REVIEW: The Bride of the Water God (Habaek)
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
Re-watch value: 2 out of 5 stars
Synopsis
*partially taken from Dramafever*
The Bride of the Water God is a modern take on the popular historical fantasy manhwa Bride of the Water God. The drama’s original broadcast period is from July 03, 2017 to August 22, 2017 on tvN. Nam Joo Hyuk (Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo, Scarlet Heart: Ryeo) and Shin Se Kyung (Six Flying Dragons) star in a modern retelling of a supernatural romance. When the god of water descends upon Earth and seeks the help of his destined bride, he first has to convince her that he isn’t a delusional maniac.
Habaek (Nam Joo Hyuk) is a water god.
So Ah (Shin Se Kyung) is a psychiatrist. She has her own practice, but she is also buried in debt. Her family is allegedly cursed to serve the gods forever. However, So Ah is a realist with no time for superstition. So when she meets a man who claims to be the legendary water god and who expects her to serve him, her diagnosis is that he is simply delusional.
Hoo Ye (Im Ju Hwan from Uncontrollably Fond) is a demigod. A CEO of a resort, Hoo Ye also happens to fall in love with So Ah and therefore becomes Habaek’s main rival.
Moo Ra (f(x) and Heirs’ Krystal Jung) is a water goddess. A beautiful and famous actress, Moo Ra has a one-sided love with Habaek and understandably dislikes his wife.
Bi Ryeom (Gong Myung of 5urprise and Drinking Solo) is a wind god who secretly loves Moo Ra and holds a grudge against the man that she loves.
Rambling
*Beware of spoilers*
I had high expectations for this drama, as Nam Joo-hyuk effectively made everyone and their mom fall for him hard in Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo. He was absolutely adorable in that, and I was expecting him to steal the show in Bride of the Water God. I was actually so disappointed that most of his acting was really straight-faced and stoic. Setting aside the drama giving him the cheesiest lines, he did a great job of convincing me he couldn't act. I thought his co-star Shin Se-kyung was making the biggest effort, and her character's constant crying and wallowing honestly balanced his wooden-board delivery.
Krystal's turn as Moo-ra was a great casting choice. She can play the hell out of any bitch. At some point during all the melodrama, I was more interested in the secondary love story between Moo-ra and Bi-ryeom, which isn't good news for our main couple, but it did make for a satisfying ending for those two. Just seeing Moo-ra and Bi-ryeom walk off arm-in-arm in their characteristic love-hate manner was the cherry on top of an otherwise fast-paced ending.
A few points really stuck out to me during that rushed episode 16 finale:
Hoo-ye had a good few episodes where he embraced his evilness and confronted Bi-ryeom, and then immediately spun wildly out of control and needed So-ah to bring him back from a self-loathing precipice. His character's lackluster episode 16 ending was super unsatisfying. He finally backed off from pursuing So-ah, but after 15 episodes of him challenging Habaek, it wasn't any fun to see him be the nice guy. Also, his entire backstory was giving me a headache. Did he enter the human world 13 years ago, or was it before? Is this the only human identity he's had so far? What ever happened to that mark that transferred to his body when Joo-dong was struck by lightning? Was Joo-dong ever going to get that back?
Habaek holds unimaginable power...but we only get two glimpses of that power when he saves So-ah's life, twice. I know taking away Habaek's powers moves the story along (otherwise, why would he even need So-ah in the first place?), but I just think it was a missed opportunity.
We don't get to see many heavenly beings, except for our crowd faves chillin' on Earth with the divine stones (which, btw, didn't serve any purpose or possess any power at all). It's almost ridiculous how the high priest shows up at the end to reveal Habaek fulfilled his (completely bogus) mission to discover the reason for hiding the divine stones in the human world and therefore doesn't need So-ah's wish to return to the heavenly world. In fact, you stupid viewers, the high priest was there the whole time watching over Habaek. Oh, was that supposed to be a plot twist? I'm still upset we're here talking about those damn stones, and I call bull shit on that priest. Chekhov's gun, anyone?
After all the hoopla over Habaek and So-ah being separated for all eternity, um, they'll still technically be separated for all eternity? So-ah wished for a lifetime with Habaek on Earth before he had to return to the heavenly realm to assume his throne...so they get maybe 50 or 60 years together, with Habaek still frozen in eternal youth while she ages and dies? That seemed like a super bleak ending to me (and stirred up all those latent Tuck Everlasting/Twilight vibes).
All in all, there were too many episodes of manic-depressive, badly acted characters and plots for me to get completely won over by this drama. Oh well, at least there's always shirtless Nam Joo Hyuk, amirite?
Did you see The Bride of the Water God? Tell me your thoughts in the comments below!
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