Beanie level: Noble idiot

Lovestruck in the City E8. Beanies, this show is underrated, and here is one of many scenes that draws me back to it for a rewatch, whenever I have extra tissues on hand.















3
2

    It’s not underrated by me, anyway. That is a great scene in a show that has a lot of them. I thought the show achieved a lot of what it set out to do and that Kim Ji-won in particular was terrific. And the whole sequence where we find out how and why she adopted a new persona kicked me right in the feels just as much on rewatch – maybe more.

    2
    1

      @elinor well said! It’s a pity that it is only rated 8.0 here at DB. With hindsight, I feel this show was a great prelude to My Liberation Notes, showing us what was achievable with off-beat dialogue and quirky framing (such as the reality-TV slant). Some Beanies are saying 2022 is the “year of rewatching kdramas”, and if so then this show is one I recommend.

      Further down on my Fan Wall you can see the screenshots from the “Candle of Truth” scene, and it only reinforces the fact that this show was arguably Kim Ji-won’s best work.

      2
      0

Once Upon a Small Town E5. Why are the simple kdrama formulas so comforting? (rhetorical).



3
0

Little Women E4. I am hoping for a plot twist to bring Choo Ja-hyun’s character back, because (honestly) the other 3 little women are just annoying me.



3
3

    She’s sooo alive 🤣 This show feels like Penthouse and well, that one is good at reviving people.

    Trust me, the “she had a plastic surgery” is going to become “she need it a new identity/It was dangerous, so the best option was…/ it was all part of the plan/they confused her with…”

    2
    1

      I hope you are right, my mind is already (wishfully) thinking “lots of people could have had that special blue orchid tatoo on their ankle, so we don’t know whose body was hanging in that closet.” 😛

      0
      1

        I bet there’s a few women with that tattoo. Probably they’re all related to the killer, they worked with him at some point or something. Who knows.

        1
        0

Little Women E4. This show is getting significantly darker. I was not expecting it to go down that path to this extent. I will continue watching, at least for now.
2
2

    I like the dark twists.

    2
    1

      I felt the scene when Kim Go-eun’s character is repeatedly beaten (and forced to beg for more) had definite sadistic and faux-masochistic overtones. I struggled with that scene, it’s quite dark.

      1
      0

Little Women E2. Very cool that A-lister Song Joong-ki agreed to a cameo here. He definitely scored fan points with me (and I wonder what astronomical figure he was paid).
7
2

    I think it was a favour to the director of LW who also directed Vincenzo. Pretty common in kdramas for actors to turn up in dramas by writers/ directors they’ve previously worked with.

    7
    0

    I only watched those first two episodes and it was indeed nice to see him, if only for a short moment.

    1
    0

Cobra Kai S5 is now released. At last some domestic competition has returned to vie for my viewing attention. Seriously, CK is good.

2
0

Once Upon a Small Town E2. This show has a vibe just like Hometown Cha-cha-cha. So far, so good. This is my first time watching Park Soo-young act, and I like what I see.
7
7

    Note: I am not counting the many times I have seen her in Red Velvet music videos. 😛

    1
    1

      Lol, I’ve only ever watched her in Tempted, and her acting wasn’t that bad. She has definitely improved though, I like her for this role. I kind of wish the show was longer since the episodes are being aired Mon-Wed and they’re only 12 (30 minute) episodes

      1
      1

    I’m going to try it!

    1
    0

    I’m not sure if I can bring myself to try episode 2; maybe I have spent too much time around rural veterinary practices in real life…

    1
    1

    She was adorable in Liar and his lover. A third lead Song Kang was in that show too.

    1
    0

Why do Kim Tae-ri‘s roles never seem to end in a happy romance with a male lead? See comments below for my research, and please let me know if I missed something.
5
4

    Feature-length movies
    The Handmaiden – the female lead gets her
    1987: When the Day Comes – no one gets her
    Little Forest – no one gets her
    Space Sweepers – no one gets her
    Alienoid – ???? synopsis hints that no one gets her

    Television series
    Mr. Sunshine – no one gets her
    Twenty-five, Twenty-one – the off-screen guy gets her

    4
    1

      “the off-screen guy gets her” haha – also T_T

      3
      0

    Maybe she likes being single or in a same sex relationship instead. (Not trying to troll you, I promise.😝)

    5
    1

      She is a great actress and her career has a long way to go. I just find it curious that she has not yet chosen at least one role with that endgame scenario, to round out her acting portfolio.

      1
      0

Choi Moo-sung was so good in Prison Playbook, I see why he was later cast in Mr. Sunshine. His heroic end in MS (bottom) is one of the best death scenes I have seen in Kdrama.
11
8

    He was fantastic in Forest of Secrets 2 as well.

    He just knows how to deliver.

    3
    2

      Yes! I enjoyed seeing him play that sleazy character in FOS2. Although, I must say, I prefer him in good-guy roles. LOL!

      1
      0

      He is simply always fantastic. He has recently lost a lot of weight, I’m very curious to see him on camera again.

      2
      0

    Check him out in Heartless City.

    3
    0

    I think the producers of NOKDU FLOWER (2019) (Viki US) took a huge gamble that paid off in spades by casting (against type) Choi Moo-sung as the leader of the Donghak rebellion Jeon Bong-jun. He gave a fantastic performance.
    CMS is one of my favorites.

    3
    1

      I don’t think there was any gamble. He has always been fantastic.

      1
      0

    My first Choi Moo-sung drama was I Live in Cheongdam-dong in 2012. He’s that lonely guy doing his utmost to support his family in the US, who made me cry for him again and again despite that being a sit-com. And that scene of his dancing with Hwang Jung-min on the rooftop is one of the most memorable scenes in my kdrama book.

    A fan for life since then.

    1
    1

      Wish I had seen that one! He has a way of invoking empathy in all his performances, even when he plays darker roles.

      1
      0

Prison Playbook E14. @lordcobol , we were correct. For you Beanies not familiar with the Chinese R3K, Kongming and Liang Zhuge are the same person, but poor Je-hyuk does not realize it.



4
0

Beanies, what is the record for the most appearances of the same actor playing the same character in different kdramas? (multiple seasons of the same show do not count).

1
12

    I do not have an answer for this question, but I am very curious. Surely the collective brain-power of Dramabeans will know the answer!

    1
    2

      Actress Chae Shi-ra played the role of Queen Insu twice.
      Insu, The Queen Mother (2012 drama)
      The King And The Queen (1998 drama)

      According to Wiki:

      ‘Chae Shi-ra reprised the role of Queen Insu; she previously played the same character in the 1998–2000 period drama The King and the Queen, also written by Jung Ha-yeon’.

      1
      0

      Would probably happen more often in sageuks. For instance, Kim Sang-kyung played King Sejong in The Great King, Sejong (2008) as well as in Jang Yeong-sil (2016).

      1
      0

    The two instances of this that I know of are:
    1. Lee Kyu-hyung in the role of Yoo Han-yang in Prison Playbook (2017) and again in Hospital Playlist (2021), with a cameo in season 2, episode 3.
    2. Kim Seul-ki in the role of the ghost Shin Soon-ae in Oh My Ghostess (2015) and again in Hi Bye, Mama! (2020), with a cameo in episode 10.

    1
    0

    I didn’t get the question on the first read so I was going to say Park Minyoung lol. I mean don’t most of her characters the same people?

    Kidding aside, you’d probably find them in sageuk. King or queen roles.

    7
    1

      LOL same. Hyun Bin and Park Seo Jun (adore them both) as chaebol narcissists were another thought I had.

      3
      1

    I mean the parents in the reply “series” were the same actors? Playing different parents.

    3
    0

    Do cameos count? Park Shin-hye’s character from You’re Beautiful pops up in My Girlfriend Is A Gumiho and also in a Taiwanese remake of You’re Beautiful called Fabulous Boys (apparently, I haven’t seen this one).

    1
    1

      Yes, cameos count, as long as it’s the same actor playing the same character.

      1
      1

        There must be more. There’s a cameo by Kim Soo Hyun in Crash Landing On You playing his character from the movie Secretly Greatly (which I did not realise was more than just a regular cameo until it was pointed out on DB).

        1
        0

    Kim Hye-Yoon and Lee Jae-Wook played their roles Dan-Oh and Baek-Hyung in a cameo in True Beauty. It was fun.

    2
    0

Lee Kyu-hyung as “Looney” in Prison Playbook (top) was very entertaining, and I like that he reprised the role of Yoo Han-yang briefly in Hospital Playlist (bottom). Even if he did lie!
5
2

Once Upon a Small Town begins airing on Netflix NA next week, I set a reminder to give it a try. Who knows? I may be surprised.

8
1

Prison Playbook E3. Google says Jung Kyung-ho weighs a mere 136 lbs. I believe it, but this skinny little guy can really act. I hope he gets more scenes as I progress through this show.
11
8

    He is one of the main roles in terms of the prison officers so you will see a lot of him.

    5
    0

    Don’t worry you’ll see him a lot. His character is very likable too

    5
    0

    Oh yeah, he’s a main lead, actually.

    6
    0

    PP is a fav K-drama of mone~

    5
    0

    Other dramas he’s been in that I’m wild over are:
    Im Sorry I Love You
    Heartless City -❤️
    Hospital Playlist

    6
    1

    Jung Kyung-ho has been a favorite of mine since my early days in kdramaland. I started sometime in 2016 and his HEARTLESS CITY (2013) (Viki US) was my fifth kdrama and made me a fan of his and Yoon Hyun-min for life. In PP he is listed as a ML but in reality his character is not a classic ML imo. His screen time is not on par with Park Hae-soo but I think it is to his credit that he accepted a reduced role. He was terrific in PP.

    (As far as his weight/body type goes it has not changed since I started watching his dramas. There was a line in HP 2 where someone said to JKH’s character to the effect “it looks like you lost some weight”. My response watching was, “Oh really! I don’t think so.”.)

    3
    0

    He has a wide range from cute and swoony to heartlessly cold. I like all his acting glory but I’d say Life on Mars is the most impressive because it is what I call a total drama with great script, directing and acting by main and supporting cast without any weak link in the whole production.

    4
    0

My dear Beanies who read Korean, please help me. Is this book referring to the Korean Romance of the 3 Kingdoms (Baekje, Koguryo, Silla), or the Chinese R3K (Wei, Wu, Shu)? (more comments below)
0
6

    I know it may seem weird, but I am familiar with both the Chinese and Korean R3K histories, and I need to know which version Park Hae-soo’s character is reading to better understand him. It’s a guy thing, but important to me. Thanks.

    1
    1

    Sorry, this screenshot is from Prison Playbook, episode 3.

    0
    0

    The Chinese characters match the title of the Chinese book, and the illustration looks like Guan Yu, Liu Bei & Chang Fei of the Chinese tale. I doubt any Korean story would have prominent characters with Guan Yu & Chang Fei style beards.

    3
    1

What to watch now after the endorphin-ecstasy of Extraordinary Attorney Woo has ended? For me, it is the testosterone-laden Prison Playbook (2017). So far it is just what I need!
8
0

Extraordinary Attorney Woo E15. Our gal Sunshine (Yoon-kyeong Ha) delivers one of the most perfect scenes I have ever seen. Joo Jong-Hyuk is also fantastic here!















7
2

    Really interesting dynamic here. as she fights to defend her friend and simultaneously challenges the guy she likes at the same time. Excellent writing, and even better acting.

    6
    0

    I really like her in She Would Never Know too!

    2
    0

A Model Family is off to a bad start. Is anybody watching it to confirm? https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/k-pop/k-drama/article/3189067/netflix-k-drama-review-model-family-breaking-bad-isnt-crime

0
2

I finished Never Give Up (aka There is No Gu Pil-Soo). I recommend this show and invite you to read my short review of it here at DB.



4
8

    Are you done??? I’m still on ep14—-

    2
    2

      Yes, I finished it. I think you will like the ending. 🙂

      1
      0

      I finished episodes 7 & 8 last night. Really enjoying NGU.
      Lol I don’t think I have ever heard as many aigooos in a drama as in this one.

      1
      1

        Or heard as much laughter? Pil-soo seems to laugh in every line of his dialogue. 🙂

        2
        2

          Comment was deleted

          0
          0

          Yes. For better or worse Pil-soo is a born salesman. Last night’s episode is where he led the dance class and at the end when he plunged Suk’s app Yoon Doo-joon’s look (as Suk) was priceless.

          1
          2

Firefly E13. Please indulge me. This isn’t kdrama but it’s the way American TV used to be, and it is why I love kdrama now. Listen to her speak of “strength”. She love Mal.

6
8

    Inara says “When you live with that strength, you get tied to it. You can’t break away. And you never want to.”. She is providing an allusion to describe how everyone in Mal’s sphere of influence feels. Yes, it is deep, but watch this hidden-gem series from 2003 and you will understand.

    4
    0

    This was a great series. Browncoats unite! There were several Beanies back in the day who were fans. Then came the problematic statements and behavior of the creator of the series. So what to do…? Whole debates start here…

    6
    2

      I am able to love the show for its own merits, while also not condoning JW’s behavior. Stay Shiny!

      2
      0

      @Ally I know how you feel. Still, I believe that it is possible to enjoy his shows (my favorite is Buffy) but dislike/critique his behavior.

      2
      1

        Ditto. Even gifted people like JW are fallible. I feel we can still appreciate his achievements like Firefly and Buffy the Vampire Slayer while still holding our own personal beliefs about his personal actions.

        1
        0

    I really enjoyed Firefly and I’m sad that it was canceled.

    1
    1