K-drama taxis offer some specialized services. They may deliver revenge or even help ghosts get to their final destinations. The latter is the premise of Delivery Man, a k-drama about a taxi driver who gets recruited to help ghosts go where they’re supposed to be.
Seo Young-min, played by Yoon Chan-young, is an ordinary taxi driver who works hard to care for his grandma. He’s not getting rich driving a taxi, but he makes enough to pay the monthly bills. When he must suddenly find a huge amount of money or default on their mortgage, he pledges to work harder and pick up more fares. He doesn’t realize some of those fares will involve ghosts. The supernaturally charged phone he discovers in his cab leads to his first ghostly fare. That passenger Kang Ji-hyun, played by Bang Min-ah, doesn’t seem to know she is dead or how she got there She also can’t seem to leave the taxi and her presence makes living (and paying) customers nauseous.
Her spectral presence also emits a signal that lets ghosts know Young-min’s taxi is on duty. That’s good news for ghosts having a hard time finding a cab, but it’s not good news for cash-strapped Young-min. He can’t eject the ghosts and he can’t pick up living passengers while they’re in his taxi. His options are to sell the taxi or to make ferrying ghosts into a lucrative gig.
The only living passenger not sickened by the presence of ghosts is Do Kyu-jin, played by Kim Min-suk. He’s an ER doctor so he’s probably used to being in the presence of some newly departed.
Delivery Man falls into the category of last wish dramas. Whether last wish dramas focus on the last wish of a living person or the unresolved longing of those who have already died, such dramas are all about making things right. The premise of Delivery Man portends a steady stream of desperate ghosts with unresolved longings. By granting their wishes, Young-min will ease their lingering regrets and hopefully also solve his own financial problems. How interesting the episodes turn out to be will depend on the stories the ghosts have to tell.
Yoon Chan-Young, who began his career as a child actor, previously appeared in two seasons of the drama Hope or Dope, the first season of All of Us Are Dead and he appeared in Do You Like Brahms. This year he will also appear in the second season of All of Us Are Dead. Bang Min-ah, who debuted as a member of the k-pop group Girls Day, appeared in the film Snowball, for which she won a NYAFF Screen International Rising Star Award, and also in the dramas My Beautiful Gong Shim and My Absolute Boyfriend. Kim Min-suk appeared in the dramas Because This Is My First Life, Lovestruck in the City and The Beauty Inside. This year he can also be seen in Shark: The Storm.
The ENA drama, directed by Kang Do-Sol and Park Dae-hee, can be seen on Viki.com in the US. The script was written by Joo Hyo-ji, Park Hye-young and Han Bo-kyung. It airs on Viki.com in the US.