ONGOING
Jeongnyeon: The Star is Born - Young-seo has come such a long way - what a great character. I found Ok-gyeong's arc fascinating - felt like a look at how an audience idolises and demonises stars (even to this day!) while never really knowing the person behind the stardom.

A Virtuous Business - Kim Sun-young totally made me tear up. The fight and resolution were a bit rushed but I'm not complaining. I prefer our Fab Four together. Looking forward to the finale.

Family by Choice - I'm glad there's no love triangle this time round. Love how Dal and Hae-jun are slowly coming together and helping each other out.

Brewing Love - MUCH better set of episodes. Love the shipper ahjummas and their schemes.

Face Me - Surprised we got to see the masked guy's face so soon but it was becoming obvious once the flashback + prison photograph came out.

STARTED
The Fiery Priest S2 - So glad to see the team hasn't lost its touch. Laughed throughout!

C-DRAMAS
Fangs of Fortune (up to Ep. 29) - Will finish this tonight. The best things about this show are the ending dance sequences and the bits of humour. Neo Hou has been the standout.

The Story of Pearl Girl (up to Ep. 29) - The large mass of characters are hard to care about and I find my attention wandering whenever the leads are not on screen.

Love Game in Eastern Fantasy (up to Ep. 26) - Quite a few plots have been mushed together to the point where I felt a bit lost - kept going "but how did this character know about this 🤔". Still quite fun though.

Hi Beanies! I haven't been live watching lately, so haven't been commenting as much. I might be trying out Marry YOU and Parole Examiner Lee this week, though.

●83% done with Cafe Minamdang which I am LOVING. It's so funny and Seo In-guk is so chaotic. Love their Scooby gang vibe.
●Speaking of Scooby gangs, hovering at 65% done with Seoul Busters because I don't want it to end. #SlowWatcher.
●70% done with Designated Survivor: 60 Days - it's tense (hence the slow watch), but excellent writing and acting.
●16% done with Cheat On Me If You Can - I trusted the Beanies on this one, and wow, what fun! P.S. the editing/directing is brilliant (and art direction? Not sure who does what). Go Joon isn't in enough things, and this may be my favorite Kim Young-dae role I've seen yet.
●I'm going to wait to bingewatch, but I watched the first 10 minutes of The Fiery Priest 2, and what a JOY to see these old friends again!!!
●Lol I'll also be watching ATEEZ's new music video ("Ice On My Teeth") on repeat this weekend 🎶
●In other news... Mom really really enjoyed Cinderella at 2AM and Seoul Busters. She found Cinderella at 2AM really sweet and Seoul Busters really funny 👍

Finished
Dog Knows Everything Very sweet and nice. Not amazing, but occasionally brilliant. My mom also loved it, and we wish this (and Seoul Busters, which Mom finished and loved) would just keep going to 100 episodes haha!

Brewing Love (Episode 3-4) - Mood: D+
Well, there goes any chance of the show being good as the forgotten lifesaver trope crashes the plot. Also, they just had to add a love triangle into the plot when it’s not really needed. Now that the deal has been signed, I can only hope they tone it down with the 2FL’s backstabby nature if only for her endgame with the 2ML. Supporting characters are lame plot devices.

Mr. Plankton (First impressions, Episode 1-2)
While it sure doesn’t hurt to see Woo Do Hwan act (the directors seem pretty determined to get a topless scene in each episode so far), the plot reeks of makjang: ML has terminal illness while FL has infertility and they are exes + you throw in the manchild 2ML and his tiger mother + a convoluted setup to ensure that there’s more than one party chasing after the ML.

Brewing Love: I am really enjoying this as the lovely romance it is. I hope it stays sweet and hopeful.

DongJae: Well our little weasel survived and is thriving. I love that he is able to go after the bad guys.

Family by Choice: If you are going to give me romance, give me romance. Dal and Hae Joon were going to have a moment, give them a romance too. I want the mom drama to die, although I am curious about Hae Joon’s mom, I always thought there had to be something there. She seemed to really love her son. Give me Ju Won and San Ha romance and for the love of drama a Dal and Hae Joon romance.

Face Me: I realized I watched the entirety of episode 3 and still had no idea what was happening, so I dropped it.

Marry YOU: I really hope this is good and fun!!!

A Virtuous business: Awww we are at the end. So Grum Hui had a child after all. Phew, hopefully that is wrapped up in episode 11, so episode 12 can be light and fluffy.

JeongNyeon: We are at the end here too. I guess her mother is going to train her. Hopefully she had learned her lesson. I am still rooting for Yeong Seo and Joo Ran, but I know that isn’t going to happen. What a pity. As for Ok Gyeong, I wonder if she will show up again. Yong Seo is still my favorite character and arc.

Gangnam B-side: Woof, I didn’t expect our resident kpop star to be offed so quickly, but I guess we are halfway through. I am actually enjoying this. The plot is quick, but it is mostly coherent so that is nice.

A VIRTUOUS BUSINESS (Ep 9-10) Episode 9: Ju-ri’s YOLO attitude is completely different than Jeong-suk Do-Hyeon’s teenage tropey awkwardness. These episodes were not the best because a lot happens in a compressed fashion because there are only two episodes left. Left behind were the actual business sales for character side stories and potential redemption arcs set up by the final cliffhanger (which may or may not be true; and if the writer is consistent it will be not true but explained in a reasonable fashion.) The series is ramping up for an “everyone gets a happy ending” ending.

BREWING LOVE (Ep 2-4) It is harder to get through these episodes. Episode 2 was too cartoony and the beer company department competition for Naro Beer is weaker than the worst watered down cocktail. This is no longer a rom-com but some comic book fantasy with a weird arm-chair psychologist loner trying to keep himself in his own sheltered world. This week ends with another change of genre with an office romance during the joint venture product development team. I am not drawn into the series even though I like Kim Se-Jeong but even her spunky personality seems too much here.

A SAMURAI IN TIME (NHK News Feature): “Period dramas” in Japan are slowly becoming extinct as a genre because of the cost of elaborate sets and costumes. But Director Yasuda had a vision for a samurai movie. He spent years trying to develop it. No one would back him. He sold everything he had to make the movie. Yasuda was very clever using a comedy to tell the samurai story. In the end, one studio allowed him to film in their back lot as a way to keep Edo films alive. The film cost $175k (US) to make. It was shown in 2023 at one movie theater. Just one. But word of mouth spread about this time traveling samurai comedy . . . it rose to more than 300 theaters and $3.3 million box office. It was now on the film festival circuit, winning two awards. (I assume in the future costly Korean Sageuks will also be under the same pressure.) I have this movie on my watch list.

Jeongnyeon: The Star Is Born (9-10): I continue to love everything about the Jeongnyeon & Yeong-seo "rivalry". It's so good. Very nervous for the last 2 episodes though. I really hope our OT3 get their happy ending. I'd very much like it if not every queer storyline in this show ends in heartbreak.

Doubt (1-10): Binge watched this show this week, and it honestly became one of my favorite dramas this year. The final episode was great too, even if it left some loose ends (though the show gave us enough context with most of these so connecting the dots ourself is easy enough). The climax where Tae-su was desperately trying to stop Ha-bin from taking revenge really got to me. I was in tears by the end of that scene. I really loved the mysteries, and the main themes of the show, alongside the complex dynamic between father & daughter. Han Suk-kyu & Chae Won-bin were excellent here. The whole thing makes for a very compelling and addictive watch. Also have to mention the great cinematography here (the whole show was very well directed). Really satisfied by the ending too. It's simple, but very beautiful and hopeful at the same time (especially with how it compares to the beginning of the show).

Face Me (3-4): I really like Han Ji-hyun's character here, as well as the scenes our leads have together. Curious to learn how and why she knows the ML's stalker.

Be Melodramatic (9): No, but who do you think made Reply 1988 succeed? Obviously the better brother was a big part of the show's success! I honestly burst out laughing when they used the goat sound. Also, my heart breaks for Eun-jung. Loved the moment where she finally admitted to her friends & brother that she wasn't doing well, and how they then went to hug her (& thank her for finally telling them that she's sad).

Summer Strike (1-2): Oh, I love everything about this. I laughed out loud when Yeo-reum mistakely called Dae-beom "unnie", and how the kids then called her "ahjumma" after that. Such a great first meeting. Can't wait to watch more!

Jeong-Nyeon: The Star is Born: 8.0 Last week I said there was such a thing as too much singing. Ep 9 sure fixed that. The big production in ep 10 restored the balance -- worth a watch even if you aren't watching the show.
- Very few shows have so many supporting cast seem so impressive to my non-expert eyes & ears.
Alternate Endings Game: The Jeong-Nyeon's sister is also a singing genius. Jeong-Nyeon takes up fencing.

A Virtuous Business: 7.5

Fiery Priest s2: 6.0

Dongjae, the Good or the Bastard: 8.0 Guess we won't need our Judge crossover after all (?)

Face Me: 7.5

Brewing Love I like the characters and their relationship but I have issues with the empathy thing, the forced events and how their faces always perfect after a day to work on the field, on walk on the top of the collin, a night outdoor, 10L of beer, etc.

Family by Choice It's a range of the worst mothers.

Face Me Not sure what to think about this drama...

A Virtuous Business I liked how the FL was the one saved the ML. She can be the hero too!

Doubt The poor girl... she deserved better.

Jeongnyeon - The Star is Born So I guess Jeongnyeon will get her voice back and become a star.

Gangnam B-Side No dull moment in this drama!

Smile Code (Cdrama) I'm sorry for the ML's illness but the FL could date her coworker instead, he's quite nice and cute.

Live Watches
Brewing Love: This was so sweet and cute this week! I love watching the leads interact as they both grow to understand each other better and respond to each others’ needs. If 40% of the drama was him tying her hair back and her holding onto corners so he doesn’t bump into them, I would still be happy!

A Virtuous Business: (6 episodes in) I started this late because I can’t sustain many actual live watches at once, and what fun! I love our four ladies, love their tenacity and strategies, and love how savage Jeong-suk was in her utter rejection of her deadweight ex-husband!

Recent Dramas:
Black Out: (finished!) *spoilers* During the recent community watch for Happiness, one Beanie said that it was really a drama about husbands (the great: our ML, the terrible: former doctor on the 6th floor, and everything in between). As I was watching this drama, I couldn’t help but think that it’s really a drama about fathers. We have precious few examples of good ones (though Jeong-u’s was great, and maybe also the FIL of our detective), but the spectrum of awful ones is many and varied. Bo-young’s dad wasn’t good to her when she was alive or dead, but he also had moments of genuine remorse for the kind of parent he was - even if it did manifest in more violence. Byeong-mu’s dad was a coward who was ready to support his much more forceful son to whatever end, even if it meant being an accessory to crime after crime. With Min-su and his dad the roles were exactly reversed, and the latter was ready to kill and incite other people to violence for his insipid offspring. And finally Gu-tak takes the cake as someone who told himself he was protecting his son while he was really just protecting himself, and using one son against the other to keep them all in bondage for as long as possible. When his son cried out to him in guilt and frustration from beyond the grave, he chose instead to spiral deeper into himself and his own jealousy and thirst to be great and respected. Ooph. What a great drama though. The bromance that developed was incredible, Deok-mi was beautifully unhinged with her talk of birdcages, and everyone pretty much got what they deserved in the end, except poor Geon-oh.

Iron Family - Someone check up on Chairman Ji😂😂😂. Not two smacks in the span of 3 minutes.

I'm really enjoying his character on Irons Family.
Cha-rim on the other hand, I can't seem to stand on her side on this one. Gang Ju isn't incompetent on his job. If not they won't be producing results. Of course the results they make are a fruit of the members of his team. But, it is not an easy task to decide what will be a winning sale. We learnt that in MLN where Mi-jung had a team lead who happens to lack what it takes to recognize a killer design and it took the someone ranking higher but not a member of their team for his self-conceited self to see that the design he so bashed for being basic is actually a killer one that should be considered for production stage. Gang Ju isn't like that person. He knows what is when he sees it. And he approves of them. I perfectly understand her quest to not have her team lead steal her work as hers. But she didn't have to display such unprofessionalism. I am very sure Gang Ju is open to hearing her complaints about her lead. But she choose this route Instead. It isn't cool either to yell at her boss in the office like that, especially after that sort of display. Stealing Team Lead should and will get what is coming for her. I have no doubt about that. And to be honest, the team leads jacket design was not bad at all -blended in well with the pants Cha Rim designed.

Chairman Ji is the king of memes in Iron Family. His facial expressions are 👌🏽🤌🏽

My dear beanies, long time no see.

A virtuous business. Asking for consent even without words is hot. Well done to our main couple.

Gangnam B side. Not sure if i will stick to it. I don't mind the violence and of course it's Wookie, but not really hooked. I will watch episodes 3 and 4 today I think.

Face me. Not sure also about this one, but episodes are short and I love our FL. Also, how can Lee Seung Woo look so different here than he was in Seoul busters? It's like he's another actor. I only hope the drama doesn't make Le Yi Kyung the villain.

Family by choice. Awful mums, kids keeping secrets from parents that also keep secrets. Real OTP are the dads.

Brewing love. Drop. I like both actors, but I just can't with the lost in the woods, found a secret cabin, spend the night there. This could have been a great drama for me, I like the idea of the sensitive male lead who notices every detail, but I'll just pass.

Dongjae the good or the bastard. I liked the drama. And I liked that I got Prosecutor Kang back to himself. Can I also have that spin off, please?

Can you believe I hadn't watch The Fiery Priest? I am correcting that mistake and already on episode 6. Love it, of course.

LIVE WATCHES:

1. FAMILY BY CHOICE - Noodle Dad is one of the best TV parental figures I have ever seen in either Western or Eastern TV series. Of the two mothers, Hae-Joon's mother is the one who deserves the benefit of the doubt and San-Ha's mother needs to take a hike. Finally, the San-Ha-Joo-Won pairing is so adorable - San-Ha was right to come back for her.

2. A VIRTUOUS BUSINESS - It got a bit rocky this week but overall, I still adore this show for the direct ways in which it tackles women's issues and the four-way female friendship.

3. BREWING LOVE - Not the best K-Drama rom-com out there but it's a nice, sunny watch with an ML and FL who are both kind and compassionate even though they have their individual issues to work through. The ML seems to be neurodivergent with his excessive empathy and the way he draws his boundaries but if nothing else, it makes him all the more loveable.

OTHER WATCHES:

1. TAXI DRIVER- I really like this. It's like THE EQUALIZER but instead of a lone vigilant, it's a team. I'm on to the 2nd season now and I hear there's a 3rd season coming.

ON A SEPARATE BUT RELATED NOTE:

My discounted Viu subscription is paying off in spades because the service carry all the latest TVN dramas and movies. So I can actually watch quite a few dramas live along with other Beanies now if I want to.

Bonkers week in America. Drama watching for mental health.

IRON FAMILY, ep. 14. Enjoyable so far, now that I have the rhythm. Kim Jung Hyun is especially wonderful in this series.

RISE OF NING, ep. 35 and holding. Without a good platform for this worthy show, I'm stuck at 35 and frustrated.

PLEASE BE MY FAMILY (2023), ep. 20. Leads Xie Bin Bin and Jade Chen are so well matched here, hoping their drama careers bloom. Well done family drama, with scene stealing youngsters.

JOY OF LIFE (2019), ep. 40 and slowing down. We now have the slightly dim Xiao Zhan as key character Yan Bing Yun and I get why he's a big deal. Hard to look away when he's on screen. (Legitimate question: is this character a sendup of other drama character played by Xiao Zhan? Because I feel like I'm missing an inside joke.) Gosh, I love this show. It's so terrific that I find myself watching an episode, then immediately rewatching the episode because it was so good! Thank you Master Storyteller.

STORY OF PEARL GIRL, ep. 20 and holding for Netflix (yay!). My happy watch of the week goes to the production crew, cinematographer and director for the topnotch action scene in ep. 18. A terrific, chaotic ambush, and well done; John Ford is proud of you! This, on Netflix (so big screen), should be pretty cool.

Iron Family: I'm glad mom is there for the increasingly frustrating Tae-woong and went all mama bear against the Chairman. LOL at the kids insisting on paying back the Chairman's "loan"!

Fiery Priest 2: The drama knows how to get me pumped up and having the gang literally fight the injustice around them. I'm so happy to see the familiar faces and the drama keeping up with the absurdity and boldness of the first season.

Virtuous Business: I hope we can have more virtuous business planning so we can see the ladies get together more often. The hit-and-run arc part frustrated me, but it also gave me so many feels (Geum-hee commandeering the wheelchair was the best!) and I'm glad the friends all reconciled quickly.

Love Game in Eastern Fantasy (cdrama, up to ep 11): It's a pretty relaxing watch in that I am having a fun time LOL-ing but I'm also not champing at the bit for the next episode to the point where I'm getting no sleep. It's the sweet spot!

Love Like the Galaxy (cdrama, up to ep 26): Had some days off and finally picked it up. I love how the Cheng family is basically genetically prone to acting. My heart really breaks for the FL in all those scenes where her mother dismisses her and she has felt unwanted. Lots of great supporting characters (the former mean girl's arc was also riveting). I'm somewhat annoyed with the way the ML pushed the marriage, which is why I am paused here for now.

Go East (cdrama, finished)Good ending with no more additional innocent deaths. I loved the extra scene which updates us on the side characters we hadn't seen in awhile. The drama did well with the lighter and fun parts, but did a clunky job with a lot of the serious and emotional scenes scenes.

Happy Saturday, Beanies!

MERMAID AND SHARK DIVORCE ERA THE STORY OF PEARL GIRL: So I continue to be annoyed with writing (I admit – writer has decent ideas, but the execution is clunky and often pretentious, not to mention the hammeringly shallow approach to female empowerment message – surely there are other ways to make FL strong and independent other than putting into fridge ALL very few decent men in her life, kiddo foster bro included?) and even more so with directing (stop! mincing! pivotal! scenes!), but, thankfully, acting is there to keep the story afloat. Leads are killing it – from saccharine overdose of Ep16-17 to THE crush and burn (literally!) from Ep18 onwards, they effectively sold me all these diabetes and tears and PINING, plotholes and filler arcs be damned, cannot wait for more! There's one huge problem, though – plot sucks even harder now, insisting on keeping them in not just an extra painful post-breakup phase, but physically apart and barely interacting for HOURS! Now that's a goddamn crime against audience AND common sense, because these two light up the screen every time they're in the same frame. Dear writer, sorry to break it to ya, but your script is NOT all that, so turn your arrogant brain back on asap and let them save your drama with their magic, OK?

What I mean about acting (and butchering editing) – compare this on-set fancam with drama cut:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_JXi6eXvCA

I also have this whole ass thesis in defense (more like reasoning) of ML's noble idiocy, but it's long and fake deep, so you're probably not interested, are you? I wrote it down, cringed and decided to delete, but if anyone still wanna read/discuss this specific point, me and my overthinking syndrome are at your disposal))) Meanwhile, enjoy this hot clip of hand fetish skinship details in the drama because that's where the actual fun lies!
https://x.com/haesarma/status/1856720037153026500

And fun vlog of lead trio's culinary stream last week – the kidnapping jokes and “man that pays is the most handsome”, I cannot!
https://x.com/Bigsislilred/status/1856599977986011246

LOVE GAME IN EASTERN FANTASY: No time this week, I think I'll wait until TSOPG is over so that I can soothe the very likely pain of latter with former. At least here I still have a real hope for HE...

Fiery Priest 2
The cast is great, but so far all the slapstick humour is not well enough balanced with more serious scenes - and the conflict for the priest between forgiveness and using violence.

Family by Choice
I like the romance, but young Hae-joon really has my heart and is so well played by Bae Hyung-sun. The two fathers are such a good couple, not only as parents, but also how they support each other. The lack of any likable mother in the drama is a little jarring. Every time San-ha's mother is shown my finger hovers over the FF button, the writer has only given her variations of the same lines.

Face Me
This is not very good and not just because of the way Han Ji-hyun is acting as the detective. It is all a bit overdramatic and also predictable. I like the topic, tough, and will hang on for now.

Mr Plankton
Watched ep 1 and was not tempted to watch ep 2.

Virtuous Business and A Star is Born remain the favourites for now! Will give Brewing Love another chance after the more positive reviews of the latest episodes.

The worst casting news this week did not come out of Korea. It's enough to drive you right outta of DO(D)GE. #IYKYK

I may be one of ten Beanies watching Face Me. You know those days you just wanna veg out and watch Law & Order reruns. Yeah, it's good for those.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is my engagement with Jeongnyeon. It is imperfect tho. And this week, I wish we'd had more background, foreshadowing, something to prepare us for Ok-gyung's much deeper than expected heartlessness.

In Brewing Love and Iron Family, the OTPs are adorable. But secondary couples have also caught my attention: the guilt-laden robber and his wife in A Virtuous Business and Baby Bogummy and Dal in Family by Choice. And the angsty secondary couple in Iron Family is sure generating heat...in the comments!

I only watched and re-re-rewatched one thing this week. The trailer for The Trunk. Go on. You know you want to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-8FSuVRLAI

Happy Saturday!

CURRENT
Brewing Love 4/12
Eps 3 and 4 were better than 1-2, but I'm not sure I'll continue. I'm bothered most by the endless discussions of the ML's sensitivity. Way too much exposition in place of natural dialogue. Instead of slapping a label on him, how about mostly showing us his sensitive nature and other characters' reactions to it?

Rainless Love in a Godless Land t-drama 10/13
I've been savoring the individual episodes because I'm loving this so much. If it stays consistent to the end it's easily going to be a top 10 favorite Asian drama. Everything about this story and the production hit all the right notes for me. ❤️

FINISHED
Kill Me, Love Me c-drama
Dragged myself through the final third of this uneven drama. It started out SO dang strong, and then totally fell apart. Really disappointing. Although, surprisingly, the last 2 episodes were very good. Highlight: Liu Xue Yi's costumes, every one of which were stunning.

Have a great week Beanies! 😉

Hi Beanies!

This is what I am watching:

_ Grand Prince (10/20). This show has one of the most madly in love main couples I have ever seen. And the way they act together is so believable!

_ C-drama The Story of the Pearl Girl (27/40). This has been the week of sadness and difficulties for the main characters. I'm looking forward to the reconciliation.

_ C-drama The Bond (2021) (10 out of 36). Wonderful in everything so far. China excels in slice-of-life dramas.

What I have finished:

_ White Christmas (2011). Wow. It was very hooking. An interesting experience. As I said in other discussion, despite the weak actings of the young cast and some flaws in the ending, it is a highly recommended drama.

_ KBS Special Find Handsome. I liked it! I think it gives a positive message too. I didn't know the main actor, Oh Seung Hoon (who plays Cutie), but he does very well. I still wonder why good actors like him don't get more main roles.

I think I'll watch the first episodes of Marry You. I miss rom-coms.

It was by no means perfect, but I enjoyed Mr Plankton. Yes, there was too much violence at the start, which really didn't fit with the comedy and the fairy tale aspects. And yes, there were plot holes - so many plot holes! such heroic suspension of disbelief required! - but the central characters were so well-written and so quirky, and so beautifully acted that it really didn't matter. I loved the ambiguous relationship between Hae Jo (Woo Do-hwan) and Bong Suk (Lee El).

Face Me. So, did someone ask an AI for a cop/medical drama mash-up? This is bad. Lee Min-ki is so stiff they are practically having to wheel him on and off set like a mannequin. The other actors are bravely battling the script and thinking of their wages. And yet, and yet... It is curiously watchable. 😊

Family by Choice dropped at episode 11. I was never fully convinced by the FL character in the remake - she was a much more interesting character, and had a much more interesting storyline in the original - and cutesy romance is not my thing.

I would love to watch Season 2 of The Fiery Priest, but for some reason I have lost all access to my Disney+ account, and, after hours and hours spent trying fixes on live chat, they still cannot tell me why. So frustrating.

Royal Secret Agent 12/16

This drama is so much fun and cute! Yes, the cases happen and are solved way too easily, and everything feels way too pat, but it is laugh-out-loud hilarious.

I LOVE L in this! His fight choreography is so beautiful. He acts the cheeky bravado, coupled with sensitive sweetness to perfection.

Nobody's diction and line delivery is great, the characters, their relationships, and their clothes feel quite incongruous for a sageuk at times, but the show is so fast and fun and non-serious that none of it feels like a fault.

Iron Family 10/36

Talking about line delivery, Kim Jung Hyun's line delivery is flawlessly perfect!

I don't know why line delivery makes such an impact on me. There are very few actors who have perfect delivery, and Kim Jung Hyun is one of them! It is such a feast for the senses to watch and listen to him!

I had loved him when I first saw him in Jealousy Incarnate, but none of his subsequent roles impressed me much. I'm so glad that he is so great here.

I'm also deeply glad that I accidentally stumbled upon the YT channel KBS World TV which is uploading Iron Family with subs! It is 4 episodes behind, but it's perfect for me.

I only have 2 cons for this show.
One, the obviously fake neighbourhood set which makes the outside scenes look like comedy show skits, or puppetry kid shows. But that is probably a me problem as this is the first weekender I'm seriously watching.

And two, I am this close to throwing something at Taewoong oppa's face! Man, you know she has been in love with you for years! Does it pamper your ego?? You should have put her straight years ago! You didn't, you should do it now! Asap! It is maddening watching him with her, knowing that he doesn't love her but won't say a word to her!

Jeongnyeon: What country did I rescue in a past life to be blessed with such an extraordinary cast of actresses on my screen? The sheer amount of technical skill and take-no-prisoners emotional commitment is jaw-dropping, and it's all done without a single significant male character anywhere in sight. The show also understands how theatre's veneer of "make-believe" allows it to tell real stories in the guise of fantasy, while pointedly noting that the same audiences wildly applauding Hyerang and Okgyeon's on-stage kisses (and giving the drama double-digit ratings) would be screaming about immorality and perversion if they saw the same characters kiss on their own couch in their own living room. Despite some viewer complaints, this isn't a show that removes the queerness - it actually ramps the queerness up to 11 but doesn't say the words out loud and dares the audience to pretend not to see it (exactly like gukgeuk did 75 years ago).

Love Game in Eastern Fantasy: With everything going on in the world I was looking for escapist fluff, and while this is mildly diverting, its convoluted plotting, clunky exposition and faux-cutesy "can't we all just get along?" approach to world-building aren't really working for me. Not sure how much farther I'll get with this one.