So, what are we all watching this week?
What kept you reaching for more (or agonizing when there was no more), and what made you want to throw your remote through the screen? Time to weigh in…
stroopwafel
River Where the Moon Rises: It’s a lovely breath of fresh air to be in the Goguryeo era. It reminds me a tiny bit of Xena: Warrior Princess, but with a type of fun that’s more sweeping epic than camp (although I won’t say no to some campy humor in future episodes). Kim So-hyun is so wonderful as Pyeonggang. You can see the vulnerability and her fighting spirit, and I can’t wait to see what happens next week given that she already knows there’s something in her past that she needs to reclaim.
Hello? It’s Me!: I can scarcely believe it, but this is a Choi Kang-hee drama that I really like. I think this is the first time I’ve seen her act as a character this downtrodden but she embodies Bahn Ha-ni so well that she grounds the drama and when the more fantastical elements start to fly, it all harmonizes beautifully. Kim Young-kwang is also in a character type that we don’t see often enough: a sad sack chaebol who’s half-pathetic, 100% hilarious. I’d been most curious about the introduction of 17-year-old Ha-ni into the world that 37-year-old Ha-ni is living in, and though I don’t quite get the rules of the world yet, I liked their interactions and I’m intrigued about how they might influence each other for the better.
Sisyphus: What a rich and detailed premiere! Everything was so cinematic; big yet detailed. Am I the only one already trying to figure out which details will be hints to what is happening in the Sisyphus world? Jo Seung-woo is great, and it’s trippy seeing him showing such a range of emotions (and flirting!) after being so used to seeing him as his Forest of Secrets character. I like what we’ve seen so far of Park Shin-hye, although it’s not much, and the little fish out of water moments we got. That really is my favorite element in any sort of time slip/time travel plot and I cracked up at Park Shin-hye’s banana-scarfing moment. I also got a good laugh at the Elon Musk-esque character being named Tae-sool and hearing “Tesla” every time Hyung called Tae-sool by name.
missvictrix
Currently weecapping: Sunbae, Don’t Put on That Lipstick and River Where the Moon Rises
Mr. Queen: I really enjoyed the final episodes until that ending ticked me off. I like the bittersweet idea of So-yong and Bong-hwan influencing each other for the better and moving on, but it feels like Bong-hwan was erased from the lives of all the people he loved. And where did So-yong even come from? It seemed like her soul had moved on, but then she popped back up out of nowhere. But most galling for me was the complete erasure of any trace of a love story between Cheoljong and Bong-hwan. Cheoljong fell in love with Bong-hwan distinctly for his unique personality and characteristics, yet he doesn’t even notice when So-yong has a literal personality transplant and ISN’T THE SAME PERSON anymore? And that right after Byung-in was admonished for not noticing the change in So-yong after Bong-hwan took over! All we got was one little comment from Cheoljong about feeling like something was missing, but it didn’t seem to affect his relationship with So-yong at all. And I do not buy that Bong-hwan’s feelings only came from So-yong either. It feels like homophobia to me, and I’m not cool with it. They wanted all the hijinks of a man in the queen’s body falling in love with the king without any acknowledgment of anything remotely non-heteronormative. Not that I’m surprised, but I’m still disappointed.
River Where the Moon Rises: I’m not hooked yet, but the premiere episodes were kind of fun. I’m interested enough to keep watching to see where this goes.
Sisyphus: Honestly, I came into this mostly for Jo Seung-woo. There’s been a lot of time travel dramas of late, so I was meh on the premise and wasn’t sure what to expect. The first episode didn’t grab me, but by the second, I started to get invested. It’s got potential to be exciting and different, so I hope it delivers.