DR. CHA (Ep. 5-6): With rebellious teens I-Rang and Eun-Seo having more in common than the world knows, both mothers have been abandoned by their families but in different ways. I-Rang by her parents personal ambitions while Eun-Seo abandoned by her birth father and her mother’s family as being a mistress’ child. Dr. Choi lives in the delusion of marrying Dr. Seo, but Eun-Seo bluntly tells her to find her a nice step-father. But she rejects that notion. I suspect that the half-daughters will be the diplomats to create a peace treaty among the families.

Meanwhile, Dr. Cha is being worn down by her residency, and the undue stress imposed on her by her husband and Dr. Seo. Mistakes pile up and she doubts her ability, confidence and purpose. But it is Chairman Oh that takes away any drastic option by making Cha indispensable part of the hospital’s future. Well played for a man given a new perspective on his life. But some would argue that it takes competence more than empathy. But every time Cha gets a boost, she is emotional punched in the gut like a cornered boxer taking blow after blow while trying to hold out to the bell. Both Choi and Cha will put their dreams into a direct conflict with Seo - - which family will he wind up with?

Deborah
This show is bipolar and makes me either love it or want to drop it. This week again, I first nearly dropped it after E7. No, not because of that famous street scene - as a seasoned kdrama watcher I have now a bit higher tolerance of Korean toilet humour 😆 and although I could do without some details, they were actually spot on with the relief expression (+music!) 😆😆 and I did laugh, I admit. 🙈 What turned me off was the general direction the show suggested - getting the boyfriend back and then dump him? Really? But episode 8 turned it around and I liked the idea that Bora just wants to rewrite the ending to end the relationship with more dignity, mainly for herself. So I'm still here and hope next week will be ok, because I really love Yoo Inna in this (and sometimes one can see that Yoon Hyunmin is enjoying her acting as well 😁). The other thing I like is the two leads together and how their relationship grows - from witnessing their low moments, having understanding and giving support to each other... to friendship... and love. I like their talks... and now also their kisses. 😊

Dr Cha
Too little comedy this week.
And I was shocked that the show went there and had Inho have two parallel relationships with kids in each. He is beyond redemption for me.

I Met You by Chance
I don't love it (yet), but I'm intrigued enough to continue next week

Still watching and enjoying The Real Has Come and Kim Sabu 3 (and I'm also simultaneously watching season 2 😅😅 ).

The Good Bad Mother (Episode 3-4) - Mood: C
18 Again already showed me how good Lee Do Hyun is at acting significantly outside his actual age, but it was still amazing to see his performance here. With that being said, the writing is not doing the show any favours by giving more complexity to the villains or by propping up random obstacles for our main leads (I rolled my eyes when Mi Joo’s work friend betrayed her). All it needs to do is focus on literally the main leads: I will even take a lame love triangle if it means we can pretend the whole revenge plot doesn’t exist? Yes, I won’t even care that the show is telegraphing Kang Ho as the dad.

The Secret Romantic Guesthouse (Episode 13-14) - Mood: D+
Personally, that was a much better first kiss! Also, the romance between Shi Yeol and Hong Joo was much more narratively solid than the main leads. Alas, this week was pretty much the calm before the storm that will take place in the penultimate week. I don’t understand why Hong Joo pretty much exposed herself by leaving her ornament but the plot is plotting, yeah?

Doctor Cha (Episode 5-6) - Mood: C-
Wow, the writer really emphasised that there won’t be a redemption arc for In Ho, implication being that the 1st leads won’t be an OTP in a k-drama. I thought it was just going to be friendship between Roy Kim and Dr Cha but I was wrong: it seems they may actually end up together romantically. You know what, I’ll accept all the makjang if she divorces at the very least!

My Perfect Stranger (Episode 1-2) - Mood: C-
Hmm, the time travelling car being repaired in the very first week is surprising to me, but the verdict is still out on whether it is a MacGuffin. I did find myself suspending disbelief that Yoon Young just happened to be walking near the tunnel but time travel shows will have more complicated things to be worried over, for one, the grandfather paradox isn’t on her mind at all.

Stealer: The Treasure Keeper (Episode 7-8) - Mood: D+
Ok, the very first time I actually burst out laughing watching this show was during the 5 word yaja time. But unfortunately, it was funny not because of the show itself but because I was reminded of all the silly variety games played on Running Man? Somehow, Ae Ri managed to learn Skunk’s identity before the entire police team did, which is just so morbidly funny for me.

Bora! Deborah (Episode 7-8) - Mood: D-
Wtf, weren’t we supposed to be done and over with the dreary stuff? Instead, we get our female lead drunk again and have her pee in the street in front of our male lead (cause nothing like bodily functions scream intimacy, amirite?), followed by he soberly kissing her without any warning. Of course, there’s that stupid mistake trope flying about in the preview. Facepalm?

@missvictrix
Absolutely!! 😄😄
(Is this going to finally be the good old k-romcom??!! 🙏)

CRICKET - saw drama between 2 teams in IPL - not much happens in cricket so this one got more coverage

bowlers at mercy of batsman with all these 215+ scores - this is why i don't like t20 - no balance at all - less skills more muscle power.

A S H E S - don't want to see small boundries and flat pitches.

World Cup - what world cup - seriously.

My Perfect Stranger: I enjoyed it so much. I know it will be a lot of tears in this drama. I also appreciate how they fixed the car so quickly. I hope it stays fixed as well. Can't wait for the next episodes.

Bora!Deborah: I enjoyed episode 8 a lot. I like how she re broke up with him and how it gave both of them, but especially her, her dignity back. I want her to stop drinking, it isn't cute, funny or interesting. We actually got a KISS, and I was like ohhh ohhhhhhh, lol.

The Good Bad Mother: They have yet to explain when the good will come in to the bad mother, but I am waiting. The twins are my favorite characters, they are just too too cute.

Stealer: Continues to be a delight, even the theme song is hilarious. I am a stealer.The drama I enjoy the most throughout the week.

Joseon Attorney: I am sad for our OTP, but mostly for Woo Do Hwan, he looked so heartbroken. I just wanted to give him hugs and kisses.

Kim Sabo: SIGH. Eun Jae's dad is wearing on my last nerve. However, I get it, let Kim Sabo be great!!!

All I have to say is...
C-drama "Till the End of the Moon" has my heart and soul in its clutches. The final episodes will probably break me and I'm here for it.

That is all.

Secret Romantic Guesthouse Invested in our secondary couple, pretty much meh about the rest. Yu-ha for king!

Stealer Love it. The most stress free drama ever cos Chun-ja has got everything covered and no problem is not solvable with cash, hacking skills and an ability to make bullet proof suits within seconds.

Good Bad Mother Great performances, but bits of it are almost unwatchable - I don't want to be a party to that kind of parental abuse, thanks. But it's a deeply interesting set up, and there is potential for redemption so I'll keep going.

Joseon Attorney We're into our separation angst, but at least it feels justified. And WDH taking us through the stages of grief is a sight to behold and marvel at. He's still killing it, even if the drama overall is not on his level.

Dr Cha Still keeping me entertained, mainly through the tight network of relationships that exists and wondering when individuals will start working out how close they actually all are.

Perfect Stranger Struggled to get through ep1, but then ep2 turned out to be surprisingly gripping. Definitely want to know how it all fits together.

All That We Loved Jumping around all over time is not helping. At least establish when the operation took place in real time, drama - before their high school antics, during or after? And who has a hair cut like that in their mid-30s??? Not sure about continuing, although I love a high school drama.

My perfect stranger (ep.2). What a fun premiere. I enjoyed it a lot, but I guess it’s no surprise when I have such soft both for KDW and JKJ. I know we hav a mystery to solve, but so far I’m all with the nostalgic vibe, and this feeling that Back to the future meets Life on Mars, as Mindy defined so well.

Bora! Deborah (ep. 8). I’m still here. I haven’t very fond of Bora so far, although I totally understand her. She’s was told and firmly believes that the way to happiness is being married to a successful man, and only being married can grant a woman what she needs (I was heartbroken when a drunk Deborah said in from of her audience some episodes ago that a woman needs a ring on her finger to know that if they are fired they have someone to take care of them). I understood why JuWon, even if he is pure trash, told her the harsh things he did, because she really felt suffocating. I only wished she understood finding happiness and balance on her own is the only way to happiness. But this is a kdrama, so…

Good bad mother (ep.4). I’m really liking it and the duality both leads are showing. We have mum who is a soft, dedicated mum now, only caring about his son and proud of him, while in the past she was this heartless woman who never allowed her son to have a proper meal or enjoy the simple things of childhood. Then we have Kang Ho, who used to be this soft and warm guy, absolutely devoted to his first love that turned into that cold hearted man who is planning a revenge. What happened to them to change this much? Can they both reconnect? I’m mainly intrigued by that.

I finally finished Bait / Decoy (part 2). What can I say? When I continued with the second part I barely remembered what happened on part 1, and honestly, it didn’t matter. All those dark episodes just to discover it was me who had been used as bait. I really liked the actors (very few actor can play a crazy bastard better than Heo Sung Tae), but at the end the story was about nothing. One of the biggest Macguffins I’ve seen in my life.

I also got to watch Anna. I chose the 6 episode version and really liked it a lot. I think Suzy did a great job and totally deserved her Baeksang nomination. I really liked the drama.

And after a long time I also finished Never give up. It’s a light family drama, full of tropes, yes, but I really enjoyed it, it was funny and delivered some interesting issues regarding family relations. And what can I say? Does anyone not have a soft spot on DooJoon? Don’t you? Are you made of ice?

And finally, and out of love of babes, I am watching Wooyoung’s variety: Beat Coin that can be so funny and annoying at the same time and Fantasy boys that is ok as a survival program, but makes me feel so bad for all those trainees.

And yes missvictrix, replaying the KTL teaser endlessly counts as a drama. We’ve all been missing Junho!!!!

My Perfect Stranger I liked the first 2 episodes. I liked how the ML didn't loose time and just embraced travel time.

The Secret Romantic Guesthouse I just hope it won't end like King 2 Hearts for Shi-Yeol.

Bora! Deborah Jin-Ho's behavior is not cute at all... I really hope he won't date the sister.

Finland Papa The episodes being short, there are way too much flashbacks without any order.

Joseon Attorney The Princess will have a lot to do to be forgiven.

Romantic Doctor Teacher Kim 3 It's nice to see Director Park on the good side.

What I'm watching:

_ Secret Romantic Guesthouse (14 out of 18). Is the Shi Yeol Fan Club ready for what's coming?

_ Bora Deborah (8 out of 14). Episode 7 was a let down but episode 8 was great, the best so far. I'm hooked.

_ Finland Papa (first two episodes). I don't know if I like it or not. At least It is a short drama so I think I'll keep watching it.

What I have finished:

_ Live (2018 k-drama). I have watched it in a few days. I enjoy slice-of-life dramas but I'm not really into police series. This drama is good, I cannot say otherwise, but it won't be among my favorite. Maybe because I didn't like most of the characters, maybe because it's too realistic and even a bit depressing...
But the last episode is really good.

Finland Papa
This is Would you like a cup of coffee, the cafe edition. The staff are the interesting characters we are slowly getting to know through their interactions with the female lead. The cafe owners’ son is my favourite character he is so funny with his irritable manner and the mystery is how he came to be when his parents are so calm and caring. I also love her school friend who we only see in the memory scenes. He is so sweet and has been given the approval of her dad to be a future son in law so I can not understand why we are not seeing him in the present scenes. I am hoping this a Truman show type situation and that Yoori will have her important people bring joy back into her life.

The Good Bad Mother
I am loving this show. It is so tightly written a lot happens in each episode. It is dark and they give us some fake outs but I am convinced that all will work out well. I am worried about how the situation will end with the baddies as the presidential candidate is a serious piece of work and his daughter is equally cold and calculating although the impact of what she has done is playing on her mind.

All that we loved.
A drama that has just started. It has gone for spotlighting the sound track with slow mo of the beautiful cast at points in the drama which makes me feel I am watching a song video. It has a past and present storyline and currently, I am confused. Hoping after next week’s drop it will be clearer. So glad they did the two episode drop on the same day.

Completed

Salon de Nabi or Fly High Butterfly
Is now in my top eleven best dramas of all time (I couldn’t decide what to take off the list.) It was a beanie recommendation for the long list for the Watch and Discuss K Drama club and I decided to watch an episode to see what I thought about it. Well, that was the end of sleep because it is seriously addictive 😊 It reminds me of how I experienced Be melodramatic; each episode raises a serious topic which it handles in a really sensitive manner and yet it will have me laughing hysterically at later points. Being lost in an episode and then the after effect of having the feel good factor or thinking deeply about the issues raised long after the credits roll is what makes me rate a drama highly.

Doctor Romantic 3: 7.0 The NK defector days were better quality unoriginal contrived suspense/conflict than I was expecting. Day 3 was mostly Doldam Doldrums.

My Perfect Stranger: 8.0 Time travel in a car. Thru a tunnel. Is that the only way it works in kdramaland?

Joseon Attorney: A Morality: 7.0

Secret Romantic Guesthouse: 6.5

Bora! Deborah / True to Love: 6.5 How long till Yoo In-na starts playing mothers/grandmothers instead of romantic leads, and will my poor ol' brain be able to adjust? Also, trying to think of captions for all my screenies is more fun than watching the show. I've been trying not to spam the wall with too many of them.

Stealer: The Treasure Keeper: 7.5 Big/overdone/silly fight scene early in day 7 -- since it was in a chamber with supposedly lethal moving laser beams that the leads had just turned off, I was hoping that they'd just turn them back on and have a gangster barbeque. Oh, well.
- That Viper dude gives a whole new meaning to "the pen is mightier than the sword".
- Now that Ae-ri has joined the group, the love geometry is in balance and Chang-hoon may not need to stay single.

ONGOING
Secret Romantic Guesthouse - Nothing better happen to the HongSi couple or we are going to have words show 😠.

Stealer - My weekly delight. Ae-ri is a gem.

Bo-ra! Deborah - Some excellent conversations between our leads this week. Kiss seemed a bit premature.

The Good Bad Mother - The fiancée revelation was quite something. I'm glad the villains are smart. Hope Young-soon course-corrects her methods soon coz the starvation was hard to watch.

STARTED
My Perfect Stranger - Giving it another week for the leads (and Hee-sub the cutie!).

Planning to give Tale of the Nine-Tailed 1938 a try as well.

C-DRAMAS
Catching up on Till the End of the Moon in time for the finale.

Started The Ingenious One. Have only watched the first two episodes but seems interesting enough to continue.

THE GOOD BAD MOTHER (Ep 1-4)
I’ve shared a lot of my thoughts in the recap section, but this show finally brought me out of my drama slump. The mother and son battling their demons from their past mistakes but also getting a second chance for forgiveness and redemption.

If or once Kang-ho gets back his memories, I don’t think he can be a prosecutor again. He will probably serve jail time for his part in corruption even if it was all for revenge for his father’s death. I think or hope the ending does end up with him working on the pig farm or being a union leader since he knows all the laws. Even if he can’t legally practise it, he can use his knowledge for the greater good this time.

ABBOT ELEMENTARY (S1 & S2)
I binged watched this and enjoyed the heck out of it! The humour is great but so is the critique of the educational systems. From the awful charter schools and their lack of support for struggling students. To public schools, especially regarding resources and underfunding from the government. I’m currently caught up and if Janine & Gregory don’t end up together this season I’m going to pull all my hair out! I ship them so hard!

BEEF (Ep 1-3)
Heh I’m loving this and I think Ali Wong and Steven Yeun are perfect for this. I love this dark comedy, the portrayal of dissatisfaction and disillusionment. The pure anger and rage and the pettiness of it all. Looking forward to finishing it so I can share my thoughts but for now, if you can’t guess already, I’m LOVING IT!

Alchemy of Souls: There should be more shows where the female lead's love language is "attempted murder". Also, the prince's eyebrows need their own spin-off series.

Dr. Cha - I was a little pissed off with Jung-seok thinking about quitting her residency. I'll maintain again that while she is resolved, she's not steadfast in it. I like that there's now an external force that her residency also hangs on. An external stimuli serving as a placeholder for our resident doctor isn't bad at all. And that moment of respect from Dr. Jeon... I liked it.

Finland Papa - Simple. And I liked it. Also, I think Finland Papa is of the world beyond. I hope I'm not overstretching my imagination though.

Queen of The Mask Ep 2- Goo Yoona really suffered. And I wonder what secret the other two friends are hiding.

Bora! Deborah Ep 6 - I guess Deborah has learnt her lesson and sing aloud her presence before entering Sang-jin's office. And why is it a constant coincidence that they're always in the middle of bad-mouthing Deborah every single time.
Shout out to Bo-ra's sister for handling the aftermath of Bo-ra's break-up, and the way she made money out of the dispose-any-reminders-of-Ju-wan was just the best course of action. I can already picture the look on his face the moment he sees his expensive gifts going for cheap money or way expensive price.

My Perfect Stranger - I'm always going to dig into anything Kim Dong-wook. And, yes it delivered. This is my second k- time travel drama. And I like the laws the govern this one. Not too hard to follow. My money is on the writer. How coincidental is it that she's coming back from Woo-jung-ri the very day FL's mom passes away.
And there's some pretty good comedic timing here from Kim Dong-wook and Jin Ki-joo.

The Secret Romantic Guesthouse Ep 13 - I just don't want them having swords at each other's throats.

On another end, I've been completing past projects.

Island 2 - The showdown was beautiful... and tragic. Not even already reading the recaps could stop me from seeing it. I can't miss some badass action at all. But, Yohan? All of a sudden he's a supercharged. I'll suspend all my beliefs cause I'm up for anything that sends Goong-tan to the deep pits of prison.

Soundtrack #1 - I can't really figure out why I couldn't finish remaining 40 minutes of episode 4. But, what I can say is that I enjoyed the last 40 mins to the very end. Perhaps it was good that I waited for my mood then to pass before finally watching it. But I guess it was worth it remaining on my storage for a year and two weeks.

Current/recent:
Bora! Deborah: Couldn’t live-watch while traveling, so based on comments here I FF’d through 3-6, laughed at the garbage-truck and partition-wars scenes, and will stick around to see if there’s any more gold to be found amidst the dross. Yoo In-na is great in this role even if it’s often hard to watch. That new girl at the publishing house worries me, though.
Our Blooming Youth: This earned a Bean of Testing My Patience by the end, but I rewatched some of the prettiest parts (scenic and human) as a palate cleanser. The archery scenes and the sea of grass were gorgeous.

Older stuff:
My Holo Love: It’s a mistake to watch a show with some of the same lead actors as another, currently airing show I'm also watching. I kept getting sweet Holo confused with prickly Soo-hyuk from Bora. Overall, it’s a decent escapist fantasy and at least the FL ends up with a human being in this one.
Marriage, Not Dating: So fun! Han Groo and Yeon Woo-jin were sexy and funny and cute. Why aren’t more recent rom-coms like this? My only minor complaints were a bit of repetitiveness (inevitable with 16 episodes based on a thin premise) and secondary characters who abruptly changed course without apparent motivation to serve the plot. Another worthwhile escapist lark.
Zombie Detective: A goofy, gory gem. Choi Jin-hyuk was born to play that role. I need his deadpan internal zombie monologues to narrate my life.
Stranger (Forest of Secrets) 1: Off to a great, intriguing start. Somehow I’ve never seen either Bae Doo-na or Cho Seung-woo before, and damn, they are both awesome.

Finished Go Ahead and absolutely loved it. Hope the K-remake is just as good.

I'm halfway through the second part of Love Like the Galaxy and I strongly suspect this will be one of my all-time favorites.

On ep 15 of Alchemy of Souls, and I love it for the most part. I'm enjoying the recaps as well. Alathe's humorous writing style reminds me of the fun snark of old recaps :D

I watched the first eps of 3-4 other dramas to give myself a break from all the dramatic tension in LLTG and AOS, and finally settled on My Lethal Man. Just finished ep 5 and I foresee some judicious use of the FF button. Let's be honest...I'm just in it for the ML LOL.

Finished Duty After School
So only the first episode of part 2 was lighter, after that we got psychological suspense. After all, monster stories are about the monsters in us. Then, we got about 4 outcomes (in a dream, in hindsight, as backflash…) but the “real” finale was hard to watch.
Joseon Attorney
The case last week was not so gripping, SML is taking the wrong path (but I do believe he has a bigger plan), and finally the big reveal of princess’s identity – so show should be picking up this weekend!
Romantic Guesthouse
I’m scared for both our couples, the friends and the revolution. The “good side” does not have enough political and practical support, and everyone is way too careless! But what do we know, I’m sure writer-nim will find a way…
Bo Ra! Deborah
Now that we are over the breakup, this is what a romcom should be, funny and romantic! Loved the lesson in seduction and the slow-mo-walk…
Doctor Cha
Can ML be any worse? Having an affair for about 20 years and an illegitimate child are bad… but always giving in to his mother, hiding his wife’s assets from her, not taking care of his children at all and on top of it all slacking off at work and bossing everyone around are awful, too! Show has it coming for you, I hope!
Dr Romantic S3
Looking forward to this weekend’s episodes. It’s such a good feeling to be able to trust a drama!
The Good Bad Mother
I’m enjoying Lee Do Hyun’s acting, the thriller, comedy and romance, the real life aspects (single parenting, continuous petty crime…) and the rural setting. But really, a “bad mother” is not saying enough: withholding food from a paraplegic, are you serious?? The reconciliation between mother and son is not so easy for me.
My Perfect Stranger
I don’t know about this, I’m not so much into 80ies nostalgia and didn’t find the story compelling so far. I take it the show purposely uses the retro vibe also in the village setting which is so obviously in a studio? But recognizing the tunnel from Hotel Del Luna was fun, and I’ll go with the 4 episode rule.
All That We Loved
This is billed as romance with a straight-up announced love triangle, and it is, but besides it already deals with mental health issues (psychiatrist practice, anxiety disorder, kleptomania?). I do have a little trouble managing the many time jumps, but on the whole I’m enjoying this. (Also like getting two short episodes on the same day.)
Hello Me
Since I had to travel for work, I needed another Netflix drama to download, and this looked perfect: Kim Young Kwang as a goofy chaebol heir (after serial murderer and introverted lover) in a time travel story. This is only from 2021 but if someone told me this was 10 years old or even older I wouldn’t have doubted it… Maybe it’s the classic storyline, the side characters (balding chaebol, evil aunt, funny workers…) or the directing? I do like the central message of accepting yourself and your...

Romantic Doctor Teacher Kim 3 continues to be a joy to watch. Just being able to look at all the previous season cast, my heart is filled with joy already. Love, love, love Kim Min-jae and Dr Areum. This couple is as cute as the main couple.

The Secret Romantic Guesthouse🛖👑👑👑❓(14/18): The show revealed and lost most of its addictive ‘Secret’ parts in the first half, but the ‘Romantic’ made up for it the last two weeks.☺️Well, mostly. Right now, I am very concerned about the ‘Guesthouse’ part, since both the building and its inhabitants are reaching the front line of this throne war. I want to know how everything unfolds, but I do not want any of them to be in pain, or worse.😟There are two weeks left, and it will probably take me longer than that to catch up during this busy May month. Enough time to start gathering the torches and pitchforks for our favorite watchman. He has seen a lot in his life, but falls in love at first sight with his lady whenever he sees her again.❤️

BORA: I have to give it to this show: they don't shy away from going all in. And as a hater of toilet humor, I must admit I laughed more than once over Bo-ra's expression of joyful relief and the rising music when she answered nature's call. But even funnier were two other scenes: the in-office negotiation (didn't love the Trump callbacks, but still thought YIN was amazing with her microexpressions), and the cafe seduction. In the hands of a lesser actress, these moments would be cliched and cringey, but with YIN they are a delight to watch moment to moment. She's a really gifted comedic actress. The only part that I didn't love this week is that the pee scene necessitated Bo-ra getting drunk again. But like a million kdramas that came before, this one is going to glide right over the alcohol issues. I did enjoy the proper closure scene and the kiss was very nice. On the flipside, although I appreciate the lack of serial killers, I cannot warm up to the secondary couples at all. Oh, and I don't understand how Su-hyuk doesn't know his girlfriend worked for Bo-ra.

GOOD BAD MOTHER: I like the complexity of the villains, the relationship between the leads (and their children?), and every moment LDH is on-screen. Of course, we're early in the story, so I have to resist the temptation to rail against the mom for going right back to her abusive behavior and feeling like a good parent when her withholding of food resulted in the desired outcome. I also don't yet care much for any of the villagers, even though seeing that mask woman and her husband do yoga together at night in matching masks and pjs was kindof funny.

FINLAND PAPA: Just a lovely, warm, quiet drama. I hope the ML is actually alive.

MY PERFECT STRANGER: A straightforward time travel drama with two complicated leads. Like other Beanies said, this show feels like "Back to the Future" and "Tunnel" got together and had a baby. This one isn't going to break any molds, but it's fun and intriguing in equal measure, and I think the lead actors are doing well giving the material some depth and intensity while also playing the humor.

ALL THAT WE LOVED: I'm not quite caught up, but this one is decent. It has the tropes but doesn't yet feel weighted down by them.

SECRET ROMANTIC GUESTHOUSE: Still great at subverting my expectations and keeping me guessing. I do suspect Shi Yeol might be in for a tragic end. But is this drama 16 or 18 episodes? If 18, I feel there's more of a chance of happy endings all around.

DR. CHA continues to get better.

The flashbacks in FINLAND PAPA were helpful but raise questions as much as providing answers.

I am still watching BORA! DEBORAH but I have to ask: Where is the chemistry between our leads?

It would have been too easy if Ms. Jang Se-rin just went away on the THE REAL HAS COME! But thanks to her unauthorized excursion into The Annex that likely won’t happen now. And now our leads will really have to scramble. We have been introduced to the concept of Contract Parenting- OK, we will explore a new idea but will it stick? It looks like the maknaes of our two leads have been set up for their own romance- or at least a story arc- which will stretch our horizons at least a bit because we are talking about two people who could not be farther apart in their respective situations and approach to life. The entire family now knows that our ML’s older sister is also pregnant- our ML’s sister-in-law now has two women to be jealous of. And it may have been reported that our Chairman will be replaced by another actor. A whole lot of things are happening with this show. I will definitely not be dropping it.

My wife discovered the classic THE GIRL WHO SEES SMELLS and loved it. She also continues to love the Chinese Costume fantasy TILL THE END OF THE MOON, which has ten more episodes not yet posted to Viki.

SECRET ROMANTIC GUESTHOUSE has been good.

For lovers of the BRIDGERTON dramas we now have QUEEN CHARLOTTE on Netflix. Please enjoy this fairy tale which bears little resemblance to the real story of the actual Queen Charlotte and King George III- other than the fact that she and George were in fact very happily married- and, which was unusual for the time, this was not a marriage arranged by their parents but, in fact, one which George himself arranged after very carefully selecting her from the very small list of suitable prospects. She was very young when she married, a good thing since this happy couple went on to have fifteen children. As for the fact that the actress portraying her is of African descent- in fact the real Queen Charlotte did have some African ancestors.

THE GOOD BAD MOTHER has some great villains.

—My Perfect Stranger aka. Reverse Back to the Future: I'm really enjoying this show. It's just my style. What I'm really curious about, is how is the romance going to develop without people noticing and thinking the ML is a creep. LOL

—The Secret Romantic Guesthouse: I'm scared. I sense that something bad is going to happen. Something really bad.
I would like to see our gang work together, that's the only way they can come up with a strong plan.

Watching K dramas

Secret Royal Loveshack The King knows there are plotters.
Good Bad Mom

J dramas
Otonari ni Ginga A manga artist hires an assistant, she’s pretty, nice, good with the kids, she’s out of this world ! A Princess from another world.

Watashi no Ojisan: Wataoji Struggling AD at tv company has a middle aged guardian Angel that only she can see. She needs all the help she can get.

Waiting for various other shows to be subbed .

C drama
The Ingenious One This is keeping my interest for now.

I have finished Reborn rich and I can see who it was such a hit in Korea. The chaebol machinations are a bit too similar to the red counsellors' machinations for me.

Chicago typewriter also has a bit of history, but also a lot more fun. And puppy Go Kyung Pyo.

To withstand the darkness (and blandness for I cannot care about the story despite my affection for the leads) of Memorist, we have started Where stars land / Fox bride star. This drama is a surprise : we went in for a slice of life romance, and got a fantasy workplace.
The work at the airport is very unrealistic, but there are two of the best manager I have seen. I would love to work with Manager Yang and Team Leader Choi. Here my fondness for the leads and supports make me gloss over the irrationnalities.
Maybe the conclusion is that Lee Je Hoon beats Lee Seung Ho.

Around this time last year, I was watching My Liberation Notes, a show whose underlying message of modernist alienation I didn’t like at all, but which was beautifully acted and filmed. I was really enjoying my favorite romantic comedy genre Sh**ting Stars, which really had some genuinely funny moments sending up the Korean entertainment industry, and I was gazing in awe at the spectacular beauty, er, I mean spectacular acting of Kim Hee-Seon, in the well-meaning but pretty silly anti-suicide fantasy Tomorrow.

Unfortunately I was soon to undergo a genuinely scary real life experience which took me out of kdramas and off dramabeans for months, but that’s not the point here. Instead its to bash this years crop of kdramas.

In comparison to last year at this time, I am watching a carried-by-the-leads romance that just seems off in the rhythm of its story, Bora-Deborah, am liking a light semi-parody action adventure Stealer that is fun, but requires no thinking at all, and started a time travel murder mystery Perfect Stranger which could be okay, but does not star Kim Hee-Seon.

If I do a fuller comparison of last year at this time, I had forced myself through a beginning of the year sageuk, Red Sleeve, which confirmed my dislike of sageuks and their inherent political conservatism, but was a true tear-jerking tragic romance; watched a very good romance, Our Blessed Summer, then a grim but very well done murder/suspense show, Through the Darkness, and two shows with extremely disappointing endings that were nonetheless very entertaining, Business Proposal and 25-21.

This year the equivalent high quality romance drama was Call it Love which had stunning cinematagraphy, good acting, but ultimately was pretty thin. Then there was revenge Taxi Driver 2 provided action and revenge, Glory portrayed brutalization and revenge, Payback accounting and revenge. The sageuk I attempted to watch was Our Blooming Youth which thankfully wasn’t focused on revenge but was a pretty unsatisfying, way too many episode viewing experience. As far as rom-coms, while parts of Crash Course in Romance and Love to Hate You were okay, the interesting premise and solid acting in those shows was squandered by writing blunders

Will the summer of 2023 turn this circumstance around, so I’ll be raving about the great kdrama year of 2023? Not sure, but at least one thing will be better for me—a regular participation in Dramabeans!

Joseon Attorney: Caught up to ep 10. The case with Lord Chu's son was compelling. What happened was just, but also tragic. The Kwon case wasn't that strong and had the misfortune of following such a great case. Seems like we're heading into angst territory. I'm worried about Eun-soo. She's got the vibes of the brother in 100 Days My Prince

The Real Has Come: The stress of almost getting caught!! EEE!! I've never been in a contract/fake relationship, but I feel like I can teach drama characters on the basics of what they need to do to not get caught. I'm enjoying the arguments AND the communicating. I'm interested in how the older sister and her husband can do the sexless coparenting thing when they're physically attracted to each other.

Meet Yourself (cdrama, up to ep 35) We're heading towards the end, and I really don't want to say goodbye. The characters don't just exchange dialogue, they have conversations where we're made aware that each person has their own viewpoint.

Taiwanese drama “Wave Makers” on Netflix. @pickleddragon - thanks so much for your recommendation on this one.

This is easily the BEST - and by a big margin - out of anything I’ve watched this year. As a drama about election and politics, this is as real as you can get without losing a beat about people at its core. I especially appreciate and admire how well the parallel storylines are played out covering work life balance, gender equity, the all too prevailing “Me Too” stories, the good and bad of politics (probably more bad than good). All these are blended in well with the right portion along the main election plank, in eight episodes @45 min. A great masterclass of what good scriptwriting could be.

I finished this over 2 days and fully recommend it to any one who’s looking for a drama about people and relationships - and it’s a big bonus if politics is your thing. It really reminisces the vibrancy of the two Taiwanese elections that I was fortunate to have witnessed myself. Everything here is top notch from writing (first time drama by two female veteran stage writers), directing (from the director of the acclaimed “The World Between Us”), to the acting (hats down to the wonderful Ying-Hsuan Hsieh and the rest of the cast), and the cinematography (so surprised how they only used 200 extras to create the massive campaign scenes).

Towards the end, when the two main leads talked about their job as kingmaker or queenmaker, I had a little chuckle because that’s what I thought the k-drama “Queenmaker” would be but it’s not (other than makjiang). The same for the Korean movie Kingmaker which is not makjiang but such an underwhelming piece.

Try out the trailer: https://youtu.be/Q8ryUSYemhk

I have sample-first-watched Tell Me What You Saw and My Roommate Is A Gumiho, and now tentatively continuing both.

TMWYS characters act too cool, and too condescending, making everything feel very unnatural and unlikeable, but I'm giving it another episode.

MRIAG on the other hand is so light and unserious. I keep telling myself it is not worth the internet I'm using for it, but I still come back to it. I have to be honest though, the leads aren't pulling me back, I have fallen for the second male lead who has awoken all kinds of memories from old favorite novels.

DR ROMANTIC 2: I must’ve slept through the part where they explained how a woman who faints at the sight of blood could make it through four years of med school and be in her second year of surgery fellowship before someone notices. Regardless, I am surprised at how much I enjoyed this very heartfelt tearjerker. For the first time, Ahh Hyo Seop impressed me with his acting chops. So sorry I won’t be able to catch RD3, which is being criminally denied to us of the wrong streaming persuasion.

17 BUT 30: or is it 30 but 17? A resounding meh. Found it recommended highly on fangirlverdict, which should have tipped me off, since fangirl and I hardly ever see eye to eye. An earlier drama with Ahh Hyo Seop, this time as SL frantically yapping at the heels of the other actors like a puppy on meth.

WELCOME TO WEDDING HELL: It struck me as too earnest in its depiction of escalating tensions. Did not care for.

SHOOTING THE STARS (2002): Eps 1-3 of 9. New release on Viki with Jeon Do-Yeon and Jo In-Sung. It has plenty of that vintage flavor, and so far, a very compelling story. Can’t imagine how they will resolve all this in 9 episodes.

Secret Romantic guest house: just watched episode 1 and I think I might continue.

Extraordinary you: I'm in a drama slump, and I usually watch oldies that I loved or oldies that I missed while they were playing. This was one of them. I started watching and can't stop. I can see some flaws in the world building, but I think the idea is innovative enough to keep me on my toes.

CDrama: Love & Redemption - naturally after finishing Ashes of Love, I had a whole evening to recover and then went for round two with this one. There was a discussion a few days ago about Cdrama openings/intro sequences being really pretty (and pretty long) and I agree! Love Between Fairy and Devil and Till the End of the Moon have some of the most prettiest intro scenes EVER, every frame is pure art. I actually also like the length of the intros because it gives me more time to admire the pretty. AoL’s intro was a little meh though but L&R’s one is much more visually pleasing.

Kdrama:

- As per my big fan wall proclamation tried Dr Romantic s2 (because a friend said watch s1 later) but dropped it after 4 eps - it just wasn’t my cup of tea. Maybe I’m not in the mood but I’ve rarely ever found a medical drama that’s kept me engaged, so it’s very much a me problem :(

- Finished the Tempted rewatch and gosh I forget how draining and low-key draggy the last half is. Every time I watch this drama, I go ‘this isn’t so bad??? Sure it’s very cliched but so far so good’ and then the second half hits and I’m like ‘ahhhh I remember now’.

Kdrama on air watching schedule is gradually shrinking:
- Joseon Attorney: albeit attention to plot declines a bit more every week, Woo Do-hwan, Bona and N keeping me going
- Secret Guesthouse: 18 eps rather than 16 is perf, it’s been a good ride
- Good, Bad Mother: only really invested in the Kang-ho x Mi-joo storyline so I have been ff-ing episodes a bit
- Finland Papa: is really lovely so far, shame it’s only 6 x 30 min eps but hoping the story continues/finishes well!
- I want to start Perfect Strangers but I think I might wait for a few more eps to come out so I can binge.

Other:
- Queen Charlotte: I love a good period drama and I’ve warmed up to aspects of Bridgerton (there’s not enough period dramas out there so I’ll take what I can get at this point) so I binged this one the day it came out basically. This spin-off is pretty solid though but it is quite heavy and tragic, the main leads’ chemistry was just dazzling.

- Merlin: I don’t know if anyone else has watched this show but it’s an absolute British GEM! I watched the series when I was a kid with my mum when it used to air on TV so I remember but don’t remember a lot of the plot, but it was one of the things that fed my love for fantasy and mythology/legend based stories growing up. Rewatching/watching it properly for the first time now has been so rewarding - I was a little worried that it wouldn’t stack up to the love I had for it has a kid, since kids tend to view things in very sparkly and rosy lenses, but happy to confirm that it is still objectively sparkly and rosy and lovely.

Still watching Lost and Under The Queen's Umbrella. Lost is like a puzzle, and the pieces are starting to click together (8 episodes to go). I like the music too.

Under the Queen's Umbrella is the palace thriller I did not know I needed.

Title: The futile attempts to get distracted lol)))
Like I really, really tried to divide my attention, but that one show holds me by throat and refuses to weaken its grasp even for a bit. I NEED to know the conclusion asap so I can finally relax and stop biting my nails (figuratively) in fear, but at the same time I don't want it to end(((

TILL THE END OF CURSED FATE THE MOON: "I just wanna be a lover, not a red-eyed, screaming ghoul." (c)
See, I've been thinking a lot since drama's start what ML's story reminds me of, and this week I finally had an eureka moment - Elric of Melniboné! Wtf was with my brain to not notice the parallels sooner, but thankfully someone pointed out his hair turning white after a certain event in the novel (drama didn't go there, which I'm hella conflicted about), then it clicked. And wow, the more you think of it, the more it fits. Is author a fan? Now I'm gonna forever imagine LYX in that role too... What a picture! Anyway, the shared central theme - unlucky guy being destined to suffer all his life and eventually bring Apocalypse, his own opinion on the matter notwithstanding - fully came to light this week, making a textbook dramatic reveal. ML's realization that all his endless misery was scripted - including attempts to break free - was the pure heartbreak, even more so than what he went through 500 years ago. Following sanity slippage(s) didn't even feel excessive at this point. I can see why some viewers complain that amount of bloody angst in the show made them feel numb and detached. Doesn't include me, ofc, this is 100% my brand of pain))) Now if only it all led to a satisfying, cathartic end that heals all wounds... I'm still praying and my sword is fully sharpened.

FL FINALLY came through, accepting her feelings and giving her man the benefit of the doubt and all around support that was long overdue *claps* So many great romantic scenes, now fully sincere! My favorites were her arrival at the trial and forehead touch exorcism, even kisses (ok, the chest scars one was fire) and proposal (pls stop with your many red weddings and just elope, guys, I've developed a phobia already!) don't hold a candle to that. Let's see if remaining eps manage to bring even more feelz. In other news, SML turned the worst ever, and along with loathed in all her lives SFL they make a very lame story that feels like a filler. At least FL's jerk of a bio-dad moves the main plot! Overall, this arc seems to be the one that suffered from episode cut/censorship the most, editing got really choppy at times, kinda affecting the story, unfortunately. Didn't stop the show from being epic as usual tho, particularly in action and angsty scenes. Yes, drama is a torture fest, but it's the most glorious torture fest ever! We're almost there with blood spitting count too, only 4 more to make a history)))

This week started off with Dark Hole to scare myself silly and be too afraid to go to the bathroom at night. Discovered the utterly irresistable oppa vibes of Lee Joon-Hyuk, an actor who shines in detective dramas with his sizzling alert glare. He is on the list of my favorite underused oppas now transitioning into ahjusshi land. Many viewers like me wish he would headline more dramas instead of those wet behind the ears babes. Gosh I don't understand why casting directors keep relegating him to second leads in other dramas when he is well able to carry first lead. So manly, so oppa. Followed up the scarefest of Dark Hole (scary but in a meaningful, allegorical way) with the detective thriller The Lies Within, selected specifically because the cast includes Lee Joon-Hyuk. Although he is once again tragically and inexplicably not a lead here, the screenplay makes up for it. I am quite impressed with The Lies Within. This is a solid thriller seasoned with plenty of comedic moments to keep you going. I love when darker dramas know the importance of including comedy to lighten things up. Comedy is a necessity when working with darker materials. A lot of dramas are stuffy and unbearable to watch because they take themselves too seriously. I love the writers behind The Lies Within. They also wrote Argon, which I will probably be watching right after this. To me, I would rank The Lies Within right up there with the top crime dramas like Stranger/Forest of Secrets. I warmly recommend checking it out if you're in a drama slump.

What I’ve been watching week ending May 6:

The Real Has Come Still enjoying this one, but I don’t know whether I can go the full 50 episodes. I will have to see the new episodes later this weekend.
Marriage Not Dating I watched 12 episodes of this 2014 romantic comedy. It has basically the same plot as The Real Has Come, but without the accidental pregnancy--fake marriage because the ML doesn't want to marry because of previous trauma. In Marriage Not Dating, the boy has a difficult mother and a lovely grandmother, and in The Real Has Come, he has a lovely mother and a difficult grandmother. The physical comedy is so amazing. It’s weird how the dramas from 9 or 10 years ago seem a lot more permissive about sexuality yet are also deeply old fashioned in their comedy—bathroom humor, a lot of flailing around and pratfalls, etc.

The Secret Romantic Guest House Still watching this but I didn’t finish the second episode of this week.

When the Weather is Fine For some reason, I decided to try to rewatch what I remembered as some of my favorite parts of this series. I found that I didn’t like it as much on rewatch, which is a shame because it was one I really liked. I'm really conflicted about a woman in her 30s playing herself in high school. I still love the book club though.

Two new Korean BLs this week, Merry Happy Ending and Love Mate. I wound up liking the first one but not the second, which was the opposite of what I expected. There was a lot more to the one about the former idol turned wedding singer trying to overcome trauma. (I also checked out whether any of the original manwha was online, and it was--and the show version was actually stronger!) The second one, about the guy who uses dating apps, was undercut by being so odd, with an undercurrent of workplace sexual harassment. I think what made it weird is that the show runners did not want there to be an implication that the protagonist was dating for casual sex. They show him going on a date and having a meal and then blocking the other person. It made no sense at all.

Long time anonymous beanie until today! I actually really wanted to give a Taiwanese drama a shout out because it seems to be woefully underrated. For anyone who likes supernatural contemporary with a mix of humour and emotional stories, I’ve been really enjoying [b]Oh no! Here comes trouble![/b] Pretty short drama that ends next Saturday with 12 episodes!

As for kdrama, haven’t invested too much in many of the recent ones. Was hoping for more episodes of The Good Bad Mother before diving in. Loved Lee Do Hyun in 18 Again.

I enjoyed [b]Tale of the Nine Tailed 1938[/b]’s premiere episode today, seemed like a lot of fun with a neat setting! Looking forward to checking out tomorrow’s episode. Although lol I actually haven’t made it through the first season tbh, so grateful for the quick ending recap in episode 1. Once I have a bit more time I’ll perhaps give S1 another crack to get up to date.