Rants and Weekly Raves #294 (RAWR)

kakashi: Can we cancel Mondays? I hate all the meetings I have, they're useless, depressing and vicious time destructors. I watched about five episodes of Ozark before the wormhole did its usual thing and sucked away all my time and it was Monday.

Trotwood: I forgot to do an opening! I was so busy trying to recover from all the tension built up waiting for our governor's press conference for guidance that I  completely forgot.

KOREA

The King: Eternal Monarch

Watching large crowds makes me feel uncomfortable. 

Oh My Baby

I love Jang Nara. She is versatile and has a great range. I was ready for her to be in a comedy after VIP, so I was looking forward to this show. She did not disappoint; she plays her character with zeal and pathos, and though I disliked pretty much everything else about the show, she made me tear up when she realizes her chances of having a baby are really slim. However, I didn't drop the show because I'm tired of having to watch successful women be berated for not having children, which I am. I dropped the show because the options of partners the show have provided for her are all children--so immature that if she did date/marry any one of them at this point, she'd be raising them along with a baby. She shouldn't have to raise a man to raise a baby. I'd be glad to be proven wrong and that all of these men are hidden gems, but . . .

Mom Has an Affair

I never thought there would become a day when the only Korean drama I am watching is a daily. (Or maybe this happened once when watching a series long ago?), but here you have it. Nothing has stuck with me but this wack job craziness. Like a lakorn without the guns and 90-minute long eps. This is story of a woman who fell in love with a guy who marries her only to have someone take care of a kid who is the love child of the rascal first son of a chaebol family. She doesn't know this; she thinks the kid is his son. He's abusive and a gambler and winds up getting killed because he blackmails that chaebol guy one too many times. The ML is the step-brother of the chaebol guy who is favored by father and thus hated by his step-mother. He's a braniac nerd who can't seem to pass the prosecutor exam & has seemingly spent his whole life trying to please her. They meet cute, argue, but then bond over the fact that both of their lives suck. Then he goes to America for EIGHT YEARS. Yes, you read that correctly. Comes back all suave and ready for revenge. That all happens in the first two weeks, and I didn't even tell you everything. I know there will be a slow period in the middle, but I'm in!

CHINA/TAIWAN

Amensalism

The extensive use of slo-mo continues, but I just do Duolingo while waiting for things to get back to normal, so I'm good because the plot is still interesting. I knew that Ming Fei had some knowledge about the crash because of her reaction to Bi Ke Wei's confrontation with her dad. There's also more going on with You Kuan's mom. Do you think she believes him now that he found the body (remains) based upon the dream he has? And of course we all knew there was going to be a connection between You Kuan and the accident that caused Bi Ke Wei's parents death, right? No drama couple gets together so well without having to be torn apart at least once before the show is over, and this show is only 13 episodes. Most surprising thing is the way they resolved the potential strife between Bi Ke Wei and Yao Qing. I never thought he was in love with her; I think he thought/thinks he is because she is the most important woman in his life. She rescued him from despair and wrapped him up in the warmth of her and her aunt's home. It was interesting why he rejected her definition of family, but it makes sense when his memory of family is abusive an damaging. 

Ancient Detective

I am still writing about this because even though the show has finished airing, I'm still watching. I know a bunch of you have finished, but don't tell me anything! I'm enjoying the pace and comfort of this show and the fact that I don't hate the female characters. It was so refreshing to see a female character fall in love, find out the guy loves someone else, and not go into some delusion that if she could just get rid of the other person, she could have him. I guess Jian just inspires true friendship or something or the writers just decided that they just don't need to go with that trope. I'm so glad that Shi Qi is back and that we seem to have an understanding between the two. I also really enjoyed the inn arc. It had some interesting reveals and reminds us of how smart Jian can be even if he is clueless about some people's feelings. I'm going to enjoy the new group dynamics with him and now three traveling companions, but I'm definitely going to miss my favorite doctor

Girlfriend

I gobbled up episodes 19-24 on a Sunday afternoon, and it was perfect for letting me forget/ignore the fact that the work in my state is going to into overdrive once our governor makes his announcement on the following Monday. I love the people I'm supposed to love and hate the people I'm supposed to hate. The cousin and the brother are a riot, but I'm wondering who the cousin was talking to on the phone about going back. I'd think something else if this weren't a Chinese show. Not only do we finally get our couple to admit their feelings for each other, but we also got major developments in the side couples and a real understanding both implicit and explicit that the women really want to be considered on equal footing/not the damsels in distress. We even get one of them rescuing her beau literally in case we didn't understand that.

JAPAN

Rental nan mo shinai hito/Rent a Person Who Does Nothing

While watching ep 4, I decided to make congee for dinner. We got notice that, despite it being May in the Northern hemisphere, we will get frost. I know most people eat congee for breakfast, but I like it for dinner, especially when it’s chilly and especially if I’m feeling melancholy and need some comfort. This week’s episode was creamy like good congee—not fancy, but solid. I needed some comfort because watching the marriage of this week’s renter slowly disintegrate was sad. It’s more realistic, too, than most portrayals of divorce because there wasn’t a lot of histrionics, just a drift. It also makes you wonder about Shota’s marriage and how they have come to a place of comfort or how they found each other in the first place.

Peanut Butter Sandwich

I don't know if I'm going to keep watching this show even though I like all of the actors in it. It's just that I can't get behind the feeling of desperation people have about getting married. The show is all about a government agency that is studying women who are having trouble getting married. At least the rookie agent is suspicious of the purpose of the agency. It's based on a webtoon of the same name and is only 8 episodes, so I may stick to it just because it's short.

THAILAND

2Gether (Finale)

Two words: NO KISS!! These were the two words I heard from around the world about this finale. The show kept up the cute--even though it dragged out the plot device irl from the past bit on far too long. Another case of, why don't you speak up anywhere in the long drawn out silences. We get a public confession during a competition, which made me wonder "Why aren't the judges taking points off for this" an admission of the coupledom in public and then . . . a high five? Really? The joke on the internet is that this is the first BL drama that forced itself into becoming a bromance in the end while so many other BL stories have been forced into bromance. I mean they are living together and snuggling on beds and sofas and not a single kiss. I still enjoyed the show overall quite a bit, but the finale gets a C. Bright and Win a really popular, and I wouldn't be surprised if they did another show together.

My Engineer

Main couple has a repeat of the same misunderstanding. Check. While ALL other couples have interesting plot progressions from fulfilling a temple promise, to figuring out how to babysit terrible twins or addressing the changed relationship after one helps the other's mom through a cancer scare. I'm looking forward to this volunteer trip and love the fact that Doc Thara brought along his pet lizard, Cupcake, and gave a complete tutorial on what to do if you feel motion sickness on bus. Such a lovable nerd.