Tak Dong-kyung is a novel editor who seems to have mastered the art of enduring hardship. On the anniversary of her parents’ death, our protagonist receives a devastating diagnosis: she has a brain tumour and only three months left to live.
The rest of her day hardly gets any easier as she is confronted by her boyfriend’s heavily pregnant wife, a detail he “forgot” to disclose, talked down to by her boss, harassed at the metro, and pestered by her immature younger brother.
Exhausted and disillusioned, she makes it home, finally given some space to process.
“The tears I’ve held back all these years must have formed a pool in my brain,” she laments.
After deciding to drink her way to inner peace, she wishes upon a star.
“To hell with everything, bring doom to the world!” she screams out.
Enter Myulmang, an eternal being, a messenger between gods and humans, the personification of doom. Whatever he does, wherever he goes, there too calamity follows. Something as innocuous as lighting a cigarette can trigger disaster, whether he means to or not.
Doom’s birthday marks a rare occasion when he can fulfil one human’s wish. Hoping to escape his burdensome existence, he decides that this time around a human gets to be Dong-kyung.
The drama’s supernatural premise is more than a gimmick. Rather, it lends itself to the show’s philosophical depth, allowing it to meditate on themes of life and death, choice and fate, creation and destruction, and frees us from the limitations of pure realism.
The show is also defined by duality and contrast. Doom explores existential despair and isolation, while Dong-kyung grounds the story in real issues like family conflict, social challenges and mortality. Their evolving relationship creates a powerful journey with both symbolic and tangible impact.
Written by Im Meari and directed by Kwon Young-Il, Doom at Your Service stands out with its original plot, beautiful dialogue, and richly layered characters, brought vividly to life by leads Park Bo-young and Seo In-guk, making it an absolute must-watch.
