Bride of the Water God Ep 15-16 (Final) Discussion Post

[keytfelt.livejournal.com]

 

Synopsis: When the narcissistic water god Ha Baek visits earth in order to find a stone powerful enough to help him claim his throne, he seeks out the help of his servant and destined bride, psychiatrist So Ah, whose family is fated to serve the water god for generations. The problem is that she has no belief in the gods and initially mistakes him for suffering from delusions. Things get even more strange, however, when the wind god Bi Ryum, the water goddess Mu Ra, and a hotel CEO/demi-god Hu Ye show up to complicate things.
Cast: Nam Joo Hyuk, Shin Se Kyung, Im Joo Hwan, Krystal, Gong Myung
Director: Kim Byung Soo
Writer: Yoon Mi Kyung (comic), Jung Yoon Jung (drama)
Network: tvN
Episodes: 16
Release Date: July 3 - August 22, 2017
Runtime: Mondays & Tuesdays 22:50

Watch Here: Dramafever Dramafire

Sources: AsianWiki MyDramaList

Comments

[by-venoms-sting.livejournal.com]

Well the finale def lived up to the weakness of the entire show and I never got anything conclusive on the identity of Yoo He's father :(

Other low points were:

That lovely forced kiss jfc.

The underwater scenes looking terrible and not like water at all lol

So Ah wishing for Ha Baek to stay until she died was the stupidest shit to me. I know that the last time a human was in the realm of the deities things didn't turn out well but she should have at least tried it with the immortality stuff.

Also I was set up to believe the ending would be more tragic or at least having a moment of tragedy in her dying but somehow going to the realm of the gods in her after life. Everything just felt like a cop out when she didn't die.

I was pleased with getting info on what happened to So Ah's dad though.

I'm glad Moo Ra and Bi Ryeom ended up becoming a legit couple <3

The only good things I got out of the show was being introduced to Im Joo Hwan and Gong Myung and it made me realize just how much I need good world building/mythology lol. It was more or less my main interest while watching but known of it held up under scrutiny.

[kristinl356.livejournal.com]

Having watched the entire series up until this week, I somehow just can't muster the energy to finish this off. I did see on tumblr that So Ah's dad died saving her from her from drowning. Did he turn out to be the guy who raised Hoo Ye in the human world? And did Hoo Ye get any kind of happy ending?

This was the show that made me stop being terrified of Im Joo Hwan, having seen him in a different show where he's the sleeper bad guy that I did not see coming at all. Gong Myung was really cute in Drinking Solo (though the main loveline on that show was awful.

[by-venoms-sting.livejournal.com]

Did he turn out to be the guy who raised Hoo Ye in the human world?

No but they did meet when Hoo Ye first came into the human world. So Ah's dad basically gave him a hug and told him he was going to be alright. It was Hoo Ye's first experience of human kindness so it stuck with him.

And did Hoo Ye get any kind of happy ending?

I guess so? There wasn't really any focus on him in comparison to other episodes but he seems more self accepting now. When asked by the High Priest if Yoo He can can give him lessons in how to use fire Hoo Ye says "sure" or whatever, so his fear of his own abilities is gone now.

It's a super quick turn around from as recent as last weeks episodes and thus not very realistic but I'm just pleased he didn't die or have some other tragic fate so I'm just gonna take it as it is lol.

He also gives up on his romantic pursuit of So Ah seemingly out of the blue and talks about how he was told stories about Ha Baek by that one minor god as a kid or whatever and how he admired Ha Baek lol.

Idk it's more or less where I wanted him to end up (minus the stuff about Ha Baek which just felt like overkill) but they spent so much time on him struggling that the resolution came way too quick.

[kristinl356.livejournal.com]

Honestly, it felt like his breakdown was overblown too. Like he's been dealing with this for however many decades and was seemingly in a good place and a few confrontations with a pissy teenager made him go all the way to shuddering in the fetal position and screaming 'don't come near me.' It just...seemed like a lot. I guess he wasn't holding it together as well as he looked or whatever, but still.

Since they never said anything else about it, I'm taking it to mean that the god of homelessness or whatever is his dad.

[by-venoms-sting.livejournal.com]

Lol yeah that scene with him in that garden shed/green house/whatever was hella dramatic.

I can understand Yoo He being knocked off his game due to all these deities suddenly popping up around him and Bi Ryeom antagonizing him but it was overdone and drawn out to long.

The show really wanted the ~healing by human compassion~ stuff but it's like they suddenly realized while writing the last episodes that he had already experienced kindness from other people? Idk it's like it negates everything else we saw prior to this point.

They wanted Yoo He to appear broken~ and alone but at the last minute we finally get him acknowledging all the people who have helped him so it's just like "????". It all just seems like pointless filler in hindsight.

If anything I think they should have focused on the other deities accepting him since all of his conflicts involved that and not being alone~ or whatever. His story should have been more about his external turmoil and not so focused on the internal. Like I'm fine with him having some issues obviously since being told your a monster is going to impact but in the end the greater issue should have been the people around him changing how they see him.

[by-venoms-sting.livejournal.com]

I guess what I'm trying to say is that his story veered in the wrong direction which sucks cause it started out pretty good.

I feel like things should have ended with more of a focus on others accepting him fully with him learning to control his powers better (like how can he teach the Priest guy to use fire if he accidentally kills flowers when he gets too emotional?).

[kristinl356.livejournal.com]

So did they all end up in godland or whatever then?

[by-venoms-sting.livejournal.com]

Nope the High Priest popped down to earth which is how he and Yoo He had that meeting/chit chat. The Priest showed up to congratulate Ha Baek on figuring out why the god stones are hidden on earth and that his mission was completed/Ha Baek could return to the realm of the gods as king.

Yoo He stays on earth and goes back to hotel management stuff. I think Moo Ra and Bi Ryeom stay in the human realm as will since they both enjoy it there.

Ha Baek stays on earth with So Ah due to her wish she made with the tablet thingy (I don't even know if it was even explained what the purpose of the tablet was other than to reward god servants via wish fulfillment). He is supposed to return to the god realm and become king after So Ah dies.

[kristinl356.livejournal.com]

Ah. Thanks for filling me in so I don't have to finish it myself (why didn't I do this weeks ago???) lol

[by-venoms-sting.livejournal.com]

Lol it's no problem. I'm glad I can save you from having to experience the painful acting/writing first hand.

[keytfelt.livejournal.com]

Im Joo Hwan deserves better roles in better dramas, he's such a great actor. I absolutely loved him in What's Up and seeing him relegated to supporting roles behind much weaker actors makes me sad. But I'm glad you aren't terrified of him anymore :) I didn't last long enough in this drama to know really anything about this character haha.

Seconding the DS loveline comment, terrible terrible terrible. I loved so much about that show but just hated the main coupling so much, he was awful. Gong Myung was a cutie.

[kristinl356.livejournal.com]

He scarred me in Oh My Ghostess. I was literally thinking wow that cop guy is so sweet right before he went and hurt/killed a dog.

DS: He was maybe the most asinine kdrama lead I've seen yet but the student half of the show was so good. Gong Myung was the cutest puppy and Key was PERFECT in his role. I really loved that show. (Most of it, anyway.)

[mjspice.livejournal.com]

Utter crap ending for an utter crap show. Such a waste of time.

Anyhow random but I was watching an old Bollywood movie called "Jewel Thief" with my mom and I swear the Skimmese prince looked a lot like Gong Myung.



(Shows up randomly throughout the song)

[rainstormraider.livejournal.com]

Krystal needs to get better. Her reactions were weirdly slow af.

I mean I love SeKyung so I watched this mess but it wasn't the greatest. How are its viewing ratings?

[keytfelt.livejournal.com]

Ratings were between 2.8-3.3% most episodes, so not good, but not horrible (compared to some of tvN's recent flops). Only a few network shows are even getting over 10% right now and it beat other current cable shows, so I guess I would qualify the ratings as okay.

[rainstormraider.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[tungatunga.livejournal.com]

Best example that talent is not important is not only a thing in kpop idoldom.
Writing was utter crap, main leads were really unsympathetic, in the end I suffered this only for Joo Hwan.

[accioanime.livejournal.com]

so disappointed because Im a huge fan of fantasy dramas and this show had really pretty sets and costumes... but the writing is all over the place, the directing is awkward and stilted, the acting was dry and the main leads have zero chemistry.

Arang and the magistrate remain superior in world building fantasy drama. It had clear rules, Clear consequences, clear explanations.

Bride of the water god just kept throwing random rules here and there. Like, you can't tell us in the last eps that Habaek is gonna die if he doesn't return or that So Ah will die "saving the man who saved her" which totally did not happen. There is no emotional investment, especially when the conflict was solved in a few minutes.

tl;dr: Drama was pretty but no substance.

[by-venoms-sting.livejournal.com]

Arang and the magistrate remain superior in world building fantasy drama. It had clear rules, Clear consequences, clear explanations.

I already have Arang and the Magistrate on a watchlist so this makes me want to watch it even more.

[pippopippo.livejournal.com]

Arang is sooooo good, please do watch it! Its world building aspect was my favorite thing about it, aside from the chemistry between LJK and SMA.

[keytfelt.livejournal.com]

Thirding Arang, I really enjoyed it. Good chemistry, established rules, satisfying ending.

[lostintheechoes.livejournal.com]

i honestly thought that this was a 20 episode series.
i cried when so ah and habaek went and got her father. brought back memories of my father and i.

[citzera.livejournal.com]

I watched like 10 mins of the last episode before I realised I didn't care about the ending at all. So I'm just going to assume I finished this train wreck and move on.
My gut was telling me this was going to be bad before they even announced the cast, and boy was I right. Good riddance.

[modestgoddess79.livejournal.com]

I only finished this for the fashion, Krystal looked stunning and SSK had an endless supply of cute business casual outfits.

[pippopippo.livejournal.com]

I dropped this drama after ep 8 and have kind of been keeping an eye on it via dramabeans recaps... def sounds like one I don't need to finish.

[tree-star123.livejournal.com]

gongmyung and krystal in something else together pls. only watched their parts which were too little

[evilcoc0nut.livejournal.com]

Same lol I enjoyed it for what it was.