2022

first of all. thank god namra and daesu survived bc idk how imma act if they didnt. second of all,,, they rlly did cheongsan like that...damn. the drama kinda framed him as the main protag so while i was impressed they committed to killing him off, it kinda threw me off that onjo was actually s'posed to be the main protag this whole time lmfao.

i cannot wax enough poetic how good the graphics n special fx make-up are like that is some ? Gore. i actually debated btwn a 7.5 n an 8 for this bc while it was fun, there are notable holes, namely the insane no. of subplots that kinda went nowhere n had little to no closure ? but i decided it deserved an 8 for solid effort. they did the heartbreak and angst pre well at the start but bc they dragged out for so long, my brain started compartmentalising so by the end i was just regular sympathy.

gwinam is so fking creepy bye. also—i have a lot of qualms with ppl being so harsh on nayeon. she Rly fucked up but she's a kid!! who was understandably scared!! her classmates shunning her is understandable but idk how i feel about viewers raining shit on her like she's a coldblooded villain ?? im sad she didnt get to apologise and i rlly appreciated her little me-moment. u could tell she felt really fking bad.  she was just a kid who felt neglected and that kinda stuff fucks ppl up. that goes for eunji too—not the guy who got bullied w her tho that guy can get fucked :/

lastly. ppl being bitchy about onjo. i agree that she's a passive mc but this immediate dislike towards girl mcs who are just kind n empathetic (esp compared to namra's much more +tive feedback when she was deeply pessimistic n withdrawn) gives off major "i hate girly girls" vibes and im not into it. onjo is a very good friend and she's very smart.

while this was not the >best< take on the zombie trope, what i liked best is definitely how human they've written the characters, even the more flawed ones. evry1 did well!

felt like watching the finalised version to afwfw's draft. but with a higher word count.

anyway. there is rlly no telling which was the better version of an originally recycled/cliched story. personally, the recurring characters in trf are more...likeable?? generally speaking. but afwfw definitely had an overall better-written plot—all things considered—and while it was cheesy as fuck, it was at least enjoyable?? trf was monotonous and got almost unbearable to watch towards the end. it also retained the absolute Cheesiest depiction of every unimaginative trope it used.

with that said, i didn't hate it but i didn't like it either??? it's very neutral (very tedious) to me so is in the middle. i had no expectations so i wasnt disappointed per se.

i literally have nothing to say bc i simply did not care about any of the characters. any complaints i have are redundant bc they're fully intended by the producer or whatever the fuck (he can keep saying he Intended To Be Completely Unoriginal but i cant take that shit srsly lol you're a film producer who sets out to be?? repetitive and monotonous??? ok). but im sick of the same casting and pairings lol and thats relevant to all tvb producers.

afwfw hit their emo scenes better too even if its completely characteristic of jazz boon to go on a random mass killing rampant towards the end of the show for Shock Value but at least the characters dying in afwfw was sAd like i Cared somewhat?? gave zero fucks about anyone who died in this one. including mc. good for him i guess but he shouldve died a million palms to the chest ago.

also....multiple amnesia plots?? moon lau conveniently poofing into existence for 2 mins as the long lost sister?? all the bait switch n secret identities oh my goD. trf had wAYYY too many characters and couldnt develop any of them. and lastly—terrible villain who explained his motives in like 2 sentences. god. and the worst of them: unsexc villains.

silly, entertaining, fun. a good time. serotonin booster. slapstick humour and i dig it. solid distraction from adult responsibilities............ but what of yi bangwon???? lmfao . where he go. literally popped in for a few seconds of vague shadowed posturing and then boof, gone. but anyway, loVE haerang that's my girl but did anyone know sehun from exo was gonna be here or was i just gonna find out on my own like this— and chae soobin too wot lol whatever good vibes. also i edited this review like 28437945789 times bc it was such an eyesore idek what was wrong with it, it just looked Wrong. so i went back and "fleshed it out" like this was my novel draft or somn lmfao ANYWAY. yeah. this movie made me like kang haneul so.

(that sounds like i hated him before. nO, i just didn't care bc the only word association i got with him was either the drama with gong hyojin, which i Havent seen so i cant say shit, and the heirs, which i hAve seen [bits and pieces, not the whole thing, i dont hate myself that much] and that is just Not a good first impression so, ?). yeh.

okAy yeah! i can work with this. it was fun, i liked it. ngl tho, i was kinda underwhelmed after they got rid of sejeong's wig like it plummeted a bit in the fun zone but that's okay that's how life is anyway. easy brain food! good for the soul, feel-good vibes that kinda thing whatever.

12 eps is good for a romcom of this scale so idk why i felt rushed towards the ending LMFAO like not the token I Gotta Go Overseas and Time Skip tropes bro you only got twenty mins left!! also idk why as someone who hates weddings i felt shortchanged that no weddings were involved when there were two (2) proposal scenes excuse moi. the thing is, pacing might be this drama's biggest bane bc after the couples got together, essentially...nothing...happened.... like the grandpa plot was just kinda summarised in one sentence and don't get me started on how stagnant the second lead couple was (they had nothing to do!!). also. what's up with the yoora plot like i expected that would push taemoo to be like "aight, gays, i gotta right some wrongs today" but all he did was waste gas tryna find hari across town smh. and then they went home to the world's most...slow and awkward lead-up to sex ever lmao. but good for them!

anYWAY sejeong is such a good actress like she's literally sO natural it sounds empty but i mean it, the way she delivers her dialogue and how she bridges certain lines with certain mannerisms/expressions and it makes it more smooth and real is so good she's so self-aware lmfao. her responses to typically cheesy lines and also the physical affection is so like. Right?? idk how to explain it whatever.  i honestly think she's the best performance in this drama—even her character is sO good. she's just. so real lmao. anyway. seol inah and her have Amazing chemistry love it! yay. good job everyone bye.

shoutout to youngseo's cousin for comedy gold.

had a good time bc i went into this w the RiGht expectations thank you very much. besides, soft, quiet, just vibes no plot romances are always up my alley anyway so yeah, i had a good time. easy brain food. warm blanket for my brain really.

perhaps this is park hyungsik's world and we're just living in it ik that's funny to say bc this drama was a good time at best and many question marks at worst but man, idk what it is about him that's just so likeable i hope they cast him in many more of these And That's My Wife!!! roles because he Eats It Up every time good for him, go you, mr. park. this just made me want more phs dramas lol

with that said. this was ??? like i enjoyed it, the idea, the concept was fun even if it robbed me from some fast-paced high-suspense thriller goodness but i mean, i love me a good ""small-scaled"' drama in the sense where everything is just confined to one setting and it's one of the limitations the characters have to work around but...this drama kinda gave me nothing GIHGIRUEHGIE. like i agree with the general review that it was kinda slow and had many side plots that...amounted to nothing? i get that they were setting the scene like "okay we got an overarching zombies-but-they're-all-just-vampire-fledglings problem and yall are locked up w a bunch of peeps and Oops turns out they're fucked up too, double trouble" but they didn't rlly do that very well bc the side characters have zero depth and shit motives? like what's up with the resident representative lady, you murdered ppl for..........that?? ma'am. that's embarrassing. got characters being mysterious for no reason LMFAO.

also...what happened to seungyoung smfh. we got a lot happening for essentially nothing... stakes weren't high enough, motives were iffy, mystery for the sake of mystery, lots of useless characters, anticlimactic ending. nothing more clown than being like "and then he died" and then going "sike lol" literally .2 seconds later, tf was that all for then. 12 eps is Very Good for ppl like me who will perish watching 16 but man y'all are so bad at pacing smfh. also i hate time skips. but anyway han hyojoo BEAUTIFUL step on me, that will be all.

mayhaps i watched this wrong?? bc i was genuinely—though apologetically—bored.

literally what is that supposed to mean .

like. im so confused . why tf did they not return the baby to his mother like, that's her child???? wot. why did they rip mother-son apart like that, that's kinda fucked up?? i thought they would save the child and let muyeong's family live out the rest of their life in Harmony but no, y'all wrap him up in this political madness and hide him from his only surviving family left  ??? im . that child . was forcefully taken from his mom at birth.......and his dad was killed..........where is muyeong family's happy ending in all this? they're innocent ?? im just confused why they acted like it was the only solution left when there were: Many. lmfao that's like my biggest qualm with the cute lil plot twist at the end it made zERO sense (to me). i get that lee chang was having a bad time mentally like he was suffering but.............aint it the pinnacle of tyranny to make judgements on other ppl's lives without their consent or opinion? i guess he Was making points.

anyway if i'd watched this under different circumstances, i suppose i'd enjoy it more but i was . y'kno. bored.

this drama was so fucking brutal i would hate to be part of this world and that's exactly what made it Excellent. it's very well done and well told esp with the resources it had and objectively i think it deserves a Much Much higher score.

unfortunately, i (mostly) watch dramas for fun and i wasn't all the way there so,,, yeah. perhaps it would have benefitted from a central character of which we could anchor our emotions upon but i suppose in doing so they'll have to sacrifice the effect of confusion and fear in viewers that is meant to mirror those In the drama and i Respect that.

art.

you come into this drama with questions and Will leave it with questions lmao but i think that's exactly the point.

token two drops of tears for the parents in the end. fictive love always touches my cold withering heart.

this drama is perfect for a film study, so if there are any year 12's out there—

(or, if you're older and pursuing a sociology degree—good luck, soldiers—a perfect thesis topic).

pikachu surprised face bc when this drama dropped i saw ppl talking shit and i was like damn it must've been rlly bad but .

? it was fun?? i suppose it wasn't revolutionary but............. lol are my expectations too low hfiehguierhg. my name was essentially tvb's favourite undercover cop trope with better production quality, action choreography, and,,,,lemme check,,,yep, acting too—and do i hate it for it? no! in fact, it made watching the trope for the nth time a lot more fun, and that's in compliment to han sohee's depraved homicidal energy the entire 8 eps.

ik ppl pointed out a lot of flaws in this drama (lol) but at this point, i've already wholly accepted that those flaws Are Characteristic of these types of undercover tropes and ive no energy to generate qualms over it. it is what it is. also ive been a bit unhinged about mentor/mentee dynamics as of late and this one delivered Sufficiently, my deepest sympathies for dilf drug lord choi moojin, who Kept Being Betrayed Even Tho He Has Never Betrayed Anyone!! he has a point, y'kno, some of us have better jobs than others, that is no invitation to be bitchy.

also i know the romantic plot line (if it could even be called that lol) was another ick in ppl's reviews but it was nice to see jiwoo finally have someone to lean on if only for a hot second (all puns unintended but welcome) so im not aboutta begrudge her that.

i am part of the minority that the ending was great. at least it pulled through with its tension. i would hate to come out of another thriller with an anticlimactic ending. i suppose the only qualm is how jiwoo would fend thereafter—why the fuck isnt she in jail is the biggest question.

i gotta watch this again in sub bc i watched it w my mom so we put it on eng dubbed for convenience reasons and it was expectedly bad like why are we whispering? is this asmr? i still gotta hear what the characters are saying smfh anyway i found out yoo ahin is like 35 and i was shocked bc i thought he was born in '97 turns out i mistook him for yeo jingoo Again ffs that aside the movie was  .  not good? but not bad so. lol

the way i completely forgot about this drama lmfao anyway this is a very belated review but thank god for me leaving notes behind.

so like. objectively it's an alright drama? like it's watchable and kills time but i remember thinking it was long as fuck and wearing me out and i wanted to skip ahead s.o ?? lol. anyway, there were so many uncomfortable tidbits in this drama idk if i should even begin with the adult n minor stuff—granted, i know he's mentally 37 but she wasn't aware of that until Way later and it just got deeply awkward almost all the time. not to mention her lawyer best friend is so fuckin weird lmfao trust me i wanted to ha ha my way through all that too. the anti-divorce and anti-abortion stuff was also a major ick. misogyny is an exhaustive plot device.

(and perhaps this is a culture shock but ?? does it Rlly matter that much the image of reporters?? ?? like okay same i hate children but why was this weaponised against the FL for like, the entire show lol so many questions).

also, apologies to mr wi hajoon but i literally do not give a fuck about any of the supporting charas and their stories like everyone gave me nothing but a headache and it was boring and why did they set him up to be this mysterious guy only to make him a flirty SML with a chip in his shoulder like .. ok. 

the only parts i cared about was ML in hs making friends w his kids and sussing out their lives so he can understand them better and be a better dad but that was put on the back burner for his shenanigans with his 37yo wife so .

on that note, i hate every single love line in this drama except the teens' but only bc idgaf about them but every time wi hajoon appeared to woo FL i was losing my mind over how boring it was like yikes lol but the bffs were worse, they gotta go . 

anyway hwang inyeop is typecasted at this point rip to him my anxiety was triggered several times during this drama do with that what you will adios

been a while since i finished a tvb drama and......im exhausted lmao

i liked the first one better i guess? like . idk i remember the first one satisfying my metre for unhinged-ness better this one just . doesnt quite hit the spot? it follows a very typical storytelling structure (read: predictable, in the bad way) for its genre which, okay, fair? but where it kind of showed itself as a dark-ish thriller-ish—it's really just,, ppl being dramatic in the wrong direction? i suppose you could say that's kinda the whole point but the stakes aren't high enough and characters are just "unhinged" for the sake of being unhinged rather than having actual character work behind it idk i just dont rlly feel it i guess.

every time i think a character is gonna go full unhinged they just Dont Quite Make It!! in fact, they get killed off almost immediately and im like uhhh. it's anticlimactic and tvb STILL has a pacing problem. seriously. the twists arent really twists and idk why they put raymond cho in a throwaway character this guy is a B list actor ffs.

also. great that they didnt do another schizophrenic or DID-route with the killer but they gotta stop using genderbending as a Big Twist like it's 2022. seriously it's not interesting or shocking and yall still havent educated yourselves about gender and sexual identities. also. borderline transphobic ngl.

anyway yeah. characters dont reach their full potential. plot and twists are mediocre. what even was the point of katy kung's character like she was just . there. zoie tam had sO much potential but ended up as a throwaway character. candice chiu had the Most potential after zoie was thrown away but she was ALSO??? A THROWAWAY CHARACTER???? flat ending. joel went out like that? really? :/ alright then.

also. i was more emotionally affected by the Downfall Of A Man trope in the first one—this one....there's just nothing to work with tbh. i will be retiring from tvb im tired.

so they made this drama for Me and Only me they had me and my happiness in mind when they made this.  just me. a heist-enthusiast. found-family extraordinaire. game-of-wits endorser.

nah anyway i  didnt watch the og so ive no qualms with this remake—in fact, from what i know of the og, this family-friendly version is probs better for me and my eyeballs personally anyway not to say that the og was bad or inferior in any way it just also has nothing to do with me or this little thought dump review thingo. good times. moving on.

my favourite character is tokyo bc she's cool and shoots ppl but realistically speaking all the heist members are great love that for them. special mention to park haesoo's berlin tbh bc he's feral and i like that energy. i thought the drama was fun and it scratched my heist-loving itch pre well so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ what else do i have to say lol. i like this trope and all its sub-tropes like that is all, im trash for heists and espionage and crimes against corporations and all the mind games and one-upping each other and the funny lil twists.  the only qualm i have i suppose is why this was split into two parts like what was the reason all you're doing is dampening my motivation to continue (and/or facilitating my shitty memory to forget to follow up with it) i gotta binge shit or i never finish shit come on now. anyway.

yeah. twas fun. a good time. easy brain food. jeon jongseo sexc. end.

????

okay so idk what the context of this short-story series that tvb is churning out rn (and that this is a part of) but it was alright? like i resonated with the uni stuff and somewhat with the friendship stuff like it's pre relevant to my life rn so i appreciated that. the whole research phd thingos and fighting for your dreams/what you want to do VS life sucks be practical kinda schtick so yeah that's all cool. only 45mins, each brain food. passes time. no real opinions tbh.

o..kay so that's one (1) way to write a story.

um. not a single thought up in here, chief, it was just Fine drama. like not a shred of dynamic, we going slow n steady (n flat) all the way thru. it was just? i agree with the gen review that this drama is Very slow, bc it is—like i think it started off pre well, y'kno, with a bang, literally, and i liked the whole eerie/melancholic vibes with a touch of unhinged from the rest of the charas, it was the set up for some fun small-town murder mystery.

except. where the fuck is the mystery .

like we have the skeleton of one but no tension or suspense, which made it all quite dull at times and like,,, what was the addition of the emotional transference about? the concept was under-utilised and was just kinda half explained in the end like . why them and not others. why was it only jg > gy first before gy > jg too? and why Now???

with that said, the drama isn't like . bad? or good, it's just...Easy Brain Food. ye. it didnt rlly do...anything i guess? it lacked substance at times, tho i believed it explored grief and emotional bluntness pre well. i identified with it even if the under-reaction of mcs to the stalker was kinda . off ?? lol. like they were so passive. 

i was underwhelmed by the climax n ending like ye, most things were tied up but the whole confrontation with the evil dude came out of nOwhere n then culminated in ?? nothing. like why was he a random ass chara what were his motives. tf was he even trying to achieve. ???

anyway this made me like yjg. solid actor. mgy ate down as usual, gorgeous gorgeous girls can do ANything. love that for her. everyone else was alright. good job yall.

this still might be the first time i liked a romantic murder mystery kdrama lol like the murder and mystery plateauing pre quickly is probs a staple of these genres so whateves, i genuinely dont care enuff to hate it so ! a good time.

the way i do not care about this drama at all.

i personally lost interest towards the end particularly after ruco's character's psychosis reveal. that was a good reveal though. the scene when he brought natalie's character to his house and the way it was filmed from a shifty dark apartment building to—in ruco's vision—a brightly lit, warmth-filled house with his entire family and then the rapid swap back to the reality through natalie's eyes: a dilapidated apartment that looked almost ransacked. it was so intense and spooky and well done.

ending kinda . fucks? lol. anyway. that's it.

start offering incense to the heavens gays bc if berlin  died i would have licked my fingers and razed the gods to the ground.

as always, exquisite. it was made for ME. this entire show was done for ME. am so glad everyone got their happy ending bc this is the type of show where you irrationally yearn for All Is Well regardless of the circumstances anything else would have been fertile grounds for a Mean bitch fit.

my favourite scene in pt 2 is definitely when professor sees miseon standing around after happy-hugging denver and was like ?? and after a long as fuck silence, she goes, "hi im stockholm" LMFAOOOOOOOO SHE'S SO FUCKING FUNNY THATS SUCH A GOOD LINE WHY DID NO ONE LAUGH I KEELED OVER AND CRIED.

anyway. my only qualm is i wanted to see how everyone fended at the end like the Explicit happy ending ykno i wanna see if tokyo took up on rio's proposal and i want to see nairobi be w her kid again and i want to see berlin and professor reunite and him and seoul being best couple!!! i wanna see helsinki find his own happiness i want to see denver and stockholm (NEVER FAILS TO MAKE ME LAUGH) live their happy little lives too!! i wanna see what they're doing fhiehfierhfi.

as always: eat the rich! fuck politicians! emasculate men! be gay! do crimes!