They Don't Kiss Until Episode 16

• The Judge from Hell
• Dear, Hyeri
• Gyeongseong Creature 2

The Judge from Hell

The Judge from Hell is a crime/mystery/rom-com/fantasy show starring Park Shin Hye (The Heirs, Doctor Slump). The show is about a demon judge, Justitia, who judges souls who’ve committed murder and sentenced them to Hell. But she wrongly sends the spirit of an earthly judge, Kang Bitna, to the part of Hell for murders when she was supposed to go to Fake Hell. Because what is a fantasy K-drama without the corporate culture, “what is above, so is below” structure, Justitia is reprimanded by her boss, the demon Bael, and sentenced to serve a one-year earth sentence in the body of the woman she just wrongly judged. During her stint, she is to deliver ten murderous souls to Hell directly. This means in the body of Kang Bit-Na, Justitia has to kill ten humans on Earth while working as a judge.

Of course, hilarity ensues as Justitia takes on Bit-Na’s life with none of her former disposition. She is now direct, doesn’t respect her elders (as she sees herself as a 500-year-old demon), dresses loudly (actually quite fashionable but not in the traditional black/grey/navy soulless pants suit), and doesn’t respect any traditional Korean social conventions.

Our romantic male lead is Detective Han Da-On. Detective Han meets Judge Kang when she rules in his favor after he is brought to court on trumped-up excessive force charges. He is enamored with her swift justice only to fall out of love with her and becomes highly suspicious of her when Bit Na rules lightly in favor of a man who is beating his girlfriend and threatening her life. She does this, of course, so she can have access to him to kill him herself and send him to hell as part of her punishment.

Dear Hyeri

Joo Eun Ho is an experienced television anchor with little fame despite her experience. She struggles to be recognized. On the other hand, her ex-boyfriend of eight years, Jung Hyun Oh, played by Lee Jin Uk, is not only a star anchor but also happens to be her co-worker at her current broadcasting station. Joo Eun Ho suffers from an accident and has amnesia. Moreover, she has taken on a new personality, the shy parking attendant, Joo Hye Ri. Hye Ri has vivid dreams of a woman and the men who love her. We learn that those dreams are her memories as Joo Eun Ho.

Gyeongseong Creature 2

This is the continuation of the first season of the historical/thriller/horror/fantasy show that explored a world where, in occupied Korea, the Japanese military is experimenting on Korean people to develop the ultimate biological weapon.

This is what happened at the end of season one.

The successful Creature, the mother of our main female lead, Yoon Chae-Ok, accidentally skewers her daughter. To save Chae-Ok’s life, the Creature expels the parasite that creates the successful monster into her daughter.  Chae-Ok is now like the creature, but she is not horribly deformed like her mother. How is this possible? Most people infected with the parasite don’t survive; how did Chae-Ok and her mother merge with the parasite?

At the end of season one, Myeong-Ja, the pregnant mistress of the Japanese commissioner of the city, who is also experimented on, gives birth to her baby, who has the parasite inside of him. What happens to him?

The military scientist leading the experiments, Kato, offers Lady Maeda, our main characters’ number one op and funder of the experiments, the opportunity to join with the parasite. Does she take it?

Finally, we see Master Jang, looking the same age in 2024, with a strange surgical scar running down the back of his neck. How did he get this? Is this Master Jang or a descendant?

What the heck is going on? All these questions and more are supposed to be answered in season 2

Stay tuned as I share my rants, raves, and reviews about these shows.