Rants and Weekly Raves #225 (RAWR)

JoAnne: Winter needs to end.
kakashi: I want to go on holidays.
When's your next mountain trip?
Next week but that's NOT HOLIDAYS.
String some lights. Make a roast. Wear pajamas all day. Or do your crazy hiking up mountains thing. Presto-chango, it's a holiday.
I'm gonna be in Davos, JoAnne. It's the WEF. I am so glad when this is over.
Ohhh, I meant parent's mountains! Hell no that's not a vacation. But you will do very well, I am sure of it. Shaking knees maybe, but I bet no one will be able to tell. You know your shit. You got this. And Chen Kun has got you. Look at that affection in his eyes.
(Trotwood busting in late and out of breath with a Kakashi fansign in a trail of glitter): What? Am I too late for the Kakashi should be president of the world send off?
SakiVI: I have the complete day off this MLK day, and I can't go anywhere because of the subzero weather and winds.
Panda: Lucky all who stayed home today. I had to drive to work at 4F whose real feel was -6F :/
I would normally drive to the countryside and ride a pony - or at least play with a couple - if I had the day completely off. But weather...
Windchill here was -15F since yesterday, which is just rude and unacceptable and I need comfort food so I just put a made-up recipe in the oven, torn-up sour dough bread with pieces of ham, roasted corn, baby spinach, cheddar cheese, mixed up with a custard (eggs/milk) like you would bread pudding. Buttered the pan, mixed in a little pepper and onion with the custard. I've seen similar but I didn't follow a recipe and guessed measurements. I'll let you know how it goes.

KOREA

Less than Evil

Okay is Jang dead THIS time? I was happy to see my beloved Thighs this week, even if he was playing a killer.

The Crowned Clown

I am in Love with this drama. I Love the actors - I can't even single out only YJG cos his Queen, (OMG his queen is totally knocking it out of the ballpark too), the Royal Secretary are all amazing. Look, if you like your sageuks (not the fluffy kind) jump on this. It is soooo good! Who else got chills at the hunting scene? I genuinely thought he killed the Left Minister's son. I like that our hero is so smart and is able to apply his life learnt skills here. But gosh, looks like the King will wake up and his path will cross with Dal-Rae? Complications, complications. Bring it on.
Yeah, I'm with you - this drama is firing on all cylinders. Our leads are well-matched, and they're supported by an excellent cast. Plotting is fairly tight and every week moves us forward substantially. I'm loving it!

Encounter

I support these sweet, gentle, loving souls with all my heart, and I've loved how they've been a center for this drama so far - not just in plot but in feeling, too. They've been solid. This is why it hurts to know what's coming and to fear that this time it might stick. The thing is, I don't see her decision as as irrational. I understand where his mom is coming from. And this week, I even felt a little sympathy for HER mom, in the sense that I finally understand that as much as her husband was working toward the Blue House, she had been, too. He let go of his dream and he seems content with that decision since it was made with love for his daughter - but she had no say in letting go hers. Granted, I like her not one bit and wholeheartedly disapprove of her use of her daughter against her will...but I still get her pain now.

The Last Empress

How did Ari organize all that video footage of those bratty kids? She shouldn't be the next Empress. They should be training her to take over the intelligence and surveillance branches of the government. Only one ep this week and of course it was a doozy. Secrets seem to be coming out, but I'm not holding my breath because the plot will most likely do another cirque du soleil twist. My twitter list is discussing whether they want Sunni with anyone at this point because they can't forget that hot bodyguard tried to kill her. The one thing we all agree on is that Shin Sung ROk needs to be cast in a full blown crazy physical comedy. He'd be hilarious because as a crazed, murdering, mustache twisting, man-child villain he's already hilarious.
I like the turn the little princess has taken. I think she's always going to be a little snotty but she's learning genuinely from her stepmom Sunny and it will save her, over all. As for the rest of them, MIL needs to be dealt with severely, Emperor's change of heart seems genuine but doesn't mean he shouldn't pay for his crimes, and I don't care what happens with Wang Sik except that he should NOT end up with Sunny.

Children of Nobody

Man, this drama cranked along like gangbusters and then kinda ran out of gas. The ends are tied up neatly but it was just 'meh' as far as drama goes on both the home and big bad fronts there in the last couple episodes. Is it too much to ask that we get a big exciting finale AND tie up loose ends? Why does it have to be one or the other?

What's Wrong Poong Sang?

It appears our Poong Sang will suffer from some dire medical issue shortly and based on the alternate title of course it's his liver, and naturally one of his ne'er do well siblings will be the savior. I thoroughly enjoy the Wae Sang/Noona plot, and it seems Hwa Sang might actually have a bit of history behind her feeling of being pushed aside in favor of her sister. I do feel for sis's current predicament, since she's the only one being punished professionally even though her lover is even more at fault than she is. And Jin Sang so far is just there for laughs so far. I'm only really upset with Poong Sang, who continually bails out his siblings even when it damages his own family. Why should he have to pay for his brother, literally? Let the guy sink or swim!

Fates and Furies

Dropped for now. I think I might make time for it this week. Maybe. It's hard when another drama with lots of episodes completely encompasses your heart and mind.
Things are moving along but we're still pretty much where we were: In Joon gave up his shares and all, keeping only Gold Shoes, and has proposed to Hae Ra. They're engaged and sort of planning a wedding but he knows something is wrong. Hae Ra at this point thinks In Joon was responsible for her sister's 'suicide' but her buddy has just found out the truth. The two maknae continue to be annoying and irresponsible but are falling for each other. I think Soo Hyun and Tae Oh are the most twisted characters, at this point, although Jung Ho's mom might be the actual worst. And when are they going to show us more than Ah Jung's ability to secretly record conversations? After last week's revelation that Jung Ho's father ruined her family deliberately, you'd think she'd be tempted to start taking action.

Memories of the Alhambra

I enjoyed looking at Hyun Bin and Park Shin Hye. I loved the mystery of the game. I loved seeing Grenada. I did not care about the romance and it was not a successful sell to me at all, but from what I understand that was tacked on to the story and the writer was not pleased either, but my biggest problem is that we get no explanation. There's a bug in the game, yes. Several, actually. How, though? Why? And after all that trouble, they went ahead and released it anyway? As for the very ending, WELL. So Binnie is only alive in the game now and spends his time helping people who might otherwise die - one can only assume in the game only, right? Who knows? They didn't explain. And she's still waiting for him? Is she going to just pine for a guy who's a game avatar for the rest of her life? They should have done more with Se Ju there at the end, too, poor traumatized zombie boy. Whatever. Despite gorgeous visuals and the satisfaction of Hot Dead Friend being the end to Professor Cha's miserable heartless life, this is about a C-

Sky Castle

Su Jin, I rooted for you even when you were fueling your daughter's kleptomania amongst other things. I genuinely hope you come back from the precipice you have jumped off. Btw, who else feels sorry for Ye Soo? Only me? Okay. Show is still great and has officially broken cable ratings with 2 more episodes to go. Whoop Whoop. I do have 1 last question though, who killed her?
Yes, I feel sorry for Ye Suh. She's going to pay a big price, probably, though her father seems to think that throwing herself on the mercy of the court might buy her some favor. I really hoped her mother would back off this week - it's clear how much she loves her daughter and that it's not just as a symbol of success...but she's totally into that crazy mode and I'm not sure she can get free of it. Dad's howls of anguish win this week's Most Chilling Moment for me, how about you? As for Hye Na - the security guard killed her, paid for by Teacher Kim. At least that's what I think. This show, I think, is an instant classic. Really top-notch work on every front.

Top Star Yoo Baek

Ma Dol, you did the right thing. I know it broke your heart but pretending not to know what you definitely know was going to destroy your life and Kang Soon's, too. As for Yoo Baek, well, I personally believe that as miserable as he is right now, he'd be okay. Losing at love isn't going to ruin your life unless you let it. Being married to someone you love who doesn't love you back, though...Ma Dol would have been the more miserable of the two men in the end.

CHINA/TAIWAN

The Story of Ming Lan

I took a smallish breather to let subs catch up and it was worth it. I just happy-sobbed my way through 40 which is the wedding episode. I will now wait and watch 41 and 42, the next two where they are enjoying their newly-wedded life and getting everyone else in their places. And, the wedding was shot in April 2018, and while the real life couple got married in October 2018, so it's like they had two weddings! Feng Shao Feng certainly looks like a genuinely happy bridegroom!
Started this and I'm burning through it so fast. It is really good. I just got to episode 20 and while I definitely do not have SLS, I am still not on main ship. I am very much looking forward to shipping them. This is a real slice-of-life drama but please can I rip Mistress Lin's throat out?!
Just wait. She has hers coming.

Never Let You Go

I'm enjoying this a lot-although I do fast forward through a lot of the fight scenes, which I usually like. (Still episode 3 has an amazing WTF cliff rescue thing happening!) I love the main couple, but I've become a fan of Xing En who plays Lord Mo. She dresses like a man and everyone treats her like a man, and actually pulls off the cross dressing quite well to the point that I don't know if I'm not supposed to know she's a man or not. Her mother, obviously knows, but she refers to her as her son even on private, so . . . that's the mystery I'm most invested in now. I'm getting whiplash from the completely different personalities of our male lead because he's so convincing at playing both the person who likes our heroine and the person who has hated the idea of her all his life.

Xing En is sexy. I am tempted to watch just for her, except Ming Lan takes up all of my time and energy.

THAILAND

Friend Zone

This show is so popular that the official subs came out within 6 hours of it airing. Like I sad last week, it isn't a great show, but it's cracktastic the way that Melrose Place was in the 90s. I was completely satisfied with the (completely unrealistic) way Boyo took on her sexual harasser at work. I am hoping that Boom and Cable are moving on together (but now that there is that pregnancy thing happening with ex, I don't know). I applauded at Earth's great calm and bitter lines to his friend who slept with his boyfriend and mad that said boyfriend even had the nerve to ask him how long it would take for him to not be angry and then asked to break up despite saying that he'd wait as long as it takes. However, I can understand that neither needs to be in that toxic environment. Stud does look really hurt, too. I felt bad for everyone in this triangle, and I usually hate all cheaters.

WESTERN

You

I watched all of Season 1 this weekend. Joe Goldberg is crazy but you know what? I'm not sad at all about what happened to Beck. She was quite unlikeable.