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The Review Geek
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Review Geek
The Haunted Palace – K-drama Episode 9 Recap & Review
Episode 9 Episode 9 of The Haunted Palace begins with a flashback. King Lee Sung is a princely teen and is witnessing his grandfather, Minister Kim Bong-in punishing Pung-san for illegal shamanic rituals. The shaman sees the 8-foot ghost follow the prince and warns Kim. However, Kim wants him to summon the ghost. At present, Pung-san tells Kim how Yeo-ri is behind their recent failures and that she is protected by an Imugi. We also learn that on Kim's order, Pung-san helped the 8-foot ghost kill and devour Neop-deok. The King tells Yeo-ri how Neop-deok helped his possessed father temporarily regain control. He has been in denial for too long and asks Yeo-ri's help in dealing with the ghost. She is still in shock by the truth of her grandmother's death. Meanwhile, Gangcheori confesses to Bibi that he wanted to warn Neop-deok when the 8-foot ghost arrived in Yongdam Village. However, he was bitter about Yeo-ri rejecting him which is why he kept quiet. He now regrets it. He runs into Yeo-ri and she confronts him. He lied to her as he didn't want her to go after the 8-foot ghost. Surprised by his concern, she starts crying. He is worried for her and enlists Bibi to babysit her. The younger Imugi agrees only so he can try and turn Yeo-ri against Gangcheori. However, Yeo-ri cannot stop thinking about him. She confesses to Ok-im that she doesn't know how to feel, as she spent years hating Gangcheori for a murder he didn't commit. Ok-im teases her that she has fallen for the Imugi. Bibi overhears and is annoyed as he wants his brother to focus on ascending. Onto the court politics, we learn that the previous king planned to implement anti-slavery reforms with Choi Won-u. King Lee Sung begs Choi to help fulfil his father's wishes and the former minister gives in. The King confides in his grandfather about it and declares that he is making Choi the Left State Councillor. Minister Kim is clearly against it and claims it is a bad idea. However, the King is adamant and Kim pretends to acquiesce. As he leaves, he notes Gangcheori barging in to rant about Yeo-ri. Alone, the Imugi berates the King for revealing the truth of Neop-deok's murder. The King points out that Yeo-ri figured it out. Gangcheori rambles and the King teases him that he cares for her. Gangcheori claims he simply doesn't know how to handle a crying woman and the King advises him to offer hugs and a listening ear. At home, Gangcheori is awkward around Yeo-ri and both Bibi and Mrs. Yoon notice. Bibi tries to enact his scheme of separating them but Yeo-ri sees through it. Annoyed, he heads out to devour someone and notices the anti-Imugi talismans. He tells Gangcheori how all noblemen over age 60 have it. Meanwhile, Minister Kim and Kwak meet and we learn they led a rebellion against the previous king to stop the anti-slave reforms. Kwak is obsessed with Yoon Gap and Kim hints that his weakness is Mrs. Yoon. Kim knows that Gangcheori cares for Yeo-ri and will try to rescue Mrs. Yoon for her sake. While he is busy, Kim's men will kidnap Yeo-ri. As for Choi Won-u, Kim has Pung-san spin a tale to Queen Mother that the King will become invincible with Choi at his side. And then she won't be able to avenge Prince Yeong-in's death. Turns out, Choi is her uncle and she threatens him to stay away from the King. Afraid for his family, he gives in and rejects the King's offer via a note. The next day is quite tumultuous. Mrs. Yoon is kidnapped. In-seon shows up with sweets to bid Gangcheori farewell and is rude to Yeo-ri. Yeo-ri gets jealous and ignores Gangcheori. He gets annoyed and pretends to indulge In-seon. Right then, Minister Kim asks for Yeo-ri's optician services and she leaves. Assassins show up and try to kidnap her. Bibi hesitates but gives in and helps her run. Back home, Gangcheori gets a note about Mrs. Yoon's kidnapping. He reasons that he would miss her cooking and decides to rescue her. In-seon tries to shoot her shot but he bluntly rejects her and calls her out for being rude to Yeo-ri. Onto the rescue, Gangcheori is tired of Kwak's games and is about to introduce himself as the infamous Imugi. On seeing Mrs. Yoon crying for him, he stops and gets to rescuing her. However, Kwak's talisman weakens him and he is unable to call his wind power. Mrs. Yoon tries to help but Kwak knocks her out. Bibi shows up in his Imugi glory and Kwak runs off. Unfortunately, the assassins catch up with Yeo-ri. The King is on his way back from trying to find Choi Won-u when he spots her. He jumps into the fray and saves her. Yeo-ri comes home to find a beaten-up Gangcheori and Mrs. Yoon. She is flustered as he retrieves her lost optician kit and tries to nurse her injuries. Confused by his kindness, she lashes out. She should be worried about her grandma. Instead, she feels relieved that she doesn't have to feel guilty about liking him. He wipes her tears and kisses her at the end of The Haunted Palace Episode 9. The Episode Review The Haunted Palace Episode 9 is a strong start to the second half of the K-drama. Secrets are out, feelings are confessed and backstories are revealed. The comedy is still spot-on as Gangcheori would rather claim he saved Mrs. Yoon for her cooking instead of the fact that he has started liking her. The King and Ok-im teasing our couple is pretty hilarious as well. The build-up is been sweet and funny and it is about time Yeo-ri and Gangcheori confessed their feelings. After binge-watching the historical K-drama, Dear Hongrang, The Haunted Palace feels like a breath of fresh air with its slower pace and longer duration. The 8-12 episode format truly is affecting epic stories by cramming in way too many subplots and plot twists for sensationalism. What used to be the usual style of 16 to 20 episodes, allowing a slow but steady plot development, has now become quite rare, and we wonder why. The Haunted Palace is doing well (so far) because it has the time to flesh out characters, chart out different acts, and thoroughly unravel convoluted subplots. There are no plot holes or hasty conclusions or speedy showdowns. OTTs are anyway ruining the TVsphere with short seasons, large time gaps between seasons, cancellations and oversaturation. Let K-dramas stay in their little bubble, with the standardised formula, meant for K-drama fans, please! Previous Episode Next Episode Expect A Full Season Write-Up When This Season Concludes!
The Sun
17-05-2025
- The Sun
How UK's worst EVER conwoman posed as a witch doctor, stole £3m from the sick & encouraged an unnecessary abortion
DEEP in the South American jungle, a shaman in ceremonial robes whispered incantations, a bundle of smoking herbs in one hand and a wad of cash in the other. The money had been sent from the UK by a psychic and healer called Juliette D'Souza, with instructions to pin it to a sacred tree as an offering to the forest spirits. 7 7 'Take this sacrifice,' he chanted. 'And protect those who offer it.' Meanwhile, thousands of miles away in London's leafy suburb of Hampstead, elderly widow Sylvia Eaves waited anxiously for news that the £226,000 she'd given D'Souza in order to save the life of her younger sister – who was seriously ill with Crohn's disease – had worked its magic in the spirit realm. 'Take this sacrifice' The truth is, this mystical 'ceremony' never happened. There was no sacred tree or forest spirits, and the shaman was an invention by con artist D'Souza, who used the money she extorted from vulnerable people to pay for designer handbags, jewellery and luxury London apartments. Believed to be the most successful female fraudster in British legal history, D'Souza, now 70 – who was born in Guyana and purported to have the ability to summon cures for cancer, endow couples with fertility and guard against injury and death – was jailed for 10 years in 2014. Her crime spree – which left a trail of financial and emotional destruction spanning at least 16 years – is chronicled in the podcast Filthy Ritual, hosted by Hannah Maguire and Suruthi Bala. 'Cure cancer and beat death' 'You think that only a specific type of person can be vulnerable or victimised, but this story showed that's wrong,' Suruthi tells Fabulous. 'Juliette D'Souza played a long game. She built a wall of deception and coercion brick by brick. 'It was a fascinating human story of people who were in such a desperate position, terrified for their lives or of losing a loved one. 'It showed how people are willing to suspend belief in the hope that somebody can make that pain go away.' The roll call of devastation D'Souza wreaked is breathtaking. Hannah explains: 'Along with Sylvia, her other victims included a solicitor who had terminal leukaemia. He spent £7,000 on the false promise of a cure. "A couple who had a son with Down's syndrome gave £42,000 after D'Souza promised she could help with his behavioural problems, and a photographer was scammed out of £45,000 trying to save the life of his sick mother, before declaring bankruptcy. 'Another couple handed over £359,000 – with the wife paying to keep herself from going blind, while the husband had been convinced by D'Souza that his wife was going to kill him and he needed 'protection'. 'An actress was diagnosed by D'Souza with a cycle of illnesses, including pancreatic cancer, a brain tumour and heart disease. She lost her home and £730,000.' D'Souza told a pregnant client her baby was going to have deformities and that she should abort it The podcast traces D'Souza's scamming spree back to 1993, when she first met father-of-two and osteopath Keith Bender, who lived in Hampstead with his actress wife Kate. D'Souza became Keith's client while mired in financial and marital problems, and she'd eventually infiltrate his life completely. When Keith was diagnosed with depression, he confided in D'Souza, and when the bank threatened to repossess his house, she claimed she was a lawyer – it's unknown if that was true or not – and helped him with the paperwork. She even loaned him money to stop the repossession. Keith later recalled: 'I had terrible problems in my personal life. I was very depressed. 'Juliette stepped in to save me. She even represented me in my divorce proceedings, which I was hugely grateful for. 'I had no reason to doubt her or not to introduce her to friends. She was completely plausible – very charming, spirited and well-turned-out.' After three years of 'friendship', she revealed she was a healer, a shaman and a psychic. Keith, who had an interest in alternative therapies, believed her and even accompanied her on a trip to Suriname – a tiny country that borders Guyana – in 1996, where he underwent a healing ceremony in a 'magic' pond. Back in London, D'Souza told him her 'psychic antennae' saw that Keith was going to develop cancer in his lower abdomen – but she could stop it if he followed her exact instructions and made cash 'sacrifices'. These would be flown to a shaman in Suriname, who would then hang them on a sacred tree. The money would show the forest spirits that Keith was serious about making a pact for their help, and once the problem had been dealt with, the money would be returned to him. 'When you are already down because you've lost everything you have worked for, you can't even think straight,' he explained. With Keith well and truly wrapped around D'Souza's finger, she then persuaded him to start recommending her mystic services to some of his own clients. 7 7 One of these clients was Sylvia, who then started paying 'sacrifices' to help her unwell sister, with the amounts escalating as time went on. 'D'Souza told her 'clients' she had treated Princess Diana, Simon Cowell, the Duke of York and Robert Redford, and that she had saved John Cleese's daughter from cancer. "She used the money to rent four flats in a renovated house, where she lived in just one, and filled others with hoarded luxury goods and a pet monkey named Joey,' says Hannah. 'Manipulating people' She appeared to enjoy manipulating people. Hannah adds: 'There was one young woman, a lawyer who worked in the City, who'd been trying for years to get pregnant. 'D'Souza persuaded her to offer sacrifices to the spirits – and the woman fell pregnant. 'D'Souza then told her the baby was going to have serious deformities and that she should abort the baby she'd tried so long to have. And she did. 'She was intelligent and educated and longed for this child. But on a word from Juliette D'Souza, she terminated the pregnancy. 'That one really stood out to us, because that wasn't for money. That was D'Souza enjoying the control and the power.' Meanwhile, Keith was fully under her spell and became her errand boy. He collected 'sacrifices' for her and she even persuaded him to put his name on the leases for her flats. He paid the £7,500-a-month rent with money she gave him. But D'Souza's web of lies began to unravel in 2007. She'd gone to Suriname at the end of the previous year, telling Keith she'd be back by the end of December and leaving him to feed her pet monkey. 'She stayed away for much longer than she'd told Keith she would, and when she failed to return he became concerned, particularly when the landlord of the flats started to chase him for the rent. 'Eventually, with £24,000 owing, Keith and the landlord ventured into D'Souza's lair and discovered the designer goods, plus voodoo dolls and a freezer of rotten meat,' says Hannah. Web of lies 'D'Souza told Keith he was forbidden from calling her home in Suriname, but eventually he felt he had to. 'When he called, she told him a sacrifice was due for collection and he should use that to pay the rent. 'For Keith – who believed wholeheartedly the money was sacred and was always sent to the magic tree – the penny finally dropped.' It later transpired that during the time she'd dropped off the radar, D'Souza had been in pre-trial detention in Suriname for the extortion of a wealthy socialite. She was convicted and sentenced to eight months in jail, but had already served most of the sentence on remand. By the time Keith called her, she had been released. Keith told her other victims what he'd discovered and they went to the police, who said there was nothing they could do, as they'd all willingly given the money. In desperation, they went to the press, and after an investigation, The Sunday Times published an expose in 2008, tracking D'Souza down in Suriname, where she was living with her partner, a high-ranking police officer. She gave no comment. 7 In 2009, D'Souza returned to Hampstead and reconnected with Sylvia, convincing her the newspaper story had been fake and she was a genuine shaman. Sylvia's close friend Maria – who is in her late 60s – told the podcast how she had watched her deteriorate physically and emotionally, but couldn't quite put her finger on why. 'Things began to change in her life. There was no food in her fridge. She wasn't buying clothes. Everything was going awry. It was getting worse and worse,' said Maria, a former nurse from north London. Sylvia's sister had died the previous year, leaving her an inheritance of several hundred thousand pounds. Despite this, Maria suspected her friend's problems were financial, because she had voiced concerns about paying for work on her flat. 'It almost ended our friendship,' said Maria. 'I couldn't reach her. I'd done everything for her and still she seemed angry with me.' It was only when Sylvia confided in another friend that she'd, once again, been sending money to D'Souza that Maria realised what had been going on. What began as a £3,000 payment in return for herbs to help cure a stomach ailment had escalated to a total of almost £250,000. 'One minute my heart was breaking for her, the next I was angry with her, thinking how can she be so stupid,' Maria said. Sylvia had been duped into believing her money was being returned, but was held in customs and she would have to pay even more to have it released. D'Souza posed as a customs officer to convince the pensioner of this via a phone call. A group of Sylvia's friends went to the police once more, and when Maria explained D'Souza had been impersonating a customs officer, they agreed to investigate. Maria recalls on the podcast how, after this, Sylvia finally accepted she'd been scammed. 'Her face went ashen, she was sitting on the sofa, motionless, like someone had sucked the blood from her. It was a horrible sight.' The investigation into Juliette D'Souza continued for two years, and in 2012 she was arrested and charged with 20 counts of obtaining property by deception and three counts of fraud. After a trial at Blackfriars Crown Court in May 2014, she was found guilty on all counts and sentenced to 10 years in prison. The judge said it was the worst case of fraud he'd seen. 'D'Souza knew there would be people in Hampstead who would believe what she was saying and would have the money. 'Equally, if you had a loved one who had six months to live and someone told you that they could save them, could you live with yourself if you didn't try?' says Hannah. D'Souza became eligible for parole in 2019, and has since been seen in Hampstead. Meanwhile, Sylvia developed dementia and when Maria visited, would often become terrified, thinking D'Souza was coming to take more money. She died in 2021, penniless and a shell of her former self. Keith now lives in France and remains interested in alternative therapies. Little is known about D'Souza's whereabouts, but the podcasters query whether a spell in jail will have changed her. 'She's a predator,' says Suruthi. 'There are still questions as to whether the events in Hampstead were her first rodeo. And you have to ask whether they'll be her last.'
