Lazy Unnie’s Couch: Mystic Pop-Up Bar

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I must be in a fantasy mood or this spring/summer is overrun with these kinds of dramas. This 12 episode Netflix drama is the next one on list that I wasn’t even planning on watching but I’m really glad I did. I didn’t know what to expect but just as the synopsis says, it’s about one of those tent bars and Weol Ju who is basically a dream walker is serving out a 500 year sentence there, made to help people settle their grudges. Cause she went all scorned daughter and lover when her mother was murdered because Weol Ju and the Crown Prince had a thang going on, and hung herself from a tree. First episode was heavy. Anyway, I’m not sure if she is a ghost or whatnot but humans can see her. Then you have Han Kang Bae, an orphan who was nicknamed the Cursed Boy. He has the supernatural ability that if you make contact with him you have no choice but to divulge your secrets and thoughts. Then there is Guibangjang (or sexy Oppa as me and my friend call him), he’s the manager of the pop-up bar and once worked as an afterlife cop. These three are on a mission to help Weol Ju complete her sentence of helping 100,000 souls.

What I liked most about this was the procedural aspect of it. Each episode had a new soul to help and basically I could have jumped in on any episode and knew what was going on. That mixed with bureaucracy of the afterlife, it kind of felt like a Korean supernatural version of Law and Order.

Even the conflict didn’t seem overly thought out which was a good thing. There was your big bad that loomed over the whole series. Then you had the questions about which was the crown prince reincarnated into, Kang Bae or Sexy Oppa. All of that melded well and the romance that was injected wasn’t overwhelming. While watching I saw all the dots but by the end all of them connected in a neat way. What took the cake here was the chemistry and the dynamic between our lead three. You really felt as if they were a family and really would go to the ends of the world for each other.

Overall it was a nice, short drama that doesn’t require too much brain power. No one out shined another as far as casting goes. Some things were predictable but in the same way that you know dips and loops are coming in a roller coaster. It was really nice to see Sungjae in something while I know he’s off in the military for the next 17 months. And Hwang Jung Eum’s new face is gorgeous as was her wardrobe! Choi Won Young…. call me 📞