ve obviously lost my patience with the plot, but at least the situational comedy still amuses me. Sadly, Kim Jung-hyun’s physical comedy — and penchant for walking over tables as though they were boulders on a hiking path — can’t carry this show much longer. For the sake of those still tuning in each week, I hope the story starts utilizing the plot devices it’s already introduced instead of piling on more. If it can do that — and keep on delivering these hilarious character interactions — then this drama might get back on track.

 
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Maybe it's because I've watched Love to Hate you this weekend but I really had no patience for Kokdu this week. There were moments when I turned off the episode, walked out the room to do other things, or just tuned out.

I don't even know which thing I hated most. Was it the gossipy, nosy neighbors, the annoying exes, the ballsy assassin, the lack of Kokdu killing horrible people, or Gye Jeol's weak personality? I'm just annoyed with it all.
Oh! And the mind blowing incompetence. How are there NO doctors in the ENTIRE hospital?! How do they just listen to a random woman off the street who didn't do any physical exam but just looked at the monitor? Am I the dumb one here? Can doctors just diagnosis pregnancy issues by looking at monitors and maybe touching wrists?

Let me not even ask any more medical questions. How about the security guy Gye Jeol called. Did the assassin kill him? I believe he came a day or hours earlier than expected but wouldn't the original security guy or company have contacted her?
Speaking of security, what was the hospital security doing?! A drunk man walks in, grabs a doctor's hair violently while demanding another doctor show themselves, and they take way too long to arrive and then no one contacts the police? Also what hospital is this?! How did the drunk man even find out where the doctor he was looking for was? Who just tells random people where other people go?!
But let me not go there either.

For someone who was thrown in the ocean by a masked man, Gye Jeol was awfully cool after it. She didn't even contact her detective brother to tell him about it.

Did I miss something where it was said Kokdu couldn't/wasn't allowed to show his powers to other people? So much would be resolved if he just poofed in and out of a room in front of her.

I am still not invested in the romantic relationship. I did like their bickering over the deities' dictionary though haha

And now this body switching/sharing thing. 😒
Didn't they say Jin Woo was too far gone in the afterlife to return? All to miraculously perform a C section (which isn't even his specialty but close enough I guess)

None of the exes are likable and I don't understand why their pining has to be a thing. Ex girlfriend is conceited and selfish. Ex boyfriend was selfish and arrogant.

As always, the better stuff, to me, were the minions. When the guy minion kept saying how Kokdu wasn't qualified to do anything and was useless, that made me chuckle. The lady minion feeling second hand embarrassment over Kokdu's actions were another chuckle worthy moment to me.

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@britney: I feel you. I dropped it after the last ep. It is a terrible mess and as you said, the two lesser gods are the best things about it.
KJH has been directed poorly as his performance makes so little sense to me. There is hardly any continuity between that soulful first version and the clown that Kokdu has become. It just never worked for me. This is such a waste of talent and resources.

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I binged Love to Hate You, too, and wondered the same thing! But, nah. Kokdu is just messy and all over the place.

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I am glad I dropped the show after the first week. Still, I will visit the weecaps which I am sure are a much better version of that chaos of a drama.

I also agree with the possibility of the drama turning into another version of ghost doctor but I doubt it would be a good one.

I feel sorry for the male lead who is practically carrying the show on his shoulders. After a masterpiece like Mr Queen, it is a shame that this is Kim Jung-hyun's comeback drama.

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I dropped this after the first week and am still keeping up with the weecaps, too.

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Let's enjoy the weecaps and root for @daebakgrits and fellow beanies who will stay till the end.

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Oh brave soul @daebakgrits to be forced able to keep going with this mess. Thankfully I dropped last week but this recap made me relive the show's endless tonal confusion. Which is funny when reading about it but eye rolling in the real thing.
Kim Jung-hyun really deserves better at this point.
Hwaiting, Daebakgrits. Hwaiting.

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@daebakgrits so accurately described the episodes haha
Just genre drop after genre drop and none were appealing (at least to me. I loathe the nosy neighbors thing especially in the way it played out here.
At least sometimes nosy neighbors have earnest intentions, here the lady legit was complaining about Gye Jeol smiling too much and touching her husband when she examined him which led to the ex boyfriend jumping to Gye Jeol's defense. Ugh, I just got irritated remembering that haha
Such a needless addition.

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It's a dirty job, but someone's got to do it. 😂

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I kinda agree with the others. Honestly if the doctor wouldn't have come back, then I would have dropped it. Coz it didn't make any sense that him accidentally killing his birth mother is forgotten. I'd watched woori the virgin of the FL but even though it's really not my thing, I had completed it.
I think I'll probably keep watching it, but at this point I don't really have much hopes. But really @daebakgrits thanks for this; can't imagine writing about it. And I'll stay strong knowing you'll be watching it too~

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Thanks for hanging in there with me! And surprisingly, it's often easier to write about a flop than a hit. When I really like a series, it's hard not to gush about all the parts I loved and focus on the important story elements; it almost feels like I'm doing it a disservice by omitting parts for the sake of conciseness. But with a series like Kokdu, it's much easier to hit the high notes and walk away from it. 😂

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My stance from What We're Watching post earlier still stands - and apparently echoes everyone's thoughts here - I like this drama less and less as it goes on. This week was particularly hard to enjoy because everyone was so damn annoying! There were a few plot movements tho - huge contrast with 2nd week where NOTHING happened! - I'm just not sure if they were actually good for the story. Thing that bothers me the most is how the drama seems hell-bent on NOT letting its main OTP to actually get closer and properly explore all the multiple issues their star-crossed relationship has. Instead we - and them - are being tortured by silly back-and-forth banters that hardly go anywhere, crazy genre shifts, infuriating meddling by literally everyone (now even dead Dr Do is here to mess things up!) and utterly failed attempts to be all deep and philosophical by writer. The best part of the week - and probably entire drama - was Kkokdu serenely asking Gye Jeol whether she actually gives a damn about HIM and not just Dr Do, material help he provides her with or the chance of playing (kindergarten-style based on the seriousness she approaches the task with) her dreamed fated romance with a handsome guy that would've "never look at her twice if he wasn't brain damaged". Not sure why drama needs to endlessly insult its FL like that - first 1000 times were enough to drive the point home - but oh well... THAT scene really hit me deep on multiple levels and I'm happy that KJH was at least allowed to do this much in this now obviously failed show. The whole topic was worthy of a nice deep discussion... had the script wasn't so dumb to make this scene and then throw it into the window by making Gye Jeol DEMAND that 3K overcomes his supposed brain-trauma induced amnesia ON THE SPOT because she needs Dr Do's medical skills for an illegal surgery endangering not one but two lives... aaand literally summoning the dead person back on Earth in process. I assume the whole point of Dr Do's sudden comeback isn't to give him closure for the things that got him killed but to add YET ANOTHER moronic love triangle into already overfilled with them plot. And while I'd like for Gye Jeol to finally turn her brains on and re-evaluate her feelings and goals, I'm afraid I don't trust the drama to do that properly anymore.

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3K himself was not as bad as the last week - I think I like him all troubled and brooding (QUIETLY!) the most. Some of his tongue-slips - calling GJ too pretty too look competent professionally or denying his obvious jealousy - were nice. Him actually making a serious effort in giving GJ a fairy tale-like romantic experience (that grand confession preparations made me cringe but she'd probably love it had the things went smoothly) and visibly starting to feel sorry for using her were even more nice. And isn't it just so sad that he's 200% convinced Seol Hui abandoned and forgot him when he literally cursed his soul for her? Now he's bound to go through that AGAIN and I'm so not looking forward to this puppy kicking. Ok, maybe not a literally puppy - 3K's penchant for jumping on the top of things he's not supposed to set his feet on is so cat-like it's hilarious)))

What else?.. Ex-guy is a bore, Dr B***h needs to dismantle her high horse asap, villains' scheme is already clear (faking patients records to get their new super-duper drug approved and make cash), cute bro needs his own crime drama and a better future love interest and minion couple, as funny as they are, clearly overstayed their welcome and should've just stay a one-time cameo. Oh well, without them 3K wouldn't have anyone to talk to... Nah, I'm still fine with it. He could've just keep killing sinners every night and then confide his many woes in his bathroom mirror or something, it's not like he's TOO SANE for that)))

P.S. I want that grapefruit colors gradient sweater 3K has. Willing to trade it for a better fitting pair of pants he clearly is in dire need of)))

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*dismount from her high horse - wtf I was even thinking typing that?!

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Now imagining a drama where a character has to literally dismantle her high horse....

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Don't give k-writers ideas. Just don't.

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Cut Down to Size: The Humbling

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@gikata you pretty much summed up what I've been thinking about this show that I dropped after episode 5.
but this
"P.S. I want that grapefruit colors gradient sweater 3K has. Willing to trade it for a better fitting pair of pants he clearly is in dire need of)))" please please please, why are they dressing him like this?
And Good luck to you @daebakgrits - I'm totally supporting you in your pain - and will keep reading your recaps!
Fighting!!!!!!!!!

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Too bad I'm not self-loving enough to drop it at this point... or maybe drama manages to sink even lower and make me finally snap. Who knows)))

Fashion in this show is utterly bipolar. There were really good moments (particularly some less crazy shirts and sweaters 3K wore, esp the colors - aforementioned grapefruit gradient, maroon, greyish teal, dusty pink) and there were also many absolutely disastrous ones. I've seen people unfamiliar with KJH thinking he is actually short and ill-proportioned thanks to his styling here... *head-desks*

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It is no mean feat to make a tall, lean 1.83m man look like he is one of Snowy White's seven dwarfs;)

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At times Kim Jung Hyun looks like 175cm tall? I don’t know is it the styling or something. He just look shorter than the “official” height? 181 don’t seem like to me. 😆 No offence.

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@DaebakGrits: You are my hero! I can only imagine the amount of dedication and stamina one has to muster to endure this mess which has gone from plain awful to plain unwatchable.

KJH ultra-expressive acting (not to call it over-acting) contrasts with the totally expressionless "acting" of the female lead, who is too tall and too old to pull the clueless, baby-talking/pouting cutesy-pie-number off (especially since the writers made her an ER!doctor!! of all things).

If I was KKokdu, I would hold out another 99 years (or 990 years if necessary) until my love is reborn again as someone with an IQ in the three digit range.

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+1000 for waiting another lifetime or ten for less painful to interact with reincarnation of FL. His minions even advised him to do just that!

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What does her height have to do with being clueless?

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Tall people can be clueless, of course. But when you watch a drama, you would like to see actors fitting their roles.

It is a robust finding in psychological/occupational research: taller people are seen as more competent, assertive and dominant than their counterparts of average height. They even earn more for the same job.

This is just the wrong actress for this part.

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I continue to be entertained by how bad this drama is and how little it makes sense. I don't try to puzzle it out, I just laugh at the absurdity.

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Thanks everyone, for making this comment section the funniest one I have read in a while. It is even beating the Why her group support programme, for entertainment value. I am almost tempted to start watching this show just to get the in jokes. 😆

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Please, chebal, do not place Kokdu side by side with Why Her?. Why Her? is more honorable than Kokdu is showing itself to be.

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So it's not just me who was tonally jerked at the way Kokdu and the story failed to continue GJ's attempted murder storyline, and more annoyingly done as if it never happened.

I could see the Jin-woo comeback from a mile away. But that changes everything. Is she still Seol-hui if she can do that? Isn't her connection bound to Kokdu? I hope they are not forgetting the plot device that Kokdu is built upon.

If Kokdu kept it initial title as Triple Kokkdu, it is really triple unentertaining.

I'm not any pleased that Kim Jung-hyun, Cha Chung-hwa and Kim In-kwon are attached here. It's such a great disservice to their acting prowess. And I'm this close to avoiding anything Im Soo-hyang.

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Why wasn't the domestic abuser in jail for assaulting a doctor earlier in the night? It infuriated me that people stood there scared as they watched the domestic abuser doused the area in gasoline. He should have been tackled before he took out the lighter. The dangerous part isn't the gasoline, it's the fire! And really, no doctors around? Even with such a big hospital.

Aside from the ridiculous hospital scene (thank you, DaebakGrits for recapping that nonsense!), I actually liked this week's episodes a lot.

I find the individual scenes enjoyable. I think the leads have a really good banter rhythm going on, especially with Kim Jung-hyun leading the way with his comedic chops. Im Soo-hyang's got some comedic timing too, but her character is annoying. And she is much better at playing more intense, dark characters. I wonder what goes through her mind as she looks at the writing for GJ. But a paycheck is a paycheck. And at least we get a lot of awesome spit-take-worthy one-liners from Gak Shin.

The viewing experience reminds me of my Doom At Your Service viewing experience. Individual scenes - yes. But WTF is this drama trying to do or say? Where are we going with this? The scenes feel divorced from one another and don't stitch together well to form a narrative.

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So I wasn't the only one reminded of Doom! It's all the same - faux-deep delve into themes of life and death, ill-fated fantasy romance between human girl and grim-reaper-but-not-quite guy, nice little brother of FL and annoying exes with empathy level of serial killer, dumb workplace drama no one cares about, mean child Creator toying with leads, overall struggle with what the show tries to say... This one is funnier though. And ML here doesn't hate the world ONLY because his job sucks.

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I'm glad that here the lines aren't too mysterious and you're right that this one is funnier.

I really liked the secondary couple in DAYS and I liked how the FL had at least one friend and at least one friendly colleague. I enjoyed the scenes of the FL and her team manager/2ML.

I know not everyone is blessed with friends, but it always makes me feel weird when a heroine is just so alone, like the one here. Exceptions would be if she was a supernatural being or had some weird supernatural power that would skeeve other people out. But GJ is pretty much a normal human. She doesn't even interact with her brother much. Like the show had to make her as lonely and vulnerable as she could possible be so that she could be ripe to be taken advantage of.

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Oh, I also liked Lee Soo Hyuk and his character's deadpan sarcasm in DAYS. Honestly, there wasn't much to like otherwise...

Here script could've attempt to do the "she has trust issues after being betrayed by both her bestie and lover" thing or make her loneliness a part of karmic punishment, but alas we'll probably have to accept that show's writer is just not smart enough to properly utilize their own tropes. Watch them forcing GJ to reconcile with SFL after the latter sinks her claws into brother...

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I guess a lot of beanies aren't liking this but I do. This is just silly fun and Im Soo-hyang is doing a great job. Yeah, the story is all over the place but I am just having fun and forgetting troubles watching it. It is quite wordy though which is hard to catch everything they say but that is where that pause button works for me.

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almost forgot Kokdu. He is just fun to watch. Its a show where I don't know exactly why I like it, I just do!

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The second leads are growing on me. Waiting for some redemption from this chaotic drama. Tie up the mess and throw in a more interesting and unpredictable plot twist! Don’t make it boring and weird. I have to watch the drama ignoring the flaws.

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