First Quarter Report: "The Legendary Witch"

A lot has happened since the first impressions for “The Legendary Witch.” And I have loved pretty much all of it.

Let’s start with the rest of the background story. Moon Soo In (Han Ji Hye) was appointed the new CEO of Shinhwa the last time we saw her. Of course that’s fishy, because most of the Ma family hates her. (I think the only real exception is Ma Do Jin (Do Sang Woo), her brother-in-law). And no surprise: it turns out the head of the family, Ma Tae San (Park Geun Hyung), has planned to frame her for dereliction of duty and embezzlement from the moment he learned that she inherited his son Do Hyun’s shares of the company when he passed away.

At first, she’s confused and believes so strongly that there was a mistake. But then she learns the true intentions of her family and feels betrayed and hurt. And then finally vengeful and angry. Would you be vengeful and angry? I would be vengeful and angry.

Favorite scene #1: Throwing bread at Ma Tae San. I hope that’s just the beginning of what’s to come for you.

Son Poong Geum (Oh Hyun Kyung) finally gets caught for fraud, but not before establishing something potentially serious with Tak Wol Han, the Ma family’s driver. She thinks he’s Ma Do Jin, marketing director of Shinhwa and second son of the Ma family. He thinks she’s a rich lady who owns buildings and has been overseas for two years for business. I am so excited to see how this is going to unravel, especially because they just moved into the same cheap housing.

Shim Bok Nyeo (Go Doo Shim) is the mother of the bunch, and she is the strongest, most caring leader a group of girls could ask for. She stands up to bullies in prison. She laughs and cries for her daughters. Unfortunately, she also has history with the Ma family, which has not been completely revealed, but I can bet that they are involved in the fact that she was framed for the murder of her husband, who was also in the bread business. Bok Nyeo is the first to be released from prison, and she moves in with Nam Woo Seok (Ha Seok Jin), his daughter Byeol, and his father-in-law aka the man who wants to give her everything. This is so far my favorite love line in this drama. 

Favorite scene #2: When Bok Nyeo-ssi becomes Bok Nyeo-yah. Girls, no matter the age, are all the same.

Seo Mi O (Ha Yeon Soo) is in prison for attempted murder, and it turns out it’s the attempted murder of Ma Do Jin, the father of her son Kwang Ddang. Basically, she was holding a sharp object and threatening him, and while he was struggling to take it away from her, he fell onto it. He’s alive and well and definitely pining away for her though, what with the staring longingly at the agreement she signed (but did not keep because she had her baby) and deliberately messing up all of his blind dates. He starts dating his newest girlfriend because of his mom, who’s the only one who thinks that she’s not crazy. (She’s probably crazy.)

Speaking of crazy, let’s talk about Soo In’s new boss… in a bit.

First of all, in jail, the girls may have a rough start with each other, but eventually they’re basically family. Common enemies help in this outcome, especially the bully Young Ok, Kwang Ddang’s departure, and learning about each other’s unfortunate lives. Even after leaving the Korea Women’s Penitentiary, they promise to stay a family. However, when they are all free, they scatter to take care of business first with future plans to meet each other. Soo In gets hired immediately by a man who owns a small bakery, despite her past records. He even lets her stay at the bakery while she finds a place to live.

Creep alert? Yes, creep alert. Not because of the fact that he hired her- good people do exist in the world. But the background music, the effects, the cuts… they all just screamed crazy creep. And what do you know! He gets unreasonably angry when she tries to find a place to live outside of the bakery and then gets drunk and attempts to sexually assault her. She knocks him out, he lies and says she was stealing money from the bakery, and poor Soo In is back with the police for questioning.

But Woo Seok is there to rescue her! Nam Woo Seok has met Bok Nyeo, Poong Geum, and Soo In once again with the opportunity  to teach a baking class for some of the women at the penitentiary. He’s developed some kind of feelings for Soo In, definitely of care and worry and maybe even beginnings of love, as he got to know her through cooking classes in prison. And he’s been wanting to meet her so badly (example: chasing after bus) after he learns that she’s out of prison. Sadly, the first time they finally meet again is… in the police station. Where she’s getting questioned for physical assault. And that’s how episode 10 ends.

To be honest, I didn’t expect much starting this drama, but I have been pleasantly surprised and am completely hooked now. (South Korean viewership agrees; this drama is doing great in ratings.) There’s a lot going on-not only the numerous events summarized above, but conflict within the Ma family (cheating on husband with a K-pop idol, unrequited love, health issues) and much… much more. However, it’s easy to keep up if you’ve watched it from the beginning.

The plot is intriguing. Even the background story, which I was afraid would be dull, was fun and engaging. Character development game is strong, especially for the four main women. I love how Soo In is changing; she promises to be the witch I’ve been looking forward to in this drama. And finally, the love stories are developing soundly. I want to see more of Han Ji Hye and Ha Seok Jin. And it’s coming. And I am so ready for it.

Let us know what you think of “The Legendary Witch” in the comments! And if you haven’t watched it yet…

[tv]Watch The Legendary Witch on SoompiTV![/tv]

For all “The Legendary Witch” recaps, click here.