Soul Survivors - AoS Concludes

AoS-2 is a seamless continuation of S1. It picks up about 3 years after the dramatic events of S1's close.

As the show opens it appears that they've spent a lot of money on the special effects. It's quite beautiful. The music is top tier also. Blue Flower by LIA is Shazamable. Aching, by Kassy, is too, as is I′m Sorry. by Ailee, and Raindrops, by Gummy.

They switch up the FL and she's got a very different personality than our S1 FL. She's also suffering from memory loss which explains part of the change. She has no memories and he doesn't recognize her, so they need to fall in love all over again. It should have been awesome, but their delivery is barely above average. Is it big-buget disease? Too often, a bigger budget bankrupts the humanity.

AoS doesn't take itself seriously. In S2 I was hoping they would go loftier, but they opted to go lower - they get more nonsensical than I would prefer. It's still a fantastic watch.

If I wasn't already familiar with Chinese fantasy, I may not have had those thoughts. Chinese fantasy, despite its often clunky special effects, is arguably the best in the world, and AoS has Chinese influence written all over it. If you like it, alchemize your watch list to include these amazing Cdramas:
Heavenly Sword and Dragon Slaying Saber 9-Kung-fu!,
Eternal Love-8.3,
Douluo Continent 9.4;
Handsome Siblings 8.7;
Ancient Love Poetry 8.6;
The Sleepless Princess 9.1;
The Romance of Tiger and Rose 9.8,
Love Between Fairy and Devil 8.9,
Love and Redemption-10

AoS-2 drops off slightly from S1, but it is a solid conclusion to the popular show. I wrote more about it in my S1 review.

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Mother's Love Will Never Abandon You ♡ A Sad Show With A Bobbled Ending

This is a good drama, but it made me sad - and not a cathartic "sad," like a Chinese or Shakespearean tragedy that is somehow fulfilling. This show brings on an empty sadness.

In the +, the characters are all complex and thus, they remain interesting. I loved the cameo of Seobinggo and Shin Soon-ae from Oh My Ghost, which I consider to be one of the best romcoms ever made. OMG & HBM share a director, Yoo Je-Won. He has 10 works credited to him, all of which are rated 7 or higher. That's outstanding. So far I've seen Tomorrow With You(7-VG but major logical problems and a couple of crashes with consistency) The King: Eternal Monarch(7.9 it's different, and it's not perfect, but it's mostly excellent) and Abyss(4.7 Poor - it's awful, which hurts my feelings because I love Park Bo-young), and Oh My Ghost(10 - it's superb). His most popular shows are Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha & Crash Course in Romance, which are ones I haven't gotten to, yet.

This drama addresses weighty topics (death, loss, regret, guilt) and does it well. Yu-ri shows thoughtfulness and grace… and MOXIE. The best moments are when the ladies get together, especially when they don their sunglasses-of-doom.

There are shortcomings - too many for it to be considered a top-tier production. Some things that happen are unexpected, but the final outcome comes speeding down the road and arrives just as foreshadowed. There is poor resolution. We are treated to some final moments peeking a few years down the line, but it’s too brief and way too ill-defined, and we don't witness much of any healing. Not all the drinks that are poured are imbibed, meaning that many of the characters seem like they would get more of a story arc, but they just evaporated instead. The rules of the "game" are not laid out. Even when the reason Yu-ri came back is confirmed, it doesn't change any of the problems. It is actually a weak plot point: If that method works, we shouldn't need funeral directors or cemeteries as no one would ever stay dead. As lovely as that would be, it doesn't play well in this show.

Their effort to analyze the mother/daughter cycle is respectable. It seems the show's diffuse focus redirects the audience from an exploratory surgery that would provide a deeper analysis of the truth, to: "Take an aspirin and get some rest. It will all blow by "

In summary, this is not a feel-good drama. Don't look for that. It did not help me process my own recent loss: Don't look for that either.

IMHO...
Suggested Age 12& up.


Directing 6.7
Acting 8
Romance 3
Thought provocation 6

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Dimestore Harlequin Novel On Your TV ~ VG Lite-Snack Romcom

This is not an instant classic. Nor will it be studied in a film class. It is a classic, somewhat cheesy, romance without any major flaws. Classic, here, means it's akin to those cheap paperback novels that were written by the dozens a few decades ago, the biggest publisher being Harlequin. My sister would by the bagfuls.

Yumi is a girl who is trying to live a better life than her narcissistic ex-adult film star mother. She was teased relentlessly in school over her parentage, so she doesn't want to be equated with her mother anymore. Enough already. She needs distance. She wants to be a *whole world* away from her & her mother's pasts. To draw a solid line between her and Oma, Yumi keeps herself buttoned up and tries to stumble her way through life in the background.

She embarks on a weekend trip for mom's second (Wait. It was the 3rd, maybe?) marriage. For Yumi, the weekend is one fiasco followed by another, culminating in a one night stand. In a convertible. On the beach. With a dude so good looking, he's almost too pretty. None of this makes Yumi feel better about it. She's disgusted with herself. She doesn't even know his name! (But HER mother wouldn't be so ashamed). She wakes first in the morning, slinking off with some of dude's clothing, leaving him exposed to the elements... and gawkers- quite a crowd, actually. All ages. They loved the show. He received loads of fanfare, too.

Yumi, next, slinks back home to focus on putting her life in order. She graduates with a dietary sciences/nutrition degree and is thrilled to land a job at a large corporation that offers great benefits. She's thrilled /until/ she runs into HIM. She has to figure out how to best slice and dice this situation pronto.

That sets the table. You'll have to watch it to see what's on the menu.

MSR is not devoid of quality elements. "No matter how many bad things happen in a day, if one lucky thing happens, it's a lucky day," says Yum-i, while buddy-chugging wine from the bottle, in a convertible, surfside, under the magically lit sky… 15 min later they have a 1 night stand.

{Timeout: That's never a good idea. It's unacceptable risk to one's physical and emotional health, and one will win the lottery before it leads to committed love. That's one reason it's a fun thing to watch and wonder, and then walk away. }

This is a show to which lovers of romance, who need a mental vacation, can relax and enjoy some healthy snacks. Their little chess game, misunderstandings, series of non-communications, and many memorable meals, will make loveaholics smile. Cha Jin-hook (Played by the otherworldly gorgeous Sung Hoon) tells his father, who is pushing for his marriage: "My wife is right here," metaphorically meaning the business. However, his wife is literally #there, in the building. Nice morsel. I suspect that Yumi's name is a play on the English word "Yummy" - also a clever detail.

There are scattered problems: Some minor, some moderate, but they don't bring on indigestion. MSR is what it was designed to be, as a whole - simple escapism. However, it could be improved on. Starting in Ep11, there were too toooooo 2*2*2 many sappy flashback scenes, with sappy background music. They could have made it an episode shorter, or, better yet, make optimal use of that screen time with more content. Do yourself a favor, and FF thru them. When Yumi is singing Karaoke, be warned: They do the #whole song with flashbacks. Then Mr. Cha goes down memory lane. It gets ridiculous, but some quick remote control work takes care of it. Trust me on this one.

The actors are likable, and they did a great job. The secondary romances are brief pleasures. It's easy to root for them. The CEO's aid wears over-the-top-flowered-polka dot-paisley-anything-suits. He's amazing, and wears them proudly. He's one for the highlight reels.

This is a good enough aperitif between heavier shows. If you are at a loss as to what to watch next, but in the mood for a heroine-exits-cocoon style romance, this will do as nicely as an afternoon tea.

IMHO...

Age 16+ My reasoning: Her mom is an ex-porn star, which has been a lifetime vexation for Yumi. Also, they have a one-night-stand when they hardly know each other. There's so many other great Kdramas to watch, so there's no rush for teens to see this one.

Directing 7
Acting 7.4
Romance 8
Flutters 7
Warmth 7.7
Art 7.6
Laughs 6.6
Thought provocation 6
Ending 8

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Like Pizza Delivered Upside Down ~ Could Have Been ⤴️ But It's Just ⤵️ °4.6° °Poor°

I tried to roll along with BIOG, I really did. When watching fiction - especially fantasy - we must hold our suspension of disbelief in order to go along with the show and enjoy it. It's more relaxing to be on the generous side of the issue. Each time we have to dismiss inconsistencies, errors, a clumsy cadence, stupid dialogue or other disappointments, it's like a pinprick. At some point blood starts to gush and one can't let it go anymore. Then almost everything posi+ive drains dry, which is what happened here. This show just doesn't work; it's lifeless. Inconsistencies kept that "little ✒pinch" feeling going. For instance:

✒Can people see ghosts, or just evil spirits? It's unclear. We are told that seeing ghosts is something only a few people can do, but as the show goes on, more and more people are seeing ghosts. The viewer can make some guesses as to why this happens, but we shouldn't have to guess. The rules of this world should be explained and then adhered to. Or it hurts.

✒Hyun Ji's wardrobe, and how she is able to obtain, wear and change clothes is inconsistent. Her clothing is a plot driver in some episodes, yet rules about wardrobe laid out early on are bent, broken or tossed out altogether later. While I'm on the subject of costume, when Hyun Ji is wearing black she should have had spike-heeled boots on, not the frumpy-dumpies she wears. How kick@$$ing could she be when wearing them? They only could have helped.

✒She gets wet when it rains but her hair is dry when she comes out of the lake(?)

✒Why don't people see the forks and knives moving and the glasses being raised when ghosts are eating?

✒The police investigate a buried body in the woods and declare that it may not be a natural death? Possibly. What made them think that? Oh, right, the body was BURIED.

✒I'm almost shocked that the two seniors, In Rang and Cheon Sang, who only want to film ghosts in the beginning of the show, seem to forget all about it, and their youtube channel, as the episodes go on. The writer and director just let that aspect float out there and never used it. Letting something so important to the characters just fall away with no reason provided is downright lazy plot and character development.

✒We aren't told how technically skillful In Rang is, early on, so when he magically displays prowess later, it seems to sprout from nowhere.

✒Do we know the monk's actual relationship to Bong Pal? He seems to be an uncle, but if that was stated I missed it. We shouldn't be left to guess.

✒Do we know if Hyun Ji got all of her memories back from her time with Park Bong Pal?

✒What's going on in ep16 when they claim they don't need money and they have to be convinced to earn some? Bizarre.

It's as if they mixed scenes together like four and water. They don't have the sugar and the eggs, so no cake. It's gloop. Instead of a cohesive product that works, they just have a pile of separated scenes that don't combine for a better whole. On top of the inconsistencies and general sloppiness, the soundtrack and sound effects are lackluster.

The acting was fine. The actors suffer from bad directing. It doesn't seem like it's their fault. There appears to be a lack of chemistry, but it's probably a lack of good direction. Joon Hwa Park has a great lineup as a director. Hopefully this is an outlier. Conversely, one of the best things in the show is an incentive twist. That was a pleasant surprise. The villain is well done also, but none of that can bless this offering.

IMHO…

Directing 4
Acting 7
Romance 5
Flutters 4
Thought provocation 3

Age 13& up.

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Red Bun Coalition ♟️ The Means Rustify the Soul °8.4° °Excellent°

Corruption: the process by which something is changed from its original use to one that is erroneous or debased. A departure from what is pure or correct. Decay, decomposition, dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power, typically involving bribery.

"Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on, or by imbeciles who really mean it," said Mark Twain. Even if leaders want the right things, too often they are willing to do the wrong things to get them.

US is a historical political fiction thriller based on true events. Three characters are based on actual historical figures while everyone else seems to be an amalgam of other players that created the political debacle of 1959-60 in SK, Uncle Sam being the most amalgamous. Communism was spreading, the world was in chaos. World War II had rewritten the map of the world. The North and the South Koreans were at odds. SK was closely monitored by an on-site U.S. military. This is one of Director/writer Shin Youn-Shick (Cassiopeia) higher rated offerings. “I think Korea is the only country that asks if one has eaten as a greeting. (The series) portrays the difficult times right after the Korean War, when it was truly challenging to have even one meal a day,” Shin said. Yet it was politics as usual at the top. These back-room ghouls think nothing of the suffering masses.

Not interested? I gravitate to the imaginative side of entertainment myself - Sci-fi, thrillers, fantasy… romance. We have to make an effort to try new things to be more well rounded. As such, one could tag me a somewhat reluctant viewer. Around Ep5 it became clear that this is an excellent drama. US might not be my go-to genre, but it is an excellently created show. It starts like a tank. It grinds slowly but really cranks up towards the end. The acting and directing are sublime. What's most important is that it's a peek under the hood of politics, another reminder that politics is overrun by hoods. “This is what it means to be in politics,” muses Joo In-tae. His daughter had just asked him how he could work with a guy who had tortured him during the Japanese occupation. Many well meaning people do jump into the “public service” foray with the intent to ‘do-good’, but they slowly get absorbed by a system that pumps out ‘doo-doo’. Politics is one big manure spreader. As KS says, it's “Hypocrisy disguised as a dream.”

1960. The March15 Election Fraud is abt the rigged re-election of Syngman Rhee, in power since post WWII. That led to The April Revolution: A series of protests and demonstrations demanding reform that led to the removal of Rhee. We open in 1960, but the cars look older, indicating that money is scarce and they're getting by on older belongings and older technology. It is a dark, wet night and authorities are dragging away a man who is screaming that it's Samsik's fault. What is a Samsik? Well, he is a dude who made sure everyone in his circle had three meals a day. Even during the war. “Sam” means three. “Sik” means food. “Chingoo Chincha.” A true friend.

US is a 2024 release that is rated 86 on AWiki. It is 1 season consisting of 16 42ish-minute eps that positively fly by in comparison to a typical Kdrama. Not only is US an excellent drama, but it's also a primer on politics and the slippery slope that topples the naive. The good they sincerely want to do is the carrot. Getting reelected is the stick. It helps me understand politicians more and it also makes me despise politics all the more. It's a filthy, slimy business. Cliches are always based on entrenched patterns. The cliche, “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” still rings true. The human race hasn't outgrown that problem. Voters and the general public seem to have the attention span of a fruit fly and the memory of an ostrich. We neither know nor understand our history. Therefore we are doomed to suffer corrupt leadership. It just isn't wise to put too much trust or hope in political leaders.

After we hear what a nurturing guy US Is, we revert to 1959 for a closer peek. There's protesters in Seoul. I've not seen one political Kdrama where that isn't going on. It appears to be part of the fabric of Kcountry. The opening eps go back and forth between that point & MPs questioning suspects in 1960. Questions? In ‘59 these guys staged a coup.

Samsik appears to be more mobster than businessman. He's slowly built up enough to enable him to buy into a chaebol level company - he's about to become a business baron. “Do you know what pizza is?” He's in a great mood and jawwing to someone at the meal before his induction ceremony. “You probably don't even know what cheese is.” He tries to explain pizza to a traditional 1959 Korean. It might as well be explaining the 5th dimension. Try explaining soy sauce to someone who has never had Asian cuisine.

Later that night, he's at a political rally to raise trouble, and the meeting does break up in mayhem, but then Kim San takes the podium. To paraphrase, he says ~I just got back from the USA. No one is going hungary. Every building shines. They don't even eat all their food. I lived above a pizza shop. Do any of you know what Pizza is?~ He goes on to talk of a vision where Koreans aren't starving but, rather, where Korea is the center for commerce in the world. Uncle Samsik is listening. Attentively. The scene is quite powerful.

Park Doo Chil (Snowpiercer) plays ML Uncle SamSik with his coat swinging; part of Sam's signature swagger. It's been 35 years since he did TV. Coming into US, I could only see him as he was in Parasite-9, w/ the greasy face and that smell. (I KNOW one can't smell anything through the TV. That is partly why Parasite is so brilliant!) He made an impression. He's excellent in Taxi Driver-8.4 as well, which is also half-fictionalized events based in a true setting and, historically, serves as a bookend to US. In US, PDC is indefatigable. His character is so alive, so energetic, so garrulous, so thoroughly compelling that, for someone with chronic fatigue, it's actually exhausting. US is a man that has gotten used to exploiting opportunities; it's such a habit that he never questions it. He understands that when your stomach is full your mind tends to open. He won people over by feeding them. We're not that much different than stray cats and dogs in that way. He is portrayed as a split personality. Like the best criminals, he's a savant of human psychology. He grew up poor. Therefore he says things like: “Do you like people that are admired? They're the worst.” Yet he fully embraces the system. He is fundamentally decent to those around him and he's generally loyal, but he has no moral backbone whatsoever. He operates outside of the law entirely. US opens up in ep2: ‘I love red bean buns. I could never afford them, but I wanted them so badly I killed a man one day.’

Byun Yo Han, who is positively luminescent in Mr. Sunshine-9 & Misaeng-9.1, plays Kim San/KS, a man who has the best of intentions but gets marinated and stuck to the bottom by the political sauce. Mr. Byun shows that he can play a serious role. Other actors can as well, but what other actors can't do is capture the magic of the other characters BYH has portrayed. He conveys a nearly tangible sense of delight. That is rare magic, indeed. KS has a soft spot for people that recognize his worth. That only means that he's too self-focused, and his pride is too important to him. It's something that will trip us up. He is so determined to pass his economic reform pkg, (it would be wonderful for Kcountry) that he's willing to do anything. ANYTHING. He thinks he can wash away the stink later.

Lee Kyu Hyung (Doctor John) plays the spineless but powerful Kang Seong-Min. Even though he's a beautiful man, he's terrifying because he's completely self-focused, he has no empathy, and he's gutless. If someone makes him the slightest bit nervous, he orders a hit on them. Choo Sang-Rok is Park Ji-Wook. During the Japanese Occupation he was a quisling and worked as a police officer on behalf of the occupiers. In 1959 he’s a prominent politician. Tiffany Young (Reborn Rich) is marvelous as Rachel Jung. Jin Ki Joo (My Perfect Stranger) is Joo Yeo Jin, KS's fiance, as the show opens. Seo Hyun Woo (Flower of Evil-8.9) plays Jung Han Min.

Those based on true historical figures:

~Ryu Tae-ho as Choi Han-rim: a prestigious general who KS calls a 2nd father. WIKI - “Based on Lee Han-lim, he is known for his political neutrality and being the only commanding officer to declare public opposition to the May 16 coup. After graduating from Shinkyong Military Academy and studying at the Imperial Japanese Army Academy, he served as an officer… was a classmate of Park Chung Hee,” part of the Imperial Japanese Arm & finally 1st Army CDR when the 5/16/60 coup occurred. “He opposed the military's intervention in politics and stood on the opposite line from those who led the military coup of Park Chung-hee. He had prepared to mobilize reserve forces to suppress the coup, but withdrew to prevent a civil war and potential North Korean invasion. Due to his opposition, he was arrested two days later and discharged along with the 5th District Commander and Army Major General Park Ki-byung.”

~Park Hyuk-kwon “as Choi Min-gyu: Minister of Home Affairs who collaborates with the Liberal Party government. Based on Choi In-gyu.”

~Oh Kwang-rok “as Joo In-tae: a politician who insists on national prosperity and peaceful coexistence. Loosely based on Cho Bong-am. …Three years after the election, Cho was charged with espionage and receiving funds from NK. His first trial resulted in an acquittal but he was convicted in a second trial and was executed on 31 July 1959. His death sentence was posthumously overturned in 2011 by the South Korean Supreme Court.”

The Albright Stonebridge Group is a real Foundation committed to economic growth in SK.

The slippery slope. KS is courted more than a duke's only daughter. How does Samsik seduce him? With intoxicating statements like this: “Nobody gets to fulfill more than 25% of their desires. Nobody gets 80 or 90% so what do you do? You increase your desires by 40-50-60%. Have ambition.” When KS finally succumbs, he has this conversation with the party chief: “I don't need nice guys. We are waging a war here. I won't tolerate any tears.” “I've already shed all my tears. I'm done with that.” By that time he had abandoned his fiance, ignored dozens of illegalities, and had started sewing the seeds of revolution. Samsik stays in the shadows. One might almost think he invented subversive triangulation, but apparently politics is the same at all times and in all places. It's a filthy business in which those in power take advantage of those in need. Catch rivals committing crimes? It's merely an invitation to control them. Turning them in is the last thing that US would do. Even so, Samsik and KS form an unbreakable bond. They have good goals that they intend to implement by any means possible. Following proper channels never even occurs to Samsik, and he manages to slowly and steadily bend KS to his will.

It's always the things that we think we know, our faulty presuppositions, that are going to bring us down. “There was an explosion of people that spilled onto the streets instantly. Ultimately, none of the promises or plans we made mattered at all… No one could have predicted the way the winds would take us, or or how the waves would crash.” The director is adept at building up tension throughout the show. It explodes into the protests. There's an aerial shot of marchers that pans several blocks. It's really spectacular. Next, he intersperses the filming with genuine newsreels from the time itself. It's quite emotional. Another nice touch is how KS is gifted a light grey suit. It stands out amongst the unified dark suit coalition. I think it represents how his white intentions became muddied and gray through his interactions with US. In the last ep KS wears a black suit. His eyeglasses are two tones of grey.

Uncle Sam knows things are going sideways in the last ep. He can sense it. He looks at the hotel lobby. People are chit-chatting, drinking and going on with their evening as if nothing's happening. They're completely unaware of the day, of the country, & of the rotation and revolution of the earth. Isn't that always the case? The soldiers enter. It's a profound scene.

US, himself, is often profound. We'll let him close this out: “Let me ask you about the principles that govern this world. Spring arrives, then summer. Flowers bloom, then wilt. They're what make the World Go Round And the sun rise and set. The Earth's rotation and revolution. Can you feel it right now? The rotation and revolution? That's precisely the kind of man I am. The Earth's rotation and revolution…” (looks like the earth still goes around without him). “Sometimes I feel… I feel tossed aside in the world, completely abandoned. I'm flooded with loneliness. It's in those times that I find what I fear most of all… is when that loneliness… becomes familiar.


(more) 〰️QUOTES〰️

So you think love is trivial? Guess you don't know much about love.

People think they're different from each other. Eventually, they figure out they're all the same. When they figure it out, it's too late.

You have a bad habit. You underestimate people who are younger than you. You need to fix that.

An honest politician is one who, when he is bought, will stay bought. ~Simon Cameron US financier & politician, 1799-1889~

✏〰 IMHO
Ratings
Directing 8.3
Writing 8.5
Acting 8.5
Romance 3
Flutters 4
Warmth 4.5
Art 8
Sound & music 7.5
Ending 9

Levels
Excitement 5.5
Laughs 2
Tears 6
Fright 3
Tension/anxiety 3.5
Gore 3
Thought provocation 7
Snores 0


📣8.3 📝8.5 🎭8.5 💓3 🦋4 🎨8 🎵/🔊7.5 🔚9 ▪ 🌞4.5 ⚡5.5 😅2 😭6 😱3 😯3.5 🤢3 🤔7 💤0

Age 14+
Language Rated-R Fbombs, some violence, gore, and scares, but the tradeoff is the primer on politics and human relationships. This is an educational jaunt as well as an excellent drama.

Rated TV-MA

Re-watch? Would

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It's All Good In The Hood❕️ °Excellent°

Is this a romance, or an exploration of parent child relationships?

It's both. It's actually more the latter. There's loss, longing, loneliness, laughter and love, with scary tension mixed in for good measure. The neighborhood is a character on its own. The place to which they've taken us is so charming. Good directing, good acting, good writing and a good soundtrack all come together beautifully, like Donbaek's pork stir-fry. The romance between the two leads is sweet. The mystery surrounding the murders is also handled very well. Most of the character arcs are satisfying.

Dongbaek is uncomfortably passive and within herself in the first few episodes. Watching her develop... and bloom... is a treat. I've become a big fan of Lee Jeong Eun, Dongbaek's mom. She's a stellar talent and currently my favorite actress. I first saw her in Oh My Ghost which is a romcom that's cooked up to perfection. She, along with the other 3 leads deliver magnificent performances in that show and I have had a love affair with all of them ever since. (The other three are Kim Seul-Gi, Jo Jung-Seok, and Park Bo-Young).

This show is 95% excellent. Here's a complimentary sample of unimportant nitpicks:

It doesn't quite make sense to open a restaurant/bar because you can make one good dish.... .

It would have been fun to see policeman Young Shik catch a few more criminals, but it is understandable that one case started to consume all of his time.

I wasn't pleased with the treatment of Jong Ryul, Pil-Gu's father. It seemed more severe than he deserved. He truly cares for Dongbaek. He never had a chance to know his son. He made mistakes when he was immature, and has since grown up. The reason for the break-up and her attitude toward him is less in focus than other plot lines. I'm glad they didn't make him a cartoonish bad guy, at least. That's a played out stereotype; he has more complexity.

The efforts to catch the Joker had some holes, or flaws. Obvious things that should have been done were not, mostly to maintain the plot.

Any criticisms are easily overlooked due to the overall excellence of the show. Hwang Yong-Sik's energy alone is worth the time spent. Kang Ha-Neul is really terrific as the ML. So grab the peanuts and Soju and enjoy your stay in Ongsan.

QUOTE〰

"I scratched on cement that hasn't hardened." (Meaning that since he's a kid it will mark him, hurt him, and stay with him for life).


〰IMHO

Directing 8
Acting 8
Romance 7
Flutters 5
Thought provocation 6

Suggested Age 14& up.

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Boy Wonder ✨️ Batman's Bratty Lil Bro °8.5° °Excellent°

“Everyone has their own task in their life. But I've never believed that.” It opens up dark and foggy. It's creepy. It looks more like a horror film. “Living with no purpose was not that bad. But now, a question was thrown into my life. Now I start my journey to find an answer.”

After that opening we jump back 2 mos. It's bright. It's colorful. Sparkly jazz is playing while bloody Marys are pouring. Su ditches the board meeting in the morning, telling his butler he needs to sleep more. He forces that butler to watch a clip of him swimming with the sharks. He looks like another worthless rich guy, a spoiled brat without a care in the world. Before he goes back to sleep, however, he gets a notification. There's been a kidnapping! The next thing we see is that he's on the SWAT team - Is he Batman? Is he a rich do-gooder, who appears aimless, but actually fights crime on the sly with the vast resources available at his fingertips? Nah, this is
the dress-up/role-play swat team. This guy doesn't work hard, but he plays hard. This isn't a spoiler ~ we're still under 10 minutes in.

Soon we cut to real cops (Violent Crimes Investigative Team 1) chasing a real criminal. In the vicinity, our ML, Jin I “Su”, has to defend himself against an assailant, but all Hy the cop sees, when she catches up to the action, is Su assaulting someone. He's arrested - Our leads meet that way. Su's chair-dad finds out about the arrest from a reporter. ~ At his press conference ~ He was attempting to announce his candidacy for Mayor of Seoul when he's blindsided by the news. He angrily vows to disown Su… Until the police realize during the course of their investigation that Su actually captured a murderer. He did not commit assault: It was self-defense. Su's father, the chairman, is furious once again, and the police are squirming because they're in a lot of trouble. They work out a win-all-around solution: the police will say that Su's been a cop for 2 months and worked with them to capture this murderer. Now, e’erbody happy. Everybody except Su's “co-workers” and the reporter that is now accused of making a false report, as he released the story that Sue had been arrested. So now….

Su's on the force. The cops are forced to work with him. But they're hoping he never actually shows up to work.

FXC is a 2024 release that is rated 90 on AWiki. It is 1 season consisting of 16 70-minute episodes. It's plenty typical and formulaic, but if you go for cop shows that incorporate humor with a couple surprises, you'll likely enjoy this. I certainly did. The episode about hypnosis is a little bit weak, but all-in-all, one can't ask for more from a cop-edy drama. It's really good - They could turn this into a franchise. The cases are interesting and well conceived. Apparently, S2 has already been announced.

Ahn Bo Hyun (Kairos, See You in My 19th Life) plays the rich & spoiled Su. He's been shows that I loved: Her Private Life-8, My Only Love Song-8.7, & Descendants of the Sun-8.3. He was in a show that I liked: My Runway-7.5, and one that I hated: My Name-5.7. He's completely different in everything, so he's as versatile as he is good looking - and he is a specimen. Su inhabits a world that is entirely unfamiliar to the police. He has an advantage when it comes to investigating people of wealth and status as the son of the chairman - the /illegitimate/ son. Therefore, his stepmother despises him. Su might seem obnoxious at first, but he's a kind-hearted and delightful person. He's a touch carefree, even careless, but he doesn't have a mean bone in his body. His mother died when he was about 7. He has no memory of it, but he's told it was a car accident. His father is concerned that “he'll get his memories back”.

Park Ji Hyun (Love All Play, Reborn Rich) is Lee Gang Hyeon/”Hy”. She's not the most feminine female. Dad, also a decorated detective, is her drinking buddy. She's positively rough… and RUDE, and she despises Su. Her everyday look is so utilitarian that it was jolting to see her dressed up for a sting operation. She looks great. As mature as she seems, she's actually 6 years younger than her co-star. Ahn Bo Hyun must have some amazing genetics, because he looks like he could play a high school kid, still.

Kang Sang Jun (Marry My Husband, Doctor Slump) is hardboiled detective Park Jun Yeong, who has been alongside Hy since the academy. He seems overly interested in, and overprotective of her. He doesn't try to hide his disdain for Su. Kim Shin Bi (Journey to the Shore, Revenant) is the friendly junior detective and social media follower of Su, Choi Gyeong Jin. Jung Ga Hee (Longing for You,The Glory) plays medical examiner Yun Ji Won. I love this ME. She's got a dry wit, a great attitude, and she's funny. Jokes coming out of the autopsy room sort of write themselves. In one scene she puts a decayed rice cake that supposedly choked someone to death on the metal tray. She then takes a fresh one, bites it, and puts it on the tray next to the one she extracted from the deceased's throat, showing how the one from the dead body was obviously cut, not bitten. Point made, she picks up the one she had started eating off of the tray and pops it in her mouth. The delivery was perfect. I laughed out loud. Ms Jung has a short resume, and I look forward to seeing her more. Her credits are sure to accumulate as she is absolutely darling.

Director: Kim Jae Hong - He's a rock star. His most recent 4 efforts: FXC, Revenant, Through the Darkness, & Begins Youth are all rated 8.7 on MDL. He has 7 other credits; 3 in the 7.5-7.8 range and 4 in the 6.6-7.3 bracket. Not a dud in a bunch. Screenwriter: Kim Ba Da of A Man Who Was Superman & the popular My Name-5.7, which I didn't care for at all.

The cops do everything they can to keep Su on the sidelines, but he's just not the kind of guy to sit quietly in the corner. The next couple episodes deal with him proving himself. They're going to have to work with him, they realize. Money makes the day-to-day stuff easier (being a cop sure is costing Su a fortune), but it can really mess up relationships. That's the theme. Speaking of wealth, Su questions a wealthy person of interest at a tanning salon. Given that Kdramas are so pasty skinned my jaw dropped and I haven't found it yet. This is the first tanning bed I've seen in a Kdrama.

His stepmother is so abhorrent that he ends up moving back to the house where he lived with his mom, only to find out that Hy now lives across the street. This creates situations where he must interact with her parents. “For your information, this will be salty. I recommend not eating it.” So Hy advises when she delivers the kimchi that her mother forced her to bring over. (It took 3 days of nagging but she finally caved in). And that’s why Hy crossed the road ~ maybe the chicken was following her.

Will the seeds of romance bloom in S2? They aren't there yet, and they have more than one road to cross.

She's drab. Oh, how his presence must hurt her eyes! Lime. Plum. Lemon. Tangerine. Grape. His clothes are colorful, bright, expensive, and capital-F-Flashy. He's a peacock. Her car is really messy. She's more dude than chick. He comments on a sticky brown residue in the cup holder. “Oh, I spilled coffee yesterday.” Unsatisfied, he presses further: “Didn't you clean it up?” Her unfazed answer: “I did” Unconvinced, he responds: “Do you have a tissue or anything?” She looks around, “Use this.” She hands him a piece of /junk mail/. Only someone who's lived like a slob or has been around a slob would be able to write that. That's too authentic. It cracked me up.

Her Oma falls in love with Su first. Perhaps that's because she sees a potential mate for her rapidly aging daughter. There's nice juxtaposition when he's at his family's home for a press interview. Afterwards, dinner is being laid out, but stepwitch informs him that they are /not/ setting a place for him. When he gets home, Hy's mother insists that he come over and have dinner with them.

They have to do a stake-out which means spending even more time with eachother. That's followed up by an undercover operation where they are forced closer together. Su has things to work through before he can give all to a relationship. As we get to know Su, it becomes obvious that his cavalier attitude is the way he deals with pain. He's got some trauma that he's never dealt with. He's locked it away under the surface as evinced by his reoccurring dream about a painting of a woman submerged in water. Hy starts to hear from people (her father and a psychiatrist, for example) to be wary of Su: He's a ticking time bomb, she's warned. Halfway through the show, he gets his memory back.

Be that as it may, Hy will be the last one to deal with her own feelings. Most of S1 sees her on the fence as to whether she can tolerate Su at all. She wrote up a brutal recommendation to release him from the force, and it sits in her desk drawer. This mindset leads to amusing scenes, for example, when they're about to do a group arrest. She's handing out guns to everyone on the team. Su puts out his hand. Hy gives him handcuffs. There's NO WAY she's giving him a gun. Naturally, /he's/ the one that ends up saving the day and slapping the handcuffs on the perp. Later on, we see that he's had them gold-plated! You can't beat a guy with optimism (and resources) like that. You might as well tune in, then: You know if you can't beat ‘em, you might as well join ‘em!


〰QUOTE〰

There's no one who is strong enough to beat everything.


〰IMHO〰

RATINGS
Directing 8.5
Writing 8.3
Acting 8
Romance 5
Flutters 4
Art 7
Sound & music 7.4
Ending 8.5

LEVELS
Warmth 5.5
Action/ Excitement 6.5
Laughs 4.5
Tears 4.5
Fright 3
Tension/Anxiety 3
Gore 3
Thought provocation 3.5
Snores 0

Re-watch? Totally worth it


Age + Violence
Language: It's not in every episode, but there's R-rated Fbombs, @$$, $h!+, etc verbiage.

Rated TV-15

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W♡nder-Girl Meets Bad☆Boy☆Band! °8.3° °Excellent°

Wondering if this is worth your time?

If you love Kromcoms, this show is mandatory. If you think romcoms are Daebek, SK or otherwise, you will want to add this one to your list. Here's the test: If you aren't starstruck by ep2's conclusion, just move on; BOF is not for you.

Jun-Pyo may love viewing the skies through his telescope, but BOF isn't intended to be viewed through a high powered one. Lie back, look at the stars and dream a spell. Yes, there's consistency issues, and 2-2-Too much back and forth. Yet, I couldn't stop watching. 25 episodes is a LOT, and yes, it should have been trimmed back. The last vignette is best forgotten; it's that 5th season that never should have been made. Ask Jun-Pyo to hand over a towel in order to wipe that one away.

Additionally, it stretches credulity a tad far when we see these ruthless and cruel overlords of the school all (rather quickly) turn from black holes into North Stars. Actually, the 3 aren't necessarily cruel, but they are indifferent, which is just as bad. Since they were in playpens together, it seems that his 3 quasi underlings just let Jun-Pyo be Jun-Pyo. He is the sole instigator, the solar flare. Jan-di's parents are over the top of Namsam tower extra, but within the sphere of comedies at large. Jan-di has some strange moments in the first 3 or so episodes. She almost looks (clinically) spastic. Obviously, the director was going for laughs, but ultimately gets a "Huh?" None of that is important, though, because this is very Pride and Prejudice (especially if Darcy had an evil queen for a mother) with some Beauty and the Beast stardust thrown in.

Geum Jan-di is a beautiful soul, and Gu Jun-pyo loves her so completely, that I fell for them. Their relationship is lovable... when it's not WWIII, that is. The way they tit-for-tat fight, make up, and merely converse (always addressing each other using full names only, for example) is adorable. The leads did a bang-up job: The attachment feels authentic, and the sparks are visceral. While I haven't seen the lauded Japanese version, Koo Hye-sun is perfect - she's artsy, smart, and still forward-strong: She's a singer-songwriter, actress, director and artist now. I love her Jan-di, except for the loose handful of Red Cards. Lee Min-Ho - Don't dismiss him. He's not a heartthrob merely because he dropped from the sky that way. He built his image one work at a time, and BOF was his big launch to international stardom.

It does make sense that he falls for her, btw. "No" is something he'd never heard. Ever. He's no longer a lone star in upper space looking down on everything. Here comes a moon at his level, orbiting him. He loves the challenge. While engaging in the contest and in partial shock a girl exists that isn't interested in him, Gu Jun-Pyo concludes that Jan-di is the #only light in his sky. He's been denied love and family time, which is what his heart wants most. She blew his mind by standing up to him. He fixates on Jan-di as his panacea, his home. He boorishly pursues her, knowing nothing but bossing people around. He'll grab her arm to drag her somewhere, and she #lets him. She, likely, has no idea why(?!) she lets him. She certainly doesn't want to like him - given how much she °loathes° him. The human heart is a mystery, indeed. If you find his behavior offensive, you're right, but only for a twinkle. Gu Jun-Pyo is a quasar, Jan-di, the red giant. Once their paths collide, the quasar changes course, shooting down to earth. All those episodes find Jan-di schooling Gu Jun-Pyo. He accepts her tutoring and becomes a better, happier, more peaceful man. The opening of the show finds him a veritable toddler - le infantile terrible - throwing tantrums and money at everything that vexes him. Don't think for a moment that he's domineering, abusive, or controlling in the relationship; that ain't what's going down. Jan-di would kick him in the head if she didn't want his attentions. Anyone thinking Gu Jun-Pyo is in the lead is projecting. He enters HER world, and it's endearing. They travel light-years to bond, only to have that bond tested to the extreme. The gravitational pull between them only strengthens as they share any orbit to work through obstacles together.

BOF is an excellent choice for teens. Jan-di is a shining role model. Her beautiful smile elevates all who are in her proximity (except The Witch). She stands for what's right. She is courageous. She's a veritable Joan Of Arc in the battle for Shinwa High- Without the burned-at-the-stake thing. Yet, she can be as comforting as a plate of warm pancakes. The way Gu Jun-Pyo adores her, emitting rays of warmth in which she can bask, should resonate with teenage girls, and prod them to reflect on their standards when it comes to boyfriend material. If you can swim with it and overlook some of the goofy stuff, you will escape to the great beyond with this entire group of friends. You will also be treated to an epic kiss, mid thruway at rush hour, in the background is the sun dropping from the sky, igniting the space between them. Eat your hearts out Sunny, Ginger & Miranda.

The notoriety of the show, which includes its effect on popular culture, plus the fact that BOF boosted Kdramas' popularity globally, as well as the numerous nominations and awards bestowed all supply evidence that this series is WONDER-FUL.

IMHO~》》

Directing 7
Acting 8
Romance 9
Flutters 8
Warmth 7
Art 7
Action 5
Thought provocation 6
Ending 8

For Age 13+ with cautions: Jan-di gets duped into taking fetish photos. She's shown in a childlike skirt and wearing bunny ears. She holds up a revealing costume and refuses to put it on. There are two setups to look like two singles shared a bedroom (to get an enemy in trouble), and there was a lie about a pregnancy scare. These would all be good for generating worthy discussions regarding safety of person and reputation. Decide accordingly.

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✨️ Beauty & The Nerd ⭐ Crossed Star Love Circles Back On Itself ✨️

99DWTS is pure escapism of the geek-gets-the-girl variety. Only 10 episodes, it's not a long-term contract, and it shoots by quickly. Just like Kohei wants to find new stars, I'm on the hunt for a new word rather than using cute so often. Alas, this show can only be described as cute. So CUTE! Adorable at times, charming at others, and silly toboot, but in the end, it's quite simply "cute".

Namiki Kohei is an in-between-jobs astronomer, who is picking up side jobs while he ,ooks for one in his field, so he's working as an agency bodyguard. He is hired to protect a KorJapean half-Japanese/Korean national, Han Yuna, who is scheduled to film a series in Japan. She is more like a quasar than a star, being enormously popular in both countries, and winsomely beautiful. Filming is scheduled for 99 days, thus Kohei has a 99 day contract.

With a dream is to work at a famous observatory, Kohei is an everyday nerd, and at the same time, he's a kind, decent man. The observatory would give him the best chance to discover a "new" star and name it, which is his only goal at the opening of the show. All he cares about is /those/ kind of stars, and those heavenly bodies. Like many obsessed geeks, he's oblivious. We learn that girls and women may have shown interest over the course of his life, but he's never taken notice. He loves the constellations, and has no interest in ogling filmstars or even pursuing women. It's precisely why he was selected for the job.

Quickly, Kohei realizes: Han Yuna doesn't want to be confined, nor will she tolerate being guarded. Kohei finds himself chasing 'person' Yuna daily, when he'd rather be chasing scorching hot 'places' & 'things.' Yuna's relentlessly aggressive manager won't allow for any going off script. No excuses! Kohei must keep Yuna tethered. Complaining bitterly about the assignment, Kohei cannot wait for the 99 days to end. He pieces together that Yuna's been looking for someone, and resolves to help her find her long lost love. Then she'll stop trying to escape.

Meanwhile, Kohei's sister has dropped her kids at his place to traipse off with a new boyfriend. We learn she's actually traveling with new boyfriends more than she's at home with the kids - Kohei's teenaged niece, and an elementary school pair, 1 of each. While the romance is half of the "cute' factor, the young neice and nephew are the other half. To Kohei's unnerving, they are gifted with exacting perception and a high social IQ. Coupled with their loquaciousness, they embarrass Kohei's as easily as they down a triple sized slice of cake on a too small plate. They love their uncle and seem to prefer living with him. Additionally, these 2 heavenly cherubs are full of love, happiness, and exuberance. They make friends with everybody, including Han Yuna, when she chances meets them.

{Commercial Break}
This show is fiction. The odds that these children would manage to be happy not knowing their fathers, and watching a parade of men marching through their home, while regularly being abandoned by their mother so she can fo "play" without them, are worse than the Powerball lottery. This show is family appropriate. It provides a perfect opportunity to discuss family, marriage, and raising children with your children. It's a parent's job to equip their progeny with critical thinking skills, to enable them to make informed decisions in life, afterall. It's also important to discuss entertainment, in general, with your kids, to ensure they understand that they should not take cues on how to live from what they see on screen. Furthermore, they should not assume that behavior on screen is always an acceptable way to conduct oneself. {Commercial concluded}

Before we can say 'supernova', Yuna is visiting Kohei's place to hang with the family and eat at the restaurant (dive) underneath his apartment. People crave family, and Kohei's family is extra warm and joyful. Besides, with a delicious restaurant below, they are always eating delicious Food Food Food. Eventually, Yuna's co-star tracks them down because he's interested in Yuna, himself. He starts to worry that he'll lose to a bodyguard. That cannot happen. Consequently, Kohei's place becomes a hangout for the stars. Things start revolving around him, revealing that Kohei's gravitational pull is no trifle.

One thing that is refreshingly different is that side characters are the best looking men in the show. Kohei isn't bad looking, but he's no Song Kang. As we get to know him better, he looks better and better.

The show creators do a great job playing around with plot advancement. We'll see the characters' real lives intertwine with the drama that is being filmed, creating a loop: Is life imitating the drama, or is the drama imitating life? While the storylines aren't exactly the same, the lines of the script weirdly reflect precisely what's going on between Kohei and Yuna. Yuna is acting out a drama with her costar, and living out one with Kohei.

Furthermore, though Yuna is in a scripted drama, the most dramatic scene she plays is a private one between her and Kohei. The way it was shot and edited was so obvious, I had to chuckle. The director is visually yelling to the audience: "Here's the real story, the real drama", like the yolk in the egg. Or was that the chicken and the egg? It's a loop, wherever you hop on.

As soon as Kohei starts nearing the azimuth of realization regarding his feelings for Yuna, they are assaulted by the most formidable solar storm of all: Fame. Kohei feels as far from Yuna as the distance from earth to its closest star; 92 million miles. Can either of them have a life together with the black hole of the paparazzi sucking them in? It's going to be a spikey Endeavor for our Brave Challengers. 💔

99DWTS is a low-challenge, just veg and take a break series for viewers. It's perfect for when you aren't sure what to watch next, or are in need of a mental break. It's akin to a Hallmark feature, only better. The romance is sweet, but the real paycheck is the warmth. 99DWTS will warm you up better than a pot of tea on the surface of Venus. It's yummy, rummy, chummy in the tummy warmth.

As always, resist dubbing. You only get a fraction of the acting. Subtitle competency is immediate. One has to look beyond the known, to experience the new. In short, if subtitles are a force field keeping you away from foreign entertainment, you are missing some of the highest quality features out in the great beyond. For your own sake, try to get beyond it. 😢

99DWTS isn't one of those high quality features, but it is a high-in-the-sky series, given the great smiles and snuggly warmth it radiates. It gets a little draggy towards the end, but it will still light up (and cozy up) your night if you can take time to relax and look up.


QUOTES🗣

If you forge ahead in life, someday something good is bound to happen.

I guess he understands feelings when the right time comes.

Kids: “If they get married, Ya-oona will be our mother-in-law! Yeah!” (She'd be marrying their uncle).


IMHO〰🖍


🤔 5 💓7 🦋6 🌞9 🎭7 🎬7 ⚡6


Age 10+

Originally 〰️🖊 2/2022

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?He Only Plays For Keeps °6.8° °Good°

Gamers don't need a dating website because they can make good matches while gaming🎧. Our protags are fans of the RPG (role playing game) Chinese Ghost Story. FL, Wei Wei even has an in-game spouse - until she gets dumped. She won't be in the dumps for long, though: Her white knight is in the wings. Computers don't just facilitate hook-ups; they make identity theft pretty easy, too. While Er Xi may not have stolen Wei Wei's 🆔, she did borrow Wei Wei's CGS game character, which leads Wei Wei's crush to pursue Er Xi in the game, thinking he's hanging out virtually with Wei Wei. It also leads men at Er Xi's summer internship to believe that she's the top female CGS player. Er Xi, unawares, is getting all kinds of attention in the name of Bei Wei Wei, and Bei Wei Wei wouldn't have it any other way-way-way.

L020 is a 2016 release that is rated 8.3 on MDL. It is 1 season consisting of 30 45-minute episodes. It's obvious that the show was a precursor to the King's Avatar which also stars Yang Yang. (KA is great, but it contains no romance. It's about a RPG competition). Our FL, Bei Wei Wei, is jilted by her in-game husband in ep1. Many players suspect that she's not really a girl because she refuses to post photos online, and no other chick has come close to her top-tier ranking. Because of laptop problems she ends up having to complete a duel at an internet cafe where our ML, Xiao Nai, (the top-ranked player) gets a l👀k at her in the middle of her spectacular gameplay. He knows who she is now, but she didn't look back at him to see him looking back at her, as it says on Mr. Girlie's shirt. She don't look like no dude! She's😍gorgeous. When Bei Wei Wei's game character shows up to her ex's new in-game wedding, our ML is there as well. He proposes marriage to her. It's just a gaming marriage, but for her it's Cinderella✨time.

Xiao Nai, or Yi Xiao Nai He, as he's known in the game (Yang Yang), is a student of legendary popularity. He's the best looking, he's the smartest, and he's even good at 🏀. But he's as cold as a snow leopard's claws in January. He and his roommates/his bros have designed a new game and are preparing to launch it soon. Zheng Shuang plays FL, Bei Wei Wei / Lu Wei Wei Wei. She's a computer major and she's also the Belle of the Computer department. Between school, tutoring, and gaming, she has no time for love. Being pretty attracts jealous attention from other women, especially a couple of the mean girls on campus. Wei Wei and her dorm-mates apply for an internship at one of the big software companies that wants to buy Xiao Nai's game. Her identity, in part, gets switched with her perky and adorable roomie, Zhao Er Xi (Mao Xiao Tong) because Er Xi panicked in her interview and gave them Wei Wei's game 🆔 as her own. This leads to identity mix-ups. Several people believe they've met the gamer Lu Wei Wei IRL, but they've actually met Er Xi.

Wei Wei's new game marriage is wonderful💖. She starts to wonder about who the person is behind her game husband's character, Nai He. Should she meet him? In the meantime, back at school, Xiao Nai unexpectedly sits next to her in class(?!). Then Nai He wants to meet. She goes to the rendezvous point… Why is Xiao Nai, the untouchable legend, hanging around here today? Imagine her shock when he scoops her up, takes her to the inter-department basketball game and then lets e'erbody know they are now dating. The way it plays out is fun. They already got to know eachother online. He's way ahead of her as he's been able to observe her IRL for awhile, and when he makes a move, it's for the win. The rest of the show is dealing with the petty tricks, jealousy and fallout that happens when these two popular items are removed from the shelf. They are each taken, now, and not everyone has an easy time accepting that without a fight.

For a modern-day Chinese feature this is pretty good.

Yang Yang,who plays the ML, Xiao Nai, does sell the viewer on his attraction to our FL, and he manages some top notch romantic moments. His voice in L020 and You Are My Glory sounds deep-fake. I think his voice in Kings's Avatar is the real him. Can he act? I wasn't sure that he could, going into this show. I've only seen him play all-powerful all-knowing slightly smug male leads, and I've only seen him in modern-day Chinese features, which are completely different from Chinese fantasy and historical features. It's time to watch Who Rules The World to crystallize his assessment. Regardless of acting skill, he's quite beautiful, and he also contributes to the soundtrack. He's no Kun Chen (from The Rise of the Phoenixes) but he'll do. His game hair is awful, like Qin Dynasty politician hair.

Zheng Shuang is the FL., Bei Wei Wei. She's sweet and demure. She remains too demure throughout the show which gets a tad tedious. Mao Xiao Tong plays her BFF Zhao Er Xi. Despite references to her average looks, she is an adorable pixie. She actually does look like Cao Guang's (Bai Yu) 🐱, Coffee. They usually have her hair and costume looking dreadful. She has short hair that has grown too sloppy and needs 2" taken off, but she is routinely referred to as plain or even homely when she's actually a knockout.

Speaking of Bai Yu and Yang Yang, the show has lots of beautiful men. Bai Yu, sans glasses and curls, is a very handsome man when inside the game, CGS. Xiao Nai's friends are well casted. Zheng Ye Cheng is "Girlie," Hao Mei, and he might be better looking than Yang Yang. He's stern, masculine, and sexy in The Sleepless Princess(9.1). I never recognized him - that's good acting! Vin Zhang as K.O. (he is fabulous in Eternal Love-8.3) & Cui Hang, playing Qiu Yong Hou, compliment the visual feast, and Niu Jun Feng is not only a nice looking guy, but he has an endearing quality as Yu Ban Shan. Hao Bo plays the gynophobic Ah Shuang. His fear of women is why the fledgling company cannot hire females. Xiao Ling (Qin Yu) & Yu Yao (Guan Xin) are the other two girl dormies. They don't get as much screen time as Er Xi. They never bring everybody together, which is a shame. I kept waiting for it, but it wasn't to be.

The primary romance is low drama and pleasant as a warm breeze. Nothing much happens, and the show has that "Prozac" effect that Chinese modern-day dramas all seem to have. While Chinese historical and fantasy pieces are superb in every way, their modern-day stuff is weirdly relaxing to watch despite being deeply flawed. There are at least two secondary romances that are quite cute but left mostly unfinished - they absolutely should have been wrapped up better - that's not a minor flaw. The 🐱 appears to be in serious distress in a couple scenes. In the States, I think it would have created a stir; I was concerned for that kitty. He's a gorgeous feline. Just as in You Are My Glory, which also features the comely Mr. Yang, L020 is too focused on the good looks of the leads. 20% of the dialogue seems to be about the exterior appearance of the characters, and that is so skin-deep. (I realize that I may have committed 20% of this article to what the actors look like… perhaps that's hypocritical🙄, but script & dialogue and critique & commentary are not the same thing). The acting is often stiff, the dialogue is often unimaginative and witless, and the plot drivers such as game dynamics, corporate maneuvering, and technical workings are not explained in the least. Don't expect to learn anything interesting: This show will only bring on rhythmic breathing - and that's enough.

They play completely respectable 🎸 riffs during some of the action. I've seen China rock-out better than Japan, at times. Both of them rock out better than Korea. Korea, on the other hand, reigns supreme in the realm of pop and soft rock. Anyway, the soundtrack isn't bad at all. All-in-all, L020 is a show that romance junkies, who don't get too prickly over technical mediocrity, will like. With the benefit of foreknowledge, I would still watch it again for the first time. Technical excellence alone doesn't make a show good. It must speak to the heart as well. L020 is food for the heart, not the brain, but its true payoff is its Prozac💊effect.


〰🖍 IMHO

📣6 📝6 🎭7 💓6 🦋7 🌞6 🎨5 ⚡4 🎵/🔊7 😅3 😭3 😱2 😯4 😖0 🤔3 💤4 🔚7

Age +no age restriction with the following caution: There's a few oblique non-direct references to sex and waiting for it plus some kissing scenes.

Re-📺? This one's in the good-to-pass-the-time category, but I may never pass this way again….

In order of ~lite & trite~ to ~heavy & serious~ you may also like:

You Are My Destiny 7.3,
The Kings Avatar 8,
The Oath Of Love 7.6,
I Hear You 7.3,
Meteor Garden 7.4

Historical/Period:
Overlord 8.4,
The Sleepless Princess 9.1,
The Romance of Tiger and Rose 9.8,
Under the Power 8.6;
The Rebel Princess 9.1

Fantasy:
Love Between Fairy & Devil 9;
Douluo Continent 9.4;
Heavenly Sword 9;
Love and Redemption 10

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⚔ Mission Fail °8.5° °spectacular°

"When can we see each other again?" "We cannot. We belong to two opposing sides. If we meet again, one of us will have to die."

Right now, the emperor is weak. The government is corrupt. Factions have formed. The rebels are rising. The House of Flying Daggers is the most dangerous group of rebels. We're in China, 859 AD, at the waning of the Tang Dynasty.

HoD is a 2004 119-minute release that is rated 87/82 on RT, 7.5 on IMDB, and 8.3 on MDL. There's much more going on than meets the eye. We have wheels within wheels and gears inside of them.

The acting is China's run-of-the-mill-superb. Takeshi Kaneshiro (This Is Not What I Expected) is ML Red Cliff Jin. The actor's father is Japanese and his mother, Taiwanese, which explains his name - and his look, actually. Andy Lau (Tak-Wah, Singing When We're Young) plays the other ML, Liu Zhao Tou. Zhang Ziyi (The Rebel Princess-9.1, Hero & Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon~loved both~) is the new blind maiden at the pleasure house, Xiao Mei. Is she in the Flying Daggers cult? The cast is rounded out with Song Dandan as Yee, Zhao Hongfei as Xiao Bu Kuai, and Jun Guo as a law enforcement Officer. The screenwriter is Bin Wang (Hero, To Live) along with writer/Director Zhang Yimou (Under the Hawthorn Tree & Hero).

The Tang version of the CIA local branch has devised a clever scheme. An officer, Jin, will break Mei out of prison in hopes that she will lead them to the Flying Daggers sect, so they can eliminate this dangerous group. Mei is not easily managed, though. Soon, Jin has to fight his own people to survive, because no one else knows about his mission. Things continue to get more tangled and murky.

The cinematography is gorgeous. Exotic forests, fields, fall foliage and flowers. Fighting, too! The fights are beautiful ballet. We see every season represented in the film. One fight takes place in a bamboo forest. It's spectacular. Fall is a good time to fall in love... Finally, there's flakes of snow, moving into the finale. Probably some frostbite, too.

There's a good twist or two. They twist beautifully in this film. The whole movie is a magnificent twist-within-a-twist. My biggest complaint is that it's over with so quickly. Having gotten used to 25-75 episodes, I've been watching some unforgettable Cdramas. Sometimes the big budget items, like sophisticated fight scenes and pricey special effects don't make much of a showing (sometimes they aren't bad) but it's hardly noticeable given the top-tier writing, acting, sets & costume.

In order of ~lite & trite~ to ~heavy & serious~ you may also like:

🔮🐉-
C/🇨🇳: Love Between Fairy & Devil 8.9;
Douluo Continent 9.4;
Handsome Siblings 8.7;
Ancient Love Poetry 8.6;
Love and Redemption 10

⚡😱/🚀 -
C🇨🇳: Heavenly Sword and Dragon Slaying Saber 9-Kung-fu!;
🇨🇳The Untamed-8.6

💓 -
C🇨🇳:
A Little Thing Called First Love 8.5;
The Romance of Tiger and Rose 9.8;
The Sleepless Princess 9.1;

K🇰🇷 :
Love To Hate You 8.9;
Crash Landing On You 9.1;
Oh My Ghost 10;
It's Okay Not to Be Okay 9;

🎎 -
C🇨🇳: Overlord 8.4,
Story of Yanxi Palace-10 (I'm on ep 50 out of 72. So far every episode is a 10).
Under the Power 8.6,
The Rebel Princess 9.1,
The Sword and the Brocade 8.6 (in ancient Chinese opera style),
Ruyi's Royal love in the palace (episodes 1 - 49 are a 9.3. While looking up its historical accuracy, I learned how heartbreaking the rest of the show is. It's over 80 episodes, so that's a hella-lotta hurt. I am not up for it now, so I stopped at episode 49, which is a perfect ending).
The Rise of Phoenixes 9

K🇰🇷:
My Only Love Song 8.7 excellent comedy;
Mr. Queen 8.5;
My Sassy Girl 8.5;
The King's Affection 8.3;
Mr. Sunshine 9

⚡😱/🚀 - K🇰🇷:
K2 8;
Private Lives 8.1;
Sisyphus 8;
Tunnel 8.1;
Signal 8.6;
The Man From Nowhere 8.9
Black 9;
Squid Game 8.4;
Kingdom 8.3;
Sweet Home 8.4

〰🖍 IMHO

📣8.5 📝8.5 🎭8.5 💓6 🦋6 🎨8.8 🎵/🔊7 🔚8 🤗6 ▪ 🌞4⚡7 😅2 😭7 😱3 😯3 🤢3.5 🤔6 💤0

Age 12+
There's sword fighting and violence, but this is a great movie for people of most ages.

Rated TV-PG: Parental Guidance Suggested

Re-📺? Yep.

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YIKES! Okay.....☠ °Excellent°

SPOILERS ARE SEPARATE AT THE BOTTOM

SG is a foray into the callused debauchery of which humans are capable. It builds on 'The Most Dangerous Game' w/ a twist. Here, bored positive-balance-sheeted rustlers devise a game that enables them to entice poor souls in financial straits to come out & play. The key is what the players weren't told, not what they were: 456 competitors may enter, but only one will exit alive at the end. The fulsome 1%-ers won't participate. Preferring to spectate from the comfort of their private luxury boxes or big screens, they wager while the "horses" perform... & die. SG showcases the mutual annihilation pact we enter when it's "every man for himself." It illustrates that if there's no umpire, people will always run out of their lanes.

lt challenges the viewer with the question: ‘Do you believe humans are good?’ Not quite, right? “Open your eyes!” “Wake up!” “Dig up your inner skeptic!!!” “Work on the word NO!“ “Augh!” I was yelling at the screen like I was at, well, the races. It's not that the players are horror-movie-inept. It's their failure to timely process how the race was degrading, at a frenzied gallop, into barbarism. Pleading w/ them has no effect. All viewers can do is watch in dismay as if neutered. In time, the players do comb it out: The rules specified by the referees are the ONLY rules applicable. The penalties for running out of the lines are, umm... Severe.

The violence is lurid, but not gratuitous. Author Hwang Dong-hyuk stated his purpose: "I wanted to write a story that was an allegory or fable about modern capitalist society, something that depicts an extreme competition, somewhat like the extreme competition of life." He was poaching from the gauntlet of his own fiscal hardships.

The first two eps focus on the wild swings our ML/#456 is subjected to when his psychotropic journey begins. We watch him enter a limo, awake in the surreal, lofty dorm of horse stalls (300ft high, maybe?) & finally exit into the calamitous onslaught of Game 1.

For those of you🇺🇲 who are new to Kdramas: Hey! We've been waiting for you;) Relax, Most viewers achieve subtitle fitness immediately. The whole world is watching our entertainment deposits that way. If you can't diversify, they win! Kdramas excel at extracting every possible wince & whinny out of the viewer. The writing, directing, acting, & overall play are consistently supplying ROI (returns) due to the high quality of execution. So much so, that they're in danger of their stats being overlooked. Korea's got an excess of talent.

More of the same, SG is superb dressage, or pageantry, particularly in the horror genre, which is loaded with dumbed down characters & script, lots more blood & guts, & an extraordinarily evil feel to the substandard works. SG blows the whistle on those foul circulations for which a de-worming & muck-out is prescribed. Yes, the violence is jolting, and yet it's not gratuitous or meaningless. It posts warnings of dangerous conditions.

Notwithstanding, KDramas, like Simone Biles, can twist with wondrous strength. They routinely spiral the knife into the viewer's psyche w/ disciplined follow-through. An example is the demented sickness of using "innocent" colors like pink & leafy green that also resemble medicines, such as Pepto Bismol. Along w/ the kiddie trappings, it's all dread multipliers. It's nauseating.

In the opening eps, Kdramas also tend to trot out players before the audience that are an extreme version of themselves. Ten+ hrs allows ample time to invest in talent, improve performance, & yield gains. Just remember, most of the people you see on the screen will either dramatically transform or the audience's appreciation of them will change as the series matures. You may squander your currency backing a failing commodity, while another's performance might lead your fantasy team to victory.

Scouting 456 exposes a pathetically & painfully substandard performer of the most contemptible sort: over 40, living w/ mom, swiping her money to gamble on horses... Relegated to the penny stocks, has he ever been bullish? Not likely. Has he ever pitied the horses? Nayyy! Nary a concern. The projection that he will gain any interest is dubious. The thought of up to 9 eps/laps monitoring his performance isn't appealing in the opening derbies.

Competing "horses" are numbered. If Kdrama writers assign #s to competitors, it's likely the #s have a commodity backing their values in Numerology. Utility players who can slip into many positions, Numerology definitions, like astrology, tend to be generalized in order to broaden the application. Having said that, let's see if any of the numbers assigned by Mr. Hwang have any credit values.

☂456 is slacker-protagonist Seong Gi-hun, & signifies effort & patience. A mentor is needed who will teach working on self-improvement as a priority. Hard work will add value to life.

✔Check. It's applicable.

☂218 is for Cho Sang-woo, 456's friend from the 'hood.' The number 218 symbolizes manifesting one's biggest & seemingly impossible desires into reality, often related to 💰.

☂001, the old man's # is at its most positive when in the realm of work. It's assigned to winners indicating 1st place. It represents independence, but this can also mean loneliness, isolation, or being single.

☂199 is Abdul Ali. 199's are self-reliant & comfortable pursuing their agenda, which, for Ali, is providing for his family on his own. #199's goals virtually never conflict with long-term human survival & well-being.

☂067 is NK native, Kang Sae-byeok, who strives to protect her family. No surprise: #067 signifies home, family, unconditional love, responsibility, sacrifice & service. Creating a solid foundation for the future, & protection of family & possessions is a #067's priority.

☂244, the pastor: Spiritual advancement can be phenomenal in a #244's life. He must keep wrong at bay & not offend the inner energy installed by his maker.

Finally, upon the runners' return in EP3, 187 players re-enter the stalls: The US police code for murder.

✔, ✔, ✔, again. And on it goes. There's more in the spoiler section. Getting chills?

If not, you probably haven't seen the show yet. Don't forget this when you do. The strategy trotted out is medal-winning. Just be woke about what the show is about. It is not about displaying incidental, cheap, & meaningless horror for the purpose of titillation. SG is a metaphor for the writer's own hardships in a cruel, uber competitive & heartless society. The players all represent the downtrodden, like geldings in irons. Most of their backstories, if posted on GoFundMe, would grab attention. I'd be tempted to contribute to a few of them. Even the criminals are subtly shown to have been wedged into their life choices. Delving into one gangster's number (101) exposes his basic needs that clearly weren't met. It all contributes to his projected gains & losses.

Oh, these "poor," rich, hacked-up GOONS. Their lives are so empteee. Sigh. Studies show around 21% off CEOs are psychopaths. It's not a stretch to guess that some of these fulsome degenerates are in that club, given their heightened sadism. We all know that money isn't everything, but it certainly fills in divots allowing the race of life to run smoothly. These coasting reprobates can't seem to notice, through all the haze of pride, that people are most gratified when we help others.

Kdramas are also wont to lob deferred options that the viewer didn't account for into the works. Expect that everything is not what it seems to be. Avoid being roped in by Ponzi Schemes.

This is not over. We need S2. The question has not been answered yet. #456 is sequential ~> moving forward. To the extent that 456 accomplishes anything, true to form, he will barely get his neck over the line. Here's my ante-post bet & hope: In S2, he'll be stallion #789 who tramples out this ghoulish fraternity of gamers.

Apologies for mixing up the monetary, equestrian, & sports metaphors. I'm not good with rules either.


QUOTE📢 Good rain knows when to fall. ~Du Fu~


〰🖍 IMHO

🎭8 🎬8 🤔8⚡8🎨7🔚9

For age 15+


In order of ~lite&trite~ to ~heavy&serious~ you may also like:

My Only Love Song 8.7 ~ excellent comedy,
Racket Boys-8.3,
Mr. Queen 8.5, Love to Hate You-8.9, Glitch-8,
The Golden Spoon-8.1,
It's Okay Not To Be Okay 9, Misaeng-9.1, Law School-8,
My Mister 9.5,
The King's Affection 8.3,
Mr. Sunshine-9,
Mother-8.8

Action/Crime/Sci-fi -
K2 8,
Private Lives 8.1,
Sisyphus 8, Inspector Koo-8.4,
Iris-8,
Tunnel 8.5,
Signal 8.6, Blood Free-8.5,
Beyond Evil-7.4, D.P. -8.4,
The Cursed 8.3,
Flower of Evil 8.9,
The Man from Nowhere 8.9,
Black 9,
The Wailing-8.8,
Kingdom 8.3,
Sweet Home 8.4

originally 📝 10/2021


⛔️SPOILERS FOLLOW⛔️


⛔️

⛔️

⛔️

🚦218 is Cho Sang-woo, 456's 'friend' who worked his way up from 'hood-rat’ to white-collar hood. To a point, he mirrors 001. This loathsome in-runner surprisingly gave up the fight, but not before becoming a murderer. #218 is for manifesting one's biggest & (on the face) near impossible desires into reality. Business, duality, & serving humanity must coexist. 218 failed in his run to win that 💰, but he found redemption in his last moments. 218 knows that 456 will serve his mother AND humanity w/ the 💰.

🚦101 is gangster, Jang Deok-su. A #101's primary function is romance, w/ importance of relationships right behind. At first blush this doesn't fit w/ the character, though he did get involved in a quasi romantic trist. Let's flesh it out further:

A #101 needs coexistence. Without it, a #101 is alone. People w/ that # can feel lonely & lost just thinking of being alone. 101 obviously grew up w/o basic needs & training, leaving him consumed w/ bitterness & ill-prepared for rigid competition. #101 also points to eternity & the journey that is about to begin w/ all its uncertainties. It's a reminder that we are not in control of our destiny. God is. So #101s should follow the course & learn before their time on this plane is over. It's sad to think that 101 didn't get emotional support or the care needed for success. He is still responsible for his infractions, but it's sad, nonetheless. He parallels the VIP who was attracted to the cop. They each had the same expression of shock, disbelief, & the beginnings of acceptance when facing death.

🚦199 is Abdul Ali, one of the worst upsets of the show. #199s are independent & comfortable pursuing their agenda. For Ali it's providing for his family - independently. A #199's goals virtually never conflict w/ humanity's survival & long-term well-being. We see that Ali is good, albeit naive, & foolish to be so independent that he'd wager his life on a long shot ih an effort to provide.

🚦212 is Han Mi-nyeo, the 'crazy Mare' who brought down 101. #212s frequently chase curiosity, adventure & ALL new, shiny objects ~ often on a whim. #212s can be good team members. Their energy can be sensual. Enroute towards goals, they can face harsh obstacles. Jumping the fence may lead to negative outcomes. As with 101, only the negative interpretations are exhibited by them. Their harsh lives had severed them from the positive elements w/in themselves. They portray ruthlessness, but there is a forlornness about them, too.

🚦111 is the doctor. A #111 won't let himself be slotted into a team member role unless the role is real leadership. They haven't been broken. If #111's thoughts are negative, it could attract toxic situations & people.

🚦240 ('phillie' Ji-yeong) is just released from prison for putting down her abusive 'sire'. #240 is about nurture & mutual support w/ a high focus on security & the future; all provided w/o expectation of return. She went underfoot for 067 & thus negated the lie the VIP's tell themselves about human nature. Having already sacrificed her freedom to deliver justice to her mother, 240 is the moral center of the show.

🚦The husband/wife duo is portrayed in #69, or two identical digits facing & complimenting each other to make a whole. If we squeeze 6&9 together we can make an 8, which toppled, is the eternity sign. In addition, the visual aspect of the # is related to ying&yang. The energy of #69 is best when involved directly w/ family or team as an equal. Freakily, #069 symbolizes the closure of a chapter in life & encourages one to be prepared for a traumatic phase. Whether ending good or bad, it is bound to bring a huge change. Be prepared for it, b/c the manner in which it's dealt with will affect one's future.

The players aren't the only losers. The police Officer's story is grim. Hwang Jin-ho went there to save his brother. Seduced by the power of the dark side, the frontman won't let /anybody/ move in on /him/. So he brought his own brother down. That's pain. Frontman actor, Lee Byung-hun, aced an expression of curtailed grief tinged with guilt + overt resolve to cantor forward. After all, it was his brother or him.

001 didn't get what he wanted by hosting SG, which was a panecea for loneliness & boredom. It seems he & the VIPs justify their actions by deluding themselves that they are conducting a social experiment. Insistence that everyone is as cutthroat as they are leads to pitting people against eachother. This enables them to inveigle their own selves that those people deserve to die: 'Just look at who they really are! It's voluntary... they all get a fair chance.'

In the end, the old man had the whole world, but was utterly unsatisfied. Craving the camaraderie he'd had while growing up poor, he felt that kinship w/ 456, even though 456 eventually betrayed him. At the time, 456 had a 2nd chance. He could have done the all-or-nothing, but refused. That plot point of betrayal, while needed, was his worst moment. The old man was playing him all day to tempt him, but he meant it when he called 456 his gganbu, or close buddy.

The kinship manifests itself when the old man wants to see HIM at the end of his life. 456 is there, bedside, when #1 dies. Where's his wife? Where's his kids?? Where's his grandkids??? Can I get a mistress? Nope. Just 456 & an aid were there. Next, 001 saves 456's 'life' a 2nd time by jerking 456's bit toward /living/, rather than merely existing.

456 is who he is. He wins 3x's in the show's run, but even when he wins, he's a pathetic loser that barely stumbles over the line. In winning, his soul was put-down. When he went to see the old man in the penthouse he won their game, but he didn't get what he wanted once again, as 001 died before 456 could kill him. It did wake 456 up. He no longer has to feel guilty about flashing a laser in the old man's eyes during the race: His regret is not shipping 001 off to the dog food plant himself.

The red hair broadcasts that he's now either on fire, or starting to blaze his trail. Finally. This is not over. We need a S2. The question has not been answered yet. #456 is sequential & shows progression, or moving forward. Here's my ante-post bet & hope: In S2, he'll be stallion #789 who tramples out the ghoulish fraternity of gamers.

Read More

☪Enchanting, Entrancing, Some Dancing & Romancing ⚜️ °8.4° °Excellent°

[Spoilers are contained in a separate section at the end]
⚜️What A Delectable Diversion. HDL is a magical little fantasy about a hotel where the dead can rest prior to heading to the afterlife. You Can Check Out Anytime You Like 🌃 But /She/ Can't Leave…

While the hotel is magical & regular slubs like us can't see it (or its guests), it still exists in the real world. It's registered with the province & a human manager is required to handle all human affairs. Enter Mr. Koo. When Koo is young, his father, in a fateful encounter with Ms Jang, promises Koo's future to Jang. Dad is pressured into this promise in exchange for his life; otherwise, Koo would grow up parentless. The good news is that HDL will now fund Koo's upbringing. So Pop takes him to 🇺🇸 where Koo, in time, "pulls a Harvard" in Hotel Mgmt. Even so, like all humans putting on blinders, neither dad nor child took the obligation seriously.

Koo comes to realize, 25 years later, that he cannot shirk this obligation. Just when he has his dream job bagged, Jang runs interference. What plays out is a peek into this amazing world within our world. As all of Koo's training is OTJ, every episode is a treat to something new & imaginative.

HDL is a visual extravaganza, from the hotel to the fashion-porn. Filmed on location at the Hotel Seine Café, which is staggeringly beautiful (it's now on my bucket list), 'dainties' & 'fancies' are 360 degrees around. Some of those delights are revealed in my spoiler section. The filming bolsters the gorgeous spectacle. Jang's got an outfit to go with every occasion, even one to wear when dining on rice cake soup. But don't expect spontaneity. If you suddenly want to go somewhere & she's not dressed 'correctly', just fuhgettaboudit.

While there's plenty of side stories in which to become engrossed, the main protagonists are Ms Jang (owner of HDL), & Mr. Koo, her very reluctant 99th human manager. Jang looks like a porcelain doll & is as feisty as a Tasmanian Devil. She's also sealed herself off. We see her dismiss the former Manager of 40 years with perfunctory efficiency, devoid of all emotion. She's taken on petulance as a primary personality trait. She displays no feelings at all, & is particularly devoid of compassion. Consistency long ago abandoned, she will say anything in the moment to satiate her emptiness.

Jang's truly b@d@$$, but, Ms Snark - Ms Sourpus - Ms Oppositional - Ms Ill-Tempered Ice Queen - is about to get a change of perspective, not just a change of clothes. Koo might appear to be a feckless wimp (which is how Jang's been treating him) but he is, as it turns out, tremendously courageous & a problem solver of the highest intellect. He knows when to be reserved & when to step up. When he steps up, it's with every bit of panache that Jang displays.

There are visual cues to the romance. Jang & Koo gradually match each other more & more. At first it's just her nail polish that matches his outfit & it grows from there. Flowers are popping up everywhere. They are beautiful… & perishable.

There's plenty of laughs. Mr. Koo is lurched far off-balance by the rush of new experiences, & he frequently jumps behind Jang out of fear until he gets accustomed to dealing with ghosts. She looks like she might reach 5'2" in spiked Jimmy Choos, so it's absurd - and bang-on funny.

When Koo was still running away from the job, Jang went out to retrieve him. He passed out after a nasty ghost encounter. K- "How did you get me back to the hotel" ? J- "Well, I got something similar to a handcart. All you need to know is that I got you back safely." The way she actually got him back, however, is not analogous to a handcart! Not one little bit!

Once in awhile, live people insist on checking in. They are placed in Room 404, the error number we've seen on countless computer screens. In EP10 there's a deft little scene: Koo & Jang are at a restaurant where people died from eating (she can't get enough of that). She's ticked off at him, but she can't resist taking pictures of her food. Snapping away, she never diverts her fuming stare from Koo. She moves the camera around & clicks it but only looks at him. It's hilarious. Koo is gifted a big cat print suit. Will the fastidious Harvard grad be able to even get one arm into the jacket without a meltdown? It's worth watching to see.

There's some head-scratchers, unfortunately, & there's some glaring omissions, too. The ending is not my favorite part of HDL. Things went downward a tinge in the last couple eps. Ep16 was too slow, sappy, & drawn out. It's always sad when the wrap up of a great story is the worst part of it.

We watch them & all the staff develop individually & as a unit. To avoid any jolts to the system pay attention. The show creators will tell you where they are headed: Believe them. We don't see much of what happens going forward, which is a little letdown. That is why viewers are clamoring for a S2.

Things are mostly looking way up at HDL, though. This is appropriate to watch with kids that are around the ages of 12& up. The feel is almost Disneyesque. There's some elements (evil ghosts, murders) that are too scary for children of single-digit age, who would struggle with the subtitles anyway. HDL offers valuable lessons, such as forgiveness, & Koo is a walking ethics handbook.

While you may not get 100% customer satisfaction, make sure to check-in anyway. This is a hotel, & a show, like no other. I'm a little sad, but also very bedazzled.


⛔️SPOILER SECTION⛔️

From tidbits to broad strokes, here's some additional insights into HDL.

In the way of laughs and delight〰️>
The pool is actually a yacht-worthy ocean with sunlight-levels to order. HDL even has an amusement park. Who wants to go! Uh, hang on... I can wait a while for that, I guess. The entrance fee is steep.

After Koo starts putting his whole heart into the job, Koo finds out that he was the /3rd/ choice for manager. Having been 'committed' to the job for 25 years & presuming himself indispensable, he's shocked. The staff calls him 'Mr. 3rd choice' behind his back.

The way she got him back to the hotel when he passed out was by possession. It's best that Koo not know.

How could you say "no" to having a beer with the Grim Reaper!? SANCHEZ!

In the way of romance〰️>
The Romance between these 2 is magnificent. Koo actually pursues Jang. She exposed the tiniest opening & he wedged it wide to occupy all the empty space. It inspires a smidge of awe. Before long they are spending most of their time together. They continue the trend Koo started by conversing in metaphors. For example, when Jang says: "The sea is beautiful tonight. It makes me a little sad." She looks Koo in the eye & says: "I'm sad because it's more beautiful than it was before." They feel for e/o, but they haven't fully acknowledged it to themselves, so they can't express it yet. As their feelings deepen, they both want to protect e/o. Next, they begin matching. It grows from there. Once she gets past wanting to kill him, they match more completely & start to reflect e/o. He closes one episode by declaring: "You are devouring all my nights & all my dreams: Admit it, he just laid down a 🎤drop! Another time, Koo tells Jang: "The view is much better now that I'm with you." Koo's so smooth he could write dating primers. They show us the apex of his masculinity when Jang, in an attempt to coerce him into the cat print suit, threatened to take his clothes off if he didn't wear it. He looked at her & said: "Can you handle it?" She froze for a moment. He ain't weak at all.


In the way of heartbreak 〰️>
We see heavy foreshadowing in the rose he gave her: It's fragile & will wilt eventually. Some things are left oblique, such as the sex of the last Yun family baby, or the non-answer to the "capricious" deities that don't seem to be fair.

It was obvious they would be resolving grudges for the staff. It might have been better if they spread it out a little more. We don't see what happens to anyone going forward, which is another letdown. The ending is not to my liking. At all. Their relationship is priceless. They have so little time together once they settle into it.

I get it: Koo let Jang go. He made the choice. The show creators chose the ground rules they constructed, though, and not only are their constraints somewhat severe, but they don't always make sense. Worse, is that they are inconsistent, at times. Early on, we're told the tree looks dead because time stopped flowing (is dead) for Jang. She didn't die in the series, so why would she have to cross over to the Afterlife? Why would Jang even be sentenced to pay a 1000 year penance? Because she took out the rotten government that abused their power & her people? Does Jang's punishment fit the crime as well as Koo's tiger suit fits him? Jang's horrible circumstances seem worse than she herself is.

I spent most of the series thinking that when Jang's time flows again she'll be able to live her life out with Koo before passing. In fairness, the vibe increasingly felt ill-fated. It's not like they didn't forecast the weather. Nevertheless, I'm going through 5 grief stages over it. Right now I'm angry. YO! It's a fairy tale, for cryin out loud!! Why can't we have a fairy tale ending!? :( looks like I'm sliding into the bargaining phase)...

Mago “straight” asks Koo if she can do him a favor in exchange for the scissors' safe return. Why didn't he ask for more time? Mago used him to work on Jang. She set it all up 25 years ago, perhaps longer. SHE caused his broken heart. She didn't have to be so stingy… so dang capricious. They're making me hate fate.

Don't tell me that meeting in future lives is a happy ending. One happy life now is worth a hundred ‘possible’ lives later. If they do, indeed, meet up as kimchi & chicken noodles, is that happy? Doubtful. It's understandable that aspects of reincarnation are considered to be romantic. The potential downside is that we could look at all the misery in this world as being deserved by the oppressed due to indiscretions in prior lives. Every living thing could be in jeopardy within that philosophical circle, & compassion & empathy will take on damage under such suppositions, also. The worst thing is that if it turns out to not be true, then it is too cruel to the oppressed.

Things go downward a tinge in the last couple eps. Ep16 is too slow, sappy, & drawn out. It's always sad when the wrap up of a great story is the worst part of it. The saddest thing is that I could be experiencing a warm firefly glow today, instead of anger. Finally, for Jang, running the hotel is a punishment, but it seems to be a reward for the next guy. CAPRICIOUS Mago winks at us again.

Enough of that.

I'm still alittle sad, and I'm also alittle angry, but still bedazzled.


Originally 〰️🖊 10/2021

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A Simple Poem From ☕Where It Is Always Warm

[Spoilers are contained in a separate section at the end]

Though it mainly takes place in winter, WTWIF is like a caressing summer breeze. Be still; let it flow over & around you. It's about loneliness & togetherness, as well as pain & healing. One could say that a theme of the show is to 'Come In From The Cold.' Tied into that is what is required to come in from figurative cold: Expressing our feelings. Family & loved ones should know about us, about me, about you. Those that take their feelings to the grave remain in frigid, gloomy isolation.

The words "warm" & "cold," along w/ their variations, are ubiquitous in this series. The concept of temperature is visually represented over & over again, via the weather, beverage choices, characters, blankets, coats, or shoes. They weren't stingy w/ it.

The director wasn't stingy w/ quality craft or scattered embers radiating like beautiful glowing gems. For example, ep3 lays out an allegory for the show during book club. In 'The Legend Of The Silver Fox's Eyebrow,' the fox lends his eyebrow to a person who cannot find a real human. Looking thru the eyebrow reveals the true nature of a person. There were pigs, weasels, & rats, but no genuine humans were found. Imagine the fear & isolation that must follow such a non-discovery. In ep15, Mok Hae-won (“Hwon” played by Park Min Young from Her Private Life-8) expresses her version of this tale.

WTWIF has a unique vibe, like the feel of an indie film (except for Hui's scenes). The soundtrack is extended silence w/ a drizzle of subdued chords. The cadence is slow for 14 eps, & eps15-16 aren't necessarily fast paced, but they are jammed packed. The series seems to be moving at the pace of Eun-seob (ES - the fabulous Seo Kang Joon from Cheese in the Trap-7.7): Plodding, but steady. Around ep7 we're given reason to wonder what the rest of the show could be? By ep15, what came to mind was: Is it almost over already?!😥 What's even happened since ep7?? Charming small town life has happened, along w/ the subdued every day conflicts that don't seem like high drama but for the one living them out.

Speaking of small town life, Jang-woo (Lee Jae Wook from Search: WWW), is special. He understands himself & what he wants, which keeps him #content. Contentment is the #1 ingredient for happiness. He chose his hometown over the glamor of Seoul, as he understands the value of simplicity. We know he's smart, but he is also the /wisest/ of them all & the #1 pillar in the show.

Another delight is Hui, ES's sister (played by Kim Hwan Hee from The Wailing-8.8) who is full of life & J😁Y. She's simply happiness on a bicycle. Her energy is boundless. Her exuberance cannot be squelched. She also can't be stopped, the targets of her affection are learning. While we can't rely on Hui's logic… {If everyone at school hates me, he should be the one that likes me. Hwon: Is that how it works? Hui: of course it is!}... but, perhaps we could benefit from one of Hui's mantras: "That hurts my pride. It really hurts my pride. It hurts my pride SO MUCH!!" Get it out. Expel it! Then move on.

This series was expertly crafted.

Metaphors abound, like the cabin, which represents a locked away heart. ES goes there to be alone w/ his feelings as he's never expressed them to anyone. There's continuous comparing & contrasting, eg, Hwon and ES are contrasted. They each had a childhood w/ an intact family. They later lost their parents to abandonment, death & prison. The /difference/ is temperature. ES's family IS 🔥warmth. IES is quiet 🔥. Hui is expansive 🔥, Mom is protective 🔥, & Dad is the fuel that keeps everyone going. Hwon's family is cold. Crybaby, the word-smith, encapsulates the situation when he remarks: "This family is not clingy at all." It's a great, understated laugh line in the context. It isn't that they don't love, it's that their emotional capacity runs so deeply that they've been dragged down into solitary depths.

There’s mirroring, especially between Hwon, Mom, & Aunt. Hwon mirrors both of them & they mirror e/o. Metaphors blanket WTWIF. When ES takes Hwon to her childhood home, she acknowledges that she heard it had fallen into ruin - a metaphor for the family. It continues through Mom, who informs that she fixed the house up "well," & sold it "well." That fix-up process has begun for their family too. Images link characters. Hwon is connected to mom & aunt via lollipops & sunglasses. They don the sunglasses to hide hurt. Lollipops are most likely self-comfort - having something sweet when life turns bitter.

Genetics & the concept of family are touched on - mostly implied, but at times overtly. ES's uncle talks about what's in the family blood. He states it can't be denied, & pushes hard for ES to go away w/ him. This sets up the direct comparison of ES's family to Hwon’s family.

Several of the townspeople take delight in belittling ES, b/c they've passed judgment, calling his parents hobos. His adopted mother (Nam Ki Ae from Confession) is having none of that. She protests when they dispatch ES to rescue people lost in the mountain, claiming they care nothing about him or whether he's in danger. Another time, she declares that she's decided to love ES /more/ to avoid any perception of playing favorites. Her motherly love for ES is absolute, & she never hesitates to express it. She's pillar #2.

Hwon is drawn to ES like a weary traveler to a cozy seat by the hot coals. ES is always wrapping a coat, blanket, or his arms around her & she can't get enough of it. After the miserable truth about her family history is exposed to Hwon, she runs away to be alone w/ her thoughts. ES finds her on a bench & wraps his coat around her as the camera pans down to a small heater. He holds her. ♨Warmth. Such comforting warmth🔥. She can't get enough of it. She's been an ice sculpture for so long, that once she experiences his comfort, she (literally) latches on to him. It's quite sweet. If one thinks about it, warmth is simple. Coldness is complicated. “Simplifying” is another theme of the show. Think: Jang-woo.

The Maze Of Sisterfield… The topic of domestic violence is addressed. We witness a woman, days away from death on a hospital bed, who has bruises from a recent beating. In typical fashion, she lies about it. These women exist in a harsh climate that yields no space for compassion or pity; only cold condescension. It's a commentary on the collective, not on the women as individuals.

Severe, or continuous pain can change a person. Like forgetting how a person looked when young, a soul in chronic pain can forget what it's like to be well. After awhile, many that suffer long-standing pain struggle w/ even desiring to be healed: They can no longer visualize it. I've witnessed this. One cannot have a goal that s/he cannot comprehend, perceive, or are too frozen solid to carry out. The ones that love Hwon are unable to communicate it. They genuinely don't think they deserve it. They are icicles lined up next to e/o that never come together. When the weather is fine, they must melt to combine as water; then they can flow together.

Mom was trying to protect everyone, but she ended up isolating them all for a very long time. Her motivation was love, but she failed to express it. Hwon rightly told her: "If we're family, we should share the pain together." Bo-yeong muses that no relationship is flawless, but we can eat on a table that has a crack. Over time, stress cracks are bound to form in relationships (as long as they aren't forming /overtime/!). We hurt, apologize, forgive & move on. That's how we need to live. Everyone needs to find their space in which to thaw & breathe.

Hopefully, Aunt & Crybaby will find their space. How STUBBORN can a person be, especially when it's to h/h detriment? The show tells us that some people never let go of the white-knuckled grip they have on their emotions. Aunt is self censured, w/ ice cold resolve to carry out the sentence she's required of herself: Denied love & marriage, denied medical treatment & pain relief, shaded from the world & most human interactions. She treats Crybaby like she treats herself. If she is going to deny herself & live in misery, then Crybaby will just have to accept it. He is more special to her than she will acknowledge. If she lets him go for good, she'll regret it. Aunt hasn't fully blinded herself yet, thankfully. At the end of the show we see a developing fissure in the tundra via the hint of a smile. Aunt shows additional evidence of defrost when she implores Mom to write a letter to Hwon. Aunt warns that Mom's motivations will remain a secret forever if not explained. Communication must begin. Then healing is sure to follow.

The director, Han Ji Seung of Mistress, dedicates extended screen time to celebrate the arrival of spring. Hwon can tell it's getting warmer, she says, b/c her breath is fogging up only half the distance as before. The rain starts. Thunder rumbles. Vivid green buds cover the trees. Everybody is talking about the beautiful weather. Spring will welcome hope & simple triumphs.

Oh Dear, I've called this series a poem. We learned the difference between poetry & prose from #2🦄. Did I already forget?

Okay, review:

In the simplest terms, prose is everyday writing. It covers all the different types of writing one reads daily, from blogs, to articles, to novels.

Poetry adds artistic style to writing. It's all about vivid imagery & rhythm. It works to make you feel something, or to drive a point home. Poetry writers select their structure, rhyme scheme, pattern, & words w/ the purpose of arousing emotion.

Nope, it's a poem.

Quotes:

Warmth🔥: It's when my cold hand touches your cold hand and we both become warm. It's when loneliness meets loneliness and becomes cozy. It's when sadness meets sadness and becomes happiness. It's when cold breeze meets cold breeze and becomes soft snow. That is Warmth.

Make a choice☑◻: If you cannot just love, you cannot just give your heart, you can just give up on the happiness you would gain from loving.

Happiness and unhappiness are like the sides of a coin. If you don't become happy, there is no reason to become unhappy. If you don't possess you cannot lose, you can just disappear from that certain person's sight forever.


⛔️SPOILER SECTION⛔️

The following contains additional insights that might be considered spoilers.

ES grew up on the mountain. He was young when his parents abandoned him. Mr. Im found him & took him home to Mrs. Im's open arms. His early life experiences had left him emotionally untethered. Once Hwon came into his life he was able to start expressing himself. The townspeople call the "hobo boy" to help find people lost on the mountain, and mom fights it, saying they care nothing about putting him in danger.

ES's uncle talks about what's in the family blood & how it can't be denied. When he pushes hard for Eun-seob to leave w/ him, his biggest mistake was to declare that no one in the family can live w/ anybody else, as ES's birth parents already demonstrated. Uncle doesn't realize that ES has learned something better. Despite his (new) family's fears, there was no way ES was going back.

What's in MHW, Mom, & Aunt's blood? Isolation, shutting down, shutting out others, & retreat are family failings. In a later episode Hwon tells Mom: “You were all taking care of your own pain, so you threw me away.” Those are brutal words for a mother to hear.

There is more mirroring. Hwon is drawn in by ES like a weary traveler to a cozy seat by the embers. Long before she realizes her feelings, she mirrors ES's mother in being protective of him. We particularly see mirroring between Hwon, Mom, & Aunt. Hwon, believing she was rejected, started wearing sunglasses. The scenes play out between Hwon's confession & ES finally grabbing hold of her, and the pain expressed on her face & body are evidence of exceptional acting. When watching, what came to mind was: I've felt the same way she's feeling.

Hwon picked up another bad habit at home. She retreats. Rather than forgive Bo-yeong, who would have stood by her when things got ugly, she weathers the storm alone in quiet agony. Her silent coldness is her covering to conceal the hurt. Stress cracks allow the chill in to arrest her heart. We will see her thaw beautifully in this series. Both of them thaw & heal.

Hwon's mother makes excuses for her abuser. Eventually she just can't anymore. One day, he's threatening her & aunt while standing in front of the car. She just can't stop her foot from pushing down on the accelerator. While many of us wouldn't have hesitated to hit the gas, upon reflection, it's understandable that taking a life would be devastating for a decent person. Even if "Brother-In-law was "deserving of it," even if it's in self-defense, Mom & Aunt's reactions aren't too extreme. This was a man capable of love & generosity. He was a wonderful father to Hwon. The gravity of the situation is crushing them.

Once the truth of what happened to her father is exposed, Hwon's frozen core was hit by a sledgehammer & shattered. At the height of her pain, Hwon tells ES, in a Silver Fox paraphrase: "I'm so scared. I don't know what people are really like. I keep getting fooled. I can't believe anything of what they say or the things I had believed in." She talks about the hurt of not being told by her family about anything that's going on. In talking-the-cold-logic of right & wrong, she asks ES if that's right. ES's response is warm emotion. He says: "...(your mom) probably lived all those years carrying the burden in your stead." Mom was trying to protect everyone, but only ended up isolating everyone. Her motivation was love, but she failed to express it. Hwon rightly tells her: "If we're family, we should share the pain together."

Just like when she believed she was rejected by ES, the truth is that Hwon is loved more than she's ever imagined: It's just been hidden from her. How /can/ anybody know they are loved if they aren't told in word or deed? The ones that love MHW are unable to communicate it. We hurt e/o, but wise people apologize, forgive & move on. Everyone needs to find their space in which to live, breathe, and thrive.

Spring winds that had carried Hwon to Seoul later deliver her back to Walnut House. She's ready to plant roots & bloom. While she hated teaching music to children at the beginning of WTWIF, she's now content w/ it. Simplifying her life has allowed her to be at peace & to latch on to ES for all seasons to come.

Originally 〰️🖊 9/2021

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⬜️Fun with Light & Shadow ⬛ Slightly Silly ❣ Yet Utterly Adorable °Excellent°

I've always said that if you aren't willing to at least risk being tacky, you won't have any fun.

That's one of the themes of this show. The opening line is: "All Children Are Artists." As we see when the group later goes to an orphanage, the children take pure joy in expressing & sharing of themselves. They aren't worried about critics or reviews.

This show introduces us to Duk-mi. She's an energetic, hard working & passionate person who lives in Technicolor. A once aspiring artist, Duk-mi is now the curator of a privately owned museum. Her job is not ideal as she, along with her suggestions, are rarely respected. Duk-mi is not easily suppressed, though. She does her job with verve. She also has a secret life away from the museum. If found out, she would be fired. You see, Duk-mi …🥁🥁🥁… Is a "fan😍girl." {GASP!} Pop singer Si-an is the recipient of her affection, and she is not alone.

Fangirls are a sisterhood of women, ALL devoted to a star. Besides knowing ALL the music and ALL the useless trivia about their idol, to be a true fangirl, one must be at ALL the star's public appearances. This includes ALL airport arrivals and book signings, not just concerts. ALL this dedication is neither easy nor cheap. We watch Duk-mi go from the museum, straight to a Si-an appearance lugging a step ladder & 14 inches of zoom lens. From behind a black mask, she snaps her photos & heads home, where we see how deeply her obsession is etched onto her being. Her studio apt is a giant Si-an collage. It's jammed with every souvenir of which one could conceive - posters, dolls, the requisite cardboard cutout & even Si-an pillows... Even a water bottle, half full, that Si-an threw to the crowd once. (I said 'half full' out of habit. This water bottle is definitely half-empty!). It's basically the tackiest decorating ever - Even worse than Bette Mildler’s in Ruthless People.

We then meet Ryan (Conventional. Condescending. Cheerless). He's an artist turned lauded NYC critic. A mental block has severed him from his craft. He can dip a brush 🎨, but he can't touch it to the canvas. As a critic he isn't known to look at many pieces for more than 3 seconds (<1 sec is typical, 2+ could launch a new artist). He stopped creating art when a painting of 🫧 bubbles arrested his gaze. Believing it was Stendhal Syndrome ('When exposed to an incredible work of art, one may experience a rush of psychological symptoms.') he sees a psychiatrist. His therapy was going the way of his paint brushes, though: Nowhere. It's a mystery in the NYC art scene, as is the artist, Lee Sol, who brushed on those 🫧 that popped Ryan's career. Nobody seems to know anything about the painter.

The first time Duk-mi and Ryan meet is at an art auction in Shanghai. They fight over a painting. The painting is of 🫧soap bubbles🫧. Artist: Lee Sol.

Duk-mi knows that "her SI-AN" is a fan of Lee Sol's work. Every year, The Road To Si-an webpage pools money from fans to buy a big gift for the object of their adoration. Her boss thinks it's merely a work trip, but Duk-mi's real mission is to get that 🖼 for Si-an. She loses. She tries to talk Ryan into surrendering the painting to her. He looks at her like she's a lunatic. Fate is at work; these 2 have 2 other chance meetings, though they both don't put it all together until later.

Duk-mi's boss, the director/owner of the museum, is a garrish, overweening tyrant. She is played by the great Kim Sun-young, who's clearly having the time of her life in the role & in those preposterous outfits. She makes Duk-mi miserable. Fortunately, her husband is embroiled in a scandal, so she must step down temporarily.

You get one guess as to who the next director is.

They don't blend well.

That should adequately lay out the paints on the 🎨: Except for their overlapping love of art, Duk-mi & Ryan, a Korean adopted overseas, have opposite existences. They are compared & contrasted in visual ways. Dude's home is painted a deep Wedgwood blue. While it's a pretty color, when it covers 4 walls it only reflects his current bleakness. Taste aside, Duk-mi's room is vibrant. She's open, which is why she can feel art so intuitively. She's full of love and passion. Ryan is dried up like old paint.

Ryan becomes drawn-in by hearing Duk-mi talk about works of art. With admiring fondness, she seems to be able to scry an artist's thoughts & emotions. He becomes fascinated with her w/o realizing it or thinking about why. Fascination leads to close observation. (😱! Don't look behind the mask!) We can feel doom approaching. What will Ryan, who is from that snotty NYC art world, think if he ever discovers HPL?

Another theme is family & togetherness. Duk-mi's parents created a home where all are welcomed. Duk-mi's mother is, well, /motherly/. She wants to feed and love-on everybody that comes through their door. They even raised Eun-gi - from birth - for an overwhelmed single mother. He & Duk-mi consider themselves siblings. Fellow fangirl, Seon-joo, who runs the local coffee shop, is Thelma to Duk-mi's Louise. The office, Duk-mi's apt, the museum, the coffee shop, and her parents place are all frequent gathering spots. Duk-mi's life is shared with family, and friends-that-are-family.

Ryan's life is solitude. That's why he's angry when Duk-mi pokes around his place when he's not there. He seems to have no one.

The two seem to fall for eachother quickly, though it takes them a few eps to realize it. While the falling-in-love is usually the funnest thing in a romance, in the case of Duk-mi & Ryan, I found the series even more entertaining after they get together. The way they mix it up is sensational; their relationship is pure enjoyment. Duk-mi smiles with her whole being. She smiles a lot. At first it seemed overdone, but it's rather by design. She is the SUN that warms him back up. Art is all about light. Ryan couldn't step forward until he came out of the darkness. His first steps towards healing were in Duk-mi's direction.

There are mysteries to be solved, secrets to be revealed, and singers to love in the balance of the show.

HPL also sketched in some laughs. They have trouble with R-r-ryan's name, so they call him “Lion”. Eun-gi tells Da-ni that she'd be an annoying friend. She looks at him and says: "You're a good judge of character." We understand Duk-mi's obsessive side when we get a full look at her family home: It's genetic. The two protags are in a chess game over a notebook and the truth about Duk-mi, which is amusing. Generating laughter could be the trickiest art of all, and HPL sells it.

Poor Eun-gi. He's coming in 2nd again. He wins the silver medal (again) in scoring his gf. Duk-mi was just a primer, actually. He certainly has a type! In my ledger, Eun-gi‘s gf won: Eun-gi is arguably more attractive, & he's protective, loyal, appreciative, chill, great to hang out with, and... Well, did you /see/ that shower scene?? That actor probably has fangirls himself. Nuff of that...

While HPL is certainly silly, and completely adorable, romance-wise, it can also be profound. The following exchange is a free therapy session: Seon-joo's TV producer husband is pushed into doing an 'expose’ show on 'crazy' fans. He hides this from Seon-joo, and even secretly copies files from her computer. When she finds out, she could have foamed up milk with no machine. She was STEAMED. He tries to explain, with the most positive framing, all the good reasons why he made the show, including securing the transfer she had wanted him to get. Fangirl nails it. She might be silly, but she ain't dumb. She asks if it was all for /her/ sake then? He says no, he didn't "mean that..." She responds:

"Do you know what I really hate about you right now? If you've hurt me, you should just remain as the assailant. Why are you using me as an excuse to act like a victim? Do you expect me to understand and pity you in this situation?"

He replies that he shouldn't have waited to tell her, and he's not sure why he stalled with that. She comes back at him again:

"Do you want to know why you didn't tell me beforehand? It's because you didn't feel the need to. You knew I'd throw a fit later on, but you were simply going to escape that moment." In finishing, she informs him that he didn't talk to her because he was already determined to do it.

One of the excuses he used was that it was all for their son. Her response: "You used my precious family as a weapon to stab me, and {your son} as a shield to hide behind. It was a nasty and cowardly move."

Perhaps that exchange will be useful for your next relationship argument. She later says that 'in a relationship there are things that cannot be resolved with logic. This is a matter of emotion.' Well put.

There are disappointments: No big "reveal" to Si-an, we don't see the exposé show & leaving a child at the playground?! C'mon. They could have done plenty of things better, but the positives redeem it. It's good enough to hang in your gallery.

The most important takeaway from HPL is that a loving and caring family unit can do a lot of good. Duk-mi and her mother make numerous lives better. Duk-mi's mother gets the credit as she raised Duk-mi. We ran the “open house" in our neighborhood. We are close with many of the kids still, and we even Christmas with two of the brothers that were fixtures in our home for a few years. We can't go after everything we want AND love others. The two are exclusionary. The odd thing is that helping others is more fulfilling than going after everything we want.

Quote: In Korea, if you kiss and don't go out, they send you to jail.

Originally 〰️🖊 9/2021

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