Let this be a lesson to me: A drama featuring someone with whom I have fundamental character issues, no matter how well-done the series, will be as much disappointment as enjoyment. It’s turned my initial admiration for a well-crafted series into a love-hate relationship. (Well, more like-dislike.)

I imagine the series is sweet and wonderful if you’re not bothered by Eun-soo or Choi Kang-hee, but let me pose a question to the rest of y’all: If you’re having issues with Eun-soo, does that affect how you feel about the series as a whole? Are you still enjoying My Sweet Seoul? Or are you like me, wanting to give up the series at those frequent flashes of disgust but convincing yourself to stay when those flashes fade?

SONG OF THE DAY

Lee Jung - “빈자리” (Empty place) [ Download ]

 
MY SWEET SEOUL Episode 10 >>

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I think this is the first episode that actually got me a little verklempt. I don’t know if I was in a funky mood or if it was the particular plot, but I thought Episode 10 stepped it up.

Part of Chil Woo’s appeal, as discussed here, is its structure — rather than dragging out one epic storyline, every episode or two brings in new stories and new villains.

That’s also the reason I don’t mind that the bad guys are one-dimensional, cartoonish stock villains, since they’re just here to give Chil Woo and Friends something to fight and overcome. While there are a few overarching themes (like Prince So Hyun’s murder), the plot of each episode tends to be parsed into manageable, bite-size chunks. (Hong Dil Dong did this pretty well, too, until the end when they dropped the smaller storylines.)

Oh, and another warning of another rant ahead. Heh.

SONG OF THE DAY

Peter Pan Complex - “Magic” [ Download ]

 
STRONGEST CHIL WOO Episode 10 >>

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Where’s the beef?

All in Episodes 7 and 8, apparently. These two installments were a little lighter on the food symbolism and more into character relationships. Which is totally fine by me — I think part of why I like Gourmet as much as I do is Kim Rae-won’s portrayal of Sung-chan. It’s a good show regardless, but he draws me into his character in a really appealing way (I don’t know how to express it, but he just seems so honest about his acting).

That doesn’t mean these eps are light on the food, though, because we have plenty of food beauty shots and yet more competitive cooking driving our characters onward. And, um, lots of shots of Kim Rae-won eating raw beef. Eek.

SONG OF THE DAY

Soulzean - “해 후” [ Download ]

 
GOURMET Episodes 7 & 8 >>

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No, these buffoons don’t really have much of a role in today’s episode — which is kind of awesomely convoluted — but I couldn’t leave that screencap out.

And by awesomely convoluted, I mean that there are multiple parties all doing their own thing but involved in the same incident, each taking on the problem from different angles. That leads to major intermixing and confusion (for the characters, that is, not us) and a whole lotta running around wondering who’s who and what’s what. Always fun.

SONG OF THE DAY

Brown Eyes - “Let’s Get Down” [ Download ]

 
STRONGEST CHIL WOO Episode 9 >>

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This episode both exasperated me and provided some satisfaction. Warning: long rant ahead.

SONG OF THE DAY

Lee Ji Hoon - “Goodbye” [ Download ]

 
MY SWEET SEOUL Episode 9 >>

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