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The much-anticipated Korean series Light Shop debuted on Disney+ on December 4, 2024. Adapted from the popular webtoon Jomyeonggage by Kang Pool, the series blends supernatural, horror, mystery, and emotional drama, exploring themes of life, death, and the unknown.
Directed by Kim Hee-won (Moving), the Light Shop series explores the emotional journeys of spirits while uncovering secrets about the shop itself, including the enigmatic connection between its light fixtures and the spiritual realm.
Light Shop focuses on a seemingly ordinary light store owned by Won-young (Ju Ji-hoon). However, the shop is anything but normal—it serves as a bridge for spirits stuck between life and death, helping them find a resolution for their unfinished business.
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Park Bo-young plays Nurse Kwon Young-ji, a spirited and empathetic hospital assistant with a mysterious past. She and the light shop owner, Woo-young, assist these wandering souls, encountering a variety of clients and stories that blur the line between the living and the afterlife.
In episode 4 of Light Shop, Uhm Tae-goo, Kim Min-ah, and others are seen on life support in the hospital where Park Bo-young is a nurse, fighting between life and death. Meanwhile, we learn that Won-young himself is a spirit who is stuck inside the light shop due to his regrets. He now lives as a watcher for those on their way to the afterlife and normal living beings.
Light Shop episodes 1-4 recap: Should you meet one of the spirits, don't look their way
Disney+ Light Shop opened with Won-young tending to his unique store in the heart of a desolate alley. Lee Ji-young (Seol-hyun), eager to escape her troubled past, stumbled into the shop but didn't enter it. She walked with a large trolley suitcase and sat at a bus stop. Uhm Tae-goo's character, Hyun-min, came across Ji-young at the same bus stop.
After seeing her wait there for several days, he asked her if she needed help booking a cab. However, this was when Hyun-min made a mistake without knowing the woman's real identity in front of her. Ji-young asked him if she could go to his place, and a hesitant Hyun-min obliged, only to realize later that she was a spirit waiting to devour a soul.
The first episode introduced the shop’s true purpose when a ghostly client arrived seeking closure. Hyun-joo (a high school student) became a friend of the light store owner, Won-young. He told her about the strangers (spirits) and taught her how to behave in their unsettling presence. However, it quickly becomes clear that Hyun-joo and the proprietor of the light business both have their own secrets.
Hyun-joo told Won-young that she saw a man in the dark alley outside his light shop. Hearing this, Won-young became serious and instructed her about the otherworldly spirits loitering among normal humans. He disclosed that Hyun-joo might share his ability to detect paranormal beings in the vicinity.
Won-young told her if she ever came across a spirit, aka "strangers," she should never look their way as if they didn't exist. He added that if she had already made eye contact with them, then she must pretend to carry on with her task without revealing that she was bothered by the paranormal activity.
"There are people who are a bit strange. You have to look closely to know. You have to look at them very closely. Then you pretend you didn't see anything strange. Just act like you saw nothing," Won-young said.
In the second episode of Light Shop, Nurse Kwon Young-ji began to uncover the shop’s rules and rituals, including the significance of the light fixtures, each connected to a wandering soul. A motherly spirit visited the shop, searching for her estranged son, leading to an emotional resolution that showcased the show's blend of supernatural elements and heartfelt storytelling.
In episode 3, Nurse Kwon was still dealing with the trauma of her own tragedy, but she was committed to treating patients suffering from severe delirium. She also tried to comprehend the viewpoints of the people she met. However, she is also like Hyun-joo, who could see spirits.
Light Shop episode 4 tied together the individual stories, revealing the shopkeeper’s true identity and his tragic backstory. It’s revealed that he, too, is tethered to the shop by unresolved guilt from his past life, culminating in a heart-wrenching yet cathartic resolution.
Won-young was a spirit who was in charge of the light shop. He made sure to keep all the lights in his shop turned on, which were connected to every spirit on the bridge between life and death. Some crossed the bridge seamlessly, while others got entangled in the world, residing among the living, being tied to their resentments and regrets.
In the end, all the characters from Light Shop episodes 1 to 4 were seen hospitalized on life support as Nurse Kwon and other hospital staff tried to take care of them. The shop’s purpose—to guide the living and the dead toward peace—comes full circle, leaving viewers with a sense of closure and hope.
The end scene showed Hyun-joo's mother dying and being carried away in a casket. The scene was symbolic of how Hyun-joo always purchased a new light bulb from Won-young's shop for her mother but the light never turned on after she reached home. This represented her mother's imminent demise since each soul was connected to the light bulbs at Won-young's Light Shop.
The series boasts a star-studded ensemble with Blood Free star Ju Ji-hoon as Won-young, the mysterious shop owner. Park Bo-young (Concrete Utopia) plays Young-ji, the hospital assistant, with a heartwarming charm.
Seol-hyun (Summer Strike) plays Ji-young, and Uhm Tae-goo (My Sweet Mobster) plays Hyun-min, a reclusive yet pivotal character. Kim Min-ha (Pachinko season 1 & 2) plays Seon-hae, and Shin Eun-soo (Twinkling Watermelon) portrays Hyun-joo. Lee Jung-eun (Parasite) and Kim Dae-myung also make an appearance.
Light Shop episodes 1 to 4 are streaming globally on Disney+. Episodes 5 to 8 are reported to release two weeks from now, on December 18, 2024, at 1.30 pm.
