Rants and Weekly Raves #113 (RAWR)

Shuk: Hi everyone! Back from my cruise and none the worse for wear except for slightly heavier and just a tiny tiny bit less zombie white. I dumped Shopping King Louis somewhere near Nassau and ended up watching an older lakorn and working on my current fanfic. But now I'm back and ready to watch some more dramas!!
Trotwood: Welcome Back, Shuk. I can't wait to read your fanfic (and not just because you've promise me that I will be riding on Weir's bike). So many dramas ending this week. I'm not excited about any of the new dramas though. Persuade me, guys.
kakashi: No MerMinho? 
JoAnne: Oh you know I'll be watching that one, at least. Jeon Ji Hyun for the win!
Trotwood: I love her, but I have a problem with her co-stars. (Waiting for the hate from LMH fans)
Until recently, I honestly thought he'd be the mermen. I'm still a bit confused about it. Luckily, I have a blog to deal with my confusions.

Korea

Romantic Doctor Teacher Kim (New)

I love this title so much I even dloaded the first episode and made a gif. That's most likely the last contact between me and this drama though.
Not even for you, dear sweet boy. Not even for you.

Airport (Finale)

I love how the female friendships turned out in this show. I also like the relationship between Su-Ah and her daughter, who has got to be the coolest 14 year old on the planet. It was also lovingly shot, but the finale seemed to move at a snail's pace. I know that this is fitting for the over all feeling of the show, but I felt like not much was added narratively by making us watch things like Su-Ah's complete descent on the escalator. It also left me far too curious about Jin-Suk's personality. I'm with Min-Jin when she says to him, "if Su-Ah was your most precious thing, why didn't you treat her better?" Don't raise issues of abandonment and claustrophobia up in last episode and use them as explanations for things, show.
Not a single KDrama cliches, not even on the horizon, in my book, is a 10 out of 10. Even the mother-in-law was a normal and reasonable person. The friendship was also one of my favorite aspects - apart from the relationship of the OTP. Wow, just wow. What a man. Leaves her months to decide whether she wants to put her happiness first or remain miserable for the rest of her life! In contrast to many others, Jin-Suk does not puzzle me as a human being at all. He is a vain, self-centered but ultimately insecure and cowardly person. These people tend to be extra loud and super melodramatic. Having something that is "his" taken away from him would be a huge blow, because it's humiliating and shows weakness to the world. I even believe him that she was "his most precious", but he simply couldn't love her. He is probably incapable of love. Like all the other characters, he is not per se evil, but he's one of this people you'd constantly shake your head at. I actually know men like him in real life. You can even have fun with them, over the occasional drink, but you make damn sure they stay in their corners. So, in sum: I have nothing at all to complain. The pacing was perfect, from beginning to end and the finale, for me, was perfect. It was her slow, slow journey to happiness.   
Now that it's over (and I haven't seen it in weeks) I'll probably never see the rest...but it goes on my list of things I intend to finish someday, when I'm in the mood.  I think Moon Lovers took all my emotion recently, and what with everything else going on in the world, I found myself unable to contemplate anything but cute and light.

Jealousy (Finale)

This certainly hit the spot for me! So well acted, and (with a bit of artistic license) so human. This was a story about people loving each other and learning how to show it, how to accept it, how to reconcile love for another with their own needs. Acknowledging imperfection - embracing it, even. Being a strong enough friend to know that no matter how angry they are in that moment - the friendship will be there on the other side. Becoming friends because of shared conflict, not in spite of it. Being brave enough to put yourself out there and claim the love you want, and wise enough to recognize the value of what exists even when it isn't exactly what you'd hoped for. I loved every minute of this.

Something about 1%

I'm quite impressed with this week's episodes! (how many does this drama have in total?) They are like a real couple, falling more and more in love, getting to know and trust each other, fighting with each other, making up, etc. etc. etc. ... and even though that 2nd Lead B**** is so horribly over the top and crazy-obsessed with getting this man, there was hardly any angst related to the OTP relationship. It is going to be hard, but they will get through this together. Ha Seok-Jin (where did he come from all of a sudden? He's never been on my radar at all) seems to have perfected the "looking-at-a-woman-lovingly"-gaze.   
What I love about this show (beyond the absolute sweetness that is the two of them enjoying each other): watching tropes just WHIZZ right by. Clueless entitled rich bitch of a second lead?  POP goes her bubble, every single time. Slighted and jealous cousin of a second lead? He's not thrilled with his situation but he's honest and fair. Rich chaebol heir with a grumpy outlook on life? Can't stop himself from doing nice things for the cutie pie teacher practically from the minute they meet. Cutie Pie teacher? Says it like it is, isn't perfect, does not prolong stupid issues. I'm so happy with something fairly simple and sweet for a change, I can barely stand it.  
I picked this one up post-cruise and after dropping Shopping King Louis. Then proceeded to watch every available episode over a 24-hour period. I luff him. I luff her. I luff them madly. He kisses like he means it; she also enjoys them. Win win!
I LOVE this show. I love them. I love how he tells off the crazy 2nd lead, but more than that, I love how our heroine tells her off, too. See, drama gods. You can have a character who is genuinely nice and good without making her a doormat!!! I've always really liked Ha Seok-jin. He's the ONLY reason why I kept watching Legendary Witch. I've been waiting for him to have a good role, and he's delicious in this. I'm hoping that this is the reason why they dress him so badly. I actually had to pause my computer when he showed up in the conifer green suit.
Hee hee, I thought he looked like a hobbit, I'm going to do a post on his outfits, so feel free to add your two cents Maybe we can collect enough to buy him a decent polo or a not-flowers tie.

Not Korea

Snail

This continues to be excellent - and difficult. I will have to rewatch, because every time, after a week has gone by, I have forgotten where it ended and don't remember important clues and I'm sure I'm missing all of them because I need to concentrate hard on the subs. The way the murder case is solved, the way the OTP gets closer (see below: aligned!) - the drama is doing a really good job. It should be longer!  
I'm catching up tonight. Totally in love with the look and feel of this whole thing. Spending a lot of time thinking about Mr. Second in Command, too....he's yummy. Update: Why can't everything be like this? Smart and gorgeous and scary and humorous all together! I love everything about it.
Let us all acknowledge the smoothness of the Master (Wang Kai), but what makes me take so long to watch this show is the beauty of Husband. We have labeled the Squad Leader Husband. He has loads of husband/dad material looks and feels.
Have we found out where the additional 3 episodes on all sites but viki came from? Trot and I have watched to 12 by now. There is some awareness now, between the OTP and it's all kinds of sweet!
Hello, Husband

Douchifer

Ahahahahahaaaaaaa. Lucifer is trying to become a "douche", just like Dan, because he has realized he is hurting people he cares for. And then, he ends up saying the exact right thing in the exact same moment and that puzzles him in an extremely endearing way. Another great episode (it even made me cry). I like what you're doing, show!  
Ah yes, the Dansformation. I love this show. I always have, but I love it more and more each week. They do seem to have dropped that thread where Chloe might be having some sort of effect on Lucy though, you know how he was getting hurt but only around her? And where's Amenadiel and Mom this week? I'm so glad that Maze and Doc are going to be able to work through the whole 'but you're a DEMON' thing. Maze as a bounty hunter is GENIUS and I love her. Love them both. Love everyone, even Detective Dan the Douche, who's not actually a douche at all.  

Ice Fantasy (Finale)

Noooooooo! What a DAMN SAD ending (as expected of CDramas, really, but still... take sad and then make it ten times sadder)
If you were confused, it may help to read this. And what now? (SakiVI: Novoland.) I'm actually running out of things to watch fast. Luckily, I've still got MANY episodes to recap.
SakiVI: I've finally started the last 6 episodes. From the tiny snippets of info I've seen around, I want Ma TianYu and Zheng Meng to star in a romance to get me over the frigging Shi-YanDa ship, and probably other shippers need that too.

Westworld

Well, now we know who the little boy is. And may I say GO MAEVE? She rocks, although I'm not exactly sure how that whole thing works with her. I guess whoever the mystery person was who manipulated her various levels did it so she'd get to this level of awareness, but now she'll do the rest on her own? did this person just want to set something in motion and then let chaos take over? Like the interwebs, Kakashi, do you think Bernard is actually another host?
Sadly, I'm behind, dearest. I haven't even watched last week's episode and a new one is already out

IQ246

I am going to recommend another Japanese drama: IQ246. If you liked the old mystery shows like The Avengers or the original Mission Impossible, you'll like this. It has the good mystery with a lot of the understated humor of those shows. We have a genius (of course) who is from a family of geniuses that always interferes in crime investigations because he's so smart that he's board. We have his faithful butler--who is really his right hand man and excellent at martial arts as well as suit picking--there is the bumbling rookie policewoman who is assigned to be his bodyguard (but it's really to try to keep him in check), the coroner who loves the dead and has a crush in the genius. The cases are interesting in a Sherlock Holmes kind of way, and it's fun.