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…
quirkycase
Dal-li and Gamjatang: Can Dal-li catch a break? This poor, sweet woman is just minding her own business, yet people keep finding reasons to make her life miserable. Tae-jin, in particular, is infuriating. Every time I think I can’t hate him more, he does something worse. And now he’s practically holding Dal-li hostage by dangling the idea that only he can protect her family. Ugh.
The Veil: As I expected, I lost interest toward the end. I think part of the issue was that the whole Baek Mo-sa thing didn’t work that well for me. I found the initial memory stuff and mystery interesting, but I got bored with the agency politicking. Namgoong Min was great, but everything else was meh.
Hometown: I kept waiting for some sibling showdown or at least some tense interactions, but they never came. We got one conversation between Jung-hyun and Kyung-ho the entire drama, which wasn’t nearly enough. The ending left a lot of questions unanswered. Were Kyung-ho’s visions real, a ruse, or was he ill? What exactly was this “end of the future” business he went on and on about? Overall, I enjoyed it but was a bit disappointed by the end. I do have to give a shoutout to the adorable teen friend gang; I could watch a whole drama of those girls solving mysteries and having each other’s backs.
mistyisles
Police University: I finished it! And I’m glad I did. It was a pretty heartwarming ending, even if some of the bows were a little too neat (why couldn’t we see Min-kyu become friends with them before the time jump?). And overall I thought it felt pretty true to the message of learning from past mistakes and getting second chances while still having to face what you’ve done. I’ll admit I didn’t really care about Professor Seo’s story, but I’m glad it was him and not one of the other two professors, so I’ll take it.
The King’s Affection: I’m three episodes in, and I think I have all the major names and faces straight now. (Well, faces and titles/relation to main characters.) I feel like I spent more time than usual going, “Ohhh, he’s that guy. That makes more sense.” But yeah, I think I’ve got it now. So far I’m loving this show, both in the serious moments and when it decides to go the more trope-y route, and now that the setup is done, I’m ready to settle in for the meat of the story.
DaebakGrits
The King’s Affection: I’m a sucker for a good ol’ fashioned gender-bending trope, so when I saw that there was going to be a drama about a woman disguising herself as a king, I couldn’t hit play fast enough. Park Eun-bin’s masculine mannerisms are convincing enough to make me believe that her character has spent the last ten years being raised as a prince, but I rolled my eyes during the second episode when her femininity was supposedly exposed and on full display because her hair was let loose…during an era when men had long hair…Ohhhh-kaaaaay…Seriously, why is it always long hair and never the complete lack of an Adam’s apple that makes people go, “Hmmm…Dude looks like a lady?”
One the Woman: Another guilty pleasure of mine is a plot with switched twins/doppelgängers. Unfortunately, this drama isn’t holding my attention, and I often use it as background noise while fooling around on my phone. There’s not much chemistry between the lead couple, and the writers really need to watch a Project Runway marathon so Tim Gunn can school them on how less is more. I’m going to try and see this one through to the end, but I’m already a week behind on the episodes, which isn’t a good sign.
Dal-li and Gamjatang: There’s something irresistibly endearing about this drama, and after ten episodes, it still blows my mind that the same Kim Min-jae played the mild mannered Joon-young in Do You Like Brahms? I just wish the writers would stop dragging out all the behind-the-scenes intrigue and give me more art museum hijinks. At least we no longer have to deal with intense close-up shots of Dal-li’s childhood drawing tube of doom and drugs.
Mr. Sunshine: A friend and I have been meeting up virtually twice a week to watch Mr. Sunshine (currently on episode 17). This is a rewatch for me, but I technically never made it all the way to the end my first time watching it. I couldn’t bring myself to sit through the inevitable sad ending, especially not without a tub of cookie dough on hand to catch my tears. I always planned to suck it up and come back to this drama because it was too good to leave unfinished, so I’m thankful I have my friend, who has never seen it before, to hold me accountable. We’re getting to that point where stuff’s about to get intense, though, so I need to stock up on tissues, chocolate, and wine.