Oh My Ghostess is about Na Bong Sun (Park Bo Young), a super timid and shy dishwasher at the Sun Restaurant, getting possessed by Shin Soon Ae (Kim Seul Gi), a ghost who believes she needs to resolve her grudge of being a virgin before she can leave the earth. It so happens that Chef Kang Sun Woo (Jo Jung Suk) is the crush of Bong Sun and also a man of vitality who can withstand Soon Ae's ghostly presence, thus Soon Ae (in Bong Sun's body) tries to bed Sun Woo while Sun Woo falls in love with Bong Sun/Soon Ae.
Confusing much? I thoroughly enjoyed the show, but it never really captured my heart because I just didn't know who the female lead was and spent insufficient time with either of them.
Soon Ae was the focus for the first half of the story, and she was absolutely hilarious as a character and adorable with Chef. But as she found herself falling in love with Chef for real, she decided to stop this whole charade and Bong Sun was left to deal with the aftermath. Chef was always concerned about Bong Sun, but only fell in love with her after Soon Ae possessed her. So he was really in love with Soon Ae right? But then after he finds out the truth, he continues the relationship with Bong Sun. The change was quick and not super convincing. Which is the true OTP? Who were we supposed to root for? In the end I rooted for nobody, and this cost me the emotional attachment to the show.
Another problem I had was the sketchy rules in the ghost world. Soon Ae was trapped in Bong Sun's body at first because their frequencies matched, so why could she leave the body whenever she wanted to after Bong Sun gave her permission? What happened to the evil spirit in the end? Didn't they say evil spirits can't die? These are minor points in the grand scheme of things, but it shows that the writing could have been tighter.
Shortcomings with the plot and writing aside, this was mainly enjoyable because of the performances, especially the 2 leading ladies. Jo Jung Suk's performance as Chef was good but his character wasn't as hard to act as the ladies imo. I've always liked Park Bo Young since Speedy Scandal (must watch!) and she's well known for being an excellent actress so I wasn't surprised that she acted so well. In awe, but not surprised. The way she captured Soon Ae's mannerisms were really spot on. And she was adorableeeeee. How to not fall in love with her?
This was my first time watching Kim Seul Gi and she was a revelation in my opinion. Considering she started out as a comedienne, I expected her to do the funny scenes with no problems. But I was surprised that she nailed the emotional scenes as well and really made my heart ache for her sad fate. She really breathed life into Soon Ae's character.
Special mention goes to Im Joo Hwan for his chilling, nuanced performance as Choi Sung Jae, a police officer married to Eun Hee (Chef's sister) but ended up being the perpetrator behind Eun Hee's accident that caused her to lose her ability to walk AND the murderer of Soon Ae, as well as a bunch of other bad deeds. He never went overboard, which I think made him that much scarier. And even while he was acting nice, you could see the evil side underneath lurking.
I also loved the camaraderie between the chefs in the restaurant. They were such supportive brothers to Bong Bong and it was just heartwarming watching their scenes. Well, except for Heo Min Soo, the sous chef who was just plain annoying. I don't know why Sun Woo didn't fire him.
Another one of my favourite characters was Seobingo, who added even more comedy to the already pretty funny show. Her friendship with Sun Woo's mum (who was also a hoot) was plenty hilarious, and her eventual almost maternal like relationship with Soon Ae made me go warm and fuzzy.
This show got rave reviews last year, and I understand why. It was a great watch, not perfect but another testament to the quality of dramas produced by tvN. They really need their own awards show!
Favourite scenes!
After Bong Sun asks Soon Ae to possess her, and they skip happily together as 2, then only 1 person remains on screen. I have a thing for such shots (a similar shot was used in It's Okay It's Love in the ending of ep 4), and I also love how these 2 lonely souls found someone to talk to.
When Soon Ae stepped out of Bong Sun's body when she was kissing Chef for the first time. So chilling, and Kim Seul Gi's acting in that moment showing Soon Ae's uncertainty, fear and sadness was perfect.
