Alaskan

I like dramas that offer up something original while including some clever twists and turns. Thus, I enjoyed The Golden Spoon a lot. The drama attempts to illustrate how helpless and powerless the poor can feel and the lengths some might go through to claw their way up to become rich and powerful. There was a lot of good acting in this drama but the biggest revelation to me was Lee Jongwon, who played Hwang Taeyoung. He managed not only to switch convincingly between his rich and poor iterations but also made me care about a character who started off as seemingly entitled, shallow and flawed. I think Lee Jongwon stole the show from Yook Sungjae, who is no acting slouch himself.

I recognize that the Hwang Hyeondo character was one-dimensional and that his apparent omnipotence was not believable. Plus, as another reviewer also noted, there seemed to be an excess of golden spoons floating around towards the end. But the drama was so much fun that I didn’t really care.

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This drama has a Groundhog-type time travel plot where the protagonists have to unravel a mystery in order to save lives. I think that the drama leaves some things unexplained but I enjoyed it a lot. I just wish that they had left the romance out because it did little for me and almost got in the way of the main story. Similarly, the two young main protagonists, as good as they were, were pretty much overshadowed by the acting and experience of the older actors, particularly the mother and father, who were both amazing. I would recommend this drama to anyone who wants a fast-paced drama with unexpected twists and turns.

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I can’t remember a drama with as many beautiful people (young or old, good or evil, main character or random person on the street). Mades it harder to follow the plot, haha. (It’s easier for KDramas. If a guy is good looking, he’s often good; if he’s bad looking he’s bad. If he’s good looking but bad then he gets a sad backstory to explain his badness.)

I like the main character who is funny, smart, principled (but not sanctimonious), and kind but not a pushover---he can, and does, match all of the schemers around him scheme for scheme. There are a number of great female characters, including his faithful sister and a sidekick/rival (whom, unfortunately, I like much more than the primary love interest). The fact that some of the most unlikely characters are actually martial arts experts made this especially fun and interesting.

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The Korean version of this drama is not the wrenching Greek tragedy that the Japanese one was and that is both bad and good to me. Bad because it was not as emotionally disturbing as the Japanese version. And good because … it was not as emotionally disturbing as the Japanese version. The Japanese version left me feeling completely drained. This one is not quite as upsetting. I like the characters in this Korean version better. Kim Moo Young is not as damaged and Yoo Jin Kook is much more sympathetic. I think all of the actors did a great job, particularly Seo In Guk.

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I enjoyed this more than I thought I would, party because of Han Hyo Joo and Park Hyung Sik. They both play likeable and relatable characters whose friendship to lovers story is natural, despite the unnatural setting of the story. I've always enjoyed Han Hyo Joo's dramas. Park Hyung Sik is more hit and miss for me but this one is a hit for me. The drama raises interesting questions about how a government might respond to a frightening and highly contagious epidemic, how infected people are treated not just by the government but also by each other, and what people might do to fight for survival. It can be ugly -- people can behave pretty badly when they're frightened -- but this drama shows that people can also be surprisingly generous and self-sacrificing. I suspect that the inspiration for this drama comes from the first major COVID epidemic before vaccines were developed and the world was terrified.

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I loved this. It starts out at a fairly leisurely pace (despite a tragic death) but then takes off with a bang so that the last fifty-three (53!!!) episodes seem to pass by much faster than the first twenty. What sold it to me is the Ming Lan character, who is much smarter and savvier than she appears at first -- plus it’s funny that she seems to be eating constantly. I have to say that it was difficult for me to connect the characters as adults to their child counterparts, with the exception of Xiaotao. I really liked Gu Tingye as a child, who seemed confident but not cocksure, principled, and mature beyond his years. I understand that his abusive family helped turn him into what seemed to be a vain, out-of-control, and immature adult and that he wasn’t really that way but I sometimes sympathized with others, including members of his family, when they found him irritating as hell. But then he would save Ming Lan in the nick of time or prove how smart and wily he was and I would forgive everything.

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Serenade of Peaceful Joy is an odd title for a drama that deals primarily with an emperor and the reforms he attempts during the Song dynasty. I like the emperor when he is governing but hate him when he’s dealing with his personal life, including the way he treats his empress and concubines. He’s not mean to them but he unintentionally hurts them because he’s basically clueless. It’s especially crushing to see the empress change from a cheerful, smart, opinionated girl trained in martial arts and swordfighting to a repressed, uptight, and infinitely sad woman. Not much joy there. Not very peaceful either. It should have been called Elegy of Endless Melancholy.

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First the positives: Shin Hye Sun is a great actor, many of the scenes were beautifully staged and shot, and the premise was interesting.

Unfortunately, my list of negatives is much longer. I felt that the promising premise was squandered by big gaps in the writing and poor execution. For example, I had trouble believing that the ML would fall as quickly as he did for a FL who stalked him and said very strange things, instead of scurrying away as fast as he could on those long legs of his. Ahn Bo Hyung did a good job when the drama required him to act emotionally frozen. Except that he pretty much did that thoughout. I thought that the child actors were very good but I struggled to believe that the leads had fallen deeply in love when children. I blame the writing for that. The whole car crash subplot fizzled, primarily because it required one to believe that characters would react in implausible ways. The ending had more gaps and, “Wait, how can that be … ?” than the average drama.

I think that the drama was ruined by poor writing.

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I felt like this drama never became too predictable. I liked the fact that the villains were sympathetic (well, except for Hosung, whose pretty face I wanted to punch (haha) by the end). Yes, there were legal bloopers but they weren’t so distracting that I couldn’t shrug and get past them. Most of all, I liked the point counterpoint as everyone tried to manipulate and out-maneuver everyone else. I sometimes feel like I’m losing brain cells while watching some Korean romantic comedies. With Punch though, I think that I had a net gain in brain cells because I was also trying to figure out Jung Hwan’s next move.

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The long, drawn out romantic moments between the two leads are, well, too long and drawn out. Gah. If they show one more sweet moment between those two, I’m going to go into diabetic shock. They keep gazing at each other with such sappy puppy dog eyes that I can’t believe that the whole country, let alone the rather obtuse palace dwellers haven’t figured it out. You know it’s bad when you think that Kim Yoon Sung killing a bunch of people is much more romantic than the Crown Prince declaring undying love (over and over and over) for the I-can’t-believe-no one-has-figured-out-that-he-is-a-she leading lady.

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The lead couple has sizzling hot chemistry. You might enjoy this, especially if you like the combination of smirky teasing hero (there are times when I sympathize fully with the villain’s desire to throttle the hero) and fierce and fearless heroine. There are enough political machinations, elaborate fight scenes (oddly bloodless for the nameless hordes, only the main characters seem to bleed), and lavish spectacle to keep things interesting. I especially appreciate the touches of humor, which keep the story from bogging down under its own weight and seriousness. Both lead actors, Yang Mi and Ethan Juan, are killing it.

Sure, there are logical lapses and “wait, what?” moments. There are some fantasy elements that might remind you of Harry Potter. But I don’t recall any shirtless scenes in Harry Potter, particularly anything approaching the Ethan Juan shirtless scenes….

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