'Goblin' staff reveal episode 14 cancellation reason; tease spectacular finale for fans

Hectic schedule wasn't the real problem.

Goblin Sword
A scene from 'Goblin' episode 13. youtube.com/tvN DRAMA

With only three remaining episodes of tvN's 'Goblin: The Lonely and Great God,' anticipation is at fever pitch. There are so many questions fans want the answers to; so many knots they want untangled. Now, the production team has revealed, in detail, the reasons behind episode 14 being cancelled in the first place.

As it was announced that episode 14 had been pushed back to a later date, fans started speculating about the possible reasons behind this development. There were rumours that the principal cast from the show, namely actors Gong Yoo and Lee Dong-wook, were exhausted and had fallen sick due to the hectic filming schedule and the cold weather. Koreaboo quotes Sports Donga reporting that a staff member from 'Goblin' responded saying "While is it true we had a hectic filming schedule; when we reached the middle episodes, we didn't have any problems filming the rest."

Koreaboo also point out that the staff responded to the reports of actors such as Gong Yoo falling sick and denied such rumours. They added that the real reason why episode 14 was pushed back was that the Program Director (PD) of the drama wanted the climax of the drama to be spectacular and memorable.

"The delay is partly due to our PD's ambitious goals. The last 3 episodes are going to be full of bright colours, as they will be focusing on a lot of the magical and fantastical aspects of the storyline. Thus, we are planning on using a lot of computer graphics, which requires a little more time," the production staff of 'Goblin' revealed. This is definitely exciting news for the tvN drama's fans because it means they will be treated to an explosive finale.

Today almost all films and television shows and dramas rely on computer generated visual effects (VFX) because almost anything can be achieved on the computer nowadays. VFX helps lower the budget of a sequence that would have required actual location shoot, by using green screen and background matte extension or pre-recorded footage replacing the soundstage.

For dramas like 'Goblin,' VFX is required to tackle the supernatural elements of the show. And the effects need to blend with the actual footage so as not to look fake. For this purpose, more time and money is necessary. "We don't want the computer graphics to look tacky, so we're focusing entirely on improving the visuals so that it can live up to the name of being a fantasy drama," the staff revealed.

Following the airing of the 'Goblin' special episode titled 'All Days Were Good,' episode 14 will now be broadcast on January 20. This will be followed by a three-hour epic conclusion to the critically and commercially successful television series, on January 21.

This article was first published on January 16, 2017