I started writing up my review of this drama a few episodes or so from the end, because I had a pretty good idea of what my overall feelings were going to be once I finished. I was disappointed with the lack of development in Bong Sun and Seon Woo's relationship compared to Sun Ae and Seon Woo. There was not an even split, and it made the viewing experience frustrating. (I took a couple of hiatuses because of it.) It's not that I didn't love every moment Sun Ae and Seon Woo were together, because I did. I love Kim Seul Gi to bits, so I'm never going to complain about seeing her more often or about her characters getting lots of delicious character development. I also enjoyed watching possessed Bong Sun chasing after Seon Woo, and thus by proxy, Sun Ae developing a relationship with him. Minus the ghost issue, she would have been a strong contender in the fight for his heart. I just wanted there to be an even playing field for our two girls, and there wasn't. Only one of them was ever going to have better than a snowballs chance of being with Seon Woo, and she wasn't the one whose romance the writers chose to focus on most of the drama.

Then I watched the next to last episode, and my frustration and disappointment didn't seem to matter anymore. Seeing what happened to Sun Ae, how horrifying it all was, experiencing this flood of gut-wrenching emotions in the pit of my stomach. I was so angry and heartbroken for her, that she had to die so young, and by the hands of someone she cared for and trusted. And then the biggest surprise of all (for me at least), discovering there was still some scrap of humanity left in Sung Jae. The entire drama, we were lead to believe that he was just pure evil, that he had been possessed by an evil spirit for so long that there was nothing good left in him. But in those last moments, what we saw was a broken young man fighting against a destiny that was unfair and recognizing the man he had become and maybe not being so happy about it. He wasn't so far gone that there wasn't still room for redemption.

Of course, then I watched the Last episode, and I was back to being disappointed. Finales are hard for even the best of dramas, and Oh My Ghostess (which I do consider to be one of the best of dramas) is no exception. So much of the last episode felt unnecessary, frustrating, a little confusing. I could have done without much of it, to be honest.

Sun Ae's final day was beautiful and moving, each goodbye a perfect send off to the people she loved, but it seemed a little unfair to me that such an important character should get her send-off at the very beginning of the episode and then be completely forgotten about afterward.

And we have to talk about the forced separation of our main couple. I'm not inherently against main couple separations in dramas. But drama writers always utilize them so poorly or just throw them in for no reason other than it's the finale and they need to fill screen time, and it Really felt unnecessary here. Bong Sun and Seon Woo are only just starting to really get to know each other as people and develop a genuine relationship. Do you really think this is the right moment to separate them? It's just not on.

I think the most confusing writing choice though was what the writer did with Sung Jae. It is hard to be sure just how much was the evil spirit and just how much was him, because the drama never made it fully clear, but at some level, whether conscious or not, Sung Jae was inviting the evil spirit into his life. Even with possession as an excuse, there was at least a part of him that wanted to do some of the things he did. I'm probably in the minority here, but I was willing to forgive him and give him an opportunity to atone for his part in all of the terrible things that were done while the demon was in his body. Just...not that way. That wasn't justice Or redemption. It was just...confusing and weird.

Now that I've finished the drama, I still think my initial feelings were correct, that Seon Woo and Bong Sun deserved more relationship development. And I think the finale did the characters and overall story a disservice in many ways. But I'm also really glad I finally sat down and finished it (and pushed through my frustration during the midway portion.) I think this is a good drama, despite its flaws.