The Problematic of the Unproblematic

We made it to the end, my friends, and everything is neatly wrapped up in this last episode. And everybody gets what they deserve. We even get a truckload full of cute. S@ki6: Such a relief! Lafer: The champagne is in hand! Actually I should have probably started drinking before I watched. becca: Oooh, is this pic of them in heaven? Or a fantasy sequence as one of them dies slowly in the other's arms? I thirst for blood! JoAnne: I would swear that I already commented on this, but after looking through, nope. I'm just stuck in an endless loop of idiocy, I guess? Oh wait! THIS IS THE END!!!!

We are almost done, which means the show starts cleaning up its mess. Bear with me. It'll be over soon. JoAnne: I am still here. Still alive! This show will not kill me. (Healer might, though.) Lafer: I am so proud of myself for actually finishing this drama. One of the truest tests of endurance in my lifetime. (I think this makes me cry)   S@ki6: I almost never finish dramas. I finished this one because of the squeecaps. And because Joo Sangwook is hot.  becca: I'm not watching the rest of this drama. Life is too short, and I need my brain cells for other things.  Becca, you have the right idea.

More moping. More incredible boredom. And then, noble idiocy is finally exposed and killed. Grow up already, you stupid characters! Be over, show! Shoooooo! JoAnne: HAVE SOME BALLS. S@ki: Omo, I'm really having trouble getting through this episode.  I almost died recapping it. I was questioning life's meaning, too. Lafer:  Remember when we all loved these characters? No, of course not, our brains have been washed away. ?????: Who am I? Why am I here? *horrified screams* What IS this horrible show??

I'm having a terrible After The Holidays And Its Monday And Beautifully Sunny Outside But I'm At The Office-Blues. So I decided to start the next recap of Birth of a Rice Ball. Let's see whether that's a good idea. Lafer: Let's call this episode: The Miracle of the Rice Balls, or how one person with a bag of ingredients no bigger than a tablet can make rice balls for hundreds of taste testers! JoAnne: Well, rice does swell in water. Maybe this rice just really retains a lot. S@ki6: KangJoon got slapped. Not hard enough, but still satisfying. Also, I watched this episode drugged out on pain meds. It made me think people who get drunk before have the right idea. 

Noble idiocy Part II! What a boring struggle this one was. S@ki6: I could hardly keep awake.  Look, even what's his face is asleep. Crying in his sleep. What a wuss. becca: It's okay, Wookie - I cry when I have to sit through this show, too. Lafer:  Yikes!  I'm sure no one will mind if I sit this one out, right? IT is New Year's Eve, after all.

Noble idiocy is here! But Joo Sang-wook looks GOOOOOoooyumyum. Also. In a weird way - and I guess I must blame some weird end-of-the-year sappiness - this episode touched my cold, snarky heart. A bit. When the episode wasn't teeeeeeeeeeeerribly draaaaaaaaagy. S@ki6: the noble idiocy was strong, but I thought she could've played it off better. becca: So. Funny story. I was going to be a good girl and catch up before commenting on this episode - I even started the episode! - but I had some loading issues, and, well, that's got to be a sign, right? So because I don't want to get on unmyeong's bad side, I haven't seen this episode, either. Ha. Haha... ha.... JoAnne: It's okay, I haven't watched in weeks. I do it for art's sake, of course - my responses are completely fresh and captured here for your entertainment. Lafer: OK, I have never done this before - I always watch first! But I have just arrived in my happy place in Florida and haven't had...

There's only one episode of this wonderful show this weekend (everybody please go "nooooooooo"!). And I feel oddly proud we're still recapping this. Everybody can do Heartless City. Or even Age of Innocence. Or Bad Guys! But not everybody will have the endurance to recap Birth of the Shittiest Drama I've ever Watched. Chapeau! Lafer:  I always knew we were a gifted group. Just didn't realize ridiculous endurance was the gift. JoAnne: We aren't just funny, you know. Full Disclosure: I haven't watched this in weeks. I don't think it matters. S@ki6: Eh, I enjoyed it a lot up until these past 3 episodes. I am actually still watching and comment as I go along. Because sometimes I just have to pause it and rant.

This episode might as well not have happened, cause ... nothing happens. I don't believe it, but it's true ... after this one, we have 6 episodes to go!! S@ki6: I can't believe this show isn't wrapping up in two more episodes.  Or that it wasn't just a mini-series of three or even just a movie.  But I feel that way about most dramas. JoAnne: You're KIDDING me. I was sure this was a 16 episode series. They didn't have enough for TEN. (episodes, not the series. Sorry, Kakashi.) Lafer: Now I don't feel so bad that I had to keep pinching myself to stay awake through this episode. So did I: and I was seriously fangirling over this. becca: I haven't watched this episode. *looks down* What on EARTH did they do to his face???

*Cough, cough*. I ... this ... Let's just say there's a wonderful scene at the very end of this episode. And Joo Sang-wook looked so damn GOOD all the time my mouth waters. Anyway, skip to the end if you have a hard time wading through the WTF. S@ki6: It even made me want to give up occasionally, but I powered through to the cute.  JoAnne: I don't even pretend to watch it anymore. I saw what, 2 episodes at the beginning and then 2 back there a while ago. It's more fun this way, trust me. Lafer: It is ten days before Christmas. My mind and calendar are a bit full of expected holiday cheer. That is why only snark comes out on here! becca: I enjoyed this episode slightly more than usual because it had more Awesome Assistant, and he was sarcastic, which made me super happy.

This episode artfully manages to have two people who would obviously have wild sex all the time in real life do everything else there is to do in the world. Lots of it is product placement.     S@ki6: I wish they'd be clearer what the products were, like show a model number for the camera. Hard to know what to buy.  JoAnne: I like that green thing from the last episode. Toaster. I'm sure of it. Lafer: There's a whole kitchen full of green things! becca: They should PPL some scissors. I'd buy them and cut Sara's hair. Everybody wins!

My own dear SqueeCappers are abandoning me with this one! Yes, it's really, really bad. It has entered WTF-territory from episode 1, but now, it's so deep into that territory it will never find out. I'll just stare at Joo Sang-wook then. Also, I've recruited a fan to comment! So that he (and the show) get some more love. Say hi to S@ki6. JoAnne: What do you mean, I'm here. I said I was here. Ok, I said it would be last night but I fell asleep. I hate it when that happens and it happens a lot. Awwww, JoAnne! You're here! I know you don't watch this show tough, haha . Lafer:  I would never abandon you! Abandon a drama perhaps, but never you! becca: Yes, what Lafer said! Awwww, you're here too!   S@ki6: Hey Everyone! I'm a Han YeSeul fan and Joo SangWook fan, and a serious Seul-Wook shipper in both real life AND this show (YG's Teddy?  Who is that? So what if he clears $800K in a year?). Also, don't be fooled by the bunny-eared boy-bander...

We're hitting the halftime mark in this WTF drama, which has a story for ... 8? 10? episodes max., and therefore simply fills its extremely overlong 65minute episodes with pointless but incredibly cute OTP moments. And we all know what the halftime mark means in any romcom, right? Kisseu! Kisseu!!! (This is a RomCom, yes?) JoAnne: Maybe they'll hear our command! Kisseu-hae! Kisseu-hae!

A lot of stuff happens in this episode (I know because it took me so long to recap it). There's enough of the cute to forgive the stupid rest. Is this drama getting more stupid by the episode? I think so. Do I care? No, I don't. The Winner Group subplot gets quite some attention this week, which was inevitable. Since it means more strutting and glaring from Evil Han, I'm not even complaining about that. His face makes me think of raw dough. Lafer: This episode did go to new heights of stupid this week. But no, I don't care. And yes, raw dough sounds about right.

Well, this drama is fast in some things but really good in draaaaaagging out the inevitable romance between the two leads. I mean ... they're there already, but since they both don't (want to) realize or admit it, we get to do a lot of squirming. I shouted "kiss already" during this episode, because what this drama does really well (it's the only thing) is giving us those tingly OTP feelz we all love so much. becca: Can they just get on with it already? Lafer: Geez, I feel like I'm watching another episode of We Got Married where everyone is just begging for a kiss.

They got it. They're showing us almost only the Cutie Couple. Which consists of Joo Sang-wook to 50%. I had to find out this week that he was in my hometown in May this year. He was quasi where I work. Goddamit. All my biases come to Switzerland ... will I EVER meet one?! JoAnne: I sincerely hope so.

Am I getting used to the crazy mood swings of this drama or is it getting better? In over 60minutes, nothing much happens. Well, revenge is executed and everything goes as planned. Plus, our hero is so beautiful.... O_____o becca: I don't know if the drama's hitting its groove or not, but this was a fun episode. And I spent most of it admiring Joo Sang-wook. Lafer: I liked it! I liked it! It stayed true to its crazy self. JoAnne: I was delayed in commenting because the recap looked fun so I actually watched this episode. And then promptly went to sleep. At least it was AFTER the episode, right?

Tae-hee's turn to face the truth and take some action. Nice: So much brooding Joo Sang-wook. Never has he looked better, hotdamit! And then, they take action together: Even nicer, cause FUN. Apart from the main couple's interactions, the story remains super boring. All those evil people ... *yawn*  JoAnne: Look at that smile, though. And he has a good hollow at the base of his throat. You want to lick it. Well I do, anyway.

This drama worked when it was crazyfun (even though some of us refuse to find it funny), but it really doesn't work when it turns all serious. That's exactly what happened in this episode though. It is about realizing what the truth is and that the truth hurts. May the real revenge begin now? In any case, the turn to more serious matters brings us loooots of concerned looking Joo Sang-woo, which is a major turn on. If the drama doesn't deliver, let's just be as shallow as can be. JoAnne: I'm not refusing. I'm just not that amused. Joo Sang Wook is as handsome as handsome can be, though. becca: Maybe I'm nuts, but I'm actually enjoying the serious(-but-not-to-be-taken-seriously) turn. Is entertaining, in it's own melodramatic way. Lafer: Well, you all know I love my melos, and I also love my rom coms, but I'm just not sure about mixing the two in one drama.

This drama has multiple personality disorder, that much is clear after three episodes. What do you want to be? Comedy? Romance? Melodrama? Or god beware ... makjang? I don't think this crazy mixture is working, but the drama remains entertaining enough. In this episode, we find out more about Han Tae-hee, about his relationship to Chae-yeon, and what he seems to be up against in general. We also find out that there is more to Geum-ran than we might have thought before. JoAnne: Perhaps it just wants to be a freaking mess. If so, show? Good job!  

Long have I pondered, mulled and thought - should I recap, should I not? I will, I decided, but with a slightly different format: these will be short-caps. With lots of Joo Sang-wook pictures and gifs. Anybody complaining? No? Thought so. This episode doesn't waste much time: we're now trying to get revenge. Only revenge is much sweeter than it usually is, because who wouldn't want to get close to an (ex)husband one is still in love with? JoAnne: He's got elf ears. Don't expect me to be nice about him. Lafer: The shallow part of me just doesn't like him. And it's not just his ears. becca: I wanted to like him here, but I just can't. Also, his face is puffy. It didn't always look like that.