Review – Warrior Baek Dong Soo (I can’t quit you!)

Review – Warrior Baek Dong Soo

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The Plot, Short Version:  Two young warriors choose two different paths and swords clash.

Though I still don’t think this is a perfect drama and stick firmly to my 8/10 rating, I must confess… the rewatch factor on this show is HIGH.  I have rewatched this show several times.  Maybe not all the way through, true, but I’ve cherry picked my favorite episodes and scenes and tend to crave them like a pregnant woman craving pickles.  Nothing else will do.

Let’s Dig In.  (minor spoilers follow)

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Review – Signal

Review – Signal

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I heard everyone raving about this show but I thought, “Ugh, a cop show.  Ugh, sounds like Frequency.  Ugh, matching up an older woman with a younger man again.  Ugh Ugh.”  I should have slapped myself across the face.  And so should you, if you are entertaining such thoughts.  Snap out of it!  Signal is AWESOME.

Yes, it’s a cops-solving-crimes show that jumps back and forth between the past and present, connecting cops and crimes across decades.  And yet I was riveted.  None of the cases ended like I thought they would.   None of the future’s interventions had the outcome I expected.  None of the usual cliches and tropes applied to this show.  There was no noona romance, for one thing.  Instead, a seasoned female cop works alongside a young cute rookie and NOTHING HAPPENS except for work.  Gasp!  I was sooo happy.  Yes, ladies and gentlemen, men and women can be friends.  They can care about each other and not want to have sex.  It is, in fact, possible to live and work in a nonsexual way with half of humanities population.  Signal was a revelation!

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It was also very dark.  The crimes were horrible and gritty.  The justice system struggled, realistically.  Crimes were unsolved.  People died and their killers were never brought to justice, not in this past, not in the present.  It was hard to know what the right thing to do was.  People are so many shades of gray, after all.  The story lines were complicated and compelling and every single episode was gripping and intense.

I highly recommend not reading too much about it before starting it up.  It’s nothing like Frequency (the movie or the show).  It’s a mystery and all mysteries should remain vague and ponderous until you actually watch it unfold before your eyes.  I don’t like to do lengthy reviews on mysteries for that very reason.  So I leave you with this – just watch it.  When you’re done, you can pick at the little pieces and discuss characters and debate the ending all you want to.  Somewhere else.  This review is just to get you to bite and spend sixteen hours devouring this amazing show.

Overall Rating – 10/10.  Dark Crime and Magical Realism.

Review – High End Crush

Review – High End Crush

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Another deceptive title image.  This in no way reflects the tone or the plot line of this drama.  But whatever, I’ll save my title image ranting for another day.

The Plot, Short Version:  Eccentric wealthy dude falls for stubborn country girl.

High End Crush.  What to say, what to say.  Thankfully the leading man was entertaining enough to carry this short drama to its obvious conclusion with a few laughs along the way and a few enjoyable romantic moments too.  But…

After finishing this series, I think I can officially state that I don’t like “short” dramas.  It’s like having annoying commercial interruptions ALL THE TIME, right when interesting things start happening.  I think if they had strung up all the episodes together and let them play as one long string, without the constant stop/start of intros and exits, it would have been a quality short drama, if not a bit on the hammy side.  If it ever makes it to Netflix, they will do this for us.  They did it with The Guild and it made the entire viewing experience so much more enjoyable.

What else can I say about this drama?  I finished it a few days ago and have been chewing on what to write for a review.  It’s so problematic.  Here’s why… the things I liked about this show were also the things I hated about this show.

Example 1:  I loved the idea of a young woman from deep in the mountains, disconnected from modern society… and yet I didn’t buy it.  At all.  The entire sequence of events in the mountains felt like theater scenery and unnatural to both characters.  She did not seem like a young woman cut off from modern society at all.  It just felt off.

Example 2:  I loved the love/hate relationships inspired by the main male character.  His shrink, his employees, his personal assistant all hated him with a passion… and yet they loved him too because he was interesting and flamboyant and really good at his job.  And yet I couldn’t really figure out what his job WAS or what he did or if it was, indeed, impressive.  It just seemed like a glossed over subject.

Example 3:  The disloyal yet lovable assistant.  This contrasting nature made the character both deviously hysterical and enjoyable.  Sometimes.  And other times I thought, “there’s no way this guy wouldn’t have been fired three years ago,” or worse, it made the assistant come across as a true asshole, which is not endearing whatsoever.   And this is one of my favorite actors, too, so it hurts to say that…

There’s some really cute romantic comedy moments in this show.  And some pretty spectacular lines and witty banter… like this scene in the car…

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But overall it was just MEH.  I enjoyed all the characters, mostly, and was entertained… but I also felt cheated out of a good drama, which it might have been if given room to stretch its legs.

Overall Rating – 7/10.  Size Matters.

Review – Discovery of Romance

Review – Discovery of Romance

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This romantic drama featured the reunion of actors Jung Yoo Mi with Eric Moon.  I love these two together.  They were fantastic in Que Sera Sera.  And they were good in this drama as well.  Sung Joon is also in this show, and he’s another of my favorites.  But I’m just gonna stop you now before you get excited by the quality line up of actors…

It just wasn’t that good.

Discovery of Romance is love triangle plotline, but with a bit more weight on each side for once.  Eric Moon’s character is the former lover of Jung Yoo Mi’s character.  They were together five long years before breaking up.  Now she’s with Sung Joon’s character, in a strong, healthy relationship.  That is… until her old lover turns up again and wants to try again.

Despite loving all the actors and the exploration of the complexity of relationships, I didn’t think too much of this drama.  I finished it, though I confess I started to skim towards the end.

Overall Rating – 5/10.  When The Heart Is Involved, Honestly Is Easier In Theory Than In Practice.

SPOILERS FOLLOW

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Review – You’re Beautiful (aka, You’re Beautiful, Jang Keun-Suk)

Review – You’re Beautiful (aka, You’re Beautiful, Jang Keun-Suk)

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You’re Beautiful was one of the first Korean Dramas I watched, many moons ago.  Around 2010, to be exact.  It was on Netflix and I had just finished watching Queen Seon Duk…. which actually shared two of the famous K-drama tropes, “cross-dressing” and “male harem.”  In other words, in both dramas there were women disguised as men surrounded by lots and lots of beautiful men.  I was still deeply, madly in love with the character Bidam (who remains one of my all time favorite characters in any show, worldwide – read about him in this review) and not sure anyone could distract me from daydreaming… and then Hwang Tae-Kyeong showed up with two ponytails and I was lost again.

The Plot, Short Version:  Young lady disguises herself as her twin brother and joins a famous rock band full of adorable, handsome boys.

You’re Beautiful – Overall Rating 9/10.  Being Jealous of Jang Keun-Suk’s Hair for Sixteen Hours.

Seriously, this show is all about Hwang Tae-Keyong’s gorgeous hair and awesome hair styles… that hairdresser deserves an Emmy.

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READ MORE….

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Review – Pinocchio

Review – Pinocchio

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Every once in a while a finely tuned drama like this comes along and grabs you unaware.  The premise seemed simple, almost silly.  I thought it was going to be another cheesy romance with some silly work comedy thrown in.  Oh how wrong I was.

This is one of those rare shows that just does everything right.  Every character is well developed.  They give you enough time to explore the world – the family and friends and dynamics of relationships.  No one feels plastic or cliche.  By the end of episode five, you have a deep commitment to all the players on the stage.  It isn’t just about a cute couple falling in love.  This is a drama about lots of people and how interpersonal relationships shape your life, for better and worse.

The Plot, Short Version:  After inaccurate news coverage leads to tragedy, a young man grows up and tackles the enemy from the inside by becoming a reporter.

Overall Rating – 10/10.  Do Reporters Go To Heaven or Hell?

SPOILERS AHEAD!

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Review – She Was Pretty

Review – She Was Pretty

This show had one of the best first episodes I have ever seen.  I was immediately drawn in by the story and quirky characters, the tight friendships, the lost loves, the struggle to find gainful employment, the insecurities and the humor.  And all these things stayed pretty steady on throughout the duration of the show.  Yet somehow I failed to love it.  I was definitely entertained.  But I just left it feeling so-so.

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And from this poster, I thought the male lead was going to be more silly and fun.  That role went to the second male lead though… so… yet another poster fail.

The Plot, Short Version:  An unattractive girl gets her pretty friend to pose as her when meeting her childhood sweetheart.  Basically its Cyrano de Bergerac.

Mild spoilers follow… but not really… just musings on the obvious.

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Review – Sensory Couple

Review – Sensory Couple

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First of all… very misleading title image!  This is not a fairy tale romance and neither character runs around in beautiful clothes throughout the show.  This picture is more accurate of what to expect:

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The show about a girl who sees smells (by the seashore) and a guy who feels no pain.  Throw in a serial killer and you’ve got an unusual, yet surprisingly cute drama.

READ MORE…

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Review – Mask

Review – Mask

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A delicious melodrama full of betrayal, secrets, and pain!  I loved it.  Soo-Ae looks beautiful when she cries.  Ju Ji-Hoon is marvelous as the mentally unstable heir.  And Yeon Jeong-Hun has NEVER LOOKED BETTER.  Oh my gosh, no one plays devious quite like this guy… and no one has ever looked so hot when they’re being so evil.

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The story is relatively simple.  There are two women who have the same face, doppelgangers.  One is wealthy and the other lives in poverty and debt.  When the wealthy woman drowns, a sinister man sees an opportunity and puts the poor woman in her place.  The poor woman goes along with it because Mr. Sinister says he will settle her families debts.  Suddenly the poor woman finds herself getting married to a stranger and caught in a web of lies.

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I loved it!  This is pure melodrama.  If you’re feeling rational, don’t watch it.  If you’re one of those people who screams at the television “Why doesn’t she just tell him!?” or “Why does she keep trusting him?!” then don’t watch it.  These people are going to make the same mistakes several times before seeing the error of their ways.  There are lies on top of lies on top of lies.  People are out for blood.  There is distrust and suspicion everywhere.  No one has the common sense to plant an audio recorder somewhere or actually accumulate evidence of any kind.  Oh no.  These are fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants, emotional decision making types.  And it’s 20 long episodes of this… so if you’re not in the mood to soak in some moody, irrational stew, then do yourself a favor and steer clear.

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If, however, you are in the mood for deception and dark desire and, honestly, ridiculousness… then get comfortable on the couch and clear your calendar.  There will be tears!  There will gnashing of teeth!  There will be anguish and blood and fear and chaos!  There will be desperate kisses followed by mistrust and confusion!  There will be backflashes to something that happened only ten minutes ago!  The house is on fire and no one can see the exits through the smoke… we’re all going down in flames together.  And it’s so much fun!

Overall Rating – 9/10.  Mr. Sinister Serves Up Some Moody, Broody Blackmail to a Doppelganger.

SPOILERS AND UNANSWERED QUESTIONS

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