Lightning in a bottle is impossible to replicate and even trying something similar in genre is a risky move to make the comparisons all the more stark. tvN finished airing the K-drama adaptation of fantasy manhwa Bride of the Water God this week and the entire thing went down like me munching on a bag of somewhat stale potato chips on a lazy weekend afternoon while watching funny animal videos because I have nothing better to do, i.e. the drama was passable consumption but ultimately unsatisfying in every way other than as a time fill.

The cast of Nam Joo Hyuk, Shin Se Kyung, and Krystal attended the wrap party earlier in the week, with Gong Myung and Im Joo Hwan absent but actually fared better in the drama in terms of character and acting than the three who attended. If tvN wanted to capture fantasy like hit drama Goblin then it failed miserably with Bride, but the drama was also not the total hot mess it could have been based on the cast and moving the setting from historical fantasy to modern day. In the end I didn’t like any of the leads or connected with their acting, and sadly proves yet again that nothing can salvage a drama where the script is simply missing half the components of depth and breadth. Continue reading →