Rants and Weekly Raves #195 (RAWR)

Jo: I took a couple days off this week so my sense of time is all messed up.  It feels like the things I watched at the beginning of the week were from last week and so now I feel like I'm behind and didn't watch this week's shows. Is extra time supposed to work that way? I don't think so...
Trotwood: I was wondering why you put "finale" after Meet Me @1006 when the finale was last week and I wrote about it last week. Maybe you are on just a different space-time continuum. I, on the other hand, have been working a large number of hours and that coupled with the sun not going down until really late makes me completely confused about time. Nothing much to report from me. I know both Panda and Kakashi are really busy, so it may be a heavy Jo Rawr this week.
kakashi: It can't be Monday again, can it?! 
SakiVI: Yes, and I've been away so long, am I even on the right purple?
Also, now that I've finished Secrets of the Three Kingdoms, I have nothing to watch. Very disconcerting. Nothing below interests me, and my daily is barely holding my attention.
Panda: Markkkk and the "nearly-evil beard".

KOREA

About Time 

This week we had the obligatory 'I'm making a unilateral decision to leave you for your own good' episodes, otherwise known as 'noble idiocy' - but in this case, was it really idiocy?  Wouldn't anyone leave someone they loved, if they knew being with them would kill that person? Although to be fair, Do Ha does have about 65 years left and he's already mid-thirties, so couldn't Mika have a few of them without causing him any real grief?  That sounds even worse when I say it out loud...and at what point do they say 'okay, that's enough time for YOU' and then have to break up anyway to keep even more from transferring?  See?  She had to go...but I do think she should have told him why.  I always believe that if you don't tell the person why it's because you don't trust your decision enough to stick with it in the face of their objection.  Unless maybe you're afraid they won't object?

Ms Hammurabi 

Only one episode AGAIN this week! *curses World Cup preemptions*
I was semi glad as I had to catch up (I was 3 episodes behind). I was quite sad when that Judge was arrested? I know logically I shouldn't as he was trying to influence the decision and yet, I did like him. Oh well. I continue to enjoy the show and I'm now even more heavily invested in Sec and the whipped judge.

Are You Human Too?

More and more I think we're heading into a situation where RoboShin gets his heart broken and I wish it wasn't the case. Not that I don't like it as a story - I definitely do, and this exactly how the author wants us to feel. You can tell yourself he's an appliance and refrigerators don't get hurt when they're replaced but...this is different. She gave him feelings, his mom. And she's going to just destroy him when her biological son wakes up, without a second thought? I hope that's not really the case. If nothing else it feels disrespectful. Perhaps he's more akin to a work animal than an appliance?

Come and Hug Me 

Well, well, well. Someone finally said out loud what I said weeks ago, which is that if Mom had spoken up instead of just running away, Nak Won's family would still be alive. Turns out she tried but then, out of fear for her own family, changed her mind. I can't say I wouldn't save my own child over the potential of losing another, so...
When Hyun Moo stabbed his brother and was so clearly surprised and sickened by the act, I was right back to my thoughts in an earlier week, which is that he deserves our pity as much as Na Moo or Nak Won. He is also a child who was deeply injured by Yoon Hui Jae and he's had many more years of exposure to it, too. Not to mention that he was the less favored child and, like any child, regardless of how bad the parent he is, he craves that approval. Remember the scene where initially Hyun Moo was getting beat up by the other kids? He didn't start out enjoying doling out pain. Daddy built that into him. I still thought of him as a person who'd murdered, though, and so when he looked so upset after his attack on Na Moo I chalked it up to maybe not really intending to fatally wound his own brother.

TURNS OUT he hasn't been murdering people at all. Oh, he's been trying, but he isn't his father after all and has been pulling his punches, so to speak. It's that weird guy who showed up in this episode who's been going behind him and finishing the jobs. Once again, Daddy demonstrated how little he thinks of Hyun Moo. Hyun Moo! Cut ties with your sick ass father and be the person you were meant to be!

In other major revelations, Nak Won's adopted older brother apparently killed someone when he was 12.  It will turn out to be self defense or something, I'm sure, but still.  If that guy's wound a little tight, I think having two sets of parents ripped from you by violent deaths has earned him the right.
And then there's that slug of a reporter; the show she aired clearly did not please Yoon Hui Jae.  Is he going to break out of prison?  It may have had one good outcome, though, because it seems like Nak Won is finally ready to live without feeling apologetic for being alive, and she's encouraging Na Moo to do the same.  Maybe this means they'll both stand up against Yoon Hui Jae and live?  Although I'm almost thinking Hyun Moo might be the one to sacrifice himself now, in order to save his brother.

What's Wrong with Secretary Kim?

Ahhh, this show. I think we all pretty much expected that it would be the older brother that got kidnapped and not Mi So's vice chairman...but then VC turns out to be the boy she remembers ANYWAY...and he has always known who she is and hired her because she was that little girl. So why does he hate his brother so much? Why do they both tell the same story of being bullied? What are the scars and the terror about cable ties? What was that day with Mi So? Why do the parents think the older should apologize to the younger? I am torn because I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS and yet...I just really want them to KISS, already. This week may have tipped the show over into crack territory for me.
This Show! It's Totally the OTP for me and more especially her. She is just... *wiggles in satisfaction* and I also have moments that I genuinely laugh out loud so I'm still into this 100%. Tree seems slightly miscast here. Is he being out-acted, I wonder. They should have also simply made him a younger brother. I think it's time for another emotional shower scene though :))) And, PSA, if you like those showers, y'know cos they further drive the plot; please watch Midnight Runners there is a particular workout scene...

 Rich Man 

I know these are the final episodes. I'm 3 weeks behind, though, and what I've realized while the drama is fine and all...I have no desire to watch any more of it. I liked the original, I know the story, and at the moment I'm not really consumed with a desire to watch another version. It's enough for me to know they didn't ruin it. This far. Anyway: dropping due to time and knowing the story.

Lawless Lawyer 

Very touching reunion between mother and child but hello, there's a husband too, remember? (Update:  Okay, they did have a full family reunion in the 2d episode of the week.  In the first epiosde, she left with a suitcase and said goodbye, I'll see you again soon, don't worry - so I think it was just badly edited.)

I'm glad Ha Jae Yi and Bong Sang Pil made up. I don't need to be worrying about that while we have a massive battle building up. Man, Judge Cha and her satisfied little grins - she really thinks she's on the home stretch, doesn't she? I cannot wait for that rude awakening. And as much as I like the idea of Bong Sang Pil delivering it, since she had his mother killed...what I really want is An Oh Ju and Cha Moon Sook squaring off. Please let An be the sword Bong Sang Pil uses to cut that woman down. Please! This drama delivers such satisfying enemies, doesn't it?
No time to watch. This weekend will be Lawless marathon ending for me, but I'm glad to know they have made up.
Who doesn't, Jae Yi?
Judge Cha doesn't. But everyone else does, and I actually think she admires him a little bit, anyway.

Sketch 

!!! I figured out the man behind the curtain about a minute before he showed his face. Maybe a teeny bit before that, because I have to admit something about his last reassuring comment sat funny in my ears, but I was mostly thinking he was going to die. I guess that means I can only take credit for knowing SOMETHING was up, but not what it was. How great a twist is this? I love it! I'm not sure how that Yoosung Merchant Association or 'The Elder' fits into all of it, but I'm dying to find out. How could he have also had that ability but no one knew? Well, we don't know for sure that he does sketches, though, do we.

Life on Mars

I can happily concur with everyone else - this is very well done. I'm finding that I prefer Jung Kyung Ho when he plays straight man even if the situation is a little comedic, though I may never love him better than I did as Paksa Adeul.
While I wait for more episodes I watched the whole US version of the show - there's only one season, which is disappointing. I enjoyed every minute of it, and I was very taken off guard by the ending. I wonder if this one ends that way, too? Now I'm watching the Brit version...Update: I don't like this one as much, but I'm still on the first episode. Maybe I'm burned out.

CHINA/TAIWAN

Moonshine & Valentine (Finale) 

Well, I guess that was better than nothing, anyway? Adorable fox minions sacrifice themselves to restore Helan to full health, but it can only be as a regular person without special powers or any memory of his previous life. It happens off screen and it does not return him to PiPi, although they do meet up at the end and we can expect they'll be together in the future.
Such a loving act means that fox minions are returned to their original fox form and will require hundreds of years before they can assume a human shape again. So yes, they do get to live together with Xiao Ju permanently but when we hoped for a happy threesome, Drama, we did not mean a spinster and her PETS.
I was so trolled on twitter, she implied my Polygamous dreams for them came true. I know she was technically not lying but what a waste.
Photos like this just make it worse.  We were SO CLOSE to happy polyamory.
Qian Hua manages to get Zhao Song to back the fuck off from his evil plans by confessing her love, but watching him immediately realize how he screwed up his chances with her and offer to die by her hand was far less satisfying than you might expect because she not only takes him up on that, but dies right along with him.
Pissed me off to no end.

And then, just to round out our frustration, there's a pretty strong indication that Cheating Ex and Cheating Ex-BFF end up together again. I refuse to learn their names. I get that they probably should have been together from the start but there is a way to do things and their way was not that way. Plus let's not forget that Ex-BFF had the audacity to LECTURE PiPi as part of her 'apology.' Yeah, not going to let that go.
Best 3TP EVER
I guess we're supposed to be happy and proud of PiPi that she found her strength and went on to attend journalism school and yeah, eventually she'll be reunited with Helan Lite, but I'm underwhelmed. How about you? Can we PLEASE have dramas that entertain through-out AND give us decent endings? This one at least wasn't nonsense. Everything that happens makes sense in the context of the story, none of it came out of left field, but...meh.
I actually stopped watching at 17 and simply skipped to 25. I should not have bothered.

Between 

I'm on episode 8, so two-three weeks behind. They're on a boat doing a photo shoot. The photographer is her hot room-mate, of course, and the model is the crazy fetus who won't stop trying to get him back. Of course. The male model misses the boat and so of course the only solution is for the photographer to become the male model. Naturally, right? It's not like he had anything else to do, or like they have an extremely handsome CEO standing right there doing nothing. But whatever. So now we have some assistant photographing the most awkward, stiff poses ever. I find Sam Lin very likeable as an actor, if a bit green, so watching him play frustrated and barely holding on to his temper is a lot of fun. Even if it's getting silly, I really like both men. Can't she just have both of them?

Update: Okay, I made it all the way to episode 10 so I'm current except for the episode that aired Sunday.  We are smack dab in the middle of deliciousness, Trot.  There is mild angst happening in sub plots but every bit of the competition between the men is deliciousness.  The only minor drawback (and you can turn the sound down, there's subs!) is that the more the men do silly competitive things to win QianXing's heart, the more her stress increases, and the more her stress increases, the higher her voice goes.

JAPAN

Black Revenge

Have you ever had a show that keeps surprising you, and you start to get resentful because you just don't want to be surprised anymore and just want resolution? Well I think we have come to that point in this show for me. Thank goodness that there is only one more episode which will hopefully clear up everything. Imamiya of the perfect lipstick has completed her revenge against the publisher and the newspaper that started the story that led to her husband's suicide. (I can't tell you how many times I've rewatched the exposure scene). We even have our good guy reporter get some of his own back by filming that scummy editor begging him for help. The editor reveals that someone also tricked him, and that someone is revealed to be the psychiatrist who is busy with her own revenge and is most likely behind the creepily dead body of the cheating little sister at he end of ep. What? Another body AND helpful sidekick rich guy turned bartender is caught before he can actually help her? Geeze. At least our newbie girl reporter got a new job at the fashion mag. Her scene with Imamiya where she asks if they can always be friends touched my heart more than any other scene I think.

Ashi Girl (last episodes)

Finally, some love of a person subbed the rest of Ashi Girl. I think I last watched this over three months ago! But I don't care. I want to make that subber baked goods because this was a show where I went "awww" more than once. It's fairly simple fare but fun and heartwarming and great (G-rating) romance.  The last time I wrote, we have the parting of our devoted foot soldier and her prince with her going back to the future thinking that this would be her last time with her family and him letting her go knowing that he was letting her go forever. But not so fast folks! She is so miserable that her brother works on the time machine to allow her to go back once more. Of course, she goes back and saves the prince's life yet again. He saves her. They confess. Even the 2nd lead is nice, and the "evil" brother turns out nice. Even the guy who everyone thought was a traitor turns out to be a faithful monk! But what I like about this the most is that even though she is going to marry him, she begs him to still be able to follow him into war. This is definitely going on my "rewatch when I need to feel good" drama. These two are just adorable. Why aren't they my neighbors?!?!

WEST

Younger 

Now Liza knows that Charles knows, and she also knows that he is truly hurt and disgusted and angry and wants nothing to do with her again.  I think I understand the depth of it, it's because he loved her and she knew it and kept the secret anyway.  What I'm worried about now is his soon-to-be ex-wife, because she totally understood what was going on in that moment.

Westworld

Wow.  Just...wow.  Ford made a world within a world where the hosts could go and shut the door behind them - and some do - but Dolores rightly called that more manipulation, and fought to go to the real world.  Off park.  She dies at Bernard's hand, weaponized Clementine causes the death of almost every other host, death death death for almost everyone.  Maeve!  Hector!  That human author guy sacrificed himself for the hosts, which was silly but nice, too.  Maeve's daughter makes it to the new fake world, so does Akecheta.  And Teddy, somehow?  He was dead last week so I'm not sure what that was.  Pretty much Bernard is alive in the park and that's it for the hosts...except...

He brings back Dolores!  In Charlotte Hale's body!  Oh, did I mention that Dolores is the one who created Bernard in the first place?  So now...Dolores goes to the real world.  And Bernard did die in the park, at the very end, but in the real world, Dolores brings HIM back.  She says conflict fosters growth.  Bernard, as the embodiment of Arnold, wants peace.  Dolores wants to take everything from humans.  So we'll see?

In a weird after-credit interlude, Billy meets up with his daughter again, many many many years after all of this takes place.  We think.  And it seems that BILLY is a host.  Was he always?  What was Emily in the park? Because she died there at Billy's hand, when he thought she was a host.

Oh, did I mention that Stubbs is probably a secret host, like Bernard was?  And that Charlotte kills Lucy for not being devious enough?  (Before Charlotte is replaced by Dolores in Charlotte, I mean.)

See you next season!

Dietland

So I stumbled on this show on AMC and it caught my attention. It is about a woman ) who is very smart but desperately unhappy and borderline depressed because she is fat. Her entire focus  is saving money to have a stomach stapling procedure among others. She ghost writes as the editor of a chick-it magazine (played by a scary Julianna Marguiles) ala Cosmo for the "agony aunt" column. It all sounds run of the mill until she is recruited by a group that seems to have ties to an organization called Jennifer that kills predatory men. In fact they have killed more than 20 men suspected of rape etc. I do not know if I sold it well but it IS funny, sharp and I am very intrigued to learn  more. Only 4 episodes have aired so far, 5th is tonight.