Because I got disappointed by My Demon I decided to try another similar fantasy drama and probably get disappointed by that too but I happened to really enjoy it. The fantasy drama being Doom At Your Service, spoilers ahead.

Back when this was released I was busy and the reviews seemed to be mixed so I didn’t pick it up but now I had some fantasy drama itch to scratch and I chose this one.
See I really enjoy fantasy drama flaws and all I mean I am one of the few people here that likes Angel’s last mission and I watched it weekly so it’s not even the binge watch magic that made it for me, so when I felt like last two episodes of My Demon sucked, I wanted to check if I have been burnt out by the genre and Doom At Your Service is how I checked it which made me think about what works and doesn’t work for me in this genre. Long post ahead.

I think the best thing about Doom At Your Service is Park Bo Young. She is so good and honestly forgot about that cause the last thing I saw her in was Strong Woman and I really do not like that one. Maybe if I watched this weekly I would have felt these storylines were redundant but when I was binge watching I felt like the show was making a point by showing nothing changes the fate of our leads and the initial premise remained intact. Seo In Guk is also really good as the tragic and sad male lead. I think the leads in My Demon were also great they were also pretty much the best thing about the show and both shows demanded very different leads, like My Demon’s leads were way more eccentric and comedic and Doom’s were much more serious much in line with the each of their shows tone but I felt that My Demon couldn’t really make the more tragic parts of the story land which is why the ending didn’t work cause if the tragedy didn’t land how would the ending work.

I think My Demon is really fun, it has so many tropes that I have found fun in the past and some nice fresh takes on a few of them but I think I have found why the mix of tropes show start off strong and then fizzle out for me, while the premise is fun these shows try to do too much, a chaebol power struggle, a killer on the loose, deities roaming around, contract marriage, past lives, repeating fates, comic relief gang, was present during your parent’s death and couldn’t save them and a few others that by the end nothing feels sincere. Meanwhile Doom has a decent number of flaws but I felt it came and focused on the story it wanted to tell which is why I cried when Park Bo Young felt helpless cause the entire show I saw her trying her best to change anything, I cried when she was anxious about him disappearing on their last day together, her family lacked a chaebol but I loved their bond with each other and the show did a good job of showing the history and depth those bonds have would I have a blown a gasket if I had seen this weekly and the main leads had 2 episodes where they forgot about each other, probably, but I felt why it happened made enough sense that I was okay with it. I loved seeing Seo In Guk becoming a human eating and sleeping in the end cause all those plot threads were established and running throughout the show when we reached the end. I feel if Doom was a 2023 show, PBY would have met SIG in the Joseon era as well where they both fell in love and she died and now he is angry at God and hates humans and they would have met again and fate is repeating itself.

I also liked the deities in Doom, like the God here was a new take on the concept and I felt that she really cared for our leads and that is why his reappearing also made more sense cause the God really seemed like someone who cared enough about him to help him out to return. This post is not me saying Doom is the better show, if you want a fun show I honestly feel My Demon is the easy choice. For me that fun came at the cost of the show feeling hollow at the end.