MikeO

No spoilers but vague reference to plot elements in the finale ahead

This is probably a little snowflakey coming someone in the US, a country that’s essentially made blood sport out of massacring children at school, but to me the producers of Duty” ran out of ideas and lost control of the story line. Kitchen sinking every possible gratuitously violent thing they could think of in place of a well thought out ending is no different than the members of Congress here. They’ve run out ways to spin their failure to act in response to all the violence. They don’t t even try any more
And that’s the feeling I get from the show runners here. No plan. Just get us to season 2.

Yeah I’m writing this 20 minutes before the last ep wraps up, so I may be setting myself up for being called a dumb ass. (Ok, even more of a dumbass than usual) But that’s how convinced I am this show went off the rails

but they managed to pack mass shoutings , premeditated murder, mental health struggles, sexual violence “it was all a dream”, and other nonsense most not earned by the story telling and without advancing advancing the main story at all

Honestly, I hope I get hammered here for premature review ejaculation Nothing would please me more than to see the show save itself with a brilliant ending. But “Why are they here” “what do the want”. “ Would the eat a salad instead of us”. “ Where do they come from. “. Or “is there anything we can do to make them stop randomly eating us?” So far 1 hour in and nothing.

I’m going to watch just to see what they pull out of their ass and how they cliffhang the audience”

“All of Us Are Dead”. Let this serve as a warning please have a story. The surgeon general says a plot that goes up in smoke is harmful to your health.

I do get that the last episode makes the point that it’s not the aliens who are villains We are our own worst enemy. But the show started out that way And evolved to this without earning that path

There is another show airing called The Eighth Sense that weaves a love story narrative around mental health struggles It far better executed the blended premise. Here imo we got two different shows

I agree with that. Producers there seem to set the competitive bar for other countries and help influence the more hard hitting, real everyday life issues that Japan never steers clear of. Moonlight Chicken in Thailand seemed was a real departure from the style of show usually offered. (I’m not talking about source material more cinema verite stlyle’) And while the Eighth Sense is a thing totally unto itself, owing some of its stylistic influence to Western Europe’s “Skam”, I still think Life Love on the Line or His helped pave the way for that show.

Wow. Every once in a while the internet really surprises me. You are a total class act.

Seriously, Jero, do you have a patreon link or buy me a coffee? I've been looking everywhere to watch the complete edition. LMK cuz that's huge solid you are doing for fans of this show. I can't tell you how many times I've rewatched the first episode of the original version on Viki. I'm honestly hard pressed to see what's different on EP 1 here. Other than maybe a couple of music cues are are different. like maybe the first hallway scene in the high school. PS.

You are awesome for doing that.

I can’t argue that protracted “is he or isn’t he dead” was manipulative and out of character with the rest of the story. It brought the story down to tropeville. No need for me to reiterate my pov about the rest. I’ll leave it there. I’m just glad there’s a story that can provoke some difference of opinion. That isn’t ai long Nai where nothing happens

As far as Shoulder to Cry On goes. I’m right there with. You. That show ended cowardly to me and used the mental illness as a plot device. The Eighth Sense earned these eps because the writers set up the trauma carefully. It was very true to my experience dealing with a severely depressed mentally ill “asshole”. That is how they roll. I respect your opinion and if I thought this story was a pure romance, I’d be hitting the heart in agreement. We’ll see how it ends but to me this story is about mental growth for one character and mental struggle for the other. The romance may not be the point. Let’s hope both characters find inner peace in the end. A cheesy ending where one lead cures” the other would be a cop out

I want to get to the end and I never want it to end

Well said

This drama is complex,well paced, well acted and extremely well written. The more episodes I watch, the greater it gets. Masterpiece is overused word but this one is earning it.

I remember when I first watched it 2 or 3 years ago thinking wow. Is it just me or was this one really truly special in a one of kind way.? Your comment and it’s perrenial placement at the top of various d drama lists ,like “k Dramas So Good You’ll Want To Soak Youself in Gasoline and Self Immolate” are all the convincing I need. It IS really that good You really did like it nearly as much the second time through? I am mis def up for it

What an amazing work The Eighth Sense is. It just knocks the wind out of me in it breath taking beauty.

Through ep 6, this series just knocks the wind out of me. It just delivered the highest high and most devastating low experienced in under five minutes and every moment earned through precise writing, epic story telling, and next-level acting. The Eighth Sense is one special, unspeakably beautiful, game changing BL series.

I found a live and translated performance of the title song by Wetter. If you are as starved for ep 5 as I am, the lyrics of this song give a lot of clues about the story at arc so far, even though the song is about the bands early struggles. The lyrics really apply to this budding romance equally. https://youtu.be/SqL0wdaTIWY

And this one. 8 min in The hook is “it doesn’t matter whom I date”. https://youtu.be/IjF8dTvQ57g

I was thinking maybe the whole continuity lapse might have been explained as a coma induced dream sequence after either one of them got injured surfing alone on the final day of the retreat before heading home but then the story continued so throw that theory out the window. Besides the ghosting lasted through the trip back.
And the glitch didn’t start until the chance meeting on the subway. I just think it’s young show runners not having the footage to work with and no budget for reshoots. The show is so important to the BL genre I’ll forgive it and move on. I think the rating here is a little unfair given it’s many elements of greatness that are so well and eloquently written about here.

I loved that one. I hate the fifteen minute el format though they made the most of it

I love this show so much, but there's definitely an editor issue. Like a scene they forgot to include in the cut that would have better explained the "the meeting with an acquaintance" he ditched in favor of the "chance meeting on the train." Unless I missed something. There was a text exchange with his mom about his trip that i may have misconstrued. It almost feels as if some key footage was unusable and they had to explain that sequence after the fact later in episode four. The talent level on this show is just too good to explain the lapse other than perhaps bad luck. I edit for a living and these guys are too good to be that sloppy. Something had to have happened. Some permanently deleted a critical file without backing up the master, or something (Unless I missed something...I even went back and rewatched ep 3). I'm critical only because this show very, very special to me and i'm rooting for the show-runner, writer and actors to get the accolades they deserve. It's such a break-though for the KBL genre. For the BL genre.

I've watched all of them, and your timing is great. You hit triple gold on the KBL series slot machine. The only other series from Korea in its league is Semantic Error and (depending upon your tolerance for stress and heartache) To My Star 1 & 2. You'll be spoiled for life if you watch at least those first two (or three) back to back. But I couldn't agree with your review of the Eighth Sense more..every word of it.

Well said. The formula that makes the BL genre successful with its core 16 - 24 year-old female demographic can still be followed, while surprising and delighting with scripts that that gives the audience credit for understanding what doesn't need to be spoken, especially when you've cast with actors who can convey so much meaning in a simple fleeing glance. This series is so unspeakably beautiful. So real and authentic, the audience can practically reach out and touch it.

Thank you for expressing how deeply this series makes me feel.