“Alchemy of Souls” (환혼): Season 1

By Jae-Ha Kim
jaehakim.com
December 28, 2022

☆☆☆☆
Jang Uk (played by Lee Jae-wook)
Mu-deok (played by Jung So-min)
Nak-su (played by Go Youn-jung)
↑Note: Korean names denote the surname followed by the given name.

To be completely honest, I stopped watching “Alchemy of the Souls” almost as soon as I had started. I barely finished the first episode, before re-watching the first couple episodes a few months later with my family. None of us were enthralled with it, to be honest. But it started to get really good around the fourth episode, so I’m glad we stuck it out.

And to be fully transparent, I was confused about what was going on for half of the first episode. 😬

In short, this fantasy show revolves around a nobleman named Uk who was born a mage, but had his powers taken away at birth by his father … who may or may not actually be his father. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ The secret surrounding his birth runs throughout the series and is a source of contention for Uk, and rightfully so. Everyone deserves to know where they came from and these secrets that supposedly are for the child’s own good rarely are.

After Nak-su — an elite assassin — is killed by Park Jin of the powerful Songrim family, her soul is able to survive in the host body of a blind woman named Mu-deok, who is about to be sold to a brothel. It’s not long before Mu-deok and Uk meet. He figures out that this tiny woman is the famed warrior Nak-su and purchases her. Rather than being frightened of her eventually regaining her skills, he is excited. He wants her to train him as his master.

The chemistry between Lee Jae-wook and Jung So-min drive the show. Jung’s Mu-deok is a droll character, who — despite having lost her strength — isn’t afraid to speak her mind and manipulate all the men simping over her. Even the Crown Prince (played by Shin Seung-ho, who played an unwilling thug in this year’s “Weak Hero Class 1“) is under her spell.

There is a sub-plot involving the blind lost daughter of the Jinyowon clan that centers around greed and subterfuge. The lesson here is that you should treat people well, regardless of their station in life, and not just because you share the same blood.

Here is a handy character chart via Kepoper.com that some new viewers may find useful:

One and done: I love the convenience of watching K-dramas on Netflix, but I will say that I don’t like the Westernization of some recent K-drama formats. By this, I mean that Korean shows are meant to be one-and-done, without followup seasons. And, yes, sometimes I love a series so much that I wish for a follow-up as well. But this show ran for 20 episodes. The entire story could’ve been told here, rather than leaving a Who Killed J.R. type of cliffhanger that doesn’t offer closure so much as a preamble to the second season.

Airdates: Twenty episodes (ranging from 60- to 87-minutes each) aired from June 18 to August 28, 2022 on tvN. You may read my review of the second season (once all the episodes have aired) here.

Spoiler Alert: Mu-deok dies and won’t be Uk’s love interest in the second season, which has four more episodes to release (as of this writing). That bums me out, because I really would’ve liked to watch this couple live a blissful life together.

As for who Uk’s father is, it was the late King in Jang Gang’s body. The King was dying and had not sired a boy to ascend to the throne. The King tells the powerful mage to cast a spell that will allow him to live in Jang Gang’s body for the duration of a week. In other words, the King’s soul has been transported into Jang Gang’s body. This is where the K-drama’s title comes in. Jang Gang uses the Soul Ejector created from the Ice Stone and performs the Alchemy of Souls.