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The Heavenly Idol: Episodes 7-8

Less laughter and more evil accompany this week’s episodes, as our characters begin to discover new sides to the humans and deities they once thought they knew — almost — everything about.

 
EPISODES 7-8

After a confession, the confessing party is usually the embarrassed one, but after last week’s “confession,” Dal remains as cool as a cucumber and Rembrary is the one all flustered about it. “You cannot have feelings for me, I am a cleric,” he says to her. And when Dal denies having any such feelings and chalks up her statement to wishful thinking, he hilariously gets angry at her for confusing him. Then Dal goes on to insist that the one she likes is Yeon-woo, and Rembrary is all, “Fine, you can love him forever! We’ll soon swap souls and he’ll return to you.” Lol. Rembrary is so cute!

But the scales soon fall from Dal’s eyes when she discovers that her beloved Yeon-woo wasn’t even behind the replies to the fan mails she sent to him. That two-faced brat couldn’t even be bothered to reply to his fan mails, and Jung-seo has been the one replying on his behalf since the inception of the group. Tsk. It’s obvious the only reason Yeon-woo hasn’t been kicked out of Wild Animal is because of his visuals, and that’s why Tae-in gets upset when Yeon-woo (Rembrary) is made lead vocalist in their upcoming single as opposed to Tae-in who is the group’s main vocalist.

The Heavenly Idol: Episodes 7-8

To mend their relationship, Rembrary goes on a temple stay variety show with Tae-in, which also has Jung-shin as a cast member. And since Rembrary lost out on Sing Survival, he has to be Jung-shin’s slave for a day as per their bet. Vows and bets are sacred to Rembrary, and he takes his slavery duties so seriously, that even I am getting second hand embarrassment at his subservience towards his new master.

Tae-in senses something sinister in Jung-shin but he can’t be bothered because he’s on the outs with Yeon-woo (Rembrary). But when Rembrary gets drunk in the process of slavery duties and attempts to drive off to his doom as per master’s orders, a worried Tae-in has to step in before it’s too late. “Were you worried because I’d have ruined the group?” Rembrary asks Tae-in after sobering up. “No, it’s because you were going to die,” Tae-in replies grudgingly. Awwww. *Sniff, sniff* It’s such a sweet make up session — well, up until the point Rembrary inadvertently frightens Tae-in by sensing the presence of ghosts around them. Lol.

The Heavenly Idol: Episodes 7-8

With his ghost-y senses activated, Rembrary finally pieces Gam-jae’s identity together. “You’re a reaper!” Rembrary exclaims, and I’m like, of course he’s a grim reaper, duh! He doesn’t give off a dark aura and wears strictly black for mere aesthetics. Neither does he issue constant warnings about the consequences of messing with life and death just to sound mysterious. Pfft.

Gam-jae takes Rembrary — who is desperate to meet Lord Redrin by any means — to the Afterlife, but for someone who has caused much chaos to their realm, the queen is reluctant to help him for free. So, Rembrary is drawn into yet another bargain: he must help the queen capture a newly debuted boy group and annul the contract they made with the evil deity. (Said contract turned this group from humans to goblins, just like the late Black-Hooded Minion). Rembrary must also infiltrate the secret religious group and bring their master (the priestess from last week) to the Afterlife. Only then will the queen help Rembrary to meet with Lord Redrin.

But when Rembrary insists that the religious group serves Lord Redrin and they cannot be affiliated with evil, the queen asks if he thinks Redrin is as good as he believes. Hmmm. From Rembrary’s point of view — which is also our point of view — Lord Redrin is a good deity. But at this point, I no longer know what to believe. And with the discovery we made about Redrin this week (more of that later), I think Rembrary is the only one in the dark about the deity he serves.

In other news, I have become a big fan of the Afterlife citizens. Those joyless souls can teleport (which is like a really cool superpower to have), and they are way more efficient than Rembrary when it comes to fishing for information. Rembrary would probably have spent all night trying to find out The Evil One’s location from Jung-shin. But a single encounter with the grim reaper is all it takes for Jung-shin to begin spilling his guts to Gam-jae and Rembrary. LMAO!

The duo even make Jung-shin confess his sins to the trainee he pushed off the stairs in order to debut, and this gets him cancelled by the public, following the trainee’s post about Jung-shin’s evil deeds online. And I hope this public cancellation is the last we’ll see of Jung-shin. But in the meantime, thanks to his intel, Gam-jae and Rembrary get The Evil One’s location. He’s in a meeting with Dal!

Dal’s meeting with The Evil One was on an official basis since his earthly host is a big shot in the entertainment industry. But as soon as he opened his mouth to speak, she knew right away that she was in the presence of The Evil One — who Rembrary always spoke about. Unfortunately, her death wish against Liz Ri’s hate commenters last week is all the opening The Evil One needs to baptize her into red-eyed minionhood. Although, it is worth noting that Dal isn’t easily susceptible to the minionhood, and that’s probably because she’s a good person regardless of the death wish.

According to The Evil One, there’s nothing more amusing than having Dal betray Rembrary, because there’s nothing more painful than being betrayed by the person you trust the most. And The Evil One would know this, because from all indications, he just might have been betrayed by Lord Redrin herself! At least, that’s what he thinks.

This is something I didn’t see coming, and now I want to know the full story behind his gaze at Lord Redrin’s apparition with such longing and sorrowful eyes before the swift realization that it was just an imposter sent by the secret religious group. Oof! What in the love between fairy and demon is going on here? And how did the religious group even know that there was something between The Evil One and Redrin to the point of sending an imposter to him?

Anyway, back to The Evil One’s office, it’s a clash of the titans between Evil, Rembrary, and Gam-jae, with each one showing off their respective skills. Teleportation ultimately wins, and our people manage to get the hell outta the office before Evil can harm them any further. Phew! But it’s not a complete loss for Evil, because he is left with the realization that Rembrary might actually have feelings for Dal. Oh boy!

After temporarily dealing with The Evil One, Rembrary and Gam-jae move on to their next agenda: locating the newly debuted boy group. The group’s name is Evil Boys (how fitting!) and unsurprisingly, they’re already number one on the charts — probably an indication that their Faustian bargain with the evil deity was for success. The arrival of the new group also serves to finally cast a spotlight on Wild Animal’s maknae CHA HAE-GYEOL (Shin Kyu-hyun) — who recognizes one of the evil boys as the leader of the gang that used to bully him in high school.

The Heavenly Idol: Episodes 7-8

Hae-gyeol’s past as a bullying victim is eventually leaked online, and netizens cyberbully him even more. So, the poor boy ends up running away because he already has a nonexistent presence in Wild Animal, and he doesn’t want to further be a nuisance to the group. Sigh. But the members find him anyway, because it’s okay to be a “nuisance” sometimes, and they share a heartwarming reunion that had me blinking several times to stop my tears. (But an equally emotional Gam-jae goes on to hug himself instead of joining the group hug, and my tears get replaced with laughter!)

As for Dal, she still retains some elements of black magic after her encounter with The Evil One, and that’s because the black magic is tied to her refusal to forgive herself after what happened to Liz Ri. As a side effect of the magic, Dal’s innermost thoughts and desires pop out from time to time — although most of her thoughts are hilarious things like attempting to play hooky, and the occasional fangirling on Rembrary.

The Heavenly Idol: Episodes 7-8

But to hone in on Dal’s self-hate even more, The Evil One visits Liz Ri in the hospital with an assignment for her: suicide. Thankfully, Rembrary arrives just in time to stop Liz Ri from jumping off the Rooftop of Doom. Phew! He gives her a gift from Dal: a compilation of positive netizen comments, and a letter conveying Dal’s wish for Liz Ri to move on and live happily.

In turn, Liz Ri conveys her forgiveness to Dal, saying she doesn’t resent her for what happened. And out of ways to comfort Dal — who still refuses to forgive herself — Rembrary goes in for a healing forehead kiss, and that prompts Dal’s real confession as we close this week’s chapter. “It’s not the black magic. I think I like you.” Woosh!

Love story aside, this has to be the most confusing week yet. For a 12-episode drama, there’s way too many things going on in this show, and I cannot be the only one who is fed up with the entire otherworldly drama. I mean, we are having bloodsucking goblins now? Come on, Show! Honestly, I really miss the fun and light-heartedness of the earlier episodes, and I’d like nothing better than for the different branches of evil in this drama’s universe to wage war against themselves and spontaneously combust, so we can all move on to better things.

The Heavenly Idol: Episodes 7-8

 
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I actually enjoyed Ep 8 because they threw in goblins to the mix of bad guys as if it would up the stakes for Rembrary, but it just turned out to be ridiculous that I ended up laughing about the whole situation.

The dating show was fun to watch, but the cherry on the top goes to the group hug at the end which makes me sad because the drama should have been only about the dynamics between the group members and their idol life.

I was also anxious of Dal being controlled by the Evil One which would lead to more melo+angst, but the show gave a nice twist of making her bad thoughts to be as harmless as being lethargic and swooning over Yeon Woo 😂 The FL was really cute in those scenes.

Gam Jae's nonchalant response to everything and anything except for his Grim Reaper duties is a crack of next level😂

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Thanks for the recap @unit! I, admittedly, dropped this show after episode 5. I don’t want to invest the time anymore, but am still curious as to what happens so here I am!

::sigh:: In a comment I made on the first recap, I expressed my hopes that the story wouldn’t get too complicated for its 12 episode length…I should have known better 🤦🏻‍♀️

The main reason I dropped it was because of The Evil One and the other world story lines. The show is at its best when it’s being a fish-out-of-water idol drama with a side of healing rom-com. The other world stuff feels like it’s from a different show and is really killing the vibe.

I’m not familiar with the source material, but I’m sure the story lines work well in there. Just something with the execution of bringing it to the screen has fallen short—maybe the writing or the editing/pacing…both?

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It's nice to know that I'm not the only one who preferred the earlier episodes. As I was watching, I was genuinely wondering "is it me or is this not as funny as before?"

I see that alot of people wanted or thought the show would focus more on the "idol" over the "heavenly" and I honestly didn't know what to expect. I thought it was going to be a balance, like in the earlier episodes, of Rembrary having these holy powers and how that affected his time as an idol (such as healing music and being so supportive, people can't help but open up to him) and instead it's this off the rails, throw every plausible supernatural thing at Rembrary and see what happens thing. I don't understand! Well, actually I can understand because it's obvious the writer just went on a tangent and got lost trying to make it all fit once it was out there in the universe. Like they handicapped Rembrary and made the bad guy overpowered (since people suck with their inherent greed, jealousy, etc) so they brought in other elements to, I don't know, balance it out? Give Rembrary some supernatural support? I don't know.

Finally got some scenes with the other 2 guys in the group and all I could think was so all their limited screentime was intentional?! For Tae In, his thing is he's working hard behind the scenes yet goes unacknowledged and unseen which fosters his resentment. Hae Gyeol's thing is he's such a none presence he can literally just disappear (this felt so meta to me because I legitimately often forgot this dude existed).

Sidenote: the contrived coincidences was SO strong this episode haha. That might've earned the most scoffs and chuckles from me because it was like "wow, really?". Seriously, Rembrary's variety show date happened to run some agency (or something) that Han Gyeol went to for a job and she remembered him, the non descript unnoticable guy? But fine, sure, the reunion is nice because it's the first time they really seemed to actually care about each other.

I'm so confused about Yeon Woo. Was he on something the day he met Dal; something that makes one notice and care about other people? How is he so different from that one moment compared to *every* other moment of his time in the group? Was it a bet or a dare? See if he can actually engage with people enough they accepted the CDs? Is she romanticizing that memory? Did he really not give her things to look forward to and take away the charcoal thing?

Also why is he even an idol if his goal is to be an actor? Can people not just get into acting? I know it seems like actors have to be able to sing and dance but I'm not understanding why he would've thought this was the easier path to that end goal.

Did they ever say what these scandals were? Am I just constantly forgetting about what Liz did and why Dal feels such guilt over it? Was it a marketing thing?

And what is this beat about the CEO and the singer? I don't know how I'm supposed to feel about it but I...

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...don't think I'm feeling the way the writer wants me to.

There were still moments that I found funny such as Dal's "evil energy" manifesting in her wanting to ditch work but then her will to be diligent is so strong that she's just at odds with herself haha. Rembrary poking the goblin boy was chuckle worthy to me. Rembrary's reaction to Dal's lusting after him as well as the other staff's reaction to it was also a fun moment. Rembrary's crazed servitude was funny too and just imagining it from Tae In's point of view must've just been crazy to witness haha.

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I’m confused about Yeon Woo too! I was agonizing about this last night! Okay, maybe not agonizing, lol, but strongly wondering what his deal is and if his “saving” Dal was sincere or just by coincidence.

Instead of focusing on the Evil One, etc. I think it would’ve been interesting to see Yeon Woo masquerading around as Rembrary in the other world. I mean, how is he getting by with no powers? Is he really such a d-bag? If so, maybe some time being forced to help others would redeem his character. I also think it would be funny to see more of Rembrary as Yeon Woo and Yeon Woo as Rembrary bickering telepathically while trying to figure out how to switch back (or thwart efforts of switching in Yeon Woo’s case).

Alas, what could’ve been…

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No, I don't think show ever explained in detail what exactly happened to Liz Ri and why Dal is blamed for it. From all the small hints here and there it looks like a drastic image change gone wrong - Dal as a concept planner went for something too daring with Liz and fans were not having it, but it's kinda weird that they targeted their anger at Liz and not agency. Yes, idols get blamed for ridiculous things all the time, but so are their companies, and hardcore fans usually make hating the company a sport))) Is drama trying to insert another very specific allusion here but too afraid of backlash to make it clear what scandalous female idol they took as an inspiration? I can think of a few possible candidates... But it's just lazy writing at this point - either go for it and make your point loud and clear, consequences be damned, or stay tactful and create a fictional scandal that's not too heavily based on any real story to explore it properly.

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I'm glad you mentioned the show never explained what happened to Rizzie. I was confused since they were wrapping up this trauma arc without saying what happened. Glad I didn't miss it, but curious about the vagueness. I've been following kpop/k-entertainment for 2 decades, the only scandals i could think of are pregnancy, drugs, dating, and bullying (or one member accuses the others as bullies). Sometimes you get weird one-offs like that one idol of a failing group (from Big Hit/Hybe before they created BTS) blackmailing Lee Byung-hyun for cheating.

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Thing is, they didn't even have to make it this complicated - having idol under your care attempting to kill herself over hate comments is more than enough to mess with one's psyche. Instead they kept hinting at a bigger story that was never really told and most likely will never be. Did the script got censored the last minute or something?

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This drama is like a video game, there is the main quest and they added a lot of little useless ones...

There isn't really a character that I like. The ML is fun but I don't really care for him because there is no tension about him being an idol or him having powers. The selfpity of the FL is kinda boring. The members of the group are all selfcentered, it doesn't really make me root for them. The Evil One is a boring villain who doesn't attack the ML but uses weak humans.

At least, at the beginning, the story was funny.

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I'm sticking around for the core storyline and relationship, and kind of smiling and nodding as I try to keep track of/keep straight all the other plot threads that are running through the show. I could handle the Evil One being present on Earth and causing trouble, and there being Earthly followers of Lord Redrin *as long as* the Earthly following wasn't the big bag of complicated they've made it. The followers would be great for assisting Rembrary in the Big Final Battle against the Evil One, for example.

I forget who plays the Queen of the Afterlife, but what a pleasure to watch her! I absolutely love watching older actors who've honed their craft and absolutely SLAY when they perform. I want more Queen of the Afterlife just for the pleasure of watching the performance.

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The lovely Jang Young-Nam is playing the Afterlife Queen.

Korea has such a deep well of talent to choose from.

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Thanks @unit, and totally agree with, "Honestly, I really miss the fun and light-heartedness of the earlier episodes". Yes, it had such potential as a fish-out-of-water story, and particularly a cleric moving into a role which is a complete 180 from his ideas, morals, tastes and experiences. The scoffing of "tributes", the dance practices, the horror at the state of the dorm - all great fun, but now long gone (or picked up again but now not raising a smile from me). They really got it wrong by prioritising the other-worldly angst. In if for KMK only now.

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The thing is I get the otherworldly elements being needed because why else did Rembrary come to this world, it's just the execution/balance seems off? Maybe if both he and the evil one had to adjust to the new world and were on an equal playing field, the end result would be different. Or even if the evil one was just using the ceo's natural power and influence rather than the supernatural, evil minions all the time, things would feel different. (Though to be fair, Wild Animal didn't need any help in sabotaging themselves into oblivion)

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Oy, dropped. Couldn’t do it.

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I think the show is low key ... smart? As in, I love what they have done with the other two Wild Animal members, it was meta but made perfect sense in the context of said characters. I also loved the twist with Da Li's "darkness". Her clinging onto it was an interesting twist.

On a side note, how Rembrary did not get cancelled yet is a mystery. At this point, I think people consider him so weird that whatever he says is not taken seriously.

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I was going to join the complaints not only about significantly withered fun but also the lack of kpop meta this week, but then drama turned situation over by showing the picture (headless one lmao) of my nugu bias for a brief moment and now I'm in The Shock, thank you big time, THI. The whole fandom is currently having a mental breakdown and can't decide whether this counts as his drama debut or not, and I've been cackling like a goblin (non-kdrama one) over the fact for 2 days already))) Fine, I'll let you off the hook for this one, show... but only temporarily.

Rembrary's "but I'm a cleric!" dilemma was not milked out properly, imo - I was waiting for a scene where he thinks hard over the issue, but mostly he was just avoiding Dal and pondering how to reject her nicely *sigh* And that's despite him being obviously shaken and confused, if those childish jealousy outbursts are to be trusted. He kind of started to wonder if there's a place for him in this world after all... for a whole minute, and then got hopelessly distracted. Grandpa memory lapses much?))) Dal herself can't seem to decide whom and how much she likes, but at least her side I can get - she's not only wounded and guarded, but also apparently utterly inexperienced in dating and confessions. Rembrary got himself exposed here, I believe - the way he handled that lady on a dating show once he REALLY needed her attention was way too smooth. Is our holy man a retired playboy, and that's why he didn't want to discuss it?)))

Good thing that we've got more of Wild Animal and team bonding, but I can't help but feel it's a bit late and a bit forced - they barely talked to each other before, and now they cry while group hugging? Oh well, at least it was touching (and surely make a great variety footage). Reaper being left out of hugging circle tho lol)))

Devil's deal with Redrin gets more sus with time. Were they realm creator couple and then she betrayed him for power? Or another dude? Cleric, maybe? His hatred for Rembrary does have some jelly undertones... Evil Boys aren't nearly as fun as their group's name, sorry. At least Jungshin had some personality. And idk why we need a love story between CEO and sunbae singer here. I'd rather see WA PERFORMING for once.

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And idk why we need a love story between CEO and sunbae singer here.

I agree. Filler material. The show is odd, shaky script, not sure where story is headed, yet I’m still watching.

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Because it's short and relatively harmless compared to other messy ongoings? It doesn't make me as angry as, say, Kkokdu does. Just bring back more humor and cute food PPL and I'll be fine with anything!

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Reaper patting himself and wanting to be part of the hugging circle was hilarious and sweet.

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I haven't watched the episodes yet and now I am inclined to drop the drama. Too many characters too many realms too much going on. Why should they turn any light-hearted drama into chaos? Why take the drama so seriously?

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It may be chaotic but I don't think it's taking anything particularly seriously.

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Minority opinion here but I'm still enjoying it. The camp, meta and humour really work for me. Although it came late, it was nice to see some development for Taein and Gyeol. I didn't expect Taein to be such a softie 😂

As for the eeeeevil shenanigans, well I could do without them but I don't take them too seriously. At least there are no serial killers...

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I’m with you. Despite the flaws, this show has become my happy place each week. I can always depend on it to get a laugh from me. It is a bit all over the place, like they’re trying to pack in as much as possible in the 12 ep runtime. Still it manages to feel both nostalgic and refreshing to me.

I also find this grand fight between Good and Evil set within the world of K-pop/variety of all places to be amusingly campy, if not exactly the most necessary to my enjoyment. I actually think the show does a fairly good job of keeping that screentime to a minimum. Compared to a lot of other rom-coms that have let their thriller/angsty elements completely change the energy of the show, this one actually stands out to me as one that hasn’t ever lost sight of itself.

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Guess I’m one of the few still loving this messy yet endearing little show. A little bit rushed, a little disjointed, and yet somehow it still manages to come together for me.

This week’s eps were actually a return to form for me after a slight dip in hilarity in ep 6. Eps 3-5 and 7-8 have been my fav eps overall. Perhaps because in these episodes the darker stuff was either undercut by surprisingly funny resolutions or became the motivator forcing characters to face their problems, thanks to the help of Rembrary. Eps 1-2 were really funny, but didn’t offer much of the healing I’ve come to love from this show because Rem was so focused on getting back, he didn’t connect much with the other groupmates or anyone around him.

I also haven’t minded the show teasing out him getting close to the other members one by one so I’m not as caught up in lamenting what could have been there. I absolutely love the odd couple team-up between Rem and Gam-jae, which has made it much easier to enjoy the otherworldly drama as they work together to resolve it.

I fear the next eps are going to be the truly angsty ones though so currenly hoping against hope that some hilarity will remain to get us through.

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I'm so glad they teamed up too. That's so much fun.

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This show is a goddamn mess of bizarre proportions, focusing on the parts nobody wants to watch while taking time away from the things people want. But it’s so delightfully stupid and messy I can’t stop watching. I think I’m one of maybe five people still enjoying it for the frothy guilty pleasure it is, and I suspect that number will steadily decrease in the two remaining weeks (the show is somehow too short for all its ridiculous lore and too long for its subject matter).

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