When I heard the whisperings of the evil spirits in episode 1, I was immediately reminded of this passage in the gospel of Mark, chapter 5: “My name is Legion, for I am many.” Jesus exorcised the myriad demons from the madman, and allowed them to possess a herd of swine, which promptly stampeded over a cliff and into the Sea of Galilee and drowned. The locals got upset and asked Him to leave. This article explains why, and completely floored me when I read it.

The madman was the local wangtta — not only an outcast, but the scapegoat who took on everyone else’s demons. Society could not function without him. Fans of REBEL: THE THIEF WHO STOLE THE PEOPLE will recognize a similar dynamic at work in Ga-ryung’s retelling of Ursula K. Le Guin’s short story “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas.”
[RIP, UKLG. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/jan/25/ursula-le-guin-david-mitchell-earthsea%5D%5D

I cannot help but consider all the suffering caused by bullying and scapegoating, as well as the high rates of alcoholism and suicide, in real life and as depicted in Kdramas. I nearly fell out of my chair when I saw how the author related scapegoating to family dynamics, co-dependency, and impediments to recovery from alcoholism. With these issues as subtext, I’m looking forward to seeing how THE GUEST unfolds.

Disclaimer: I have no connection with the Theopolis Institute. I was raised Roman Catholic, but left the institutional church many years ago.