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Review | K-drama review: The Uncanny Counter – Netflix fantasy show’s ending satisfies fans despite late-season lull

  • When So-mun was stripped of his powers as a counter and had to begin regaining them, the pace of the demon-hunting series’ plot slowed
  • Short-lived interludes, many of them distracting, did not help, but the 16th episode got everything predictably right, and signs are there’ll be a second season

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Sejeong (left) and Ahn Suk-hwan in a still from The Uncanny Encounter episode 16.

This article contains spoilers of the show.

3.5/5 stars

Much like the scene where its protagonist So-mun (Jo Byung-gyu) soared over the wall at the beginning of the series during his initiation as a counter and slapped his painted hand on the tarmac far ahead of the prints of his future colleagues, The Uncanny Counter captured our imaginations from the get-go. But as with many things in life, success is all about sticking the landing.

The second half of the season has been a decidedly mixed bag. A number of plot threads were introduced – some tantalising, others unnecessary distractions from the main plot – only to be summarily snipped off within an episode. In their stead, the show has been content to return to a plot increasingly driven by a fairly conventional antagonist: a corrupt politician.

Despite these disappointing interludes and a late-season writer shake-up, The Uncanny Counter pulls through in the end, with a satisfying finale that reminded the viewers of what made us like the show to begin with.

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