Every TV production is unnecessary. People can live without them. It's not food or medicine. You don't have to watch it, you know.
However season 1 didn't even wrap Bale's storyline, and he is the main antagonist. Did Jin Man deal with him? If so, how did he manage to do it? Bale was a very dangerous enemy, the answer can't be simple. Or maybe the answe is no, so Jin Man has to recruit Ji An and deal with Bale together, all the more she has a reason, even two reasons.
And so on and so forth. Like, Ji An did protect the shop, okay. But what is she going to do with that knowledge and experience? How is she supposed to live? Will she choose the life of a civilian or is she gravitating to the world of her uncle, like himself? Has the experience changed her? Or, let's say, it woke her genetic abilities up, so Ji An will become Jing Man's comrade? Is she offended by his risky plot? She has every right to be, because he manipulated her and actually kinda set her up, she could have died. How will it influence family dynamic?
I am not sure it should even end with season 2. Maybe there is even some potential for season 3 in this drama.
It just won't happen. Netflix releases their original K-dramas every 3 weeks. The last one, Notes from the Last Row, was released on June 26th. It means we have only 8 slots more: July 17th, August 8th and 29th, September 19th, October 10th and 31st, November 20th and December 11th.
The East Palace is officially set for July 17th, according rumors, Tantara is going to be released on December 11th. The Scandal. Mousetrap and Our Sticky Love are for three August and September slots (it was told in January they are in 3rd quarter plan), and we also have Dead-End Jpbs, Road and Take Charge of My Heart for three slots in October and November (they were in 4th quarter plan). So here it is: 8 slots for 8 dramas. There are no slots for K-dramas in 2026 anymore.
I doubt that very much. "To be continued" was a funny joke/play of writers with us, but also a reference to final words of Gang Lee's chapters. Heo Mun O has become a prisoner of Gang Lee's narrative, Gang Lee's stories were so intoxicating that the (ex-)professor got hooked on them like on drugs. A new fix is really the only thing he wants deeply inside. But it doesn't really matter what the new story would be, the story of professor Heo Mun Oh himself and his people ended.
Oh, yeah, I forgot to add to my commentary. The last line "to be continued" was the most predictable ever, and people did predict it after the trailer had been released. But it was still nice and funny, and it was a right choice. You don't have to subvert expactations of the audience or outsmart the audience all the time, it would be just bad writing. Sometimes you should leave some breadcrumbs to let people guess and get some satisfaction.
After finishing the drama I still think it has been the best K-drama of the year so far (we'll see about the 2nd half of the year, there are some strong contenders). But it turned out not as great as I hoped for.
I mean, of course, Gang Lee mixed fiction and truth, it was obvious, but a viewer would doubt if he just lies/makes things up, if he exagerrates reality, if he interpretes some things wrong or all of it and for what ends he does it.
Before the drama started I thought its poster would be a reference to Gustave Flaubert and Vladimr Nabokov (and some other writers, of course), because Choi Min Sik's character looks like omniscient and omnipresent God, which what the writer is for their universe, in Flaubert and Nabokov's opinion. So I expected one twist more at the end with Mun O being the true author and manipulator. Maybe even the enitre story about Gang Lee being made up. Who knows, if Hyeon Suk existed in that way in that "real" reality.
My biggest disappointment are Lee Gang's motive and goal. "Is that it? Are you for real?" I mean Lee Gang is a more dangerous obsessive sociopathic manchild than Heo Mun O himself. Most of us had more unpleasant and disappointing encounters with people (including adults/older ones) in our childhood and youth and heard some unpleasant things. To have chip on your shoulders for 12 years and destroy the man's life because of some line he said instead of being grateful for the lesson the power of narratives and storytelling? But somehow it's overlooked or even implied as okay. Well, maybe they should show seeds of self-destruction in Gang Lee similar to Mun O.
But anyway it's a great drama and the best Choi Min Sik role in years, he is just magnetic. I agree Choi Hyun Wook is charismatic and talented, but his character was your typical dark sinister handsome antagonist with sociopathic smirks, pretty common for K-content, at the end I thought it was a bit cliched. But it's not the actor's fault, he did what he was asked to, it's just his character wasn't written complex enough. That aforementioned final twist that never was showing Mun O and Gang Lee under different angle might drastically upgrade Hyun Wook's character and explain that cliched choice for Gang Lee depiction... by Mun O, for example. I do expect people writing me nasty commentaries for the previous line, because I "offended" their oppa (I didn't really) though, it wou;dn't be the first time here.
yh it seemed obvious from the beginning that he was faking the whole story and manipulating it all, I thought…
I agree about your last line. I did think about it because of the last poster. I thought it's a reference to Gustave Flaubert and Vladimr Nabokov (and some other writers, of course), because Choi Min Sik's character looks like omniscient and omnipresent God, which what the writer is for their universe, in Flaubert and Nabokov's opinion. So I expecter one twist more at the end, and it just didn't happen.
I'm still confuse over kang and cho hyen relationship. They had affair or not because she told to min sik that…
I think the answer is it doesn't really matter, that's neither a real story, nor an interesting one. At least, in the drama's creators' opinion. Like Hyen Suk said herself.
Personally I agree with that angle. But I also think they had had sex once, at the moment before she left, it was a final step to liberate herself and close that chapter of her life story (pun intended). I mean it's a cliche in the Western mass culture with the female character freeing herself from the bad husband through her act of sex with another man. And the drama plays with literary cliches and tools.
Anyway it doesn't really matter, and Mun Oh has never been her real husband in his head in the first place, longing for the woman who barely remembered him from the school.
how is this one doing? has anyone watched the whole thing
It's a great drama In my opinion it has been the best K-drama of 2026 so far. I haven't finished it yet though, and probably nobody has at the moment. It was released about 4 hours ago, and the drama has 6 episodes, most ot them are longer than 1 hour.
The ending of episode 1 is brilliant, it's both hilarious and moving. Choi Min Sik gives some great, Baeksang-level peformance. Of course, he is a very respected, award-winning actor, but he truly deserves to be a contender at least in this case. Here I wrote after the trailer it's his best role in years, and I can confirm my prediction now.
22 episodes? Do anyone know if it will be like a few stories that take place after one another or it’s a story…
As far as I understand from the drama's description and some footage Netflix released in winter, it would be the same story, but ptobably in two timelines, in 1960s and 1980s.
Well, kinda yes. although the release date hasn't been announced yet. July 22nd was in the captions to the teaser in official account of Disney+ Singapore in Instagram, but they edited it several days later.
With great cinematography, captivating 70s noir vibes and a star-studded cast, this is a story of espionage, smuggling…
> this short drama
It was just part 1 though. Part 2 was promoted among Disney+ releases of this summer, I guess it is set for August 19th or 26th (maybe, just maybe early September 2nd or 9th), after A Shop for Killers season 2 ends.
There are no news specifically about this drama. But it's November or December.
A Shop for Killers season 2 is set for July, 22nd, it ends on August 12th. Made in Korea season 2 was in the trailer for summer releases too, so it's for August 19th or 26th, maybe, just maybe, early September, and it ends in September or early October. The actress who plays the FL of The Remarried Empress, Shin Min Ah. said her drama is going to be released in October, and it has 10 episodes.
So this leaves us only mid-to-late November or December for Portraits of Delusion.
I hate when media use cliche "timely" about some movie or show. But in this case I would say the word "timely" would be justified. With "AI" (look at the LLM boom) and invasion into human mind (the same thing about Elon Musk's Neuralink and so on) the drama's premise is a real potential threat for the next few decades, and we need at least comprehend what it means through the culture. I haven't seen anything really substantial in the first reaser yet, but I hope for a smart story. We need it now.
However season 1 didn't even wrap Bale's storyline, and he is the main antagonist. Did Jin Man deal with him? If so, how did he manage to do it? Bale was a very dangerous enemy, the answer can't be simple. Or maybe the answe is no, so Jin Man has to recruit Ji An and deal with Bale together, all the more she has a reason, even two reasons.
And so on and so forth. Like, Ji An did protect the shop, okay. But what is she going to do with that knowledge and experience? How is she supposed to live? Will she choose the life of a civilian or is she gravitating to the world of her uncle, like himself? Has the experience changed her? Or, let's say, it woke her genetic abilities up, so Ji An will become Jing Man's comrade? Is she offended by his risky plot? She has every right to be, because he manipulated her and actually kinda set her up, she could have died. How will it influence family dynamic?
I am not sure it should even end with season 2. Maybe there is even some potential for season 3 in this drama.
The East Palace is officially set for July 17th, according rumors, Tantara is going to be released on December 11th. The Scandal. Mousetrap and Our Sticky Love are for three August and September slots (it was told in January they are in 3rd quarter plan), and we also have Dead-End Jpbs, Road and Take Charge of My Heart for three slots in October and November (they were in 4th quarter plan). So here it is: 8 slots for 8 dramas. There are no slots for K-dramas in 2026 anymore.
I mean, of course, Gang Lee mixed fiction and truth, it was obvious, but a viewer would doubt if he just lies/makes things up, if he exagerrates reality, if he interpretes some things wrong or all of it and for what ends he does it.
Before the drama started I thought its poster would be a reference to Gustave Flaubert and Vladimr Nabokov (and some other writers, of course), because Choi Min Sik's character looks like omniscient and omnipresent God, which what the writer is for their universe, in Flaubert and Nabokov's opinion. So I expected one twist more at the end with Mun O being the true author and manipulator. Maybe even the enitre story about Gang Lee being made up. Who knows, if Hyeon Suk existed in that way in that "real" reality.
My biggest disappointment are Lee Gang's motive and goal. "Is that it? Are you for real?" I mean Lee Gang is a more dangerous obsessive sociopathic manchild than Heo Mun O himself. Most of us had more unpleasant and disappointing encounters with people (including adults/older ones) in our childhood and youth and heard some unpleasant things. To have chip on your shoulders for 12 years and destroy the man's life because of some line he said instead of being grateful for the lesson the power of narratives and storytelling? But somehow it's overlooked or even implied as okay. Well, maybe they should show seeds of self-destruction in Gang Lee similar to Mun O.
But anyway it's a great drama and the best Choi Min Sik role in years, he is just magnetic. I agree
Choi Hyun Wook is charismatic and talented, but his character was your typical dark sinister handsome antagonist with sociopathic smirks, pretty common for K-content, at the end I thought it was a bit cliched. But it's not the actor's fault, he did what he was asked to, it's just his character wasn't written complex enough. That aforementioned final twist that never was showing Mun O and Gang Lee under different angle might drastically upgrade Hyun Wook's character and explain that cliched choice for Gang Lee depiction... by Mun O, for example. I do expect people writing me nasty commentaries for the previous line, because I "offended" their oppa (I didn't really) though, it wou;dn't be the first time here.
Personally I agree with that angle. But I also think they had had sex once, at the moment before she left, it was a final step to liberate herself and close that chapter of her life story (pun intended). I mean it's a cliche in the Western mass culture with the female character freeing herself from the bad husband through her act of sex with another man. And the drama plays with literary cliches and tools.
Anyway it doesn't really matter, and Mun Oh has never been her real husband in his head in the first place, longing for the woman who barely remembered him from the school.
It was just part 1 though. Part 2 was promoted among Disney+ releases of this summer, I guess it is set for August 19th or 26th (maybe, just maybe early September 2nd or 9th), after A Shop for Killers season 2 ends.
However I do agree about your general evaluation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWLOXW6odgk
A Shop for Killers season 2 is set for July, 22nd, it ends on August 12th. Made in Korea season 2 was in the trailer for summer releases too, so it's for August 19th or 26th, maybe, just maybe, early September, and it ends in September or early October. The actress who plays the FL of The Remarried Empress, Shin Min Ah. said her drama is going to be released in October, and it has 10 episodes.
So this leaves us only mid-to-late November or December for Portraits of Delusion.