Too many dramas. Too little time 😭.

COMPLETED
Under The Queen's Umbrella - Lovely ending to a lovely show.

ONGOING
The First Responders - They're trying too hard to make the villain seem great at his villainy but he just seems ridiculous, a word I use a lot while talking about this show.

The Youngest Son of a Conglomerate - I like Do-jun's interactions with the Chairman. There's something fun about smirky SJK lol. Still surprised primogeniture was given up so quickly but I guess Grandpa's time is up soon.

Summer Strike - Guilt-tripping Bom into not testifying against her father made me so mad. And the preview makes it look like there's more guilt-tripping to come - this time with Yeo-reum 🙄.

Curtain Call - Remember when I was excited about plot movement? I spoke too soon.

May I Help You - Pleasant surprise to see Dong-joo explaining her connection to Joon-ho almost immediately. The scenes with Tae-hee's family were moving.

STARTED
Unlock My Boss - I am all confusion after Ep. 2, which I suppose was the point. The story kept jumping forward so quickly it felt like I had missed big chunks of information.

The Forbidden Marriage - Only seen Ep. 1 so far, which was fun. I'm in the mood for a light-hearted sageuk.

Looking forward to Alchemy of Souls S2.

C-DRAMAS
Completed Mr. Bad which was short and sweet but unremarkable. Had a really lovely wedding vows scene though.

Still watching She and Her Perfect Husband and New Life Begins.

Recipe For Farewell (Episode 1-4) - Mood: B / B+
Go watch it. We need a Drama Hangout post!

Unlock the Boss (Episode 1-2) - Mood: C-
Potato boy! Of course I’ll continue watching for Chae Jong Hyeop’s lovely puppy energy but the plot sadly isn’t captivating: the only time it wasn’t insipid was during the cliffhanger which isn’t promising. The writer just spammed so many suspicious characters for the corporate conspiracy and even added a downer of a loanshark arc for female lead.

If I was writing the show, here’s how I would do it: turn the fantasy phone element into a fake-out with it being a twisted experiment carried out by the CEO to test out the AI’s capabilities, then focus on the AI theme and highlight how it isn’t able to replace everything (CEO’s daughter), conflict occurs when male lead becomes way too good of a replacement?

Revenge of Others (Episode 9-10) - Mood: D
Regardless of whether it’s a twin or a split personality disorder, it’s just bad and bad when you pile it on top of amnesia for arguably the biggest character after the leads as evidenced by the promos. Worse, we’re going into the finale week with such a lame cliffhanger, like who could’ve imagined that O Sung had lied? But both Jae Bum and Chan Mi did, wtf.

Summer Strike (Episode 5-6) - Mood: D
Oof, Ji Young is turning out to be worst of them all with her barely restrained obsession over Dae Bum. While it’s nice to watch the burgeoning friendship between Bom and Yeo Reum, even the latter didn’t step up for her when her family did not want her to tell the truth behind the knife stab. Young Dae Bum was quite lucky no one stopped him from snitching!

May I Help You (Episode 11-12) - Mood: D
It was bemusing seeing how Chung Ha’s mother’s wish got rejected, though I wonder if there’s any point for Dong Joo’s curse if she could just ignore the requests and somehow still get that number down? But at the very least we’re not just discarding all fantasy elements for cliffhanger reveal drama, even if it’s kinda makjang that Hee An was the killer’s bro.

Behind Every Star (Episode 9-10) - Mood: D-
I know that the show really wanted that ending to be A Narrative Moment since Tae Oh finally stopped being a coward, but it’s really undercut by the fact that all of this could’ve been avoided had he just confessed instead. How has he not learnt from his divorce? Also, how has Hyun Joo not learnt from her previous professional gaffes? I just can’t you know.

Cheer Up (Episode 13-14) - Mood: D-
Is yikes even going to be enough to sum up my reaction to this week’s episodes? Villain’s motives are a narrative mess: I even felt bad for the actor because you can see the effort but the writing is overshadowing his vibes and making it an unexpected comedy in a bad way. Like, Jin Il didn’t even check that Soo Il is really dead which is such a rookie mistake.

I followed Beanies' recommendation and found and watched The Romance of Writer Jiwan & Chef Jun (from Love is for Suckers). And you all were so right, this really was such a nice lovestory. 😍 I loved their interactions and how Jiwan managed to peel Jun's onion layers and get to his nice and gentle core. With Jiwan, Jun could finally throw away his fake image, have honest conversations (I loved the visit at his mom's place and how Jun gave his support to Jiwan regarding her childhood trauma)... and cook for someone who loved his creations. (I also liked the actor, Park Yeonwoo, and will keep an eye on him 🙂).

My other favourite show this week was It May Be a Bit Spicy Today, a show I originally didn't plan to watch at all as the synopsis sounded too sad (and too close to home). Yet one day I clicked on the first episode and already the opening got to my heart. Despite the serious premise, the show is somehow soothing and optimistic (probably the deadly combination of Han Seokkyu and the cooking 😁) and I'm really enjoying it.

Still loving jdrama Silent and found Unlock the Boss better than I expected.

Alchemy - TODAY!!

Alchemy of Souls: Today’s the daaaaaaaaay!!!!! It’s like I’m carrying one of the jade eggs and this show has pumped energy into the other one and now we are being inexorably drawn to one another, hearts pounding, to meet on the Bridge of Romantic Longing Mark 2 (now with 99% more longing). I hope uri @alathe is ready because I definitely am.

May I Help You: What a whirlwind. I spent half of this week grinning at the adorable new relationship between our leads, and the other half crying because a mother killed herself and her daughter and we finally learned the whole story of Jun-ho’s accident. I loved watching the matchmaking uncles continue to try to matchmake even after our OTP secretly got together. This drama is still charming me to no end, and Dong-joo is becoming one of my favorite FLs in a while.

Unlock the Boss: It’s weird but I’m enjoying it so far! It doesn’t seem to take itself too seriously (thanks largely to the ML), but still provides enough intrigue with the mystery of how our CEO ended up like that, and also with our FL’s whole situation. She presents a pretty cold exterior, and I’m excited to watch that start to crack as the drama goes on.

Reborn Rich: I knew things would have to get dicey for Do-jun eventually but I wasn’t expecting to have this much anxiety about it! My heart was pounding so hard during the scene where Hwa-young’s finance director disappeared; the soundtrack is really doing its job. I’m really interested to see what “proof” Min-young found to show that the tip was a false one because… we all know Hwa-young actually did embezzle from her company. So. There’s that.

Age of Youth/Hello, My Twenties: Probably because of my newish Viki subscription, I have let my vigilance about Netflix’s offerings slide a bit in recent weeks, which resulted in my not knowing until yesterday that both seasons of this show are leaving Netflix on Dec 18th. There’s no way I’m getting through both with all the other dramas going on, but I’m going to try to watch the first season at least. Heads up if you are in the US like me and have them on your watchlist!

Unlock the boss
Loving this show so I will try to keep my expectations realistic and enjoy the first half in preparation for the inevitable drop in standards from week 4. In the meantime, I am so happy to have the Shooting stars, Love all, play vibe back in my life with the comedy and fluffy and light elements. The thriller element is so far tolerable to my low tolerance side. I am not loving the soundtrack but have to admit the lyrics still fit the scenes well.

The forbidden marriage
I am hoping this will settle into its own style by episode 4 as so far it feels like a cut and paste of Love in the Moonlight and Flower crew: Joseon marriage agency. What is this place with lots of sheer material hanging from the ceiling as every light hearted period drama use as a place to play hide and seek👀.

Since I met u - Chinese romance drama
A short 16 episode 30 mins light and fluffy romance. They went for a Coffee Prince/Flower boy ramen shop approach with gorgeous young male waiters in a dessert only cafe. A Food blogger and the cafe owner who has a traumatic past are brought together by their shared relationship with a cute child.

New love playlist webdrama
Still enjoying this coming of age love in a time of Covid drama. Unrequited love and the struggles of finding a partner when you’re gay were the themes this week.

Three bold siblings
This continues to focus on the difficulties of trusting feelings to be strong enough to overcome the additional challenges of maintaining long term relationship as a mature adult.

Buam dong Avengers
Continuing to enjoy the high jinks as they try to get their own back on those who have wronged them.

Cheer up
What was that random change of pace in the last moments? I am literally only hanging in there because I already allocated the bean😬 I can see next week’s episodes will require lots of fast forwarding through chase scenes as the mad ‘I will uphold the rules even if no one else cares’ man is on the loose.

I do not understand why the 100 day couple can’t just talk about the depth of feelings not being based on length of the relationship or frequency of contact so long distance while studying does not mean the relationship has to end.

Completed

New Life Begins - Chinese period romance drama
This drama was just what I needed; really cute couple and their adventures over the early years of an arranged marriage as they find their position in the hierarchy of palace life. The perfect example of how differently this is pitched is that the wives and concubines are friends and support each other. Palace politics do not take away from the main story and just when they get annoying they are shut down and people get over themselves or leave, no one dies.

Summer Strike: What the writer did to Bom is actually Beyond. There are no words. Instead of sending that man to prison and paying the much cheaper hospital bill, they yelled at the victim who was trying to prevent her father from doing something worse. SMH

Cheer Up: My God, this is still ongoing. Never say die this drama. I just want the bean and to watch Jung Woo.

Unlock the Boss: Chae Jang Hyeop is really so much fun to watch. Just charm and adorableness personified. The story isn't too bad either.

Reborn Rich: Continuing to enjoy this.

The Forbidden Marriage: Just started this and have no opinion yet.

Reborn Rich - I'm so hooked. Never knew I needed this kind of drama.

Alchemy of Souls - yay!!!

CRICKET - What awesome 1st test cricket week it was -

West Indies did fight - did better than England or even New Zealand does.
England - is bazball - ODI played in test.

Bangladesh - the best home ODI team - 2 entertaining matches.

I'm waiting for Boxing Day tests

Completed: Under the queen's umbrella;
Watching now: Reborn Rich (because Iluv SJK), Bold Siblings, May I Help You
Just Started: Unlock the Boss
Will Start as soon as I can: Work Later Drink Now 2; The Forbidden Marriage, Alchemy of Souls 2: Light and Shadow

Unfortunately this has been a poor year in kdramas for me - all East Asian dramas, in fact.

Right now, the only thing I am watching is the Cdrama THE LONG River , and I am really liking it. The cast is stellar and their comedic timing is great as well, for such a serious historical drama.

I'm watching Alchemy of Souls (only two episodes so far. I hope it gets better because I was looking forward to starting it but right now I am a tiny little bit disappointed).

25-21. Seven episodes watched. Really beautiful drama at this moment, I hope it keeps this quality until the end.

Summer Strike I need to watch this new recomposed family with Yeo-Reum, Bom, Dae-Bum and Jae-Hoon and of course the dog. They're adorable. I don't really care about the rest.

Curtain Call It would have been better that the real grandson came sooner.

Cheer Up Why I'm watching it? I don't like the FL and the plot is stupid... Ah yeah, Bae In-Hyuk.

Behind Every Star I like the stars and their issues. It's fun to watch.

Unlock the Boss Weird plot but I'm in for watching the ML bringing humanity in this compagny.

Reborn Rich I was kinda reborn semi-rich, not being in the main family...

The Forbidden Marriage The cursor is completely on the fusion side and not on the sageuk one. But there were some pretty sceneries.

Alchemy of Souls 2 Will it be epic or ridiculous?

Recipe of Farewell I liked the first 2 episodes.

Connect (episode 4 for now) I'm not sure that 6 episodes are enough. I got the feeling nothing is really deepened. I'm not a fan of this kind of FL neither.

House on Wheels It's sad that it's because of a typhoon they had to start later and it's why the season was so short. I liked the dynamic between our trio and more guests would have been fun.

Connect: 7.0 Just for ep 1. Since it's a 2023 Bean, I can take my time finishing it. The police can use the extra time to check surveillance cameras to see who is staging all that elaborate corpse art in public places.

Reborn Rich: 7.5

First Responders: __ On hold, likely drop. Didn't even give myself a Bean for it.

Behind Every Star: 7.0 Parts are good, but I've gotten tired of all the deception. I'm glad it finally bit somebody, but I don't expect any lasting change in behavior.

Cheer Up: 6.0 Baddie is so hard to believe he almost makes me miss chaebols and the evil minister of the left (or was it right?) Also, never go to meet a baddie on a rooftop. Other parts are tolerable.

Unlock the Boss: 7.5 Struggling job-seeker who can't afford Seoul housing. Girl caring for hospitalized parent and in debt to nasty loan shark. It's hard to imagine anything more tropey than the first 30 minutes (and please don't try!!) but the soul-trapped-in-phone bit is non-tropey, promising, and relevant to today's world.

Revenge of Others: 7.5

May I Help You: 6.0 💤💤 I counted this as a bean, so dropping it now would be cheating.

Forbidden Marriage: 7.0 Seems ok but spotty -- liked the opening, not the dream/hallucination scenes.

Work Later, Drink Now 2: 6.5 Well, at least day 1 was off the beaten track.

Money Heist Korea 2: 5.0 Ep 1 only. Does not benefit from the extra months we had to forget who is who. Mistake on NF's part to split it up and mistake on our part to not wait for S2 to binge the whole thing.

Friday's 2nd seasons (Work Later & Money Heist) both had first seasons that I thought were ok-ish but not good enough to earn a 2nd season, so I start off with mixed feelings, predisposed to drop them if they aren't really good. The season 2 I look forward to starts Saturday.

CURTAIN CALL (Ep. 9-10): The real Ri arrives then is put into dry dock for two episodes while the family learns the Truth but does not know how to deal with it. It is like pulling teeth to get to the action we all want to see. Also, there a ton of backstory that has yet to be told on how the grandchildren got to where they are today.

We actually meet the real saved kid who is still grateful to Grandma but she is as proud of him as much as her own son. But the foreshadowing was clear in that brief conversation: children never turn out as you expect them to.

BEHIND EVERY STAR (Ep 9-10) Daniel Henney’s cameo was okay but the story line was petty and childish. For a communication based company, the lack of inter-company communicating is horrible. The whole white lies to cover up other lies is a terrible business model. Even Kim Joo-Ryung’s cameo had a fundamentally flawed ending solution. One is not cured of a phobia in a couple of days.

Tae-ho’s life is a mess but he continues to create more messy situations. If he is stressed out, does he become a sex addict because his behavior makes no sense if he wanted to reconcile with his wife. It is impossible to root for anyone at this point. It makes Hae-Jun, the outsider CEO, the only competent executive at Method which is like saying Elon was great for Twitter. At this point, I expect a crash and burn ending.

GAUS ELECTRONICS (Ep 1-2) From the DB reviews, I gave this office comedy a try. I was actually expecting PEGASUS MARKET full-on brilliance, but came away with too many similar trope filled characters doing nothing really outstanding. The FL was one note, over-the-top trying which was not very attractive. But there may a MSteam distraction at play since Ko Sung Hee got married right after the show ended just as SYJ did for Thirty, Nine. However, since many said the show stuck the landing I will continue on.

The Kdrama viewing club and I are watching another club, The Social Avengers club—a really entertaining show with serious themes dealing with class and women’s issues. As a man, I’ve dominated the discussion on this show, because I feel its important for me to explain to the ladies in the group what women experience on a daily basis. But as they have pointed out, the one character that complicates the theme of women’s empowerment is a male student, student played by Lee Jun Young.

Coincidently, Jun also happens to be the male lead in May I Help you, which my wife and I picked up this week. I’m happy to see he’s used the 5 years between the 2 productions well, moving from a high school senior to becoming a doctor. But having just seen Love is for Suckers with a similar scenario, what is it with kdrama doctors blaming themselves for deaths that even an ethically challenged dimwit could tell them were not their fault? Don’t they teach these doctors in med school that while every death is tragic, people die in hospitals of random causes every day? If all doctors quit when one of their family members died Korean health care would be in trouble!

I do like May I Help You’s conceit that ghosts are actually sweet, somewhat regretful, and hoping to leave earth on good terms with friends and family. Its total fantasy, of course, since no ghost I’ve ever been haunted by has been anything but bitter and vengeful.

Finally, I’ve started Unlock Your Boss. Its totally different than I expected, some comic elements but also a tale of corporate intrigue, exploring really interesting questions about artificial intelligence and virtual reality in a slightly different way than previous movies and shows. Unfortunately, it isn’t serving the purpose I thought it would—teaching me how to unlock my daughter from her phone. She’s trapped in a texting vortex and doesn’t seem to be able to acknowledge the physical reality of her parents presence. I’m not virtual yet, although come to think of it I could just be viewing Dramabeans through a headset and moving my fingers as if I was typing. Would I be able to tell the difference between virtual long self-indulgent comments and actual ones? Does it matter?

Finished:

1. New Life Begins (Cdrama): What can I say? This is such a cute drama - a perfect watch for winter which is supposed to be cold and white elsewhere in the world. There is this very cute OTP that is one of the most compatible couples I've ever seen in my entire drama watching experience. The relationship feels natural. And in this show, you'll meet one of the most, if not the most, supportive ML ever. The friendship between the women is also highlighted. This is the show that you'll see women empowering other women, and it was a blessing to watch something like that.

❤️ ❤️ ❤️

My list is fairly short just now.

MAY I HELP YOU is still a beautiful watch, although I live in fear of a noble idiocy break up. So far it has not happened and I live in hope that it will not come, but there are still a few episodes left. Hyeri plays her warm hearted and likeable character in a very credible way.

I am quite happy that there is not the usual makjang in CURTAIN CALL and like the slow pace.

Started UNLOCK THE BOSS despite the ridiculous plot, I was curious how it will work. By ep. 2 I really started to like it, the cast is nice, too.

Another ridiculous plot and step too far and too gory was CONNECT, despite the cast. Not for me.

Still watching FIRST RESPONDERS, but there is something off about this drama. Not sure I will see it to the end.

Looking forward to ALCHEMY OF SOULS 2.

CURTAIN CALL: I have to respectfully disagree with missvictrix: I don't think this show is aimlessly wandering at all. In fact, waiting for the (plot) frog to come to a boil has been much more satisfying for me personally--because it's character-driven, thoughtful, and more realistic--than the type of makjang the writers would have had to indulge in to give us constant twists and turns. Plus, there definitely have been plenty of reveals along the way, from the fact that the real grandson is both alive and not a monster, to the reasons behind the broken engagement, to how the grandmother met her second husband and her son died on a beach. We've also been given multiple scenes that humanize all the characters in a way that makes any reveals to come that much more powerful. Now we have tension building over the fact that at least three characters know the truth and one just confronted the smitten and tender-hearted actor.

Finally, without this kind of slower, more thoughtful pace, we would've missed out on satisfying scenes like the one between the older brother and the erstwhile fiance ("That's why I like you--you're so easy to read"). I'm excited to see what happens next and how these people respond.

MAY I HELP YOU: This show continues to make me happy. I love the matchmaking uncles! I also enjoyed the fact that even with the leads reveling in early-days-of-dating bliss, they're still struggling with the same issues (the FL has to endure insulting judgement about her job and internalizes that guilt and shame; the ML is still actively grieving for his little brother and struggling to let go of his guilt and anger at the perpetrator). I'm not entirely understanding why the ML treats his ex so callously, even in the face of her grief. They did date for 10 years, and even though he's dating someone new, it would have been just fine to give the woman a hug at her mother's funeral. I'm still wondering if there's more to their story than we've seen thus far.

I was relieved that Dong-joo didn't indulge in noble idiocy by agreeing to the ex's mom's request (although again, I must reiterate to kdrama writers: just because you take away the person someone *really* loves doesn't mean they're going to go back to an ex they no longer love) but I'm worried she's about to do that anyway once the ML discovers his brother is that child ghost she mentioned.

UNLOCK MY BOSS: Intriguing plot + engaging mystery + possibility of romance + ML in sleeveless tees = happy LaurenSophie.

Can't wait to watch ALCHEMY tonight!

Someday Or One Day episode 11

I have finally been lured out of the kdrama realm. Time-travel is my ultimate catnip. So it was bound to happen sooner or later.

Mystery to Iunakare: This has an intriguing premise and Suda Masaki is great in it, but the crimes and perpetrators can get so sensationalistic and over the top that I have a hard time buying the "deep human insights" it claims to be delivering. Also, does every murderer just need someone to stare into their soul empathetically in order to tearfully confess their crime?

@solstices, thanks so much for the treat of reading about the musicals you saw! They each sound thrilling and I’m so happy for you that you got to be there.

I love the "What we are watching" feature...it confirms why I dropped so many dramas from the get-go. There are so many dramas out right now that I really can't waste my precious drama time on lousy ones. Thank you!

I've just started the Drama Moonlight. For now it looks promising. Light and intelligent love comedy.

You Are My Glory proceeds peacefully and predictably, I really appreciate it even if the hype seems excessive to me.

I'm just a few episodes away from finishing Young Lady and a Gentleman... it took me a year! I really love Dan Dan.

Since I met U (Cdrama) is probably as good as the much praised New Life Begins. Try to watch it if you are interested in Cdramas.

Friend watching: From now on, Showtime!. Too late for the bean, but there is no expiration date for the fun and watching pleasure.
She and her perfect husband have given their airtime to Unexpected falling. I cannot say that there are more events happening, so I am reflecting on the reasons why a drama engage me. The first is cute and troppey, but not cute enough and with dispendable side caracters. The second drama is slow, full of lies and deceptions. Maybe I am compelled to continue to watch until something happens in the story/in reveal ? I'm in love with the music, and it has tremendous effect.
Well, this slow burning of angsty lies was a pleasurable watch.

I am very tempted to start Through the darkness due to all the beans this drama received... however Alchemy of souls is re-starting tonight, the spoilers have already started... so I will ride with the comments.

Current/recent:
May I Help You?: It’s taking a hard turn into familiar shared-trauma tropes, but at least there’s no childhood connection (yet). The OTP is still so darned *nice* and they actually communicate - I liked seeing them take a pass on multiple opportunities for noble idiocy.
The Forbidden Marriage: OK, I’ve said repeatedly that I’m allergic to gats but I thought I’d give this a whirl for Kim Young-dae. Having never seen a sageuk before, I’m not sure what qualifies, but I don’t think this is one? It’s more like a costume party that’s developing a plot.

Older stuff:
Alchemy of Souls: Finished my rewatch and will start Part 2 tonight. Tempering my expectations worked for Part 1, so I’m trying to be level-headed about Part 2.
Tracer part 2: Almost makes me wish I’d majored in accounting. Out tax accountant heroes are so badass that I'm half-expecting a fantasy sequence where they stride in wearing capes and tights.