Not really sure what I’m trying to accomplish but I needed to get these ruminations out of my head:
Nothing about Arthdal Chronicles has grabbed me so far but the writing/directing team behind it is so good I’m debating giving it a shot. I’m also intrigued by its release schedule – breaking it up into three “seasons” of 6 episodes a piece seems to indicate that the scope of the story is bigger than I anticipated. And with this writing team I expect the arcs will be clear and strongly built. If it’s about the rise to power and the transformation of these characters in doing that I’m much more interested. Especially the depiction of females with political power. Ambitious women are some of the best characters when handled correctly.

But the teasers haven’t grabbed me and the posters are so so terrible. (It looks like Song Joong-ki was playing Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and accidentally wandered onto the Game of Thrones set and they just decided to go with it.)

I can’t decide to whether to wait for a verdict or just dive in and give it a shot. Because best case it’s genuinely awesome and the terrible posters and mediocre trailers were a fluke; worst case it’s terrible and I drop. But part of me feels like it could end up in the middle and be fine, but not worth the hype. I almost feel like that’s the actual worst case because at least with rom-coms I know what I’m getting into and am not disappointed by mediocrity. When the pedigree is good though, mediocrity just feels worse than a terrible show since, mediocrity, to me, indicates that they had all the ingredients for a good show but failed to put them together properly.

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    i’m in the same boat!!! i’m thinking i’m just gonna wait til all eps are out, and try to avoid reviews/opinions of others for now! i’m gonna keep the expectations at a minimum too! getting hyped up over this is unnecessary

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      I’m not a spoilerphobe, so that part of the waiting doesn’t bother me. I just find that if I don’t watch a show while it’s airing, I probably won’t watch it. So I have to be picky with what I do watch. I have so much less time these days so bingeing isn’t an option unless there’s nothing that grabs me. I’m guessing I’ll probably have to wait until after this weekend to give it a shot anyway, so either way I’ll have a verdict on the first week before I get a chance to watch.

      But also, if it’s another case of mini-movies (i.e. 90 minute episodes) from TvN I’m out. Ain’t nobody got time for that.

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    I am mostly in it for the Beanie snarks, which is double the fun when we live watch. So let’s do it Jelly!! Let’s watch it live.

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      See, but I don’t think this will be snarkworthy, and that’s what’s so annoying. Like, DoS I could snark at because it was dumb and had no plot. Last Empress was cracked out in the best way. Those are all dramas I snark about and will continue to snark about because they never really were meant to be works of art. They were popular (not a bad thing) and fun and no one really expected much from them except that they be widely appealing escapism (again, not a bad thing).

      But the pedigree we have here for Arthdal Chronicles is literally some of the best drama I’ve ever seen (Signal, My Ajusshi, Six Flying Dragons). I feel like at worst they turn out a mediocre drama which as I said, is worse than a snarkworthy terrible drama.

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    Same, but I’ll watch episode 1 because I haven’t caught the premiere of any drama since Bok Soo. And because I trust the writers and PD.
    Hopefully SJK will only wear a flower wreath in ep 1 (prehistoric flower boy?)

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      I realized I don’t even have the time to watch the premiere this weekend anyway, so I will get a verdict. But I’m still unsure. There’s a lot of other stuff I’m looking forward to as well (Perfume, WWW, Chief of Staff) so it may just be the show that I check out only if the reviews are really good.

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    I thought I was the only with similar opinion. Glad to know I was wrong . I’ve never been this reluctant to go through teasers before. The whole plot just went whew! Over my head. And then I got a silly Mowgli(!) Vibe from the posters. Just as you said the writers are too good to ignore but I’m getting a feeling it’ll be exactly those mini movies you’re fearing. And I ain’t wasting those long hours!

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      I literally cannot think of a single show where episodes of 80+ minutes has benefited from the extra time. Or made it through one of them (dropped: Goblin, Hwayugi, Answer Me 1994). If they’re genuinely good or only the first and last ones are 90 minutes I can do it. But 18 90-minute episodes is a lot. Every scene has to matter.

      But then I think that these writers and this director are good enough to keep me glued to the screen. So I’m torn. Goblin I dropped because I don’t like KES anyway, so it’s not surprising I lost interest. But in Signal, Misaeng, My Ajusshi I could watch for hours and not be bored because the director made every frame count. And while I have to finish Six Flying Dragons, the episodes went by fast and the writing was tight and purposeful, with well realized characters and a good grip on the history it presented.

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        Now now… When you name signal and my ahjussi! I wish the latter one was 90 minutes with more background stories like the Loan shark one, her grandma and what not. Anyways let’s see how “netizens” react. Really curious as the “netizens” been dying to see SJK on screen.

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          Exactly, this is why I’m torn. There’s just so many factors at play that could effect my decision to tune in. I’ll just have to see what the beanies say next week.

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    I say watch.

    Also, I loved My Ahjussi and am now curious as to what the director will bring to epic fantasy……I haven’t watched his other works.

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    SJK as Puck – perfect! I was trying to recall where I’d seen that look before – Puck is it. Now, how am I supposed to take his character seriously? Perhaps the show will be campy enough (intended or not) to make Puck in a GoT get up work?!?

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      Right? Like, if they can get me to forget how ridiculous the costuming is, then I’ll be impressed. But at the same time, some of my all time favorite shows, like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, are super campy but also incredibly thoughtful. So at least we know the two can exist simultaneously.

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    I’m afraid that breaking it into three parts is just so Netflix will be happy and have it fit their “season” format. Which means it just ends haphazardly after 6 episodes for no reason other than they can then say they have another season on the way.

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      But between the writing team actually being good, and the seasons being named in ways that appear to depict specific arcs, I’m not as worried about the breakdown. I’ve often found dramas have three “acts” anyway, and the usually are broken down into arcs of 6/6/4 (for a 16 ep drama). Like, I usually expect episode 6 to have a major reveal, then a breakthrough in episode 11/12 and then dealing with aftermath in the final episodes.

      I’m more intrigued by the “season” format because I think it could lead to tighter writing and better storytelling if they are constrained by 6 episode arcs. Giving writers limits is a good thing – otherwise you get bloated which is what drags the whole thing down. It also allows great writers to stretch muscles in storytelling that they may not use when given broader freedoms.

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    So, did you dive in? How is Puck doing?

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      Unfortunately I have not had a chance — end of Ramadan and work have made it impossible to really watch much of anything. Maybe this weekend, but there’s other stuff I’m more interested in checking out first, so I may wait for a few weeks to see what the overall reaction is.

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