Rants and Weekly Raves (RAWR) #453

Anne: Another week has gone by, and I've learned something new. I finally figured out, or rather my husband has finally figured out, where all those single socks disappeared to. It's not the dryer...it's the washer. 

So...sometime on Saturday, while my husband (in one of the rare moments) when he remembered that he had clothes in the washer, he removed the damp wash into the dryer. All I heard was a bunch of cursing. While he was taking out the clothes from the washer, one of the socks dropped and somehow landed on the edge of the drum. And when he tried to grab it, he somehow pushed it over the edge and it dropped outside the drum, but inside the overall washer.

After another minute of cursing, he tried to reach it with his hand, which obviously was not going to work. So I gave the obvious answer and told him to look on Google for the answer. And when he opened up the front panel the next morning, there they were...all the socks that were lost for the last year (since we bought the new washer and dryer stackable). The final tally...14 single socks.

Well...there you go. Mystery has been solved! Who knew that's where the socks went... and it's only socks. That's the other weird thing. 

Anyway...on to the shows that I've watched in the last two weeks!

The Inextricable Destiny

I started this one partly because of the high ratings and the interesting synopsis. What we know of the plot before we start is actually very little. All the audience knows is that Jiu Ling is the youngest daughter of a general, and she was horrified when she found out that she has to marry Rong Yu, who is opposite of her in every way. In order to get out of this marriage, she decides to feed her intended a "poison" before the wedding. The "poison" backfires. 

So...here's what really happened... Jiu Ling was sick when she was little, and was sent to a famous "doctor" to be an apprentice and to be cured. When she finally returned home, she finds out that she was betrothed to Rong Yu, the young master of the Astrological association (or something like that). Jiu Ling is from a family of military men. Her father is a general, her first and second brothers are along the same line of work. Her youngest brother, who may be a bit of a child, has also been trained in martial arts. Even her second sister-in-law can fight. With a family like this, she wants a husband who resembles the men she admire and love. Unfortunately for her, Rong Yu is a delicate, slightly nerdy man, who looks at stars for a living. 

In the mean time, her sect brother also re-entered society, and he turns out to be the crown prince of a neighboring kingdom. However, due to some misunderstandings, Rong Yu is convinced that Jiu Ling returns his feelings (which I didn't quite understand, how and why he loved her so much). When he finally understood that she actually disliked him, he was ready to let her go, but due to the parental units on both sides, the betrothal remained. So... before her sect brother left for home, he gave her a "poison" that would let Rong Yu forget his love for her. 

Well...that poison backfired, or maybe something else, but instead of Rong Yu forgetting his love for Jiu Ling, it made him forget everything BUT her. Rong Yu became childlike, and even more infatuated with Jiu Ling more than ever before. However, after Rong Yu's change, and other things, Jiu Ling's family no longer wants to be aligned with Rong Yu's family. So her father decides to take up a border post that he originally turned down, moving the entire family away for 4 years.

One big secret that is not exactly a secret is that Rong Yu is able to see the future. The reason he told Jiu Ling's father not to accept the post was that it would lead to him being named a traitor and his entire family being killed. Despite the "poison" wiping his entire memory but one, Rong Yu still retained his unique power. While his mental capacity doesn't quite allow him to understand what he is seeing, he knows that he knows a lot of stuff that no one else can know. 

For the first 10 episodes, very cute. And Rong Yu is super cute, in his childlike mind. And then episode 11 to 13 was like the writers decided to see how much tragedy we can squeeze into these 3 episodes. Good grief! Then in 14, another chapter looks like will begin between the new emperor and Jiu Ling...and what appears to be a new love rival.

Also...don't count out her sector brother yet...he's busy trying to secure the throne in his own country.

One last question remains, we now have solid evidence that Rong Yu can see the future. So...did he allowed himself to be poisoned, knowing what will happen to him? 

Ripe Town

This was...not an easy drama to watch. One, you have to pay attention. I had to go back 3 episodes, when I got lost somewhere in episode 8. Second, no one is all that likable, and there isn't a "good" person among them. But as a mystery/crime drama.. it is top notch. And the kid (teenager) that played the young Lu Zhi, for me, is probably the best character in this entire drama.

The plot is simple, and it begins with the death of a captain, whose apprentice, San Geng, is trying to solve his murder. Then a series of other victims appears, pointing to the revenge that is linked to a massive fire that killed the entire, very wealthy, Lu family from 20 years ago.

All the episodes have been released. The mystery isn't in the why, but it is in the understanding the truth and series of events that started from 20 years ago, and ending with the present serial killings. There are lots of twists and turns. Even the origin of the Lu family was a great reveal. I wonder if San Geng ever realized who was actually responsible for his father's death. (That was a massive irony.) 

The ending is about as good as an ending as we can hope with the setup of this story. 

A Good Day to be a Dog

A little bit more relaxing that the above two, this is (so far, unless there is a murder buried in this story line later) a super cute fantasy romance. Hae Na's family is cursed (I don't know why yet) to turn into a dog whenever they kiss someone. They stay in their dog form from midnight to 6am for 100 days. If within these 100 days, they cannot break the curse by getting the person they kissed as as human to kiss them in their dog form, they will remain a dog for the rest of their lives. 

Hae Na and her cousin, and a childhood friend (outside this family) have setup a support system in case Hae Na or her cousin turns into a doggie. Hae Na is a high school teacher who is secretly in love with a fellow teacher named Bo Gyeom. Unfortunately for Hae Ha, while getting drunk one night, she kissed Seo Won, another teacher at the high school who has a massive fear of all dogs. By episode 2, Hae Na is at her wits end, trying to figure out how to get Seo Won to kiss her, when he runs away (and disappears) whenever he see any dogs within 20 feet of him.

Too cute!

Truth of Scent

Following up on the last post about this mystery/crime/romance drama. Ok...the big villain...not that much of a surprise. The reasoning for her family's death and all the other stuff, is a bit...can I say it...silly. With the exception of the main characters pictured above, nothing else work out with the rest. I cannot believe that they killed off Yi Fei. Seriously, we couldn't give Zhen Yan a good ending? Was that too much to ask?

Anyway... it's a good enough drama, but for crime/mystery, watch the first one I posted. Much better in terms of plot. But this one has better looking ML...so, you know... plus and minuses. 

My Precious

The reason I started this drama? Huang Zi Tao and it's about doggies. And the doggies are cute!

The plot is pretty simple, and it's Huang Zi Tao, so the story will follow a similar flow as all the rest. It's a pretty relaxing drama, and I don't expect too many painful melodrama sections, at least not one that will be beat the audience down to a pulp. 

Shen Mi, the ML, invests in the animal hospital that is taken over by You You. It was her dad's hospital, that he couldn't manage any more due to a recent heart attack/stroke (I don't remember). The second ML is Shen Mi's younger cousin, Shen Chen, who also started to work at the same hospital. When Shen Chen started to work at the animal hospital, he didn't tell anyone of his relationship with Shen Mi. And Shen Chen is pursing his love interest by going through her family. There are quite a bit of funny moments and dialogues that result from this unusual love triangle. The MLs have a great relationship between the two of them, despite both of them chasing the same girl. Shen Chen is an atypical playboy. Despite never holding down a job and floating through life doing whatever he wants, he has racked up a long list of "accomplishments". 

Now, Shen Mi has a huge secret that isn't really that hard to figure out. And it explains why he tried his best to keep a real cardiologist from becoming his personal doctor. This is a romantic comedy! Very cute. Not much substance. But super cute! (I don't know how they squeezed out 40 episodes....)

And this is it for this week. Hopefully everyone has a great week, and learn something new. You never know what you will learn if you keep your eyes open and Google at your finger tips!