Not nearly as good as season one

I was tremendously disappointed in Season 2 of Stranger. The friendships that had been developed in Season 1 were gone as if they never existed. Now, the police and the prosecution were at odds about everything. I SO missed Shi Mok and Yeo Jin solving crimes together.

And this is just my personal opinion, but there were just too many corrupt people! It seemed like it was everyone other than Shi Mok and Yeo Jin! In a move to make the majority of the people in the show corrupt, they had to create multiple convoluted cases, most of which I didn't care about. Everything was too long and drawn out.

I also didn't care for the ending, too open for me, without adequate consequences for a few of the people.

However, I will say, it was worth watching the second season if only for Shi Mok's smile at the end!

Read More

So many twists and turns

I'll start by saying that I'm not big on corruption stories. Give me a romance and I'm all over it, but watching a show about many, many people being bad and doing bad? Not so much. However, for me, this show was excellent. It requires a lot of attention, and I wouldn't advise binging it. I was exhausted and my brain hurt after every episode.

ACTING: Excellent! I have to call out Cho Seung Woo especially, as prosecutor Hwang Shi Mok. He had brain surgery in the past to control his violent temper and now doesn't have the capacity to feel emotions. We've all watched actors where they have to convey emotions only with their eyes or their body language. Here, he had to display NO emotion. I was fascinated by this character. I could feel his loneliness from being out of step with absolutely everyone else. Everyone else was good as well. There were some obvious villains and some surprises as well. The relationship between Shi Mok and inspector Yeo Jin was really interesting to watch, and I liked how they worked well together and came to depend upon each other. And, I don't say this often, but THANK YOU for leaving out the romance!

MUSIC: The music was good, there was music that really brought out the tenseness of the scenes, but it didn't crowd out the dialogue or the action.

CAMERA AND MAKEUP WORK: The coloration they used was slightly blue, which really gave the impression that these people basically lived in the office and had no lives. They also showed a lot of closeups, and they didn't make much of an attempt to cover up flaws. That contributed to the gritty feel of the show.

I can highly recommend this drama. Just when you think you've figured it out, in comes someone else that's corrupt!

Read More

All I can say is watch it!

This one took me by surprise, I admit. When I think badminton, I remember back to playing in school - basically trying to just get the birdie over the net. There was so much strength and power watching the badminton tournaments, and watching all they did while practicing. But badminton takes a back seat to the friendships and the community. I laughed and I cried, a lot.

The young ML character of Yoon Hae Kang starts playing badminton after moving to the country. He was a middle school baseball star, so starting badminton (with his dad as the coach) didn't start out well. He started out with a big chip on his shoulder, and I wondered how long I'd have to put up with that behavior. He kept his cockiness throughout, but watching him develop actual deep, meaningful friendships was such a lovely thing to watch.

Friendships, first love, separating from your parent's help, bullying, corruption. This drama has it all.

The acting was so good all the way around. I loved the friendships between the boys, but I also loved the villagers. You know, the typical quirky characters, but each person had their own story that blended in so well with the others. The sad young couple that come to live in the village for mysterious reasons - I loved their story development and how they integrated into the community. I also loved the old lady that made a playroom, and the kids would go there, because she had Wi-Fi. How the kids were absorbed in their own lives, but also cared about the elders in the village.

I do have to say that at the beginning I hated the dad/coach. He just seemed so stupid to me. But the more I watched, the more memories it brought back of me and my own parents - how they tried to be cool and fit into my world, but all it did was cause embarrassment. I think you'll feel this more, the further you watch.

I loved watching the friendships between the boys develop, especially since Yoon Hae Kang was an outsider and didn't want to be there. As he let the other boys into his life, then it progressed to the boys letting others in as well. I just can't say enough about the friendships.

I loved the BTS music and references. The actors breaking the fourth wall and looking at the camera was funny throughout, but never more funny than when the coach said he thought the boys were cooler than BTS. The boys got really nervous and said he should never say things like that, because it could be really bad (protective Army reference!), and the dad looks straight into the camera, apologizes, and runs away.

I held off watching this for the longest time, thinking it was just a sports drama. It turned out to be so much more to me.

Read More

Dissenting opinion here

Please bear in mind that this is ONLY my opinion!

The cinematography in this drama was fabulous, as was the music. Episode 1 started so strongly; I had high hopes for this show. Song Joong Ki and Ok Taec Yeon were both excellent. Plus, there was the advantage of a bunch of actors that I have loved in other works.

For me, this drama had a couple of problems. 1) First, so much bloodshed for the sake of bloodshed. Vincenzo is completely missing a moral compass, which made it hard for me to root for him in any capacity. Then, you have the upright citizens whose moral compasses go on the fritz or something and are willing to do whatever it takes for revenge. 2) The character was just all-around irritating. I kept waiting for her to get better, but no such luck. 3) I didn't feel the chemistry between the ML and FL. They would have been better to stick with the bromance.

But worst of all was the comedy. Don't get me wrong, the comedy was, for the most part, funny, and if the serious parts were less dark and violent, it might have worked well. However, it felt too much like the writers were trying to lighten up the heavy storyline and it felt contrived. The serious parts provided a lot of tension, but I kept being pulled out of the story by the comedy. So often, to me, this felt like a mash up of two diametrically opposed genres.

My review is to remind me of what I watched and what I thought, not to change anyone's mind, so please don't come at me with hate.

Read More

Surprisingly fun!

I read a review by someone else and decided to give this show a try. THEN I realized that Choi Jin Hyuk was in it, and I wondered if I'd been living under a rock!

Choi Jin Hyuk could read a cereal box and I'd be all in. He was terrific in this role. His deep, wonderful voice is a given. What I didn't realize was that he can be really funny. He is really good at micro-expressions, especially in the first part of the show. When he was trying to become more human, I just cracked up! A zombie on a treadmill will never not be funny.

I thought this show was extremely funny, until it wasn't. Midway through, the tone turned pretty dark, which I could have done without, but after all, it is a show about a zombie.

The supporting characters were just that - a bunch of characters! The rival detectives were a hoot, and the FL was sometimes irritating, but I appreciated her more once they became partners. And the FL's family? Too funny.

So, if you want a show that you can watch and turn off your brain for a bit, you might like this one. I know I did.

Read More

Weak story but strong heart

Let's get the negative out of the way first -
1) Weak writing and too many episodes. The first episodes were strong, then a big gap in the middle, then the last couple of issues tied everything up.
2) Often felt like a pout-fest. Between Park Shin Hye and Lee Sung Kyung, someone was always pouting.
3) Absolutely didn't buy Uhm Hyo Sub and Jeon Gook Hwan as father and son, there's only a 14-year difference between them.
4) The friend with the restaurant and the guy that quits and hangs out at her house. They could have both been eliminated with no loss of anything important.
5) The ridiculous breakup of the main couple. First, she tells him to change and then she pouts through the next episode. Just seemed like filler to me.
6) They always seemed to be having coffee or drinks throughout the day. I was wondering when they actually worked.

What I liked:
1) The main couple were so freaking cute together! I'm not normally a fan of student-teacher things, but that didn't bother me here. Once the years have passed and the first thing he does are asking if she's married or has a boyfriend, loved it!
2) I LOVED the story line of Yoon Do. Yoon Kyun Sang did a great job. He was true to his feelings throughout the entire drama, but wasn't obnoxious or trying to break up the main couple all the time.
3) I HATED Seo Woo! But that's a sign of good acting. Lee Sung Kyung made this a character you love to hate.
4) I was surprised to see Namkoong Min in episodes 13-15. That was a treat, he's always excellent.
5) Uhm Hyo Sub was also excellent as Seo Woo's father. I hated that character and felt that he got off too easy.
6) A couple of episodes were very touching.
7) Park Shin Hye downplayed the loud out of control crying.
8) Since this is an older drama, it was fun seeing so many actors that I've enjoyed in other projects.

So, it's not rocket science, but there were a lot of times that just made me smile.

Read More

Why did I suffer through this?

I blame myself and my inability to drop a drama. Please bear in mind that this is just my personal opinion. I'm not saying others are wrong in their reviews, but I had a very strong reaction to this drama, hence my rating. This is time I will never get back! Needless to say, I'm not going to waste my time on Season 2.

What I liked:
1) Though it's not my absolute favorite, I enjoy this genre of show, because there is usually enough going on that I don't fast forward a lot.
2) I loved the amount of screen time they gave Go Gyu Pil as one of the forensic investigators. There is something so loveably cute about him.
3) I liked the way Lee Yi Kyung's character of the policeman was toned down (except for the Stella arc, which I will address later). This actor usually plays characters that are over-the-top, so it was good to see him more serious.
4) The cases, for the most part, were interesting.
5) They didn't try to force a romance between the leads (though it felt like they were trying to go in that direction)

What I didn't like:
1) You can make a drinking game out of the number of times the line "Don't write a novel" was said. Overused is putting it mildly.
2) It's been a long time since I hated a female lead character so much. Not the acting, the character. Eun Sol is a brand-new prosecutor - early on, she looked like she was just trying too hard, but she based her decisions on "feelings" all the time. She says specifically that she became a prosecutor because she watched a lot of US tv shows (not a good reason to begin with), but she goes to a crime scene and moves the body!?! If you've only watched one crime drama in your life, you know that you don't do this. When she questioned suspects, she was always yelling at them and revealing things that you wouldn't reveal to a suspect. Then she complains that it's not like in US tv shows! She was always arguing with Baek Beom, even disagreeing with his findings. She arrested people without evidence. She took a drug cocktail (that had killed a student) to see what kind of reaction she would have, which gave her hallucinations, then asked if that would prove that the student had hallucinations! She could have died, and it's not like she didn't know what could happen! For me, this character never improved much.
3) Baek Beom - call me superficial, but I didn't find this actor attractive at all. It seemed to be that he would have been better cast as a bad guy. As for the character, he was a tortured soul, but there was absolutely nothing likeable about him and I didn't see improvement in him by the end of the series. He had no respect for anyone, was always yelling, and I don't think any self-respecting person would continue to work with him.
4) Stella and the Stella-Soo Ho arc. She was written in to be some sort of brilliant comedy relief and it didn't work at all. There have been shows when a character inserts English into a conversation periodically and it really works. Here, it sounded clunky. And her and the detective, that whole thing should have been left on the cutting room floor. It was a complete waste of time.
5) I'll put all the following under lazy writing, procedures, etc. a) My biggest problem was with the episodes concerning MERS. One of the forensic investigators runs out of the autopsy room because she's afraid. Everyone that has been in contact needs to be quarantined, I get it. So, they lock down the building to try to find her. (Leads are now locked in the autopsy room together and Eun Sol was even worse in these episodes). Many, many people wandering around, calling out her name, and no one thinks to look in the bathroom!?! Then they let her leave in an ambulance? Another prosecutor runs to the NFS to see how Eun Sol is - they were on lockdown! A group of them left the building to investigate something - but they were on lockdown. b) Putting on protective shoe booties and gloves before getting to a crime scene. These should be put on right before entering the scene itself, because you are increasing the cross-contamination the longer you wear them, plus they are a fall risk, especially if you are wearing them over four-inch heels like Eun Sol was prone to do. c) The ME was checking someone's pulse using his thumb. You never do that, there's a pulse in your thumb and you won't get an accurate reading. d) Unless things are completely different in Korea, autopsies are done using a Y incision, not a straight incision. e) Multiple cases of arresting someone without evidence, yet other times there's evidence and they don't arrest. e) Baek Beom's girlfriend that he thought died 10 years ago - Baek Beom's father had her kept alive all this time in secret. Why? Then she woke up for a minute just to die. Why? f) Baek Beom's best friend that died. He was your best friend, yet you didn't know that he had a younger brother?! I could probably continue on this for days, but if you have read this far, you get my point.

Should you watch it? Everyone else in the world seemed to like it, but for me, I can't recommend it.

Read More

Inspiring

The man is so talented, and he absolutely glows when he talks about dance and what it means to him. This documentary about J-Hope's dance journey was very well-done, old footage interspersed with the new, hearing from him about what dance means to him, him working with many of street dance's famous people, and Hope on the Streets filming in iconic neighborhoods around the world.

I turned the sound of during one of the dances, and his artistry and power seem to shine even brighter without the distraction of the music. His dancing is so grounded, yet he seemed to hover above the ground as he moved. He was born to dance.

Read More

Watch it for Zhao Lu Si

This show suffered from being too long and shifting gears midway through the episodes. I'll address each separately.

The first part of the show was so funny! Zhao Lu Si has absolutely the best comedic timing and a smile that would light up a town. I liked the character of the FL. She wasn't portrayed as stupid or clumsy or stalkerish (except when she was trying to win a bet). She didn't put up with stuff from anyone, including the multiple annoying females. Really, was every female in love with ML? I was thinking that this would be a different type of historical drama. I don't care for palace intrigues so much.

ML and FL were absolutely precious together. One of the obvious plusses of this show was the healthy relationship between the ML and FL. They were evenly matched. She didn't shy away from physical affection. That said, the kisses were pretty bad, and I didn't actually feel the chemistry between them, though they were fun to watch.

The second couple was cute to watch, though initially I found him very irritating.

HOWEVER, the second half of the drama became a palace intrigue-fest, with a would-be suitor that wouldn't take no for an answer "I'll save your father if you marry me", multiple bad guys, framing people for crimes, killing off people, dungeons, etc.

I would say, watch it for Zhao Lu Si. She never disappoints. The women's clothes and intricate hairstyles were nice too. Personally, I don't find the men with the long hair and weird sideburns attractive, but that's just me.

Read More

I enjoyed it just as much as season 1, for different reasons

I have to say, I think I liked the stories in season 1, there seemed to be more variety. In season 2, the whole time was spent looking for the evil "man behind the curtain". I found it somewhat unbelievable that the main bad guy could have absolute control over everything, including all surveillance, CCTV, etc. And then at the end, he just gave away that he was the killer.

My favorite character was still Myung Pil. I loved his relationship with Ho Gae. This was even more spotlighting Ho Gae being the smartest person in the room, which is a little tiresome.

I still can't believe that they killed off Do Jin. I was hoping we would see more bonding between him and Ho Gae.

This would have been much better without the romance. It felt rushed, forced, and I didn't feel any chemistry between them. Seol actually seemed to have more conversations with Se Jin than she did with Ho Gae! I think the drama would have been at least as good without the romance.

Jeon Sung Woo as Han Se Jin was excellent...enough said.

I also loved Oh Eui Shik as Do Ha. With his behaviors and mannerisms, I was never quite sure if he was one of the bad guys or not. I really enjoyed the collaborations he had with Ho Gae.

I know that a lot of people complained about Baek Eun Hye as Sam Soon, the scientific investigator, but I really enjoyed her. She had a different sort of energy than the rest of the cast, and that added a beat of comedy that allowed you to take a breath from all the action.

I think the highest praise I can give this drama is that I didn't need to fast forward through anything. There was a ton going on and it was practically nonstop.

Read More

Didn't like the FL at all!

It's short and doesn't take too much time involvement, but while I was watching it, I kept wondering how soon before it was going to be over. Overall, my complaints were with the writing.

1) My biggest gripe is the way the FL is written. Desperate, clingy, immature - I got the feeling that she was more afraid of being alone than anything else. To try to hang onto someone that doesn't want to be with you is so sad.
2) Cha Hun's acting was really bad. His face remained emotionless, his movements were wooden, and watching him try to act was just uncomfortable.
3) FL and her best friend - he's stuck with her through NUMEROUS relationship disasters. Their relationship was cute to watch, but her having that many ex-boyfriends would give me pause before getting involved with her. She's kind of a "love the one you're with girl." Basically, I had a hard time believing in a romantic relationship between them.

Read More

Not much need to fast forward!!!

The acting is all very good, but I am loving Kang Gi Doong as Myung Pil. He usually plays a nerd/geek/loser type person and he's great in this. He's got good comedic timing and I love his relationship with Jin Hoe Gae. I was especially enjoying it up through about episode 7 when the big bad guy was the focus. That was the only place I felt the need to fast forward.

I do have to say I'm tired of corrupt parents. What is the deal with Jin Hoe Gae's dad?!?!

I am also not feeling the potential romance between Jin Hoe Gae and the FL. He's cold, and definitely a lone wolf. If she's willing to accept the scraps that he's willing to offer, that's just sad.

I wish we got to see more of the fire and paramedics. Through most of the drama, it was the Jin Hoe Gae show. He worked alone or with Pil, and it seems like he's the only one able to solve the crimes. I wish it was a little more balanced.

I hate cliffhangers, but at least I waited until season 2 came out before I started watching this.

If you like police/fire procedural dramas, you will enjoy this.

Read More

A little too odd for me

Personally, I couldn't bond with this movie. She seemed too silly, messy, and immature. He seemed a little too "Oily" - I kept thinking that he'd be a good bad guy, with the glasses and that moustache.

There was too much silliness for me to be able to buy them as a couple. And because of her immaturity, the age difference felt too great.

As a diehard Dating in the Kitchen fan, I'm glad I took the time to watch this. It cemented my thoughts on the series. While there were things that dragged or didn't make sense, the series gave more opportunity for character development. Plus, you can never go wrong with Zhao Lu Si.

Read More