Casts: Cho Seung Woo, Hong Seo Joon, Hwang Young Hee, Nam Joo Hyuk, Roh Yoon Seo, Tae In Ho
The first episode opens on a dark evening inside the East Palace. it's giving an eerie vibe. The Crown Prince looks ill and in vain. He cuts himself at the palace pond and then drowns himself.
There were rumors spreading that it was the vengeful pond spirit's doing. It's said that this vengeful spirit has cursed the royal bloodline, and the King's last son is in danger. Prince Yongan (the King's last son) is experiencing demonic possession.
The King seeks help from a monk, who then introduces him to Gu-cheon. Gu-cheon rejects the King's request and says spirits torment people if they do them wrong. This is actually right in this situation. The King has many dark sides yet to be uncovered.
The King won't accept rejections, so he kidnapped Gu-cheon. This was after Gu-cheon had proven he could really see ghosts. He saw the bite mark on the King's wrist made by the ghost. He claimed that the deep cut was proof of the ghost's deep resentment against the king.
The King threatened to execute Gu-cheon if he escaped the palace and if he failed to vanish the spirit that is tormenting his family.
The King then assigns Saeng-gang to guide and monitor Gu-cheon. Saeng-gang is a court lady who was born with similar abilities to Gu-cheon. She can hear ghosts but can't see them. She can also communicate with them. It's a helpful but terrifying ability. Imagine hearing whispers and voices everywhere you go but can't see where they're coming from. Saeng-gang is the King's illegitimate daughter.
Gu-cheon, on the other hand, wasn't born with his abilities. He gained the ability when he was a child after he survived drowning. He is an untroubled person with great ability to vanish spirits.
Prince Yongan's possession keeps on worsening. This forced the two to work together to track down this spirit. Gu-cheon has to drown himself in the pond so his soul can reach the "Realm of Gwi". That's where he is going to confront the spirit tormenting the young Prince.
I think this is the reason why Gu-cheon was hesitant to help the King. He would suffer drowning over and over again. All of this to save the bloodline of a ruthless and manipulative King.
Gu-cheon entered the realm carrying the shamanic bells from Saeng-gang so she could locate him. The two proceeded to the Prince's chamber and discovered that the entity wasn't just an ordinary spirit.
(This scene reminded me of Stranger Things)
The entity was stronger than expected.
This raised a lot of questions. The King might be keeping something darker about the entity's identity. Knowing who and what happened to this entity is crucial to vanishing it.
The last scene of this episode was heart-pounding. Will they be successful, or will Gu-cheon need to be drowned again for another encounter?
Rating: 90/100
Originally posted through scrobble.life/tv.