Rants and Weekly Raves #186 (RAWR)
JoAnne: Some of us are still getting snow (on APRIL 19th!!!) and some of us are sitting outside in our bare feet enjoying our patios and flowers. I have no flowers yet (well, daffodils and crocus) but things are swelling green and I'm starting to believe this winter might actually end. Fingers crossed!
Trotwood: I had to use the collapsible snow shovel I keep in my car this past week. I still have not taken out my spare snow boots, wool socks, and lined pants I keep in the car. I'm not going to believe until June. 😔 However, I'm using recapping and figuring out near gibberish subs to get me through end of school year trauma drama.
Saki: I am still sick. Hence Tientsin Mystic recaps continue to go very slowly.
panda: I am hanging in there...
All of this just means I'm ALONE
I'm behind on this, and now that the finale has aired, on the advice of all and sundry I'm not going to bother catching up. Update: All I did was try to watch the final episode and that opening scene was such a 'oh noooooooo' that I went back to where I left off and after hours of watching during which I frequently fell asleep because it was late at night I am now half way through that final episode and dearly anticipating the WTF-ness because while this show is not related in pretty much any way at all to season 1, the twists and turns are not unanticipated in any way. Update: The minute I wrote this and went back to finish the episode all hell broke loose. WTELF. And now I remember all the things that made no sense from the beginning, too, and did they solve ANYTHING at all about the big case? NO. GAH. Why did I bother.
Saki: I am still sick. Hence Tientsin Mystic recaps continue to go very slowly.
panda: I am hanging in there...
All of this just means I'm ALONE
KOREA
Laughter in Waikiki (Finale)
This ended exactly as it should have. I will forgive the show the moments when it went too far and miss it for the many moments of genuine laughter it gave me. The standout for me was Lee Yi Kyung, of course. I first saw him in School 2013, and he has made a significant impression in every role since. He has a real gift for comedy but can also be serious, and I like that in an actor. Some others in the show I would rather see stick to dramas...
Should We Kiss First ?
Please, please, please let Mu Han do well on the clinical trial. I sincerely want this for him, for Soon Jin, and for I Deun. I know it's just postponing the inevitable, but please let these people have a little time together to be happy and to know that they are loved, mmm?
The Great Seducer
Soo Ji has tipped over into crazy territory, I think, and like Shi Hyun, I am done with her. (But there is a tiny corner of my heart that recognizes this little apple didn't fall far from the tree - every revelation about her mother just cements the idea that Soo Ji is her mini-me.)
A Poem a Day
Well, we knew it was coming. Mr. 'Just Kidding' has fallen for the cutest, most earnest physical therapist ever, but I'm not very happy about it. Neither guy really seems a match for her, though. Dr. Ye is too adult, but our poor boy is too much of a kid. (Also, I figured her room-mate probably had that back story, but it was still sad to watch.)
That Man Oh Soo
Come on, Gramps. Find a solution. That's where you went, right? These two need to be together! I feel bad for Teach, stepping into the breech again. He's just going to get his heart stomped, no matter how kindly it's done.
The Miracle We Met
I said goodbye.
Mystery Queen 2 (Finale)
I don't have the energy to be mad that they killed off lovely people and some not so lovely to set up another season, but that tells you something: I was only here for the OTP because they were fun. The overarching mystery was really only interesting in the end, but we don't get closure for that. What bugs me is that they seemed to really only have a solid narrative for that for half of these episodes and wasted a bunch of time on things that didn't really matter because . . . they kne they didn't have to have a real ending? Pfft and Yawn.
WTAF was that ending?!!!!!
WTAF was that ending?!!!!!
Switch
I'm caught up, but must confess that I only half pay attention while I'm watching. I have the core of it down - Brown Bear is the former detective/now gang boss. He killed his own wife while robbing their home (?) and then framed Sa Do Chan's father, who is not really dead like Do Chan thinks. He's the popcorn man flirting with Oh Ha Na's mom. Still not sure why Do Chan looks so much like his prosecutor twin but I guess that's coming. The former governor is a crook, the current head prosecutor is a crook, and someone has now conned Do Chan and really gummed up the works. That's the important stuff, I think.
My Ahjussi
I love this show more every hour! Episode 10 was really an emotional winner, though, don't you think? To see how much Dong Hoon is loved, and to have him offer that backing to Ji An. I guess it's inevitable that she really did fall for him, but I sincerely hope they deal with it quickly and cleanly. I want them to be connected in a family-by-choice way forever, with no overtones of anything else. I wonder if it can happen though, what with the conversations she and wifey had.
My Husband, Oh Jak Doo
Caught up here, too. These two are making me a little nuts with the back and forth, really. It's not a competition to out-sacrifice each other, guys. But man, do they make me smile with their swoony love...it's almost enough to make me forget how much I want to kill her fuckwit brother and bitch of a mother. How many times is she going to rescue them? Let them starve! Let them live on the street! It's their own fault! UGH. They make me crazy. Fortunately, I have sweet, love sick Eric Cho to take the edge off. What a love, the poor guy. Please tell me that the cousins eventually learn to love each other? I really want that.Children of a Lesser God
The subs were so behind on this one for so long, but now there are subs out for up to 1p 15, but they are still pretty awful. I know I've said it before, but it is really too bad because the show is quite good. I can't marathon it too much because it's pretty intense. I've been able to watch up through episode 8 as of writing this, and poor Kim Dan is starting to come to grips with who she is but more devastatingly who her "father" might be. I'm pretty sure Prosecutor Joo is Popeye, and I want to believe that he is playing a double agent and is leaning toward the side of the good. The crazy girl--who enjoyed throwing pretzels off her balcony to watch the starving poor kids in the compound crawl around for them--as I said has grown up to be a terror. She is so evil that I don't even enjoy watching her be evil, and I want them all away from her. The only pleasure I get is that all the old guys/gaurd think they can control her. Pfft.
I hate dramas/movies anything about evil cults. I still shudder when I remember "The Following"which was about the only place I did not see James Purefoy penis but I digress. Cult dramas really scare me and if I had known this was one, I would not have started. However, I did and I am so hooked. I am on ep7 and it is Really Really good. I love the unexpected bursts of humor which peek through, and I really like our leads especially the male lead surprisingly. I so want Prosecutor Joo to switch to the good side soon. Kim Dan's dad is breaking my heart and I do not foresee him surviving till end of drama TT___TT. As Trot said, the subtitles are not so good from ep 4 onwards so I hope Netflix eventually gets it so I rewatch.
Everything everyone says (except about the terrible subs) makes me want to watch this very much. Please, Netflix, come through!
I hate dramas/movies anything about evil cults. I still shudder when I remember "The Following"which was about the only place I did not see James Purefoy penis but I digress. Cult dramas really scare me and if I had known this was one, I would not have started. However, I did and I am so hooked. I am on ep7 and it is Really Really good. I love the unexpected bursts of humor which peek through, and I really like our leads especially the male lead surprisingly. I so want Prosecutor Joo to switch to the good side soon. Kim Dan's dad is breaking my heart and I do not foresee him surviving till end of drama TT___TT. As Trot said, the subtitles are not so good from ep 4 onwards so I hope Netflix eventually gets it so I rewatch.
Everything everyone says (except about the terrible subs) makes me want to watch this very much. Please, Netflix, come through!
Happy Sisters
I was wondering what this show was going to do with over episodes left since everyone now knows the depth of the lies and thievery that HoeJo pulled. But now we've got some corporate spying going on, another runaway child, another surprise pregnancy, and a possible new romance that every comment board in the English speaking world (except Soompi--sycophants!) hates. I'd be in a rage over it if we didn't have these two:
I wish they'd do a spin off with them running their own business.
And because Hyung Joo is consistently the most perfect boyfriend on the planet. He is faithful and true and calm and smart. When the woman that broke his heart comes back, clearly thinking they can start anew, he introduces her to his current girlfriend as the woman he loves now. He is wonderful to his mom and is wonderful to her mom. He can throw a good punch and can sing. Seriously, he is perfect, and then they (Me) told me on twitter that he's known as Abs Oppa, because well . . .
CHINA/TAIWAN
Meet Me @1006
Following Jo's lead, we are nicknaming Lego Lee, muffin, or rather Muffin. He can play self protective obnoxious, which he does as his past self, but there is a loyalty underneath and his self in the present has fallen hard for our heroine. I wonder if they will be able to prevent the murder? However, I think the process is going to reveal things about all the people in the case that neither is going to want to hear. Hopefully, they will be solid team. I'm even hoping that the prosecutor gets on their team eventually (even though he's going to see Muffin as a rival in love first) because he is also someone who definitely needs a friend.
Seriously, isn't this how we wish the guy we liked looked when he saw a picture of us?
Untouchable Lovers
Didn't get to it this past week. It works best for me when I have about 5 or 6 subbed to watch all in one go.
Between (New! Marcus Chang!)
Marcus will be the rather eccentric new boss, someone brought in to 'fix' companies. Second is Sam Lin, no slouch in the looks department, as a renowned photog and future landlord . Both men seem quite nice, over all. Female lead is new to me (Esther Yeh) and while I like the role she's playing and think she's quite pretty I find her voice grating - babyish and whiny. I hope that changes.
And lost me at babyish and whiny.
And lost me at babyish and whiny.
As for the story - she'll have to choose between the two men, of course, both of whom are going to be by turns nice (even swoony) and irritating. Standard stuff. It looks gorgeous - very high fashion, lovely settings - and I've enjoyed both male leads quite a bit in other dramas, so I'll ignore the girl's voice and the cinematographic tricks and give it a shot because it's going to be more work and life hijinks than melodramatic family business. I think - there were some hints we might get a little. It's only one episode a week and subbing of the first episode was quite slow, so I probably won't check in again for a few weeks.
My Dear Boy
I will be forever grateful to this show for introducing me to Weibird Wei. However, despite my love for Ruby Lin, her boy love, and her sister-in-law's husband (great, warm, steady character), I hate everyone else left in this show. Their petty, selfish obsession with this relationship and now a hidden pregnancy/child from the past?!?! Nope. I'm out. If I want to be outraged, I'll just read a newspaper.
US/UK
Fear the Walking Dead
Lots of weird time jumps but I like where this is going. I was truly on edge when those folks showed up at the ballpark, and now I at least understand why Nick and the gang were so suspcious of Morgan and the gang.
Siren
As suspected, Helen is at least part mermaid. Also as suspected, they'll play up sexual tension between our biologist couple and Ryn, this week by having Ryn plant a good one on Maddie. We wondered why Ryn would ever come back, but it seems she trusts Maddie and Ben to help the mermaids with their food supply problem - the military is secretly paying fishing companies to fish the waters completely dry, forcing the mermaids to surface and thus be caught for further examination/experimentation. The buzz around this show is pretty big, I think - ratings climb each week, and they've got a massive online presence to connect with viewers. There are only 5 more episodes in this first season and we're certainly guaranteed to be left wanting more, at this rate.
I'm dying to know what happens to Helen in salt water and how much mermaid she is and what she can or can't do. According to hints that the actress, Rena Owen, who is new to social media, and who has taken to it like a mermaid to water, the merman Levi will show up, and another mermaid, and we will find out Helen's full story soon enough. The mermaid stories are what's interesting and the struggle with the military, so let's hope the show sticks with that focus and the killer stuff and the mermaid changes etc, and not the Raddie vs. Ren ships.
I'm dying to know what happens to Helen in salt water and how much mermaid she is and what she can or can't do. According to hints that the actress, Rena Owen, who is new to social media, and who has taken to it like a mermaid to water, the merman Levi will show up, and another mermaid, and we will find out Helen's full story soon enough. The mermaid stories are what's interesting and the struggle with the military, so let's hope the show sticks with that focus and the killer stuff and the mermaid changes etc, and not the Raddie vs. Ren ships.
Queen Sugar
Finished with season 2 and very satisfied. The Bordelons continue to be very interesting to me and every single family member has a story line that entertains and yet somehow strikes a chord, emotionally. Nola continues to be my favorite for no reason other than she is fierce and smart and beautiful and so ALONE, but I think next season it might be Charlie who is most interesting as she's stepping onto a very dangerous road. Emotionally I think it will Ralph Angel working through his feelings about Blue, but I do expect Auntie Vi and Hollywood to pull some strings with her lupus diagnosis. Can't wait!