[HanCinema's Drama Review] Nail Shop Paris Episode 3

It's official. This show has gone from campy to absolutely nuts. Now we have a ghost to contend with and he isn't just any ghost: he's a, um, sexually needy ghost. His needs are haunting his ex-girlfriend who is a new customer at Nail Shop Paris. Former medical student Alex notices that the customer's hands aren't looking good and deduces that she is having too much sex.

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Please take a moment to digest that while I laugh. And laugh. And continue to laugh.

Moving on. His worry is shared by Jin who becomes strangely subdued in this woman's presence. Later, she passes out in the street and is found by a female shaman who is none other than Jin's mother. The show awkwardly explores the strained mother/son relationship as the Nail Shop Paris team of detectives investigates the haunting of their client. We even get to see an exorcism in a cave! It's so epic! Or not...

The other focus of the episode is Yeo-joo's mission to reveal her boss as the gumiho from her childhood. She tries several folk methods that are supposed to reveal the nature of a gumiho, but her boss avoids each one. With a ghost in the mix, I wouldn't be surprised if the boss turned out to be a gumiho.

Kei from Nail Shop Paris Episode 3

The show's attempt to highlight a character and his backstory while at the same time helping a customer is not a bad thing. This method of plot movement really allows for a mini-series to explain and develop characters while creating easily solved conflict. However, this only works when it is done well. In the case of Nail Shop Paris, it is so mishandled that it comes off as hokey. It takes itself way too seriously and doesn't delve into problems deeply enough to make the episodic format worth its time.

It would be better for the show to focus more on the development of the characters than solving the problems of its clients. Instead of focusing so much on the woman being haunted by her ex-boyfriend's ghost, I would've preferred to see more of how Jin was affected by encountering a ghost he wished he couldn't see and meeting his mother again. Very little time was spent on that and for me, seeing into a main character is much more interesting than solving some stranger's issues.

Yeo-joo from Nail Shop Paris Episode 3

And I can't forget to mention the acting. Park Gyu-ri really needs to work on pretending to be a man. Her voice is so high and her movements so feminine that I can't believe that didn't give her away. It was Jin walking into her apartment and seeing her naked that tipped him off.

In the scenes that depict the development of her new gumiho story, Park Gyu-ri sounds so breathy and aegyo that she comes off as winded rather than sexy. It comes from a lack of variety in her body, vocal, and facial expressions. When she's in scenes with seasoned actor Song Jae-rim, it's terribly noticeable. He doesn't have to say anything to express what his character is feeling: he does it merely with a twitch of his mouth or tension in his jaw.

Despite all of its flaws, this show is strangely addicting. It's like a car wreck. I just have to crane my head out the window and look.

Written by Raine from Raine's Dichotomy

"Nail Shop Paris" is directed by Park Soo-cheol, written by Seong Min-ji and features Park Gyu-ri, Jin Hyun-bin, Song Jae-rim and Thunder.