My Love From The Goblin, At Your Service
Long awaited k-drama Doom at Your Service is here, and we jump straight into episode 1 with a shocking reveal. Dong-Kyung has glioblastoma and needs a biopsy. However, she’s unable to go as she can’t take any more time off at work. The doctor certainly doesn’t mince his words, telling her she could well die in 3 to 4 months. When she leaves the office, she runs into a doctor called Myul-Mang, who nonchalantly admits that he’s handsome and walks away. He heads to the trauma center, preparing for the arrival of numerous injured victims off the back of a nasty knife incident on the intersection. Dong-Kyung sees all this take place and receives a shock of her own when the bill for her hospital visit comes in. With curtains drawn around around each victim, Myul-Mang heads in alone and speaks to one of the men. He claims to be in control of the man’s doom, grabbing him round the neck. When he does, the man’s cut neck completely heals. “You’ll find there are worse things than death.” He mutters. With a blood spatter on his doctor’s jacket, Myul-Mang heads up to the rooftop and bemoans the life of a deity. He’s in charge of people’s doom, as it turns out, and seems to be a sort of Grim Reaper. Later that day, Dong-Kyung meets up with her boyfriend. Only… it’s not her boyfriend there. Instead, it’s the guy’s wife and she throws a glass of water in her face. It turns out Dong-Kyung has been the mistress in this relationship all along, and she finds out in the worst possible way. After retorting with some scathing words, telling her to blame Dong-Kyung not her boyfriend, this pregnant woman suddenly starts getting pains in her stomach. Dong-Kyung is in a difficult position and eventually goes with her to the hospital. She’s also forced to fill out the guardian details of her boyfriend. Or, well, ex-boyfriend anyway. Eventually Dong-Kyung heads back to work. Once there though, CEO Park berates her lateness. He’s pretty sexist and turns heads in the office too. However, worse is yet to come. Someone recorded the encounter at the café with the pregnant woman and Dong-Kyung is horrified. Her boss plays the video but Dong-Kyung is flustered, claiming it isn’t her. Well, Dong-Kyung’s day turns from bad to worse when a man snaps her photos on the subway. Dong-Kyung heads out to chase him, but just as she does the ground suddenly opens up and knocks him down. It’s Myul-Mang’s doing, as it turns out, and he watches with disdain from afar. And if that wasn’t bad enough, it starts to rain. Dong-Kyung’s brother then rings, asking for money while he’s gaming. Dong-Kyung is not happy, especially as this happens to be their parents’ anniversary. They died long ago and their guardians are actually off in Canada now. It seems like Dong-Kyung and Sun-Kyung are on their own. Cursing his luck, Myul-Mang eventually drives off and heads back home. He drinks alone, staring out the window. However, Dong-Kyung does the same as both characters notice numerous shooting stars. Dong-Kyung makes a wish and hopes for the world to end – and for doom to be brought to this world. Interestingly, Myul-Mang hears this too and he immediately piques an interest. Myul-Mang shows up at Dong-Kyung’s door after pranking her with views of Italy and Switzerland. Anyway, he enters her house without permission and mentions her wish about bringing doom to the world. With 100 days until her death, Dong-Kyung believes this is a hallucination. Myul-Mang promises that it’s not though and walks away. When Dong-Kyung eventually sleeps, Myul-Mang teleports her into his house to show how real he is. Dong-Kyung awakens with a start. Although she believes she imagined the whole thing, muddy footprints across the floor prove otherwise. On the subway both Myul-Mang and Dong-Kyung run into each other but our terminally ill girl isn’t exactly happy to see him. Myul-Mang wants her to make a wish but right now she’s late. As Dong-Kyung steps on the train, she comments on how busy it is and hopes that everyone will disappear. And just like that, Myul-Mang shows off his powers as everyone vanishes on the carriage. It’s a momentarily trick, but enough to show the extent of his powers. This continues at work too, as Myul-Mang enchants the other workers and poses as a writer. He’s not, of course, but continues to show up everywhere in her life. While crossing the road, Dong-Kyung suddenly gets a blinding headache, which seems to be a side effect to her medical condition. And just like that, the white truck of doom comes speeding down the street ploughing toward her. Thankfully Myul-Mang uses his powers and manages to freeze time, saving the girl from certain doom (no pun intended!) He steps forward and tells her the deity is on his side. He asks her to choose between life or death and holds out a hand. Dong-Kyung deliberates before eventually taking his hand.
The Episode Review
Doom at Your Service gets things off to a really promising start, feeling like a hybrid between Tale of the Nine Tailed, Goblin and My Love from the Star. The ensuing result is a drama that feels like it’s gearing up for a solid romance between our two leads – and some heartbreak toward the end. It’s unclear where the antagonistic threat will come from – if at all – but the ticking clock with Dong-Kyung’s medical condition is enough so far to set the scene. Dong-Kyung could not have worse luck if she tried either. Literally everything that could go wrong does go wrong for her. The rain, finding out her boyfriend is unfaithful and even issues at work all collide together into this terminal illness that’s eating away at her. Glioblastoma is a horrible disease and I’d imagine we’ll see a lot more of that explored over the episodes ahead. Hopefully we also see more of Myul-Mang’s powers too, because right now it’s unclear what his purpose is and the extent of his powers. Although he’s there to instill doom on others, the rules around who he judges or not is a little hazy. Still, we’re only 1 episode in and this long-awaited drama gets off to a solid start.
