Team Dramabeans: What we’re watching

by DB Staff

So, what are we all watching this week?

What kept you reaching for more (or agonizing when there was no more), and what made you want to throw your remote through the screen? Time to weigh in…

stroopwafel

Fox Bride Star: I still have heart eyes for the main couple and while I love how cute they are, their growth has started to feel achingly slow. I have a new OTP in my heart — the security couple. So awkward, so adorable.

Hundred Millions Stars From the Sky: ASDFGHJKL! *Throws laptop*

Mama Fairy and the Woodcutter: Hm. I don’t think this is it. The first couple of episodes were cute (I even ignored the awful CGI) but it’s only episode four and I have to count myself out. Go Du-shim and Moon Chae-won are bright spots but everyone else feels like a caricature and the story yet to have any real movement.

Happy to Die: Finally had time to watch this show! Kang Ji-hwan is terrific as the boss everyone loves to hate, (do I see a glimmer of redemption in his future?) and Baek Jin-hee is really flexing her comedic chops. I had no idea she had such great comedic timing! At turns hilarious, unhinged, furious, and righteous, Baek brings the character of Lee Ru-da to life. My favorite scene has to be where she’s angrily defending herself when she suddenly starts to give herself vigorous head pats as praise, all in front of a befuddled Kang Ji-hwan.

My Secret Terrius: This was such a sweet, goofy show and it ended on a high note. Yay for epic nose nuzzles, happy endings, and new beginnings.

Top Star Yoo Baek: The episode started off slow but picked up pace in the second half and I’m lamenting the week-long wait for episode two. Though the conceited hot-shot first lead has been done a million times, Kim Ji-suk plays his part so well. I love that they didn’t go the route of making Jeon So-min a slow-witted country bumpkin — she’s country but she’s sharp. The beats of the show felt so familiar that I thought I already knew how things with second lead Lee Sang-yeob would pan out. But the show threw me for a loop and his relationship with Jeon So-min is not quite what I’d expected (in a good way). I wonder how exactly the romance (romances?) will play out but right now I’m just rooting for Kim Ji-suk to change into a better man without losing any of that preening confidence.

mary

Bad Papa: I’ve become strangely obsessed with everyone in this show. Though the focus is mostly on Ji-cheol’s superpowers and family, the short screentime given to side characters always introduces an interesting side to them, so I end up tuning in to catch another glimpse. My new favorite is Young-sun’s idol frenemy. But I’ve always been attached to David Lee’s cheater-with-a-heart-of-gold coach and his dumb trainees. Even the giant bodyguard and his puny CEO have this strange dynamic… like a toy terrier ordering a bear around. I keep waiting for the bear to snap, but it seems strangely attached to the terrier’s yapping and I want to know why. I’m also invested in the always-psychopath-actor playing the researcher who’s hiding his illegal drug trials from his cop daughter… who has this cute but ineffective sidekick. Basically, I love this show so much, and if this write-up doesn’t make sense, it’s because I’m in a hurry to get back to watching the latest episodes. Because WHY?! Why did they have to trick Ji-cheol into cheating when he wanted to go straight? Why is being a good papa so much harder than being a bad papa?

Matrimonial Chaos: This show reached peak chaos for me in that funny whirlwind conversation where Seok-mu, the most neurotic loner of the bunch, gathers everyone for some heart-to-heart talk. In true Seok-mu fashion, he ends up fixing nothing and drawing everyone’s ire when he goes on a rant about expired beef jerky instead of patching up his ex-girlfriend’s crumbling marriage. I still cackle when I remember it, and I can’t imagine this scene being done by less than stellar actors. I’m only hoping that folks are watching this outside of the ratings-box-thingy, because quirky humor aside, this show drops a lot of food for thought about “normal” and abnormal relationships and how we’re pressured to start or break them.

 
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