Beanie level: Errand boy

So, let’s rip this bandaid as quickly as possible first: I loved Grid!

Is it time I changed my username to dramabeansfreak yet??

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    It probably helps that I went in with zero expectations.
    I had already had misgivings because I honestly never liked Seo Kang Joon, but I loved both female leads.Add to that the beanies trying to dissuade me from watching it. Yeah well that wasn’t successful, because 1. I love time travel, and 2. I usually end up not having the same reaction as the majority here.
    And after everything else, I only just heard that this is by the same writer as Life and FoS.

    What I have actually liked in her shows has always been the microscopic attention to details in her characterizations, interactions, and social commentary. So I decided to look at the show from a social point of view, and completely ignore the sci-fi preconception.

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      So I decided to look at the show from a social point of view, and completely ignore the sci-fi preconception.

      Exactly the way I decided to approach the show since I actually have zero interest in the sci-fi genre itself. Apparently it worked for the best since the writer seemed to use the sci-fi element more as a tool for her social commentary than anything else.

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      The same writer as FoS?!!! I definitely need to check it out even though time travel is not my favorite genre.

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        Think of it as a crime/office thriller. Forget the time travel.

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    I can’t imagine watching this show one episode a week! It was so exciting it sometimes kept me awake at night and sometimes made me jump up and go take a walk to breathe. But I loved it. And I’m happy to report that SKJ redeemed himself for me.
    I actally believe that the writer didn’t even mean it as sci-fi, only some fantasy elements in her story ala Don’t Look Up. But maybe the production company or thd network decided to bank on the sci-fi aspect.

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    There were a few points I didn’t like.

    One, as I also saw mentioned in the recaps, the drama suffered from too much showing and not enough telling. If there was a little bit more telling from the Ghost we could be much more invested in her cause.

    Two, the last episode was rather haphazard so it fell flat. I had braced myself for a disappointing ending so I didn’t hate it, but I would have if I had gone in blind.

    Three, the brother. He was completely useless. I think he was only there to give Sae Byuk a sense of family, as he mentioned their mother too.

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    There were a lot of confusion and anger in the recap comments, I’m not going to argue anything. Most of them were understandable. Just giving my version of answer to a few common questions.
    Why did Sae Ha have to die. Why did the Ghost come back in 2021. Why was her DNA broken and why did it change. If everybody has a time machine in the future won’t it cause chaos?

    So here is what I think. Definitely not everybody has the time machine. I think the technology of the grid was invented in the future (the Ghost’s original timeline), and the desparation of a dying species led them to invent the time machine to set up the grid before the disaster hits. The Ghost is a scientist and she goes to 1997 and sets it up successfully, and goes back to her own timeline.
    Then something happened that caused a change in her ancestry. Like Man Ok becoming a criminal, or Sae Byuk becoming a cop, and him killing her, or harming her in anyway. It might have been because of the change the Ghost made, or maybe her adversary made another change that caused it, maybe to prevent her from making the grid. So she had to come back to rectify it. Maybe she hadn’t even killed the janitor, or SH’s father, in her first TT. But remember she said I have done this so many times, and this is the only way for me, and the mankind, to live. So after many many tries she concludes the only way for this to happen is for MO deciding to kill SH, not SB. That is why as soon as SH went to the past her DNA became normal.
    I know this in no way explains all the confusing aspects of the show, but to me this felt like a very easy and logical explanation which didn’t need overt assumptions and mind gymnastics on my part. And yes, this clearly proves that they set up the adversary storyline and why he wanted the mankind destroyed for a second season.

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    For what it worth, I freaking love it too!

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Kingmaker

Just… Wow! Amazing writing, directing, and acting.



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    Where did u watch it? Korean movies are just not that accessible outside Asia, sigh! Now. I am wondering when I can see Decision To Leave.

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      I’m sorry, I hadn’t seen your comment.

      I watched it at a friend’s, I don’t know what site they were using. Sorry.

      I watch movies so rarely that I didn’t know they are not that accessible.

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Help me, beanies, I need a tactful spoiler!

Here is the thing. I cannot watch shows that are based on lies. I simply can\’t. But I DO want to watch Start Up… How long will the lies last? I am at the beginning of episode 4, and it looks like the lies are staying…

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    The lie will continue for quite some time, but I think the revelation part was very well done and the result, satisfying.

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    You want the number of the episode?

    The lie lasted a long time. And the revelation scene was great but the aftermate pretty disapointing.

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      Thanks.
      I guess I can look at the show page on db and find the episode recap starting with the cat is out of the bag 😄

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        I did it. Episodes 9_10!!?? Oh my god! I don’t think I can last that long 😟

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          Honestly, it didn’t play a big role at the end.

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            Comment was deleted

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            I just can’t get invested when so much of the story is based on lies.

            But I like the actors and the writer and the director!

            I guess I will see how episode 4 goes. It might help to know beforehand the episode number of the reveal.

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            I understand, I don’t like it neither.

            It’s just in this case the lie doesn’t change anything in the story or the characters.

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Hello beanies, it has been so long but a quick look around the site tells me some of my old beanies all still around here. I\’m glad.

My fan wall tells me I haven\’t watched a drama in 14 month, and another 8 months before that. Wow that is so long! How could I do it!

It felt so great to get back to drama watching and having nearly 2 years worth of dramas to choose from. I dived in, and I\’m proud (or ashamed, depends how you look at it) to announce that in the past few weeks I have binged A LOT of dramas.

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    First I watched season 2 of Forest of Secrets. It was good but not great. It obviously had no Yoo Jae Myung who was the highlight of the first season for me. But it still had my baby Lee Jun Hyuk.

    I then watched Designated Survivor, which surprise! Also had LJH in it :)) I hadn’t looked at the actors list and I was taken aback. I was excited, and that, as viewers know, didn’t end well. This show was great in the first half, but not so much in the latter.

    I then went to rewatch a show that I had LOVED but hadn’t rewatched. Hyena was as fun and as fabulous as I remembered. I loved it even more this time.

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    After Hyena, and by checking Ju Ji Hoon’s filmography, I watched Jirisan. The show was GORGEOUS. I watched every second of it for the scenery. The story was weird but not bad. Ju Ji Hoon and Oh Jung Se were great. The ghost storyline was strange and confusing. And there is no running away from it, I just dislike Jun Ji Hyun’s acting. But I didn’t dislike the show.

    After Jirisan I really needed some excitement so I chose Bad & Crazy, and boy, did it deliver! It was a mess, but a very entertaining one. And well, Lee Dong Wook is my first ever drama crush and he was delightful. Wi Ha Joon was as charming as ever too.

    In the 15 years of my drama watching I have always had a habit of rewatching a favorite show after a new show that I have loved. Kind of like giving myself time to get over it while watching a trusted older one. And not ruining my mood with a possibly bad new show. So I rewatched 365 Days, becauae I missed seeing my baby in a hero role, and I LOVED the show as much as I had before. It is such a liberating feeling watching a great show you know you love.

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    For my 7th show I chose Class of Lies. I don’t know why. It had never been on my radar. I didn’t know most of the actors, I dislike school politics, and although I LOVE Yoon Kyun Sang, I had dropped all his recent shows. But the show was primarily listed as legal, and after Hyena I was open to try another legal show. So I test watched the first episode, was hooked, and can now declare Class of Lies one of the best dramas I have ever watched. It was a masterpiece. There is no praise too much for it. It feels all the better because of how little I expected it. Don’t you love when that happens?

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    I was on such an adrenaline rush after CoL that I couldn’t do a rewatch this time and went straight to another new show. I wanted a non-thriller with an actor I adore, so I decided on The Red Sleeve Cuff. I hadn’t watched a sageuk since Nokdu’s Flower and I liked the historical theme of this show and that it reminded me strongly of Dae Jang Geum. I didn’t love the show like most beanies seem to, but it was one of the most beautiful shows ever made! Everything, from the scenery, to the lighting, to the symmetry and balance in every single shot, was simply perfect. What kept me till the end, apart from the cinematography, was Jun ho’s acting, Lee Deok Hwa aka the king’s acting, court lady Seo, the royal guard, and the grand Queen.

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      You chose a good sageuk, probably the best of the year (and I think I saw all but one).

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    And now I’m off to a few rewatches. I look forward to my rewatches as much as I do to new shows. Chief Kim, here I come. Wok of Love, Hot Stove League, Jealousy Incarnate, oh I have so many lined up!

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    Welcome back!

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    Totally liking your drama choices! Welcome back!

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    Hello! welcome back!

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I have watched my first drama in 8 months, 18 Again. A most cliche, frustrating, what-could-have-been show, but with WHAT a performance! OMG Lee Do Hyun had me transfixed the whole way through. He was fantastic. He was incredible. He was legendary. I loved every single second of his acting, and I feel so happy, content, and fulfilled that I don’t care one bit about any other part of the show. Thank you Lee Do Hyun.
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    You’ve succeeded in making me interested but not wanting to watch it at the same time 😂

    Is the OST good? Priorities…

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      I’m really not a music person so take this with a grain of salt. I didn’t like it. It felt very 2010 and uninteresting.

      The drama has so many flaws that I might get really angry if I start to rant! But my, Lee Do Hyun! The show’s only saving grace is that he is in most scenes. If you do decide to watch it skip any scenes related to the broadcasting station. The rest is at least a mediocre drama. With Lee Do Hyun. Did I say Lee Do Hyun enough times already??

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        Err… I tend to like 2010 dramas hehe

        Thank you for your review. I remember Lee Do Hyun from THIRTY BUT SEVENTEEN and thought it was a shame he only had a few lines (maybe only one?).

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          I haven’t seen 30 But 17. I have only seen him in Hotel del Luna and I liked him there, but he wasn’t much memorable for me. I see that he was in Prison Playbook too, but I don’t remember him at all.

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        Oh, if you meant the OST felt very 2010 then I know exactly what you mean…

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The new video is much smoother but it should have a title. Who is going to watch an unknown video?

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A drama A day challenge @purplesheesh

Post 13 – Sports/Arts/Musicals

What’s Up

I don’t have any words to describe this show. It is simply a must-watch.



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    What’s Up is love – and a springboard of so many talents: Jo Jung-suk, Kim Ji-won, Lee Soo-Hyuk to name a few.

    What I don’t understand, though, is how come Lim Ju-Hwan not offered any lead role anymore? And why we are not seeing much of Lim Ju-eun who is so memorably badass in What’s Up. The last I saw her was in Heirs as Choi Jin-hyuk’s girlfriend.

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      Ugh I don’t KNOW! How can writers and directors not see these two talents!

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A drama A day challenge @purplesheesh

Post 12 – Family

Go Back Couple

Ah this show! It is not perfect, but it is so lovely. There are many conflicts among many families, and nearly all of them are handled with such a sensitive and knowing hand. (Except one which I can thankfully overlook in every rewatch)

Choi Ban Do is one of my most favorite male leads ever.



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A drama A day challenge @purplesheesh

Post 11 – Comedy

Chief Kim

I don’t think I have ever enjoyed a comedy as much as I have enjoyed this show. It can also win in many other categories too!



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    I think I liked Special Labor Inspector Mr. Jo and Fiery Priest about the same as this one. They all made me laugh.

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      I love love SLIMJ, but to me it was a very different genre. The mixture of comedy and drama felt more like Jealousy Incarnate than Chief Kim.

      I sadly didn’t like Fiery Priest.

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A drama A day challenge @purplesheesh

Post 10 – Slice of life

Hot Stove League

I didn’t expect to love this show as much as I did. It felt so real in an understated way.



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A drama A day challenge @purplesheesh

Post 9 – School

Master of Study

I love watching the now grown-up child actors, a dominating teacher, and the normalcy in this show. Having no smouldering over-sized kids and timid under-sized teachers helped a lot too!



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    I hope @purplesheesh has seen this one. Her avatar and Yoo Seung Ho both caught my attention in this one. Plus it has Bae Doo Na and Lee Hyun Woo so you really can’t go wrong if you like an underdog school drama.

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      It is such a great drama! I’m glad you know and like it too!

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      Thank you for mentioning me. I have watched it. After Radiant office, I binged all Go Ah Sung dramas. I loved it, too!

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A drama A day challenge @purplesheesh

Post 8 – Office/Legal

Hyena

This show was pure FUN!
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A drama A day challenge @purplesheesh

Post 7- Medical/Hospital

This one is tough. I was going to write Hospital Playlist, which has been the only hospital show I have loved, but it has been mentioned by a few other beanies.

Life and Doctor John were both very well-made shows which I liked a lot, though I didn’t fall in love with them.

There is Deserving of the Name that I absolutely love but I put it in for the time-travel category.

That leaves me with only two shows that are kind of medical and worth mentioning.

Faith, which is a combination of some of the best characterizations and plotlines, AND some of the worst characterizations and plotlines at the same time! It is simultaneously perfect and ridiculous.

Dae Jang Geum. A 52 hour historical sageuk which spans over many years of the great Jang Geum’s life going from a palace maid, to a palace chef, and then a palace doctor. There was a time I knew this show by heart, every single sound, every intonation, without knowing any Korean.






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    Life is a show I really, really love (on my top ten) but even if it’s set in a hospital I never consider it a médica drama… does it make sense?

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A drama A day challenge @purplesheesh

Post 6- Mistery/Thriller/Crime

Nobody Knows

Watch this show without first seeking any synopsis or background.



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    I’m almost finished with it and it’s soooooo good. The casting is perfection.

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    OMG how could I forget about this when making my post. *ashamed* Everything is done so well – the cast is perfect, the writing hurts in all the best ways, and the cinematography is beautiful~

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    ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

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A drama A day challenge @purplesheesh

Post 5- Time travel

Deserving of the Name

I love the time travel trope, but sadly rhere are few shows I end up loving. This one though definitely lives up to it!



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A drama A day challenge @purplesheesh

Post 4- Historical

Nokdu Flower

This show is simply flawless. And brutal. And powerful.



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A drama A day challenge @purplesheesh

Post 3- Gender reversal

Accidental Couple

Rich, famous, cold_outside soft_inside woman; simple, hard-working, kind_and_polite_to_everybody man; and everything else that melts my heart.



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A drama A day challenge @purplesheesh

Post 2- Action

Lookout

To this day even writing its name makes my heart rate race and my eyes tear up.



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A drama A day challenge @purplesheesh

Post 1- Romance (melo or romcom)

Scent of a Woman

This show has been at the top of my most favorite shows ever since it came out.



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Not only the video has gone, but the page zooming out issue, and the lagging and unable to load issue have also been resolved! Thanks a lot @db-staff !

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