Dropping Friday, Oct. 3, just ahead of Korea’s Chuseok holiday, the show pairs a wish-granting Genie (Kim) who’s been out of the game for a millennium with Ga-young (Suzy), an ice-cool human who insists she has no use for wishes. Their high-stakes bet over three wishes spins into an offbeat, big-hearted adventure. With scene-stealing turns from Ahn Eun-jin, Noh Sang-hyun, Go Kyu-pil, and Lee Joo-young, expect a reunion for the ages―and a world you haven’t seen before.
Here’s why "Genie, Make a Wish" is poised to cast a spell―by the numbers.
# 983 Years: A Devilish Genie Breaks Free and Meets His Most Unlikely Master
It all begins when a mysterious lamp appears before the striking Ga-young in the desert. Inside resides not just any Genie, but the chief of Genies―powerful, rule-bending, and decidedly devilish. He can’t raise the dead or time-travel, but just about everything else is fair game. How he ended up sealed away for 983 years? That’s a mystery the series teases from the jump.
There’s a sharp twist to the lore: through wishes, this Genie believes he reveals the darker sides of humanity. Then he meets Ga-young, a hyper-disciplined, emotion-scarce woman who lives by strict rules and claims people aren’t as doomed as he thinks. When she becomes his new master―despite having zero interest in wishes―the two enter a life-or-death wager over three wishes made by others. Their sparring shifts from blades-out to butterflies-in, in ways neither of them sees coming.
This is a rom-com dynamic you haven’t met before―equal parts flirty, funny, and unexpectedly tender.
# Six in Cheongpung: Kim Woo-bin, Suzy, Ahn Eun-jin, Noh Sang-hyun, Go Kyu-pil, Lee Joo-young
The Genie follows Ga-young to Cheongpung Village, where the locals are anything but ordinary.
There’s Mi-ju (Ahn Eun-jin), a mysterious visitor doing a month-long countryside stay. She mixes hip, flashy style with a retro vibe and winds up entangled with Genie, Ga-young, and Min-ji (Lee Joo-young) in wildly unpredictable ways.
Enter Su-hyun (Noh Sang-hyun), a striking do-gooder who quietly owns multiple buildings around town―and secretly moonlights as a grim reaper. He and the Genie are instant frenemies, clashing at every turn.
Then there’s Said (Go Kyu-pil), the Genie’s familiar whose true form is a jaguar but who currently passes as a round-cheeked, teddy-bear-like human. Unlike his master, Said is fully acclimated to modern life and works around town under the name “Seo Yi-deuk,” adored by the neighborhood elders.
On Ga-young’s side stands Min-ji, her one true friend. Their ride-or-die bond is quirky, comedic, and, when it counts, deeply moving. Min-ji offers life hacks to help Ga-young navigate the world, feelings or not―and Ga-young, in turn, helped Min-ji realize her dream of becoming a dentist.
With vivid, fresh character work across the board, this ensemble looks primed to pop.
# Oct. 3: The Lamp Unseals―"Genie, Make a Wish" Arrives
Arriving Friday, Oct. 3, "Genie, Make a Wish" blends ace rom-com instincts from star writer Kim Eun-sook with lush fantasy world-building. The series swings between reality and the supernatural with cinematic flair: on-location shoots in Dubai’s deserts and landmarks, dazzling nightscapes of Seoul seen the show’s way, and punchy, offbeat action beats built for a binge. Add in a parade of quotable lines, and you’ve got the whole package―sweet, sparkling, and surprisingly profound by the final stretch.
[Photo: Netflix]
(SBS Entertainment News | Kang Sun-ae)