Once again, we run the gamut of emotions from light to heavy, which I always find to be a welcome thing when a drama heads to its more serious moments. Yes, some of the conflicts amp up in this episode, but it also has more of its trademark goofy parody sequences to lighten the in-between moments. The threesome parody in this episode is possibly my favorite Hong sisters parody ever.

SONG OF THE DAY

Jang Geun-seok – “Good Bye.” This song plays late in the episode. [ Download ]

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Read the rest of You’re Beautiful: Episode 14 (90 words)

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Post tags: episode recaps, Jang Geun-seok, Jung Yong-hwa, Lee Hong-ki, Park Shin-hye, You're Beautiful

What an utterly delightful episode! I wasn’t exactly disappointed with last week’s, but I do think they took a small step back from the giddiness and/or angst of previous episodes. Well, it’s all back today, and in full force.

Also: When did Jung Yong-hwa learn to act?? He wasn’t ever terrible, but he seems much better all of a sudden. I like.

SONG OF THE DAY

Lucite Tokki – “손” (Hand) [ Download ]

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Read the rest of You’re Beautiful: Episode 13 (75 words)

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Post tags: episode recaps, Jang Geun-seok, Jung Yong-hwa, Lee Hong-ki, Park Shin-hye, You're Beautiful

With this batch of episodes, we head into some of my favorite territory, which coincides with the ending of one (tiresome) love line and the beginning (or elevation) of another, more interesting one.

SONG OF THE DAY

Sons of Sol Pharmacy OST – “말해요” (Say it)
[ Download ]

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Read the rest of Sons of Sol Pharmacy: Episodes 29-31 (2,640 words)

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Post tags: episode recaps, Han Sang-jin, Ji Chang-wook, Lee Pil-mo, Sohn Hyun-joo, Sons of Sol Pharmacy House, Yoo Hana, Yoo Sun

Smile is hitting exactly the right notes for me. Though not wildly innovative, there’s something organic and sweet about the pacing and tone that I really enjoy. When there’s as much chemistry & development as there is in these two episodes, reducing the repartee to a line of summary just doesn’t do it justice. So I apologize if these recaps get a bit long-winded!

The actors play off each other really well in small ways that are especially hard to capture, like the moment above when Jung-in makes an excited puppy-face at Hyun-soo. Out of context, it looks almost silly, but it’s the kind of unapologetically endearing moments that abound in this drama.

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Read the rest of Smile: Episodes 13-14 (4,616 words)

© soyjoy for Dramabeans, 2009. | Permalink | 64 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Choi Jung-yoon, episode recaps, Jung Kyung-ho, Lee Min-jung, Smile

KBS premiered a new Monday-Tuesday drama this week, Invincible Lee Pyeong-gang (KBS World title: Taming of the Heir), to replace Princess Has Returned. Contrary to the historical costuming above, this drama is a contemporary piece but has sageuk bits woven through it, since the story references the folk tale upon which it is based (”Princess Pyeong-gang and the Fool On-dal”) in a comic way. This, I think, is the drama’s highlight, which I’ll go into more below.

The drama probably won’t make a dent in Queen Seon-deok’s continuing domination. Still, I love Nam Sang-mi, who I think has a lot of charm despite some middling performances. I find her most winning in comedy fare, and have been wanting to see her try more of it following Bad Family. She was adorable there, and she carries over a lot of similar plucky humor here.

I don’t think Invincible Lee Pyeong-gang is going to be a great drama, but there’s something about it that caught my interest. It’s cute if you like goofy, over-the-top romantic comedies. It’s not the best of the genre, but its fusion-sageuk angle has viewers calling it fresh and fun, and it’s a light counter to the other Monday-Tuesday programming out there.

SONG OF THE DAY

Invincible Lee Pyeong-gang OST – “나란 남자” by MC Mong [ Download ]

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Read the rest of Invincible Lee Pyeong-gang: Episodes 1-2 (3,616 words)

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Post tags: Cha Ye-ryun, Choi Myung-gil, episode recaps, Invincible Lee Pyeong-gang, Ji Hyun-woo, Kim Heung-soo, Nam Sang-mi, Seo Do-young

Hyun-soo and his Jung-in fantasies! So hilarious and adorable. Of course, the best part is that the dream becomes reality.

As soyjoy mentioned in her last recap, a few episodes had dragged on, but Smile has come back in full force the last few episodes. And these two take the cake! It’s fun, sweet, with a bit of surprise thrown in. Totally loved it.

SONG OF THE DAY

Smile OST – Vis a Vis by Melo’ Breeze [ Download ]

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Read the rest of Smile: Episodes 11-12 (4,413 words)

© dw4p for Dramabeans, 2009. | Permalink | 40 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: episode recaps, Jung Kyung-ho, Lee Min-jung, Smile

The drama hit its series high rating with this episode, although that only translates to a very modest 11.1%. Still, yay for upward mobility. (IRIS, in comparison, is far out in front with its own series high at 33.7%. We’ll see how Hero fares next week.)

SONG OF THE DAY

Spicy Soda – “나에 곁으로” (Stay by my side). Love the crescendo and the chorus on this one.
[ Download ]

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Read the rest of You’re Beautiful: Episode 12 (72 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2009. | Permalink | 375 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: episode recaps, Jang Geun-seok, Jung Yong-hwa, Lee Hong-ki, Park Shin-hye, You're Beautiful