ShortCircuit

You have GOT to watch this masterpiece (all 6 minutes of it). It's all I can think of when I read Long Dan's name on the sub, LOL.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-1Ue0FFrHY

Watched ATEEZ, EXO, GOT7, NCT127, SEVENTEEN... and that's about it. Started because of ATEEZ (was a fan before anyway), EXO got recommended (Chen's vocals are CRAZY!!! and TBH, all 7 of them who were on KV were amazing), the rest didn't impress me much *sad sigh*.

I guess it's a slowly acquired taste, kpop, that is...

ETA And now Roy Kim and Rain (because why not) and Mamamoo. I only knew Rain as an actor, wow, he can hit those high notes too.

It's not clear yet what's the relationship between SDJ/SH and the secretary lady. Both her and EunNam's mother - I forget her name, Mrs. Cha something - know SH and are certain that child is dead. So they either 1. had a part in getting rid of the child, whoever he is or 2. one of them is his real mother. I do NOT think the secretary is his mother, her reaction is way too understated for it to be true IMHO. And Mrs. Cha is not his mother either, 'cause she'd be going apesh!t crazy right now about it, given EunNam was his lover for a year.

Maybe the chairman did have some secret lover all those years ago, and maybe that woman also died (in the accident where SH was lost, or in some other way), other than the current secret son's mother LOL.

What if he turns out to be the first son of Heo Il-Do? That would be a true twist, LOL. It would give Mrs. Cha a reason to get rid of him, too.

We just have to wait and see :D

By ep6 she has buyer's remorse but hasn't returned the purchase yet, LOL. We'll see.

BH is a makjang thriller - great visuals, lots of violence, not a lot of comedy, lots of chaebol tropes. UHS is more of a romcom, don't think too much of the specifics of the NIS game, plenty of eyecandy too, some bullying.

Both suffer from stupid FL syndrome, sadly. UHS is shorter though (by mid-drama, she didn't evolve one bit, just as silly as in the beginning. It turns out it's not a acquired taste for me, I'm only still watching because of SKJ.)

To me, not to get a dig in at the UHS watchers (I'm watching it myself), that one's more of a dumb fun drama. This one isn't a masterpiece either BUT it deals with more mature plots (and lots of violence, bears repeating.)

If I were aware of both their merits and demerits before starting, I'd pick BH. But I can watch multiple dramas at the same time, LOL, so I don't really have to choose. Considering your pf name, LOL, and your stated preferences... I'd say go with BH. In the end it'll be a match between glorious MLs hahaha~, for me, PHS wins (though I won't give up SKJ either.)

Only the first two eps have that vibe, but mixed with The Bourne Identity and after ep6 we're moving on to the revenge game.

Dive in!

Repeatedly and so easily? Only in dramas.

Lovers not communicating. Truck of doom. Childhood trauma. Secret revenge plan. Goons being goons. Everybody in the chaebol family is playing stupid games. Presumed heir-to-be is not the one who wants to inherit, therefore more stupid but deadly games. Corruption all over the place. The secret child (children?) of the top males of the family (over multiple generations, LOL). Amnesia plot.

PPL, too, LOL, but that's a given for any kdrama.

Shall I go on?

ETA Be warned that for a thriller, this a VERY makjang thriller. I wanted a good makjang lately, though, and this is filling all expectations and then some. Just don't go in expecting a clear-cut thriller.

That was right after the Korean War, I expect the averages were really down because of it (and the preceding WWII).

If you're going to use the TruckofDoomTM, it HAS to be white.

It is known.

This would be the only ML who has an on/off memory button switched by trauma, LOL. Every time he sees something really shocking, he'll lose his memories. I wonder why he didn't when he saw her get married, LOL. Maybe he was shocked... alright, not that shocked, as the meme goes :D

Very. Expect tropes. Lots of tropes.

And they said the town is really really far (and the princess also got exiled to that region, right?), but Mr. Zhen got zipped around like lightning when he was needed LOL. (The mains left for that town because Jiang Si wanted to pay homage to their ancestors' shrine or something. Then Zhan ran out of time and went back to enlist, after his martial arts instructor randomly lost his wife in a half episode or something. They really should have decided what to cut and what to leave in before they started filming.)

Anyway, I'll just stick to following Long Dan (heheh, nice name, even if it's not what they intended with it) and leave it at that for now.

In Perfect Match, the mother of the gaggle of sisters is played by the Xu mother, LOL. I had a blast watching her again, and Xu Daddy is winning in this one, too. It's lovely recognising support charas because they play their parts so well :D

The NanWu spy who sold the aphrodisiac pill to the other Jiang daughter's husband, I forget her name. They caught him because he was being careless with the drugs, but he's part of the NanWu spy network and his people want to rescue him if it's possible.

It sadly is pretty forgettable when looking at the presumable main plot, the ones I'm rooting for are the brother and the ML's aide (he's stealing every scene he's in.) The story is kind of bland and the pace is all over the place.

Still, it's good enough to watch waiting for something better.

I am growing really disenchated with the editing and parts of the directing. There are some skips that make no sense and some scenes where all the actors, leads included, forget how to deliver their lines and mess up their expressions. And now we have random guest charas coming out of the woodwork to move the plot along with nothing to prepare the transitions from case to case.

It's like they're butchering the drama to make it fit the number of eps, and it suffers for it.

I wonder when this was actually filmed, 'cause 2023's WoL Jing Tian acted way better there.

Highschoolers are teenagers. EVERY little thing that happens around them has to be centered on them, and them only, and if it doesn't, that's a sign the universe is plotting against them.

I remember that age and I'm not proud, LOL. But then, nobody around me (of the same age) could say they were the best either. We were all in the wrong together. And the universe DID plot against us. A lot. Or at least that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

I'd LOVE to be able to return to childhood though (not teen age). Being carefree and clueless like that never happened again after it passed. That is what life should be about.

If they're in their 40s, they're writing and directing stories about their grandparents or great-grandparents' generation (at the youngest, assuming the charas start at around 20 years of age). It's been 65 years since the 60s. That's at least three generations' time, and the charas are already adults at the beginning of the period.

I wonder if something so far back in time (that is not really all that far, since it's not Joseon anymore, nor set in war times, as per usual) would click with the young people of today. I guess we'll see, depending on how interesting they make the story.

He doesn't actually have to care about how he does in school, though, does he? And the bullying only bothers him - for himself, I mean - when it messes with his mission.

Obviously he can - and does - intervene in favour of the bullied kids, but then, he's an actual ADULT (which I'd like to see the FL acting as) and CAN disengage extremely easily. Already did too - skipped a day because he wanted to. If they kick him out of school there won't be any consequences for him, maybe make his mission a bit harder but that's it. A well-planned burglary would have ended the mission in a day or two anyway with no shenanigans in school. But then we wouldn't have had a drama either.

The kids in school don't have his options and have to plan for the long term.