Travelling ate into my DB time and so this covers everything I've watched in the last 2 (3? 🤔) weeks…

COMPLETED
Namib - Went way overboard with the revenge schemes and not enough time spent on the kids. FL disappearing for 2 years was so random.

ONGOING
Love Scout - Liked the Eun-ho focused episode last week though I'm past the point of finding the typical k-drama jealous ML scenes cute.

Check-in Hanyang - This one really took a turn with the SML huh? Jung Gun-joo chewing the scenery in his villainous glory was kinda fun though.

When the Stars Gossip - Still on pause…

Unmasked/Trigger - The entire stalker arc was nicely done. I assume we have our answer for Cha Seong-wook's death now though I wouldn't mind a few more twists.

STARTED
The Scandal of Chun-hwa - Despite the premise, this seems to be a fairly straightforward sageuk. But it's moving along quickly - lots of plot progress in 2 episodes. I'm in.

WATCHLIST
The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call is still languishing on my watchlist. Hopefully will get to it this week.

C-DRAMAS
Completed Breeze by the Sea, which stayed good till the end.

Dropped Reopen My Journals early on and paused Perfect Match because the MLs were intolerable.

Watching The White Olive Tree but not really feeling the angst it wants me to feel. OTP are sweet though.

Planning to watch Kill My Sins, which has great early feedback.

Live Watches
Love Scout: Ok good. We got all that unpleasantness out of the way in the first 30 minutes of episode 10, and our leads reunited in time to handle the situation with the Next CEO. I didn’t love Ji-yoon needing to get herself together but I still giggled like a fool when they walked into the office hand in hand! I’m starting to get concerned that they aren’t leaving enough time for our second leads though, since we still have to resolve the cruddy chairman issue and now we have this whole history-repeating-itself situation.

Unmasked: (not quite finished with ep 8) I was worried they were teasing a romance for a second but I’m happy to report that I think I imagined it. As ever, this show is good when they have a case of the week, but they still haven’t gotten me to care about the central mystery. But I really enjoyed the fakeout of who the stalker’s “fan” was!

Current Dramas
Check In Hanyang: (through episode 9) Well, I get why everyone was saying our prince is a bit of a dope hahaha! He put all the clues together correctly but crumpled immediately when Deok-su gave an excuse it took her less than 10 seconds to come up with. I find myself not minding one bit though. He’s cute and earnest and seems much better than his dad, and not all princes can be as sharp as Hwan 😉

K-action Movie of the Week
Officer Black Belt: It’s not a good name but it was a fun movie! I didn’t realize this was another Jason Kim story until right before I watched it but it’s suuuper recognizable as one. It establishes a super endearing bromance early on, things are mostly light and fun, then the story takes a darker turn, the heroes face a devastating defeat, and claw their way back to victory. I think it worked better here and in Midnight Runners than it did in Bloodhounds, but it could definitely work in a drama if you get the timing right. I almost wish this had been a short series because the nerdy ragtag team united with the compassionate parole officer would be fun to follow around longer!

Love Scout: I am so glad that was resolved the dad issue so quickly and we moved on. I love this drama.

Check in Hanyang: We are finally at the end. Huzzah, I made it.

The Scandal of Chunhwa: I can’t find subs, I was looking forward to this, but alas.

Newtopia (1-2): This drama doesn't have a serious bone in it's body, and it's a joy to watch. Episode 1 was a bit on the slow side, but episode 2 delivered all the crazy zombie chaos I was expecting.

Study Group (5-6): It feels like we're entering more serious territory. Still lots of fun to be had here. The gang literally racing after Ga-min and his mother to stop him from transfering was a highlight for me. Really hope Ga-min's mom manages to recover.

Love Scout (9-10): Almost as if the writer realized that the whole "connected childhood trauma" story was garbage, so they wrapped it up in 30 minutes and then didn't mention it again. But at least we got some wholesome Ji-yun & Yu-byul moments out of it. Also really liked Soo-hyun's story in the latest episode. Not gonna lie, that subplot made me more emotional in one episode than the entire childhood trauma story made me in the entire season combined.

Motel California (8-9): Episode 9 really gave quite a lot of focus to side characters, as it feels like the drama is suddenly starting to juggle 50 side plots. The new Nan-woo & Han-woo pairing proved to be a highlight here. Meanwhile, Yeon-soo's mom is still the worst, and Kang-hee's dad never fails to disappoint me either. Oh, and Esther's husband is cheating on her, because I guess the drama really wants to pair her up with Seok-kyeong?

The Queen Who Crowns (9-10): The king claims to do things for the people, but his plans effectively end up screwing them over instead. At least we have the queen, who actually cares about the people. I'm assuming that since history isn't exactly on the queen's side, her managing to appoint her other son as crown prince will be how the show gives her at least one win.

Check In Hanyang (13-14): Slowly starting to lose hope that our foursome will actually stand together at the end of all this, as Jun-hwa is inching very close to a place he can't come back from. But hey, at least Lady Seol is alive? Here's hoping she manages to survive the last 2 episodes as well.

Kickkickkickkick: 🎬💸 (1) This was such dumb and silly fun! It's like a mashup of a sketch variety show and a sitcom with self-referential meta-humor. Just like with variety shows, I don't feel any urgency to keep watching, so I'm going to save episodes for days when I'm too stressed to watch anything with a plot.

Love Scout: (9) ❤️🏹 Another fabulous episode! I loved everything, starting with "You don't have to be perfect" and that hug. I loved Ji-yun continuing to be so cool and true to her values, and her mint-chocolate-chip date with Byeol. I loved jealous Eun-ho and how he graciously let Jeong-hun win at arm wrestling. Speaking of Jeong-hun, I loved his interactions with Eun-ho and Su-hyeon (Lol at his drunk self and Lee Jun-hyuk almost breaking character a couple of times). What a refreshing take on the SML (and SFL!!) role! I love how everything is coming full circle with the leads' pasts. But only one episode is not the doctor-recommended weekly dose haha! 🥲

Check in Hanyang: (13-14) 🗝 Still enjoying this one! I miss our bro squad, but I love how the relationships have gotten messy because of their competing motivations. Plot developments have revealed previously hidden aspects of our core four's character in very interesting ways. Both guys have to grapple with unwelcome reveals of their fathers' true characters and half-truths. There's probably still time for SML to redeem himself in a blaze of heroism, but the end of ep. 14 was giving me Tale of Nokdu villain reveal flashbacks (iykyk 😅). I predict ML will give the throne to his cousin, restoring the rightful line and leaving himself free to live as he likes with the FL. How will she complete her revenge? What does she really want? Two more episodes to wrap everything up!

After hearing me gush about it, Mom watched The Trauma Code: Heroes On Call last Saturday! She LOVED it!!! Next up: my persuasion campaign to see if I can get Dad to watch it 😂

When the Stars Gossip: 7.0 From "Sex In Space" to "Boring Love Geometry On Earth"? Are the two (?) babies fated to be together because of their Conception Connection? Do they come out like Alien? Fated OTP Aliens??

Check-In Hanyang: 7.5

Unmasked: 6.0 Their convolutions defeat my ability to remember what happened last week. I should have binge watched, or perhaps paid more attention.

Kick: 3.0 Parts were ok-ish, but mostly too hyper & scattered for my tastes. YMMV. I briefly had hopes when Seo Hye-won appeared but it seems that was just an ep 1 cameo. Stalled out early in ep 2.

Chunhwa Love Story: 4.0 Likely drop after ep 1. Nothing much interesting except two possible drinking games (A) spotting the reasons why they had to place this story in a fictitious country because showing Korean royals like that would have gotten them Joseon Exorcised™, and (B) spotting bad subtitles when a computer worked sentence-by-sentence and didn't understand the context. But I'm not into drinking games, so...

Newtopia: 7.0 This is the one new show I can't just blow off, mostly because the writers have credits (as assistants?) like Shop For Killers and Parasite (not Parasyte, thank goodness). The story & cast aren't great so far, but not as annoying as KickKick Chunhwa.

The combination of violent/scary stuff on screen, lighthearted music and general absurdity reminds me of Family Matters.

And somehow the idea of a zombie apocalypse seems appropriate now. Can't imagine why.

SORRY NOT SORRY (Ep 9) I may be one of a handful of Beans who is still watching this show. It was a very good episode. was very good. It starts off with the question “what is a mother” leading to the Noble Mothers making false assumption on Jay’s parentage. Then we have Chan-Yang’s joyful curiosity of motherhood, pitfalls and all, with bubbly light comedy along the way.

EAGLE BROS (Ep 1-2) Back down the weekender rabbit hole . . . and the first weekend whisks the story set-up along at light speed with FL "inheriting" her honeymoon husband's four troublesome brothers. Uhm Ji Won is an actress who can carry a show. We shall see if she can in a weekender.

Kick Kick Kick Kick I will try it for the casting.

Sorry Not Sorry I didn't watch the last episode yet.

Check In Hanyang I can't wait for it to be over...

Motel California I dropped it.

Love Scout In the first episodes, I was happy to get adulting adults and we approach the end and they're still acting like adults!

When the Stars Gossip I didn't understand why Eve covered for everybody after she almost died twice... I don't think she should be a commander anymore.

The Scandal of Chunhwa I watched the first 2 episodes with bad subtitles. So after a drama focused on sex in the space, we got a drama focused on sex during Joseon era... I was not expecting to the drama beginning with the a moderne scene in the little library of Goblin.

Study Group I watched episode 3 and 4 and I was completely bored. There are way too many fights and don't even know the opponents. I think I will stop here. The only actor who could make me continue is only a supporting cast.

I will maybe test the cdrama The White Olive Tree but this kind often lacks stubtility about patriotism...

Hi Beanies! Enjoy the weekend!

What I am watching:

_ Study Group (6/10). This is cathartic show 😂 I'm having so much fun! I love this group.

_ Check in Hanyang (14/16). If only this show had been a comedy! That's all I can say now. I hope at least my favorite character (Go Su Ra) has a happy ending.

_ C-drama Blossom (16 out of 34). An excellent show. I highly recommend it if you like epic dramas as One and Only (2021). But Blossom has a little more comedy, which I appreciate. Both leads are good characters, she is very smart and he is clearly in love with her, but she is keeping distance. This is my first drama with Li Yun Rui and he is so good looking! I wish he weren't dubbed, though.

What I have just started:

_ My Perfect Stranger (k-drama. 2023). One of the time travels shows which was still on my list. Interesting so far.

What I have finished:

_ Just Dance (K-drama. 2018). I like slice-of-life dramas but this one is quite depressing and often boring. Even the way it's shot is like a hazy dream, but there are some pretty images. I thought there would be lots of dancing scenes and funny moments but it is not like that at all. The FL is insufferable most of the time and the other girls in the Dance Sportclub aren't interesting enough. One of them has her own sub-plot, which is also depressing and annoying (and this story takes a lot of time in the central episodes). At least the ML is a nice character and there are some cute moments of the couple, like their first kiss or the reconciliation.
This drama lasts only 8 hours but it could have been shorter, maybe 6 hours are enough for this story. It has several good songs, some are OSTs and others are very famous themes.
But although the songs are lively, this drama is sad and draggy.

Check-In Hanyang: I have officially checked out. One to many fake outs and I don't like the direction this is going.

Love Scout: I just, can't. It's so adorable and good. I can't believe it will be over soon. I was totally kicking my feet and squealing, when she grabbed his hand and made it official.

Otherwise I am looking forward to Undercover High School,
The Potato Lab and My Dearest Nemesis. There is no such thing as too many romcoms.

Kick Kick Kick Kick (eps. 1-2): The first two episodes made me completely laughed out loud. I really loved this show and here's my only fave highlight for episode 2 was that elevator fart. Also on episode 2, I found the most hilarious male character that introduced on this episode named MC God(?!) on his own business card.

For Eagle Brothers
We were introduced to all 5 brothers and glimpsed into their problems, being it unemployment, single parenthood or unexpected health complication... and just when the Oldest Eagle starts uncovering these problems his brothers were hiding from him, a tragedy strikes and now everyone will need to adjust, especially our Heroine, the new wife of the oldest brother, just fresh from the honeymoon. It couldn't have been more tragic for her. She will hopefully find an understanding soulmate in our lead, a widower self, even if he is currently Mr Hedgehog, a bit prickly, still mourning his first wife.

Ask the Stars
I hate all the manipulation of Dongah Sunbae and both women should run away from him. He is full of himself and even his heroic rescue mission was more about his ego than about Eve.
Anyway, I think I'm currently watching mainly for Goeun and the 3 mothers, they should adopt her (and she them) and live happily together, tossing all men away. And then I somehow like the pairing of Ryong's Friend (Gynecologist) and Chaebol Daughter in Law.

Study Group
Gamin is precious as a friend and it was so touching seeing him sacrificing his curfew and giving fighting instructions to Sehyun.
Mom was a big surprise (badass!) and I hope there are no tragedies ahead, as I want the show to keep its humour (art school? 😂 no possible transfer because of Gamin's brilliant thinking of having too low rank? 😆) to balance all the darker sides (Hat Guy and his strange philosophy).

My Perfect Secretary
I don't understand why Jihyun wouldn't check thoroughly and get suspicious with the latest case, but let's hope the take over by Evil Hater will be short and quickly resolved and we can spend the rest of the time with Byol and her Unni and their Admirer Eunho.... and I want more of the Hwaiting Couple... and some successful cases of the week at Peoplez... and I'm curious what job will Eunho choose.

Flourished Peony finished
I think I liked Are You the One? more, but what I loved here was the growing respect and friendship between the leads.... they were so happy to just be together, eat and chat... and then that friendship turned into silent love on ML side. I found it beautifully done, even if it was sort of painful as he was afraid to profess his love in a fear of loosing their friendship.

What? You mean there are *other* shows on air besides Love Scout?!
Jk.
Watching Flourishing Peony as well, in between.

Hospital Playlist Did a rewatch of S1 along with the first couple eps of S2, which I put on hold on when it was airing, before finishing the series. S1 is one of my favorites, and I loved revisiting Yulje. While S2 wasn't quite as good, it was still very heartwarming and sweet. A perfect winter watch 🩷
Study Group I was going to stay scrubbed in and start Trauma Code, but chose violence instead. On ep 3 now and I love it! The fight scenes are fun, there are some good laughs, and Ga-min's absolute commitment to his studies and friends is adorable 📚

J-drama
The Hot Spot 3 Ladies and an Alien 🗻🛸 Bumped into this on Netflix and it is great haha. It's so silly, but also lowkey about it, which makes it even funnier

I caught up yesterday with Study Group (tho by ffw’ding the brutal fights now) and Love Scout #9 (hopeful they end the angst pronto). Pleasantly surprised they’ll screen 10 and 11 this week. Or not? Sometimes kdramas work best in pairs, as they’re intended. Anyway, still love these dramas.

I also binged-watched Trauma Code… and it was fine. (Sorry! Can we still be friends?) And JJH was cool. Anus and Gangsta fun! I think medical dramas are just not my thing. I ffw'd all the operation scenes...so half the drama?

But I have drunk the k-Kool-Aid. If it had been Tom Cruise zipping thru the war zone on a motorcycle, I probably would have dropped it at the over-the-top opening scene. But JJH? 🥰 (I may make an exception to the k-Kool-Aid for the Buffy sequel.)

And we are continuing with the jdrama The Hot Spot as a family watch. I like the setting, pacing and vibe. It’s one of those the Seinfeld type shows: slice of life blown up to epic proportions...but with an alien. 🙃

And I just love the ladies. I could listen to them prattle on for ages. A halved avocado does have the perfect spot to nestle an egg… Spot on! The alien was a little off-putting in episode 1. Tho to the kids he was exactly what an alien who was also the grumpy Uncle next door would be like. (Is this what they think of grownups?). But into Episode 1.5, he seems to tone down and fit in with the gang and solve mighty world problems….LOL. Can’t wait to see how the Great Volleyball Escapade pans out.

LIVE WATCHES
Newtopia
Between Trauma Code, Study Group, and this one, 2025 has started off with three amazing dramas that all look and behave like comic books/webtoons rather than feeling "transferred" from that medium. I quite like the effect, and it might end up being how one recognizes dramas from around this time period, in retrospect.

Study Group
I put off work to watch new episodes. I hope someone helps Ga-min see that he's going off the rails because he's lost capacity to use his own wonderful moral compass.

Love Scout
It's fine. I think I might wait until next week to watch the last two episodes together as god intended.

When Stars Gossip
It remains completely itself, which is completely outrageous, and I still think it important to wait until the end to figure out if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

Rented in Finland
It's over!! How many times could we watch these four guys figure out how to cook Korean food (with condiments they brought from home) in Finnish outdoor kitchens? A bunch too many.

Check In Hanyang
Wasn't this show about a Joseon variety show where the stars were competing for spots on King the Land? I could not believe my eyes in episodes 13-14. Not only did it turn dark in theme, it turned super dark in action--I'm getting HeartBeat bad ending vibes. Y'all, Jun-hwa's totally dying at the end of this thing.

FROM THE RESERVES
XX
Great, short, relatively meaningful story about two women, and some men too. Amazing cast in which Ahn hee-yeon shines the brightest and Lee Jong-won and Bae In-hyuk have a Spies Who Loved Me reunion.

ON DECK
From Now on, Showtime!
Hoping for light, old-school, ghost-forward, cases-of-the-week!

Does watching Junho's concerts count?
I'm obviously in a slump. I can't click on any show, neither new nor old. On the plus side I'm on a decluttering spree. So at least I'm feeling productive.

Happy Saturday, Beanies! Little warning – I have time and energy-draining irl stuff to do next weekend, so may be late for WWWW or even skip it altogether.

KILL MY SINS: This drama starts sinfully meh (har!). Confusing, pretentious plot: big revenge mystery with multiple players and dubious motives/loyalties, but we get little to no clues and just go through motions until characters literally start info dump in great detail feat flashbacks, all while smirking proudly at their own smartassery. I'm used to mustache-twirling baddies in historicals, but here EVERYONE does it, why?! Characters themselves are not that engaging either, bordering on faux-deep. Acting is cartoonishly overdramatic – leads and big bad (?) are passable, but even they are heavily “posing” instead of “living” their roles, while supporting cast is mostly just bad. Lead actors do have chemistry, but it makes little sense plot-wise and apparently goes nowhere considering lack of romance tag... Action scenes suck (let's not talk about that horse riding one, pls), dubbing is atrocious (been a while since I saw a lipsync this off), visuals are... pretty good – budget is there, costumes pretty, wigs good, camerawork/colors pleasing etc... But plenty of desktop wallpaper material alone doesn't make a solid show.

LOVE OF THE DIVINE TREE: I'm rather pleased to see that TTEOTM's cultural reset of xianxia demonic fashion continues to thrive))) They didn't have to go as far as making their own discount TTJ tho Far less convoluted plot-wise than the show above and even with some sprinkles of fine humor (heavens opposing MLs scheme was hilarious), but also nothing fresh or particularly interesting (yet?) either. CGI is uneven, action scenes in Ep1 were bad but improved greatly later thanks to ML's skill with wires. FL is hella undercooked – both character and actress. Previous life version is better, but since we can't spend the whole drama in flashback... ML tries his best, but I'm not sure first-timer in headlining the drama could carry the entire thing on his abstractly painted by tropey xianxia curse shoulders. Also, are these few barely-there lines on his face and torso considered horribly fugly disfigurement everyone runs away screaming from? Lmao, he should make a trip to MOON LOVERS universe, Hae Soo will fix it for him in no time!

Genuinely idk what to do with both shows – give them few episodes more or just drop and move on? Rewatched good chunk of AJTL as well and had significantly better time with it than both ongoings combined.

THE REBEL PRINCESS: Still too tired for it.

MissVictrix, you said it all for me this week re: LOVE SCOUT. It's a winning kdrama with such likable, capable leads that at episode 9, I'm just praying they don't spoil the triumph.

An outsider opinion again this week, but I'm impressed with WHEN THE STARS GOSSIP. My happy watch of the week goes to the screenwriter who wrote the dialog in episode 10, time stamp 48:50. In a moment of sad self-reflection our "opportunist" space tourist and OB-GYN Kong Ryong describes himself, "I think I'm nothing more than a speck of cosmic dust, a selfish, petty and jealous speck of dust." The clarity of this dialog was touching, and a mature Lee Minh Ho delivers beautifully. Despite all the trashing of this space drama, it's rare to see a show improve along the way. This drama has done just that.

February is re-watch month (likely March too). I began the week attempting to re-watch GUARDIANS OF THE DAFENG based on glowing WWW comments, and it just didn't catch on for me although the comedy is obvious (and this week in America, comedy is life's blood). So, FF through another Dylan Wang cdrama ONLY FOR LOVE (2023) with Bai Lu. This casting mismatch was an obvious miss.

On to my first re-watch, FOREVER AND EVER (2021), the rare drama where I do not skip the captivating opening credits. I remain awestruck at this beautifully rendered cdrama. It just proves that when you have the magic, and Ren Jia Lun paired with Bai Lu have the magic, it's kismet. I wish I wrote this drama because this story is a meditation on how each of us has history. It's provocative, audacious storytelling.

Next up, a re-watch of JOY OF LIFE (2019) and then I reward myself with JOL2 (2024), praise be!

Dropped Love Scout at episode 10. All the elements just started to feel too forced. But it's incredibly rare for me to watch a romance all the way through - it has only ever happened a handful of times since I started watching k-drama - so I'm not really the target audience here.

Not live-watching any k-drama at the moment, but have been re-watching Alchemy of Souls. I had forgotten how much I love some of the secondary characters - Hemp Master Lee and his chaste herb tea, the Crown Prince (such an entertaining mixture of vanity and insight).

Watched the first two episodes of Kill My Sins, and found it entertainingly cheesy, even though the dubbing is appalling, and the writing/editing is a total mess. So far the FL seems to be carrying the plot single-handed.

Blossom: This was engaging enough to keep me watching, but it never had that magic special something that lifts a show to the next level. I didn't buy a lot of the character choices, and the rather pedestrian acting across the board wasn't helping. It's fine, but I've seen similar stories done in much more compelling ways in other shows.

Study Group: As someone who spent years teaching in "challenging" schools, I can definititively state that this is completely unmoored from reality, as is the idea that you can stop school violence with "more and better violence". That being said, it is entertaining watching our sweet, bespectacled lead plow through the bad guys and I can fully get behind the idea on not giving up on even the most difficult kids. Not sure where this will ultimately end up and I can see it going in directions that will make me want to do my own ninja moves on some folks but I'll stick with it for now.

Real world events intervene and I stop watching dramas .

I did mange to watch Ep 5 of J drama Alice’s Hearth End(2025)

Also Ep1 of K drama The Scandal of Chun Hwa

Watched a 1958 version of A Tale of Two Cities Revenge serial killer, noble idiot, love triangles, Dickens story had it all.

I haven't watched episode 9 of Love Scout yet. Planning to watch tonight with ep 10, so I'll save my comments for next week. Thanks to Beanie comments I'm expecting good things 💘

I DID watch the penultimate week of Check In Hanyang and found the swift change in tone exciting. For better or worse, this shift was telegraphed from episode 1. However, the ending is pretty clear now, so the last 2 eps are just about how we get there. I'm hoping the final showdown doesn't go soft. There's still room in the story for our fab 4 to pull it back together.

And thanks to @hopefulromantic, my mistake over where The Trauma Code was streaming was corrected. I'm 5 eps in. Do I love it more for Ju Ji Hoon or just the fact that it's so different in style and tone than everything else I've been watching so far this year? Idk, but it's just what I needed right now. Plus, I've never not liked Kim Sun Young in any role 🙃

Finally, I finished c-drama MOONLIGHT MYSTIQUE after almost dropping it. It was uneven across the board, but when it was good, it was dang good. I particularly liked how the story's core mystery came together at the end. Also, it takes the award for the most full body hugs in a single drama, lol, not complaining. And it features one of the coolest OSTs I've ever heard ("Flowers Fall With No Trace"), even though they overused it. Worth a watch if you love OTT xianxias (and the 4 main leads).

Have a great week beanies! I'll be hanging out in my rooftop apartment 😉