After two back to back historical dramas (Nok-du and Mr. Queen-- that I loved, but still), it was time to go back to something contemporary. Honestly, I'm not sure why I tend to put historical shows low on the list. But, anyway...The Uncanny Counter.
I've watched two episodes so far and I'm really liking this one. Basically, they are like grim reapers collecting evil spirits (a la Mystic Pop Up Bar and others). It's a subject I often toy with ... some day I'll finish that YA manuscript with the son of Death. But let's back up...7 years before the start of the events of the show, a young So Mun (the teenager in the forefront of the picture) and his parents were in a car accident. His parents died and he was crippled. But it wasn't an accident. Right before their car was slammed by a lorry, his dad had received a phone call from his partner (?) or associate (?) (who is that guy in the upper left corner, though they haven't realised this yet) that something bad was going down.
So while the car accident was occurring, the partner dude Mo-Tak (played by Yu Jun-Sang, from a lot of things, but the only one I've seen him in was My Love From the Star and yay for a dude older than me) was being thrown off a roof and onto a car far below.
I'd thought he probably died until I realised he was the same guy that So Mun (played by Joe Byeong-Gyu...my first time seeing him in something, though he's in a lot of stuff on my To Watch List) meets years later (so sue me, it was a quick glimpse of him before he got tossed off the roof). Anyway, he went into a coma and suffered traumatic memory loss from having his skull crushed. As one would. And that's how he became a Counter (which is what these evil spirit hunters are called -- no idea why). All of them were in a coma before being "awakened" by a spirit & given the chance to have a life again in exchange for working as counters.
Wow, I'm all over the place with this description. Good thing no one else reads this.
Anyway, in the first episode, the Counters are fighting a third level evil spirit and one of them dies in the process because the spirit is super tough and evil. The spirit in him (Wi-Gen, played by the lovely Moon Sook) is then left searching for a new home -- another person in a coma -- but winds up in So-Mun (now a teenager) instead. She's confused; normally she'd never wind up in someone who was fully alive. After all, that's part of how they get people to be counters -- it's their chance to live again.
At first, he's not sure he wants to join them. After all, he wasn't in a coma. And, dude, he's, like, too precious for words. It's not the danger to himself that makes him want to say no -- he doesn't want to die before his grandparents because he can't put them through that pain again (after they lost their daughter, his mother). And his grandma has dementia or something similar and doesn't even remember who he is most of the time. This poor gimpy teen is doing his best and is just too pure for this world. He also has two best friends who are determined to protect him at all costs even though the guy one Ung-Min (played by Kim Eun-Soo, from ID: Gangnam Beauty) has been getting the total crap beat out of him on a daily basis by a bunch of bullies from rich/influential familes.
Anyway, after going out with them once and having his leg healed by Chu Mae-Ok (played by Yum Hye-Ran, who was Yeomradaewang in Mystic Pop Up Bar among other things and is only slightly younger than me ;-) ), who is the healer in the Counter group, he does decide to join them. The last counter is Do Ha-Na (played by Kim Se-Jeong, who I haven't seen in anything but clips from School: 2017), who can sense the evil spirits and is an expert at reading memories.
It's easy to see that there's going to be a whole connection to his parents and what was going on 7 years ago. So far, it's full of action, a bit of humour, and definitely high up on the Underdog Triumphing scale. Looks to have great promise. I hope it keeps up the pace. I do love an underdog story and the whole good triumphing over evil thing.
Edit: Actually finished this one a couple of weeks ago. It was a joy. I don't think there's anything I'd change about it -- great pacing, great cast, good mix of humour vs. action vs. pathos. There might have been a couple of times where I think they went a bit outside the mythology without a great explanation, but nothing to really ding it. Excellent show and probably one of the least romantic Kdramas I've seen (but I didn't miss it; the show is that good). This is definitely one that little dude would enjoy too.
