Rants and Weekly Raves #151 (RAWR)
Trotwood: I am not currently watching anything except for Teacher Oh Soo Nam and the OTP scenes in Father is Strange. I was going to pick up some of the new shows, but I feel like I'm still mourning over the ending of Secret Forest. I think I'm living in denial through starting recaps for Cubic, a Thai drama.
JoAnne: I'm watching stuff, but slowly. As I write this it's Friday, and all I've seen this week is The King Loves, Habaek, and School. All of which I really like, by the way. Kakashi is back! ...but I don't think she's watching anything. Well, AA. She's watching that.
SakiVI: I forgot about AA. Guess I didn't like it that much, although I was fine watching it.
kakashi: I'm here! I'm here! I'm also back in the office and on a business trip tomorrow. I watched 5 episodes of The White Princess, the only thing I've been watching for forever. I didn't like it enough to continue. I will continue the AA recaps shortly, had to finish Novoland first. That was painful. I'm also busy breaking Mo Yuan's heart.
JoAnne: I'm watching stuff, but slowly. As I write this it's Friday, and all I've seen this week is The King Loves, Habaek, and School. All of which I really like, by the way. Kakashi is back! ...but I don't think she's watching anything. Well, AA. She's watching that.
SakiVI: I forgot about AA. Guess I didn't like it that much, although I was fine watching it.
kakashi: I'm here! I'm here! I'm also back in the office and on a business trip tomorrow. I watched 5 episodes of The White Princess, the only thing I've been watching for forever. I didn't like it enough to continue. I will continue the AA recaps shortly, had to finish Novoland first. That was painful. I'm also busy breaking Mo Yuan's heart.
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| Actual portion sizes of my diet |
KOREA
Bride of the Water God
I will leave you. I have to leave you. Sounds like our hot Water God has travelled some emotional miles lately. As long as it keeps bringing us kisses, I like it. I like it a LOT. What I don't like but am deeply curious about: what exactly does Bi Ryeom know or think happened 1200 years ago that would make him torture Limnium this way? The guy was so happy just learning how to live like the humans do, come on.
The King Loves
And I love him right back. In fact: I love Won, I love Rin, I love San, I love the Shadow Guards. I hate Rin's brother. I ain't crazy about Won's parents. I'm definitely uneasy about the two times we saw Won absolutely lose his shit and beat on somebody. (Plus I'm surprised because I didn't think Siwan could possibly have that in him, but oops, guess he does.) The conflicts are unfolding pretty smoothly and this moves along at a nice clip, plus decent portrayals from everyone. And man, is it gorgeous. I'm happy.
School 2017
I'm so full of Grumpy deliciousness that I think I can't possibly take another nibble, but then I find that yes, I do want to nibble more Grumpy, who wears every bit of his 27 years on his face, right down to the 5 o'clock shadow. So much. (Especially that shadow.) Actually, all 3 of our leads are pure love, plus that adorable ssaem of theirs, and the story is pretty solid. It's just that I super love Grumpy Boy, who does a good job acting like a pissed-off, disillusioned, heart-broken eighteen year old boy, even if he can't look like one. Probably didn't look like one 10 years ago, either. Might even have been the oldest looking newborn on Earth. I don't care. I love his face.
Falsify
I'm still only reading recaps of this one. I need some more prep for revenge and to make me more invested in characters.
Seven Day Queen (Finale)
Sageuk, more than any other story form - especially when done well - makes me feel as though I am watching a film in double-exposure. I see the characters acting within their royal positions, but I also see them as the human beings they are, and a good sageuk means I see both those things at once and watch how they war against each other. This is a good one. It might very well be a perfect one. It's certainly one of, if not the best I've ever seen. It hit on all fronts: story, pace, acting, costumes, settings, cinematography, music. I watched it all play out week after week, and even when they did terrible things in the grip of rage or revenge or madness or pain - I loved them and pitied them for the lives they couldn't escape and for all the ways in which outside forces required Yoon and Yeok and Chae Kyung to make choices they didn't want to make. I could even see (and sometimes understand) those working against them. Sometimes. Minister Park, burn in hell for eternity. This drama was indescribably sad, and yet - love does win, in the bittersweet end. So I smile even as I cry, and I know I will remember them for a long time to come.
Reunited Worlds
I'm all caught up on this finally and I do really like it - I like the people in it, I like the central mystery...but am I alone in feeling like they're not actually spending much time at all on the mystery? Also, I feel like it's time to say that I'm just going to pretend Blood never happened and allow Ahn Jae Hyun back into the room. He's been chilling in the corner thinking about what he did wrong, and I think it's time to stop ignoring him. Seriously, I've seen him in four dramas. In one of them he sucked so bad I think baby kittens died in protest, but in three of them he ranges from okay to pretty funny. And not only does he allow them to hit him with every vehicle that appears in this drama, he lets himself get punked with a punkin. No? Squashed by a squash? Whatever. I like him again.
Criminal Minds
I haven't seen it and no one who has seen it (that I know) likes it. At all. I feel like I should check out at least the 1st episode just to be contrary, but I haven't done that yet.
Alexe does like it!
Alexe does like it!
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| Dammit, you are SO cute |
Father is Strange
Everyone is so sad, and I get angrier at the parents with every minute. They still seem to be really selfish to me not recognizing that their decision to "come clean" now is going to have such far reaching effects on their children. I expected to be moved by Mi-Young and Joong-Hee and even by the strength of Hye Young, but I didn't expect to be so sad at the break up Ra-Young and Cheol Soo. As she says, she had nothing to say to his dad now that she knows what her own dad has done. That was her pride in many ways, the idea that she might not be rich but her parents and family were better people than Seol Soo's dad could ever be. Now? She felt like she had to crawl out of there silently because she, too, didn't believe she was good enough.
I feel bad for all of them. ALL OF THEM. I think the parents are caught between a rock and a hard place - granted, they chose that spot, but really, their only choice was between Rock A and Rock B all those years ago, and that's not much of a choice at all. Given a choice of raising your children in (likely) abject poverty through the unfair label of being a murderer, or taking the name of a dead friend whose only living relative was an unwell mother (that you then spent decades treating like your own family), whose to say lots of people wouldn't choose the same? It's not like he tried to profit off the actual name, claiming property or money or anything like that. No, they lived quietly and worked hard and raised a good family. And the second decision, to lie to Joong Hee, was made at least partially to pay back that dead friend and offer his son some happiness. YES. They weren't great decisions. But they weren't made with evil hearts. The pain that their children are experiencing couldn't possibly have been known 35 years earlier.
I feel bad for all of them. ALL OF THEM. I think the parents are caught between a rock and a hard place - granted, they chose that spot, but really, their only choice was between Rock A and Rock B all those years ago, and that's not much of a choice at all. Given a choice of raising your children in (likely) abject poverty through the unfair label of being a murderer, or taking the name of a dead friend whose only living relative was an unwell mother (that you then spent decades treating like your own family), whose to say lots of people wouldn't choose the same? It's not like he tried to profit off the actual name, claiming property or money or anything like that. No, they lived quietly and worked hard and raised a good family. And the second decision, to lie to Joong Hee, was made at least partially to pay back that dead friend and offer his son some happiness. YES. They weren't great decisions. But they weren't made with evil hearts. The pain that their children are experiencing couldn't possibly have been known 35 years earlier.
Bad Thief, Good Thief
Stop giving me those looks, it makes me feel guilty.
Strongest Deliveryman (New)
Nice job on the opening episode - it's certainly fast-paced and clever, and I mean come on, can Go Kyung Po ever do anything wrong? No, he cannot. I swear, if he ever plays a bad guy I think my heart will break. Okay, Ep 2 convinced me I'm going to like this, even if it IS one of those hahaha funny BAM struggles, troubles BAM we will fight on! dramas.
I really wanted to like this because I really like Go Kyung Po, so I hope the show is a success, but I won't be watching any more of it. I don't really like anyone enough to want to spend more time with them, and I'm already annoyed rather than intrigued by the paint-by-number big bad real estate mogul who is going to ruin that street like she did with the other street.
I kept looking for images for #StrangestDeliveryman and was really puzzled...
It's always a surprise when THIS delivery man has a package for you. (No, actually, he's hiding a girl in his room and the restaurant girl sees all her stuff and thinks he's a cross dresser.)
I really wanted to like this because I really like Go Kyung Po, so I hope the show is a success, but I won't be watching any more of it. I don't really like anyone enough to want to spend more time with them, and I'm already annoyed rather than intrigued by the paint-by-number big bad real estate mogul who is going to ruin that street like she did with the other street.
I kept looking for images for #StrangestDeliveryman and was really puzzled...
It's always a surprise when THIS delivery man has a package for you. (No, actually, he's hiding a girl in his room and the restaurant girl sees all her stuff and thinks he's a cross dresser.)
Save Me (New)
I didn't see this anywhere, I think...maybe it starts airing this week?
Great Teacher Oh Soon Nam
We're in the last third of the show, and all Mad's lies are closing in on her. But what will they do with her? She seems too mentally fragile for prison. Will she end up in a mental home? Also, how will that ghastly mother of Yu Min's get her payback? I find her and CEO Yoon the worst of the lot: one for being so greedy, and the other for being a user. They've pretty much created the mess around them in the first place.
I agree, and though I have less sympathy for Mad (her manipulation of Cheekos for her own gain and her role role in the death of Joon Young is keeping me from forgiveness) than you do, I still don't think she is the worse person in drama. The reveal of her motherhood was well done by the writers. I did not see that twist coming at all either. It shows that Elf Ears in into his revenge for the long haul. There is no way he has forgiven her, and he has the seeds of doubt planted in his mind about what happened to his daughter. I think the writers are going to string us along concerning who Ungil is going to be with. I bet I will be sad because no matter they do with her, I can't warm up to Yuna. I like Myun Ja better. Sigh. Still, I have my favorite office workers on the planet who brighten up my day in their determination to try to stay sane in the middle of their office makjang fest.
I agree, and though I have less sympathy for Mad (her manipulation of Cheekos for her own gain and her role role in the death of Joon Young is keeping me from forgiveness) than you do, I still don't think she is the worse person in drama. The reveal of her motherhood was well done by the writers. I did not see that twist coming at all either. It shows that Elf Ears in into his revenge for the long haul. There is no way he has forgiven her, and he has the seeds of doubt planted in his mind about what happened to his daughter. I think the writers are going to string us along concerning who Ungil is going to be with. I bet I will be sad because no matter they do with her, I can't warm up to Yuna. I like Myun Ja better. Sigh. Still, I have my favorite office workers on the planet who brighten up my day in their determination to try to stay sane in the middle of their office makjang fest.
NOT-KOREA
How to Eat Stinky Tofu
Is this the Mark Chao section? This one is sponsored by Panda (it looks like he is holding a ....):
Rush to the Dead Summer
Well I don't know about you but my summer has been anything but dead, so...backburner.
The First Half of My Life
Despite the Dong and his amazing hair, I couldn't get past the first half of episode 1. None of the characters interested me in the least.
The Eternal Love
It's okay. It's not as funny or as cute or as interesting as I thought it would be based on people's reactions. I enjoy it when I play it, but I have no difficulty stopping it either. And I just finished episode 6, and still no hot-to-trot prince. Sad.
Advisor's Alliance
I had to put the recaps on hold while on the Danube cruise ... this one requires a fast internet connection for looking up a ton of stuff all the time. I will start episode 2 this week and you can expect a more regular output from now on.Lost Love in Times
Can William really be sexy with a man bun and chubby cheeks? Time will tell.
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| Well it's even HARDER if he's got a spider on the man bun! |