For the love of a nation, a court, a people....and for the love of a woman

King Jeongjo starts off as a prince of a kingdom in peril and is the wrathful recipient of a grandfather's love through punishment. During it all, there is Deok Im, the court lady who loves at a distance and protects the prince with every moment she can.

Deok Im turns down the prince's multiple attempts at making her his concubine because she values freedom from the court and dislikes the thought of sharing a husband with a nation. Ultimately, she chooses to become his and lives a life that is far from the sparkling princess narrative. Her trepidation to share the love of a husband is human and all too well understood; from the historical point of view, the King lamented her passing and recorded a pained narrative about missing the only woman he loved.

This drama is based on an extremely rich historical story but the drama's narration, directing and acting are flawless. I didn't understand Lee Se Young's portrayal of Deok Im in the first couple of episodes and I'm not sure if she was slowly embodying the character or if it was me getting used to her in the part, but by episode 3, I could not imagine another actress's portrayal. Lee Jun Ho in the role of King Jeongjo, allowed him to display a kaleidoscope of emotions as the prince who endures, as the man and king who must put a nation before any one person. The entire main cast is riveting onscreen but a special shout-out to the secondary character portrayals by Lee Deok Hwa (King Yeongjo) and Kang Hoon (Hong Deok Ro). I felt as if I visually accompanied lives unfolding and cried like a three year old at the end.

This has to be one of the best historical dramas I've witnessed and definitely will be re-watched multiple times. It's just that good and the story is that hard to let go of.

Read More

A perfected ribbon of words, acting and production that winds it's way into your heart

I've watched every episode atleast once, reviewed several episodes and read almost 17 thousand messages about this drama. It is perfection. This story turns a mirror and magically reflects a portion of each viewer's life and I found myself, especially towards the latter half, letting an emotional tide wash over me, fill me and then had the ability to let a few memories and emotions wash away. If you watch it, be prepared to have an emotional journey all the way to the end. As far as acting, the entire cast deserves credit and there is not enough space allowed for a dissertation on each. Each person in a roll became that roll and blurred my viewing lines as to where the acting began and the person portraying the roll ended. The absolutely worst part of "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" is the fact that it ended but now, I'll now watch it again, slowly, and crawl over the details first missed.

Read More

This is a must see drama!

This is a drama about family, and all families are comprised of the good, the bad and yes, the ugly. It shows the consequences and damage of those who have been left selfishly behind and the jarring reality of children growing into adults who are left the task of putting the missing emotional jigsaw pieces back together.

To start with, let's talk actors. I adore the three main leads: Seven Tan, Song Wei Long and Steven Zhang and they very much embody their characters to the point I can't tell acting from the real person. Tu Song Yan and Zhang Xi Lin as the two father's defy description; they are just that masterful at acting and this cast together with the script and direction has become my favorite drama to date. They pull off the impossible and that's to portray true life in the most engaged way. They are a real reflection of people, which is a rare quality in any script.

My favorite couple of all time are also the two dads and thank you, thank you! screenwriter for showing us the dynamics of being a part of a family of mistakes and courage blended. Although they are not a romantic couple, they are the classic narrative of what a parent is: loving and unknowingly flawed.

I'm at episode 31 and already mourning the loss of the story after the next 9 episodes. I dread and also look forward to the end to see how the major and minor characters travel towards resolution but this will be watched and re-watched many, many times. It's just that good.

Read More

An intense ride

I binge-watched this drama in one day and was clenching my chair by the last episode. The acting is absolutely flawless, and for ten episodes, I felt like the story not only flowed at a perfect pace, but the intensity of the characters and their stories held me for the entire drama. Also, kudos to the writers because they unfolded the story of war and the repercussions endured by those who are helpless to fight or run.

Namkoong Min and Ahn Eun Jin are flawless in their roles, and their chemistry, especially in the last episodes, was off the chart. The dynamic of unsurity between the two characters is methodically played out to the very end, and the next season cannot come fast enough. Good, bad, happy or tragic, I'm all in for the ride.

Read More

Very, very well played drama

I'm usually not someone who writes a review unless it leaves an indelible imprint and "Yumi's Cells" did just that. This will be reviewed in three parts: the beginning of the relationship, the middle and sadly, the end.

The beginning: Yumi is suffering after a betrayal of a long term relationship and meets Woong through a blind date. After a somewhat rocky start, the attraction builds between and they finally become a couple. What is so fascinating and believable is the total organic and awkward movements of their first dates. Woong is instantly smitten and Yumi is trying to understand how to emotionally move forward. Everything is perfect in these first four episodes in its portrayal. Also, I'll never get past Woong's lustful dinosaur taking over. I never loved an animated creature so much in my life.

The middle: Woong and Yumi have an established relationship that is constantly tested by Woong's employee, Sae Yi. She's enjoyed Woong's adoration for a while and he was her fallback soother when her outside relationships crashed. This was an absolutely realistic portrayal of the third ghost in the party of two. Woong is reluctant to take her actions serious and the constant possession of Sae Yi towards Woong grates on Yumi's nerves and rightfully so. There comes a breaking point of the three when Yumi, in a mature manner, tells Woong in front of Sae Yi, that she's used him for years and he allows it. As she walks away, she tells him that's he a good person and should be surrounded by good people. I loved the dialogue between the two leads because every emotion is subtly played in every word they spoke. Thankfully, Woong chooses Yumi and I think I cheered in my tv room when that happened.

The end: Woong reluctantly moves in with Yumi after his business experiences financial hardship. What starts off as a rocky cohabitation ends up being something both enjoy. Their easy companionship moves Yumi to blurt out the words "would you like to get married?" Instead of Woong being upfront and honest about where he is in his life and what he is coping with at work, he shuts down emotionally and moves out. When he places her key on the kitchen table, the chasm between the two starts to grow and seeing Woong having lunch with Sae Yi (without Yumi's knowledge) , almost shouted his positional thoughts in the relationship. At the end, he states he's not in the same relationship place as Yumi and walks away. There's no music, no words of thought spoken to the viewer, just the deafening quiet sound of water from a fountain as Yumi watches him leave.

This is the most well written, best acted and most accurate portrayal of a relationship, of the give and take emotions every couple has, the very realistic reasons that it doesn't work out. I'm not a crier but seeing Yumi's reaction during their separation had me in tears. When a storyline draws you in to the point of feeling the characters, it's in a master class of storytelling. "Yumi's Cells" did just that and the characters are going to resonate in my memory for some time.

Read More

A tale of two brothers....

I would quite literally watch Lee Dong Wook stare at a wall for an hour and not move on inch away from my viewing screen. There are actors who have perfected their craft and he is definitely one of them. This story was deftly penned and expertly acted by all involved and the narrative twists and turns unexpectedly. It was everything I could hope for in a story.

My favorite part is the love story between brothers and them grappling and dealing with the emotions of love, disappointment, anger and betrayal between. Lee Dong Wook and Kim Bum had an undeniable onscreen chemistry and made me feel every emotion their characters experienced. The most surprising part was the romance between the ML and FL. Although expertly acted, their story arc seemed to not resonate as much as the brothers did. Jo Bo Ah did a phenomenal job as Nam Ji Ah and it kept bugging me throughout why I did not feel a strong connection between her and the ML. I think the best explanation was the characters were written as such that the romance between them was secondary to the relationship between fox brothers.

Anyway, I'd love to see a season 2 to see the story continue. This drama is truly worth the time spent.

Read More