FIRST IMPRESSIONS:

REBORN RICH (Ep 1)
Another drama about chaebols behaving badly *sigh*
My only motivation for watching this is Song Joon-ki and his ridiculously attractive face…wait no I mean his charismatic performance as an actor 😁

PLEASE SEND A FAN LETTER (Ep 1)
The tone is very light and humorous and bonus that Yoon Park is finally the lead but now I’m invested and I don’t want my Yu Na darling to suffer. Please drama gods give me a kdrama miracle
Also the fake romcom Starlight Couple takes the cake for the most wildest ending of all time lol

CURRENTLY WATCHING:
Love Is For Suckers
Behind Every Star
Curtain Call

HIGHLY ANTICIPATING:
Sumner Strike
Work Later, Drink Now

ONGOING
Under The Queen's Umbrella - Should've killed Consort Hwang. Nothing good ever comes of leaving your enemies alive in a sageuk. My heart hurts for Gyeseong.

Curtain Call - How they haven't been exposed yet is a miracle. I assume Se-yeon knows or at least suspects now. Se-gyu's scene with Grandma was touching.

May I Help You - I feel bad for Chung-ha but turning up with an offer of murder…💀. Hye-ri and Jun are selling the chemistry.

The First Responders - Definitely more about dramatics than realism but it's fun! Corrupt dad and sad story with dead girl are both unnecessary.

WATCHLIST
The Youngest Son of a Conglomerate - Yes that's the title I'm going with because it's so over-the-top delicious! Will wait for all 3 episodes before I binge but I'm excited.

C-DRAMAS
Started She and Her Perfect Husband, which is just okay, but I needed something for my background watch. Don't know if I'll last the full 40 episodes.

Under the Queen’s Umbrella: The Queen is truly the mother of the nation. Kim Hye-soo excels in the quiet, motherly scenes with the Princes, like with Prince Simso this week. Most dramas would have the Queen constantly on the losing end, but I’m glad this one is more balanced. Most dramas would also have the King fall for his mother’s lies, but here, he knows what is up.

Reborn Rich: I made it 30 minutes into the first episode and was so bored. Maybe if the feedback is good, I will give it another try when I’m not tired enough to fall asleep.

Behind Every Star: While this adaptation is extremely faithful to the original, I think it’s mostly working in the Korean setting. They’ve done a good job getting guest actors and actresses that fit the storylines.

Love Is For Suckers: Jae-hoon and Yeo-reum needed to communicate, not have sex. I thought they did a good job rehabbing Chef Jang. I buy that he was a decent enough guy who let fame go to his head. He and Ji-wan have a nice, easy vibe. Reality shows exploit people with mental illnesses all of the time, but I hated the implication that just because the one female contestant was bipolar, they could make her do something crazy. Kingdom of Love having zero security on set was unbelievable and dumb.

Revenge of Others: The security sucks at this high school too. A person can just stroll in with a knife and fight students and nobody notices lol. This is the first time I’ve really liked Shin Ye-eun, but her character needs to stop going to secluded places to meet people. Ok Chan-mi and Soo-heon were cute this week. I don’t want Jae-bum to be a bad guy, but this school is full of psychopaths. I wonder if Woo-sook was bullied into being a bully.

Somebody: Episode 1-2: This drama is very weird and very dark. It’s kind of slow, but I do want to see where it goes. I hate that they used Asperger’s as the reason for the FL’s deeply disturbing actions. Very different role for Kim Young-kwang.

Shadow Detective: I would be mad at the ending if I didn’t know S2 was already in production. I wish the Chairman Jang/redevelopment stuff had concluded so Taek-rok could move on to a new case. I kind of get why Ji-han targeted Taek-rok, but I’m not sure how/why new Friend will mess with him.

Curtain Call: Se-yoon has to have suspicions that Jae-hoon is not Moon-sung. I really like what they’ve done with the brothers and brother’s wife.

I have been waiting for Fan Letter... and in the meantime procrastinated with some cdramas 😁:

I checked New Life Begins (a bit silly but entertaining) and continued with Shining For One Thing (still like it very much).

And She and Her Perfect Husband has finally (and suddenly) started! - I was really looking forward to this (contract relationship!!), however.... I'm disappointed so far. The glamorous lawyering doesn't interest me and I ff through the brother's story, the faster, the better (and the unaddressed attack and semi-stalking of the ex???). So far staying for Xu Kai and some of the dialogues (but may drop it soon).

The Golden Spoon (Episode 15-16) - Mood progression: C / C- / D+ / D / D / D+ / D / D
Na In Woo’s cameo reminded me that he was also part of Mystic Pop-up Bar alongside Yook Sung Jae and Choi Won Young, sadly, the writer wastes him by forcing in one final twist. I really feel that there’s so much potential that was lost with the golden spoon concept: imagine if it was treated like a proper fantasy element?

Behind Every Star (Episode 3-4) - Mood: C-
Regardless of whether Tae Oh has Method Entertainment’s interests in mind or not, it doesn’t change the fact that he’s a sleaze when it comes to his interactions with Hyun Joo. Not sure how I feel about the pairing of Je In and the tax guy: it feels like we’re going to be watching a case study regarding the principle of least interest. At least that’s what I hope.

Love is for Suckers (Episode 11-12) - Mood: C-
Defending Jae Hoon, apologising to Yeo Reum and Ji Wan meeting John’s mom? The writer definitely wants this writer-chef ship sailing and I’m thrilled so much that I’m willing to forgive all the other nonsense that’s going on with the other contestants and the production team. There’s even narrative tension from John having to make a pick within the show!

May I Help You (Episode 7-8) - Mood: D
Leave it to the drama writers for trying their best to come up with scenarios that force the OTP together? Well, I’m glad Oh Dae Hwan gets to play the cupid here: it’s certainly interesting to see his bromance with Lee Kyu Han when they’re both usually playing negative characters. I’m not optimistic about the drama: the plot just feels bleak?

Cheer Up (Episode 10-11) - Mood: D-
When a drama makes you consider that it was good that only 1 episode aired last week instead of 2, that’s a great way to know that something monstrously terrible just happened with the writing. Veteran drama viewers should recognise a trend: main OTP getting together while the villain is still there in the plot. No prizes for guessing what’s happening next!

CURTAIN CALL (Ep.5-6): The game of Mouse Trap continues as Jae-Heon gets careless with his undercover grandson act, while Yoon-hee continues to be the surprising star of the play. We all can tell Se-Joon’s plan will be to bring the "real" grandson to Korea, but he has to know that would be the time bomb to break apart the family. The Farewell Party sets up disappointment as our fake couple's cover is about to be blown because there are people they know are about to be introduced to them. The drama could use some major action right about now.

BEHIND EVERY STAR (Ep 3-4) The cameos are holding the series together but the main cast stories and performances run flat for me. The rooftop tax investigator make out session was just bizarre; bolstering the conclusion is that the manipulative agency staff are not good at their jobs. Soo-hyun’s cameo put the spotlight on the forced hiatus Korean actresses have when they get married and have a child. Normally, women have to take 2 or more years off as traditional society pressures them to be sole to major caregiver to their children. However, Soo-hyun’s story did not have the emotive depth and satisfying conclusion of Jo Yeo Jeong's arc.

Revenge of Others (Ep 3-4): my favorite highlights of this week: rare male wet peeing pants scene (from Ep. 3) and the monk's session at the auditorium that interrupted by the shocking footage during the beginning of this session (from Ep. 4)

Reborn Rich (Ep. 1): I enjoyed the first episode and I knew this Kdrama was filmed in Turkey that was before SJK woke up into 1987. I loved this scene when SJK fell into the water after shot by the foreign(?) gunman that was before woke him up by rode car into 1987. I still fell in love with Song Joong-ki so much so I'm so excited to see him more in the coming episodes. Also, I totally loved the 1987 costumes too.

Curtain Call I am quite enjoying this show and the pace. The siblings continue to shine. I hope the original grandson is actually nice guy who just wants to come to SK to meet his last remaining family.

Behind Every Star didn’t catch up.

Cheer up what a bunch of cute episodes! This weeks episodes were the best so far.

Love is for suckers Beanies collectively pulling their hair out.

Winter Night (cdrama) well, that was a dumb ending. Forcing a HE didn’t make any sense.

Thank you Doctor (cdrama) Dropped.

In the pipeline - Silent (jdrama).

Cheer Up: AT LASTTTTT, that stupid love triangle is over, and life is back to reality.(In my Etta James voice). Unfortunately, we still have the weirdo stalker, meh.

Behind Every Star: continues to be fine.

Love is for suckers: They got me this week with the chef and Ji Wan. I didn't expect it, but they did. I was tearing up on their walk by the sea. Ji Wan is such a gem, I found myself yelling that if he hurts her, I will beat him up. As for YR and JH, she is confused, but doesn't want to lose him and for some reason the show isn't giving her time. That being said JH was never going to leave her for JY who doesn't seem to get that. CR is still just trying to do her job and people won't let her be great. She understands people like MESS, even if they criticize and don't like her, and say they wouldn't do it, they still watch for the MESS. She understands that intuitively unlike apparently everyone around her. So I feel bad they are ending her show. She doesn't deserve it.

Reborn Rich: It is a Chaebol, who dun it. I am all in, but I always am with SJK, so I am excited. Although, why the show-makers used Turkish children to inject him, I don't understand and wasn't something I liked.

First responders: I am not sure it is cohesive with the police. I honestly think they should have stuck with just the firefighters and paramedics.

Please Send a fan letter: Looking forward to this one.

CRICKET - It was a worthwhile T20 world cup. really enjoyed it. competitive with many upsets and prize money was near about 2 million dollars. yeah, barely 2 million dollars and small teams with 1 win got 70k dollars. To name that whole team contains 15 players and then you have support staff.
70k - what a joke - That's what cricket is for you.
T20 generates good profits - ODI do generate profits -
Test Cricket - hardly generates any profit for 3 India, England and Australia. That's why we have all these new t20 leagues all across globe - loud money.
Well in 2023 we have ODI world cup - yeah yeah too many world cups in such a short period but that;s what garners major returns for the ICC.

Female cricket has done far better social job than male cricket and reached those countries where noone knows any cricket at all. It is much because of recent years ramping up female participation in all spheres of professional life - Right now female football is ahead but the gap isn't as much is terms of Male sports.

And at young age there was always good numbers of female players but as they move into teens to adulthood that participation level comes down to almost nothing. Things progress and improve when there are paths and options - For male cricket there is much but for female cricket things are not common and society plays important role too - And that's one big reason for Female Australia having total dominance over cricket world.

Just Started: Reborn Rich, watching for Song Joong-ki, waiting to see if the story will interest me aside from SJK
Watching: Love is for Suckers, Three Bold Siblings (don't like the FL but staying for Im Joo-hwan); Under the Queen's Umbrella (the political machinations bore me but the Queen's and Princes' interactions keeps me warm
Will start: Please Send a Fan Letter (because of Sooyoung and Yoon Park)

Through the Darkness: i can feel it to my bones when Hayoung starts to get affected by his job. I want to hug him and be by his side.

Two Lights: Relumino: that's it? That's so short, i want more! I want to know more about these characters and their life!
Honestly, watching things like this makes me feel like i'm such a bad person. I'm a person who complains a lot about life, especially lately, even though i'm blessed with many things. I want to start appreciating every little thing and start to be more positive about life, thanks to this short movie.

Shadow Detective: i was thinking that nothing great come out this year. I was not really into anything, yeah some dramas are good, but i'm not into them. What i felt with Happiness last year doesn't happen this year... until this drama came. This drama is so so so good and i'm glad we'll have season 2. Good writing, excellent casts with excellent acting, and just enough pace. I love how the writer doesn't try to outsmart viewers or overdo things. Everything falls into its place. Recommended for everyone who likes mystery dramas
Tagging you cos i want you to watch this drama @midnight

Both the recently finished dramas I have yet to finish I am watching are both law dramas only because it was easily available on Disney+ (Hotstar) the only streaming service I have ever paid for.

One Dollar Lawyer - I loved the drama and Nam Goong Min is a treat to watch. I also like the premise. One thing I love is the intro which is fun. Only 3 episodes left. Yeah it was a bit jarring when they came back to comedy after they had become seriously it was a bit weird but it's still fun to watch. Simultaneously disappointed it has only 12 episodes maybe they could have done it better if they spread it out or maybe it's better this way idk.

May it Please the Court: One thing I love about the drama is the Female Lead who gets to shine more than the male lead and is also a complex and interesting character who is competent enough. I love her. Another is it's an intriguing premise. I have only two episodes left. It will be interesting to see how exactly is the male lead I involved in the whole thing.

Through the Darkness: Blasted through this because I just couldn’t stop. Ha-young-soo is now one of my favorite bromances of all time. I don’t know what to say that isn’t terribly obvious, because everything was done so well. Performances were phenomenal, as was the writing and pacing and tone and soundtrack. This was such a compassionate show, and that’s the impression that I’m left with more than anything else. I’ve never had such a cathartic cry in a scene where all Kim Nam-gil was doing was eating a sweet potato. That man gets me every time. Smiles were never so hard to come by than in this drama, or more rewarding when they happened. Easily in my top 10 kdramas I’ve ever seen.

May I Help You: I have found myself totally charmed by this show. Not really because it’s doing anything unexpected (second doctor to blame himself for the death of a family member in as many weeks), but because I find the characters themselves so adorable and fun.

Love is for Suckers: Wow this took a dark turn with that knife guy. Not nearly enough Dae-sik and Hye-jin for me in the episodes, but I would watch a whole show just about them, so maybe that’s not fair. Don’t sink my chef and webtoon artist ship, Show! It is geared up and ready to sail with the tide.

Good Job: Finished this last week, and it was just awesome. The final line about wrapping her up and stealing her? Perfection. I love a drama that knows what it is and just wants to be fun. This one definitely was. I think it must be written into the actor’s contracts that they have to have at least two slow motion entrances/walks per episode. I loved every single one.

The Banshees of Inisherin: Great movie! Incredibly funny for such a dark-themed film, and all the actors did an amazing job. Not to mention the setting was just gorgeous.

Love is For Suckers - Ji-yeon needs a rain check on her feelings. You're a university professor for crying out loud. Chef Joon and Ji-wan had better be the endgame that was hinted in ep 1. They have taken my full attention.

Curtain Call Ep 2 - For one moment I thought and believed Se-jun was a brother-in-law to the family. But after hearing his reason in ep 2, I see reasons with his action at the EGM. I can't fault it, and I support his motive behind the action, not the action itself. At least his actions afforded him and his Granny that honest conversation in ep 2.
Honestly, After Why Her?, I wasn't ready to see Ji Seunghyun in any opposing capacity and it was the reason I just couldn't keep on watching Curtain Call after the EGM scene. I'm glad they cleared the air about his character as quickly as it the dust rose.

The Veil Ep 2 - I found the police quite dumb and stupid. Who after the warning they got allows a bunch of thugs to report themselves in at around 30mins to 12am. And they just couldn't see the handwriting on the murder that a mass murder was waiting for them right there once it's 12am. Again, the police in that precinct were dumb, completely.

Behind Every Star - Ma Tae-oh rings all the bad flags and it's Lee Seo-jin playing the character that is keeping me from going off about Tae-oh.
Lee Sang-wook and Chun Jane...What a fire. You'd really need a chainsaw to cut through the chemistry.

Under the Queen's Umbrella - Queen Im owned the title as the Nation's mother. I'm looking forward to this week's drama.

GOOD JOB: 7 episodes in and I'm absolutely loving it. There are some actors that I might not remember to name when asked for my favorites but are able to put a grin on my face by simply existing on screen, and Jung Il Woo is one of them. Especially that this mature older JIW is to die for.

It has been so rare for me in recent years to love light comedy dramas back to back that I instinctively looked at the network. And wow. Both GJ and Gaus Electronics are from the newcomer ENA?? And also Never Give Up?? Wow.
NGU has fantastic acting but I couldn't get past episode 7 because I have very low tolerance for the kind of secrecy in marriage and neighborhood backstabbing it depicted. But honestly I have been enough intrigued by ENA to try to continue it in the future.

Curtain Call - Just waiting for the whole thing to blow up, which is any second now, because I swear that's what it feels like when watching this show. ..... Still waiting for the show to give Dong-je something to do other than keep on saying he's going to marry Se-yeon.

Behind Every Star - The cameos are fun and keep things interesting. Tax investigation guy is also quite interesting. I want to know more about him.

Love Is For Suckers - What a turnaround for Chef! Who would've thought? ..... I certainly don't see any redemption for con artist guy. What he did to Ji-wan was just awful.

Reborn Rich - It's Song Joon-ki exacting revenge, of course I'm going to watch. Heh! ..... The way they took him out, yeah, you bet he's a tad upset about that.

First Responders: 6.6 Day 1 was fast-paced - tried hard to be dramatic & exciting and partly succeeded, but also very tropey and full of plot holes. Seemed sort-of well-directed but quite poorly written, which is about what I'd expect from the track records of writer & PD. Day 2 was more ordinary & balanced.

Behind Every Star: 7.7 It's a kdrama, so there must be a chief baddie, but I'm having trouble figuring out who. The guy who died in day 1? If so they're Doing It Wrong. Baddies who die do so at the end of the show, not the beginning.

Cheer Up: 6.0 Preliminary conclusion - I'm much more likely to seek out future shows with the FL than the writer or PD. Asianwiki doesn't even link to entries for the latter two, which might just be a sign.

Love Is For Suckers: 6.0

Revenge of Others: 7.5 Given Korea's tough gun laws, how believable is it that the lead's new school just happens to have a shooting range on campus? Even in America, students have to learn to shoot off campus and on their own time, which may account for their poor accuracy. And I still wonder why they made the FL a sharpshooter. Who or what will she eventually shoot?

May I Help You: 6.0

Weak Hero Class 1: 2.0 Bullying 👎
Somebody: 4.0 There's only one thing worse than a Friday Night of Doom preparing for What We're Watching when a whole show lands at once. That thing is TWO shows landing at once. So it's "good" that neither really grabbed me so I could dump them both and get back to regularly scheduled programming.

Fan Letter, Please: 7.6

Reborn Rich: 6.5 Again My Life again?

All of Us Are Dead rewatch: 8.5 (About halfway thru) There's a scene early on when a girl who had been bullied is on a rooftop seeming about to jump, but you know she won't because there's no car below for her to land on. Then later some people are trying to escape some zombies by fleeing to a rooftop, but they picked the only roof in Korea that you can't get to because the door is padlocked. Whoever is responsible for rooftop access in Korea is Doing It Wrong. Yes, a rewatch lets me go full snark instead of getting caught up in the suspense -- why do you ask?

We have suffered through several delays for shows we wanted to watch: My wife and I were really looking forward to watching THE FABULOUS which was originally going to air mid-November. It was delayed for a fairly good reason, so I am not otherwise complaining. The delay of the C-drama SHE AND HER PERECT HUSBAND appears to have been caused by high-handed censorship, but it is now over. My wife and I have both enjoyed the first episodes and will continue watching.

LOVE IS FOR SUCKERS really took a serious turn this week. As much as I have enjoyed the character of Kang Chaeri as the main PD of the matchmaking show there was more than a little bit of satisfaction watching her suffer as one of her decisions proceeded to blow up in her face, leaving her damaged professionally. At the same time the traumatic experience finally served to break the walls between our leads. Yet it still demonstrates the waste of talent in the too structured workplace of DNA TV: I could not help but think that if Chae-ri and Yeo-reum could really learn to work together and actually listen to each other they would be an unbeatable partnership in their profession.

The writer of the weekender THREE BOLD SIBLINGS continues to deliver by adding more details. It turns out that, when he was a first-year medical student, our FL’s younger brother had a major crush on the ML’s young aunt- and they have just met again when she came to see him at his office (he is an orthopedist): He still has a crush on her even now- and has decided to take action. As for FL’s younger sister and her still mystery man, they have started to bond over both being stationary nerds (I did not know that was a thing….) and now we find out that said CEO, Shin Moo-young, has long been friends with ML’s young aunt- and does not hold it against her that she introduced him to his cheating ex-wife. Our CEO has fallen for FL’s little sister but feels guilty about it because of the age gap (this was going to be a problem no matter what- so it is good that we are starting to face it early on). But the universe is definitely trying to tell them something- whenever they appear together people assume that they are married (“I gave you an extra one because your bride is so pretty”- which is certainly true). It was certainly satisfying to watch So-rim give her ex a solid kick to the back side- but even more seeing her admit to her siblings that she now has someone she likes. But the highlight of the last weekend was the moment when our FL informed the ML’s mean little sister that she will be taking her on as a sister-in-law- and will be teaching Sang-min how to be human- words delivered like a drill sergeant complete with drums playing in the background. It was a fantastic moment, the kind that really only comes in a weekender.

BEHIND EVERY STAR is good. Good enough to make me want to watch the original French show CALL MY AGENT. Which is on my Netflix watchlist.

My wife has enjoyed the...

Finished One Dollar Lawyer
Sad to see the mess this show has become. The finale was rushed and even though all story lines were wrapped up, it didn’t feel satisfactory. I liked the funny first episodes so much, and the episodes about the past were great for me, but then show would have had to meld these opposing flavors into one, and it didn’t succeed. Great takeaway for me: I discovered Namgoong Min!
Love Is For Suckers
Did we really need the guy with a knife, and where did he come from suddenly? And what about security at the set?? I guess we needed something to show Chae Ri’s ruthlessness; I didn’t like her at all at first, but in the last episodes I’ve come to appreciate the way she openly lives and confesses to her ambitions. Looking forward to the romance between John Jang and Ji Wan.
Under The Queen’s Umbrella
This looks to be a big success, and rightfully so! I’m enjoying every episode, so great to watch a drama where you can trust the writing, acting and directing.
Cheer Up
Sincerely loved Ep.10, it would have even been greater together with Ep.9. Cheers, tears, parents understanding and not understanding, very quiet and very open confessions, and then the kiss backstory 😉 - hilarious. For me, this is right up with Weightlifting Fairy just now… It has the comedy, the (sports) action and the heart.
Curtain Call
Lots of character development, and lots of dangerous situations for our North Korea couple, they are way too careless! They should stay in character all the time and limit contacts. But we do need the drama and the comedy for the show to go on.
May I Help You
Just my kind of show: well interwoven storylines, past history, humor, lots of feelings, great music, a strong heroine, and adorable kid actors… Hope this keeps up being as good as it is at the halfway point.
Behind Every Star
I’m still not convinced and will drop this. Takeaway for me: discovered Noh Sang Hyun, and will get to watch him as the real grandson in Curtain Call!
Reborn Rich
The new blockbuster is here, and I’m in. The first episode was great, especially the ending, and I’m looking forward to another broken, evil chaebol family getting what they deserve. Loved the Jinyoung cameo!
In the meantime: The Smile Has Left Your Eyes
Seo In Guk is one of my favorite actors, and I love him again in this. It’s clear from the beginning that this can’t end well, but I’m enjoying it so much. I stopped at Ep.10 when the couple are finally happy together and can’t bring myself to go on watching because it will all be downhill from there ☹
KDrama friend project:
Finished The Golden Spoon. We had theories about how this could end, and most of them were correct, but we didn’t see the last twist coming. This is the only way that Seung Cheon can live on without all the guilt, so I find that a really good ending. My friend was a bit unsatisfied… But we both loved the drama as a whole...

Love is for Suckers: I love the Yeo-reum and Jae-hoon flashbacks, but the weeks of dawdling sort of sucked the energy out of their relationship even though they're finally together now. Ji-yeon is just so uncomfortable to watch, and should have generated bad reviews. I'm really watching it for the Chef and Ji-wan ship now and for the friendly interactions between the Kingdom Love cast (minus the grifter).

Three Bold Siblings: Wow, what a small town kdrama-Seoul is! Little Doctor Bro would be too uncomfortable for real life, but it's refreshing how he's going all in on the flirting and seeking his bliss with Young Aunt Everyone else feel a bit too passive and sketchy.

A New Life Begins: Up to ep 15 (out of 40). Really enjoying this Chinese costume drama. It takes place in a fictional world where there are 9 states - all with their own economies, social norms, and cuisines. The drama starts off like any trendy youth rom-com costume drama, but it stands out with its warmth and its themes of sisterhood, cultural exchange, and adjusting to culture shock. There is no overbearing male lead, and I love the twist with the legal wife. I really hope it can maintain its quality and the integrity of its characters until the very end.

Want to watch Reborn Rich, but I think I'll give a couple episodes so that the revenging can really begin.

Curtain Call It's a fun drama for now.

Cheer Up I'm angry against the one who chose the song for the kissing scene, it was really not adapted to the scene!

Behind Every Star Noh Sang-Hyun could make me love Taxes.

Love is for Suckers I really don't care about the leads, just give cute Ji-Wan and her Chef!

Reborn Rich I wasn't expected him getting back in a boy body...

The First Responders I'm not a fan of the "daredevil" type of character who rushes and thinks afterwards...

Under the Queen's Umbrella All the actors playing the Princes are born in 2000 and after.... I'm feeling old now :p

Revenge of others It lacks emotion, it's just violence and pain.

House on Wheels 4 I didn't know that Kim Min-Ha didn't have a real agency. She had to audition for 4 months by zoom to get the role. It's great that her mother forced her to learn English because it was really an important element. For the rest, this show became Rowoon's mukbang show with his proud daddies watching him. I'm excited to watch the next episode with Kim Hye-Woon and Lee Jae-Wook, Extraordinary You reunion always is fun to watch!

It is nice to see how LOVE IS FOR SUCKERS does not shy away from showing how disturbing these dating shows really are - from the contestants to the producers, although I cannot fully blame Kang Chae-ri for her decisions. She is right, the more disturbing, the higher the ratings, she gives the viewers what they want - this is also on the viewership.
The budding romance between Chef John and Park Si-wan is heart warming. The romance between the main couple feels a bit forced, probably because the drama needs to bring the couple together within 16 episodes. It is one of these rare occasions where a time jump would be better. Yeo-Reum has lost so much confidence in herself after one disastrous relationship after another which she blames on herself. For her to be cautious about jumping into the next relationship, especially with Jae-Hoon who is so dear to her, is perfectly understandable and also not wrong. Jae-Hoon is too pushy for my liking.
I cannot feel sorry for Ji-Yeon, who is using tears to make Jae-hoon feel guilty and forcing him to give her the attention she wants. Toddlers and young kids do that, too.

I am not bothered by the slow pace of CURTAIN CALL. Joon-hee is fast becoming my favourite character, she really plays her 'wife' part in a clever and kind way. I would be very happy for Jae-heon and her to end up as a real couple. His sign language was hilarious! I like most characters apart from Dong-je, he is completely off putting and a cartoonish villain with his claims that Se-yeon will marry him.

Even though Queen Im is unlike any other Joseon queen I have seen, I really enjoy the QUEENS UMBRELLA. This umbrella needs to be rather large, she really has her hands full to protect what needs to be protected, but she can play the game very well, using embroidery as a clever tool to keep her enemies under control! Love (almost all) the princes.

Jun and Hyeri are doing a pretty good job in MAY I HELP YOU. The drama could easily be cringeworthy, but is well written, produced and performed.

BEHIND EVERY STAR is a reproducing the original show very faithfully (apart from Su-youn's character who is a rather predatory lesbian in the French version). The one with mother and daughter cast in the same film was one of my favourite episodes then and made me laugh out loud here again.

Did not enjoy the first episode of FIRST RESPONDRES, the second was a little better.

Not yet started the new dramas. I dislike time travel and reborn characters in dramas the most and will wait for recaps to decide whether I will spend time on Reborn rich.

I know I am a minority that thinks JH is trash in Love is for suckers. I don't care about him, and his love interest, whether it is YR or JY. If they find a way to work that threesome out I just don't care. If I stick to this drama is solely because of Chef Jang redemption arch and JiWan. Mrs. Pots sang it a long time ago: beauty is on the inside.

Adamas. I'm on episode 11 and enjoying this like crazy. The directing and production of this drama is amazing. I know not everyone was happy with the ending and so far I have avoided spoilers, but I just love everything about it. BGM is perfect.

Finally The Good Detective 2 is available on Netflix in my zone so I can legally watch and with good subs. I watched episode 1 yesterday and enjoyed it a lot. As the biggest fan of season 1 I have high hopes on this one (and also know not everybody was happy with it).

I am trying Reborn rich and Send me a fan letter but I had no time to watch yet.

Curtain Call: I usually stay away from too many airing dramas because it is frustrating not to be able to binge, but I wasn't anxious to hit the play button when the episodes came up. I'm still hopeful this drama will turn around, but right now it is kind of sluggish.

Gaus Electronics: I'm a bit of a slow reader with my subtitles and the humor moves very quickly which makes this a challenge for me to follow. I know it is a favorite on this site, so I'm ready to give it a try, but wish I had more control over the playback speed on Viki.

Beethoven Virus: This has been on my watch list for years and I just noticed it came up on Viki. I'm excited to watch. I'm just in the first episode now. But, am hopeful.

Flower Boy Ramen Shop: This was a rewatch of a comfort drama. Such clever writing from the same writer as This is My First Life. Has anyone ever seen Queen of Office or Ho-Gu's Love from the same writer?

High Kick: Such an old-fashioned sitcom reminiscent of US sitcoms from decades ago. I'm not sure what to say/feel yet. It has been a lot of fun to see so many stars not only as part of the cast but as guests. It feels like a show made before exporting dramas became such big business and as such has a very different feel and perhaps cultural appeal.

Aside from these, I'm waiting on the last episode of this year's British Baking Show! I've been watching the Crown as well. I finally watched the movie Blade Runner (1982). It was visually so beautiful.

Recently finished the Cdramas Love Designer and Unforgettable Love and amazingly I didn't FF too much.

Started Rattan but will probably put it on hold until after the holidays.

Not watching any Kdramas right now, mainly waiting for Alchemy 2 to air so I can determine whether I want to watch it or not. Nothing else that's airing right now interests me.

Daughter and I are still marathoning Bones though. Almost finished with season 4. Since I don't have to read subtitles it's easy for me to crochet while knocking out 2-3 eps most evenings.

There are a whole bunch of shows I am looking forward to bingeing, thanks to what I’m reading here, but I have not able to watch anything this week! So why I am clogging up this thread? Well, my wife was watching a non-kdrama. Netflix detective show called Inside Man (She thought it was “interesting kind of bizarre, with good acting.”) Apparently its about a Sherlock Holmes character who is in jail because he’s also a brutal murderer—not my cup of tea, but it is true that amid all the lawyer dramas there has been a shortage of actual kdrama detective shows this year, so my wife is forced to search elsewhere.

Here is what I’m watching comes into play. As I walked by the t.v, one of the characters backed into the street and was dramatically struck by a speeding truck. Apparently speeding killer trucks are blue in England, not white, but just like in kdramas when that happens, I burst out laughing. (Well, maybe not laughing, but definitely chortling. You former English majors—can you burst out chortling?)

Anyway, I’m a little concerned about what my response says about my empathy, or lack thereof. I certainly don’t find normal auto accidents funny at all. Growing up in car-centric California, they’ve been frequent and deeply upsetting, even if there are no deaths involved. I am scarred by my high school mandatory viewing in driver’s ed of a film called “Blood on the Highway” which basically just showed one mangled accident corpse after another, in order to scare us 16 year olds into being safe drivers. I don’t know if it worked with my driving, but memories of that film did prevent me from ever painting again. Where’s Park Min Young when you need her? (sorry, previous thread reference)

Still, despite my trauma, here I am, unaffected, as the white (blue) truck claims another character. Not that I really enjoy watching an endless procession of killer white trucks, but I was curious as to the genealogy of the white truck. What was the first kdrama that used the white truck as a central character, and how and why did it become such a reliable kdrama star?

But I guess I should save those questions for a more relevant thread, such as “How watching kdramas turned me into a cold-hearted monster who laughs at truck killings and disdains men with mother issues.”

I'm trying to assemble my beans and managed to finish two shows this week. Law Café will not be featuring in my memoirs but it showcased a very unique heroine, and awesome music video and my favorite villain of the year. Jo Han Chul deserves every praise for his mentally unstable yet wildly entertaining wicked chaebol.

Love Like The Galaxy on the other hand is as high quality as things get. The family, the intrigue, the score and directing. It was a really slow watch and there were too many characters to take note off so my two month hiatus made coming back a real pain memory-wise. One would be wise to note that this is a family drama and as such it is very well done. The romance is very, very thin and while there are some breathtaking moments, they are few and far between.

A Dream of Splendor: I am so relieved Yuezhang saw through that manipulating scumbag and broke free. Now, with seven episodes to go, I hope the unnecessary brake up is quickly resolved and Ouyang Xu is deployed to outer Mongolia to do a treeinventory. He's a complete pain. I get that the show needed to get Quinfan out of the way for Pan Er to resolve her own problems but the way they did it is less appealing.

Lighter and Princess: It took me about 15 episodes to warm up to the male lead. And despite this, I really enjoy this show. Methinks it's the combination of Zhang Ying Yi and Zhao Zhi Wei, both of whom made a big impression with me after Fall in Love and Le Coup de Foudre and a great OST.

The Fiery Priest: Kim Nam-gil is great.

CURTAIN CALL: I love that this drama is a true ensemble and the pace is slow enough to fully use and develop all the characters, but still fast enough that I'm never bored. There are so many balls in the air right now beyond the central deceit, and yet the tone is surprisingly light and funny (loved the ID scene!) without ever being slapsticky. Unlike others, I do see romantic chemistry between the leads--they just seem to really *like* each other--but think the show has done a good job of allowing those feelings to build (somewhat) believably. I was initially worried the faux grandson/cousin would fall immediately for his "noona," but he's only just starting to realize that he has more than familial feelings. For her part, Se-yeon seems to have appropriately protective and affectionate leanings towards someone she believes to be her family member, but at the same time, there's clearly a large part of her that's questioning his story and, at the same time, feeling a (possibly more-than-sisterly) connection to him.

MAY I HELP YOU: This isn't really a fantasy as the fact that the FL sees ghosts plays more like she's simply talking to people right before they die and granting their last wishes. As a result, it's way less silly and much more earnest than I anticipated, and all the better for it. This is a very warm drama, even though it is also genuinely sad at times. Those sad scenes do make me feel something, too, which is a testament to the writing and directing. The romance is also moving slower than I thought it would, but is still building in a lovely, believable way. Jun is a good actor, and Hyeri is playing this character with a lot of depth as well. When she did scream in a recent episode (during the comedic car accident), it was perfectly pitched and genuinely funny.

LOVE IS FOR SUCKERS: I have a lot of thoughts, lol, which I guess is to the show's credit. It's too bad so many of these thoughts revolve around why a very bland SFL with a martyr complex is sucking so much of the oxygen out of the story. She was never--and never should have been--a real rival for Jae-hoon's affections, so I don't know why the writers have devoted some much energy in depicting her crying, sighing, and suffering over an unrequited crush like she's a 15 year old schoolgirl and not an accomplished, professional woman in her 30s. It's maddening. I also still don't care at all for Chae-ri, and thought she ultimately seemed to have learned nothing from her encounter with the avenging stabber. As for our leads, their reconciliation/love scene was nice, but I expected more smiles. The characters were so *serious* and I know that was likely meant to show how important it is for them that they're finally crossing the line into romance, but they've been friends forever and have had so much fun together. So you would think they'd have at least one moment where they either smiled or laughed as if to say "Can you believe this?!" or "Wow, this...

THE LAW CAFE: The main attraction for me was Lee Seung-gi, but oh how disappointed I was. This proved an indigestible mash of various genres and none of it quite came off. His everlasting amiability in the face of her terminal PMS was beyond my understanding. I couldn't root for the two of them to be together, and when she asked the inevitable "When did you start liking me?" I begged for him to answer "Never."

LOVE IN THE MOONLIGHT: Recommended by Soompi as a show that would give you that warm and cozy feeling on a winter night. I am not too old for a gorgeous fairy tale, but this one required suspension of belief beyond what I am able to muster up. Kim You-Jung's "eunich" was able to pass as a boy for most of "his" young life without arousing suspicions when "he" failed to bathe or pee in front of guys and apparently never needed tampons? Not to mention "his" ultra-female face and short stature? Then, there was something else about this "eunich" that bothered me until it struck me in episode nine that the short actress in "his" green robe and Joseon cap looked exactly like a garden gnome. After that, the magic was gone and all the soulful gazing in the world couldn't bring it back.

At episode 14, my Viki subtitles died, so I'm waiting for them to come up with a fix. I sure hope the "Moonlight" lovers don't die on me in the meantime.

I had to take a kdrama break due to some horrible real life issues, so I'm late to The Law Cafe finale. And well... it ended. I went back and forth between liking and disliking the leads (sometimes one, sometimes the other, or both at the same time). And I honestly don't think they are ultimately compatible, but they married anyway. There were several compelling aspects of the story that weren't fully developed because it kept falling into the case of the week format, the wishy-washy love line, and the out of place documentary-style interviews. All the pieces of a great drama were there but poorly assembled. But Lee Seung-Gi was enough to carry me through.

I am in love after the first episode of Reborn Rich. I kinda wish we had more time to see Song Joong-Ki play this ultra subservient character. Chaebols always have their right-hand man doing their dirty work, but we never learn about the lackey. But at the same time, I enjoyed the reincarnation to the past scenes and am interested in seeing where it goes.

Did not watch as much as I have been.
The real life evil bastards behind the FTX fraud captured my interests this week. Corrupt kleptocrats slush funds are real.

K dramas: Curtain Call Cheering for Yoon-hee.
Reborn RichGolf Club of Doom,Cliff of Doom Zz
Pls Send Lv Ltr Movie star has bloody threat flashback, aigoo, they can’t have a cute drama w/out that ?

C drama: City of Streamer FL is forced kissed twice within 3 minutes by two different men. Romance ? 🤮
“He doesn’t love you, like I love you “, does same move as “bad” guy.

Current/recent:
Love Is for Suckers: I’m with @mayhemf in the hair-pulling-out collective. For such a long-awaited OTP hookup, that was particularly unsatisfying.
May I Help You?: I don’t have much to say because I’m just enjoying the easy ride. There was a little bit of uneven writing in eps. 3-4 and the SFL does not vary enough from the standard annoying tropes, but overall it’s sweet with enough salty and sour to keep it appetizing.
One Dollar Lawyer: Well, that ended.

Older stuff:
I started Beyond Evil. 😮😮😮 Totally not my usual genre because I’m a scaredy cat, but I’m hooked.
Continuing Greasy Melo/Wok of Love. I deeply appreciate the insight @leetennant provided for watching this and am enjoying it through that lens.

New love playlist webdrama
I love that a lot of the original cast were in the first episode. So far As the old cast are now graduates the new students are introduced. They have kept the vibe of one girl with three guy friends and the difficulties when one of the friends wants more but isn’t sure of the other person’s feelings. This time the uni experience has been effected by Covid.

Love is for suckers
Enjoying the Jiwan and Joon storyline as we get to learn more about him.

Three bold siblings
So the two siblings have strong feelings for people in the next generation to them it will be interesting to see how the parents and grandmother respond to this situation and especially when they find out about Sangjoon’s aunt. I am only accepting the brother’s love line because he liked her from Uni days so it makes sense and he is sensible has a lot of strong females in his life who he treats well so it makes sense that he would like and need a particular type of wife. I also am beginning to warm more to the CEO relationship because of the info from the aunt’s friendship that he is a loyal dependable man who was betrayed because he married the wrong woman.

Cheer up
Finally a college campus rom com. Hope we kill off the aggressive scheming Sunbae so the prophesy can become a legend rather than a here and now reality. Will be interesting to see how the romance pans out under cover.

Behind every star
Lecherous women are no better than lecherous men and it has put me off and even though I need the bean I may have to drop this. Only staying to see if Hyunjoo is an out of wedlock child and if the siblings will become friends. I do wonder if they are going to make them unrelated so her story re him being her dad’s friend/relative was based on truth and Taeoh made a pledge to act as if he was her dad if anything happened to her dad. However there would be no need to keep her identity secret unless she is the hidden child of one of his siblings.

She and her perfect husband - Chinese
Romance enemies to lovers theme I am on episode 1

Good manager
Still enjoying and watching a couple of episodes a week.

Completed
How to be thirty web drama
Romance/slice of life about three female friends and how they manage the impact of failed relationships on their current love life. Second drama I watched this week where women drink to point of vomiting on people and still continue to drink to excess at a later date. I don’t know if they want to show the reality of drunkenness over the cute side shown on dramas but I would rather they didn’t make me share the moment if they are going to continue to glamourise drinking behaviour throughout the rest of the show. Alcohol PPL must be pretty lucrative.

Beanies have recommended these over the years. They've been on my watch list. Finally got around to watching them the past few weeks.

Go Back Couple (2017)
Autumn Concerto (2009)
Some Day or One Day (2019)

I recently started watching the CDramas "You are my Glory" and "One and Only", both look interesting and have beautiful FL.

Gaus is probably the best Kdrama of the year together with Our Blues (but I'm saving My Liberation Notes for Christmas).

Great start to Curtain Call.

Finished with great satisfaction my favorite Cdrama of the last few months "The Story of Xing Fu".

Halfway with Love Like The Galaxy.

Loved Bulgasal. Loved the visuals, the characters, the found family, and the rare perfect ending.

We have finished Zombie detective with a light deception, mostly because the humour is not for us.
Our new common drama is The innocent man because it's fun to watch Song Joong Ki in a revange drama but not the one airing. He and Moon Chae Won look so young (well the other probably do, but I do not recognise/know them). I find this drama hilarious: so many tragedies and we are only at ep4.

I have finished Truth, cdrama investigation that is a little an add for chinese procuratorate. The heros want the truth, and work tirelessly to obtain it. I was engrossed in the story and bingewatched it.
That's how I have not finished yet The girl who sees scents, nor A piece of your mind.

Still, I have started She and her perfect husband because there were other beanies interested. I knew I was up for disappointment if I didn't lower my expectations for a funny contract mariage. So far, the picture is good but there is too much lawyering, too much of the annoying 2nd couple, and I do not care for the ex and his naive girlfriend that we are supposed to be sympathetic with. I hope that we will have more cute couple time soon.

Love is for Suckers:
I overalled enjoyed this week's episodes more than I think everyone else has. I'm mostly okay with how things played out between Yeo Reum and Jae Hoon. Jumping into bed together seemed pretty rushed to me, but Yeo Reum finally admitted she likes him, so that's something. But I also have to echo everyone else's sentiments and say that the central romance is losing me. That, and I am concerned by them getting together in ep 12 as that means there are 4 more eps for the writers to play around with the pairing, and with the hearts of the audience, and this feels like just the sort of Kdrama that would end with the leads not together, which isn't what I signed up for. Chae Ri's chickens appear to possibly be coming home to roost, and if that's the case, I'm happy to see it. And the Ji Wan and Chef John/Joon pairing is the best surprise/twist so far in the drama. I agree with everyone else that they have overshadowed the main couple at this point, and I'm secretly hoping they get a little more screentime then they should, because I'm currently living for them, lol.

Radiant Office: I started a re-watch of this last night. Only four eps in, and it's already giving me nostalgic and happy feels. It's definitely flawed in terms of storytelling, but I just really love this drama and female lead and find the story comforting.

I've been letting all the other dramas on my MDL currently watching list languish.

Koi Wa Deep Ni: Super cute, and I need to sit back down and marathon this one, cause I know I'm going to come to love it.

Ashes of Love: This drama is superbly well-written and acted, but it's so dang slooooooooow, and I can only watch a couple episodes at a time before I end up drawn in by other dramas and put it on the back-burner unintentionally.

My Huckleberry Friends: This drama is clearly very good, and I definitely like it, but I haven't felt like continuing, which feels like disrespect to the drama. Gonna have to choose a weekend where I can sit down and immerse myself in the story and give it the attention it deserves.

High Kick: I love this show, for real. Good oldie. Goldie?
Love is for Suckers: Chef Joon and writer-nim should have all the screentime the next two weeks.
3 Bold Sibilings: loving the other two sibilings lovelines.
The Love in Your Eyes: yeeeees, fall in loveeee.

I got stuck 20min into Reborn Rich ep 1 (more like reborn boring) and May I Help You ep 5 (help me understand where's the comedy and the romance).

Rewatching:
Sweden Laundry: still the best. Rewatching is my only salvation.
Dae Jang Geum is Watching: this drama isn't that old but I really don't remember anything. So I'm just enjoying it like a first time (kinda).