COMPLETED
The Fiery Priest S2 - The actors seemed to be having a lot of fun and that's the nicest thing I can say about this show.

ONGOING
When the Phone Rings - I absolutely replayed the phone flirting scene. That was hilarious. The makjang drama unfortunately wasn't - every scene with the parents is just a series of vague insinuations that goes on for a long time until we get one tiny clue in the last few lines - rinse, repeat.

Love on a Single Log Bridge - This jumped from dating to marriage so quick I got whiplash. There's a lot of plot left for the finale - we still haven't circled back to the hospital scene from Ep. 1/2, which I assume is linked to Kyung-hoon's revenge.

STARTED
Who is She? (up to Ep. 4) - I like that it doesn't just repeat the movie's story. The doppelganger thing is excellent.

Check-in Hanyang - Thought Ep. 1 was quite terrible not least because you could barely see anything till the last 10 minutes. Ep. 2 was the typical gender-bender trope-fest but still much better. I'm quite worried about the 16 episodes but for now I'm in.

Namib - Really liked it. Every character is interesting and the leads are doing great. But there are too many story threads - the company, the audition show, the 'nepotism' hire, the marriage-on-the-rocks, trainee Jin-woo's issues, son Jin-woo's issues, and most of all the new CEO's revenge saga (which will definitely have a gross seedy-side-of-entertainment angle)…

C-DRAMAS
Completed Blossom. Solid show - didn't try to do too much and most importantly didn't go on for too long.

Still watching Under the Skin 2 (up to Ep. 24). This is losing me a bit with the whole predicting crime, eugenics, MAOA gene pseudo-science. I hope there's a proper pay-off when the last 4 episodes finally drop.

Breeze by the Sea (T-drama, up to Ep. 6) - Our superstar is integrating almost too well in this little village - fully embedded in all the drama 😂.

Planning to start Guardians of the Dafeng.

Live Watches
Love Your Enemy: At first I thought that Yoon-ji’s sexual harasser boss (and let’s be honest, it looked more like assault to me) was going to be our reigning conflict for the rest of the show, but I was actually pleased with his story arc. He got put in his place in three different ways by three different people, including Yoon-ji, and I wonder if putting this behind her will change anything else about her life going forward. I love our leads’ relationship now that we’ve gotten past the (long) miscommunication and misunderstanding phase, and it’s nice to have a couple who I’m confident will not have a late-stage breakup. Now if we can just figure out where that original scarf went…

Older Dramas:
Good Partner: (finished!) I understand that the relationship between Eun-gyung and U-jin is not the central one of the show, but come on! I didn’t need much! Just him texting her and asking if she has time to have dinner with him because he has something to say to her. I would love to know that Eun-ho’s comment to him at the end really struck a chord. BUT that’s really my only complaint at the end of this drama. The cases were interesting and handled well, I loved seeing Eun-kyung and Yumi transition to sitting on opposite sides of the mediation table, I appreciated that they didn’t try to solve all the complicated relationships with Ji-sang, and I loved the central friendship that developed between our leads. Jang Nara deserved that award!

Check In Hanyang (1-2): Hijinks, mystery, ants, stripping, and a ML that really wants to take off the FL's clothes. Sold!

Namib (1-2): These first 2 episodes felt kinda messy, but the leads are also just a mess and a half, so I'd say that fits. Pretty enjoyable start.

The Tale of Lady Ok (5-6): It's sad, because I really expected to like this show more than I actually do. It just kinda feels all over the place. It feels like the show wants to do so much, but it ends up accomplishing very little. It's enjoyable, but sadly, it's not much more than that.

Family Matters (6): Bloody, brutal, action-packed, twisted, and still with a lot of heart. Just how I like my finales! It really needed more than 6 episodes though. It's cliffhanger ending was inevitable, as the show just didn't have enough time to actually tell it's full story. Still, I'm satisfied with the finale, and the season as a whole. This show was a twisted delight from start to finish, and I definitely wouldn't mind a second season. Because, for once, there is actually a lot more story to tell.

*Sorry, this is going to be a really long post. Also, Merry Christmas my dear Beans!!*
Check in Hanyang: (1-2) 🗝 My expectations were on the floor, so this was better and more fun than I expected! It's a mish-mash of ghosts of fusion past, like a Mad Libs fusion sageuk, and I liked it. I'm glad there are actual conspiracies and plots afoot. Yay for the the dimple bros!! (i.e., Bae In-hyuk + Jung Geon-joo)!

Marry My Husband: (1-4)⏳️ After seeing Lee Yi-kyung in Marry You, holy tonal whiplash, Batman! 😳 Park Min-young is excellent here - almost a different actress. The villains are chilling. And Na In-woo (I love him always ❤️) is adorable. I'm already rewinding all the slo-mo saves.

Blossom: (1-4)⏳️ ok this is EXCELLENT!!! (Directing, writing, music, etc). With a HE confirmed, I'm excited to watch this in peace as my followup to LYST. Maybe the drama lesson I finally learned in 2024 is to wait to watch C-dramas until I know how they end? HAHA 😭

Finished x5!!! Yay vacation!!!
Parole Examiner Lee: The good guys won, but it wasn't as satisfying as I thought it would be? Idk. Overall, a mostly fun watch. Baek Ji-won was my favorite part. What a boss!!

Love You Seven Times: What a lovely xianxia!! Ding Yu Xi is awesome. This is both less angsty and more romantic than a lot of xianxia and has a happy ending. I loved it!!

Cheat On Me If You Can: A spousal game of cat and mouse, but who's the cat, and who's the mouse? I trusted the Beanie wisdom on this one, and was rewarded with a very fun and surprising watch. The mystery reveals itself in layers as our characters are inexplicably drawn together with invisible threads of intrigue. The last third became more stressful as the disparate threads started to spool together and stakes were raised. The pace and story would have been better suited to 18 episodes, but although the ending felt abrupt, it was surprisingly complete, ending where it began; asking new questions and careening in new directions. The sound design, background music, scene transitions, and editing in general were brilliant, and heightened everything on screen. Many scenes were art, with the characters, instrumental music,

Also watching: Who Is She

Family Matters (Series review)
Even in Moving, there were some nice character arcs (the problem was that the backstories took up way too much time with intentional narrative disintegration), but in here, there’s nothing nice to say about the protagonists, much less the villains. Don’t get me started on the useless NSFW scenes or the joke ending which just tosses the plot to the next season?

The Tale of Lady Ok (Episode 5-6) - Mood: C-
While I was pleasantly surprised by the way the show executed the ‘kill them with kindness’ angle (and I suspect karma will help our protagonist out once again in the future), the insistence of forcing in yet another antagonist makes me wonder if a thought if any was given to the narrative whiplash? At least the husband cliffhanger is rather provoking, I’ll give that a nod.

Namib (Episode 1-2) - Mood: D+
You know, I really wanted to like this show based on the cast and the seemingly earnest synopsis promising a found family, but the premiere just made me more disappointed that I had hope in the first place. Seriously, there were so many makjang setups when all they needed to do was portray disabilities with sensitivity (the sock factory plot device was so frustrating).

Check In Hanyang (Episode 1-2) - Mood: D
The setup is laughably pathetic with all of the hidden identities flying around in the main cast and descendants carrying on trauma drama from the previous generation alongside some of the most stereotypical side characters with simplistic goals and motives. The crossdressing adds negative value to the plot and the typecasting for Kim Min Jung is annoying.

Love Your Enemy (Episode 9-10) - Mood: D
Okay, so the reason the show brought back the pervert from the past is so that the FL can run to the roof feeling down and the ML can reveal his heroics back then (we knew about this like half a show ago but whatever). The 2nd leads have pretty much turned invisible in the narrative having served their purpose and the story seems set up for an underwhelming finale?

When the Phone Rings (Episode 7-8) - Mood: D
Lmao, I thought the retreat photos were going to be about the FL realising who pushed her off the cliff but it ended being a reaffirmation of her now undying love for the ML. This week’s episodes continue to pile on the makjang without any reveals because that’s for the penultimate week: sure, now someone got drowned in the past, who could it really possibly be right?

Our last WWW, We made it another year beanies Huzzah!!! Here is to a better 2025, Happy New Year Chingus.

Namib: I liked the messiness of their lives and situations. Soo Hyun stubborn insistence that she will take care of everything was as frustrating to me as her son and husband. That being said I look forward to the drama unraveling the mess.

Squid Game 2: Gong Yoo and Lee Byung Hun were the best part of this season. LBH had such great diabolical micro expressions throughout. Gi Hun is still kind of an idiot, sigh. I liked the first 6 or so episodes, but I really disliked episode 7. There were no particular other standouts aside for Park Sung Hoon, who played Hyun Ju really well.

Family Matters: I hope we get a season 2. This drama got better every episode. The last episode was as bloody and crazy as expected. I enjoyed the family starting to understand each other and becoming closer. It was lovely to see.

When the Phone Rings: Episode 9 wasn’t as good as the past several weeks because the focus hasn’t been on our OTP. They have such wonderful chemistry that even in the small moments they were together, they sizzled. Also we finally know who are other twin is, no spoilers, but it was expected.

The tale of Lady Ok: So I am not sure what is happening, lol. I. don’t know why her husband has disappeared. I get the time jump was to add the older actors, so fine, but I’m not sure where the drama is going to go from here. Happy for her thriving legal business though.

Check In Hanyang: The plot is ridiculous and nonsensical. However, we jumped right into it. So I will give it a couple more episodes and see if I want to continue.

Iron Family
The money secret is hardly a secret anymore. But now it is starting bringing sorrow... and Mom and Murim broke my heart this week. I'm so so curious how Writernim will solve the money issue. In the meantime, Kangju and Darim are finally together, in hearts.. and in work. And I hope hardworking Kangju succeeds... and proves not only to others how great he is, but mainly to himself. I want him self confident... and showered with love (Darim is already doing her best 🙂).

Phone, not needed to ring anymore, up to ep8
So it wasn't Saeon who was being drowned! What a family... I'm also convinced Mummy the dearest will compete for the Worst Mom award of the year as that TV message was obviously meant for her real son and she will protect him, regardless the body count.

The main couple is cute (and, oh, that signing in the lift 😍), but I admit I missed Im Chulsoo and wanted more of him... so... when I saw him with the hairband with hearts supporting Saeon (hwaiting! 😄) I was ready to forgive him the interruption of Saeon's free day. Almost. 😁

Love Game in Eastern Fantasy, finally finished
I really liked the first half, but the second half was a drag, quest after quest (and constantly new characters) and I felt detached. And then the ending felt rushed. A pity. I wanted to like it more and wish they chose a better way how to tell the story.

Breeze by the Sea
Muahaha, Bolin Chen impersonating Puff Kuo as a way of blackmailing 😂😂

Webtoon corner
The Second Lead Syndrome is back!

Family Matters: 8.5 for the finale, 9.0 for the series. Attention.
- 1st rewatch of2025 (according to the DB calendar).
- Early in ep 1 when mom said that if bullies at school were too much to bear, just bring them home and "mommy will take care of things" -- they don't go for half measures when it comes to foretelling.
- Then the music during the torture scenes! The music in general isn't top-40 hit material, but it sets the mood (often subverting what we see on sceen) and is my favorite kdrama music of the year. Of course, I'm not much of a music person.
- BTW, the father was Frank in Moving. Hmmm... he likes shows where the characters with powers are assigned letters or numbers?

Squid Game s2: 4.56. Winter season 3 is coming. Will that be the end or will they continue until we vote to stop? ♾ ⚪ 🗳 ❌

Check Trope-Fest In Hanyang: 5.5 Plot seems silly and unoriginal. Main cast don't impress. But Kim Min-jung + Kim Eui-sung mean the show gets another chance next week.

The Tale of Lady Ok: 7.5

When The Phone Rings: 7.5

Parole Examiner Lee: 6.5

Namib: 4.0 Out partway thru ep 1. Ko Hyun-jung was great in Seondeuk, Daemul & Queen's Classroom but since then she's had a decade-long streak of shows that are so totally uninteresting to me that even she can't save them.

Who Is She: 7.0 If I can only handle one kpoop show at a time, I guess it's this one. Parts are fun; the FL is good; the main plot so far is so-so so far; the agency politics & rival trainees are boring.

Fiery Priest s2: 6.5 Like the guy kept saying "Apologize right now!"

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: 9.0 1966 spaghetti western, but I bought the extended edition blue-ray made decades later. At about 2 hours 3 minutes we see Eastwood petting a kitten, so that's why he's "The Good" :) Commentaries, therefore rewatches.

Just on Friday I completed 4 2025 Beans. If the year-end poll was today they would all go to Family Matters.

SORRY NOT SORRY (Ep 3) This was an odd episode as it kinda broke a lot of issues we have had with rom-coms: couples talking about sex, having (bad) physical sex and women fantasizing about sex. The direction of using expressive Jeon So Min to carry several relationship story lines is working well.

EXHUMA (2024) The highest grossing Korean film in 2024 was very good. It combined a lot of diverse Korean elements: shamanism, occult, spiritualism, folk lore and horror. The locations were mountainous, panoramic to old and complex. There were a few scenes that were too dark (perhaps to cover any flaws in CG). The clues to the mystery were spread thin throughout but if you had some pre-knowledge of the culture you could see how things wrapped up. The story and pace was good, but the ensemble acting seemed too muted at times. However, it was worth the watch.

TASTING HISTORY with Max Miller (YouTube) The host cooks old recipes and gives viewers the historical background for them. Two of them popped up in my feed. The first was about “Sugar Plums,”you know, from the Christmas poem. These treats are real and do not contain plums. The other was the 1988 recipe for American school cafeteria square pizza. Thankfully, I was not in school for this Federal Government approved nutrition program (which contained “liquid dough” crust) or the later, brand fast food takeover of school lunches.

me
when the phone rings - dropped for now
an alternative drama universe started playing in my head

watching Rented in Finland, Kwak Dong Yeon being impressed with his own cooking is hilarious. Next episode is sauna but thats NOT how you do sauna in Northern Europe, especially a smoke sauna

finished Dongjae and this with Atypical Family were probably my favorites of the year because they had an interesting focus and delved much deeper into a character than most (others were like, either quest stories or rather stereotypical love stories, but these were centered around human nature)

Hi Beanies! I hope you are enjoying Christmas season.

What I am watching:

_ When the phone rings (9 out of 12). Just three episodes to go! I hope everything makes sense in the end.

_ The Tale of Lady Ok (5 out of 16). I loved episode 5 because our main couple spent a lot of time together (in beautiful landscapes) and I'm totally shipping them. I don't know how Gudeok could refrain from kissing or hugging him.

_ C-drama Sword Snow Stride (20 out of 38). This drama needs some concentration and that's why I'm watching it slowly, but it is very enjoyable.

What I have finished:

_ Queen of Tears. My expectations were low and I must say I really liked this drama. I think the comedy works well, and also the romance. It failed to move me (many tears, but none was mine) but overall I think this is a very good show and the visuals are amazing. So I give it two beans.

_ Mr. Plankton. Another show that failed to move me. What's wrong with me? 😅 It's not a bad drama, but I couldn't connect with the characters nor the story. And I rarely find violence funny, I got bored with the gangsters.
But the music is very good. Also direction and editing.

Squid Game 2 Gong Yoo, Lee Byeon-hun and Park Sung-hoon ran away with it; the rest was fairly same-old-same-old but still very watchable. Gi-hun should have been eliminated in Red Light Green Light though - all that yelling behind his elbow made his whole upper body wobble...

When the Phone Rings Plot moving at a snail's pace but our OTP just loving each other is soooooo delightful, I can't pretend to care.

Tale of Lady Ok Not sure where we're going, but I'm still interested to know. Bit unsure as to why Lady Ok was so upset by seeing her husband after 7 years - you barely knew him, he's done nothing for you, you've admitted to falling for his doppelganger anyway, so what's that about?

Check in Hanyang In it for the dimples - they'd better keep smiling...

Blossom (Chinese) You know, I love a deeply intelligent couple who are invested in helping each other scheme and plot. Most of the CDramas I have enjoyed this year have had that, and this one was no exception. Great drama! (But please can someone in the costume departments do a better job of creating torn shirts for people who have been flogged? They definitely give this job to the work experience kid and it's so annoyingly poor!)

I don't think I have ever watched so many K-Dramas live ever. I was always waiting to binge it, so usually I watched maybe one live.

So here it is
Live watching and enjoying the ride

When the Phone Rings
Love Your Enemy
Check In Hanyang

Is started watching Blossom now that it is finished and it is off to a great start.

I finished
Squid Game S02 Liked it, but the season finale felt just like a random break
Agatha All Along Started it November on a flight and finally got around to finish it and loved it
Strike S06 Four episodes flew by and now it's probably another two year wait for next season

I am looking forward to Love Scout and Motel California.

Namib Not convinced by the characters neither the actors.

Parole Examiner Lee I tried till the episode 3 but the lack of deontology is too ridiculous.

Sorry Not Sorry The rythm is slow and one episode by week doesn't help.

Check In Hanyang I have nothing against fusion sageuk but I think it's important to find a balance with modernism and they failed.

The Tale of Lady Ok So which important character will die this time?

When the Phone Rings There are 12 episodes only 😭

Love Your Enemy For me, the story can stop now. They're happy together and I don't care about the grandpa and dad.

Squid Game 2 They shouldn't have divided one plot in two parts because it's clearly not 2 distinct seasons. The season 2 started pretty slow (but I liked the focus on the salesman) so with only 7 episodes, it felt short.

WATCHING
When the Phone Rings
YYS and CSB are keeping the squee factor rolling! The writer has done a great job creating confusion around who is involved in the conspiracy and in what ways. It's more complicated than I thought it would be. I also really like how the older sister character is playing out.

Check In Hanyang
The story isn't particularly new, but the production quality is high and I like the cast. I'm laughing at the silliness (for now). The first ost release is really good, but was a surprising choice as the tone reflects where the story is going, not where it is right now.

Blossom c-drama 32/34
The fallout between the two factions in the king's chambers in ep 31 was so well written and delivered. Ep 32 had a memorable "couple running towards each other" scene.... creative direction without overplaying it, which has really been a hallmark of this production. 2 more eps to go!

FINISHED
Will Love in Spring c-drama
A last minute watch for 2024 that turned into one of my most favorite dramas of the year. Everything about it was engaging, including the smaller town setting and the multi-generational cast. The leads were fabulous, and the soundtrack is chef's kiss. What a beautiful, emotionally resonant story 🩵🩵🩵

Onward to 2025. Happy New Year Beanies! 🍾🎉🎇🕰️

When The Phone Rings - What's there to say. Remains mind-blowing week in week out.
Sa-eon's mom is one tough character though. Going to the lion's den all by herself... she's one tenacious fellow.
I'll take Do-jae as a ref herring.
And, I'll commend this drama for getting Sa-eon's guardian out of the fire first before Sa-eon. That was an unpredictable and selfless move the drama's decision makers.

Iron Family - I don't want this to end anytime soon.

Namib - To be honest, I have a hard time connecting to trainee Jin-woo. But, that boy needs to be saved from his mother.
Factory buying CEO mom is a trainwreck 😂. Her solution to things just takes me out of this world. My son will have a hard time connecting in the working/corporate world? Buy him a factory. He's being bullied? Hire a bodyguard service. The bodyguard solution shocked me more than the factory's.
I'm glad to finally see Yoon Sang-hyun on my screen. It has been a long time since 18 Again.

Find Me In Your Memory - Finally completed this one. This one doesn't exactly stick. I liked the plot description more than the drama itself. It has always been on my radar. I'm glad I completed it. But I didn't exactly enjoy the whole thing.
Jang Young-nam was a delight here though. A tough love boss.

Happy last Saturday of 2024, Beanies! May 2025 be more fruitful – both in terms of dramas and otherwise!

BLOSSOM: At least this one has a nice HE (with last minute antidote drop – see, it's not that hard! I'm looking at you, KMLM and TSOPG!), but I'm taking a holiday break and didn't watch any dramas this week, so gonna finish it in early January.

UNDER THE SKIN: With Season2 being all rage rn I decided – last week, just had no energy to write about it then – to look what's the fuss about. Turned out to be OK procedural with interesting concept and strong lead actor. The plot though... someone on MDL called it “copaganda” and I couldn't agree more, the “law above anything else” message is annoyingly blatant. Which becomes esp egregious when story deals with cases where law did a whole lotta nothing for innocent victims but was more than happy to lock them up after they had no other choice than fight for themselves. Like that domestic violence case – and absolute lack of moral dilemma in any of cops regarding it, even from supposedly sensitive and empathetic ML – made me feel sick from anger instead of rooting for the “good guys”.

Overall, I'd say none of the characters are charming or likeable – ML is only saved by actor's truly enigmatic performance, captain is one-note unrepentant jerk with no redeeming qualities (actor is terrible for the role with his babyface capable of maybe 2 expressions max, both cartoonishly silly) and everyone else is nothing but background noise. Btw, for a supposed buddy cop bromance there's little to no chemistry between leads, no matter how many thinly veiled shounen-ai tropes plot throws at the two... Ending OST (by ML) is gorgeous though, this and all the paintings are the biggest draw for me to finish it. Heard the sequel shifts focus from art to psychology somehow, which is been-there-done-that meh, I'll probably not bother then.

“Drama news” segment:

- dramas aired already: none I didn't cover previously.

- dramas rumored to air: Youku's THE FIRST FROST (Bai Jingting, Zhang Ruonan, romance melo) keeps moving supposed air dates – now it's February 14th, iQiyi's LOVE OF THE DIVINE TREE (Deng Wei, Xiang Hanzhi, xianxia romance) and Tencent's REOPEN MY JOURNALS (Li Yunrui, Huangyng Tiantian, Ni Hongjie, Yang Haoyu, family melo) in February.

- dramas confirmed to air: iQiyi-Tencent's THE STORM OF ROSES (Tan Zhuo, Liu Yijun, Gao Ye, Lin Yushen, business melo?) on December 29th, iQiyi's THE TOP SPEED (Tong Dawei, Ren Suxi, Zhang Yuxi, Liu Yitong, Wei Tianhao, emergency center drama) on December 30th and Youku's THE BLOSSOMING LOVE (Zhang Binbin, Sun Zhenni, xianxia romance) on January 2nd, which upgraded with their latest trailer from discount TTEOTM to its meta parody:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63kNuYgc_QE

Judge from Hell: Hilarious and fun until a bit more than halfway through – from there it’s only okay. The Usual tendency to F up lover’s relationship at the end – they are still boy- and girlfriend, but who, knowing they only have three years to live in, decides to move some hour’s drive away from the only love they have had for 500 years? I giffed some favourite, mostly fun moments, in three posts with like, three to seven gifs in each one. I made effects on most of them. You’re welcome.
Iron Family: It’s so long it’s hard to keep writing an opinion on it. I hope things will be okay for Kang-ju, is what I will keep hoping. I think, like they have turned people from nice to bad, they will turn things back and probably give Unfairman an redemption arc. I don’t like him. And this will be a funny place to repeat my complaint that comments on Viki are so judgemental and hateful against the “thieves”, when really no one (except the state) are actually really entitled to that money, that the old couple saw being buried in the woods by what was obviously a thief. Airhead mum owes all the money in inheritance taxes, and her father got them from, with threats of torture and with unreasonable interest, wringing money out of people in desperate need, some of which may have been gamblers, but others just … could be a girl like Da-rim, hoping to not go blind. Nobody are entitled to that money.
When the Phone Rings: I knew it! I never trusted that guy. Im Chul-soo to the rescue. Also, how come ML suddenly knows how nice people talk? He has never opened his mouth in a nice way for years back, and suddenly he seams like a normal nice person?
Parole Examiner: Really fun. I think I’d like for uhm, the loan shark to have romance, not with Lee, but with someone. But not if they make a second season, because their interplay, sprinkled with her flirtation, is marvellous.
The Trunk: Really Beautiful. The usual K-drama lame ending. Seriously, why rely on destiny? I said in a comment that I would totally “accidentally” be in the area my love lived in to have “accidental” encounters happen all the time. If they had showed that ML did this, it would have been fun.
***
Not a K-drama:
The Christmas Round-up: I really loved going back through the year and enjoying those favourite moments (or ranting about the not-favourite moments) once more. For me and for everybody else.
Tidsrejsen 2 (The Time Travel 2) The ending was lame, but not as lame as the first Tidsrejsen. Everybody at least had agency. Sofie ended up seeming to prepare for becoming the terrible person she met at first in the first Tidsrejsen from some years ago (where she met herself as a dictator that she became. And then instead chose love, sweet love, and became as boring as you can imagine with the moral that women can be boring or successful, compliant wives or brainy dictators). I don’t know why she would start streamlining her...

Fiery Priest 2 (up to ep 11) The detached airplane door was hilarious as I remembered the story last year about the man who opened the door midflight and early this year, a plane door really did fall off a plane midair. I love how God is also on Team Hae-il.

Blossom (cdrama, up to ep 24). So good. It's scratching all the itches - the chemistry, the characterization of leading and supporting characters, the acting, the directing, the pacing, the distribution of heartbreaking and hilarious moments, and the themes of how people can change. I love how the FL is the cool strategist opposite a equally intelligent, but a little more emotional ML .

A Love Story of Oiled Paper Umbrella (cdrama, up to ep.16) Plot is a bit tired, but it has a good OTP (usually, I have trouble watching Alan Yu) and the show presents deep-seated prejudices as more complicated and grounded than dramas that tread similar ground of humans vs non-humans. Not sure if I will finish because of the ending.

Under the Skin 2 (cdrama, up to ep 13). Looks like they're going for the more psychological route. It's still interesting and so far, it's good as a standalone Criminal-Minds-esque drama, but doesn't feel like a good successor to the first season.

Off the pick up When the Phone Rings!

Iron Family: Mu Rim... 🥺 I wanna give him a hug.
I can't wait for today's episode.
Lady Ok: I smell with my little kdrama nose a birth secret of triplets.
Namib: everyone here is so messy, and I like it. LMAO
Check in Hanyang: I checked in, and I liked the service.
When the Phone Rings: I think I like this show again.
Bwt, who's gonna tell the sisters that Sa On sent that envelop?
Who Is She: I love this show so much! Our leads are adorable and fun. And I told you guys there was a birth secret.
... Birth secrets everywhere.
Sorry Not Sorry: this episode was so weird: Mother who spends zero time with her son skips school event so her sister and a random stranger can go there to pretend they're her son's parents. What's going on with this storyline. Poor Jay.
Family Matters (finale): DAMN. So it was all a trap?
We're getting a season 2, right?

Last WWW of 2024. Wow... I hope you had a happy year, beanies. Read you in the next one!

Completed Work Later, Drink Now 2- It was alright.. too much focus on one of the leads, also more storylines than necessary for the male characters. But overall the series was entertaining and a nice show about female friendships.

I had the first season of Squid Game on hold back in 2021 so binged it once more. It was quite good- just interesting to see how humans behave in the face of desperation and greed. Just finished the first episode of season 2, and hoping there will be a season review on DB! But as of the first episode- rattled by rebellious Lee Jung-jae (redhead and butt naked too!) and unhinged Gong Yoo! It was an interesting opening and I'm excited to meet the new characters!

I am planning to watch The Package for something light alongside Squid Game.

Also watched the movie Miss Granny. It was alright, quite cute, and loved the ending for the haraboji. Although I don't doubt its well made, will skip Who is She for now.

Overwhelmed with family and holidays this week, so not much drama watching but did complete the SHOGUN on Hulu. My happy watch of the week goes to the outstanding Japanese cast but especially a memorable performance by Sanada Hiroyuki as Toranaga. The only drawback of this production is darkness; in story and in cinematography.

Dramabeans contributors will find this TIME magazine article validates many of their best experiences watching kdramas in 2024.

https://time.com/7201080/best-k-dramas-2024/

Under the Skin 2 - Somewhat leaning too heavily on Shen Yi to be the Truth Detector. Du Cheng is quite sidelined and the chemistry is bad in season two. Thus it could be the directing and the script. Spent too much time in dissecting each and every character, felt a bit heavy hand on this part. Hope that season 3 can bring back a more balanced dynamics.

Love your Enemy - still watching…

Light Shop - cry buckets. I wonder about the ending. Why the link to Moving?

When the Phone Rings - OMG for Ep 10 ! Please watch it and review it! I need to talk about it!

In the spirit of Christmas, I watched all of Squid Games 2 this week. Spoiler alert: desperate people in track suits play games under the supervision of a wire-masked army, and the losers get gunned down. Another spoiler alert: the blood here is spattered, ala Judge from Hell not smeared, as with the accident prone couple in When the Phone Rings.

As other commentators have mentioned, the problem with this show is that the only compelling reason for it was that the first one was such a global hit. There were a few loose ends left in the first series—sad to say, after this installment, they still remain loose. There are some good performances by good actors—I thought Choi Seung-hyun (a.k.a. T.O.P.)— was a standout as a comically over-the-top villainous participant, as was the great actress Kang Ae-sim as an older mother. But we already know people desperate for money under a regime of predatory capitalism will do desperate things, and turn on each other their greed, and unlike part 1, few of the characters are really humanized, although I give the show great credit for including a transgender character.

Anyway, I’ll probably watch the final installment when it comes out next year, just to see what happens. But I’m not going to make watching squid games a Christmas tradition, despite its green and red color scheme. I’ll stick with the truly awful rom-com White Christmas, which I enjoyed again this year for the 40th time. It is so bad I have the dialogue memorized, and the songs are, with the exception of the title tune, the worst Irving Berlin ever wrote--I love singing along with them. Plus, its dire message about the state of society is even more compelling than that of Squid Games: “they aren’t dancing anymore, they’re doing choreography I blame Netflix for that!

We are waiting to watch "together" When the phone rings Monday, after a week with our families.

With kids running around and other disruptions, I was not able to watch the kdramas that previously started. Tbh it is mostly a technical glitch making them slightly less easy to watch, because I was able to start the flirty touristic Begin again in Macao and Under the skin 2. One is perfect to relax and prepare sweet dreams. The second draws on a variety of nightmares.

My friend is sneaking bits of Cheer up in her days, but only bits.

Happy New Year to all.

My wife and I watched the first two episodes of WHO IS SHE and were very pleased with what we saw. We are also watching the T-drama BREEZE BY THE SEA, the Taiwanese remake of TOP STAR YOO BAEK. The original was better but this one is still nice.

I continued my watch of the new contemporary C-drama BEGIN AGAIN. When I started the show the first two episodes had seemed more like an extended advertisement for the Macau tourist bureau (complete with a tour by Vespa- never hurts to borrow from a classic) than a serious drama. Still, I decided to give it another shot and guess what? It is still not a serious drama, and this is a good thing, and I am enjoying it. The stories are now well underway and there is a lot of charm in the OST: I do not fast forward through the opening credits but choose rather to simply sit back and enjoy a lovely Iberian melody (in waltz time) sung to the company of an acoustic guitar. This is a light but not fluffy watch and I hope that it stays that way.

We watched lots of Christmas movies this last week but this did not stop my wife from staying current both of the Chinese Costume dramas which she has been watching: BLOSSOM which she says is very good (she recommends it highly) and also BROCADE ODYSSEY which she has really enjoyed. She is watching these on Viki so she has not yet seen the final episodes.

We are now entering the final stretch for our excellent Weekender IRON FAMILY. This show continues to surprise us- and continues to be good- and sometimes heartbreaking. But our main romance is now well advanced although we are now hitting the suspense angle fairly hard as well. Good news: The writer has arranged a potential Happy Ending for the problem raised by the money.

SORRY NOT SORRY- one episode per week is frustrating. There, I got that off my chest.

I am looking forward to LOVE SCOUT, MOTEL CALIFORNIA and WHEN STARS GOSSIP. But I really need to get caught up on several other shows as well.

When the Phone Rings (8/12): No internet at home until Monday. I’m struggling not to look up episode 9-10 spoilers.

Rookie Historian Goo Hae-ryung (finished): I’m simply blown away as I was not at all expecting anything other than silly fusion sageuk hijinks but it was so much more than that. Vaccination, Catholics in Joseon, tampering of historical records for political influence, the historians’ plight to protect their records, gender roles, hot crown prince… All in one drama.

Under the Queen’s Umbrella (2/12): I love love love a well acted palace intrigue with a fierce female lead. I feel like I’m trying to catch my breath with her as the queen is running around nonstop.

I’m on a sageuk roll lately and have been considering watching the entirety of Dae Jang Geum. I caught snippets of it dubbed on national tv where I’m from yeeaaaars ago; Ji Jin-hee was carrying Lee Young-ae on his back in the snow in one scene I think. I had no idea about kdramas or their tropes at the time. That’s all I remember :D Others on my list are The Red Sleeve and Chuno.

Blossom (21/34): Still on hold as I was swept away by Rookie Historian but will continue.

The only k-drama I'm currently live-watching is When the Phone Rings. It gets the balance just right: cheesy enough to be really entertaining, not so predictable that it's annoying. And, oh, those cliffhanger endings!

Dropped Namib halfway through episode one. But dramas set in the entertainment industry aren't really my cup of tea, so no surprise there.

Re-watching Marry My Husband, and I had forgotten how brilliant the first twelve episodes were. But, alas, now the evil fiancée has been parachuted into the plot...

C-drama
Dropped Under the Skin 2, and really wished I had not started. Hated the way the writers gave Shen Yi cod-psychology superpowers, and hated the way that Du Cheng's character was sidelined. There was nothing left of the partnership that worked so well in the first series.

Paused Blossom at episode 26, when one of the secondary characters suddenly became evil at the flick of a switch - no foreshadowing whatsoever in the plot - and I lost all faith in the writer. But now that I've been spoilered for the ending, I might resume again.

The only thing I'm really following is
When the Phone Rings Still enjoying this, have been hanging out on the weekly recaps with some of you. Huge plot holes that we all ignore :) Some of the holes aren't as big as we thought though- we eventually worked out that the retreat/Mountain lookout/hospital were all near Daegu, so HJ going to Daegu tower from the hospital was only unrealistic for her sudden recovery from a deadly fall..
Other things that I am watching episodes of/ Starting
Namib I'm not sure how to say this in a non-creepy way, but I am fascinated by Ryeoun's eyes. Both him and PHS, I just want to stare at those amazing dark pupils. But it turns out Namib has an excessive amount of plot, and I love plot, so I expect I will be staying with this one.
Love Your Enemy Up to about Ep 3. Sounds like people are enjoying the second half, so might watch a bit more.
Check in Hanyang Watched the first two episodes. Jury is still out. Could be fun, could be terrible. I hope our group of four become proper friends and work together.
C-dramas
Breeze by the Sea (Taiwan) A quiet drama. Especially enjoying that it is mostly filmed outside, by the sea, in courtyards, in cafes, rather than in artificial sets.
Under the Skin 2 It's obvious just from watching that this is done by different producers. Overall a disappointment. Reasons why I am still watching- Good variety of art in different mediums. Good musical choices ( mainly in the end credits, don't skip them, they have different music most episodes). Reasons why I think about stopping- ML is a magical mind reading psychologist. Du Cheng (SL) has become a sidelined antagonist. The bad guy is always the poor, powerless, victim-turned-evil. ( I get why- People with money and power are the people who could destroy your production company and ruin your career, so you don't want to annoy them)

All caught up on When the Phone Bleeps and purposely disallowing any logic to enter my brain. Except when I shouted, "Don't stand behind a car with a maniac in it"!
Completed a lovely but gritty Jdorama Light of My Lion. Honestly the cutest kid in Japan, oh wait maybe in Asia. Nope - on the entire planet. Keep an eye on this little actor.
Now Netflix is filling my suggestion box with quirky Japanese shows. One that makes me laugh several times per episode is Talentless Takano featuring a very capable IT developer and a beautiful, composed, enigmatic idiot female staffer. It is poking fun at the universal human trait to assume that anyone who is good looking is also very talented (not that she completely lacks skills).
Waiting on the subs for the finale of Blossom and join the many Beanies who have been very pleased and entertained by this drama. This is how its done right, sageuk makers.
Happy New Year to all of you! Sincere wishes for a massively improved year in Kdramas.

Family By Choice: I wasn't a fan of the son apologizing to his mother about not showing his pain and acting if they've both wronged each other. Similarly I thought it was weird that the dad was into his adopted son's mom for 20 years after only the one date but I get the end goal was to make everyone actually related so whatever. It was a nice show and the actors had nice chemistry. I'm VERY grateful there wasn't a love triangle.

Squid Game: The only thing I was looking forward to was the games and the most intense, to me, occurred in episode 1 and it was rock - paper - scissors. I just don't care about the characters much so I didn't care, notice, or remember the configurations for the later games. I know there's supposedly social commentary here, same with S1, but I can never get past how detestable people are and wonder how & why we're supposed to just see them as just flawed, misguided, or desperate. Sigh, I have mixed feelings.

When The Phone Rings: I'm all caught up. I liked the cat and mouse element in the beginning and I liked how they ended up getting closer. It felt earned to me. I had many moments when I thought the lead actor is a good actor and good at creating sexual tension. I wonder how things will wrap up.