The Heavenly Idol – K-drama Episode 8 Recap & Review

Master of the Afterlife

Episode 8 of The Heavenly Idol starts begins with  Pontifex and Gam-jae heading to another realm. Gam-jae brings him to the Afterlife and Pontifex meets the master of the Afterlife. Yeon-woo asks where he is, and Gam-jae explains that he is in the Afterlife where the dead are judged, and the absolute truth and reason reign. Gam-jae says that his master wanted to see him after Pontifex caused so much chaos in the Afterlife by his deeds on Earth.

Yeon-woo asks if she is a deity in the Afterlife, and he requests her help to meet with Lord Redrin. The master reprimands him and asks why she should let him meet Lord Redrin after the chaos has caused. He asks if it’s not beneficial to them if he is back in his world.

Elsewhere, the Evil One is using his powers to put Kim Dal in a trance and reads her deepest secrets, her self-hate over Liz Ri, he offers to do damage to anyone that did her wrong, and she tries to run off but he commands her to stay.

In the meantime, the Queen tells  Yeon-woo that she will help him if he does several things for her. She needs him to retrieve a holy relic stolen from them, it is currently being used to turn humans into goblins in the entertainment industry. Yeon-woo is to retrieve it and nullify the contract between the goblins and the person that took the holy relic. Her second task is for him to infiltrate a religious sect called Hongwoodaedae and bring the master to her as she is interfering with the Afterlife order. They manipulate the human lifespan.

Yeon-woo believes that Hongwoodaedae is an excellent religious sect and tells the Queen she is mistaken, as they serve Lord Redrin. The Queen replies that she is correct and asks him if he believes that Lord Redlin is a good person. She laughs and then blows on her fingers, creating a mist that she expands and blows up, opening the door to the other realm. She tells him that the work of deities is to rule one domain with the ability to travel through other domains.

Meanwhile, Jung-shin is trying to call Yeon-woo, Yeon-woo walks in, and Jung-shin questions him why he did not do as he had told him. Pontifex asks him who the Evil One is and tells him that he will not be lenient with him if he does not answer him. Jung Shin asks him who he is to command him and tries to attack him. Gam-jae intervenes, places his hand on Jung-shin, and supernaturally questions him on who the Evil One is. Jung-shin tells them that he is the CEO of RU Entertainment.

Gam-jae remembers that RU Entertainment has a representation that night, and they teleport to the Evil One’s office, where he has Kim Dal in a trance. They get into a fight and  Pontifex is injured, luckily they escape and take Kim Dal with them. They let her sleep and get back to the temple. the Evil One realizes that  Yeon-woo loves Kim Dal.

The next morning, at the temple Jung Shin wakes up, goes out, and everyone avoids him. He asks his manager why everyone is getting away from him. The manager tells him that he had confessed his crimes against a fellow trainee, and the trainee had released a statement on the same. He has a flashback to the previous night when he had been left on a call confessing his actions.

In the meantime, Pontifex and Gam-jae return to the group’s dorm, and Kim Dal meets them outside. She reassures them she is okay, then suddenly behaves differently and runs away.  Yeon-woo follows her but learns that the dark magic in her is harmless, but it allows her to voice her innermost thoughts.

Back at the dorm that evening, Gam-jae and  Yeon-woo talk about goblins and how to identify them. Gam-jae explains that they look like humans but are stone cold and smell gummy. Hae Gyeol, a group member, approaches them; he is an unassuming person who always plays games on his phone.

Elsewhere, the group members are in a music show in the hallway, and they cross paths with a different group called The Evil Boys; among them is a member who makes Hae Gyeol worried, and he hides.  Yeon-woo realises that one Evil Boys member is a goblin. We have a flashback of a young Hae Gyeol being beaten by other boys. On their way home, Hae Gyeol is not in the vehicle, and they find him at the dorm.

Yeon-woo approaches Hae Gyeol and asks him why he looked wary at the music show, and he tells him that he saw someone who bullied him and thought he would recognise him. Yeon-woo approaches Kim Dal and asks her if she can find out more about the Evil Boys. She brushes him off and goes into a meeting. There she proceeds to be overtaken by the evil spirit and embarrasses herself and Yeon-woo.

Pontifex begins to wonder if she meant it when she said she has no feelings for him.  As they talk, Kim Dal receives a message asking if Yeon-woo can be a part of a variety show, Battle Love so she calls Sun-ja to get permission. That evening Kim Dal sees the past picture of her with Liz Ri, and she holds her hand on her chest as if in pain.

Elsewhere a goblin kills a human, and Gam-jae approaches the crime scene that is left with traces of blood. He understands that the goblin is not acting alone. On the other hand, the master of Hongwoodaedae sending a message to Maeng Woo-sin to appear on Battle Love, a dating show, and he is to help an important person.

The following day, Pontifex has a small wooden sword to use to find the goblins. He pokesRaken from the Evil Boys group, and Kim Dal drags him away before he causes a scene.

They are there for a recording of Battle love. During the recording, Raken brushes his hand off, revealing his torso and a wound can be seen on his skin. Ponitifex confirms his suspicions that he is a goblin.

Concurrently, Evil One visits Liz Ri in the hospital and influences her to try committing suicide again.

Back at the Wild Animal dormitory, Hae Gyeol takes in the group’s parcels and sorts them out; here, he pricks his finger with one of the letters and checks something on his computer.

Yeon-woo calls Kim Dal into the office to tell her that she should help him prepare for the second shooting of the Battle Love. The dark magic takes over, and Kim Dal confesses her feelings towards Yeon-woo.

Hae Gyeol goes missing and leaves letters of resignation, saying he is sorry he cannot be a worthy group member. It comes to light that he had faced cyberbullying. The next day on the way to the shooting place,  Yeon-woo requests to be taken to Liz Ri. He finds her about to take her life and stops her/

In the meantime,  Yeon-woo gets to the dating show and apologises to his date. He explains that he is late because he was helping to find a group member who had run away. He requests her to help him. In the process, they find Hae Gyeol, and she appreciates Yeon-woo more and chooses him as her third date.

Kim Dal waits for him and tells him that what she had said in the conference room should be forgotten and for him to heal her. That evening she takes him to a beautiful location and tells him to bring his date to that same place. She confesses to hating herself for her bad decisions and wonders if Liz Ri has forgiven her. Pontifex replies that she has been forgiven.

He plays a recording of Liz Ri telling her that she always loved her and never hated her. Through a flashback to what happened on the rooftop, we learn that Liz Ri received Kim Dal’s letters of encouragement along with a bundle of positive messages from her fans. In the letter, Kim Dal asks her to surround herself with only the people that make her happy and live a fulfilling life. Pontifex asks her to also forgive herself and live a happy life too. He assures her that what happened to Liz Ri was not her fault.

The episode ends with Pontifex giving her a simple forehead kiss and she confesses that she likes him.

The Episode Review

Forgiving ourselves is one of the hardest things for humans to do. It has been said, in order to heal we must forgive ourselves. It is not easy, it is a commitment to show mercy to ourselves. Once in a while, we should apologize to ourselves too. This is because most of us are the hardest on ourselves. I hope Kim Dal can now move forward with some peace.

The truth about how she feels is out too, what will Pontifex do? Will he turn her down or admit he has fallen for her too?