Categories: K-dramas

Episode 17 of Alchemy of Souls Stays High in 7.566% But Delivers Low Narrative Reveals to Characters or Audience

I hate to tell the Hong Sisters how to write a good drama, but I can definitely tell them what mistakes they are doing to make Alchemy of Souls no longer a good drama and veering into a frustratingly bad one. They are lucky the the jam-packed with excitement start and no real competition in the time slot has allowed this drama to remain high in ratings with today’s episode 17 at 7.566%. Sadly return of Zaddy Mage did not reveal ANYTHING either to Jang Wook knowing the alcoholic hobo is his long missing dad nor did he say anything new. Same with Mu Deok’s predicament, no movement on how to keep her soul in real Bu Yeon’s body (or not) and what real Bu Yeon can even do in the first place. She sounds like a deus ex machina at this point, the magic bullet to solve all problems when the Hong Sisters are ready for it likely at the very dang end. Don’t get me started on how absurdly stupid everyone is at either Songrim, Se Juk Won, or Jin Won, letting Jin Moo with his one breath short of cackling like a evil villain ways set up his own Death Eater franchise at Cheon Bu Gwan with none the wise until now and even then nothing is being done to take him down. At this point I’m one episode at a time and this one mostly was filler but maybe episode 18 will deliver needed payoff on some plot points. First one is to tornado twist fake Bu Yeon Sol Yi into the ether.

ockoala

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  • Meh. For a tvn drama by the HS in a primetime Saturday-Sunday timeslot and having no real competition, the ratings are quite average. It's been flip-flopping between the 5%, 6%, 7% range and even dipped to 4% at some point. Its highest rating was 7.6% back in EP14 and we're going on EP18. Dramas in unfavorable timeslots/on smaller cable channels have done better. The ratings are not a flop by any means but it's not as impressive as Koala makes it seem.

  • This show had so much potential. First the announcement of season 2 and the focus of season 2 sabotaged it. Then the narrative. did the rest. They have been going on circles for 10 episodes with little progress. Right now, I know everything about Naksu but nothing about the Jin girl so how are they going to do 10 more episodes with her as the focus. Even tye dad coming back was like "that's it". Maybe thr last two will be spectacular but I am holding out little hope. The actors are doing well.

    • Ohhh noooo is it thát bad😞

      I'm so excited y'all bursting my bubble!

      I'll have to see for myself can't wait😬

    • Hong sisters have long lost touch with modern sensibilities. Characters are being “tormented” by artificial barriers and conflicts that aren’t felt because of weak character development. Plot development is nonexistent too even into ep 18. Even reading the recap is a chore to me. It’s more fun to read your rants. Thanks!

  • Actually your critics on the plot and character development are pretty vague. It's more of a venting rather than a review. I have watched the drama since the beginning and i could see the symmetry of the main plot. The writers didn't lose the logical sequences of the narrative main points. I think for those who love the drama..the background info is adequate and good enough about Bu yeon. I mean we cant really say we dont know anything about Bu Yeon. What is missing is that how did she lose her memory about who she is or didn't she?

  • This is the reason why I am waiting for the drama end before decide watching it or not despite of the good review. Because Hong sisters weakness is never the beginning, but the ending. I think they always can make a very interesting drama in the beginning, just to go downhill near the ending.

  • Love the way you write. Totally agree to “ tornado twist fake Bu Yeo Sol Yi into the ether”

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