Quiet week as I finally stopped procrastinating and started working on my assignment😬 Looking forward to finally catching up on Good boy and My unwritten Seoul when the assignment goes in💪🏾

Live watches

Second shot at love
Still enjoying this drama I knew dodgy nurse’s turnaround was too good to be true. It wouldn’t surprise me if she turns out to be the male lead’s mum🤣

Was anyone else wondering during the date scene why the slow boats on calm water needed the actors to be strapped in? Wouldn’t life jackets be the better option? The female lead at one point was clutching the hand rail so I wonder if she can’t swim/has a fear of being on water.

My diary - J drama
I am really enjoying this slice of life college/work based drama. It has an interesting friendship group and each member’s story is highlighted. This one seems to be similar to Where does the sea begin and Silent with depth to the characters and their stories.

Completed

Changes of heart - J drama
Finished well, such a sweet couple clearly meant to be together. Light hearted drama.

24 hour health club
Very average drama, finished well. The sister and her ‘weak’ boyfriend with their full on relationship felt like an unnecessary storyline as I would have preferred to have seen Alex with a love interest rather than a controlling mum.

Audiobook corner

I want to eat your pancreas - Yoru Sumino
YA about an unexpected friendship between an introverted boy and a vibrant girl who is dying of a rare condition that affects her pancreas.

Last boat out of Shanghai- Helen Zia
A journalist writing about four real people’s experiences of the turbulent time in China during the transition from Japanese occupation to the start of Communist rule. These four characters from different classes and genders moved from main land China to Hong Kong, Taiwan and the US.
Reads like a novel. Filled in gaps that other books had touched on but not spoken about in detail.

CRICKET - test summer is up

World Test Championship - final Aus vs. SA

England vs. India - 5 tests - popcorn

England vs. Australia - 5 tests - in nov-dec - popcorn

Zimbabwe - 11 tests - woah - how come -

only Aus Eng India make tests profitable

A test easily does 1 million dollars lose - good for ZIM

Weak teams deserve more tests but 1m dollars is huge loss

COMPLETED
Nine Puzzles - Don't know how to feel about this one. For a show where I loved the writing in the beginning, it really didn't measure up in the last couple of episodes. Lots of plot contrivances and no explanation on how the murders were committed. If they wanted me to feel bad for our serial killer, more time spent on the sins of the past and how it impacted her might have been better.

ONGOING
The Haunted Palace - Gets significant points for an actual proper resolution to the 'one body, two souls' problem. Additional points for the shock value of the attack on the Queen.

Second Shot at Love - The pacing is quite off with the romance going from 0-100 too quickly, which means we'll have lots of unnecessary drama to fill the next 2 weeks. Not impressed with the nurse reveal. Preview for next week looks pretty grim too.

Tastefully Yours - What a turn this show took. What wasn't ridiculous (Jeon Min's entire arc), was boring (everything about the rich family drama).

Our Unwritten Seoul - Another week of me judging a k-drama FL's mom. What a contrast to Ho-su's mom - Kim Sun-young is just lovely here. Wish Mi-ji just told Ho-su the truth though - it'll be so messy when he finds out.

STARTED
Oh My Ghost Clients - A lot of the humour didn't land for me and the death was quite gruesome (deliberately so?) but I'm committed to this if only to keep seeing Jung Kyung-ho in his element.

Good Boy - The first episode felt realllyy long until the last 15 minutes when it all came together fabulously. The humour is also more my thing - Heo Sung-tae is a hoot.

C-DRAMAS
Completed Zang Hai Zhuan. Solid revenge drama with some truly thrilling moments and a fascinating interplay between our hero and the 1st villain. If the final villain and the last few episodes had been more compelling, I'd rate it even higher.

Also completed Be Passionately in Love. Rather bare-bones in terms of plot and more birth secrets than one show can handle but when it was cute, it was quite cute.

Started Lament of the River Immortal and tonally this is very different from the trailer. Xianxia is usually not for me so this might be a drop unless it improves drastically.

The Haunted Palace: It’s interesting. I don’t have a deep opinion on it yet.
Tastefully Yours: @Unit made a perfect recap listing all the things that a lot of us are irritated about in this series. I added the notion that if you can explain how “it is not what it looks like” in one sentence, or at least diminish your blame truthfully that fast, you should really do it instead of claiming “I can explain!” and then not do it, until you are kicked out and the door is slammed behind you.
Even if Kang Ha-neul is a master in being a cutie pie, the plot is … come on now, make sense!
Bubbler: I have just finished reading the web novel behind Mr. Queen and I am so hoping for a community rewatch? Please?
.***
Not-a-K-drama :
Our Nest Box Cam: As you know, all the chicklets left the nest on May the 20th. And I posted the view from the nest cam on Youtube. Only this week, I got the outside camera footage, and couldn’t choose between the whole frame, a closer-up one, and a shorter clip, but with speech bubbles. So I ended up making all three. This week also, another couple came looking for an apartment, and the female decided to renovate a little bit, but otherwise build on top of the old nest. She only collected moss for one day, and tufts of hair for one day, and the next morning – today - the first egg of a new batch was there, when she flew out this morning.
I had my suspicions because she took many rests yesterday, and her hubby came by with a snack, which I haven’t seen before, not before she has laid her full round of eggs and is beginning to brood. He is definitely a keeper!
Links to High Lights:
Nest cam fledging links collection: https://dramabeans.com/2025/05/open-thread-917/#comment-4264953
Outside cam fledging + New couple arriving: https://dramabeans.com/2025/06/open-thread-920/#comment-4267575
All from my personal Youtube playlist Fuglekasse, meaning Nest Box.

Live Watches
The Haunted Palace: (through ep 15) Ooooph things are dire, but I guess that’s the nature of episode 15s through the ages. I won’t say too much in case folks haven’t watched yet, but two things: Kim Ji-hoon is nailing this role, and all the palace staff should have caught on to what was happening a little sooner. Hopefully they leave enough time to wrap up in the last episode, but even if 16 isn’t everything I hope for, this has been a great drama.

Tastefully Yours: (through ep 8) Min might legitimately be in the running for worst ex-boyfriend ever. The fugu incident would have been enough but he’s also been stealing medication from a dementia patient? If only our ML had proven himself a good alternative… I’ll finish the last two episodes but I almost wish I’d stopped after the fourth one.

Recent Dramas
The Art of Negotiation: (halfway through ep 10) I felt like I understood the chairman more after the Jeju storyline, but then episodes 9 and 10 came along and he’s lost all credibility for me. I guess he doesn’t intend to repay his debt to Ju-no after all? He doesn’t seem to understand fairly basic business law and despite the fact that I think he knows exactly who CFO Ha is, he still schemes with him behind the backs of his more competent employees. At least our team is still great (Jin-su telling the construction jerk that he just misplayed his shot and Sun-young literally pushing him out of the way 🤣), and I am still enjoying the show, but the chairman has disappointed me in a big way.

Older Dramas
Weak Hero Class 1: (through ep 3) Going slooowly through this. I love our trio of friends and how different they are, I just wish they had some competent adults in their lives. I knew that gangster character couldn’t be at the top of the organization (he just screams “childish thug” which does not translate to Big Bad) but I’m worried about how far this will escalate.

Good Boy: (1-2)🏅The opening was slick and fun! It's super exciting, has an interesting premise, a lot of energy and style, and seems like it may also have substance. This is my first Park Bo-gum drama (his other dramas don't appeal to me, and I dropped Love in the Moonlight), but I REALLY like him here! Kim So-hyun isn't my favorite (too prim and chilly); but she's good so far as a cool girl. I was hoping for no romance, but oh well. I adore Lee Sang-yi (*pls stay safe*). The setup for the villain conspiracy seems pretty standard, but Oh Jung-se makes for a scary villain, and Lee Jung-ha makes for good personal stakes for the ML (he won back my goodwill he lost with The Auditors). The action and comedy are great so far, and I'm excited for more - I feel like I'm watching a movie! (Also, killer OST so far!)

Finished
High School King of Savvy: A wackadoo plot tackled with gusto by the cast! The ML is cocky, empathetic, forthright, funny, and hot. The FL is a hot mess, but kind hearted. I had read reviews complaining about the FL's general mess, but what I see in her posture, facial expressions, and physical comedy, is an homage to Carol Burnett, and I found her portrayal very funny. The drama has a distinct slapstick flair that often had me cackling. Seo In-guk is funny, but he can also turn from derpy to hot on a dime, which I love. The later angsty bits were less fun, but overall this was a sweet watch. I always forget that these "older" dramas have so much verve and energy!

Tastefully Yours: Well, this was predictably going to happen. Sir here are the consequences to your actions. The next episode is going to be so angsty. Poor Yeon Joo, betrayed by the men she trusted and loved most. Smh, how will she get past this.

Second Shot at Love: We got a relapse. I am glad they are showing more relapses and the pressures in Korean society to drink more. I am surprised they haven’t addressed Ui Joon’s drinking again. As for Hyun Joo and Sun Wook, they are cute, fall for the man girl. His sister will be dealt with, her absolute refusal to see that Sun Wook is in love Hyun Joo would be funnier if not for the fact that her refusal is based on prejudice. Finally, that nurse hiding his dad from him is weird, but I feel like she is his mother and this is her way of protecting him. That will blow up in her face.

Pump Up the Healthy Love: I got my bean. I do not recommend this drama. It meandered, lost the plot multiple times, and just wasn’t very good. It had its moments, but it was so far and in between that it isn’t worth it to watch. What the show? Lol

Mercy for None: Didn’t have time to start, but will try it this weekend.

Good Boy: What will our sidelined avengers do next? I look forward to finding out.

Oh My Ghost Clients: I am nervous and excited to see what tragedy we will see next and also how they will be getting paid.

Our Unwritten Seoul: Ho Su is falling for Mi Ji as Mi Rae, being Mi Ji. I need her to tell him because that man becomes even more confused. I also would really really love it if Mi Ji and Mi Rae had a real conversation. They need to communicate and speak to each other.

Eagle Brothers: 3rd brother is a case. Did he think Ok-bun would be waiting for him for forever. Now he's spiked someone else is showing interest. I really hope the drama goes against expectations and have her go for vet guy.
I was expecting at one point that one of the brothers will be opposition party. To have it be Heungsoo and in the most unfeeling way possible... it is a blessing that he is not the eldest surviving sibling. He really needed that smacking from Chun-soo.
Upsetting Kang-soo's life like this is so not fair.

It is Always Midnight in Hagwon Episode: I took a break this week from this.

The Haunted Palace Episode 12-13: I didn't think I'd enjoy this drama. Truth is - I am.

Nine Puzzles: I surely now have a backlog of 5 episodes to catch up to. I learnt about who the culprit was and it is so out of the left field but I believe when I watch it, it will make sense.

EAGLE BROS (Ep 35-36) Two very bad story lines continue to haunt the weekender. Professor Bro has turned brain dead for liking Seri instead of the big picture: custody battle; family feuds; career breach in dating a student, etc. The Stalker turned Dog Lover with the Vet has led to an ugly jealousy arc for the Lame Bro. I think the lead couple got to their romance too quickly which allows these filler arcs to grow like uncontrolled invasive kudzu plant.

OUR UNWRITTEN SEOUL (Ep 3-5 1/3) The Twin switch is getting bogged down with corporate politics, and their lives are getting dark with the Twins finding out about their sibling’s bad times.

TASTEFULLY YOURS (Ep. 7-8) There is a bad taste in viewer’s mouths after this week’s odd turns and betrayals. The original character personalities have been muted and the story line dulled by unbelievability. Any romance was DOA before the Japanese trip arc. The Brothers corporate battle turned out to be weak wrist slapping. It should have been a series about FOOD not trope fodder.

Tastefully Yours
Where is the fun?
Where are the dishes?
I'm still watching for the actors... and @Unit 's recaps.

Labour Attorney No Mujin
I like the actors, but the humour and darkness (and pathos) unfortunately don't work for me.

Miji's Seoul
I love this, mainly for the switch self, when both sisters can see now things from a different point of view... and learn more about each other... and about themselves.

Haunted Palace
Another show I love, especially Kim Jihoon as the King is shining. And I was glad that Show let King love both versions of Gap... and that Original Gap got a chance to leave with dignity.

Eagle Brothers
Episode 35 chose to develop nearly all storylines in ways I didn’t particularly like... and closed with the arrival of the most hated character aka Unrepentant Selfish Wife of Brother #2. And so I decided to wait and pile up a few episodes to be able to ff through all the makjang awaiting us.

Second Shot at Love, 3 eps
On pause, because I don't have enough time to continue right now, but I liked what I saw so far and hope to continue at some point.

The Demon Hunter's Romance, 15eps
A slow watch, the human-demon world is rich and relationships complicated, I love that it is not black and white. And Demon Hunter missing his family and drinking Special Wine to remember them.... ooh. 😪

I'm Married... But, finished
So good. Cutting deep into longer lasting relationships (with Taiwanese humour 🙂 ) ...and reminding us that love is a choice we do many times during our relationship. I liked that there was suggested that both leads could be perhaps happy (or even happier/more suitable) with other people, but they both still chose each other.

Haunted Palace: 7.5

Oh My Ghost Clients: 5.1 Ep 2 laid it on awfully thick. If the basic premise implies a new ghost every week, there's a non-zero chance they might play up the sentimentality more than I'm in the mood for. Update: dropped 51 minutes into ep 3. I don't need the Bean enough to sit thru all that bullying.

Good Boy: 8.0 High expectations, promising so far. When the writer and FL of Bring It On Ghost team up again you can figure they didn't hate each other but what's that you say about some famous ML? I wasn't sure how they'd fit a discus thrower's skills into a police team until he threw the bleepin' manhole cover (!!)

Our Unwritten Seoul: 7.0 Trying too hard to be serious & profound in ep4? Instead of playing up the life-swap hijinks.

Tastefully Yours: 6.5

Nine Puzzles: 7.5 for the week, 8.0 for the series. The ending wasn't as original as I hoped -- redevelopment and forced relocations are a dime a dozen in kdramaland, and this week the FL didn't show much of the quirkiness I liked so much before. But points for having that one guy do a credible spat onto a sidewalk instead of landing on some poor car.

Family Matters: 9.5 for the nth rewatch. But if you skip most of the Special Trainings scenes and some of what they did to the deaconess, it's 10.0.

I turned 75 last month.
One of the few good things about getting old is -- fewer living witnesses to the embarrassing things from when you were not old.
And then there's "middle age spread", so when the elastic in your old undershorts gives out, they still fit.

Tastefully Yours There are a lot of small elements that doesn't make sense. They just had to focus on food...

Second Shot at Love The couple is cute. The rest...

Good Boy I'm impatient to see all of them working together.

Oh My Ghost Clients Jung Kyoung-Ho and Tang Joon-Sang's scenes are fun.

The Haunted Palace I didn't think they will kill an important character.

Our Unwritten Seoul I think the twins should stop lying to themselves, to each other and to their family/friends.

<b<Nine Puzzles The end was quite sad. But I'm not against a second season!

Mercy for None With this casting, I got the feeling to watch a drama from 2000.

Good Boy (1-2): Full of energy and action, this was a very enjoyable start, despite the rather extreme length of episode 1. Will it be able to maintain this energy for 16 episodes though?

Our Unwritten Seoul (3-4): I keep wondering whether or not Ho-soo knows that "Mi-rae" is actually Mi-ji. At this point I'm inclined to hope that he doesn't, as I feel like that allows for a more interesting romance, one that's not just based on a past crush. Also, I'm definitely warming up to Se-jin. Something about his willingness to actually apologize makes him very endearing to me. Meanwhile, though, I'm starting to like Mi-ji's & Mi-rae's mom less and less. I feel like she constantly and consistently looks down on Mi-ji, in various ways, and it's really starting to annoy me. Oh, and as the recap brought up, whatever happened to Ho-soo being hard of hearing in one ear? It was such a big thing in the beginning, but now it just feels like the drama kinda forgot?

Nine Puzzles (10-11): Not gonna lie, the whole "final confrontation" in the theme park really broke my heart. "I can no longer tolerate myself." Anyway, this was very enjoyable, and I'll miss Ena and her iconic outfits.

The Flower in Prison (48-51): Found it very fitting how it ultimately came down to Oknyeo having to fight & kill the guy that helped train her, while Tae-won arrests his own father. I thought this drama ended in a satisfying manner, and while it was sometimes messy, I had an absolute blast watching these 51 episodes, and I could've easily watched another 50. Anyway, I loved Oknyeo as a character, and I actually really like how romance wasn't the focus here. Heck, I didn't even notice until after the finale that the last episode didn't even have a single romantic moment between Oknyeo & Tae-won (and I don't think it was needed, because everything had already been said). The most romantic moment in the finale is the King wiping away Oknyeo's tear (complete with a close-up), and mind you, they are literally siblings. Also, I would've hated it if Oknyeo actually ended up living in the palace, so I'm glad she refused the King, as unorthox as it might've been at that time for an unmarried Princess to live outside the palace. Her place is among the people, not in a palace. Her being a "waeji bu", along with Tae-won, feels like a fitting ending for her, even if I wish this was more of a main plot and not just a small side-plot in the last 15 episodes.

Soooo, lots of stuff to take care of behind the scenes, so unfortunately right now I can only manage one live watch: THE HAUNTED PALACE. I’m amazed how well the story developed, I feel like all of the characters we met along the way got/get their due screen time as everyone’s plot is about to wrap up. I’m so excited for this week’s episodes (that I have yet to watch), crossing all fingers that it’ll stick the landing! (But dare I say I’m not very worried?) Love my imogi-shaman couple, the royal family (Queen will be saved, no?!), Gap’s mum, chief eunuch, the monk & sidekick… Really an enjoyable watch!

Other than that I finally started watching CINDERELLA AT 2AM, and am enjoying it at lot, too. (Yay, @midnight - I keep checking back to your mini recap, too! 👏🫰👏) I’m only at ep 4, but can hopefully carve out some time to continue soon! (I was surprised & delighted to see a well-liked actress from SH**TING STARS, Park So-Jin, in this! 🥳🫰)

I plan on having a look at OUR UNWRITTEN SEOUL as soon as that either wraps up (binge it is!) or I have less on my plate. Beanies’ comments do sound promising! 😃✅

Very busy week and now we are behind on nearly everything. My wife has nearly completed her rewatch of LEE SAN, WIND IN THE PALACE.

But, outside of our Weekender I have also paused my other shows to do a re-watch of BACKSTREET ROOKIE and also, on Prime, watched what they have titled THE COMMONER but you can see that the original Norwegian title is really simply HARALD OG (and) SONJA- which is a true royal love story of a couple who had to hang in there for nine years before they could marry.

Our Weekender has hit the true makjang stretch with the re-appearance of Chunsoo’s loathsome wife and reveal of part of Maknae’s birth secret. Also, Seri left home and is living with Chunsoo’s female friend and working for her as well. We celebrated Hani’s first birthday but now there will be a custody fight.

Hi Beanies! ☀️🌻

What I am watching (without spoilers):

_ Haunted Palace (14 out 16). The ending of the episode 14 was shocking. Let's see how everything ends...

_ Dear Hongrang (9 out of 11). This drama is such a good surprise! The plot is very hooking and the cinematography, soundtrack and production design are 10/10. I love how dark and rough it is, and the mysterious atmosphere. Sometimes I feel that other fusion sageuks are too light and colorful, as if Joseon was some kind of theme park. Here I appreciate they try to show it with more "realism". And the natural settings are beautiful (and they feel real too). Friendly warning: the violence can be a little explicit in some scenes.

_ Doom at your service (2021) (9 out of 16). I like the rom-com side of this drama, and the visuals are pretty, but I'm afraid I still don't fully get the mythology/philosophy.
Seo In Guk looks amazing.

_ Taiwanese drama Yong Jiu Grocery Store (2019) (5 out of 10). Beautiful, tender, optimistic, cozy! I was almost crying in the first episode.
If you love slice-of-life, countryside settings, found families, and John Denver songs... You have to watch this series.

What I have finished:

_ Prisoner of Beauty. It won't be one of my favorite c-dramas, by any means, but I have had a good time watching it. It was quite fun. The main couple and Liu Duan Duan made a good job.

_ Moonlovers Scarlet Heart Ryeo (2016). This one was a disappointment. Maybe it was a "me" problem because I didn't connect since the beginning. I couldn't like nor understand the characters (I only liked the three younger princes), and the script wasn't good imo. It's a shame because the plot had such a huge potential. And I really wanted to like it.

Our Unwritten Seoul: Still good!

Todome no kiss /Kiss that kills: My jdrama watching spree continues and this one is probably the most kdram-esque jdrama I've seen. I've heard praises for this drama throughout the years so I finally gave it a try. Thoroughly enjoyed it, full of heart, humor, and charm. Tbh kdramas used to be this fun and have a similar format but they no longer do (the only show I could remember in recent years that comes close id Lovely Runner) and I'm rather surprised noone thought of remaking this in a kdrama. But I'm also not finding any recs of similar dramas in the japanese ones.

Happy first Saturday of summer, Beanies!

LOST AND GAINED IN ADAPTATION THE PRISONER OF BEAUTY: Goodbye, show, you'll be missed! Until the next rewatch, that is))) It was a polarizing, but entertaining ride that almost feels too short now – damn you, express package deal and episode cap! Let's talk about pros and cons in general and then more in detail about last episodes. Negatives first: already beat the pacing horse dead, but what was that in the very end? It's almost as brutally cut as AJTL was! I suppose Wei Yan's adventures in his bio-dad's state were deemed to tricky by censors and battles cut short by budget, but why didn't we see other stuff – like ML returning home triumphantly to reunite with his old and new family (they filmed it ffs!)? Certain supporting characters simply disappeared from narrative too soon. Villains were hardly all that in book either, but at least they got their bloody comeuppance in more brutal fashion there and not just written off stealthily (double spear stab was cool af tho). Overall, prelude to climax was speedran both in terms of events and supporting roles development, to the point of actual leads having little to no screentime in last 2 episodes either together and separately. If drama cut some earlier overstretched fluff and spread this meaty stuff more evenly thorough...

Another big issue to me is characterization of ML. Or, rather, the inconsistent way drama framed his vendetta against FL's clan and subsequent internal love-hate conflict. Good parts were FL and her father's stance on that (the apology scene in Ep32!), but then show kept flipping it back to treating ML's valid paranoia and apprehension to forgive bloody massacre of his kin he saw with his own eyes as a kid as source of “bro is sooo slow and dense and stubborn” low-brow jokes. Emphasizing with homicidal grudge is already not something anyone can do easily, but if show itself doesn't treat character's trauma and dilemma seriously, why would viewers? And wtf was that forced “parallel” when he had to decide which city to fight for, clearly intentioned to make him “understand” other side's choice from 15 years ago? There was nothing to understand – he did NOT leave him homeland unguarded, they had all the means to wait for him just fine! General is a goddamn LEADING rank, and there were 2 of them to do the job even without cousin-ex-machina, come on! Not to mention that even implying he cared more about defending “poor innocent commoners” of his sworn enemy state over his own and little remaining family smells pure BS. Again, clearly censorship claws, but it was infuriatingly dumb, writer! Late grandpa Qiao got sooo whitewashed he likely died from bleach poisoning instead of old age...

ONGOING
The Haunted Palace. Final 2 eps tonight. I truly hope it goes out with a bang! This has been a surprisingly great watch.

Second Shot at Love. This week's eps were not great. The problems feel contrived and several of the support characters are basically caricatures (e.g., 2ML's sister, FL's boss, ML's nurse/whoever she is).

Tastefully Yours. I am beyond disappointed with this story and the waste of this great cast. The screenwriter is now on my no-watch list.

Our Unwritten Seoul. After a rough opening week (for me), and despite some flaws, I really enjoyed this week's eps. However, my fondness for The Parent Trap (original version) weirdly makes it hard to adjust to this tonally. I keep expecting it to be more fun, even though I know it won't be.

FINISHED
24-Hour Health Club. The ending was a bit silly but it had a lot of heart. A tighter script would have helped this a lot.

The Prisoner of Beauty c-drama. One of the more enjoyable c-dramas I've watched this year and a happy vindication for a falsely cancelled actress. Plus Liu Yu Ning ('nuff said).

Have fun this week beanies! 😉

Beanies, happy weekend!

Ongoing

Our Unwritten Seoul
I’m very disappointed that HS is still in the dark about MJ and now that its clear that hug was misinterpreted - why was MR hugging him then? And what happened to MR? Oh those office crooks I really hope they get what they deserve. HS mom - perfect example of people misunderstood for their good nature and wisdom.

Tastefully Yours
While we all knew this was going to happen, I wish we got to spend more time with OTP than the unwanted stuff.

Second shot love
On hold, I lost interest as soon as the plot deviated with the stalker storyline.

Good Boy
Oh boy PBG fighting? you bet I’m not missing this for anything and very glad to see him in his playful character chasing the queen of his heart.

Oh My Ghost Clients
I don't know what to make of this, it was neither boring nor interesting.

Completed

Nine Puzzles
Very captivating thriller that retained its suspense factor till the end. Though the ending was touching I’m still left with the question - what about those missing cases of woman due to which her uncle had to resign? Is the last case where YE returns connected to that serial killer case? Are they keeping that for S2?

Heavenly ever after
While I enjoyed the beginning, it lost its plot somewhere and I wish they showed us how their son fared in his second life and NJ’s anguish while he was waiting for his wife in heaven. And yes like @lovepark mentioned this was more of a tribute to the actress and how she wants to be remembered.

I'm Married... But
Cute love story of a couple who finds their way to each other. Loved the message too.

Thanks to the recent posts about favorite kdramas of 2023 I learned about and binge watched One Day Off - a very special, heartfelt drama! Along the same vein I finally watched Wim Wender's movie Perfect Days, and I loved it. It was slow, subdued, yet full of humanity. Both these shows were somehow similar, depicting solitary individuals and their interactions with other people and their life in general. Both shows really hit me in the feels.

Good summer morning to Dramabeans! Quick posting today because ... summer stuff.

Happy watch of the week to the art designer/production crew of GOOD BOY, with Park Bo Gum on Prime, for the florescent paint warehouse fight. Two hours in, and I'm sold. Lordy, somebody got Park Bo Gum to the gym; he's bulked up! This looks to be a fun watch.

On advice from so many WWW contributors I took up HAUNTED PALACE. Spook stories have never been interesting to me. But this one? It's unique, I gotta say. I'm enjoying Yook Sung Jae as the lead spook who is, obviously and hilariously, confused by his body sending love signals.

THE PRISONER OF BEAUTY, episode 32 is so well done, with winning performances by Liu Yu Ning and Song Zu Er. The entertainment value of this cdrama is top notch. A classic, a keeper, with excellent pacing, and a wonderful cast.

ETERNAL BROTHERHOOD 1 & 2, ep. 8, continues to impress. I really like this show, and I love the raw, gritty look of the production.

Next week, gotta date with So Ji Sub and MERCY FOR NONE on Netflix.

Live watching:

1. The Haunted Palace: It's. So. Good. This is one very good case of 1+1 is infinitely more than 2.

Looking forward to watching it's final tonight.

I'm on board with current dramas, Tastefully Yours (I wanted more considering the cast), Our Unwritten Seoul (love the double acting and twin switch), and Love Shot (not my favorite, maybe a C+). Even the weekly variety shows seem to be lagging in excitement and interest for some reason. Congratulations Jong Min (our longstanding 1N2D member) on your recent marriage! Happy weekend, Beanies! 🫰

Our Unwritten Seoul Just binged hard. Love it so much on so many different points - directing, acting, and script. Also reminds us that it's really hard to truly know someone, even if that person is literally your twin. And most times, we don't even know ourselves. My heart hurts at the all the moments our twins learn more about each other and about themselves.

Tastefully yours: Ugh, what happened to you? The genuine appreciation for ingredients and food and the bonding of our Jungjae staff has been decimated for hacky kdrama contrivances. I feel like the writer devalued Yeon-joo's skills as a restaurant owner and a chef.

Haunted Palace I really appreciated the development and send off of the real Yoon Gap. It was so sensitively done, and I totally cried for him. The ending of ep 14 (which was confirmed in ep 15) enrages me though.

Perfect Match: (cdrama, up to ep 23) Also binged this like crazy. Didn't expect much from it but it has been surprisingly entertaining and low-key funny. Quite fast-paced too. I enjoyed the sort of Bridgerton-esque take with each unmarried sibling getting their own season within the series and seeing the women in the Li family support each other and shine. The romance is more secondary and I get a kick out of it feeling like the male leads are marrying into their wives' family.