So the thing is - not trying to start a controversy here - ep9 is kind of low-key calm. BUT in the flashback scene…
Soooo. I don't trust the CEO. That recording could have been made previously and the CEO could have gone and killed WooSeoung that night anyway after he wouldn't pull back from leaving the company.
Also, the ex looks a bit kind of nasty-thinking-inclined right now, doesn't she? The way she crumpled that photo of them together is not inducing any calmness and acceptance if that was the intention.
TBH the FL is kind of getting overshadowed here, it's like she's not in the episode at all but as background. Even her friend is looking more lively and actually has an important interraction with the ML, making him see the light, LOL. Her though... her story isn't progressing at all.
Looking at the ep count, we've only got 3 more, just sayin'. I guess her backstory will remain unsolved or it'll get solved pretty fast.
So the thing is - not trying to start a controversy here - ep9 is kind of low-key calm. BUT in the flashback scene where he's dead to the world drunk and WooSeoung pours him into his bed, LOL - did anyone else notice that bubble butt? LOL. *making a hasty escape*
Just finished it and I’m pretty impressed— this is def a Netflix style CSI: tight, suspenseful, and no wasted…
Want some recs for other good Chinese mystery/crime/police dramas?
Obviously 1. Under the Skin (both seasons) - police mixed with psychological drama. Then 2. Reset (2022) - definitely one of the best time paradox thrillers out there. 3. The Wanted Detective (this has a bonus, being a costume drama too). 4. The Embers - also psychological (in more than one ways). 5. Hunter (/Wolf Hunter) - this is one great action-thriller about the border policing, but sadly it's on MangoTV and the subs... (WHAT subs?!) are atrocious. Which reminds me of 6. Dead End - slice of life, small-time police officers doing their thing.
Except for cats - he needs some cats. (Dogs would work too, but if he's away for longer periods, dogs would pine and hurt. Cats, multiple cats, with a random sitter for cleaning up, won't even feel he's gone :D)
As for drinking or smoking, socially or not - he might be one of us few lucky ones who don't actually feel the appeal AT ALL. Even after trying them, they don't catch on. So that's a dumb way to burn money and gives no pleasure at all, why do it in the end?
Re: people not inviting him because he doesn't drink - a lot of people who enjoy drinking don't like feeling like being judged by their sober friend/acquaintance who stays cool and reserved in a circle of rambuctious drunks. Been there, done that. It's even more awkward for the sober friend to deal with random outbursts of people who lost reason for a bit. Probably even more so in such a conservative society as in SK. In the West, he'd probably end up as the go-to DD, but in SK, who knows... people might be embarassed they showed their unfiltered selves to him, and each party would want to not do that at all.
Anyway - better sober and with fewer (and well-tried) friends, than a social drinker who gets exposed to all kinds of dangerous situations for a South Korean actor.
Could barely go through ep5, have almost zero desire to watch 6th. There's just something that doesn't work for me in this drama. And it's the villain. I could care less about all the fuss in the political angle, the big discoveries (that are definitely not surprises at all about the corruption in the draft-dodging business of "important/rich" people's sons getting exemptions) are underwhelming, and the pace is basically all over the place.
The only stand-outs so far are Ji Sung (being Ji Sung) and Judge Lim being a fanboy. Other than that, the FL is invisible (by now I'm rooting for the ex-wife, at least she's "alive") and I'm starting to like the mobster-like angel of the community (that I'm assuming we won't be seeing much of now since they're going to Seoul).
So yeah... I might eventually drop this one, sorry Ji Sung.
Still the most relaxed police drama ever, right up til the end. The best thing about it is the music - the songs…
The main plot was kind of weak TBH. So his GF dies and in the end they make it a bit more dramatic BUT the main villain is not so much present... (and the actor's reactions were AMAZING. I wish they had given him a bit more to work with).
LYX was ML but JQL got most of the screen time, Fei QiMing was barely on-screen, Li JiaHao was ON!!!! (I had already noticed him in TTEOTM, but he does this thing where he grabs the light when he's in the scene, I hope a lot more roles come his way).
It started with interesting mysteries and cases and devolved into a drug-bust after drug-bust (and YEAH mobster-I-forgot-the-name-of, him with the revenge plot, TELL THEM!! That super-special drug team investigated forever and didn't even find out that Wu Ya that they already had WAS their most-wanted drug lord LOL.)
PS WHO gave Qi SiZhe the book back, with the formula in it?! Li Ming was already dead at that time, and his professor certainly wouldn't have given it back. So?
Still the most relaxed police drama ever, right up til the end. The best thing about it is the music - the songs are all great. I love that one that goes ha - ha - ha (the OST list says it's called Regret Monkey, whatever for LOL or is that the singer/band?!).
"Guess what I am in the justice dep't, I'll give you three guesses and you already made two wrong assumptions"…
Because I don't really remember Baek JinHee, is she always so wooden?! Or it's the character she's playing? I have such a hard time connecting to her parts, it's boring and the chara looks pretty stupid.
Also, where the heck did Hwang Hee go?! Was he on only for the first case? The cast has him as "LHY's assistant", what is he assisting with when he didn't show up for two eps already?! Did we see the last of him?
As for the FL - if that's what she's supposed to be - how come she's on screen less than the stupid reporter?!
It's not even early eps now, we're 4 out of 14 in, we've almost reached the third of the drama. If there IS a FL, she should be doing more or at least appearing more. Or is it the ex-life wife, played by Oh SeYoung? Because she IS fun, even though her character is so twisted. At least she seems present and lively in her scenes, which isn't true for some of the rest of the cast.
"Guess what I am in the justice dep't, I'll give you three guesses and you already made two wrong assumptions" LOL, that was fun.
What I like best are the small interactions, where the dialogue and "presence" of actors carry the spoof moments. What doesn't work for me is the over-arching plot. There are some good (and well known) actors that do basically nothing at all for the story except sit around looking stern and stuff. There are some faces I don't recognise that have really dumb charas (or embody them in such a manner that they really appear to be dumb), which is... not great.
Which means to say - I seriously don't enjoy the villain parts. Or not yet. Nothing much is happening there, and while I know it'll be important at some point, I don't even want to see it, because it'll probably be the regular-type political conspiracy that one would expect.
I'll keep watching for the funny moments and check my brain at the door for the legal proceedings ('cause let's be honest, they're also not really "it").
So no BS necessary, they hoodwinked themselves. Oh well, it's a fantasy revenge drama, that's what it is.
It's kind of frustrating how he's getting through cases though, NGL. Basically he has the cheat sheet with all the right answers and can't go wrong, instead of getting new cases that he doesn't know the underlying motives for.
So, the cases will mostly all be slam-dunks and not really entertaining, no matter how unhinged he goes about them.
I guess I'll watch it for the face-slapping then, if it keeps going. I LOVED the encounter with the other-life wife, she was hilarious. I actually liked her here, the pampered obnoxious lil' princess she is. And was her sister a cameo appeareance?
I don’t have a problem with him taking her being a stan wayyyyyy too seriously. My problem is with the director…
It's way too serious, though. He has a lot of trust issues, and warranted - his own MOM sells him like a piece of merch - his only friend in this world (as he knew him) was just murdered, he never got to live his own life according to his own wishes since he became an idol, his freaking LOVER told him when they broke up that she didn't even see a genuine person behind his idol public mask, and he has sasaeng fan issues (they break into his home, harass him at signings and fan-meets, even play with his car in revenge - WATCH HIM AS HE SLEEPS IN HIS OWN BED?! Yeeesh. When they said that in the first ep, I gagged).
So now the person who he thought was the only one who doesn't KNOW his public persona, so he could think she only sees the "real" DRI, is actually a fan, maybe a sasaeng too, who can SEE how he struggles, how he's drowning, how he has nobody else so SHE gives him a hand up... in order for him to trust her completely.
I totally get him. It's bone-deep betrayal, especially since he never had a chance to properly meet anyone else who didn't know him as a human, before. She was the one, and she turns out to be someone who also knows his idol persona best and maybe never registered his existence as a person outside the idol mask (I think that's his thought line).
He seems to have quite a naive personality, to boot, so maybe he IS kind of simple and not considering the complex behaviours people could exhibit.
Oh well. It's a drama, things get to be dramatic. (And TBH I love myself some makjang :D)
ETA Though now that I think about it, a proper makjang needs way more outside-of-marriage kids, a few spurned ex-lovers and maybe he turning out to be the secret son of a chaebol heir who just couldn't take him in the family because of reasons. I'd be expecting AT LEAST that much :D
...It's definitely the CEO, right? 'Cause if WooSeoung had taken the band with him, the company would have nothing much. Now, with WS dead, he can just keep DRI and make a fortune off him solo or in any other way. He seems okay with losing the rest of the band.
And he'd have a way to blackmail DRI into it - if he doesn't agree and sign (maybe he already signed), he could just not admit that he knew DRI didn't intend to switch management and hadn't signed with the other co. thus giving the prosecution a motive for the murder.
With an extra suspicious side of the last band member, who might've been roped into it or had told the CEO on WS, who knows.
TBH it took me half the drama to get caught by it. But now it did catch me and I have to pace myself to have some eps left before I'd have to wait-watch LOL.
I can even tell why it happened - they're finally getting a bit more meat on the main overarching plot and it feels like we're getting somewhere and it isn't just Qi SiZhe being obsessed with something that happened to him.
For the third case - applauses for Cao XiYue, playing Ding YouMei - she really sells it.
For the fourth case (I'm after 11 now) - my money's on the little kid. Little kids in police dramas are all the rage in criminal material LOL.
PS Each and every modern drama LYX does, I get hypnotised by his shoes. Just how big his shoes are, LOL? (And by that I obviously mean his foot size, hahaha~) His feet are HUGE! Or is it the contrast between that lithe silhouette and regular-sized feet? Anyway... I like that contrast, LOL.
3 
Also, the ex looks a bit kind of nasty-thinking-inclined right now, doesn't she? The way she crumpled that photo of them together is not inducing any calmness and acceptance if that was the intention.
TBH the FL is kind of getting overshadowed here, it's like she's not in the episode at all but as background. Even her friend is looking more lively and actually has an important interraction with the ML, making him see the light, LOL. Her though... her story isn't progressing at all.
Looking at the ep count, we've only got 3 more, just sayin'. I guess her backstory will remain unsolved or it'll get solved pretty fast.
Obviously
1. Under the Skin (both seasons) - police mixed with psychological drama. Then
2. Reset (2022) - definitely one of the best time paradox thrillers out there.
3. The Wanted Detective (this has a bonus, being a costume drama too).
4. The Embers - also psychological (in more than one ways).
5. Hunter (/Wolf Hunter) - this is one great action-thriller about the border policing, but sadly it's on MangoTV and the subs... (WHAT subs?!) are atrocious.
Which reminds me of
6. Dead End - slice of life, small-time police officers doing their thing.
Except for cats - he needs some cats. (Dogs would work too, but if he's away for longer periods, dogs would pine and hurt. Cats, multiple cats, with a random sitter for cleaning up, won't even feel he's gone :D)
As for drinking or smoking, socially or not - he might be one of us few lucky ones who don't actually feel the appeal AT ALL. Even after trying them, they don't catch on. So that's a dumb way to burn money and gives no pleasure at all, why do it in the end?
Re: people not inviting him because he doesn't drink - a lot of people who enjoy drinking don't like feeling like being judged by their sober friend/acquaintance who stays cool and reserved in a circle of rambuctious drunks. Been there, done that. It's even more awkward for the sober friend to deal with random outbursts of people who lost reason for a bit. Probably even more so in such a conservative society as in SK. In the West, he'd probably end up as the go-to DD, but in SK, who knows... people might be embarassed they showed their unfiltered selves to him, and each party would want to not do that at all.
Anyway - better sober and with fewer (and well-tried) friends, than a social drinker who gets exposed to all kinds of dangerous situations for a South Korean actor.
(Just go get those cats though).
The only stand-outs so far are Ji Sung (being Ji Sung) and Judge Lim being a fanboy. Other than that, the FL is invisible (by now I'm rooting for the ex-wife, at least she's "alive") and I'm starting to like the mobster-like angel of the community (that I'm assuming we won't be seeing much of now since they're going to Seoul).
So yeah... I might eventually drop this one, sorry Ji Sung.
LYX was ML but JQL got most of the screen time, Fei QiMing was barely on-screen, Li JiaHao was ON!!!! (I had already noticed him in TTEOTM, but he does this thing where he grabs the light when he's in the scene, I hope a lot more roles come his way).
It started with interesting mysteries and cases and devolved into a drug-bust after drug-bust (and YEAH mobster-I-forgot-the-name-of, him with the revenge plot, TELL THEM!! That super-special drug team investigated forever and didn't even find out that Wu Ya that they already had WAS their most-wanted drug lord LOL.)
PS WHO gave Qi SiZhe the book back, with the formula in it?! Li Ming was already dead at that time, and his professor certainly wouldn't have given it back. So?
Anyway this one https://youtu.be/9gQTwi7oaHs?list=RD9gQTwi7oaHs&t=525
Also, where the heck did Hwang Hee go?! Was he on only for the first case? The cast has him as "LHY's assistant", what is he assisting with when he didn't show up for two eps already?! Did we see the last of him?
As for the FL - if that's what she's supposed to be - how come she's on screen less than the stupid reporter?!
It's not even early eps now, we're 4 out of 14 in, we've almost reached the third of the drama. If there IS a FL, she should be doing more or at least appearing more. Or is it the ex-life wife, played by Oh SeYoung? Because she IS fun, even though her character is so twisted. At least she seems present and lively in her scenes, which isn't true for some of the rest of the cast.
Is this a one-man show?...
What I like best are the small interactions, where the dialogue and "presence" of actors carry the spoof moments. What doesn't work for me is the over-arching plot. There are some good (and well known) actors that do basically nothing at all for the story except sit around looking stern and stuff. There are some faces I don't recognise that have really dumb charas (or embody them in such a manner that they really appear to be dumb), which is... not great.
Which means to say - I seriously don't enjoy the villain parts. Or not yet. Nothing much is happening there, and while I know it'll be important at some point, I don't even want to see it, because it'll probably be the regular-type political conspiracy that one would expect.
I'll keep watching for the funny moments and check my brain at the door for the legal proceedings ('cause let's be honest, they're also not really "it").
So, the cases will mostly all be slam-dunks and not really entertaining, no matter how unhinged he goes about them.
I guess I'll watch it for the face-slapping then, if it keeps going. I LOVED the encounter with the other-life wife, she was hilarious. I actually liked her here, the pampered obnoxious lil' princess she is. And was her sister a cameo appeareance?
Sing: "Your family is me" - over THAT theme.
Okay, nobody needs jump scares. *sigh* Sing's such a good boyfriend. Let's clone him.
And her house was his temple, LOL. It was bound to be a lot of DRI/GB merch.
Actually, what he spread on the floor was quite a lot less than what I'd expected, LOL.
So now the person who he thought was the only one who doesn't KNOW his public persona, so he could think she only sees the "real" DRI, is actually a fan, maybe a sasaeng too, who can SEE how he struggles, how he's drowning, how he has nobody else so SHE gives him a hand up... in order for him to trust her completely.
I totally get him. It's bone-deep betrayal, especially since he never had a chance to properly meet anyone else who didn't know him as a human, before. She was the one, and she turns out to be someone who also knows his idol persona best and maybe never registered his existence as a person outside the idol mask (I think that's his thought line).
He seems to have quite a naive personality, to boot, so maybe he IS kind of simple and not considering the complex behaviours people could exhibit.
Oh well. It's a drama, things get to be dramatic. (And TBH I love myself some makjang :D)
ETA Though now that I think about it, a proper makjang needs way more outside-of-marriage kids, a few spurned ex-lovers and maybe he turning out to be the secret son of a chaebol heir who just couldn't take him in the family because of reasons. I'd be expecting AT LEAST that much :D
And he'd have a way to blackmail DRI into it - if he doesn't agree and sign (maybe he already signed), he could just not admit that he knew DRI didn't intend to switch management and hadn't signed with the other co. thus giving the prosecution a motive for the murder.
With an extra suspicious side of the last band member, who might've been roped into it or had told the CEO on WS, who knows.
I can even tell why it happened - they're finally getting a bit more meat on the main overarching plot and it feels like we're getting somewhere and it isn't just Qi SiZhe being obsessed with something that happened to him.
For the third case - applauses for Cao XiYue, playing Ding YouMei - she really sells it.
For the fourth case (I'm after 11 now) - my money's on the little kid. Little kids in police dramas are all the rage in criminal material LOL.
PS Each and every modern drama LYX does, I get hypnotised by his shoes. Just how big his shoes are, LOL? (And by that I obviously mean his foot size, hahaha~) His feet are HUGE! Or is it the contrast between that lithe silhouette and regular-sized feet? Anyway... I like that contrast, LOL.