Doom at Your Service was a show I watched blindly, without reading anything about it prior to watching besides knowing who it's main characters would be played by. In the beginning, I was instantly hooked by it's characters and the general plot line or "concept" of the story. Unfortunately, due to it's desire to be pandering to the romance which is what this drama decides to be defined by, it eventually lost it's initial spark.

The initial idea that was presented into this drama was my favorite thing about it as a whole. We have the physical manifestation of doom itself, falling in love with a girl who embraces her incoming death, and is faced with many misfortunes, but instead of moaning about it, chooses to embrace it and move on with her life, perhaps a metaphor for how willingly she accepts her "doom." This dynamic was such an interesting concept to me in terms of fantasy Kdramas, instead of the usual mythological being (like a demon, a god, etc) being the main lead. I loved that Doom himself was something created by humans , for humans - he causes balance within the universe simply from existing in various different forms. He's a fluid, abstract being, and Dongkyung, our main lead, is someone that embraces him for all that he is. The contract was such a good hook to the story, too, and kept me wanting more.

So, as you can tell, the other main aspect of the drama that I loved were its characters. Dongkyung was such a well written and realistic main lead - she was headstrong, stood her ground no matter what, and was far from your damsel in distress/clueless FL. Her reactions to things never felt out of character in that way, too. Although she had a soft side that resided in her natural kindness and empathy towards others, and was stubborn when it came to things involving her self worth. This made her a perfect match to Doom, and because of their dynamic, their chemistry was amazing right from the start.

Besides that, this was when I began to feel the drama lacking. Its side story felt like another drama in it's entirety because of how contrasted its plot line was in comparison to the main story. Like, the main story was so dramatic and had dark, metaphorical elements scattered all over it, then the episode would switch to your typical office romance love triangle with some slice of life level angst involved. And while I loved Ji-Na and Joo-Ik as characters, by all means, I just found the emphasis on their love story to be so unneeded? Especially with the bigger underlying problem in the drama? But I suppose fluff is probably needed to keep viewers entertained, in some way...

And speaking of fluff, another thing that was making me lose interest was when they began to usher out all the fantasy elements, or at least sidelined to the point where it felt like it wasn't there at all, and put heavy emphasis on the romance. While the profound love between Dongkyung and Doom was indeed important to show how they both affect each others' lives, I'd have appreciated it if they didn't try so hard for it be some kind of tearjerker, especially towards the end. What is it with fantasy romance dramas and having the ML disappear for some time, have the FL think he's dead and just try to move on with her life, and then have him appear again out of nowhere? The trope is so tiring and predictable when it's obvious you just want the drama to drag on a little longer..like, there are other ways you can provide a good and exhilarating addition to the story without making him die and then come back, you know?

Overall, I feel like Doom at Your Service had so much potential to be an amazing and well written drama if it had a higher budget, per se. It's fantasy elements were so interesting to me lore-wise, but unfortunately, it's classification as a romance could only limit it to Powerpoint Presentation transitions. I loved the characters, but besides the main leads, I couldn't find myself being attached to anyone else on an emotional level. Even the ending itself was wrapped up perfectly with a pretty bow, with no consequences for either of them whatsoever. Seriously.