I took a week off for the Thanksgiving holiday and spent eight cold & rainy days in the house watching dramas and playing Pokemon. I felt like a kid again.
I finished 'Something in the Rain' after many months of putting it off. I am glad that I watched it even if the second half dropped off considerably from the first. I knew going in that it would be a complicated drama and not a straight love story so I wasn't at all caught off guard when the "complications' entered the picture. Overall I enjoyed it.
I also managed to binge watch two shows, 'The Third Charm' and 'Beauty Inside', neither of which I recommend past the first eight episodes. The Third Charm could have been special but instead it turned from a very cute rom-com into this ultra-realistic melo that left me hating every character. I just don't like the "realism" paint that too many k drama writers are coating their works in right now. I understand that life is hard, bad things happen, grey people are far, far more prevalent in our society than perfect/hero boys and candy girls but I can see "real" anywhere. I don't think every show should be a chaebol/cinderella type but I also don't want or need every k drama to bow down to the realism altar. I especially don't want to go into a show thinking that I am watching a romcom only to be transported episode by episode into a ridiculous torture chamber of a makjang. Needless to say I struggled to finish The Third Charm and the only reason why I did was because of my love of Esom and growing respect for Seo Kang Joon. Falling in love with actors is a mistake!
Thankfully, I have very little attachment to any of the performers in Beauty Inside which is why I had no issue FF watching that to it's frustrating end.
I decided to try out some of the shows on Kocowa that I never really looked at before: 'Matrimonial Chaos' (I didn't think I would like it but I was wrong) and 'Ms. Ma' (I did think I would like this one but I was wrong). I am far enough behind Matrimonial Chaos that I will put it on hold and wait for it end then binge watch it over my Christmas break. Ms. Ma reminded me some of the good parts of Mystery Queen (the first season) but for some reason I just couldn't get into it like I thought I would be able to. I will wait until the end and try it out again during my next break.
I started 'The Last Empress' but it didn't catch me in the first week. If it doesn't grab me this week I will drop it because there are just too many new shows to concentrate on like for example 'Children of Nobody'. Of all the shows I watched during my break this is the one I liked the most. I was completely caught off guard because it was definitely not on my radar at all. It's advertised as a mystery/thriller (which I like) but it also may have something supernatural going on with a potential little ghost girl haunting the main lead (Kim Sun Ah) or she may be having a psychotic break. The audience doesn't know yet what's going on but we're given just enough information to really want to stay with it and see where all of the threads are leading. It also has Lee Yi Kyung playing a detective which is inspiring since he looks so young & beautiful but he's playing a character that feels older & more world-weary. I've liked him for years and I'm happy to see him get a chance at a lead role, hopefully it will continue to go well. Children of Nobody is on Kocowa (along with The Last Empress) if anyone plans on watching.
I am still watching Love Alert (see my earlier statement about falling in love with actors being a mistake) and at this point I just want it to wrap up quickly. I appreciate YEH & even Chun Jung Myung because they are doing the work but the words that the writer puts in their mouths are just so stupid. I've just given up that this drama will ever get any better. I am committed to watching it to the end but it's just so disappointing to me because I hoped for more with her comeback. I think the most frustrating part of this is that there are so many dramas that are made now and so many would do well with YEH's talent and charisma but she is post-scandal relegated to this dumpster fire. I hate it but at this point in her career I hope that her managers will talk her into doing second lead roles in bigger dramas with an eye towards building back to lead rather than take on anything else like Love Alert.
Mama Fairy continues to be silly and enjoyable. I saved last week's episodes to watch after 'The Smile Has Left Your Eyes' finale and that was a good decision because it is the ultimate palate cleanser.
And now the week I've been waiting for is here and I am missing DramaFever more than ever. Unfortunately, Clean with Passion for Now has no official US streaming service. I have no doubt that if DramaFever were still in business they would have never missed a chance to show this on their site probably with huge amounts of fanfare, news articles and "Exclusive" banners. For now the only way to watch is through VIU. I was sure that Viki would carry it and I am still hopeful since they just announced that they will show Encounter early this morning but not nearly as hopeful as I was a couple of weeks ago. Oh well, at least Encounter (Viki) & Memories of Alhambra (Netflix) will be easy to view.
Finished "The Smile Has Left Your Eyes" just now. Hoo boy, what a show. I won't spoil anything but I will summarize by saying I think it has some of the best acting I've ever seen in a Kdrama and the musical score is a real stand-out. It has one of those endings that will stick with me and take a while to process but wow is it an excellent show.
It was the ending that I expected and an appropriate sendoff to a great show. And now we just have to wait to see if it will receive any recognition at all come awards time.
If it had premiered in 2017 then I think it would be swimming in nominations but 2018 is just so strong. I'm hopeful that they will be recognized in some way for all of the fantastic performances & beautiful direction.
