I'll get the cons out of the way as this series wasn't perfect. The last 2 episodes felt rushed and the wrap-up employed a deus ex machina device for the ending; this cheapened the story, imho, which was otherwise great. Part way through, we find out that Wol Jo had a child with the crown prince and this led to her 500 year ordeal now. This didn’t sit well with me as she was hired when Yi Hon was suffering from psychological and physical disturbances caused by his nightmares. This essentially gave her a quasi counsellor role in his life at a time when he was vulnerable, especially since they were meeting in his dream realms, which can leave a potent emotional impact, enough for him to fall head over heels in love with her when he meets her in his own dream psyche for the first time and he becomes besotted with her and is giddy to the point that those near him notices that he was behaving oddly. In this sense, I felt that what Wol Jo did justified the salacious gossip as she had overstepped her professional duties and acted in an unethical way. Because of their power imbalance, it could be construed that she seduced him. However, I did not deduct stars from this for various reasons. One, no matter how vulnerable he might’ve been in the mortal realm, Yi Hon would’ve been lucid enough to choose for himself in the spirit world and he eventually chose a difficult path that gave him a chance to be reunited with her. For me, his free will, which might’ve been compromised in the incarnated life, was re-established here. Two, the pros of this series far outweighs any cons.

There’s a test that sets a standard for female representation in any work of fiction (whether lit, film or series) called the Bechdel test. It has a basic two prong condition of showing two named women talking with each other about something other than a man. Mystic Pop-up bar fulfils this test easily and goes the extra mile with having a female char start the show, who is not being sexually assaulted, molested or abused when she is intro’d. Those extra two are my own personal conditions but overall, all four conditions are fulfilled by male characters in fiction easily and effortlessly majority, if not all, of the time so it’s not unreasonable to expect the same portrayal for female characters. On this alone, mystic pop-up bar earns brownie star points.

The other brownie star points are clocked up by the male tritagonist Han Kang Bae. This dude is a seriously refreshing creation. What appeals to me about his masculinity is that it is quietly confident. On his own, he comes across as a bit nervous, uncertain and easily frightened. When reunited with his soul parents he is given a platform to show his strength as his unshakeable conviction for karmic justice is displayed over and over again. He is not beyond sacrificing his own well being and safety to help others and is a sensitive, considerate, kind and introspective young man, traits not normally demonstrated by or expected in a man however, these traits are the hallmark of a true leader, which Kang Bae, in his own unassuming way, is. But it is when he finds his complementary soul partner that his masculinity really shines.

Yoo Rin is a “thank gawd for this gal!” strong female character. She may be one of the few bodyguard type female character there is which makes her that much more special in film & TV land. She has an overabundance of energy and is the potent animus to Kang Bae’s more subtle anima, the literal yang to his yin. Brownie star points are racked up like a winning slot machine with this char. Yoo Rin makes a change from the usual portrayal of strong women with facial ticks, such as the over exaggerated pursing of the lips and eyes when talking portrayed by “strong” tomboyish woman Bok Joo (Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-Joo) and Ja-Din in Boys over Flowers. Yoo Rin has no medical or neurological condition and is your average human albeit a stronger and tougher woman because of her background in sports and martial arts. Most of all, she is feminine. Like all women, she can take or leave make-up (she leaves it). She can take or leave heels (she occasionally takes it but mostly leaves it for work) and she has long hair. What a multitasker! She is refreshing for the very fact that film and tv execs seem to finally realise that strong women are also (shock, horror, gasp) NORMAL!

And when Ms Normal meets Mr True Man, what we get is a fantastically functionally and healthy dynamic, as only a balanced yin and yang can give. There is a scene where Yoo Rin tries to amp up her tomboyishness to scare off Kang Bae, instead, he is in awe of her potency and vitality. Another scene has Wol Jo trying to speed things along between Kang Bae and Yoo Rin by getting her soul son to open a glued up bottle thereby showing his muscles. It fails spectacularly and Kang Bae thinks nothing of asking for assistance from the woman he admires. And when Yoo Rin opens the bottle top effortlessly, there was no shame or awkwardness on his part, it’s written on his face that he simply thinks she is awesome+. Quite frankly, Kang Bae’s masculinity is true and beautiful for the fact that he is never once threatened by Yoo Rin’s superior strength, vitality or assertiveness. He accepts her, completely. And that’s the true sign of a real leader and a real man. He doesn’t just stop there though. When captured by Won Hyung, Kang Bae doesn’t try to use physical strength to fight. He instead uses the biggest muscle a true man possesses to fight Won Hyung’s baiting—his heart. The maturity and insight he shows by being able to see the greater picture of his soul parents' suffering shows a depth that is rarely portrayed, or expected of, by male characters engaged in a romance story arc. I really like him. And I love his pairing with Yoo Rin. They work so very well together and both made me emotionally invested enough to finish this show despite the unethical glitch in Wol Jo’s story arc that I mention above.

I hope viewers will give this show a try. It’s not perfect but most pioneering shows will have teething problems. I do consider this a bit of a pioneer because of the different perspective of gender roles it was courageous enough to portray so I excused the glitches. And it is nice to see strong women portrayed as normal and feminine. Possibly the only thing I would’ve liked to have seen was Yoo Rin taking on Won Hyung. Because of her character profile, I felt she was the perfect person to fight against the amped up evil spirit. That would’ve made for a better resolution of her grudge, imho, but I can see why the writers needed Won Hyung elsewhere. Still, this definitely doesn’t take away from the well deserved 10 stars.

Oh yeah, and the Gout Lovers were FANTASTIC!!! I nearly died laughing. LOL