Rants and Weekly Raves #299 (RAWR)
Trotwood: I've gone nocturnal. It's hot, and I have major deadlines this week. So I'm sleeping early and getting up at midnight to work when it is cooler. I work until it gets hot again and my arms start sticking to top of my desk. Since I'm having difficulty distinguishing one day from the next, it seems to be working for me so far. I only have one evening meeting this week, so . . . Still not watching much cause you know--deadlines.
Panda: Binged first 2 seasons of Rosemary and Thyme and I'm currently halfway into season 3 :)
JoAnne: I have no idea what that is...I finished the entire Homeland series, though, and from start to finish: Claire Danes is a genius but my GOD I would have pushed Carrie Mathiesen off a bridge. She was not a good agent, not a good friend, not a good sister, not a good mother, and she got all her lovers killed. She LUCKED into any big discoveries and she took unacceptable risks and she falsely viewed herself as the only person who could do...anything. I really despised her, even knowning that she has a mental health issue. Frankly, she traded on that shit and I'm sorry, no.
kakashi: Oh, is it Tuesday? I'm reading Historical Romance.
Panda: Binged first 2 seasons of Rosemary and Thyme and I'm currently halfway into season 3 :)
JoAnne: I have no idea what that is...I finished the entire Homeland series, though, and from start to finish: Claire Danes is a genius but my GOD I would have pushed Carrie Mathiesen off a bridge. She was not a good agent, not a good friend, not a good sister, not a good mother, and she got all her lovers killed. She LUCKED into any big discoveries and she took unacceptable risks and she falsely viewed herself as the only person who could do...anything. I really despised her, even knowning that she has a mental health issue. Frankly, she traded on that shit and I'm sorry, no.
kakashi: Oh, is it Tuesday? I'm reading Historical Romance.
KOREA
Mystic Pop-Up Bar
Enjoying, but only half-watching. I think I've missed some stuff.
(hugging Jo in relief at seeing her here again because I miss her so much). I can't believe that we are in the penultimate week and that by the time some of you read this, you will have already finished the show. We got some major reveals but still more to come. The way Wol-Ju is so determined to help people especially parents was not a surprise but still a gut punch and the love that the prince had for her for all these years and willing to go to hell for her? Wow. I want to see Choi Won-Young in so many more things now. I usually don't have time to watch until the weekend, but I'm not sure I can wait to find out why the prince's best friend hates them so much. And did I cry multiple times again? Yup. Yes I did.
(hugging Jo in relief at seeing her here again because I miss her so much). I can't believe that we are in the penultimate week and that by the time some of you read this, you will have already finished the show. We got some major reveals but still more to come. The way Wol-Ju is so determined to help people especially parents was not a surprise but still a gut punch and the love that the prince had for her for all these years and willing to go to hell for her? Wow. I want to see Choi Won-Young in so many more things now. I usually don't have time to watch until the weekend, but I'm not sure I can wait to find out why the prince's best friend hates them so much. And did I cry multiple times again? Yup. Yes I did.
CHINA/TAIWAN
Amensalism
At the penultimate episode and we have two major twists in the story which actually make perfect sense. I always have when a drama gives a big reveal, but then it only makes sense with brand new information instead of being blended into the plot. I'm glad that Bi Kei Wei confronts You Kuan over his martyrdom over something he did when he was ten during a feverish dream. Yes, his family did play a role in her parents' deaths, but can he really blame himself for that? I'm wondering why his visions aren't as direct as before. Bi Kei Wei does some accurate self-reflection, too; however, I'm not sure how much more she could have done against the kind of power Xu Zhao De. I'm behind so the finale is subbed, but I'm too sleepy to watch it in time for this week's RAWR.
My Dear Lady
We spend as much time on twitter talking about how horrible the FL's clothes are as we do talking about the plot. I mean there are some serious old lady from 70s stuff going on here, and this is AFTER the makeover. I'm less troubled by the relationship than I was before, but I knew that the fact that she has a son was going to come back and haunt her. You know the whole "we need to meet up later because I need to tell you something?" bit that we all cringe at? Because really you should just tell people now? It always happens and makes the person think you are a liar. Sigh. The mom seems to have won this one, at least for now, so why doesn't she look more victorious? Are they going to try to redeem her? Her son did not like her before he fell in love. I don't know why she feels anything now.
What if You're My Boss?/Well-Dominated Love
I almost didn't start this because so many people said it was too much like What's Wrong With Secretary Kim and so they dropped it. However, I really liked What's Wrong with Secretary Kim, and since I'm looking for fluff that doesn't take a lot of effort, I watched, and I ended up watching three episodes because I kept looking for the parallels. Yes, this story is about an uber effecient secretary who ends up working for a demanding prickly boss, and she has a great ponytail, but that is really where this ends. Her boss has major OCD, and she actually uses that to her advantage in many ways. They also have a history together--it looks like they might have been engaged (seriously this is not a spoiler--but for some reason he does not remember being with her although he feels like he should remember. She wants to quit like in the Korean version, but she stays because if she works for him for a month, she'll be able to afford a nice apartment through the employee benefits program. So I'm wondering what happened that was so terrible that she really hopes he doesn't remember, & what will the truth do to his health?
Lost Romance
That whole plot line with the awful half sister is tedious beyond words, but Marcus looks good and and I think he's gonna meet up with our girl here pretty quick. He's already fallen off the building so it must be coming soon, right? Yes, I'm behind.
(hugging Jo again) I still haven't finished the second episode, but the parallel universe begins there with him in coma and the FL going into this new world that is similar to set up of all the stereotypical romance novels she writes. The whole corporate intrigue plot is just incredibly boring and the FL is dumb. I know we are supposed to like her because she's writing for a small independent press, but why would she think that people would keep buying her books if even she admits they are all kind of the same? It's like the show is pushing two different shows together and the exposition takes way too long. I feel like they teased us with the Marcus shower so early on to numb our brains so we wouldn't realize how poorly executed the first episode was. But Marcus will probably drag me back in . . . at least for a bit.
(hugging Jo again) I still haven't finished the second episode, but the parallel universe begins there with him in coma and the FL going into this new world that is similar to set up of all the stereotypical romance novels she writes. The whole corporate intrigue plot is just incredibly boring and the FL is dumb. I know we are supposed to like her because she's writing for a small independent press, but why would she think that people would keep buying her books if even she admits they are all kind of the same? It's like the show is pushing two different shows together and the exposition takes way too long. I feel like they teased us with the Marcus shower so early on to numb our brains so we wouldn't realize how poorly executed the first episode was. But Marcus will probably drag me back in . . . at least for a bit.
JAPAN
Rental nan mo shinai hito/Rent a Person Who Does Nothing
This may be the last episode of this show for awhile. The production has stopped filming because of COVID-19, but apparently the company is still planning on completing the show rather than cutting it short. I'm still here more for the people who rent Shota than for Shota because to be honest, I'm starting to worry about how he seems not to be living in reality at all while his wife is increasingly tightening their budget while they live on his savings. This week's focus was on a man who really wants to get married but keeps getting rejected. It's clear that he actually works so hard at the relationships that he isn't necessarily paying attention or having fun. He is so lonely that I was hoping his plight would make Shota think about his wife and lucky he is to have her and not be lonely, but it doesn't.
