‘Tale of the Nine-Tailed Fox’…Caught between telling a swanky fantasy and a gritty folklore, this drama settles for neither, and ends up being an unremarkable fare.
Also translated as ‘Tale of Gumiho’ and ‘Tale of the Nine-Tailed’.
Spoilers Ahead…
To date, tvN has had a pretty good track record of producing fantasy/supernatural dramas. Despite a mixed-bag, the dramas are usually quite entertaining, and if not, for fans of the genre like me, it can introduce you to another facet of Korean mythology and Shamanism. However, as I mentioned in my review of Mystic Pop-Up Bar, the framework of most of these shows tend to be identical — a system of deities, spirits working between humans, an office/hotel/teashop acting as an intermediary between this world and the next, a spirit/goblin/fox waiting for a loved one to be re-incarnated, that said loved one being an orphan and having the ability to view and engage with this hidden world — and so, I too didn’t really except Tale of the Nine-Tailed Fox to stray far away from this formula.
That’s why the first three episodes were a pleasant surprise. It was dark, gritty, frightening and steeped in folklore, similar to The Guest. It involved blood, dead bodies, curses, cannibalism, an evil entity trapped in an island full of suspicious residents…until someone in the production team felt this was all too grim for a drama about a gumiho and his reincarnated first love and so, from the fourth episode onwards, we are abruptly dropped into a whole lot of cute.
From investigating murders and researching evil spirits, the story swerves to a wholly different direction, by concentrating largely on the romance between Lee Yeon (an effortless Lee Dong Wook) and Nam Ji A (Jo Bo Ah). As incongruous as this shift was, it still could have been salvageable if not for the fact that I never once bought the romance. Not once. The development from investigative partners to lovers that have been destined together, is as quick as a flash of lighting. I never once felt that intense longing of two people kept apart by fate, or the epic proportions of their reunion after 600 long years of waiting. But the show keeps trying to convince otherwise, with repeated montages of the couple going on dates and conversations where they declare their love for each other.
A lot of this slows down the momentum, and kills the suspense and urgency built over by the previous scenes which concern the newly re-born evil spirit Imoogi (Lee Tae Ri). After a certain point, I couldn’t help but not care for these two. If you are still going to find time to go out on dates when the whole city is being ravaged by a plague that was because of your failure to stop the Imoogi, who had clearly warned you of this plan of his, I honestly couldn’t care less of what happens to you. And this definitely sucks, considering that the resolution of the drama is hinged on these two finding a way to live together without one of them landing up dead because of a pre-determined fate.
The whole plot is a result of Yeon’s inability to let A Eum (Ji A’s past life) go and wishing to be reunited with her in her next re-incarnation. This stubbornness gives rise to two conflicts — one with Taluipa (Kim Jung Nan, annoyed throughout) and the other with Yeon’s younger half brother Lee Rang (an excellent Kim Boem), which inject some substance into the tale. With Taluipa, he wishes to defy his and Ji A’s pre-determined fate. Deities dole out these prophecies which define the fate of each person in accordance to their past lives and sins, and to accept them in a new lifetime, does seem harsh. So, it does seem unfortunate that fate would bring Yeon and Ji A together again, only to have one of them die. But at the same time, Yeon’s stubbornness to not let go of Ji A and constant failure to defeat the Imoogi, is going to cost a lot of lives, and Taluipa (who gallingly remains tight-lipped about this whole affair, neither offering help nor guidance) being a deity has no choice but to remain apathetic and choose the solution that serves the greater good.
With Rang, it is not only his decision to defend A Eum (and abandoning Rang and his mountain in the process), but also his refusal to apologize for this decision. Here is where the insertion of the romance slightly makes sense, as Rang sees history repeating itself, and is enraged that his brother might abandon him yet again for a woman. Two episodes (8 & 9) detail out this relationship and Rang’s backstory really well, and bring back the grittiness of the initial episodes for a short while. It is well directed, focusing on the supernatural realm, with a clear progression in the characters’ arcs.
It was also always so fun to see Rang on screen (apart from Kim Beom’s handsome face), as we see the foxes’ abilities being put to use like shapeshifting, heightened smell, hearing and super speed, which adds a layer of fun. But as we don’t get much of this, I sometimes forgot that I was watching deities and foxes trying to defeat the King of snakes.
It was simply disappointing that nothing, that was introduced in the first three episodes, bore any significance onto the rest of the show. Why did Ji A’s mother (Kim Hee Jung) visit the island when she was pregnant with her? Did this have any connection to her parents’ accident? What happened to the residents of the islands? What was the whole mystery about a woman dying every four years? Ji A’s job (as a producer of a Urban Legends programme) didn’t tie up into the story any more. Yeon’s job of catching evil gumihos ceases to be of relevance. Rang helping out humans to fulfil their dark wishes is too, forgotten.
In the second half, the repeated attempts at defeating Imoogi, is so inconsistent and half-hearted. It is just a lot of talk and threats, with no action.
The drama failed to flourish both as an epic saga of romance and as a bold, dark thriller. The result is somewhere in between with a plot that trudges in fits and jerks with nearly a bulk of the runtime indulging in product and restaurant placements rather than the story and world building.
