The Heavenly Idol – K-drama Episode 6 Recap & Review

The Sponsorship Scandal

Episode 6 of The Heavenly Idol starts with Yeon-woo in a dark room wondering what happened. In a flashback, he remembers being hoodwinked and two men dragging him outside where he meets an angry Sun-ja. Kim Dal follows behind and wants to know what is going on. Sun-ja is worried over news spreading that Yeon-woo has a female sponsor.

She shows him a picture of Ma Jin Hwa, and Yeon-woo admits he had an interaction with her. Kim Dal is shocked and the Evil One watches the chaos from a distance. The police soon arrive to arrest Yeon-woo to answer questions about the sponsorship scandal. Jin Hwa is currently under arrest as well for embezzlement and dereliction of duty.

The arrest is all over the news and spreads like a bushfire online. Once again, LL Entertainment finds itself in a pickle and Sun-ja relies on Kim Dal to fix the situation. On the other hand, the other members of the group are worried and think it is over for their careers.

At the police station, Yeon-woo is questioned by a prosecutor who is set on forcing him to admit to the charges. With Yeon-woo refusing to admit the charges, the prosecutor leaves and a man in a black hoodie enters the room after making a call to his accomplice who is deleting surveillance footage at the station. The man is one of the men who work for the Evil One he has been working for someone else. Based on what the man said on the call, he believes that if he kills Pontifex he can obtain his powers.

The hooded man attacks Yeon-woo and a struggle ensues. Yeon-woo fights for his life but realizes his powers are gone. He tries to reason with the man and bargain for his life but the man is hell-bent on completing his mission. In the end, Yeon-woo gets stabbed in his shoulder and his hand is sliced. He runs out of the room and is saved by Kim Dal who went through his phone and found out that Yeon-woo only contacted Jin Hwa once as a simple courtesy asking her to take care of her health.

She manages to reveal this information dramatically at the hospital as they rush Yeon-woo in for treatment. Public opinion soon shifts from attacking Yeon-woo to sympathizing with his predicament. Obviously, Sun-ja is happy that Kim Dal managed to save Yeon-woo’s public image. His teammates are also happy that Yeon-woo is proven innocent and is recovering well in the hospital. It also turns out that Yeon-woo was not the one who replied to the fan emails but Jung-seo instead.

While all this was going down, Woo-sil tried to contact Sun-ja to check on her and Yeon-woo. Sun-ja gets angry at him and it is revealed they dated about five years ago. However, it is not revealed why they broke up.  Sun-ja takes out her frustration on him and hangs up.

Elsewhere, the Evil One tracks the hooded man down and is not pleased he tried to kill Pontifex on his own. He also knows he is working for someone else. The man is a hwansin (humans who lost their bodies after signing a deal with an evil being.) The Evil One sends the hooded man with a message to his master to never meddle in his business again. When the hooded man delivers the message to his master, she is disappointed.

She tells him that the plan was for Pontifex to never learn about their existence. She kills the man without a second thought. The lady serves a deity and she and her followers believe that the deity will descend to earth and cleanse it. The lady has supernatural powers too so it is unclear why she wants Pontifex’s powers too. She also welcomes new devotees including Tae-in from Wild Animal.

Meanwhile, in the Underworld, her Majesty is informed that five goblin wardens that punish prisoners have disappeared. She wonders how that is possible as they can only be summoned with a holy relic. She is informed that it is because someone from the other world has been using one of their holy relics. She questions what the inspector in charge of the holy relics has been doing.

Back on earth, Pontifex and Kim Dal get close as they share and learn more about each other. Pontifex tells her about how his family and the whole village were destroyed by the Evil One and how he dedicated his life to Lord Redrin. She tells him about Liz Ri and how she is still in a coma. She is curious if he has ever dated someone before but he refuses to answer her.

Concurrently, the Evil One meets with the prosecutor with Jung-shin and drives him to madness. He decides to switch tactics and use Kim Dal to torture Pontifex.

The next morning, Yeon-woo is released from the hospital and his members and Sun-ja welcome him home. Sun-ja is worried that no one wants to work with Wild Animal even though Yeon-woo was proven innocent. Luckily, Sing Survival releases a viral video of Jung-shin and Yeon-woo being close. The fans react positively to the video but Pontifex is angry about it.

As they talk, Pontifex realises he is getting his powers back.  He is hoping to restore his strength quickly and get into Hongwoodaedae and get back to his realm. He is worried that the Evil One will manage to kill him if he stays on earth longer.

Later, the LL Entertainment team meets and discusses the group’s schedule. Yeon-woo is set to appear on Dear Deity in the upcoming week. Sun-ja decides the group should release new music in the next month. She plays the song but Kim Dal convinces her to let her participate in the creative process. Kim Dal also takes up more responsibility within the company to help with the company. She is hoping to create the perfect idol and overworks herself.

As a group comeback looms, Sing Survival comes to an end and Yeon-woo is placed in the fifth spot. Cash takes the third position much to his delight and Jung-shin wins the competition.  Pontifex thinks that Kim Dal is mad at him for not winning. However, she is okay with the results and assures him that they got more fans through the show so it is okay.

Yeon-woo notices this when she picks him up from his Dear Deity shoot where he harassed Maeng Woo-sin trying to convince him to let him join Hongwoodaedae. He also Kim Dal to sleep and goes to Liz Ri’s hospital. He heals Liz Ri and she wakes up from her coma. Kim Dal later gets a phone call and when she arrives she sees Liz Ri is awake. Sadly, Liz Ri is not happy to be alive, she hoped she had died.

Seeing this triggers an anxiety attack in her and she rushes out of the hospital. Yeon-woo catches up to her and comforts her. She is worried about the harsh rumours surrounding Liz Ri that are still going on. She cries and tells Pontifex she wishes she was born in his world and had met him before he dedicated his life to Lord Redlin. The words shake Pontifex’s heart and he is too stunned to do anything other than hug her.

The Episode Review

I don’t understand why Sun-ja couldn’t have just approached Yeon-woo normally and asked him about the sponsorship scandal. What was the point of the whole theatrics of hoodwinking him and forcefully dragging him out?

Throughout this episode, Pontifex kept being moved by Kim Dal. He may not realize it yet but he is starting to fall for her. This will complicate things when the real Yeon-woo comes back. She is in love with Pontifex and not Yeon-woo.

I know Yeon-woo meant well when he healed Liz Ri but I am not sure he did the right thing. Only time will tell.

I wonder what Gam-jae is up to when he skips work. It would be nice to learn more about him and he is possibly on the trail of the followers of the deity that killed the hooded man. I am also curious to learn what lead Tae-in to join this cult.

Given that the Evil One is planning on using Kim Dal against Pontifex, it looks like we are in for an intense episode next week.