Rants and Weekly Raves #243 (RAWR)

kakashi: I'm trying to find out where Chen Kun is in this picture, it's definitely Europe, could be Paris. Not sure what happened to his flowers........(waiting for Jo to run with this... in 1....2.......3)
JoAnne: Hmmm...oh! I know: proof that he's unable to function since you're not there...   Over the weekend I watched Painted Skin: The Resurrection and also Mojin, The Lost Legend.  I thoroughly enjoyed them both but was especially wowed by how gorgeous and how sad Painted Skin was.  I dearly want to see the first one but it's not available in my region at all, not with subs.  Not even to buy, sigh. Maybe I'll just watch Resurrection again - it was certainly good enough for multiple viewings!
Panda: Hi and Bye. Last week working for now, and I am both excited and terrified. Hehehe. Binged Lucifer (campy, silly fun) and couldn't concentrate on anything enough to read subtitles so guess will watch all remaining HPL episodes this week. Have a great week all!

Trotwood: I feel like I'm not watching much of anything even though I'm mired in drama talk. Lots of people I know writing fanfiction and many new Thai dramas are holding workshops for shows that aren't airing until 2020, but so many pics. Very busy with work still last week, but also I need as much fluff as I can get with how dark Voice3 is.

KOREA 

Special Labor Inspector Jo

Our puppy PI kisses enthusiastically.  Those of us who have been swooning over him since a few shows ago are pleased, but I'm otherwise ready to be done with that rotten family and would like Jo to have a nice safe desk job for a while.

Abyss 

Okay,  Hot but Dead Again Min is now alive again but he keeps his same body because, as was rightly pointed out:  your soul is your soul so why would it have changed?  Yay for Hot Min!

The Secret Life of My Secretary

Please tell me I'm not the only one who thinks Dae Joo has complicated feelings for Min Ik and their friendship - similar to the men in High Society - but really does not want to actually hurt his friend.  He wants to make his mark, and I think if came down to survival he'd save himself no matter what it took, but I think right now he's trying to negotiate a pretty tricky path that doesn't end with him being the weapon used by the uncle to destroy the nephew.

Also:  please tell me there's going to be a point at which the brother's actual blindness comes into the story in some actionable way.

Also also:  squeeeeeee.  I love Kim Young Kwang and Jin Ki Joo together.

My Fellow Citizens 

Hoo Ja is in jail, so I know a PotUpper who is NOT pleased, but it looks like that won't last. 

Her Private Life 

I like how this story doesn't really have any hard edges.  Tough, painful situations are brought out, examined, and resolved satisfactorily - yet I don't feel much angst.  Is it because they move forward quickly, or is it the wrapped in cotton wool, snuggle-y feeling I get from seeing so much of Kim Jae Wook?

Save Me 2 

This show is pretty impressive.  Really strong plot and character development, excellent acting, very evocative settings.  Every week I'm left wanting more, in the best possible way.  The way the bad guys take events they cannot possibly have created and weave them into the structure of the con to further their plans is really something - these are some very, very smart sons of bitches.

And the con!  Its depth is stunning and the cruelty, the lack of humanity - it's breath-taking.  I now understand the role that the pastor plays and while I hope he ends up being part of a team of folks who defeat the bad guys, what I really expect is that his life and his faith will be destroyed by the role he will play in the misery of others - especially when we think of the inevitable death of Chil-Sung's wife.  I'm still of the opinion that he's innocent, of course.  If we later see more of the story and realize that his part in this was fully known to him and that he's a willing conspirator...it might be my life and faith that get destroyed.

What I don't understand is why THIS town?  It's a nothing village that's going to be submerged under water in a couple years.  Yes, the residents will receive a payout from the government but it's not like it's going to make them RICH.  Is the plan to take the land from them beforehand, somehow, and then collect that money?  Something else?  but what? 

I also spend a lot of time trying to decide if Byung Rul was sought out or if he was an opportunity that fell into their laps?  The initial meeting of Byung Rul and Professor Choi was Choi in his conning persona, not his real self, so you'd think it was deliberate, right?  But there's NOTHING about Byung Rul that would make a stranger think oooh, there's real money to be made here, so how did this even happen?  WHY?

Anyway, Trot (and everyone else) you should be watching this!  But Trot especially because Moony is in it, and Kakashi should watch for Dog Nose, who I hope gets more big roles in prime time dramas because of this.

Angel's Last Mission: Love (New) 

Still pretty in a gauzy, unfocused sort of way.  I do like the snappy interaction between our cranky ballerina and the angel who is not about to play like that.

Absolute Boyfriend 

There's a stalker.  Of course there's a stalker.  And we've had noble idiocy as well.  They are really making us pay for these glimpses of YJG's chest.  I mean smile.  His smile.  Did he have his shirt off at some point?  I hadn't noticed.

One Spring Night (New) 

Is it just me or does this feel and look very old?  I mean, it's not boring or bad, though it won't be everyone's cup of tea - but if just seems like it might have been made 10 years ago.

The Nokdu Flower 

Argh!  This show will kill me.  I giggle like a madwoman when I realize that Yang Hyun is putting his old mentor in harm's way but deliberately NOT killing him just so that he can see him be terrified again some time in the future.  I swoon whenever Yang Ki and Lady Song are together.  I cried when that young boy died after being shot by Yang Hyun.  Yang Hyun would have been truly terrifying with that rifle, worthy of the name they've given him:  Ogre - and when YSY smiles that slow, dead smile, I shiver. I even really like the battle scenes because they're different than what we normally see.  Fast-paced, but slow enough for you to notice things.  Chock-full of details about how people fought back then.  There's lots of battle tactics in there, and I love every bit of it - me, the person who reads email during battle scenes.  

I can't wait for the next episodes, now that the idiot nobleman heading up the royal forces in the area has gone and asked for Qing support without realizing that would trigger automatic invasion by the Japanese.  Now we've got the Donghak rebels fighting against the royal forces, but the royal forces are going to have to deal with the Japanese, too.  It could be just the distraction to give Donghak an edge, but I'm guessing the Japanese will be trying to crush them, and I know it's too much to hope that both Korean factions would team up against the Japanese - and then what?  after intermission go back to fighting each other?  I'm just very curious about how it works out.

Voice 3 

I swear I think I spend most of each episode saying, "If ___ dies , I'm going to be pissed." People die in this show, often painful, horrific deaths. This week's episodes though focused on human trafficking and racism in Korea, especially against immigrant woman and the use of them as surrogate mothers. It also made me wonder if none of the married people are going to have decent relationships with their spouses in this show. If that is the case, I don't want our Golden Time team members, Eun Seo and Woo Seok, who are having an adorable flirtation, to get together. Stay friends guys. In Voice world, that's safer!

Just One Bite Season 2

This week we get some resolution about Hee Sook and Tae Song  but more problems caused by Eun Sung's boyfriend too friendly nature. I'm just happy that the guys with the orange beanie is back. He wasn't in the last episode, but he's full force background silent greek course judgmental here, which his fan base loves. I'd wear those pajamas with his face on them that Soo Ji and Chang Hyuk wear.

CHINA/TAIWAN 

HIStory3: Trapped

Squeefests abound with declarations all over the place. I'm glad we are having some happy times because everyone is going to have work together to make the gangster drug cleanse take effect. I knew that the minion side kick was up to no good, but his desperate unrequited love was pitiful if completely misguided. I don't care enough about the sister to spend as much time with her as we did, but I'm glad her love is resolved so hopefully we don't have to spend much time with her int he future. There wasn't enough Jack and ZZ, but what we got of our OTP was very special. Poor abandoned Tang Yi, getting someone to recognize his birthday with a surprise and promise from Shao Fei was probably the best gift he's been given for over a decade. Now if he can just keep from being stabbed again . . . 

Detective L

All of these cases have some psychological element to them, and the next mystery "The Smiling Black Widow" is no exception. Girls are being murdered through a tickle torture by a masked villain. These cases are similar to what happened five years ago that caused the police commissioner at the time to resign. How do you know who you are talking to when having conversation with someone with a slit personality?Would you make a deal with a murderer to save someone's life? Lots of questions and another satisfying mystery. The show has completed it's run, and many are hoping for a season 2.

JAPAN 

Kinou Nani Tabeti/What Did You Eat Yesterday?

If last week was all about Kenji, this week was back to being all about Shiro, but I could've done without the switch back if I knew I was going to spend most of my time being embarrassed for him. He spends all of his time doing and saying things a friend would tell him not to do or say. I spent most of my time watching looking like this.