In all honesty, I preferred the plot of Episode 11 over Episode 12, just because there were more ups and downs. But the slightly flatter plot line of this episode (in preparation for something more?) and the spirit has been said more than once to be a powerful evil spirit indicates that this may bring a huge change to our plot dynamics.

Son Oh Gong curls up in pain but as Seon Mi rushes towards him, he puts up a hand to silently stop her and disappears. Can I just say that the music is a perfect match? It adds that right tinge of wistfulness and sadness.

The thugs escape and are horrified to find that Bu Ja is once again gone. Seon Mi knows that she’s the one who hurt Oh Gong and cries desperately as she reaches Ma Wang’s house to inform him of the bad news.

Oh Gong brings Bu Ja back to Suremdong so that they can both rest and recuperate. She asks if he’s in pain and he replies that he’s more in shock. He recalls Seon Mi’s last desperate cry and how his heart clenches, and murmurs, “Looks like she will really kill me.”

Ma Wang explains to Seon Mi that because Oh Gong defied her order, the pain around his heart intensified. Seon Mi points out that Oh Gong has never suffered real, physical pain from the Guemganggo before. Besides, isn’t he the Great Sage? Ma Wang tells her that Oh Gong now has one weakness and it’s caused by the Guemganggo, or more specifically, his love for Seon Mi which has weakened his heart. “Of course, the only one who can kill him…is you, the one whom he loves.”

Oh Gong treats Bu Ja’s wounds with alcohol and even allows her to drink from the bottle. Bu Ja knows from her connection that Seon Mi is really sad right now. Oh Gong tells the zombie not to be so noisy in case her wounds split open again, and she tells him that she has found her real name, Jung Se Ra. Bu Ja (I shall continue calling her that for a while) wants to tell PK the good news and urges Oh Gong to find Seon Mi too. Oh Gong notes that zombie Bu Ja is annoying but Se Ra-sshi is equally noisy.

The two get ready to leave Suremdong when Bu Ja suddenly holds on to his jacket, “When you burn me, let’s do it in Suremdong.” I still think it’s possible for Bu Ja to have a happy ending, but her bidding all the farewells, plus settling on where she wants to burn away, does make me wonder if she will really leave us.

PK broods over Bu Ja and suddenly realises that Oh Gong could be burning Bu Ja. He rushes off, much to Alice’s jealousy, and Summer Fairy is taken aback to see that even the octopus has such a deep crush. However, PK is greatly relieved to find Bu Ja waiting in front of his car, safe and sound.

Seon Mi rushes to Oh Gong’s house but Oh Jong informs her that he’s in Suremdong, “If he’s not willing, then no one can enter Suremdong.” Seon Mi is afraid of summoning him in case of dealing more hurt so she goes back to the lift – the only way she went into Suremdong last time.

The lift doors open to a normal floor and she’s disappointed.

She crumbles to the floor, but the doors close and open to reveal oh Gong.

She tries to stand up but her legs crumble beneath her, and Oh Gong softly says, “Is it painful? I was also in pain because of you. We are now even.”Oh Gong’s words seem so uncaring on the surface but it always is so much more warm and caring when you know what it means – like how Seon Mi’s momentary numbness is nothing compared to his blood-spitting, heart-clenching episode and yet he calls it even.

Seon Mi hugs him tightly and he returns, joking that she’s making all the advances now, but as she tears into his shoulder, he clutches her even tighter.

They return to Seon Mi’s house where she fusses over him – do you want fruits, do you want this, do you want that. Oh Gong bristles at the use of ‘chogi’ (instead of chagi – honey), but Seon Mi is afraid of calling out his name. Oh Gong asks if she plans to never call his name again, “Do you want to destroy the contract?”

He puts his wrist out and Seon Mi reaches out to pull the Guemganggo apart, but stops last minute. “I need you and I need to summon you.”

Oh Gong says, “It seems like you haven’t liked me enough to take this off,” but before Seon Mi can explain why she doesn’t want to take it off, he continues, “Good job, Jin Seon Mi. Even if I tempt you again like this time, don’t fall for it. I’m warning you now.

Because I….love you.”

He gives a tiny smile and breaks the moment by taking a sip of the very salty tea – turns out Seon Mi mixed in sugar instead of salt because she was distracted. While she brews a new cup for him, Oh Gong takes out the death bell and looks at it again.

Ma Wang is convinced that Oh Gong, by not telling Sam Jung about the death bell, is intending to make Sam Jung fall deeper in love with him so as to make use of that later. Secretary Ma notes that it should be the opposite – that he doesn’t want her to be sad, but Ma Wang keeps reminding us, “He’s a bad guy.”

Bu Ja tells PK that her real name is Jung Se Ra, and her arm hilariously flops. PK immediately retrieves some energy balls for her, but in that few minutes gone, Bu Ja receives a call from Kang Dae Sung (her phone number was tracked when she called her mother’s phone) who creepily says, “I’m the one taking care of your mother.” And there she goes to meet him again.

By this time, Kang already knows something is wrong with this girl, having heard from the thugs that she has once again escaped. There’s something about this that I don’t quite like. I know Bu Ja’s a zombie, but she literally just got hurled off the rooftop, so can’t she be more careful? Is it so difficult to inform someone where she’s going? Even if she doesn’t want to worry PK, how about Oh Gong? The plain stupidity of rushing into a setup twice, even if she knows that the second one is also a setup, is so unimpressive.

Ma Wang returns home from the hospital, expecting a big party, but there’s no one at home, no food at home. Nothing but mess – flowers in the bathtub, unsorted garbage etc. He grumpily ties up a garbage bag and Oh Gong returns – with wine and porridge. He can’t cook so he bought nice porridge, knowing that Ma Wang likes it. AWW. After throwing out the rubbish, he finds that Ma Wang has set the table for two, on the pretext of “I’m scared you would put something strange inside, so I’m sharing the porridge with you.”

Oh Gong checks with Ma Wang on the Sam Jung and tree spirit issue, knowing that something doesn’t quite feel right again, but Ma Wang dismisses his concern.

Kang Dae Sung finds himself face to face with Bu Ja, knowing that she’s not quite human. He tricks her into entering a cargo box…. I know it’s in line with Bu Ja’s naive character and also probably stemming from her own confidence that she can’t die again, but it’s not that hard to predict being LOCKED inside the cargo box right?? Which is exactly what happened…The coffin shines and Bu Ja approaches it in fear. The ground suddenly shakes, light shines from within the box and the box opens itself.

The thugs approach with fear too and see a cloaked figure…who turns around, revealing Bu Ja, possessed by Ah Sa Nyeo.

Bo Ri quickly briefs Ma Wang and Oh Gong on Ah Sa Nyeo – she’s a powerful goddess who has the power to create kings, locked under a sleeping spell for a 1000 years, only to be released by Sam Jung’s blood. The monkey and the bull take turns pretending to be sick (oh my heart! oh I can’t breathe!) so as to escape responsibility for taking care of this issue. They quibble back at home, and the monkey kicks at the bull statue while the bull spits at the monkey statue. Knowing that Ah Sa Nyeo will find Sam Jung for sure, Ma Wang predicts that the eventual person who has to deal with this is Oh Gong.

Ah Sa Nyeo creepily watches Sam Jung from outside her building and possesses a man to send flowers anonymously to Sam Jung. Han Joo thinks it’s from Jonathan and is hilariously proud of him, “My friend, my Jonathan.”

While transferring the roses from the bouquet to a vase, a petal drops off and cuts Sam Jung. On her side, Ah Sa Nyeo licks the rose that she has in her hand and smiles, “So yummy.” Sam Jung leaves her office to tend to her cut and Oh Gong quickly whisks the roses away, knowing them to be dangerous.

Bo Ri is off to the Heavens to discuss with the other deities on how to handle this Ah Sa Nyeo mess. Meanwhile, Ma Wang takes over Bo Ri’s job of sending wrath from the heavens to the evil humans who have escaped the law. We see how he corners a human who had cheated SO much money out of a mass group of people, causing 2000 children to be orphans and breaking 7856 families, yet he escaped human law. “Today, you shall fall down there.” Although the human begs for his life, Ma Wang yells, “Jump!” His eyes burn red and the human falls through the elevator shaft.

After this episode, Ma Wang and secretary return, but he finally runs into Princess Iron Fan who sits crying at the bus stop. He almost rushes to meet her but is stopped by Secretary Ma who reminds him that he cannot interfere with human lives.

He nonetheless decides to follow her and watches as she enters a job and does her daily tasks listlessly. He returns moodily to his office, and reveals inadvertently to ‘Bu Ja’ that he saw Princess Iron Fan. Ah Sa Nyeo offers to help him meddle with her life, since she’s neither human nor deity and can escape the eyes of the heavens. Without thinking too much, Ma Wang dismisses her and allows her to take the energy balls away. NOO. Even the dog, Secretary Ma, only recognises that Bu Ja’s scent changed but not that she’s not Bu Ja anymore. Ah Sa Nyeo also meets PK, who fusses over her disappearance but does not notice anything amiss.

Ah Sa Nyeo then runs into Oh Gong, her target. Oh Gong peers at her but says that it’s because he did a good job mending her. “You don’t need any energy balls, I’m the one who need it.” He grabs the box away from her, much to Ah Sa Nyeo’s hidden displeasure, and walks off but suddenly turns around with a “Oi” and a flourish of the rose which Ah Sa Nyeo left behind outside Seon Mi’s building. Her eyes widen, but just when I thought a big show down was going to happen, Oh Gong continues, “I picked it up on the floor just now, don’t you like flowers?” He promises to burn her while she’s still pretty but suddenly says, “Oh now you aren’t Jin Bu Ja anymore.” Ah Sa Nyeo’s smile freezes, but Oh Gong does yet another turn, “You are Jung Se Ra. Jung Se Ra.” After he walks off, Ah Sa Nyeo thinks, as long as I get Sam Jung, will the Great Sage be mine? 

Just when you and I think DOES HE KNOW OR NOT, THAT STUPID MONKEY, Oh Gong rushes into Ma Wang’s office and doesn’t disappoint us, “That deity in Bu Ja’s body, did you see???” Thankfully for us, one thing I love about Oh Gong, Oh Gong’s not stupid. He’s incredibly smart.

Oh Gong wants to catch Ah Sa Nyeo with Ma Wang but feels unsettled because Ah Sa Nyeo came to Ma Wang’s office first. He reminds Ma Wang not to backstab him, but right after this meeting, Ma Wang considers Ah Sa Nyeo’s proposal of meddling in Princess Iron Fan’s life again and tells Secretary Ma to prepare a contract. For a demon, he’s dealing with things in a pretty human way haha. Also, I don’t like this turn in Ma Wang’s character again, but I guess that’s the fun in this show – the true epitome of a love-hate relationship between Ma Wang and Oh Gong? I don’t know, while Ma Wang would turn his back against Oh Gong just for his wants and needs, I don’t quite see Oh Gong doing the same thing in the same manner. Am I biased?

Jonathan is going to return to America and gifts Seon Mi with a necklace, which is called Happy Ending. This reminds Seon Mi of her death bell and she finally realises it is lost. Oh Gong tells Summer Fairy not to tell Seon Mi about the death bell and asked about goddesses instead. Summer Fairy points out that he already knows one very well – Sam Jung. She may be a human but she has powers like goddesses and deals with everything in both worlds.

Ah Sa Nyeo returns home to have meat and Oh Jong is quizzical – Bu Ja never likes meat and now she’s eating with her left hand rather than her right. She hypnotises Oh Jong on the spot, who becomes muddled and convinced that Bu Ja was always a left-hander. This is indeed one powerful spirit we are dealing with right here!

Knowing that this all started with the spirit tree, Ma Wang tracks this source of information down and learns from the construction worker that they have dug out a coffin. The coffin is however gone, and now in Kang Dae Sung’s house, who thinks that Bu Ja will come back for it.

Ah Sa Nyeo brings some food to Seon Mi, who remains unaware that this is not Bu Ja. She creepily takes a whiff of Seon Mi’s scent and manipulates Seon Mi emotionally not to call Oh Gong anymore, “Because you will hurt him.” Ah Sa Nyeo smiles creepily (I need synonyms), “Don’t you think you need some special abilities now that you can’t call Son Oh Gong as and when you want?” Just as she starts to blow on the rose, Oh Gong appears and whacks her head hard. Hahaha.

Oh Gong makes sure that Ah Sa Nyeo waits for him in a corner, while he tends to Seon Mi’s cut and tells her not to be injured again because he will be sad. Oh Gong checks his watch and murmurs that he doesn’t need to wait anymore. Turns out that Ma Wang is not going to turn up at the promised timing because he wants Oh Gong and Ah Sa Nyeo to battle it out before he goes forth and discovers what Ah Sa Nyeo wants. Ughhhh I can’t believe this selfish bull is on his way to become a deity while our poor monkey is constantly getting his heart battered.

Oh Gong pulls Ah Sa Nyeo up and disappears to Suremdong with ‘Bu Ja’ on the pretext of getting the expensive wine Seon Mi likes. Seon Mi waits for a long time and is thinking of summoning Oh Gong, when Ma Wang visits her and advises her not to call Son Oh Gong that night.

Back in Suremdong, Oh Gong wants Ah Sa Nyeo to find Ma Wang instead – he will not stop her from doing what she wants. Ah Sa Nyeo rests her chin on her hands and murmurs, “I want to become Sam Jung and take you for myself.” Oh Gong laughs at his sudden popularity and looks down for a split second.

When he looks back up, Ah Sa Nyeo blows her hypnotising petals towards him. He raises his elbow and seemingly blocks the petals, but when he puts his elbow down, there’s the petal in his eyes.

He’s gone.

Ah Sa Nyeo caresses his face as she reminds him that she can control souls. She wants him to stay by her side, always and never changing.

-the end-

I know I said this was a flatter episode in my opinion, but somehow the recap ended up just as long! Mostly, what we see in this episode is the building up of Ah Sa Nyeo’s character. She’s not just an evil spirit and that is very clear. She’s immensely powerful and much as she’s manipulative, I do enjoy watching Lee Se Young take on another role from Bu Ja. In a way, the story makes it very easy for the actress to contrast the characters, but I do appreciate very much how Lee Se Young brings out the life in Ah Sa Nyeo – someone who is beautiful and is graceful even in her methods of manipulation and seduction. There’s just something very elegant and striking in the execution, and hence creepy and scary too. Because this woman sure is dangerous!

I also love how the show is really staying consistent and reinforcing the idea that Son Oh Gong, the Great Sage, is all powerful. We have seen constantly his physical powers in dealing with evil spirits, but this episode emphasises on his intellectual abilities too. He saw through Ah Sa Nyeo right off the bat. We had no shortage of powerful male leads for sure, especially our memorable alien, but sometimes dramas just fall short of that oomph factor (Bride of Habaek, I’m looking at you). This sets up a very nice battle stage for the upcoming episodes, because I’m excited to see what happens when the great and powerful monkey god gets controlled by the powerful goddess. In a way, does that make her even more powerful than the monkey god? It’s also interesting to see a deity who uses his physical brute strength goes up against another who relies on illusions and manipulations.

I initially thought that Ah Sa Nyeo was going to be our last, final battle, but I realise that this drama is actually 20 episodes long. Nonetheless, I’m thinking that she would be the catalyst to our final obstacle. She has the power to make kings and raise dragons, her coffin is also in Kang Dae Sung’s house, and now she tries to control Son Oh Gong. This spells trouble to me!

The only gripe I have with this episode is that it kind of diminishes Seon Mi’s role once Ah Sa Nyeo appears. All we saw of her here is yet another -oh where’s my love bell!- and looking at Oh Gong in love. I know she’s kind and loving and nurturing, but I want to see some action man. I missed the previous episodes where she so bad-assedly lured the spirits out. I’m hoping that she will play a pivotal role in recalling Oh Gong’s soul in the next episode!

Also, does anyone think that Oh Gong is actually pretending? Given that the rose petal is in his eyes, I think he could really be hynotised.

<3thoughtsramble