DIVORCE LAWYER IN LOVE (2015)(Ep 1-8) Ko Cheok-Hee (Jo Yeo Jeong) worked as a lawyer and she would do anything to win her case. So Jung-Woo (Yeon Woo-Jin) was her office manager. He pointed out any mistake made by Ko Cheok-Hee which irked her. She had a attitude of win-at-all costs which led her to be conned by her own client which led to her disbarment.

Now, they meet again at a new law firm, but So Jung-Woo works as an empathetic lawyer and Ko Cheok-Hee is the officer manager.  The show has a strong character actor cast which makes this office-comedy work well. Again JYJ shows great acting range from being strong/assertive to mad/devilish to clumsy/foolish, at times in the same scene. The first four episodes ebb and flow between comedy and serious backstories but not as abruptly as in other shows dealing with similar materials. In episodes 5-6, the story begins to turn into a office romance triangle with a side dish of unrequited love. Episode 7 had a really unforeseen twist. Episode 8 ends in a mildly tropey fashion. So far, the series is better than I expected as it is not bogged down like legal procedurals and underrated JYJ does comedy roles so well. Yeon Woo-Jin has so much better office tension-chemistry with JYJ in this series than he had seven years later with SYJ in 39.

Crash Course - Jung Kyung Ho as Chiyeol falling in love 😍❤️

Strangers - that incoming phone call after the break up with J. was the moment of truth, the truth about where Hara's heart really was and whose phone call she really expected.
And I'm torn. Because on one hand, Hara and Eunboem still have the same issues... but on the other hand, they are clearly still in love with each other and they care abou each other (and I really like how longterm their relationship looks, with the ease of talking to each other or just simply being with each other). If they start discussing their problems/dreams/wishes and learn to more respect each other, they may have a chance. (And yes, Jang Seungjo and Kang Sora are great together.)

Love to Hate You - I watched the first episode... and got nostalgic and started considering watching That Fool instead.

Lethal Man (16ep) - the drama is nonsensical, but perfect for my days in bed with cold. Just give the Male Lead his glasses back!

Our Blooming Youth: The only thing I feel iffy about right now is the title. Not really sure what they were going for with that. But everything else is super fun and hopefully will continue to be. Our crown prince looks amazing in his dragon robes and does the whole haunted by a ghost thing really well, our female lead is great and already dropped some serious truths in desperation, and our side characters are shaping up to be pretty adorkable and great.

Crash Course in Romance: Hae-i shipping her mom and her tutor is the best, right along with Chi-yeol rolling up Jae-woo’s sleeve for him. Ready for this scandal to break wide open!

Strangers Again: Well, I think it’s impossible to say if the leads giving it another go is going to be a great idea or a terrible one, but it’s sure to be dramatic. And isn’t that what we’re all here for anyway?

Payback: I haven’t watched Friday’s episode yet, but I’m excited to get to them both today. I hope the showdown is epic, and Yong gets a chance to show how different he is from Myung.

Goblin: The bromance is so good, y’all. And I’m here for all the adorable/swoony moments between our characters, but occasionally I think they could still have the emotional impact with slightly fewer wistful glances. Still. It's pretty great and I'm totally enjoying this.

Red Balloon - Wow! Almost everything is coming crashing down. Eun-kang's parents are the worst kind of, and though I hear their backstory this week, it doesn't excuse what trauma they made their children live with right from a young age.
I'm rooting for Guem-ah and Dae Goon. Damn your dad and do what you heart longed for many years ago.
And, very eager to see how everything changes between Eun-kang and Bada.

Agency - I'll say it again. Eun-jung is a case🤣🤣.

Our Blooming Youth - I like Min Jae-yi. And Pyo Ye-jin. And PHS. The acting is very green on the part of some of the fresh faced actors but...other elements are interesting enough to keep me watching.
I was very excited to see Jung Woong-in only to be immediately dejected that he's the villain category. Not fair at all.

Trolley - This show has me taking my time whether or not Joong-do isn't what he is. And while he's proven to be a bit consistent, the inconsistent parts are too heavy to not worry that he's not a chunk of who he is.

Kokdu Ep 3 - I can't ignore this one even though my attention is waning drastically.

Crash Course in Romance - I feel good🤭🤭🤭🤭 about everything.

COMPLETED
Poong S2 - Well it's finally done. I liked that Eun-woo got to focus on her own career independent of Poong too. If they'd kept the bad guys to a minimum and focused on the clinic and patients, this really would have been a much better show.

ONGOING
Can We Be Strangers? - This story sure jumps forward quickly. That was an unexpected ending.

Kokdu: Season of Deity - Needs to tone down the 'humour'.

Payback -I'm curious how Gi-seok will be dealt with.

Crash Course in Romance - Wonder how the romance will develop now that the tutoring news is out.

STARTED
Our Blooming Youth - Good start. Love the FL. Looking forward to next week.

C-DRAMAS
Binged Love Me Like I Do which was short and sweet silly fun.

Still watching A League of Nobleman. Looking forward to the finale next week.

Started Under the Microscope. Very different and interesting premise. Enjoying it.

Love to hate you
This is the kind of no brainer, enemy to lovers rom com I like. It has made me laugh out loud with its stupidity but it still slipped in unneeded violence. However, it does it cartoon style because the woman is the hero defending the powerless by legal means during the day and then masks up and adopts street fighter mode for the evening shift. I am only part way through episode 2 so this ridiculously silly tone may change, but so far so good.

After this month on Netflix I think I will have to leave it forever. I took the cheap option with adverts and they have an advert before the credits and 4 sets during a 55 minute show. I refuse to pay £10.99 to be ad free when that would get me 2 months of subscriptions on Viki which has the better range of new to me and on air releases and has way better subtitles. Hard as it is I will just have to learn to live without the dramas that don’t make it on to HiTV.

The ingenuity of the househusband - Japanese comedy
Bite sized 5 min epsiodes of random tips. Only watched one episode but it looks like an interesting watch. Not laugh out loud funny or even raising a smile but first impressions it’s a light filler programme. Reminds me of the dramas He who can’t marry and Midnight diner in terms of a voice over and the methodical way the character carries out his tasks.

Never grow old - Chinese coming of age
Looks like a direct challenge to Reply 1988, one of the female characters even has the same hairstyle but I guess that was one of the styles that orientates us to the era. I am looking forward to watching the stories and characters develop.

Strangers again
Can’t wait to see whether they can get back together for good or if this is unfinished business that will end ‘properly’ this time. So glad rebound guy who didn’t read the ‘you’re not supposed to get attached’ memo is finally off the scene.

Three bold siblings
..

The Lord of drama (2012)
This is the February drama for Watch and Discuss Korean Drama club. I am enjoying it so far which is surprising considering it’s era I was expecting a lot of dodgy tropes but so far it’s all manageable. PPL being a thing that got on people’s nerves even back then was funny. It is reminding me of The Producers and Be melodramatic in tone.

Completed
Don’t disturb my study - Chinese coming of age drama with time travel
Woman in her late 20’s regrets not getting the grades to attend a top university and on the eve of a school reunion she wakes up to find herself aged 18 again with a chance to redo her last year in school. Comedy elements as she retains her current knowledge as an HR director so acts as a mentor to the teens and advisor to her home room teacher. I enjoyed it as an average no stress filler drama while trying to find my next epic after Meet yourself.

Books
I have just finished listening to The mermaid of Jeju by Sumi Hahn set just after the splitting of the country. A really interesting story interweaving...

Love to Hate You (Series review)
Objectively speaking, there’s nothing really great about the plot: it starts off with your classic hard-nosed characterisation, then proceeds to target some low hanging fruit in terms of social commentary Netflix style, followed by attempting to make itself stand out by superficially undercutting some standard romance tropes, yet developing in the most cliche manner ever towards the climax and ending. But it wasn’t offensive, just mediocre, so I’m kinda glad that at least it gave a chance for so many deserving actors to shine in this genre and well-paid at that. And I guess I finished watching the entire show in 1 shot.

The Interest of Love (Series review) - Mood progression: D / D / D- / D- / D- / D- / D- / D-
I don’t have any nice words to say about the show so this review is going to be about real-life choices. I sympathise slightly with the 2nd leads here because he had just finished military service and she’s still recovering from the controversy, but the 1st leads have no such excuse. They’ve both been leading shows for years? But who am I to judge someone for work, right?

Crash Course in Romance (Episode 7-8) - Mood: C-
We really didn’t need a 2nd female lead in the rich pianist to drag the main romance arc when there’s already the teenhood connection and marriage misunderstanding tropes, but personally I’m also having trouble buying any romance between the OTP. After half the show, it seems like the only point of Chi Yeol being a maths instructor is so that Netflix can come up with some awkward sounding episode titles. I continue to get irritated by the way neurodivergence is treated as a plot device for the OTP, with her seeing him with heart eyes because he treated Jae Woo well. What’s next, sick Jae Woo to advance love?

Strangers Again (Episode 7-8) - Mood: D+
Now that we’re charging into the 2nd half of the story we get a sudden and abrupt ending to the 2nd male lead’s arc, which makes me wonder what was the point of it all? And it’s amazing how all 3 assistants in the law office are just not developed with the drama ending soon: why even bother casting them then? Don’t get me started on that stupid pregnancy nonsense.

Kokdu: Season of Deity (Episode 3-4) - Mood: D+
Surprisingly, this was a much better 2nd week than I had expected: yes, the major issues regarding the villains will still drag the show’s narrative down the road, but they’re making decent progress on the fantasy elements even if they’re leaning too far into cliche fate and destiny? Also, they really introduced the ex via character assassination and that’s just manipulative.

Trolley: I should have known. Park Heesun never plays a good guy. I wonder where they go in the last two episodes.

Strangers Again: In reading the beanie comments I was surprised at how so many thought that Bi Chwi should have known she was pregnant. People have miscarriages all the time without knowing. If you are using contraception, or have irregular periods, or are just a busy person, you could be pregnant without knowing. That was not at all farfetched to me. Ha Ra was really annoying this episode. HE has an attempted murder trial, let him concentrate.

The interest of Love: I hope they remained single and this wasn't them getting back together. I did not like Sang Su in these last episodes. It was giving obsession rather than crush. She left and decided to keep in touch with exactly one person and that person was not you. Let it go. I am glad Jong Hyeon became a police officer, I wish the test in the states was so rigorous. I still think she owes him an apology.

Agency: Ah In is the best and deserves better than all of these people. I am starting to think that Sunbae she goes and sees for advice isn't alive. Hmmmm

Kokdu: Continues to be dumb and I continue to laugh, lol.

Crash Course in Romance: How will he handle the Ahjumma Tiger mom squad? Hopefully it is resolved soon, so we can move onto the romance.

Bait: This show is a slow burn of murder, fraud, and deceit. We are finally seeing the connections start to emerge.

Love to Hate You: Only 4 episodes in, but this is hilarious. The chemistry between Kang Ho and Won Joon is off the charts. His chemistry with Mi Ran is much lower, but I see us getting there.

Our Blooming Youth I wasn't so excited by the first 2 episodes. It kinda looked like a patchwork of past sageuks. But I like the leads and it's nice to see a badass FL.

Strangers Again I really don't like the FL. I don't like the fact it looks like they will date but none of them changed.

The Interest of Love I will miss this one every week. I love drama about flawed characters and navigating in their feelings.

Poong the Joseon Psychiatrist 2 I dropped this one in the middle of season 1 but I would like Kim Hyang-Gi to choose a drama with romance when she will feel confortable with it. In Nabi, At 18 or this one, she always looks so shy...

Crash Course in Romance I hope the ML will sue the mothers for harassment!

STREAMING DRAMAS THIS WEEK <== I like this new category

Bait I like the present parts but I'm not so interested by how the villain made his scam in the past...

Love to Hate You I think it would have been better in a movie format than drama.

After the question about our favourite Yoo Yeon-Seok's dramas, I tried Warm and Cozy.... I had to clean up this mess from my retine and memory with season 1 of Dr Romantic, Teacher Kim.

Had rough week, personal life-wise, so my drama watches were all about max escapism. So a lot of my current watches got put on hold. Also... turtles?

Immortal Samsara (China 25/61) This has been my go-to binge (apparently I watched 21 episodes this week!?) and it's been a really fun watch. Is it always logical? Well, no, but... I can't bring myself to care. I just love both main characters and their interactions are really enjoyable. And now they're in the mortal realm on a treasure-hunting paranormal-mystery-solving quest with lots of back-and-forth bickering and I'm totally here for it (I'm having some Inuyasha nostalgia flashbacks haha I love it)

Alchemy of Souls 2 (5/10) I was one of those people who really liked but didn't totally love the first season, which is why I think I sat on this for so long. I'm actually enjoying it more than the first season, with Jang Uk in dark mode and his chemistry with Go Youn Jung as our heroine is what I was totally missing the first season. Though TBH I'm kind of whatever about the everything outside the romance at this point. Except the Crown Prince - his frenemy-mance with Jang Uk is still a highlight.

Our Blooming Youth (2/20) Really loved the premiere! I've been in the mood for a good sageuk, and was about to go dig out some older ones from my watchlist - but I feel like everything I haven't watched already I've been avoiding because of sad endings. Watch this have a sad ending haha... Anyway, it's been a long time since I was this impatient for more of a drama to come out!

Kokdu: Season of Deity (3/16) Still not sure how I feel about this one. Watched one episode this week, but wasn't really up for something so... zany? I'll come back to it when it suits my current mood better.

Comedy can be hit or miss, but LOVE TO HATE YOU is definitely a hit. It sometimes borders silliness with the PD who never talks, but the actors are doing such a good job with their characters. Love how both leads think that they are irresistible, not noticing that they are the ones falling in love. Ji-hoon is a feast for the eyes!

The comedy in KOKDU is much more heavy handed and most of the jokes fall flat. What a pity, because Kim Jung-hyun's strength is comedy. He and his minions are still the only characters worth watching here. I'll just rewatch Mr. Queen which is now on Netflix!

THE INTEREST OF LOVE came to the expected open ending and the much hoped for sharing and explaining of thoughts and decisions. It is quite clear that the drama is based on a novel and altogether I think the script and the actors did very well to bring across a very nuanced and difficult story.

The acting in STRANGERS AGAIN and particular the two leads are what it makes it worth watching. The parents divorce story did not work very well and I cannot see that Oh Ha-ra has yet changed her behaviour. I think the next 4 episodes will show a rather bumpy ride for her and Eun-boom. It is not quite clear what he actually wants from a relationship. SML unfortunately was treated by the drama as feared. First he is so caring, patient and gentlemanly (nicely dressed), then he is being turned into a mummy's boy (note the bright primary colour yellow clothes typical for children's outfits) and finally he becomes the impatient, pushy, cold hearted boyfriend with the matching dreadful hairstyle and clothes. There is no way we are allowed to feel bad about his departure.

TROLLEY is such a rollercoaster, still very good, but not an easy watch. I am grateful for CRASH COURSE IN ROMANCE, my favourite drama at the moment, to relax and enjoy.

Hi Venus (2022)
A pitch perfect cast, an adorable romance, i havent loved a Cdrama romance this much since "You are my Glory"

Meet yourself (2023)
Cdramaland has never been that great at slice of life type dramas, but this one pretty great and its by the same writer who wrote Hi Venus.

Crash Course in romance (2023)
Still loving it including the teenage love triangle.

Money Flower (2017) (rewatch)
I liked it better the second time round, its a great revenge melodrama that sparingly borrows some makjang tropes as well, Jang Hyuk did an excellent job of holding the entire drama together, even during the weaker moments

I dont even remember the last time I posted what I was watching...

The Glory - that is a good drama. I really hope they dont fail in the second half of it.

Full House - because Song Hye Kyo was really good in The Glory, I decided to give a go in this one. Its been in my list forever. Unfortunately, not my taste, but very impressed that we could see the second lead female bra and belly in one scene and how they were dressed without all the conservative stuff that we have now.

The Interest of Love - I watched 4 episodes, then took a break and came back to binge watch it. Oh, what have I done... I know a lot of people got frustrated with this drama, but it has something that you learn only with age and maturity. For me this was what this drama was basically about. Yes, there are many other things and sometimes we make wrong decisions and sometimes life forces you to make decisions that you dont want or like. And some people dont know or were not taught to think how to get away from these situations, but just want to scape.

Strong Deliveryman - started to watch this on my TIoL break. I am enjoying it. It is fun.

Crash Course in Romance - It is cute. Weird with the moms stuff and the brother with the metal balls, but the rest is cute.

Love To Hate You - I started last night. It is fun. And the guy with long hair is on my crush list right now.

Payback: 6.5

Kokdu: Season of Deity: 7.0

Crash Course In Romance: 7.1

Our Blooming Youth: 7.5 Day one seemed like trope salad, but it recovered in day 2.

Strangers Again: 7.0 Kang So-ra is good, but I'm not impressed by the story this week.

Bait (part 1): 5.5 Still too dark (literally) in places. And there's another (^$%)^$%# bleeping season split. The story is almost good enough to make me forgive one of those sins, but not both.

Poong the Joseon Psychiatrist, part 2: __ No, I didn't watch it, but I read the finale weecap and I'm feeling pretty smart about bailing after part 1.

This past week I watched and loved BLIND. I have written my thoughts under the final ep recap. And I just noticed that the last few sentences got cut off and I never noticed lol.

After Blind, (and a few other back-to-back thrillers) I seriously needed something very light and breezy. Watching Psychopath Diary recently had reminded me that I never got around to watching THE BEST HIT so I started it. Yoon Shi Yoon is LOVE. He is one of my top favorites, and watching him as the 90s idol transported to 2017 was deliciously hilarious in the first few episodes. The shows climax for me was the live performance at the end of ep 10 (aka ep 5). I have watched that scene, and the real Music Bank performance, hundreds of times in the past few days. It was beyond wonderful.
Then a few episodes later he decided to cut his hair and live as a modern man. From that point on the show became a mediocre romcom with every single cliche trope imaginable. I don't care about any character any more.
What irks me most of all is that he kept telling us that in the good old days idols had real talent, there was no selecting and training. Then why do we never see him even bop his head to a song, let alone sing or dance or creat something.
I understand that it is time- and money-consuming to compose music and design choreography for a show but this seems just lazy. There are even 2 real idols on the show which have only a few minutes of performing. Do you mean to tell me nobody on that set could even ad-lib some singing or dancing?

I'm at ep 26 (13), but I have been ffing for some time now, with many revisits to the live performance.
My verdict, if you fell for YSY in all his 90s glory stop at ep10(5). If you are a hardcore fan of his and don't mind the lazy writing/producing and 6 hours of wasted potential, watch at you own risk. Or ff through.

INTEREST OF LOVE: I found the last two episodes to be unsatisfying and the "revealing" conversations to still be too slow in coming and ambiguous (I don't understand the line about whether they were really in love or it was just the interest of love. Huh?). I realized when the credits rolled that I still don't get what this show was really about or had to say about love and relationships. In the end, what I wanted as a viewer was to believe that Soo-young loved Sang-su as much as he loved her, and that they would be good for each other. That's clearly not the note the show ended on, however--at least not in a way that I could readily understand. There were beautiful performances (especially YYS's) and shots (very fitting that the closing montage was comprised simply of unpopulated landscapes and places) but the story ultimately felt lacking and even oddly empty to me.

LOVE TO HATE YOU: I've watched the first two episodes and although the opening minutes felt cartoonish enough that I almost turned it off, I think it's got me in its hooks now. The FL is insane in the best ways (unapologetically promiscuous, skeptical of all men, a master of mixed martial arts, a karaoke queen) and so far, has obviously hugely misunderstood the ML (prickly, exasperated with acting out romantic moments with juvenile actresses, and a trifle entitled, but a decent guy). The humor doesn't always land, but I did laugh out loud a few times. It has a light touch, obviously, but somehow seems to be giving a more realistic portrayal of both the entertainment and entertainment law industries than I've seen in a while.

STRANGERS AGAIN: I was expecting a more straightforward reunion romance but what we're getting is more complicated and less obvious than that. I continue to love the leads together, although wish I we'd see more longing from Eun-beom.

OUR BLOOMING YOUTH: As I said before, all I want from sageuks is for the tropes to be presented within the context of a larger story that a) isn't boring and b) includes romantic longing or the promise of it as a key feature. So far, this one is definitely keeping my interest, and I see the promise for b's criteria to be met as well. Intrigued by both the leads, and glad the show didn't start with insta-attraction. They're both jaded and weary, but will need each other. Plus, a clever FL solving mysteries and attracting the ML because of her brain is my catnip.

TROLLEY: Watching this show just hurts now. I don't know what else to say except that ITA with all of hacja's commentary.

CRASH COURSE: This one continues to delight even though I'm not objectively sure why. But I'm rolling with it because even with my least favorite trope in kdramas (scheming moms laser focused on their child's education) I hit play and just enjoy.

K dramas: Waiting for Part2 of Big Bet . Cops and gambling gangsters

C drama: The Knockout Cops and gangsters Corruption

I expect murders when I watch cop shows, not in Romcoms.

Watching Black and white B movies on YouTube

Finished Life
A hospital drama with Lee Dong Wook and Cho Seung Woo as the best villain. (The first couple of episodes, I could only think of him in very derogatory terms, but it wouldn’t be a kdrama if that did not change later.) It is not about spectacular or day-to-day cases, but about hospital politics and business and certainly not for everyone, rather slow and dialogue-driven. To me this was interesting because I worked in the medical field for a very short time and later – as probably most of us – went through several restructurings in my work life. The hopeful ending seemed almost too good to be true for this drama, but seeing the brothers laugh happily for the first time in the whole drama was worth it.
Crash Course In Romance
Still not feeling the OTP’s chemistry, I find almost every other drama I’m watching right now funnier, and most mothers are terrible, only thinking of their children regarding their school success. I’m watching for the school romance, and because so many people find this great (not the best reason to watch a drama 😉!)
Brain Works
In the last two episodes, I found the bit about deleting a bad memory really interesting, because it really turned out to be “Make a bad memory into a valuable experience”, and how to do that. For me: better romance and comedy than CCIR!
Trolley
Even more “Seriously???” moments in the last two episodes. How terrible to think that how your child’s life went wrong is your own fault… This drama makes my heart heavy, I can’t even cry.
But I don’t believe in the rape by JD, and why in the world did he start an affair with a woman that is his wife’s friend and the same age, who lives under the same roof and who is not shown to be very attractive or loving? As for Seung Hee, Ki Young and the mother-in-law, it is awful to see how they all are unhappy but cling to each other and their perceived truths for 20 years, but sometimes relationships are tangled like that, and it is too easy to say “Why doesn’t he just leave”.
Payback
Only two episodes to go? With the smart writing of plans and counterplans, I’m looking forward to the finale this weekend.
Strangers Again
I didn’t plan to watch this because of divorce as the main plotline, and despite that, I love watching it. To me, the MLs and their feelings are relatable, the romance is convincing, the cases are overblown but interesting, and I find it funny. Is it a good idea that our MLs get back together as a couple? It feels so romantic, but they would have to work really hard at having a different relationship dynamic than before.
Our Blooming Youth
I’m not as enamoured with this show as I wanted to be, but a competent, plucky FL, PHS in king’s robes and several interesting side characters are enough to keep me going!
Love To Hate You Ep.2
This is loud, bright, silly and maybe a bit too heavy-handedly anti-chauvinistic, but fun and easy to watch so far.
KDrama friend...

This week I'm finally watching more than one drama to discuss and compare))) Well, if my terribly needy atm cat allows me to have some free hands for typing...

KKOKDU: Ouch. Just ouch. Idk how to better put into words the fact that I'm enjoying this show less and less with every new episode. Writer doesn't know a damn of what they are doing with the storyline, relationship between leads and crazy genre mix introduced. And instead of trying to figure out what works and what's not they just keep adding more and more random elements complicating things further. Shame, because premise was promising, zany comedy approach could've work if handled better and leads have the potential to be rather cute together if only plot EVER allows them to do more than one-step-forward-two-steps-back endlessly. Still sticking around for KJH and promise of romance, but FFing mercilessly at this point(((

OUR BLOOMING YOUTH: People have mixed opinions about this one, but I actually love it so far (save for some minor flaws mostly related to overly fresh-faced cast). Story is engaging, directing is up my alley, more experienced actors are doing a good job, my boy Hyungsik looks amazing and is wonderfully committed to his intriguingly complex role, plus it seems that it's gonna be another chemistry win in his resume. My only real issue here is that I need to wait two more days till another episode)))

Didn't have a real opportunity to watch anything else this week so currently idk what to fill the rest of my weekend with. Will probably just accept my fate and pet the cats (I have two more).

Crash Course in Romance: I love how Chi-yeol falls first. The whole getting ready for the doctor's appointment date was hilarious! I'm frustrated though at watching all these people - most of them adults - trying to ruin a teen girl just because they're jealous.

Our Blooming Youth: Great premiere week! I'm totally stanning the smart, kickass FL and her loyal friend/maid. Their scenes had me really choked up. I also love the quirky nobleman who also a FL-stan. I'm a little less fond of the plotting ministers, the Forbidden Marriage similarities, and the Crown Prince (him being played by PHS sort of saves me from wanting to wallop him for his hypocrisy).

Season of Kkokdu: Getting into an easy-watch groove. I think the individual scenes are cute, but I'm sort of confused trying to figure out what is the story the drama is trying to tell. Sort of the feeling I got when I watched Doom at your Service.

Lovely Swords Girl: Cdrama. Finally finished it. The love triangle dragged to the very end, but there were multiple cute couples and I really like the partnerships/friendships (even among the two male leads) and brotherhood. I don't think I've seen a costume drama where brothers are so affectionate. Good overall cast chemistry.

Hello There: Cdrama. Finished. I think the OTP's chemistry and sweet glances propelled the drama. There was some weird dark-elf-type blackface stuff going on in some episodes (but the dark skin was a side effect rather than anything racial, but the visual was uncomfortable for me.) Ending was abrupt. But kudos on the BL secondary couple.

Decreed by Fate: Up to ep 7 while half-paying attention. Not sure where this is going. There is a love triangle/throuple-ness similar to Lovely Swords Girl, but less charming since the FL seems to match much better with the 2ML and both MLs don't seem to have much chemistry with each other. Also the ML's bangs really bother me.

Under the Microscope: Historical mystery cdrama! Watched the first episode and enjoyed it. Great production quality too. Been too tired this week to pay close attention so I'm saving it for a day when I can savor it. Supposed to be 14 episodes.

LOVE TO HATE YOU 1-4: Agree with previous comments. The male lead Yoo Teo was new to me and his acting and English fluidity seemed a cut above. Learned he was born in Germany and has studied acting in US and UK at top-of-the-line acting schools.

I continue to intentionally slow watch the C-drama MEET YOURSLF. Not my normal approach but it really works with this show.

My wife and I finally finished SHE AND HER PERFECT HUSBAND. I thought it ended very well and quite logically with our wonderful husband having given the FL the time and space to figure out what she really wanted in life.

We are really enjoying CRASH COURSE IN ROMANCE despite the unneeded ‘thriller /mystery element’ which is simply and almost bizarrely out of place for this kind of show. Also on Netflix now is LOVE TO HATE YOU which has just dropped- we will probably binge watch that one.

My wife watched, courtesy of Amazon Prime, the historical drama BOUNDLESS, which tells the story of the voyage of Ferdinand Magellan in six episodes. It was very well done. She followed that with the Chinese Costume drama WOLF PRINCESS.

My wife really enjoyed the second season of POONG: THE JOSEON PSYCHIATRIST and continues to enjoy BRAIN WORKS as well.

I noticed the single episode preemption of THREE BOLD SIBLINGS for an awards show threw off the timing of the many of “cliffhangers” which would usually conclude the Sunday episode of a weekender- instead we get them at the end of the Saturday episode and then see them resolved on the Sunday one. However, this week the second episode ended with a bang. Mooyoung has just presented Soorim with a ring and the proposal is accepted- and at that exact moment Ji-hye’s Baby Momma appears. Talk about a mood killer. Plot twist coming: Ju-hye discovered that Baby Momma has to take a bunch of pills. Oh, right, we are now into the later episodes of a weekender so it is time for the traditional cancer story arc to intrude (not a spoiler-this is not actually confirmed yet but, as I said, it is traditional).

I am now behind on STRANGERS AGAIN due to technical issue which I have now solved by switching to Chrome.

BE MELODRAMATIC: Mixed feelings. I loved the cast, loved the characters, loved the subversive humor of standing tropes on their head. I enjoyed it up to a point, the point being when it felt like the show was being contrary for the sake of being contrary, thwarting the viewers' expectations on purpose, baiting and switching resolutions. An entire episode devoted to farting didnt help. Then it drifted into a sort of docu-drama about how a kdrama is produced, not what I signed on for, although it was pretty informative. Still, Be Melodramatic is an original and worth the watch.

I've been watching older stuff and I realized just how much I'm not into typical romance stories. One of the (recent) romcom I watched was The Law Cafe and the thing I liked most about it wasn't the romance but the female lead character, Kim Yuri.

Back to the older stuff I've watched: Flower Crew: Joseon Dating Agency, Taxi Driver, Signal, and The Fiery Priest.
I can totally see why Taxi Driver is considered such a good show! When I was watching it, I understood when people mentioned that you can just recognize quality and it made me think about just how many meh shows there are.
I wanted to watch The Fiery Priest because I've heard that was a good show AND it was by the same writer of Vincenzo. Plus I figured it would have to be better than Island which also features Kim Nam Gil.

The current stuff I've been watching it: Kokdu: Season of Deity, Strangers Again, Brain Works, and Bait (Decoy).
Brain Works is interesting because I don't particularly like it but I also can't stop watching it. I like the mental diagnosis and cases most.

I’m very ashamed, because I spent from 4:00 P.M. yesterday binge watching Love to Hate You. Such behavior with such a light rom-com is unseemly for a senior citizen who desperately needs beauty sleep. Was it worth it? The answer is no, but except for a groggy morning it was painless, and its feminist message is pretty hard to disagree with—although like the show itself, its too obvious and simple. Still, the message was consistent through to the happy ending, which when you see it around midnight at least ensures there will be no tossing, turning, and muttering “white truck,no!...watch out for the white truck” in your sleep.

Speaking of being sleepy, I am surprised to find myself watching a sageuk past a couple of episodes, and am looking forward to next weeks Our Blooming Youth. I want to apologize to sageuk fans for generally finding them all to be snoozefests, since I am bored by the endless permutations of court politics. (You can dismiss my opinions easily just by remembering that I sacrifice sleep for simple-minded rom coms.). Both my wife and I like detective shows, though, and even though I know the whole concept of the “detective” dates from the 1800s, I have no problem watching shows that make medieval monks detectives, so a sword-wielding, cross-dressing, crown-prince love interest is not too big a jump. This one is pretty funny in that its treating detective agencies as something that were so commonplace in the Joseon era that there is one in every province. Also, like @jls943 , after having seen the premiere episodes, I have no clue, and will have to investigate, the mystery of the title. The actors aren’t particularly young and their circumstances certainly aren’t blooming. Did they have sarcasm and irony way back in the Joseon era?

Finally, talk of mysterious titles leads me to the show I’m finding most interesting right now, known as Bait, or is it Decoy?. The fact that it carries two titles isn’t at all unusual--Strangers again or Can’t we be Strangers, or Kokdu, or KKoKKdu. But baiting a trap is not the same thing as using a decoy to lure someone to a trap, and it could have dire consequences when dealing with the murderous con-man at the center of the story. Still, I could recommend it for Jang Keun-Suk as the charismatic detective alone.

Like @lordcobol though, I am mad that it will be April before part 2 airs, and I’m not sure if Part 1 will bait me into looking it up a couple of months from now. Also, the biggest mystery of this show is why they felt they had to film it using a cyan filter, so that every scene is dark with a bluish tinge. Even this morning, when thanks to binge watching, I’m not so bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, I can see that the world also contains reds and yellows!

_ Hospital Playlist 2 (2 out of 12). Keeps being a nice watch with lovely main characters.

_ Angel Last Mission: Love (6 out of 16). I like the ML a lot. The cinematography and OST are good too. But I dislike some other things about this show (secondary characters, I'm looking at you). I'll keep watching because there is some mistery which intrigues me.

_ Alchemy of Souls 2. I have to watch episodes 7 and 8 this weekend. I like this season more than the first one.

_ It's Beautiful Now. (14 out of 50). Mixed feelings about this drama. It's boring and entertaining at the same time (?!).

The Rise of Phoenixes: I have mixed feelings about this one. On the one hand, it's chock-full of well-acted, interesting, morally messy characters, especially the two delightfully unconventional leads. On the other hand, I wish the writers had given them a tighter plot structure to operate in. There are lots of set-ups with no clear payoffs, and the final twenty episodes felt particularly unfocused. I was fine with a less-than-happy ending, but I would have preferred one where the characters remained in control of their own destinies rather than being scripted into making increasingly out-of-character choices for the sake of a particular message or plot twist.

So relieved the week's over since life in general is nothing but one annoyance after another these days! After dealing with said life's annoyances, including loud noises outside my house, and particularly bad insomnia due partially to said loud noise, I'm ready for a weekend of nothing.

I needed something easy to watch, so started Let's Eat. It's another old series that I never watched, and with three parts, it'll give me something to watch until the recent dramas I want to watch finish airing without having to search for new shows. I'm a big foodie, so this one is particularly fun and more importantly, an easy watch, even if does have some extraneous story lines.

Finished Grid, which was surprisingly complex and could've been good if it didn't try so hard to be so lofty. Definitely one for sci fi fans, as it was too dense in conceptual ideas for simple enjoyment viewing.

I'm stuck cliffhanging Red Balloon, which was full of tired tropes that never seem to get old in dramaland. Thought it'd already finished airing and one I could zip through for an easy watch. What I got was a Netflix style drama full of deceit, marital infidelity, and all sorts of shenanigans that felt exhausting. I really wanted the protagonist and her friend to be shining examples of female empowerment and got basically a catfight dressed up in nicer clothes. I'm still holding out for a decent ending.

I'm not particularly excited about anything new, so it's been nice reading through others' opinions on the current shows. I've already decided on the ones I'll be watching in the next few weeks based on some of the reviews so it's been a nice reprieve from looking for new shows just from a usually inaccurate synopsis.

I didn't have much time this week for dramas (I lived a drama myself, with workers at home driving me nuts for three days), but still I managed to watch some.

Payback. I have just finished it and I had so much fun watching. I loved the fast pace, the humour, the twists and, of course, The Voice. Considering I'm not into revenge dramas and I don't usually engage with legal dramas, I have to say, I enjoyed this one a lot.

Crash Course in Romance (ep. 8). I'm in love with Chiyeol and Hanseong and I can't wait for them to realise they are in love. I'm in denial on who the murder is going to be, and I could do without the mums, but I guess that's the way things are.

Bait / Decoy (ep. 4). It's darker than I thought it could be but I'm really loving it, and I'm enjoying the storytelling with all the flashbacks and the themed episodes. I had almost forgotten how much I like crime dramas.

Strangers again (ep. 8). I still have to apply a very strong suspension of disbelief in every case we have (whoever wants to make me believe that someone can be judged for attempt of murder one week after the assault is nuts), and I'm a bit disappointed on how JaeGyeom was changed in a minute, not even listening to HaRa when she was pouring her soul on how affected she was on her parents divorce and finding out she had a sister, but we all know it was necessary for our leads to be together, even if I didn't want them to end together... well... we know this is dramaland.

I am watching the documentary K-pop Generation, that I can't recommend enough to those interested in kpop. No need to be a fangirl like me, but I think it's really insightful on how the industry works.

I'm planning to give a try to Love to hate you and Our blooming youth. When I will have the time... who knows.

We finished Train. I was pleased by the twists and the script.
We started Crash course in romance and Miss Hammurabi. The first is not as funny as expected in ep 1&2, but it was very nice to spot all the actresses exactly as well said by @hmwtx .
The second is ... not my taste. All the crying is boring.
I guess I'm more amused by over the top scenarii such as My lethal man. I won't call it good, but it's funny. And FL is strong. She's not crying, she's adapting.
Funny, pretty and mouth watering : New life begins. There is a little too much palace scheming, but I'm at the part where they begin to travel to Mochuan so I hope that intrigues will take a step back.
I'm excited for Taxi driver 2.

I don't usually watch true makjang, like Penthouse, etc. but I have watched a few scenes from Red Balloon to see how the FL would act upon learning her husband has been cheating with her best friend. I looovvveeeddd how she confronted them in the coffee shop--they earned her scorn and the humiliating way she treated them. If you're marriage is unhappy, work on it, or end it. Don't commit adultery.

Started Interest of Love three days ago, and finished just in time. I’m so glad I didn’t live watch this, because I wouldn’t have been able to take it. It was fantastic, and although all of the what-ifs and terrible decisions made me want to scream, the direction, the heartbreak, the longing, all of it made it worth it. I really wanted to see our OTP happy with each of for two episodes, or even one episode. Oh well. YYS was simply amazing and I don’t think I can forget Ha Sang Soo anytime soon.

YYS and JKH on air at the same made me miss Hospital Playlist.

Crash Course in Romance (Ep 9): What did I just watch! This episode was so funny and heartwarming. I don’t even hate the moms anymore—they’re so silly. Ilta seonsaeng-nim at the end was so sweet I almost cried. CCiR really brightens up my weekend (even though I shed a few tears). This is exactly the type of drama I’ve been needing this past year. I don't love the FL as love interest, but that's okay.

Our Blooming Youth: I don’t love this yet, and there’s nothing youthful about it. I hope these depressing episodes are just setup, and the following episodes will be lighter and more fun. I’m so happy PHS is on my screen, but I hope his character becomes a little more interesting/ more endearing. I wasn’t expecting to see Lee Tae Sun, but I love his character and I’m happy to see him. Pyo Ye Jin is so lovely and the FL is cute and strong. I hope I fall in love with the drama next week.

2D1N: The last few trips have been so much fun. If anyone dropped the show while they were in a funk, I definitely recommend picking it back up again.

Skip Dating: It continues to be fun! So Min is adorable, and fangirling over young men and women finding romance--relatable!

Bros of Foot/Ticketing on Two Feet: I wanted to like this, but I just don't. I expected it to have a House on Wheels vibe, but it's not as wholesome. And it gets tiring watching them just walk or bike.

I'm in the home stretch of Lovers In Paris, but the seconds leads are getting so creepy I switched to something lighter in Monthly Home Magazine. Pretty uneven in the beginning with forced slapstick humor, and the Kim Ji-seok's character seemed like a less entertaining version of Park Seo-joon in What's Wrong With Secretary Kim, but settles into more of a groove by episode five.

I've had a rough couple of weeks, so I rewatched She and Her Perfect Husband 1.5 times. 😭 I really enjoy Yang Mi in this show, so I need to settle on the next project of hers that I want to watch. Folks have rec'd Eternal Love, and it's on my Netflix list but I'm slow to watch xianxia so who knows when I'll get around to it.

I binged Love To Hate You, and it was worth the binge. I also completed (more slowly) Only Just Married--Japanese contract marriage drama--and Someday or One Day, which was highly recommended. I had a lot of fun with Only Just Married and understandably less fun with Someday or One Day. Surprisingly, I did not like Someday or One Day as much as I wanted to. I found it too repetitive. But the time travel, characters, questions raised, etc. were all good. I hope the remake is less...boring.

Still watching and loving Crash Course. Also started A Love So Beautiful and Shards of Her. The former I might drop soon, the latter I am a couple episodes from finishing. While Shards is totally tragic, I do enjoy seeing Toby Lee again.

I am rewatching I'm Sorry I Love You. I know what is coming, but I can't stop watching...

Hate to Love You: Super fun romcom (with no murder subplot lol). I haven't finished it yet, but it's really laugh out loud funny and definitely exceeded my expectations. The leads were so fun and I LOVED Go Won Hee's style. Also...Yoo Teo kind of looked like an older Taecyeon to me?

CCIR: Loved Sunjae and Geon Hu bonding in ep 9!! Also can't wait for the moms to get sued or something and hope Hae-Yi gets first in the CSAT.

Strangers Again: I like that both of the leads are very relatable; they're frustrating but I get them at the same time. I'm also particularly enjoying Lee Jae-Won in his role too.

Our Blooming Youth: Though I was surprised that the basic setup is VERY similar to the Forbidden Marriage, I really like that PSH already knows the FL's secret in this.

Didn’t watch much this week, CRASH COURSE IN ROMANCE, is my ray of sunshine which I’m throughly enjoying for the most part. Will also like Jae-woo having his own arc and have his feelings validated instead of a being used as just a side character tho

I guess INTEREST OF LOVE has ended and is causing polarising opinions amongst beanies? Don’t really want to know the ending yet since I just finished episode 10. But from what I’m guessing the ending is ambiguous and open ended? Which I don’t mind since this show has always been about the flaws of humans and society and how we navigate around that. Also including Chopin’s story behind the “Farewell” Waltz gave me a clue as to the possible outcome of our OTP

OUR BLOOMING YOUTH premiere was disappointing personally for me, but I did go into it with such high expectations that of course it was unfair of me. Will continue watching but I’ll wait until my expectations die down so I won’t get too disappointed again

Other than that couldn’t get to TROLLEY this week or BAIT. My kdrama consumption sadly is is going to be limited for the foreseeable future. Getting busy again. I’ll stick around dramabeans of course, I’m too addicted to this site!

On air:

—CCIR: OMO OMO OMO.
—Trolley: I need to see Joong Do go down.
—Our Blooming Youth: Love with the FL already.

Binged (web dramas):

—ATEEN: loved it.
—Best Mistake 1,2: Wonpil, look what you made me do.
—Love Revolution (dropped): this show is so wrong. I feel so bad for the FL.
—Peng: dramas with more than two guys drooling over the FL makes me hate all the boys (they're always selfish, self centered and childish), so I want the girl to end alone. This time it actually happened. I'm happy about it.

A DREAM OF SPLENDOUR turned out to be one of the few (if not the only) drama I never felt the need to use the ff-button on. It told an awesome tale of strong women using beautiful scenery, camerawork and stunning direction. I am slightly miffed that we didn't get to see the wedding between Pan'er and Qinfan but at least it all ended right and well.

I started on GOODBYE MY PRINCESS but decided to drop it at episode three as I could see how poorly the horses were treated.

LOST ROMANCE: The first episode I wondered how the rating on Viki could be so high but decided to press on and by episode three, I was in love. Such a funny show and with the biggest second lead syndrome of my drama history. I'm barely past the half-way mark and happily skipping through the real-world makjang.

LIVE UP TO YOUR NAME: I have a hard time watching medical drama (in Korea, are doctors nothing but babysitters for VIP-patients?) but at least this focuses as much on oriental medicine so I'm finding those parts really interesting.

I watched some episodes of Physical 100 this weekend and did not regret it. The first battle of the second quest gave soo much satisfaction. It also made me want to exercise more.