lovebloomsamongthetrash
This is why everyone needs lab safety training
This drama definitely had a bunch of people making bad decisions about lab safety. (Not to mention ethics, but we're setting those aside because the moon has no ethics board, so it's fine.) I was constantly torn between yelling PUT ON YOUR HELMET at everyone as they wandered around the station and the knowledge that if Gong Yoo put on his helmet, I would not be able to see him and his neck tattoo as well. I would like to thank whoever is responsible for that character detail. He and Bae Doona were great together, especially as the show went on, but I enjoyed the cast in general!After an episode or two, I got really worried that the whole drama was going to be basically the plot of the Doctor Who episode "The Waters of Mars", but thankfully, it was not! It did feel predictable at times, but I wouldn't say that in a bad way. More like it set things up rather than going for shocking ~omg it's a twist~ twists out of nowhere.
It did feel like they were setting up a few things for a potential second season, which made me sigh, but I'd consider watching it if they made one.
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This show was basically designed for me and I am very appreciative of this fact. There's a lot to enjoy about it and it's pretty fast paced. It basically keeps ramping up the stakes and the pressure throughout the series and I thought that it really worked. Yeah, there's a few things that I probably would have changed or done differently (I know people were upset about some of the deaths), but overall I thought that it was really great. I'd say that rewatch value is high since I've already been going back and rewatching episodes and finding connections/foreshadowing.
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An interesting premise done terribly
Warning: This show has a LOT of on screen violence against both kids and animals. Yes, it's blurred, but you know what's happened/what something is.This show was certainly something. It had everything. Eugenics. Serial killers. Vengeance. Police being bad at their jobs. Problems that could have been solved if just one person answered their phone. Amnesia. Brain transplants. Murder. Government conspiracies.
And that is the problem. It had everything, so it wound up being a mess. There were bits and pieces of good ideas in the show, but the way that it came together was...not good. I finished it out of fascination, going 'what the hell' the whole time. And then in the end, the government conspiracy is successful! The bill passes!
I found the editing very confusing, especially in episode one. I was so confused about how each scene related to the others with the 'two years before' 'one year later' 'ten years ago'. It took me until like halfway through the show to actually cobble together what the actual timeline for those events was. I get that part of the point with the editing was that it was supposed to be misleading so that the reveal partway through actually means something, but there's ways to do that without making it hard to figure out what year it is when something's happening.
A lot of my frustration stems from the fact that there is that kernel of an interesting idea at the centre of the story: If we can identify a genetic disposition to violence and we identify a child as having this genetic marker, if the child has violent outbursts, are they naturally occurring or were they caused by society/family/community having treated that child as if their existence was violent in and of itself before the child was even capable of making choices?
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I watched The Longest Day in Chang'an for Zhou Yi Wei after seeing The Rebel Princess, but I wound up really, really enjoying it. I would absolutely recommend it to someone. It's set up as a detective/investigation story, but the characters were the real draw. The story was really compelling and I thought that the relationship between Zhang Xiao Jing and Long Bo/Xiao Gui was so rich! On top of that, the production design was absolutely amazing throughout. The costumes! The sets! The lantern tower! 10/10.
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Speed but Groundhog Day (or Groudhog Day, but Speed)
That is how the show was sold to me and it delivered on that promise. It was a really enjoyable show to watch and I think it's something that would be good to see a second time through, knowing what's coming so you can see some of the clues that are there.The characters are interesting and the main two - Li Shi Qing and Xiao He Yun - play off each other really well. I have a soft spot for Lu Di for cat related reasons, but the people on the bus that get backstories were all pretty great.
Biggest drawback was the copaganda, but I feel like that's pretty standard so it wasn't a surprise.
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The Rebel Princess is the cdrama that I go around try to make people watch and they think 68 episodes is too long, but every so often, I will be rewarded for my perseverance and someone will watch it. Then I enjoy myself as I watch them absolutely lose it over Xiao Qi and A'wu. I am at peace.In all seriousness, I absolutely adore this show. I've watched it through all the way twice, but I also go back and re-watch my favourite episodes (like 13, 18, 33). I was definitely lost for the first few episodes since I wasn't sure how everyone was related, but once that was sorted out, I didn't mind the court intrigue stuff. The highlight was the romance and the relationship between Xiao Qi and A'wu though. There's this lived-in intimacy with the two of them that's just so gorgeous to watch.
Spoilers after this point!
I was so relieved that this show had a happy ending. There's some bittersweetness due to so many people dying, but the main couple is happy together so it's happy.
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Train is an excellent drama that I've described to friends as "What Christopher Nolan Thinks He's Making". It's twisty turny and the way that it plays with alternate universes and the idea of fate is really interesting.I'm currently in the middle of a rewatch of Train with my dad, who has never seen it before. He is confused, but getting more animated as we go and is now at the point where he tells the people in the drama that they're being dumb, so I assume he likes it. For me, the rewatch is interesting because I'm able to pick up on things that I didn't in the first watch through.
Spoilers after this!
I'm sure the way that it ends isn't for everyone, but the idea that moving between the universes is what causes the same things to happen again made me go 😮 the first time I watched it. It's a deeply tragic concept and Do Wan leaving to protect Seo Kyung only for her to chase after him....It is everything that I love.
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An overall enjoyable show hampered by a terrible character
I get that it's a drama and there's some suspension of belief necessary, but Kang Tae Moo was the worst. Like, run, Shin Ha Ri, run. If I found out that a friend was seeing someone who had done even a fraction of the stuff Kang Tae Moo had done, I would have been hosting an intervention.The second leads were way better and I really enjoyed their story! I would have much rather seen more of them.
I thought that the show did a good job of showing friendship though! Shin Ha Ri and Jin Young Seo were adorable together and Kang Tae Moo's most redeeming stuff was with Cha Sung Hoon.
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Honestly, I don't even know
This show was almost painfully predictable. The tone was all over the place. But, it was compelling/entertaining enough to finish, so there's that.The comedic bits were great, they just didn't seem to quite fit with some of the more serious topics.
I was mostly in it for Na In Woo and I have zero regrets in that respect. He was tall and handsome. A+ for him.
On a more serious note: there’s a plot point about two men disguising themselves that involves them darkening their skin and engaging in stereotypes about Muslims.
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Today on "Don't trust cops"
Overall, I enjoyed this show! It had a decent mystery going for it and while I guessed a bunch of what was going to happen, it was still entertaining.The best part was definitely the dynamic between the two male leads. They played well off of each other. Towards the end, it seemed like they forgot about Eugene and didn't know what to do with her.
I really wish that people hadn't spent so much time hiding information from others in the name of "protecting them", but I feel like that's a pretty standard so I wasn't overly frustrated by it. Just annoyed.
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Complex family drama with good payoff
Lots of complicated family relationships in the families of both main characters and some imperial intrigue to keep things exciting. It's a nice slow burn that spends time setting up things and establishing the characters, so when you get to a moment of payoff, it's really satisfying. It's surprisingly funny at times, but it never feels like the humour is undercutting the show or bringing it down. I really appreciated how they would sometimes spend an entire episode (or more) on what's essentially one conversation or issue.I also really appreciate Ming Lan picking up that sword and walking across the house to go get the doctor because she was like "I couldn't do anything last time, but I can and I WILL now."
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Oh this show. It's got so much potential and the set-up for all of these different stories that it's got going on is excellent. That being said, it basically ends at a midway point with nothing resolved. Sure, maybe you can guess where some of it was going to go, but it's still preferable to see a story wrap up.Of the three storylines, I found Muyun Sheng's the least compelling, probably due to how little agency he seemed to have a lot of the time. Muru Han Jiang and Shuo Feng He Ye had far more interesting storylines.
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Mr. Sunshine was the first kdrama that I ever watched and oh boy, did it set a high bar. From the costumes to the music, the production quality is really high. The story is compelling and while the romance(s) are very central to the show, there's enough going on outside of them that you never feel that things are being neglected in favour of romance. I've watched it through all of the way twice and loved it just as much the second time.
Spoilers beyond this point!
I am not, and will never be, over the ending. I just cried through the last few episodes. Full sobs as pretty much everyone died.
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