Jae Noh

The ending was ridiculous. Koreans are not French, far from it. Korean drama without a happy ending is a contradiction in terms. The French may be comfortable with the bad guys winning. We Koreans are not. The one thing that makes "Alchemy of Souls" alien to Koreans is not the stupid wire maneuvers nor the unfamiliar themes. The no-so-happy ending to the first season is the most alien part of this drama. I am so disappointed.

I must admit that I enjoyed parts of this TV series. It had potential to be great. One thread that was not explored enough is "Two psychiatric patients discover that they're the most sane persons in their community." One thing I really disliked is that the final victory lap, common to most Korean dramas since 춘향전 is abbreviated. We want the good guys to win big and we want the bad guys to lose big. Then sometimes, as an added bonus, the good guys visit the bad guys in prison and rub salt in their wounds. Come on ... That's basic.