Drama Profile
Title: Doom at Your Service (English title) / One Day, Destruction Came Through My Front Door (literal title)
Main Cast: Park Bo-young, Seo In-guk, Lee Soo-hyuk, Shin Do-hyun, Kang Tae-oh
Writer: Im Me-ari (The Beauty Inside)
PD: Kwon Young-il (My Unfamiliar Family, Search: WWW)
Timeslot: Monday and Tuesday 21:00H
Network: tvN
Episodes: 16
Genre: Fantasy, Romance
Plot Synopsis: A web novel editor, with only 100 days left to live, enters into a contract agreement with a stranger named Myul-mang to bring doom upon the world.
Major Tropes: Muggle-mage / Forced Proximity / Contract Relationship / Cohabitation
Grumpy’s First Impression:
ONE BAD DAY. As Joker puts it, it only takes one bad day to break a person. And tvN’s new fantasy drama makes a compelling point to disprove this. The heroine, Tak Dong-kyung (Park Bo-young), had the possible worst day of her life, but her admirable way of handling things differences her from other female leads. Brain tumor diagnosis ✓, shitty boss ✓, unpaid dues ✓, dumbass boyfriend ✓ – you name it – all these happened in just one day. That’s why I couldn’t blame her for wishing destruction on earth. Too bad, though, “doom” is a person in this universe, and the drama’s world-building revolves around costs and benefits!
Myul-mang (Seo In-guk), on the other hand, is a pretty complex character right off the bat. It’s hard to read him, and I pity him for being troubled about his existence. His mere existence brings doom to the world – and he can’t escape it because it’s his fate. The drama revolves around fate being cruel to everyone – mortals or supernatural beings alike. I can feel his burden of living in eternal misery, so when Dong-kyung wished for doom towards humanity, he’s ready to end it all. It’s always sad watching these kinds of love stories where an immortal falls in love with a human (who’s often about to die) before they realize their own self-worth.
ONE WISH. Aside from wishing the end of the world, Myul-mang is allowed to grant one wish on his birthday. We were honestly figuring out if the “wish” is the same as the “doom” desire or it’s an entirely different one. We’re banking on the latter, though, as the contract between Myul-mang and Dong-kyung is about bringing doom into the world in exchange for having a painless 100-day lifeline. Though I was a bit caught off guard by the sudden cohabitation twist, I feel like this is Dong-kyung’s way of circumventing the deal – that once she failed to wish for doom, her most loved one will die. If Dong-kyung dies either way, maybe she’s thinking of falling in love with Myul-mang too, right? Besides, it’s been established in the earlier scenes that Myul-mang loathes his own existence. It’s just right for them to die together, right? Are we too morbid to wish for that?
Maknae’s First Impression:
For some reason, I was hesitant to share my impressions about this drama only after watching the first two episodes. Because nothing was surprising with the premiere week. What we saw was everything the story premise said – an unlucky woman crossing paths with the deity of doom. Still, it’s a good premiere week because it definitely built the intrigue and mystique that surrounds our main characters.
Dong-kyung and Myul-mang’s story is doomed from the start. One is terminally ill while the other is sick of his role as the living realm. And at first glance, it may seem like they bonded over their desire for the world’s end. But I’m guessing it’s not really the world that they want to end but their individual pain they don’t even want to acknowledge. We saw glimpses of it; Dong-kyung not being able to cry even after knowing she only has a few days to leave while Myul-mang’s unguarded thoughts slipped on his conversations with Sonyeoshin (Jung Ji-so).
So to say that it will be a rough ride for these two will be an understatement. Because even though they have relatively lighter moments, the tone of their scenes feels heavy. There are so many possible paths for this drama. It can still end happily but I’m already prepared for some heartbreaks. I won’t even blink ala Dong-kyung in the opening scene if they die together ala Romeo and Juliet.
Tipsy Musings
☄️ There are a lot of comparisons on Myul-mang’s character to that of Goblin‘s Kim Shin. But personally, I see more of God Deokhwa in him. What do you think?
☄️ Hands down one of K-drama’s most annoying cameos in recent times… Makes me rethink if I should watch Kim Ji-suk’s upcoming drama.
☄️ Samedt, Ji-na, samedt
☄️ Samedt, Dong-kyung, samedt (2)
☄️ A rare behind-the-scene at the day-to-day happenings at ahjumamshies.com HQ lol.
☄️ When the struggle is real
☄️ I jumped on board the Ji-na x Joo-ik ship after Cha-teamjang criticizes her story. Please give me some good bickering and bantly I badly crave these days!
☄️I told you all before that holding hands in k-drama isn’t just for mere skinship. It’s life-saving.
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