Rants and Weekly Raves #307 (RAWR)
kakashi: High time to start Season 1 of Secret Forest! Lmao. Fangirling is through the roof everywhere. I also started writing Levi Fanfic. It had to be done.
Trotwood: Don't force yourself. You may not like it. The characters are quirky without the stereotypical relationships, so . . . I'm being cautiously optimistic about Season 2. I'm going to watch, of course, but with bated breath and in protection mode for season 1. I keep meaning to try to cath up with Crossfire, but I never seem to get around to it by the end of the week, and I'm getting further and further behind.
JoAnne: Conversely, I've watched more lately as I've decided sleep is only a rumor. Can't keep that up, though.
Panda: After watching 14 seasons of Midsomer Murders, I sadly had to say goodbye. I simply couldn't gel with John B and the new coroner etc. Sigh. Now I need to find another Crime show to binge... (whispers "watch Chip In")
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| I guess I'm craving the cold, haha |
KOREA
Flower of Evil
Such goodness! MCW and LJG are a match made in heaven. I grow more and more curious about how he got together with the fake parents - Real Son hit Fake Son but clearly wasn't in a coma when he did it so...?
Train
I was RIGHT. It was the Chief after all! I misunderstood that time that the cop in one world was the murderer in another - when I saw that I downgraded her to merely covering it up. Well, she was still covering it up, but for someone completely different. I feel like this was ultimately a sad story - the end result is that the two leads should never have met and because they do, she will always die and he will always somehow be the cause of it? I think. So he's escaping across multiple worlds to avoid her and she's chasing him across multiple worlds because she is confident that at least one of them is a place where they are supposed to be together.
I liked it. I think it was a bit messy there at the end, but Korea generally doesn't do well with the multiverse and this was better than most. The acting was spot on, the settings were perfect, I liked the side characters, I liked the twists enough to mostly pay attention.
United Effort to Accomplish One Thing/Chip In
I hope this show did decently in the domestic ratings because it was/is a treasure. Not perfect by any means, but interesting and different with right amount of edge and humor. It's a twisty mystery that isn't really dark but had some great sadness in it. The alliances change so frequently, but I found them all made sense and I really love how the group comes together at the end to take down not one con man but two (three if you count the accident with the paint in the car). I also like how the show ended up being about family and friendships; the story here was about the people that we choose to ally ourselves with in our effort to heal the damage of narcissistic men. I would've liked it more without the last 5-10 minutes, but it's only 8 episodes, so try it.
Forest of Secrets 2/Secret Forest 2/Stranger 2
I'm going to have to write about this show even though I only saw the first episode and doubt I will be able to watch the other before Kakashi's deadline tomorrow. It's early evening here, but I'm feeling post dinner drowsy, and that is not the right atmosphere to watch this show. That's what happened last night and I had to keep going back because I missed clues. I love how the team is apart but together. For example, the scene with Yeo Jin and Jang Geon (played by Choi Jae Woong--whom I don't think I've seen play anything but a police officer) outside the house of a suspect was so warm and completely encapsulates the way people who've worked together for a very long time are together. I don't know about the plot yet, but I feel like I'm back with old friends, and I like that.
It's back, it's back, it's backkkkk! I saw the first 2 episodes and was grinning like a loon on seeing the beloved familiar faces. Yes, even Slimy prosecutor. So far we don't have a clear plot and I love that. The first 2 episodes are the pieces settling in, our crew getting back together and meeting the new power players. I'm so in
CHINA/TAIWAN
Thank Your Lucky Stars
I'll admit that I wondered at the pairing of Jerry Yan and Shen Yue - for a lot of reasons, age being only one of them - but you know what, it works. Jerry's always kinda dim and innocent and Shen Yue is just the cutest thing ever and I'm enjoying watching the standoffish older design star being irritated by the kitten with design skills and bad luck. He finds himself taking care of her in little ways and without even realizing it, liking having her around. She's properly respectful but also a bit brave and she does have skill - so when their luck switches and she starts to rise it's not ridiculous.
What is ridiculous - they have her fainting every five minutes from low blood sugar. Either they're leading up to something medically critical or this is laziness on the part of the writer OR this is a girl I'm gonna need to punch and say take better care of yourself, this is irritating.
Not irritating: the cute young man who IS interested in the kitten and trying his best to let her know. We know he won't win over Jerry but it's nice to have him around anyway.
Lost Romance
Still chugging along quite nicely on the cute train. I think I overestimated Marcus' smarts last week because it was more like he knows he's feeling something but he doesn't understand what it is. This week he's quite obviously jealous and even stops himself from kissing her a time or two. Oh, and QingFeng the adorable friend has flat out confessed his interest in her to Marcus and is making his feelings a bit more obvious when he's with Xiao An too.
On the evil sister front, we get more time with her and yeah, she's a bitch but honestly I do not blame her. Blondie, her brother, is being manipulated by an older family friend who's involved in the business and I cannot quite tell if he's sincerely doing the manipulating for good or for his own benefit.
Mr. Honesty
I'm finally back to this show and up to episode 25. I hope that the FL is finally making some headway in bringing our ML and 2nd ML back together again. In some way, even though we have a strong OTP, I'm much more invested in the story of their bromance and the pain each had lived through because of the betrayal of Zhi You's father. However, I hope that just because that horrid main has now been diagnosed with Alzheimers he doesn't get off scott free. He was a jerk to his friends and a jerk to his son and even after the tragedy he caused, he took no ownership and has deflected all these years playing a victim because his son doesn't need him. Pfft.
The Heiress
I started watching this because of recommendations here, and I spent most of the first episode trying to figure out why the female lead looked familiar, which I'm glad of because it made me less annoyed by her character. I don't understand the whole, I'm going to be in disguise thing to hide in plain site but then I act so obnoxiously that everyone pays attention to me bit. But I remember this actress fondly from Detective L, so I'm willing to give her character a little more time.
