The Kdrama “The Witch” Episodes 1 And 2 Review- I Expected A Bit More… BUT

Kang Pool/Kang Fool’s newest webcomic adaptation is here, let us discuss how I felt about “The Witch” premiere!

I was excited about this drama for many reasons, including the fact that Kang Pool has become one of my favorite screenwriters ever, easily among my top 10 best Korean screenwriters.

His scripts are simply amazing, and they might be slow at times, but when they pick up, they do it in the best way possible. Which is why I must say I expected a bit more from “The Witch” premiere. However, I am hesitant to just say that and end it there; let me explain!

If I recall properly, I think I had a similar opinion regarding the “light shop” but it turned out amazing once it picked up. However, in that case, you can more clearly tell its going to pick up sooner and much more dramatically than with “The Witch” if it makes sense.

This is a subjective review, as you guys know, and I know two episodes aren’t enough but at the end of the two episodes I was like, ‘thats it?’ I guess, I wanted a little more.

In retrospect, I understand. We must lay down the foundation properly to explore what to come, thus, saying it falls a bit short of my initial expectations would be a bit much but the phrasing itself isn’t exactly wrong either because its just how I feel.

If we assume I wasn’t an avid kdrama fan and/or just a regular viewer who isn’t familiar with Jinyoung or Kang Pool or Roh Jeong-Eui, if I had watched “The Witch” premiere, nothing would particularly draw me back to it if that makes sense.

I know well that it’ll pick up soon and judging by Kang Pool’s past projects, I am honestly very optimistic, but I did want a bit more from the premiere.

I wonder if the fact that she’s so unlucky is because of a ghost or sort of a thing that is trying to protect her but ends up hurting the men around her. Since its only men and her mom died giving birth to her, could it mean the mom is a ghost who sees how bad these boys are and is trying to protect her? So she hurts all the men around her?

I haven’t read the webcomic so I am just guessing over here.

And while the premiere was mostly written just fine, the last scene of her father’s death was so comical it broke my immersion in the story. I know its a webcomic, but the somber serious tone didn’t have me ever imagine we’d get such a scene.

If your father accidentally ingested snake poison while trying to protect you why won’t yell at the top of your lungs to get him help? Yell that a snake bit him or something, what are you doing? even if they don’t like you, if you yell someone has been bitten by a snake, I highly doubt the people won’t come, and if so, just show it properly that they didnt’ care for them.

The entire scene is absolutely ridiculous and not in a good way. The character could’ve died literally any other way that makes some form of sense, but the phrasing, the reasoning, and everything surrounding that scene falls flat so much that it made me laugh and then it made me angry because.… why?

Jinyoung is finally back, it feels like its been forever since I’ve seen him. I didn’t follow Yumi’s cells and the last project I watched of him was The Devil Judge in 2021, so its been four years for me. I don’t know if he’s still an idol but I heard he had been on a hiatus due to military for some time which explains his long absence.

Roh Jeong-Eui’s acting is a hit or a miss to me mainly because I feel like her facial expressions have changed. I’ve been watching her since like 2014 but her ability to use her face to correctly convey emotions comes and goes, in my opinion. Sometimes, I feel like she’s trying to look good more than she’s trying to act well… But here, you see some desperation in her character’s eyes which is a good indication we’re on the right path but I still wasn’t sold on her performance that much.

I feel like another more heavy hitter was needed for this role, an actress who can convey the somber tone and toll such a life takes on the character. I needed to feel that the actress playing the character is simply hopeless and I didn’t feel that, personally, with Jeong-Eui’s performance. Of course, this is just my opinion.

Regardless, I’ll be tuning it to next week’s episodes, this could be a sleeper hit.

So what did you guys think of “The Witch” premiere?

Lets talk about it!