*nods* I'm in agreement, but since we're on this show I want to state for the record that the biggest crime that show committed for me was the absolute overuse of the Stand By Your Man song. I used to love that song, and now hearing the opening notes makes me twitch. 😑

I mean, a song I adored that I now hate hearing more than Almost Paradise? That's a pretty sad accomplishment.

@lilyleftthevalley this is how determined I was to make it make sense: one of my many, many rewatches I watched listening intently to Stand by Your Man. When they used it, the verses they used. Is there a clue in the song to make it make sense? Did they spend all of their OST money on this song and now they cant afford anything else and THATS why its used every 3 minutes. Did the guy mean to play it once, fell asleep with the song on repeat (its his favorite, reminds him of his mother who he wasnt seen in such a long time) but there wasnt time to redo it so he sent it to whoever who thought there was a deeper meaning but was too embarrassed to ask when he couldnt figure it so he just sent it to get played.
Have I spent possibly an entire lifetime trying to make it sensez
Have I possibly over thought it to the point that words dont make sense anymore?
All of this to say theu took a perfectly good song and made the worlds ears bleed and develop a twitch because of it. I hope someone kicked everyone involved in the daggone knee.

@lilyleftthevalley also the unviersal panning of Almost Paradise is hilarious and an unoffical drama newbie right of passage at this point. When something ridiculous happens who doesnt burst into some Almost Paradise every now and again. (Is that just me) Stand by Your Man hasnt become almost cute in its overuse. Its just stabby. So. In short (ha, as if I could) this ost is a crime against humanity. I agree with you completely.

@isthatacorner, I honestly played the justification game as well in my mind at the time, wondering how much $$ they spent on the rights, and conversely wondering if it had been recently released for public use so why not use the heck out of it? 🤣

I agree Almost Paradise did get the rep it has for similar overuse, but yes...it's definitely more earworm annoying than stabby sort of reaction for me. 🥴

I didn’t have an issue with the life story not being a fairytale. I just actually ended up disliking every single person (and truly every single one) in the drama. Except for her best friend and the colleague who ended up opening a cafe on Jejudo. Which is also a testament to the quality of their acting! But I just thought they were all terrible people or constantly making terrible choices and I couldn’t manage it.

@carlybisek I didn't think the FL and the ML were terrible person. They did make wrong choices but with their own life. They tried and failed like normal people.
As a Westerner, I hated the mother but I know that this pressure in a family exists in Korea, it was frustrating to watch for sure.

Exactly.

*sips a cocktail* Look, I will forever root for Carrot Boy, but wait for him? He lost that privlege in episode 7.

I'm not...

Ditto all this!

Emma is haunting you? Do you need a tear bucket?

@magichorse

No, thank you. Hi Magic Horse.
*waves*

I can not imagine how the creative team decided that was the right ending.

I bow to the Queen Über Nerd!

People strive for perfection, but Life is Imperfect. Dramas are the same.

I think “disappointment” can arrive at three points: prior to show (anticipation expectation), during the show (delivery expectation) and the ending (satisfaction rating).

For example in two shows mentioned above, SITR/Noona had high anticipation expectation due to SYJ casting as lead and famous director at the helm. The early episodes exploded with chemistry and story which lead to even higher delivery expectations. But the the character choices and the ambiguous ending divided viewers dramatically pro and con. The latter invokes the dreaded “did the show stick the landing?” critical review for some viewers.

Then there was SYJ’s other project, CLOY. It has zero anticipatory expectations due to the bizarre premise and plot. During the early episodes, any logic viewing was put aside for full suspension of belief. Ironically, the ending to CLOY was also ambiguous but the vast majority of viewers did not care - - - they got what they wanted in their lock down fantasy romance show. A year and a half after it ended, it is still talked about and loved by fans (beyond the shippers continuing the storyline pushing the fantasy through to the leads’ real life dating story which a different topic).

You had two shows with the same female lead: One with high early expectations to mixed results at the end, and another with no expectations that had positive results and great fan appreciation.

Then you can have shows that come out of left field: no hype, no expectations but explode in a joyful discovery of pure entertainment. For example, Pegasus Market came out of no where to be one of the best, craziest comedies of all time. Or Hot Stove League, which premise was not juicy, regular drama fare, but delivered an excellent story and ensemble cast acting. Thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish.

It is how a person’s expectations start and how they change during viewing a show that sets up the final conclusion whether it was sufficiently entertaining or disappointing.

I’ve been contemplating trying Arthdal Chronicles but this is putting me off.

@beffels If you want to watch Arthdal I'd wait until season 2 actually exists - otherwise you'll want to throw your screen when you get to the end of the existing episodes.

One last thought on this: I know two things that really resonated for me in this show are the threads of "kill your darlings" (common struggle for writers), and the notion of letting your characters you've created do what they need to do/grow on their own sometimes instead of what you'd much rather they be doing.

I think I got super confused by the last 2 episodes… where he could jump in and out of the mangaverse because he was both a main character and a human now. And I can’t remember how he managed to survive. Wasn’t it random lucky magic?

Omg which reminds me of Queen Inhyun’s Man. That was great until the lucky phone call in the last episode!

@lilyleftthevalley I also really liked the concept of W, which is why the later episodes were so frustrating. I also recognize that what the writer was trying to do is really difficult - deconstruct the cliches, tropes and narrative structures that underpin most shows while still trying to create a compelling show. That's why when amnesia, people magically coming back to life, easy solutions to hard problems (hey, I'll just draw a new ending), starting popping up it was so frustrating. I'm honestly not sure it's possible to succeed at what she was trying to do, but the first 6 episodes suggested it might have been possible.

@jance To your query, yes, he gets the just-in-the-nick-of-time rescue at the end so he can survive and happy couple ending.🙄 But honestly by that point there's so much suspension of disbelief going on, it would have been much more surprising had they not. (I don't know why, but bits like the whole erasing doors and windows at the house thing was more cringe worthy to me--though I thought it brilliant for the single door removal earlier. I mean, if you're going to go all out "anything is possible", just redraw yourselves IN ANOTHER HOUSE SOMEWHERE ELSE.)

Yeah, I kinda cringed at Queen Inhyun’s Man's ending as well--but more because they built up so hard for it--I mean, the phone which they never explain WHY it's in the cell suddenly works again?!?! Yes, yes, the person imprisoning him has mad respect for him--but...still...every other criminal gets stripped down to whites and everything taken away in those times if it gets so bad your in a cell. But I'd be lying if I didn't admit when he finds her and they kiss, I was just swooned right away from my disappointment. 😂

Ack--bad grammar slipped by me! ..."if it gets so bad you're in a cell."

@jance Oh, and with QIM, I would also be remiss to not mention the whole meet-cute teasing about the letter--oooo, just melted my heart. 🥰 That show needs another rewatch too after the gardening season ends here. They were so darn adorable.

While I was super disappointed back when it first was aired, I felt W really improved on re-watch. I also had a significantly lower watching tempo the second time around which allowed for some greater patience, I think.

I'm always happy when I see him in a drama too!

I had a hard time with that one because I was fairly hopeful, and now that you mention it...my brain is asking, "Did we finish that?" (Which is never a good sign if I can't recall the end of a show.)

I know they did a mini spin off with the brother which I still haven't watched because I haven't found it subbed yet and just don't have the brain capacity right now to watch it unsubbed: Tale of the Nine Tailed: An Unfinished Story

Lily is super wise. 🙃

Hee...there's something I rarely hear! 😁

Can’t agree more. Am a bit glad to learn that I already forgot about it at one point.

Sic hates Vincenzo.

This makes a sort of superficial sense based upon traditional Chinese culture- Which is where that thinking comes from. But traditional Chinese culture always assumed and encouraged having a lot of children in big families.

But what happens when young people become a scarce resource? That is the actual challenge facing China today and for decades to come. It is a situation without precedent in Chinese history.

😂, you’re the one that says you don’t dare listen to yourself!

My friend always used to tell his son not to sing because he was so tuneless - he was, but I always thought it was terrible to stop him - so I try to make sure I don’t do it myself.

I agree! My hubby is tone deaf, but I still love singing with him!

It might be available in your country. A lot of Chinese apps are banned in India.