Hwayugi Resumes Airing Episodes 3-4 This Weekend and Continues High Ratings Past 6%

Cable network tvN aired episodes 3 and 4 of its fantasy drama Hwayugi (A Korean Odyssey) this weekend after two weeks off and the drama picked up right where it left off on Christmas Eve’s episode 2. Ratings for Episode 3 matched episode 2 of 5.6% and went up to just breaking 6.0% for episode 4. It’s not a surprise because the drama is fun and worth watching for the Hong Sisters creative spin on the Journey to the West classic tale, but also understandable for those put off by all the production woes that have come to light from inability to finish special effects prior to airing to unsafe and over long working conditions on set leading to a catastrophic injury for a staff member who fell off a ladder and is still in the hospital suffering paralytic lower half symptoms. The production company has come out and fully apologized for all its mistakes and misconduct, adding another PD to the production and giving the crew two days of vacation to recuperate. I’m all for airing one episode a week to keep up the pace and keep the working conditions above board, but I think with the Minister of Labor keeping an eye on Hwayugi this is one production that will toe the line going forward.


Comments

Hwayugi Resumes Airing Episodes 3-4 This Weekend and Continues High Ratings Past 6% — 18 Comments

  1. Despite al the production problems, Hwayugi is doing really well. So Prison Playbook and Hwayugi are leading when it comes to ratings. Cable channels were stuck in a rut for a while so I hope they finally start to pick up and focus on good story telling and good casting. Public channels still have to step it up.

    • I am not so sure… while paralyzed from a job – Who cares how much the boss is making? I hope he got full compensation plus subsidy for life.

    • I would think he would want the production company to do very well…no excuses then to not have a good financial plan for this guy though I hope the paralysis might not be permanent. No amount of $ is going to compensate for that.

  2. The drama is really creative with good chemistry among the casts. No wonder they got high rating.. it gets better and better every episode.

    Hope they will compensate the poor man fully and pay for his therapy. Praying that he can get better

  3. I personally think it’s getting a bit boring. It’s not the dramas fault really but i feel the need to compare it to Goblin which had a lot action and fast paced plot or the currently airing black knight which is also starting to slow down a bit.

    The first two episodes of Hwayugi were fun, figuring out all the characters and all all but the recent two were not so thrilling asides from the whole war premonition which still was lacking because it’s just planes shooting down building. Not really a well developed threat.

    I know I’m being hard and over critical on the drama so I’m gonna watch 4 more episodes before making a firm judgement on it.

  4. I’m not a big fan of the actress. She’s always doing the same face. But the story is fun even if I would prefer they spend time together without the help of the bracelet…

  5. The idea is really clever but the execution is far from polished. Characters are given very cursory treatments and stay shallow and forgettable. Supporting characters come and go without rising above decorative functions, and frankly the Bull King’s slapstick tricks are getting old and cringe-worthy. The main romance is sudden and feels forced, without enough time for proper development, and I would really prefer that they start as partners who then develop feelings for each other. Of course the whole premise is established on the Monkey’s vampire-like thirst for the heroine’s blood, who then finds himself trapped against his will and at her bidding. This by itself is a clever dilemma story-wise, but to add love into the whole bargain leaves a sour taste in the mouth, since the romance feels insincere, contrived and manipulative.

    I am most unhappy with the CGI, which is really coarse and amateurish, and the building of the fantasy element. There is not enough of world-building or background exposition at the beginning to pull the audience in to this different fantasy world, or to get an idea why the demons are what they are. I guess this will follow later, but I am just not that hooked. As to ghost-exorcising, isn’t it just too simple or underwhelming if one could just defeat the demons by waving a fist in the air or pointing a finger at them? Like a child’s game.

    • I think at this point, the romance is supposed to feel insincere and manipulative and the eye opener for Oh Gong will come when he realizes that his love is no longer a result of being manipulated but real.
      Also, I have no problem with how the ghost-excorcising is carried out because in Journey to the West, Sun Wukong was one of the mightiest warrior alive, basically single-handedly beating all of the heaven’s warriors and army . He was only defeated by the Budha himself so I’m glad that they didn’t unnecessarily nerf his powers here so far so it makes sense that for him, killing these ghosts and demons have so far been a child’s game since he is just that powerful.

  6. The show is fantastic and so fun so far. tvn has had such bad luck this year, but they are lucky they have great actors (biased, but especially LSG/Oh Gong is a delight to watch) and Hong Sisters are putting out some good scripts. Hopefully things continue without any problems and it grows more. I haven’t been excited for a kdrama in awhile so I’m pretty happy.

  7. tvn putting 2 to 3 actors who are all leading in previous dramas in 1 drama is the new trend, maybe 1 of the reason why they want to save on other matters which lead to the accident, but end up spending more by hiring more pds and cg people

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.