I watched the show while it was ongoing, and it started off nicely. The main leads, Han Ji Min, Lee Min Ki, and Sun Woo, were the main reasons I watched the whole show. I wouldn't say the show was bad, but it wasn't that good. Apart from the main characters, none of the other characters were interesting; in the name of fun, they were just annoying.
Starting with Ok Hui's character, she is a friend I would never want in my life. By the end of the show, they tried to make her character a good friend, but I hated the part where she bossed around people, especially when she acted bossy around her only friend, Bong Ye Bun. She came across as cunning and selfish.
As for Jong Mook and Hyeon Ok, the writers, directors, and producers should understand that when they bring references from different shows for comedic elements, it becomes their responsibility not to ruin it for those who loved the original scenes from the original show. Not one reference from '2521' brought a smile to my face; I was always annoyed, and it felt disrespectful to the original scenes. I'm not sure about others, but the way the love and chemistry were portrayed between Jong Mook and Hyeon ok made me feel uncomfortable. I don't mind love story with age or gender differences, or love when old , but the makers failed to show their love story beautifully both the characters lacked chemistry, it felt so annoying and irritating, they could have just let them be and not have any romantic angle between the two. I happily skipped all their romantic scenes. I enjoy crime thrillers with comedy, I wouldn't have minded the absence of a romance angle. It was unnecessary.
Initially I would have given a 3-star rating, but for me it dropped to 1 star because of three annoying characters, killing second lead seon woo and the weak story. What was the point of all this just to catch shaman? The shaman was pointed out so many times, and it was evident, but the makers covered it up with lame stories. The main lead, being a crime detective, was relying on a person with supernatural abilities and still failed to identify the culprit. Jang Yeol's constant doubts about Sun Woo throughout the show didn't showcase the qualities of a good detective. Seon Woo's character was screaming that he isn't the culprit but no Jang Yeol was behind him.
Many people were killed one after another, and all he did was doubt one person throughout the show. I love the actor but his character was weak. He didn't deserve to go to Seoul. He had no idea about the real culprit. It wasn't fair to show him going to Seoul. Instead of using his skills, he relied on Bong Ye Bun's supernatural abilities and even Gwang Sik's. The whole point of having supernatural abilities was to find the murderer, but it didn't showcase Jang Yeol as a deserving detective. What did he even do? Just fool around people?
The makers went even further by killing the second lead, Sun Woo, which was a big disappointment. No doubt the actors performed well, but due to the weak characters, I disliked the story. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone. I felt like I wasted my time watching it, with so many hints pointing to the shaman as the murderer, but it was covered up with lame stories, and the revelation was not surprising.
Killing the second lead, Seon Woo, was unnecessary. It was pure stupidity.