… At the time, he probably felt like he couldn’t say anything else, not only because it was still the height of the pandemic and people had other worries— but because he probably felt whatever he said wouldn’t matter. In a way, I’m glad he kept his answer short and sweet, because in the years since— these last 5 years— he’s displayed in his actions how he’s dealt with things (acquired a really strong legal team to deal with this matter and more). He’s always been soft, gentle, kind, and low-key, but since this incident, I’ve watched him grow more mature, smarter, more resilient, and tougher. His gentleness, kindness and low-key M.O. still remains, but he’s now got that added quality about him that makes him appear more headstrong. I definitely think that the people involved in 227 making personal attacks against his friends and family was definitely the hardest part for him but which were also the things that made him tougher and more aware. He’s always said he knows for as many people who like him there will be just as many haters so he didn’t mind getting criticism and hate comments directed at him— just don’t make them personal and attack his personal friends and family—and this was truly put to the test from this incident.

In the years since this incident, Xiao Zhan has definitely become brighter and has risen higher than where he was before:
His endorsements and contracts have doubled, he is among the very, very few in Chinese entertainment who have the most “choosing power” (the projects and contracts come to him and he gets to pick and choose what he wants to do, who he wants to work with, and the projects he wants to participate in— he doesn’t have to go auditioning for or looking for endorsements or filming projects— they are sent to him and he is offered them). On a “watchdog” (political) level, he’s gone through a handful of audits from the government and all of the results from each audit have proven him to be as clean as a whistle, so that no one can every doubt him or pin anything on him. In regard to the people who he’s worked with in previous years (drama directors, producers, co-stars, production crew, people he’s met in passing to form connections, etc.), all have testified— some more than once— that Xiao Zhan truly is a standup person who’s kind and not just “nice”, honest, genuine, sincere, and a true friend (not just co-worker)— and that to me, as a fan, is the most important thing, a person’s character as a human being.
As a person who’s also gone through quite a bit in life, to have come out of it all and still have people stand by me and testify about my character as a person is a huge blessing and a privilege, so it warms my heart to see and to know that Xiao Zhan has such people in his life, too!

(*Long post ahead, feel free to scroll past*)

My SQUEE this week:

The 5-year (court) battle for Xiao Zhan’s lawsuit against those who headed the cyber-bullying and smear campaign against him and his affiliates has come to an end. Finally. And ofc, he won the case 👏🏻
Those responsible have tried to suppress this piece of news— by paying to get it delayed as long as possible— but I’m glad it’s finally coming out (it’s been a month since the verdict).

The incident, dubbed “The 227 Incident” comes from the date that the whole thing kicked off—February 27th, 2020 — but online records (“receipts” — screenshots of write-ups, plans, conversations, etc.) indicate that there was actually a really detailed plan in place with very meticulously details and step-by-step instructions, and said plans for this smear campaign were already in progress as early as November 2019, not long after Xiao Zhan’s drama, The Untamed had finished airing, the drama that catapulted Xiao Zhan into fame overnight.
This cyber-bullying and smear campaign wasn’t any run-of-the-mill case. It was the biggest cyber-bullying and intentional smear campaign against an artist that Chinese entertainment had seen in recent years. It was headed by 2 diehard fans of Xiao Zhan’s previous co-star, some anti-fans, and a few management agencies of other artists who also saw/still see Xiao Zhan as a “threat” to their own artisits.
The whole thing wasn’t done simply to defame Xiao Zhan because people saw him as a “threat” to their own biases and artists, but the ultimate goal was to actually drive Xiao Zhan out of the entertainment industry completely— by way of cutting off his income sources— and the tactics used were horrific. The brands that Xiao Zhan was affiliated with at the time (around 19 endorsements in total) weren’t simply told they would be boycotted en masse if they continued their contracts with him, the brands were actually being aggressively threatened into cutting ties with Xiao Zhan. All of Xiao Zhan’s endorsements—except one— ended up cutting ties with Xiao Zhan literally overnight. During the 10 months Xiao Zhan was being soft cancelled because of this incident, things got personal and not only was Xiao Zhan himself getting threats, his own friends and family were also being threatened— his friends and mother were receiving death threats daily and she got so stressed after a point she had to be hospitalized. His grandfather passed away around the same time also in a very stressful state of mind.

Even when Xiao Zhan made his comeback—being the low-key person he is and choosing his comeback appearance to be a charity event— when asked during an interview about how he’d killed time during his “time away” from the public (10 months), all Xiao Zhan said was “I got a hair cut” (which he did), he also downplayed the reason for his “time away” simply saying “we’re in the middle of a pandemic”. At the time, he probably felt like he couldn’t say anything else, not...

Aww! Like Flowers in Sand reunion with Kim Bora as his wifey!

Sooo ready for this show.

Looool... this is something. I'm cringing already.
I actually like Kim Woo Bin's long hair.
More long-haired guys in kdramas please.

This certainly looks thrilling! Haven't watched a political drama in a while yet I'm not really excited for that part of the story. Looking forward to see the cast and their acting chops.

I too know nothing, less than nothing, about gaming and find it inexplicable that so many dramas are built around gaming. But! You all convinced me to give this a try if only because Hyun Bin, for whom I've been lonesome. He's a different caliber actor.

The links are here:
Mr. Queen
The Possible Endings
Eller (vist, ikke redigere): https://1drv.ms/w/c/77e2e7a5b808004d/EaWBxvPGrU9Bkan3VIzR1msBKw-ybYVjnd4tGzJejBAU4Q?e=3XN4od
and then The So-Young Journey - a possible 2nd Season.
https://1drv.ms/w/c/77e2e7a5b808004d/EX-m84hhimVIo7ieVguAV7ABCi2v6f5llrxkTgPKow18ag?e=iRG0VO
With the Spin-off-ette The CULT:
https://1drv.ms/w/c/77e2e7a5b808004d/Ef4h4aSYkjNIonky8XjMzXsBMnz15iosPd420dfhIpVDVA?e=2aDKk9
3rd flow chart: Decades ahead.
https://1drv.ms/w/c/77e2e7a5b808004d/EacPrcXvDhdDqMubyByU7nQB6jkhkF8Ae8hveGENBcE9eA?e=wv2jZf

Mr. Queen Rewatchers and Les Taguettes
@ceciliedk @dncingemma @sonai @mazarin @unaspirated @kafiyah-bello @mmmmm @jhonsberger @dorotka @claire2009 @xococo @abalyn @23new2kdrama @amnesiayawns @minniegupta1 @joanna
@midnight @koalatown @nefret @isagc @bebeswtz @skiee @jls943 @amany @mazarin @redfox @lostpanda
@seeker @Reply1988 @coffeprince4eva @lapislazulii @Gikata @vienibenmio @nessa
@marysadanaga @sp2022 @darkcc @GhostofTim @zindigo

Yours, DK-drama.

Gifs for the Final:
The mutilated Lady was spying for revenge . She knows there is no mercy, but she also knows she has already harmed him, and she shows all her contempt in this bitter smile: https://imgur.com/aQLdOJT
She can't speak, and yet, she clearly says: "Yes, all this time I shared your secrets with your enemy. I have no regrets, even now."
Bong-hwan eating. The King, in love: https://imgur.com/u8rGpIN Also, as far as I remember even from what I have tasted in a kitchen, baked yam or casava tastes crazy good, (especially with butter). Made on a fire with that extra hint of smoke … I think it must really be orgastronomic.
All in, all yours: Bong-hwan will give all he has for this man, even his life. https://imgur.com/GnFK1gT
The Last Kiss
Bong-hwan suddenly feels like this is urgent, like this may be the last chance: https://imgur.com/Jt7TX0k
The Loss
He would think he is crazy. So-young doesn’t enlighten him, and just lets him believe she was also the one who ate yams straight from the fire, and the one hiding with him in that narrow wagon. This way of just taking over the credit from someone In order to gain love …. who does that remind me of?
Anyway, here’s the King who can’t understand how the (nice!) Queen lost her Muchness …
https://imgur.com/uXUXi0U
… This is where you hurry to the flow charts (links in a comment close to this) and Choose Your Favourite, and think up more beautiful details.

I have 50+ gifs on imgur for this entire drama and three three flow chart of how the ending and a second season could be, + a sidestory, or small spin-off, to the imagined Second Season.
I put the links to those charts again in the comments here, because all that choose your own adventure … I hope to hear your ideas to spinoffs and booktitles etcera.

Good title. Because nobody would make a wish involving either of those two :)

@quirkycase , I am a late arrival to your party here, but I still wanted to thank you for your work on recapping this show. Well done!

Human Disqualification, aka "Lost", is a slow-burn drama. Let me stress the slowwwww...burrrrrn. I am not usually a fan of this type of pondering pacing, because it requires the writing, direction, and editing to be top-tier to keep me engaged. However, to my surprise, it all did exactly that - and I found myself hooked.

For some reason, in the past I have never really warmed to the actress Jeon Do-yeon. However, after I watched this show to its entirety and embarked on self-reflection, I realize she is a true professional and is very, very good at her craft. She carries this show with a heart-breaking, thought-provoking, and courageous performance. She has come a long, long way since her performance in Happy End so long ago.

To my amazement, the other actors/actresses in this show are all phenomenal, with special recognition to Park In-hwan, who had me feeling weepy more than once with his portrayal of the stoic, dying father. This was perhaps the best example I've seen of a kdrama in which every actor shined their brightest, within the scope of the role they portrayed.

Ok, so your Friendly Ghost has been raving here, so why can't he give a 10 rating? Two reasons:
1) I feel like the first few episodes introduced some plot-lines that were never quite resolved to a viewer's satisfaction, and could have been left out of the story without losing anything.
2) The "open ended" nature of the last episode could have been wrapped up a little better for us. For example, the exact time-lapse that occurred could have been explained more clearly, especially after scenes at the end showed us the FL was no longer wearing her wedding ring (I had to rewatch a few times to catch that clue).

Now, please Beanies, put my nit-picking aside for a moment and let me give a hearty recommendation for watching this show - provided that you can handle slow-burns and like very thought-provoking and deep dialogue between the characters.

I'm immediately imagining this as a contemporary Korean gender-swapped I Dream Of Jeannie and if that's the case I'm sooooo here for that! Hopefully it's good, I've been desperate for a quality new romantic fantasy/sci-fi k-drama!

That's excellent - you are probably in the minority from posts I've read! I didn't know anything at all about gaming so the first time around I missed an awful lot. It was great to be able to pay attention to details with the rewatch. I was absolutely mesmerized for the full 16 eps!

Hyun Bin was absolutely amazing in this drama.
Btw, it was the first k-drama I ever started and the third I finished.

Hope this has a happier ending than Uncontrollably Fond.....

Kim Woo-bin's long hair is giving a bad Bride of Habaek. I hope Genie chops it off early on in the show.

My biggest squee this week was when I finally watched the finale of the jdrama Ichiban Sukina Hana (My Beloved Flower), which was a beautiful and heartfelt ending to a fantastic drama. Friendship really was the name of the game here, and the drama never once got confused about that, but I also love how this friendship wasn't just between our 4 leads, but also between some of the side characters (and I loved how the finale basically brought back everyone that mattered in some way).
It's really a drama about the connections we make, both past & present, and how those connections can influence the life of you and others, even if that's not necessarily in a big way. After all, sometimes all you need is that one person that doesn't hate you. The story isn't really all that grand, it can often be very simple, but that's also where the beauty in it lies. This was a gem that I won't soon forget.

Yes, I agree there that he was in subtle tears, but I read them as tears of relief that CJ and SY survived the ordeal. I meant that he seemed happy later, when he is back in a suit and looking around at modern Seoul and smiles. But of course we aren’t given very much of him at all, so it’s hard to say.

I'm happy to report that I was never confused, and understood everything the first time around. It's one of my favorite dramas. Glad that you liked it this time!