DramaAjumma

I don't know but it seems obvious to me that the primary idea behind the love polygon is about timing. I'm not convinced it's just to make LJM jealous or to realise his feelings for NM. I think he would have come to the same conclusion on his own if given enough time because regardless of appearances, LJM has always valued NM. The arrival of the senior only expedites things. Timing while not everything plays a big part in the success of a long-term relationship. Lu Jiaming's childhood crush is right -- when the time has passed, it has passed. And it's not just missing the boat. There's no going back or reliving the past when one person has moved on. Moreover, there's always the other side of the spectrum and that is coupling too early with someone for whatever reasons --undue pressure or because it's a solution to an immediate problem. NM's senior is trying to relive the past and short cut the process of a courtship just because they had a past. He's in too much of a hurry and as a result he is easily insecure. He hasn't allowed for time to do its work in NM's heart. LJM needs to know that if he doesn't strike while the iron is hot, he will blow his chances.

But as I said, timing is not everything. Two people's hearts have to be aligned as well. Even if one is ahead of the game so to speak but the other's heart is elsewhere, it's still going to end in tears.

The heart is a strange beast and doesn't work in accordance with logic. Love isn't about having the right qualifications because the ideal man doesn't exist.

LOL. Apparently there are people who think that perfect guys do exist.
But this show is actually quite realistic on many fronts so why wouldn't it be on the romance track as well?

I find him creepy too. I'm surprised that so many are rooting for him.

Congratulations! The other half and I just celebrated 26 years last month ourselves.

I pegged him as a star when first I saw him in Designated Survivor: 60 Days but honestly he's exceeded my expectations here. Son Suk-ku is spectacularly good.
Mr Gu is like an alcoholic Mary Poppins who fell from the sky and has brought some happiness to the Banks/Yeom family in spite of himself.

What a great show. A genuine feel good, healing drama. And Lee Min-gi gets a lot of love from me too. He never fails to crack me up.

https://40somethingahjumma.substack.com/p/my-liberation-notes-2022-first-impressions?s=w

I wrote a first impressions. Link is under spoiler tag.

In the first series there was one that stands out.

I really don't like that Zhao Yun drama that much. The re-telling of the Three Kingdoms was so choppy and who knows what the point of the travelling harem was. The romance was so badly integrated into the mythos.
This is a show best forgotten IMO.

Master of My Own is not an idol drama at all. The leads aren't notable pop stars and the subject matter of the drama is actually quite a serious one. Both Tang Songyun and Lin Gengxin are both popular and experienced actors.

I wouldn't say it was heavy. If memory serves, there was camaraderie among the male leads and the female lead.

I sort of figured it out after watching but I noticed some comments saying that they were "related". Apart from Zhang Yi, there's no one else from Reborn in this.
Just a little disappointed that there's no Zhang Haowei. :D Otherwise this is shaping up to a fantastic police procedural.
Thank you for your response.

Even so, Reborn is a great drama. It's worth watching for its own merits.

Is this really a prequel to Reborn? Zhang Yi isn't playing the same character.

Kind of.
You'll understand it once you've seen it.

I liked My Bargain Queen until that final five, six episodes. It was good until then. Probably too long for what it was trying to do and that melodrama in that final straight was so unnecessary.

I've been very reluctant to recommend Princess Agents to anyone because it is an incomplete drama even though I followed it religiously while it was airing. I don't think it's right to put audiences through that kind of harrowing journey without any kind of promise of a second series.

To Love.
It's probably his best drama. The script is just great.

So far I'm intrigued and it isn't just because I'm a fan of Jang Hyuk and Kang Ha-na. What surprises me is how central the romance is to this story. I wasn't expecting that. Even the power plays are centred around who should be queen here and the suitability of various women in the story. That is actually a key part of what's driving the plot but in a far darker much more ruthless way than a lighter weight story like The Red Sleeve. This show actually has real stakes for everyone concerned.

What's also really interesting is the antagonist Park Gye-won -- who isn't as villainous as I had imagined. (I should have more confidence in Jang Hyuk who almost never picks cookie cutter roles) He is undoubtedly a king maker but one who believes that he has a righteous cause. In some ways it is a matter of perspective. Of course it makes sense that our sympathies are primarily with Lee Tae but Park Gye-won, the left minister represents a viewpoint about the office of the king. He evidently objects to the notion of the king as despot but as a figure who is subject to the oversight of the royal court. I think he feels it is his job to keep whoever is king on their toes. On the other hand, it seems to me too that Park Gye-won has got the blinders on. By accumulating that much power and trying to control who becomes the next queen, he is perhaps becoming something of the monster that he fears will emerge from the throne.

I am also enjoying Lee Joon's performance as Lee Tae. He genuinely has that ability to convey the duality of what the king must be to regain the power that's been taken from his family. He can be sweet and he certainly has no compunction being ruthless when he needs to. He also has a vocal delivery of a Shakespearean actor which is always a plus. The pairing of Kang Ha-na and Lee Joon is a casting coup. And really, it's almost criminal that it's taken this long for Kang Ha-na to be the lead female.

It's amazing.