Rants and Weekly Raves #232 (RAWR)

SakiVI: I'm around this week. Not watching too many shows, though that's because I have mum here, and we watch Yes Minister and Faulty Towers every evening.
Trotwood: I grew to love Faulty Towers. When I was a kid, I didn't like it very much because it made me anxious because he was always messing up so badly. As you can see below, I'm not watching much of anything new. Done a bunch of rewatching, which is what I do when work is to stressful. I need to know what is coming.
kakashi: I'm here but you can't see me.
JoAnne: I'm here but you can't hear me. Mostly because I've been watching English-language shows: Season 1 of True Detective (so weird) and Season 1 of The Sinner (hey, also very weird)
Panda: I have been the sickest I have been in a really long time. We all caught this special variant of the flu with high fevers (105) and a super congested respiratory tract. I felt my head was going to explode on Wed, and had to start antibiotics because my throat was busted. So, yes I hardly watched any dramas. When I could I watched movies, and felt sorry for myself TT__TT. 

KOREA 

The Crowned Clown (Finale) 

We talked about this ahead of time, last week.  Or in real time, I guess, since it ended the day the RAWR came out.

Haechi 

I like this quite a bit, but I do tend to get characters mixed up between this and Clown and between the two shows, I often go 'oh wait, this brother isn't dead, it's the brother in the other show that died' or 'now which minister is good, again?' or 'We hate the mother in both shows, right?'  and then too I have to remind myself that Jung Il Woo is married to a witch of a woman but they hate each other so they don't spend any time together.  Well, he doesn't hate her, he feels sorry that she had to marry him - but he still doesn't like her.  And his maid likes him and makes no bones about it, and he likes what's her face, the strong girl (Go Ara) but she's an idiot with no clue...anyway, it's a fun show but it was an effort to watch two sageuks at once. It should be easier now.

Item 

I knew they couldn't kill that little girl so early and take away our pretty man's reason to remain a decent human being.  What a trippy show though, huh?

What's Wrong Poong Sang?

I have to say that I think the writing in this is pretty competent because when Poong Sang is talking about his family all you feel is his love and guilt and you believe he did everything he could for them, too much even - and when his family is talking, you totally get why they are so angry at him and feel so unloved and mistreated.  Part of me spends the hour thinking 'how could you say no to a dying family member?' (who isn't even ASKING you, he's so self-effacing) and part of me spends the hour thinking 'No wonder they won't lift a finger!'

I love how his ex-wife is so desperate to save him, and how they show us that under all her resentment and frustration she truly loved him and respected his sense of responsibility.  I love how his father-in-law wants to help - not so much for Poong Sang but for his daughter and grand-daughter, and yes, out of human compassion for Poong Sang, too.  The neighbor wants to help, even the new husband of the doctor sister wants to help and gets tested.  His daughter finds out and has a change of heart about him, too.  People can see that he did the best he could, and as new info comes in to Hwa Sang and Jin Sang and they get a better idea of what their brother was up against, they start to understand that he's only human and was facing a terrible situation when he got left with 4 siblings to raise at the age of 17.  Yes, he did some terrible things that hurt them, but he also did things that they had no idea about and that showed his love and concern.

Speaking of love and concern - how awesome is Chil Bok?  A genuinely good man who might seem foolish at times, but who loves Hwa Sang from the bottom of his hear and speaks truth to his friend Jin Sang when he needs it.

My only two plot points that I'm not crazy about at this stage:  they better not kill off Wae Sang and HIS liver be the one that saves Poong Sang, and the abrupt change in Mom's attitude - because I definitely believed she wanted to help, it wasn't just the money.  Then she runs off because she's scared and because her good-for-nothing lover didn't show up, not because she intended to screw with Poong Sang from the start. Or did I miss something?

Touch Your Heart 

*rolling around on the couch clutching pillows and squealing about the cute fluffy*

Big Issue (New) 

Kinda liking this but what is it with filming everything on such dark sets that you can't fucking SEE A THING?

Romance is a Bonus Book (Finale) 

Isn't next week the finale? I'm not going to catch up this weekend, but will next.

Yeah, it's not over. *more rolling around clutching pillows and squealing* As I said on twitter, this week they gave us PEAK Jong Suk. It's like they know we will need extra to get us through the next two years.

The Fiery Priest 

I was expecting Honey Lee to go to the Light, but I guess she is going full on Sith Apprentice first.
Marathoned the first 12 eps of this. Hopefully by next week will be caught up enough to talk in real time about it.

W.H.Y.

This is the only new thing I watched this week. Very sad that it is over. Total of ten episodes of no longer than 20 minutes each. Dramas really need to be looking at these short shows that prove that you can have something short AND do product placement (each ep advertises something) with actual interesting characters, plot development, cliff hangers, and a surprising and satisfying ending. I don't want to give anything away, but most of the couples that should be together do end up together if not the way you planned and there was great friendship lessons here.

CHINA/TAIWAN 

Golden Eyes 

Amazing how a show that is rather confusing and a bit tedious can be so riveting. I get so excited when they cut open the gambling stones to see if there is any jade inside even though Zhang Rui's x-ray vision means we already know there is or isn't.  That dumb villain with the overbite is kind of funny as well, not quite sure why.  Probably the overbite.

Also, show, please kill off the annoying, stupid, creepy, leeching roommate, even though he is finally showing some tiny bit of use episode 15. It's too little too late.  Just leave us that handsome Peng Fei as a bodyguard.  

When We Were Young

People are raving about this but I keep not getting to it.

THAILAND 

Together With Me: The Next Chapter

I finally got around to watching this sequel to Together With Me, which I loved. It's also a follow-up to another drama, Bad Romance, which also stars the main couple of this show but as side characters. This show came out last fall, but I was hesitant to watch because to the chagrin and/or outrage of fans, the writers made people who wouldn't cheat become cheaters. I mean, we've already spent so much time with these characters that people feel as though they know them and then all of a sudden we have Korn cheating on Knock and not even with anyone actually attractive? And making best friend, loyal Yiwha become this wimpy, confused girl? Pfft. Still, I watched, and ff through the painful scenes and enjoyed when our couple got back together and the revenge they did as a group against the evil, skeevy boss. This is what the show does well--have this group of friends work together to get justice. They could've just focused on that.

WESTERN

The Walking Dead 

Even knowing those creepy Dead Talkers aren't really dead doesn't help make them less creepy.

The Magicians 

Lots of Penny in this one, which makes me glad because I love Penny the most.  This episode was all about how the most important characters aren't necessarily the ones who take center stage, and had us focusing on Zelda the librarian, Fen from Fillory, and Kady, bound and determined to stand up to the Library.