Team Dramabeans: What we’re watching
by DB Staff
So, what are we all watching this week?
What kept you reaching for more (or agonizing when there was no more), and what made you want to throw your remote through the screen? Time to weigh in…
stroopwafel
Soul Repairer: Jung So-min is so good in her role here, and she broke my heart at the end of the premiere episode…but she was just about the only part of the show I liked without qualification. The patients and doctors we were introduced to were interesting, but Shin Ha-kyun’s “unconventional” approach to treatment was terrible and wildly inappropriate. He seems less like a doctor and more like a random man who’s watched too much Dr. Phil. It was all so over the top that the show kept un-suspending my suspended disbelief. It was distracting and the opposite of what I want in a drama.
Village Survival, the Eight: This is so weird and I love it. Well, the show itself isn’t weird, it’s more the cast that is weird and goofy. The premise itself is straightforward: Yoo Jae-suk plays the head of a “village” and cast members have to win games in order to amass clues that will lead them to a cash prize. It turns out that having an old hand host and adding in a cast with various levels of variety experience equals hilarity. I started watching for Sohn Dam-bi (thank you to the Beanie who recommended this show!) but I found other favorites, mainly Im Soo-hyang and Kang Ki-young. Kang Ki-young is a weird, dorky, and bawdy variety treasure. Now on to season 2!
missvictrix
Currently weecapping: Rugal, A Couple’s World, When My Love Blooms
Oh My Baby: I caught the premiere episode this week out of curiosity around the plot, and solidarity for Jang Nara. How is she always 10/10 for every performance? She’s great here, and even though the drama is goofier than I thought, it also leaves room for some deeper and heavier emotional moments too — like that feeling of lack, or not having gotten where you expected to be in life. Jang Nara is magic at conveying these things, and it hurt a little more than I expected it to. That being said, I don’t doubt for a second that this drama won’t end with her head over heels in love and pregnant (but I’d love to eat my hat if I’m wrong!). It’s the “perfect” ending for a heroine/drama like this, yes, but it does leave those of us who live in real life a little let down. Which brings me to the part of rom-coms that I really don’t enjoy, or find too mentally healthy sometimes, but that’s a chat for another day.
quirkycase
Currently recapping: The King: Eternal Monarch
Good Casting: I wasn’t so sure about the romances in the beginning, but I’m sort of okay with them so far. Plus, that red backpack song keeps getting stuck in my head. I just don’t want them taking over and superseding our trio’s female bonding. We’ve got plenty of romance-y dramas but relatively few female-centric dramas, especially that include women who are older than 30. Right now, our agents are mostly working apart, doing their own things, but I’m rooting for more joint shenanigans and bonding action as we go.
RELATED POSTS
- Team Dramabeans: What we’re watching (May 9, 2020)
- Team Dramabeans: What we’re watching (May 2, 2020)
- Team Dramabeans: What we’re watching (April 25, 2020)
- Team Dramabeans: What we’re watching (April 18, 2020)
- Team Dramabeans: What we’re watching (April 11, 2020)
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- Team Dramabeans: What we’re watching (March 28, 2020)
Tags: Good Casting, Oh My Baby, Soul Repairer, What We're Watching
![[Beanie Recs] Dramas about fangirling](http://d263ao8qih4miy.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/BeanieRecs.jpg)
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51 ssandulak
May 16, 2020 at 10:46 PM
Thinking about it now, I did have another show that I finished that I did really enjoy. Save Me! I needed more WDH, and had recently watched the Knowing Brothers where Seo Ye Ji had appeared, and she was absolutely hilarious. I’d actually watched Save Me 2 before this one, and it was definitely a lot bleaker. Which is saying something considering the subject matter. It was nice having folks to root for though. I really enjoyed it and though I think you have to be in the right mood to watch, I can recommend it to anyone who wants a solid thriller with fairly unique content in Kdramaland.
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52 Bob
May 16, 2020 at 11:29 PM
By accident I found myself watching three Jang Nara TV series in a row. 'V.I.P.', 'Happy Again' (Viki title), and I'm now looking at 'Oh My Baby'. A whole lot of angst about babies and getting older and marriage, especially if watched in sequence. You can add 'Go Back Couple' to that list too. Not exactly a complaint, two of the dramas mentioned were among the best I've seen,
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53 hodhod96
May 17, 2020 at 3:09 AM
Currently I'm just watching Hospital Playlist and enjoying it to bits. I'm even controlling myself to not binge all the episodes since I started on it just 2 days ago.
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54 shelly
May 17, 2020 at 5:03 AM
Watching:
The King: Eternal Monarch. This drama has so many ups and downs, and sadly the downs are all the romance scenes. I don't get why she's so desperate for him out of the blue. There's a disturbing lack of chemistry between them. As I haven't watched Goblin, I don't know if it's her, or him. Or just the both of them together. But it's not really working, as the desperation really comes out of the blue. Unless the timeline is skipping from past to future to present and we're still not seeing all the times they had to actually get to know each other enough so that the passion is warranted.
The highlights are of course the two Jo; Woo Do-Hwan deserved a better role than this. He really should get the chance to play ML in a better drama...
The PPL is atrocious. Do they really make money from it when the drama is flailing and getting criticized for so much PPL?
Also watching Rugal. It hasn't gone as bad as I feared, but there are some moments I long for what it wasn't. There's also a lack of cohesion in the show, and it comes from trying to hard to make it a hip superhero story and not focusing enough on the people in it. The SH thing goes well in a webtoon, and in big budget movies, but it gets tiring and repetitive in a drama. I need more connection to the characters in order to care that someone has a bionic arm and uses it to bludgeon people with it or that they're all supposed to be friends while not spending much time bonding.
Finished 2gether, Thai BL drama, and it was really lackluster in the end episodes, after the bubbly first few episodes. Where did all the fun go? I imagine it was the pandemic changing their plans, but it felt really watered down.
Waiting for The Wolf to come, as this time it really looks like it'll happen (keeping fingers crossed). There are a few older dramas that I'll try when I finish with RL issues lol.
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55 MikeyD signed up
May 17, 2020 at 7:34 AM
I inadvertently found myself watching three Jang Nara series in a row. First VIP, then Happy Again (Viki title of Another Happy Ending) and now I've started Oh My Baby. So much angst over babies and dating! Might as well throw Go Back Couple into the list while we're at it too.
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panshel
May 17, 2020 at 11:23 AM
Déjà vu of @Bob's comment? http://www.dramabeans.com/2020/05/team-dramabeans-what-were-watching-208/comment-page-2/#comment-3659703
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56 dany
May 17, 2020 at 9:19 AM
Born Again- hot male leads, female lead isn't bad either, (looks and talent- ok), the story is a bit confusing but I am actually quite interested in watching the next episodes. Mondays and Tuesdays are less depressing with Lee Soo hyuk on my screen!
Oh my baby! I laughed a lot but it was sad too...
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57 kakakash
May 17, 2020 at 9:34 AM
I had to pause during an "emotional" reunion between Jung Tae-Eul and Lee Gon in Eternal King this week to check my feelings: nothing. It was dead inside. That's how I feel about the main story in this drama.
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blessingwind
May 17, 2020 at 11:17 AM
I could feel their chemistry in episode 10 ending when she saw Lee gon standing there outside her home. But the chemistry got lost once they kissed.I am even surprised but their chemistry is on and off. After watching this show, i realized that writing and direction also really do play a vital role in the chemistry between the leads. Now i dont wanna see any romance scenes in this drama. Had enough. I just want to get the story to be focused more on the battle of Lee Rim and King. Their interactions so far are most interesting than anything else.
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tsutsuloo
May 17, 2020 at 12:40 PM
Have to admit that I laughed during the reunion. As I chortled, I gasped, "Why am I laughing at the wrong parts?"
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kakakash
May 17, 2020 at 1:58 PM
lolll. our minds are trying to make sense of why we torment ourselves...
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58 PakalanaPikake
May 17, 2020 at 10:29 AM
@marcusnyc20 bong-soo,
This morning I live-watched KING MAKER: THE CHANGE OF DESTINY (formerly WIND AND CLOUD AND RAIN) on TVChosun and enjoyed the opening episode. The live stream was excellent.
According to the AsianWiki page newly updated this morning, it will be airing late on Sat. & Sun. nights in Korea. Earlier it had only mentioned Sunday nights, which made me think that only one hour a week would air -- and Show would drag out for 6 months.
http://asianwiki.com/King_Maker:_The_Change_of_Destiny
Good news! According to Soompi, Viki will be subbing KING MAKER.
https://www.soompi.com/article/1400472wpp/exciting-plot-points-to-look-out-for-in-upcoming-premiere-of-king-maker-the-change-of-destiny
Note: 10:50PM [2250] KST = NYC 0950 Sun. & Mon.
This link will take you to the live stream:
http://broadcast.tvchosun.com/onair/on.cstv
Be aware that lots of commercials will air before the show starts, and then there will be one or two short bursts of commercials in the midst of the drama, followed by another barrage before the next program comes on.
I hope this sets your mind at ease about Viki subtitles. ;-)
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WishfulToki
May 17, 2020 at 12:24 PM
Thank you for bringing this to my attention @pakalanapikake! I didn't know we had a new sageuk to watch. Yay!
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bong-soo
May 17, 2020 at 12:38 PM
Hi @pakalanapikake,
Shades of the days of GRAND PRINCE when you would watch the raw feed on TVChosun. I am glad there will be no availability angst. I am still unclear on how many episodes will air each week. You watched episode 1 live this morning which was broadcast at 10:50 pm Sunday night in SK being 13 hours ahead of us. There was no episode broadcast on Saturday night in SK I believe. I guess we will know tomorrow morning.
O/T I am enjoying THE KING'S FACE with SIG et al. I am just wrapping up episode 12 where Japan has invaded and King Seonjo is getting ready to hightail it out of town.
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59 blessingwind
May 17, 2020 at 11:11 AM
1. The King( Ep 9-10) - Still the show lacks that X factor to be considered a masterpiece. But i feel like LMH is getting really good at acting. He seems be acting more like king in the last 2 episodes. The way he screamed "Lee Rim, traitor" , that part still give chills. I just wish all of our questions gets answered at the end. All we need is a good conclusion.
2- Black Dog- I wanted to watch this drama, while it was airing, but due to some reasons could not start. So last week, every night i watched 2 episodes and completely finished watching it. Overall, it is a good show though it was very slow. At times it was bit dull, but i thoroughly enjoyed most episodes. I loved all of the main character's development once each one is faced with the challenges and how the team became more closer and closer after each incident.I loved the female lead Ko Hanuel and Park Sung Soon (Ra Mi ran) . They are similar and yet so different in many ways. What a great rapport they had at the end. I did love the direction,the editing and the storytelling. It was calm and smooth. I am glad i watched this.
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kakakash
May 17, 2020 at 11:48 AM
Yea everyone's acting in King is truly top-notch; I feel they're really giving it their all. The actors probably didnt know while filming how it was all playing out/going to be perceived by the audience.
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60 Lovehj
May 17, 2020 at 9:06 PM
Love Lasts Forever_ a Japanese drama. First time watching a medical setting drama that is not boring. Discovered how beautiful Takeru Satoh is. Love the chemistry of the leads.
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61 Kay
May 18, 2020 at 8:05 AM
Hospital Playlist - oh, the hurt feels from Joon Wan, when he learn about Ik Sun going away for studies from another guy. Can't wait to see Ik Jun reaction when he learns that his 'familiness' with Ahn is totally off target.
Find Me In Your memory - newly discovered how good Kim Dong Wook is. Too many psychopaths in the drama, but overall it is a bittersweet romance, excellent acting by the casts.
A Piece Of Your Mind - surprisingly enjoyable but glad it got cut down to 12 episodes, just the right length for this slow, healing drama. It is lovely to see the couple slowly fall in love, healing and supporting each other, without stretching-the-story with noble idiocy or childhood baggage.
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62 strawberriesncreams
May 20, 2020 at 11:59 AM
Of the currently airing shows, I'm only watching three:
Hospital Playlist - Love, love, love, love, love. One each for these awesome quintet.❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
The King: Eternal Monarch - Realization: Writer Kim Eun-sook should only be working with PD Lee Eung-bok.😬
When My Love Blooms - Sigh. I do not like the way the story is going. I've never been a fan of shows on affairs/cheating (Haven't seen a single episode of popular show The World of the Married. Skipped V.I.P for the same reason. Also haven't watched Misty despite rave reviews.) Sorry show, I'm going to be putting you on the back burner for now. Maybe one day I'll marathon you all. Maybe.🤷🏻
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