50FiftillidideeBrain

✒⭐Soul Survivors - AoS Concludes⭐

AoS-2 is a seamless continuation of S1. It picks up about 3 years after the dramatic events of S1's close.

As the show opens it appears that they've spent a lot of money on the special effects. It's quite beautiful. The music is top tier also. Blue Flower by LIA is Shazamable. Aching, by Kassy, is too, as is I′m Sorry. by Ailee, and Raindrops, by Gummy.

They switch up the FL and she's got a very different personality than our S1 FL. She's also suffering from memory loss which explains part of the change. She has no memories and he doesn't recognize her, so they need to fall in love all over again. It should have been awesome, but their delivery is barely above average. Is it big-buget disease? Too often, a bigger budget bankrupts the humanity.

AoS doesn't take itself seriously. In S2 I was hoping they would go loftier, but they opted to go lower - they get more nonsensical than I would prefer. It's still a fantastic watch.

If I wasn't already familiar with Chinese fantasy, I may not have had those thoughts. Chinese fantasy, despite its often clunky special effects, is arguably the best in the world, and AoS has Chinese influence written all over it. If you like it, alchemize your watch list to include these amazing Cdramas:
Heavenly Sword and Dragon Slaying Saber 9-Kung-fu!,
Eternal Love-8.3,
Douluo Continent 9.4;
Handsome Siblings 8.7;
Ancient Love Poetry 8.6;
The Sleepless Princess 9.1;
The Romance of Tiger and Rose 9.8,
Love Between Fairy and Devil 8.9,
Love and Redemption-10

AoS-2 drops off slightly from S1, but it is a solid conclusion to the popular show. I wrote more about it in my S1 review.

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Red Bun Coalition ♟️ The Means Rustify the Soul °8.4° °Excellent°

Corruption: the process by which something is changed from its original use to one that is erroneous or debased. A departure from what is pure or correct. Decay, decomposition, dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power, typically involving bribery. Even if leaders want the right things, too often they are willing to do the wrong things to get them.

"Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on, or by imbeciles who really mean it," said Mark Twain.

US is a historical political fiction thriller based on true events. Three characters are based on actual historical figures while everyone else seems to be an amalgam of other players that created the political debacle of 1959-60 in SK, Uncle Sam being the most amalgamous. Communism was spreading, the world was in chaos. World War II had rewritten the map of the world. The North and the South Koreans were at odds. SK was closely monitored by an on-site U.S. military. This is one of Director/writer Shin Youn-Shick's (Cassiopeia) higher rated offerings. “I think Korea is the only country that asks if one has eaten as a greeting. (The series) portrays the difficult times right after the Korean War, when it was truly challenging to have even one meal a day,” Shin said. Yet it was politics as usual at the top. These back-room ghouls think nothing of the suffering masses.

Not interested? I gravitate to the imaginative side of entertainment myself - Sci-fi, thrillers, fantasy… romance. We have to make an effort to try new things to be more well rounded. As such, one could tag me a somewhat reluctant viewer. Around Ep5 it became clear that this is an excellent drama. US might not be my go-to genre, but it is an excellently created show. It starts like a tank. It grinds slowly but really cranks up towards the end. The acting and directing are sublime. What's most important is that it's a peek under the hood of politics, another reminder that politics is overrun by hoods. “This is what it means to be in politics,” muses Joo In-tae. His daughter had just asked him how he could work with a guy who had tortured him during the Japanese occupation. Many well meaning people jump into the “public service” foray with the intent to ‘do-good’, but they slowly get absorbed by a system that pumps out ‘doo-doo’. Politics is one big manure spreader. As KS says, it's “Hypocrisy disguised as a dream.”

1960. The March15 Election Fraud is about the rigged re-election of Syngman Rhee, in power since post WWII. That led to The April Revolution: A series of protests and demonstrations demanding reform that led to the removal of Rhee. We open in 1960, but the cars look older, indicating that money is scarce and they're getting by on older belongings and older technology. It is a dark, wet night. Authorities are dragging away a man who is screaming that it's Samsik's fault. What’s a Samsik? Well, he is a dude who made sure everyone in his circle had three meals a day. Even during the war. “Sam” means three. “Sik” means food. “Chingoo Chincha.” A true friend.

US is a 2024 release that is rated 86 on AWiki. It is 1 season consisting of 16 42ish-minute eps that positively fly by in comparison to a typical Kdrama. Not only is US an excellent drama, but it's also a primer on politics and the slippery slope that topples the naive. The good they sincerely want to do is the carrot. Getting reelected is the stick. It helps me understand politicians more and it also makes me despise politics all the more. It's a filthy, slimy business. Cliches are always based on entrenched patterns. The cliche, “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” still rings true. The human race hasn't outgrown that problem. Voters and the general public seem to have the attention span of a fruit fly and the memory of an ostrich. We neither know nor understand our history. Therefore we are doomed to suffer corrupt leadership. It just isn't wise to put too much trust or hope in political leaders.

After we hear what a nurturing guy US Is, we revert to 1959 for a closer peek. There's protesters in Seoul. I've not seen one political Kdrama where that isn't going on. It appears to be part of the fabric of Kcountry. The opening eps go back and forth between that point & MPs questioning suspects in 1960. Questions? In ‘59 these guys staged a coup!

Samsik appears to be more mobster than businessman. He's slowly built up enough to enable him to buy into a chaebol level company - he's about to become a business baron. “Do you know what pizza is?” He's in a great mood and jawwing to someone at the meal before his induction ceremony. “You probably don't even know what cheese is.” He tries to explain pizza to a traditional 1959 Korean. It might as well be explaining the 5th dimension. Try explaining soy sauce to someone who has never had Asian cuisine.

Later that night, he's at a political rally to raise trouble, and the meeting does break up in mayhem, but then Kim San/KS takes the podium. To paraphrase, he says ~ I just got back from the USA. No one is going hungary. Every building shines. They don't even eat all their food. I lived above a pizza shop. Do any of you know what Pizza is? ~ He goes on to talk of a vision where Koreans aren't starving but, rather, where Korea is the center for commerce in the world. Uncle Samsik is listening. Attentively. The scene is quite powerful.

Park Doo Chil (Snowpiercer) plays ML Uncle SamSik with his coat swinging; part of Sam's signature swagger. It's been 35 years since he did TV. Coming into US, I could only see him as he was in Parasite-9, w/ the greasy face and that smell. (I KNOW one can't smell anything through the TV. That is partly why Parasite is so brilliant!) He made an impression. He's excellent in Taxi Driver-8.4 as well, which is also half-fictionalized events based in a true setting and, historically, serves as a bookend to US. In US, PDC is indefatigable. His character is so alive, so energetic, so garrulous, so thoroughly compelling that, for someone with chronic fatigue, it's actually exhausting. US is a man who has gotten used to exploiting opportunities; it's such a habit that he never questions it. He understands that when your stomach is full your mind tends to open. He won people over by feeding them. We're not that much different than stray cats and dogs in that way. He is portrayed as a split, or compartmentalized personality. He is fundamentally decent to those around him and he's generally loyal, but he has no moral backbone whatsoever. Like the best criminals, he's a savant of human psychology. He grew up poor, therefore, he says things like: “Do you like people that are admired? They're the worst.” Yet he fully embraces the system, while he operates outside of the law entirely. US opens up in ep2: ‘I love red bean buns. I could never afford them, but I wanted them so badly I killed a man one day.’

Byun Yo Han, who is positively luminescent in Mr. Sunshine-9 & Misaeng-9.1, plays KS, a man who has the best of intentions but gets marinated and stuck to the bottom by the political sauce. Mr. Byun shows that he can play a serious role. Other actors can as well, but what other actors can't do is capture the magic of the other characters BYH has portrayed. He conveys a nearly tangible sense of delight. That is rare magic, indeed. KS has a soft spot for people who recognize his worth. That only means that he's too self-focused, and his pride is too important to him. It's something that will trip us up. He is so determined to pass his economic reform pkg, (it would be wonderful for Kcountry) that he's willing to do anything. ANYTHING. He thinks he can wash away the stink later.

Lee Kyu Hyung (Doctor John) plays the spineless, but powerful Kang Seong-Min. Even though he's a beautiful man, he's terrifying because he's completely self-focused, he has no empathy, and he's gutless. If someone makes him the slightest bit nervous, he orders a hit. Choo Sang-Rok is Park Ji-Wook. During the Japanese Occupation he was a quisling and worked as a police officer on behalf of the occupiers. In 1959 he’s a prominent politician. Tiffany Young (Reborn Rich) is marvelous as Rachel Jung. Jin Ki Joo (My Perfect Stranger) is Joo Yeo Jin, KS's fiance, as the show opens. Seo Hyun Woo (Flower of Evil-8.9) plays Jung Han Min.

The slippery slope. KS is courted more than a duke's only daughter. How does Samsik seduce him? With intoxicating statements like this: “Nobody gets to fulfill more than 25% of their desires. Nobody gets 80 or 90% so what do you do? You increase your desires by 40-50-60%. Have ambition.” When KS finally succumbs, he has this conversation with the party chief: “I don't need nice guys. We are waging a war here. I won't tolerate any tears.” “I've already shed all my tears. I'm done with that.” By that time he had abandoned his fiance, ignored dozens of illegalities, and had started sewing the seeds of revolution. Samsik stays in the shadows. One might almost think he invented subversive triangulation, but apparently politics is the same at all times and in all places. It's a filthy business in which those in power take advantage of those in need. Catch rivals committing crimes? It's merely an invitation to control them. Turning them in is the last thing that US would do. Even so, Samsik and KS form an unbreakable bond. They have good goals that they intend to implement by any means possible. Following proper channels never even occurs to Samsik, and he manages to slowly and steadily bend KS to his will.

It's always the things that we think we know, our faulty presuppositions, that are going to bring us down. “There was an explosion of people that spilled onto the streets instantly. Ultimately, none of the promises or plans we made mattered at all… No one could have predicted the way the winds would take us, or or how the waves would crash.” The director is adept at building up tension throughout the show. It explodes into protests. There's an aerial shot of marchers that pans several blocks. It's really spectacular. Next, he intersperses the filming with genuine newsreels from the time itself. It's quite emotional. Another nice touch is how KS is gifted a light grey suit. It stands out amongst the unified dark suit coalition. I think it represents how his white intentions became muddied and gray through his interactions with US. In the last ep KS wears a black suit. His eyeglasses are two tones of grey.

Uncle Sam knows things are going sideways in the last episode. He can sense it. He looks at the hotel lobby. People are chit-chatting, drinking and going on with their evening as if nothing's happening. They're completely unaware of the day, of the country, & of the rotation and revolution of the earth. Isn't that always the case? The soldiers enter. It's a profound scene.

US, himself, is often profound. We'll let him close this out: “Let me ask you about the principles that govern this world. Spring arrives, then summer. Flowers bloom, then wilt. They're what make the World Go Round And the sun rise and set. The Earth's rotation and revolution. Can you feel it right now? The rotation and revolution? That's precisely the kind of man I am. The Earth's rotation and revolution…” (looks like the earth still goes around without him). “Sometimes I feel… I feel tossed aside in the world, completely abandoned. I'm flooded with loneliness. It's in those times that I find what I fear most of all… is when that loneliness… becomes familiar.


(more) QUOTES📢

So you think love is trivial? Guess you don't know much about love.

People think they're different from each other. Eventually, they figure out they're all the same. When they figure it out, it's too late.

You have a bad habit. You underestimate people who are younger than you. You need to fix that.

An honest politician is one who, when he is bought, will stay bought. ~Simon Cameron US financier & politician, 1799-1889~

〰🖍 IMHO

📣8.3 📝8.5 🎭8.5 💓3 🦋4 🎨8 🎵/🔊7.5 🔚9 ▪ 🌞4.5 ⚡5.5 😅2 😭6 😱3 😯3.5 🤢3 🤔7 💤0

Age 14+
Language Rated-R F💣, some violence, gore, and scares, but the tradeoff is the primer on politics and human relationships. This is an educational jaunt as well as an excellent drama.

Rated TV-MA

Re-📺? Would


Historical footnotes:

Those based on true historical figures:

~Ryu Tae-ho as Choi Han-rim: a prestigious general who KS calls a 2nd father. WIKI - “Based on Lee Han-lim, he is known for his political neutrality and being the only commanding officer to declare public opposition to the May 16 coup. After graduating from Shinkyong Military Academy and studying at the Imperial Japanese Army Academy, he served as an officer… was a classmate of Park Chung Hee,” part of the Imperial Japanese Arm & finally 1st Army CDR when the 5/16/60 coup occurred. “He opposed the military's intervention in politics and stood on the opposite line from those who led the military coup of Park Chung-hee. He had prepared to mobilize reserve forces to suppress the coup, but withdrew to prevent a civil war and potential North Korean invasion. Due to his opposition, he was arrested two days later and discharged along with the 5th District Commander and Army Major General Park Ki-byung.”

~Park Hyuk-kwon “as Choi Min-gyu: Minister of Home Affairs who collaborates with the Liberal Party government. Based on Choi In-gyu.”

~Oh Kwang-rok “as Joo In-tae: a politician who insists on national prosperity and peaceful coexistence. Loosely based on Cho Bong-am…Three years after the election, Cho was charged with espionage and receiving funds from NK. His first trial resulted in an acquittal but he was convicted in a second trial and was executed on 31 July 1959. His death sentence was posthumously overturned in 2011 by the South Korean Supreme Court.”

The Albright Stonebridge Group is a real Foundation committed to economic growth in SK.

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✒ ♥️ Dimestore Harlequin Novel On the Small Screen °VG° Lite-Snack Romcom

This is not an instant classic. It won't be studied in film class. It is a classic, somewhat cheesy romance without any major flaws. Classic, here, means it's akin to those cheap paperback novels that were written by the grosses a few decades ago, the biggest publisher being Harlequin. My sister would read them by the bagfuls.

Yumi is a girl who is trying to live a better life than her narcissistic ex-adult film star mother. She was teased relentlessly in school over her parentage, so she doesn't want to be equated with her mother anymore - Enough already! She needs distance. She wants to be a *whole world* away from her & her mother's pasts. To draw a solid line between her and Oma, Yumi keeps herself buttoned up and tries to stumble her way through life in the background.

She embarks on a weekend trip for mom's second (Wait. It was the 3rd, maybe?) marriage. For Yumi, the weekend is one fiasco followed by a-mother - eh, /another/, culminating in a one night stand. In a convertible. On the beach. With a dude so good looking, he's almost too pretty. None of this makes Yumi feel better about it. She's disgusted with herself. She doesn't even know his name! (But HER mother wouldn't be so ashamed😂/😬). She wakes first in the morning & slinks off with some of dude's clothing, leaving him exposed to the elements... and gawkers - quite a crowd, actually. All ages. They loved the show. He received loads of fanfare, too.

Yumi, next, slinks back home to focus on putting her life in order. She graduates with a dietary sciences/nutrition degree and is thrilled to land a job at a large corporation that offers great benefits. She's thrilled /until/ she runs into HIM. She has to figure out how to best slice and dice this situation pronto.

That sets the table. You'll have to watch it to see what's on the menu.

MSR is not devoid of quality elements. "No matter how many bad things happen in a day, if one lucky thing happens, it's a lucky day," says Yum-i, while buddy-chugging wine from the bottle, in a convertible, surfside, under the magically lit sky. 🌊➕🍾➕🌌🔜💓⏩💣⏩🚀. 15 min later they have a 1 night stand.

🕛Timeout: That's never a good idea. It's an unacceptable risk to one's physical and emotional health, and one will win the lottery before it leads to committed love. That's one reason it's a fun thing to watch and wonder, and then walk away🕧

This is a show to which lovers of romance who need a mental vacation, can relax and enjoy some healthy snacks. Their little chess game, misunderstandings, series of non-communications, and many memorable meals will make loveaholics smile. Cha Jin-hook (Played by the otherworldly gorgeous Sung Hoon) tells his father, who is pushing for his marriage: "My wife is right here," metaphorically meaning the business. However, his wife is literally #there, in the building. Nice morsel. I suspect that Yumi's name is a play on the English word "Yummy" - also a clever detail.

There are scattered problems: Some minor, some moderate, but they don't bring on indigestion. MSR is what it was designed to be, as a whole - simple escapism. However, it could be improved on. Starting in Ep11, there were too toooooo 2*2*2 many sappy flashback scenes, with sappy background music. They could have made it an episode shorter, or, better yet, make optimal use of that screen time with more content. Do yourself a favor, and FF thru them. When Yumi is singing Karaoke, be warned: They do the #whole song with flashbacks. Then Mr. Cha goes down memory lane. It gets ridiculous, but some quick remote control work takes care of it. Trust me on this one.

The actors are likable, and they did a great job. The secondary romances are brief pleasures. It's easy to root for them. The CEO's aid wears over-the-top-flowered-polka dot-paisley-anything-suits. He's amazing, and wears them proudly. He's one for the highlight reels.

This is a good enough aperitif between heavier shows. If you are at a loss as to what to watch next, but in the mood for a heroine-exits-cocoon style romance, this will do as nicely as an afternoon tea.

IMHO...

🎬7 🎭7.4 💓8 🦋7 🤔6 🎨7.6 😅6.6 🌞7.7 🔚8.

I'm suggesting Age 16+ My reasoning: Her mom is an ex-porn star, which has been a lifetime vexation for Yumi. Also, they have a one-night-stand when they hardly know each other. There's so many other great Kdramas to watch, so there's no rush for teens to see this one.

Romance junkies only -
Boys Over Flowers-8 ~ melodrama to the max,
The Bride of Habaek-7,
Heirs-7.3,
That Winter, The Wind Blows-7,
Something in them Rain-9,
C🇨🇳: Well-Intended Love-7.5 Rom-porn - extra points for the dopamine,
When I Fly Towards You-7.8,
Wait, My Youth-8.4,
A Little Thing Called First Love-8.5,
Find Yourself-8.9,
Hidden Love-7.8
J🇯🇵: 7th Time Loop-7.9,
True Beauty-7.5
Why Raeliana Ended up at the Duke's Mansion-8.4,
Nina the Starry Bride-8.4

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Mother's Love Will Never Abandon You ♡ A Sad Show With A Bobbled Ending

This is a good drama, but it made me sad - and not a cathartic "sad," like a Chinese or Shakespearean tragedy that is somehow fulfilling. This show brings on an empty sadness.

In the +, the characters are all complex and thus, they remain interesting. I loved the cameo of Seobinggo and Shin Soon-ae from Oh My Ghost, which I consider to be one of the best romcoms ever made. OMG & HBM share a director, Yoo Je-Won. He has 10 works credited to him, all of which are rated 7 or higher. That's outstanding. So far I've seen Tomorrow With You(7-VG but major logical problems and a couple of crashes with consistency) The King: Eternal Monarch(7.9 it's different, and it's not perfect, but it's mostly excellent) and Abyss(4.7 Poor - it's awful, which hurts my feelings because I love Park Bo-young), and Oh My Ghost(10 - it's superb). His most popular shows are Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha & Crash Course in Romance, which are ones I haven't gotten to, yet.

This drama addresses weighty topics (death, loss, regret, guilt) and does it well. Yu-ri shows thoughtfulness and grace… and MOXIE. The best moments are when the ladies get together, especially when they don their sunglasses-of-doom.

There are shortcomings - too many for it to be considered a top-tier production. Some things that happen are unexpected, but the final outcome comes speeding down the road and arrives just as foreshadowed. There is poor resolution. We are treated to some final moments peeking a few years down the line, but it’s too brief and way too ill-defined, and we don't witness much of any healing. Not all the drinks that are poured are imbibed, meaning that many of the characters seem like they would get more of a story arc, but they just evaporated instead. The rules of the "game" are not laid out. Even when the reason Yu-ri came back is confirmed, it doesn't change any of the problems. It is actually a weak plot point: If that method works, we shouldn't need funeral directors or cemeteries as no one would ever stay dead. As lovely as that would be, it doesn't play well in this show.

Their effort to analyze the mother/daughter cycle is respectable. It seems the show's diffuse focus redirects the audience from an exploratory surgery that would provide a deeper analysis of the truth, to: "Take an aspirin and get some rest. It will all blow by "

In summary, this is not a feel-good drama. Don't look for that. It did not help me process my own recent loss: Don't look for that either.

IMHO...
Suggested Age 12& up.


Directing 6.7
Acting 8
Romance 3
Thought provocation 6

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☘ The Snide Rabbit & the Smiling Carrot ☘ °5.7° °avg➕️°

Mom, I got a call today. ZGDX wants me to play on their 🎧Esports🕹 team…”

“Well I got a call today too. I won a Rolls-Royce just because I bought a fish at the supermarket.” Mom isn't easily impressed.

Esports. E…Sports? They've got the fittest fingers in the world! But parents don't believe it's a suitable way to make a living. Dad chimes in that “cool” isn't a valid factor in choosing a career. Now that Tong Yao has graduated, it's time to forget games and get a J.O.B. BUT, these esports dudes are prettier than a K-pop boy band! What's a gurl to do? Hmmm? A girl's gonna get to Shanghai and give it serious consideration.

But Yao's ex is in Shanghai playing for an opposing team… Whatever, she's so over him. As soon as Yao signs with ZGDX, mom changes the family chat heading from Happy😀Family to Unhappy😥Family… The fans are in an uproar. Her teammates aren't thrilled to have the first girl player in the league. Biscuit, the 🐈, is the only one who's happy. Just looking at Cheng's fish tank and dreaming of the catch keeps him smiling.

FIYS is a 2021 release that is rated 8.6 on MDL & 8.1 on IMDB. It is 1 season consisting of 31 45-minute episodes. It's proof that Xu Kai's smile can carry a show, as FIYS makes the Hallmark Channel look like the Smithsonian Channel. I flinched at the inane dialogue and weak plot devices a few times. From one sappy speech to the next, there's a heavily manufactured feel. At times even the romance feels rather staged (and at other times it's charming). Someone actually orders shark fin soup - Hey, China! That is not alright. Shark fin soup is derived from a brutal practice in which the fin is cut off and the shark is left to sink to the ocean floor and die slowly. This unnecessary cruelty should be banned🚫universally. They do not do a good job drawing the viewer into the competition; the viewer knows very little about what's happening on the screen. One can't help but compare it to The King's Avatar-8, which does a superb job of heightening game play drama and excitement. KA has no romance, but it has spectacular graphics. The tiny screen with tinier characters running around and tinny sound effects is less than exciting in FIYS. I got caught up on my shopping list during the game play because it adds nothing to the equation until the last competition. As of ep7 it still feels like set up - things haven't gotten rolling yet. Perhaps by ep9 or 10 things finally emerge from set-up mode. Then playas gonna play, and haters gonna hate - because this new girl has *ganked the sport's #1 attraction, Chessman. She's claimed ownership. The fans are in a frenzy.

*gank -verb; to take or steal (something); in a video game, to use underhand means to defeat or kill - good word.

Chinese esports fans in this show are really rough, and I'm from right outside of Philadelphia - I know tough fans. FIYS is a 31 episode sermon against cyber bullying with a romance tucked into it. But it's cute, and it passes the time pleasantly. And, hey, it's got cats. Dogs are great, too, but cats are underrepresented and downright abused in Western media. The adorable Xu Kai (Ancient Love Poetry-8.6, Once Upon a Time in Lingjian Mountain-7.5) is Lu Si Cheng. No complaints. Notta one. Cheng Xiao (The World of Fantasy) plays Tong Yao, who is fleet of finger and can play many different RPG characters. Since opposing teams get to ban a certain number of characters, this is a necessary skill.

The romance is like a low drama Sunday stroll. What's a girl supposed to do when she hasn't quite made up her mind, yet the man of any girl's dreams gives her 2 hours to accept or reject him? She ain't ready. He pulls a stunt to seal the deal. He knows how to strategize, afterall. He seems to be into her rather quickly, particularly her bunny bra that he accidentally saw one day. In ep1 it's: “No one would look at you.” and in ep11 it's, “my intermittent blindness.” Soon, his bunny/carrot analogies are nibbling at her. By ep21 it's: “Your hands are so soft.” They are required to live stream for several hours a month while they practice. Since they sit next to eachother, the fans quickly pick up on the tension between them and the junk that they're airing out, both knowingly and unknowingly. From the outside it looks like this: “One of you is too proud and the other is too arrogant. Do you intend to fight for life?”

Now for the Scooby snacks.

🍬They pay subtle deference to The King's Avatar. Their uniforms are nearly the same as the ones that Team Happy wore in KA with some black added in. In ep1 a player on the other team is Yang. They're yelling “Yang! Yang!” It feels like a shout-out to The KA which stars Yang Yang.

🍬The soundtrack is loaded with beautiful piano and violin.

🍬Top lane, top laner, topsolo. Bottom lane. Bottom laner. Middle lane. Midsolo. Jungler. Shooter. Support. Gank. The lingo is fun.

🍬China loves Tolkien. One of the teams is Orcs of Doom. I've seen other references to Tolkien's works in Chinese shows.

🍬A great touch that they should have worked in more often is animation accents. They review the week's quotes with fun word animation bouncing around the screen. Great sequence. When she's tired, a hand-drawn energy bar in the red-zone and a mostly depleted heart are following her around. Less is not more in this case. More fun touches like that would have been an enhancement.

🍬“Your aesthetics are a reference for exclusion,” she says as she puts back the shoes that he picked out😂.

🍬The Big BAD🇰🇷Koreans on the other teams… given the history, and the fact that with a population of around 50M to China's 1.4B, SK is 0.036% China's size, that's funny. They also make reference to watching Kdramas💖

🍬Poor chubadub. Every time something intimate happens, he happens upon it, and he just don't wanna see it!

Love can overcome the odds, and this adorable couple does manage to eke out a win, despite the above mentioned hindrances. At least that's what the ratings demonstrate. This would probably be more popular with tween and teen girls than any other group. She's a touch stiff; maybe it's just him carrying the show… The poor dialogue and plot drivers do lower the degree of difficulty, so the top score is ceilinged well under its full potential. Romance junkies will tolerate this well, but others will relate to it worse than parents will to a career playing video games.


QUOTES📢

It's safer to be a wimp.

What's yours will be yours; otherwise could you take it by force?

Never take the enemy lightly. Don't fight unprepared battles.


〰🖍 IMHO

📣6.3 📝5 🎭6.7 💓6 🦋6 🎨5 🎵/🔊7.5 🔚7 ▪ 🌞5 ⚡2 😅2.5 😭2 😱2 😯2 😖1 🤔3 💤4


Age 13+
Language: PG-13 he!!, d@mn, etc

Rated TV-14: Parents Strongly Cautioned. ..

Re-📺? Nah, and with the benefit of foreknowledge, I would not watch it for the first time, though it certainly has its bright moments.

In order of ~lite & trite~ to ~heavy & serious~ you may also like:

🎎Historical/Period:
Overlord 8.4,
The Sleepless Princess 9.1 (there's a minor fantasy element),
The Romance of Tiger and Rose 9.8,
Under the Power 8.6

🇰🇷K:
My Only Love Song 8.7 excellent comedy;
Mr. Queen 8.5;
My Sassy Girl / Yeopgijeogin Geunyeo 8.5;

🔮Fantasy - Heavenly realm:
Love Between Fairy & Devil 8.9;
Once upon a time in Linglian Mountain 7.5;
Douluo Continent 9.4;
Handsome siblings 8.7;
Heavenly Sword 9 (Kung-fu!);
Ancient Love Poetry 8.6

💘Modern Day romance:
Well-Intended Love 7.5 Rom-porn - extra points for the dopamine;
Find Yourself 8.9 all around excellent;
A Little Thing Called First Love 8.5

🇰🇷K:
A Witch's Love 7.8;
love To Hate You 8.9;
Crash Landing On You 9.1;
Oh My Ghost 10;
It's okay not to be okay 9;
My Mister 9.5;

⚡🇰🇷K Action:
K2 8;
Private Lives 8.1;
Sisyphus 8;
Tunnel 8.1;
Signal 8.6;
Black 9;
Squid Game 8.4;
Kingdom 8.3;
Sweet Home 8.4

🇯🇵Japanese lite romcoms: Maid Sama (10), Mischievous Kiss Love in Tokyo (7.8), Love, Chunibyo And Other Delusions (8.4), Toradora (8.5)

Originally 〰️🖊 May 2024

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Like Pizza Delivered Upside Down ~ Could Have Been ⤴️ But It's Just ⤵️ °4.6° °Poor°

I tried to roll along with BIOG, I really did. When watching fiction - especially fantasy - we must hold our suspension of disbelief in order to go along with the show and enjoy it. It's more relaxing to be on the generous side of the issue. Each time we have to dismiss inconsistencies, errors, a clumsy cadence, stupid dialogue or other disappointments, it's like a pinprick. At some point blood starts to gush and one can't let it go anymore. Then almost everything posi+ive drains dry, which is what happened here. This show just doesn't work; it's lifeless. Inconsistencies kept that "little ✒pinch" feeling going. For instance:

✒Can people see ghosts, or just evil spirits? It's unclear. We are told that seeing ghosts is something only a few people can do, but as the show goes on, more and more people are seeing ghosts. The viewer can make some guesses as to why this happens, but we shouldn't have to guess. The rules of this world should be explained and then adhered to. Or it hurts.

✒Hyun Ji's wardrobe, and how she is able to obtain, wear and change clothes is inconsistent. Her clothing is a plot driver in some episodes, yet rules about wardrobe laid out early on are bent, broken or tossed out altogether later. While I'm on the subject of costume, when Hyun Ji is wearing black she should have had spike-heeled boots on, not the frumpy-dumpies she wears. How kick@$$ing could she be when wearing them? They only could have helped.

✒She gets wet when it rains but her hair is dry when she comes out of the lake(?)

✒Why don't people see the forks and knives moving and the glasses being raised when ghosts are eating?

✒The police investigate a buried body in the woods and declare that it may not be a natural death? Possibly. What made them think that? Oh, right, the body was BURIED.

✒I'm almost shocked that the two seniors, In Rang and Cheon Sang, who only want to film ghosts in the beginning of the show, seem to forget all about it, and their youtube channel, as the episodes go on. The writer and director just let that aspect float out there and never used it. Letting something so important to the characters just fall away with no reason provided is downright lazy plot and character development.

✒We aren't told how technically skillful In Rang is, early on, so when he magically displays prowess later, it seems to sprout from nowhere.

✒Do we know the monk's actual relationship to Bong Pal? He seems to be an uncle, but if that was stated I missed it. We shouldn't be left to guess.

✒Do we know if Hyun Ji got all of her memories back from her time with Park Bong Pal?

✒What's going on in ep16 when they claim they don't need money and they have to be convinced to earn some? Bizarre.

It's as if they mixed scenes together like four and water. They don't have the sugar and the eggs, so no cake. It's gloop. Instead of a cohesive product that works, they just have a pile of separated scenes that don't combine for a better whole. On top of the inconsistencies and general sloppiness, the soundtrack and sound effects are lackluster.

The acting was fine. The actors suffer from bad directing. It doesn't seem like it's their fault. There appears to be a lack of chemistry, but it's probably a lack of good direction. Joon Hwa Park has a great lineup as a director. Hopefully this is an outlier. Conversely, one of the best things in the show is an incentive twist. That was a pleasant surprise. The villain is well done also, but none of that can bless this offering.

IMHO…

Directing 4
Acting 7
Romance 5
Flutters 4
Thought provocation 3

Age 13& up.

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YIKES! Okay.....☠ °Excellent°

SPOILERS ARE SEPARATE AT THE BOTTOM

SG is a foray into the callused debauchery of which humans are capable. It builds on 'The Most Dangerous Game' w/ a twist. Here, bored positive-balance-sheeted rustlers devise a game that enables them to entice poor souls in financial straits to come out & play. The key is what the players weren't told, not what they were: 456 competitors may enter, but only one will exit alive at the end. The fulsome 1%-ers won't participate. Preferring to spectate from the comfort of their private luxury boxes or big screens, they wager while the "horses" perform... & die. SG showcases the mutual annihilation pact we enter when it's "every man for himself." It illustrates that if there's no umpire, people will always run out of their lanes.

lt challenges the viewer with the question: ‘Do you believe humans are good?’ Not quite, right? “Open your eyes!” “Wake up!” “Dig up your inner skeptic!!!” “Work on the word NO!“ “Augh!” I was yelling at the screen like I was at, well, the races. It's not that the players are horror-movie-inept. It's their failure to timely process how the race was degrading, at a frenzied gallop, into barbarism. Pleading w/ them has no effect. All viewers can do is watch in dismay as if neutered. In time, the players do comb it out: The rules specified by the referees are the ONLY rules applicable. The penalties for running out of the lines are, umm... Severe.

The violence is lurid, but not gratuitous. Author Hwang Dong-hyuk stated his purpose: "I wanted to write a story that was an allegory or fable about modern capitalist society, something that depicts an extreme competition, somewhat like the extreme competition of life." He was poaching from the gauntlet of his own fiscal hardships.

The first two eps focus on the wild swings our ML/#456 is subjected to when his psychotropic journey begins. We watch him enter a limo, awake in the surreal, lofty dorm of horse stalls (300ft high, maybe?) & finally exit into the calamitous onslaught of Game 1.

For those of you🇺🇲 who are new to Kdramas: Hey! We've been waiting for you;) Relax, Most viewers achieve subtitle fitness immediately. The whole world is watching our entertainment deposits that way. If you can't diversify, they win! Kdramas excel at extracting every possible wince & whinny out of the viewer. The writing, directing, acting, & overall play are consistently supplying ROI (returns) due to the high quality of execution. So much so, that they're in danger of their stats being overlooked. Korea's got an excess of talent.

More of the same, SG is superb dressage, or pageantry, particularly in the horror genre, which is loaded with dumbed down characters & script, lots more blood & guts, & an extraordinarily evil feel to the substandard works. SG blows the whistle on those foul circulations for which a de-worming & muck-out is prescribed. Yes, the violence is jolting, and yet it's not gratuitous or meaningless. It posts warnings of dangerous conditions.

Notwithstanding, KDramas, like Simone Biles, can twist with wondrous strength. They routinely spiral the knife into the viewer's psyche w/ disciplined follow-through. An example is the demented sickness of using "innocent" colors like pink & leafy green that also resemble medicines, such as Pepto Bismol. Along w/ the kiddie trappings, it's all dread multipliers. It's nauseating.

In the opening eps, Kdramas also tend to trot out players before the audience that are an extreme version of themselves. Ten+ hrs allows ample time to invest in talent, improve performance, & yield gains. Just remember, most of the people you see on the screen will either dramatically transform or the audience's appreciation of them will change as the series matures. You may squander your currency backing a failing commodity, while another's performance might lead your fantasy team to victory.

Scouting 456 exposes a pathetically & painfully substandard performer of the most contemptible sort: over 40, living w/ mom, swiping her money to gamble on horses... Relegated to the penny stocks, has he ever been bullish? Not likely. Has he ever pitied the horses? Nayyy! Nary a concern. The projection that he will gain any interest is dubious. The thought of up to 9 eps/laps monitoring his performance isn't appealing in the opening derbies.

Competing "horses" are numbered. If Kdrama writers assign #s to competitors, it's likely the #s have a commodity backing their values in Numerology. Utility players who can slip into many positions, Numerology definitions, like astrology, tend to be generalized in order to broaden the application. Having said that, let's see if any of the numbers assigned by Mr. Hwang have any credit values.

☂456 is slacker-protagonist Seong Gi-hun, & signifies effort & patience. A mentor is needed who will teach working on self-improvement as a priority. Hard work will add value to life.

✔Check. It's applicable.

☂218 is for Cho Sang-woo, 456's friend from the 'hood.' The number 218 symbolizes manifesting one's biggest & seemingly impossible desires into reality, often related to 💰.

☂001, the old man's # is at its most positive when in the realm of work. It's assigned to winners indicating 1st place. It represents independence, but this can also mean loneliness, isolation, or being single.

☂199 is Abdul Ali. 199's are self-reliant & comfortable pursuing their agenda, which, for Ali, is providing for his family on his own. #199's goals virtually never conflict with long-term human survival & well-being.

☂067 is NK native, Kang Sae-byeok, who strives to protect her family. No surprise: #067 signifies home, family, unconditional love, responsibility, sacrifice & service. Creating a solid foundation for the future, & protection of family & possessions is a #067's priority.

☂244, the pastor: Spiritual advancement can be phenomenal in a #244's life. He must keep wrong at bay & not offend the inner energy installed by his maker.

Finally, upon the runners' return in EP3, 187 players re-enter the stalls: The US police code for murder.

✔, ✔, ✔, again. And on it goes. There's more in the spoiler section. Getting chills?

If not, you probably haven't seen the show yet. Don't forget this when you do. The strategy trotted out is medal-winning. Just be woke about what the show is about. It is not about displaying incidental, cheap, & meaningless horror for the purpose of titillation. SG is a metaphor for the writer's own hardships in a cruel, uber competitive & heartless society. The players all represent the downtrodden, like geldings in irons. Most of their backstories, if posted on GoFundMe, would grab attention. I'd be tempted to contribute to a few of them. Even the criminals are subtly shown to have been wedged into their life choices. Delving into one gangster's number (101) exposes his basic needs that clearly weren't met. It all contributes to his projected gains & losses.

Oh, these "poor," rich, hacked-up GOONS. Their lives are so empteee. Sigh. Studies show around 21% off CEOs are psychopaths. It's not a stretch to guess that some of these fulsome degenerates are in that club, given their heightened sadism. We all know that money isn't everything, but it certainly fills in divots allowing the race of life to run smoothly. These coasting reprobates can't seem to notice, through all the haze of pride, that people are most gratified when we help others.

Kdramas are also wont to lob deferred options that the viewer didn't account for into the works. Expect that everything is not what it seems to be. Avoid being roped in by Ponzi Schemes.

This is not over. We need S2. The question has not been answered yet. #456 is sequential ~> moving forward. To the extent that 456 accomplishes anything, true to form, he will barely get his neck over the line. Here's my ante-post bet & hope: In S2, he'll be stallion #789 who tramples out this ghoulish fraternity of gamers.

Apologies for mixing up the monetary, equestrian, & sports metaphors. I'm not good with rules either.


QUOTE📢 Good rain knows when to fall. ~Du Fu~


〰🖍 IMHO

🎭8 🎬8 🤔8⚡8🎨7🔚9

For age 15+


In order of ~lite&trite~ to ~heavy&serious~ you may also like:

My Only Love Song 8.7 ~ excellent comedy,
Racket Boys-8.3,
Mr. Queen 8.5, Love to Hate You-8.9, Glitch-8,
The Golden Spoon-8.1,
It's Okay Not To Be Okay 9, Misaeng-9.1, Law School-8,
My Mister 9.5,
The King's Affection 8.3,
Mr. Sunshine-9,
Mother-8.8

Action/Crime/Sci-fi -
K2 8,
Private Lives 8.1,
Sisyphus 8, Inspector Koo-8.4,
Iris-8,
Tunnel 8.5,
Signal 8.6, Blood Free-8.5,
Beyond Evil-7.4, D.P. -8.4,
The Cursed 8.3,
Flower of Evil 8.9,
The Man from Nowhere 8.9,
Black 9,
The Wailing-8.8,
Kingdom 8.3,
Sweet Home 8.4

originally 📝 10/2021


⛔️SPOILERS FOLLOW⛔️


⛔️

⛔️

⛔️

🚦218 is Cho Sang-woo, 456's 'friend' who worked his way up from 'hood-rat’ to white-collar hood. To a point, he mirrors 001. This loathsome in-runner surprisingly gave up the fight, but not before becoming a murderer. #218 is for manifesting one's biggest & (on the face) near impossible desires into reality. Business, duality, & serving humanity must coexist. 218 failed in his run to win that 💰, but he found redemption in his last moments. 218 knows that 456 will serve his mother AND humanity w/ the 💰.

🚦101 is gangster, Jang Deok-su. A #101's primary function is romance, w/ importance of relationships right behind. At first blush this doesn't fit w/ the character, though he did get involved in a quasi romantic trist. Let's flesh it out further:

A #101 needs coexistence. Without it, a #101 is alone. People w/ that # can feel lonely & lost just thinking of being alone. 101 obviously grew up w/o basic needs & training, leaving him consumed w/ bitterness & ill-prepared for rigid competition. #101 also points to eternity & the journey that is about to begin w/ all its uncertainties. It's a reminder that we are not in control of our destiny. God is. So #101s should follow the course & learn before their time on this plane is over. It's sad to think that 101 didn't get emotional support or the care needed for success. He is still responsible for his infractions, but it's sad, nonetheless. He parallels the VIP who was attracted to the cop. They each had the same expression of shock, disbelief, & the beginnings of acceptance when facing death.

🚦199 is Abdul Ali, one of the worst upsets of the show. #199s are independent & comfortable pursuing their agenda. For Ali it's providing for his family - independently. A #199's goals virtually never conflict w/ humanity's survival & long-term well-being. We see that Ali is good, albeit naive, & foolish to be so independent that he'd wager his life on a long shot ih an effort to provide.

🚦212 is Han Mi-nyeo, the 'crazy Mare' who brought down 101. #212s frequently chase curiosity, adventure & ALL new, shiny objects ~ often on a whim. #212s can be good team members. Their energy can be sensual. Enroute towards goals, they can face harsh obstacles. Jumping the fence may lead to negative outcomes. As with 101, only the negative interpretations are exhibited by them. Their harsh lives had severed them from the positive elements w/in themselves. They portray ruthlessness, but there is a forlornness about them, too.

🚦111 is the doctor. A #111 won't let himself be slotted into a team member role unless the role is real leadership. They haven't been broken. If #111's thoughts are negative, it could attract toxic situations & people.

🚦240 ('phillie' Ji-yeong) is just released from prison for putting down her abusive 'sire'. #240 is about nurture & mutual support w/ a high focus on security & the future; all provided w/o expectation of return. She went underfoot for 067 & thus negated the lie the VIP's tell themselves about human nature. Having already sacrificed her freedom to deliver justice to her mother, 240 is the moral center of the show.

🚦The husband/wife duo is portrayed in #69, or two identical digits facing & complimenting each other to make a whole. If we squeeze 6&9 together we can make an 8, which toppled, is the eternity sign. In addition, the visual aspect of the # is related to ying&yang. The energy of #69 is best when involved directly w/ family or team as an equal. Freakily, #069 symbolizes the closure of a chapter in life & encourages one to be prepared for a traumatic phase. Whether ending good or bad, it is bound to bring a huge change. Be prepared for it, b/c the manner in which it's dealt with will affect one's future.

The players aren't the only losers. The police Officer's story is grim. Hwang Jin-ho went there to save his brother. Seduced by the power of the dark side, the frontman won't let /anybody/ move in on /him/. So he brought his own brother down. That's pain. Frontman actor, Lee Byung-hun, aced an expression of curtailed grief tinged with guilt + overt resolve to cantor forward. After all, it was his brother or him.

001 didn't get what he wanted by hosting SG, which was a panecea for loneliness & boredom. It seems he & the VIPs justify their actions by deluding themselves that they are conducting a social experiment. Insistence that everyone is as cutthroat as they are leads to pitting people against eachother. This enables them to inveigle their own selves that those people deserve to die: 'Just look at who they really are! It's voluntary... they all get a fair chance.'

In the end, the old man had the whole world, but was utterly unsatisfied. Craving the camaraderie he'd had while growing up poor, he felt that kinship w/ 456, even though 456 eventually betrayed him. At the time, 456 had a 2nd chance. He could have done the all-or-nothing, but refused. That plot point of betrayal, while needed, was his worst moment. The old man was playing him all day to tempt him, but he meant it when he called 456 his gganbu, or close buddy.

The kinship manifests itself when the old man wants to see HIM at the end of his life. 456 is there, bedside, when #1 dies. Where's his wife? Where's his kids?? Where's his grandkids??? Can I get a mistress? Nope. Just 456 & an aid were there. Next, 001 saves 456's 'life' a 2nd time by jerking 456's bit toward /living/, rather than merely existing.

456 is who he is. He wins 3x's in the show's run, but even when he wins, he's a pathetic loser that barely stumbles over the line. In winning, his soul was put-down. When he went to see the old man in the penthouse he won their game, but he didn't get what he wanted once again, as 001 died before 456 could kill him. It did wake 456 up. He no longer has to feel guilty about flashing a laser in the old man's eyes during the race: His regret is not shipping 001 off to the dog food plant himself.

The red hair broadcasts that he's now either on fire, or starting to blaze his trail. Finally. This is not over. We need a S2. The question has not been answered yet. #456 is sequential & shows progression, or moving forward. Here's my ante-post bet & hope: In S2, he'll be stallion #789 who tramples out the ghoulish fraternity of gamers.

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✒t's All Good In The Hood❕️ °Excellent°

Is this a romance, or an exploration of parent child relationships?

It's both. It's actually more the latter. There's loss, longing, loneliness, laughter and love, with scary tension mixed in for good measure. The neighborhood is a character on its own. The place to which they've taken us is so charming. Good directing, good acting, good writing and a good soundtrack all come together beautifully, like Donbaek's pork stir-fry. The romance between the two leads is sweet. The mystery surrounding the murders is also handled very well. Most of the character arcs are satisfying.

Dongbaek is uncomfortably passive and within herself in the first few episodes. Watching her develop... and bloom🌸... is a treat. I've become a big fan of Lee Jeong Eun, Dongbaek's mom. She's a stellar talent and currently my favorite actress. I first saw her in Oh My Ghost which is a romcom that's cooked up to perfection (except the first episode is slow and a tad hard to get into until the last 60 seconds when e'erthing flips. She, along with the other 3 OMG leads, delivers magnificent performances. I have had a love affair with all of them ever since). This show is 95% excellent. Here's a complimentary sample of unimportant nitpicks:

🥜It doesn't quite make sense to open a restaurant/bar just because you can make one good dish....

🥜It would have been fun to see policeman Young Shik catch a few more criminals, but it is understandable that one case came to consume all of his time.

🥜I wasn't pleased with the treatment of Jong Ryul, Pil-Gu's father. It seemed more severe than he deserved. He truly cares for Dongbaek. He never had a chance to know his son. He made mistakes when he was immature, and has since grown up. The reason for the break-up and her attitude toward him is less in focus than other plot lines. I'm glad they didn't make him a cartoonish bad guy, at least. That's a played out stereotype; he has more complexity.

🥜The efforts to catch the Joker had some holes, or flaws. Obvious things that should have been done were not, mostly to maintain the plot.

Any criticisms are easily overlooked due to the overall excellence of the show. Hwang Yong-Sik's energy alone is worth the time spent. Kang Ha-Neul is really terrific as the ML. So grab the peanuts and Soju and enjoy your stay in Ongsan.

QUOTE📢

"I scratched on cement that hasn't hardened." (Meaning that since he's a kid it will mark him, hurt him, and stay with him for life).


〰🖍 IMHO

🎬8 🤔6 🎭8 🦋5 💓 7

Suggested Age 14& up.

Originally 📝 7/2021

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✒⚗Smart Patches Diabolical Minds & Victims' Circles °3.9° °disastrous°

The 1-sentence review: Don't let the snazzy opening fool you. Keep the lid shut on this show or suffer.

Pandora, in legend, was created by the gods as payback for people obtaining fire from Prometheus. As the 1st woman, she carried a jar (or box) that contained all evil. When opened, evil & misery entered the world. Therefore, the title only serves as a metaphor for the show. Open this “jar,” & misery will follow.

Need convincing? We'll keep going.

Introducing Clover, a neural implant smart patch. It's a revolutionary medical device brought to us by Hatch. It allows direct input of data into the brain. No more studying! The chimp they've been testing on, “Red”, has an IQ of 120. After the demonstration that opens the show, Hatch is primed to make gazillions.

What could go wrong here?

The viewer is tipped off that things will go horribly wrong in many ways. The filming is dark & near psychedelic at times, while the soundtrack is heavily portentous. ‘This isn't going to be a lite feel-good watch,’ I was thinking. That woulda been OK. The problem is that 🅿 is patched together worse than Hanul Psychiatric Hospital's worst attempt at reconstructing Frankenstein.

🅿 is overrated at 89 on AWiki, which is just shocking to me. The IMDB crowd is at 6.2. It gets off to a hot start. The opening eps are fantastic. I love how Tae, the main protag, wears a very heavy gold chain that's wrapped around her neck twice. It's emblematic of being shackled. At times the action is great, especially early on. They promised the audience more, but their promises were unfulfilled. The filmcraft is outstanding - truly stunning, at times. (It's a shame that it was wasted on this effort). “So far, I don't understand the low ratings,” thought I. Turns out, the crowd is overly generous & must have weighed in before completing the show, b/c 🅿 is a disaster. It just doesn't become obvious until the 2nd half.

Gradually, it comes into focus that there is no focus, no cohesive plot. They bring up tantalizing possibilities w/o follow-through. 🅿 is not an assassin or girl-kicks-butt thriller; it's not a political nor a science thriller. It dips his toes into varied waters but never dives in. Characters haphazardly shift their allegiances. There's also gross over-acting. Bottoming out at downright insulting, it's so thoroughly incompetent that it really is breathtaking.

These people, who seem so happy, sure do turn on eachother.

The women:

Lee Ji Ah is FL Hong “Tae” Ra. On paper her life is perfect but she has no memory of her past. She's starting to get creepy flashbacks. The actress plays someone who inspires disgust in My Mister-9.5, a show that all should watch. Here she's relatable, which speaks to her skill. She's a victim. Her family life ended when her parents were killed in a car “accident “ that may not have been an accident. As an orphan, her victimization intensified.

Jang Hee Jin (Flower of Evil-8.9) plays Ko Haesoo “HSoo,” a reporter who is also a victim. Her husband & Tae's spouse head up Hatch. Her father is a former president who was assassinated & the crime has never been solved. Heartbreak drove her mother to suicide. HSoo's also an irritating lunatic. It's hard to root for a person who is that toxic & self-absorbed, even if she's been through legitimate trauma. She acts like she's the only one who has suffered loss, but none of these protags still has both parents. Something true of mentally ill people is replete self-absorption. HSoo is unhinged & blind to everyone else's pain. What's more tragically ironic is that too much self-focus only leads to despair, & HSoo crossed that threshold long ago. She's also raising a monster, so we can't even give her credit for being a good mom. Later on, they try to turn her into some kind of mastermind, but it isn't convincing, nor is it emotionally satisfying as she's still so tediously odious.

Han Soo-Yeon is Tae's sister& business partner Hong Yura. She has a new bf, but she's cryptic abt him. She seems perfect ~ at 1st glance. Soon we see that she's horrible. Yura ends up a victim as well. Kyeon Mi Ri is HSoo's mother i/l. She is often the rich mom in shows like Revolutionary Love-5.7 & Backstreet Rookie-6.4. She's a cutie, but she's distasteful in most of 🅿. Shim So-Young (Alchemy of Souls-8.3) plays the loathsome mental hospital director, Kim Sun-Deok. Her laugh is really too much; even for a heavy show, her part is over the top.

Let's hear it for Red, she really wowed the crowd before she becomes a victim.

The men:

Lee Sang Yoon (Lovestruck in the City-7.3) plays Tae's husband, Pyo “Jae” Hyun. They are deeply in love, & he seems unfazed by her shrouded past. He's preparing to take a sabbatical as Hatch CEO so that he can run for president. He's a victim. His mother was killed in the same accident that took Tae's parents.

Park Ki Woong/KiW (The King's Affection-8.3) is Jang “Do” Jin, the other half of the Hatch helm & HSoo's husband. Early on we see that KiW is not the devoted partner that Jae is. When we meet his toxic parents, we understand: He's a victim caught in his family's web. Bong Tae Kyu plays the nerdy creative force behind Hatch"s success, “Koo” Sung Chan. He's weak, which turns him into more of a victimizer. Hong Woo Jin (Squid Game-8.4) is Jang Kyojin/”Kyo”. He's a victim. He's been comatose since a motorbike accident that was prob NOT accidental.

Jung Jae-Sung is politician Han Kyung-Rok. Actors from Korea do the arrogant “knowing laugh” better than anyone in the 🌏, & he's among the best. (A funny guy I know always does a mock-up of the “knowing laugh,” so while it used to make me want to strangle the person inflicting it on my eardrums, now it just reminds me of him doing it for fun, so I giggle instead. Humor is the best medicine, indeed). He's often casted as an @$$h0le w/ power. I've seen him in Hospital Playlist-9, Flower Crew: Joseon Marriage Agency-7.4, My Mister-9.5, Clean w/ Passion For Now-7, The King's Affection-8.3, & Big Mouth-7.4. He's been in many other wildly successful shows that I intend to get to asap. On MDL, his only sub-7 show is The Interest of Love at 6.8. He must have eaten magic beans that make him entirely distasteful but wildly successful to be in that many stellar features.

This is Screenwriter Hyun Ji Min's 1st credited work. The director is Choi Young Hoon of One the Woman, & the original creator is Kim HSoon Ok of The Penthouse series.

The theme is Victims. Sadly, most of us have been victimized in small or big ways. Being victimized leaves a person w/ a choice: Heal & move on, or let the pain rule (and ruin) your life. Healing must, at some point, involve forgiveness. (That has nothing to do w/ justice; for the benefit of society, crimes must be punished). HSoo personifies the concept that becoming a victim does not a saint create. Being victimized will tempt a person to wallow in anger, hatred, unforgiveness & bitterness. It's understandable, but in the end, those dark indulgences will only rot us out from within. Almost every character in 🅿 has been victimized, & almost every character chooses the path of bitterness & revenge. A mess it does make.

In ep2 we go back 15 yrs. The president is being inaugurated… & assassinated. Flashes of this past jolt Tae. A furtive missive, delivered by an untraceable tattooed motorcyclist, entices her to come to the Hanul Psychiatric Hospital, a visit that breaks the lock on her past. Soon we are looking at shades of the show Hanna-7, which is about teen girls being turned into assassins. This isn't the first time such a plot has come out of hiding: The 1990 film, La Femme Nikita, also involves young Iron Maidens. Bridget Fonda starred in 1993's Point Of No Return, which was Hollywood's version of the same film. (The French one is better). Let's not forget the absolute bang-jammy of the dudette insurgent bunch - Kickass. Ooo, the Swedish version of The Girl w/ A Dragon Tattoo (+2 sequels) is also as good as it gets. Once again, skip Hollywood's variant of these flicks. When thugs come at Tae, muscle memory kicks… then punches, slashes & tosses. It's SO (swordless) KILL BILL - for a scant moment, but that excitement goes away & never reappears. Whaaaa?

There's too many logical gaps, eg: It makes no sense that enemies seem to have unfettered access to a helpless person who has suffered a stroke. There's a USB that supposedly contains research files but it's inexplicably necessary to run Hatch's programs. Jae's campaign should have been dead after a voice file was released, but the problem evaporates. It's alittle too easy for enemies to sneak up on Tae, who's flawless until the show renders her impotent to push the plot. It's inconsistent & sloppy: Is she a female terminator, or a pathetic woman in distress? When we are introduced to Tae, we should have seen her vigorous workout routine. It would bolster credibility when she starts kicking butt out of the blue. In ep13, CEO Kummo is sent a packet of shocking evidence. He's elated. The problem is that all of it had already been on the national news - as reported by his own daughter i/l.

In the last half, I no longer cared what happened & rolled my eyes at every development. Eps14-16 status: ‘Officially offended’. This is when they attempt to manufacture emotion w/ some deaths, but it all falls flat. They attempt to wrap it up w/ pretty bows, but it's too little too late. While ep16 is not as painful to watch as the previous 4, it's painful, still the same, w/ a sacrifice that is unnecessary & plain silly. Not that I cared who lived or died by then. Kill ‘em all. Ease my pain.

Another thing that will ease my pain is by helping anyone who stumbles onto this review avoid that pain altogether. Try It's Okay Not To Be Okay 9, Law School -8, My Mister 9.5, or Blood Free-8.5 instead.

〰 IMHO

📣4 📝3 🎭5 💓3 🦋2 🎨8 🎵/🔊5.5 🔚2 ▪ 🌞3 ⚡5.5 😅0 😭4 😱4 😯4 🤢2.5 🤔1 💤4


Poli-wagging: 3/10. They make politicians in, general, look bad. That's fair.

Age 15+ for graphic, heavy violence; Language: R-rated $h!+, b!÷ch F💣s
Rated TV-MA: Mature Audience Only. Not that any mature person would enjoy this.

It's Okay Not To Be Okay 9,
Law School -8,
Call It Love-8.4,
Anna-8.1,
My Mister 9.5,
Uncle Samsik-8.4,
Mine-8,
The King's Affection 8.3,
Parasite-9

Action/Crime/Sci-fi -
Private Lives 8.1,
K2 8,
Vagabond-8,
Blood Free-8.5
The Cursed 8.3,
Flower of Evil 8.9,
The Man from Nowhere 8.9

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W♡nder-Girl Meets Bad☆Boy☆Band! °8.3° °Excellent°

Wondering if this is worth your time?

If you love Kromcoms, this show is mandatory. If you think romcoms are Daebek, SK or otherwise, you will want to add this one to your list. Here's the test: If you aren't starstruck by ep2's conclusion, just move on; BOF is not for you.

Jun-Pyo may love viewing the skies through his telescope, but BOF isn't intended to be viewed through a high powered one. Lie back, look at the stars and dream a spell. Yes, there's consistency issues, and 2-2-Too much back and forth. Yet, I couldn't stop watching. 25 episodes is a LOT, and yes, it should have been trimmed back. The last vignette is best forgotten; it's that 5th season that never should have been made. Ask Jun-Pyo to hand over a towel in order to wipe that one away.

Additionally, it stretches credulity a tad far when we see these ruthless and cruel overlords of the school all (rather quickly) turn from black holes into North Stars. Actually, the 3 aren't necessarily cruel, but they are indifferent, which is just as bad. Since they were in playpens together, it seems that his 3 quasi underlings just let Jun-Pyo be Jun-Pyo. He is the sole instigator, the solar flare. Jan-di's parents are over the top of Namsam tower extra, but within the sphere of comedies at large. Jan-di has some strange moments in the first 3 or so episodes. She almost looks (clinically) spastic. Obviously, the director was going for laughs, but ultimately gets a "Huh?" None of that is important, though, because this is very Pride and Prejudice (especially if Darcy had an evil queen for a mother) with some Beauty and the Beast stardust thrown in.

Geum Jan-di is a beautiful soul, and Gu Jun-pyo loves her so completely, that I fell for them. Their relationship is lovable... when it's not WWIII, that is. The way they tit-for-tat fight, make up, and merely converse (always addressing each other using full names only, for example) is adorable. The leads did a bang-up job: The attachment feels authentic, and the sparks are visceral. While I haven't seen the lauded Japanese version, Koo Hye-sun is perfect - she's artsy, smart, and still forward-strong: She's a singer-songwriter, actress, director and artist now. I love her Jan-di, except for the loose handful of Red Cards. Lee Min-Ho - Don't dismiss him. He's not a heartthrob merely because he dropped from the sky that way. He built his image one work at a time, and BOF was his big launch to international stardom.

It does make sense that he falls for her, btw. "No" is something he'd never heard. Ever. He's no longer a lone star in upper space looking down on everything. Here comes a moon at his level, orbiting him. He loves the challenge. While engaging in the contest and in partial shock a girl exists that isn't interested in him, Gu Jun-Pyo concludes that Jan-di is the #only light in his sky. He's been denied love and family time, which is what his heart wants most. She blew his mind by standing up to him. He fixates on Jan-di as his panacea, his home. He boorishly pursues her, knowing nothing but bossing people around. He'll grab her arm to drag her somewhere, and she #lets him. She, likely, has no idea why(?!) she lets him. She certainly doesn't want to like him - given how much she °loathes° him. The human heart is a mystery, indeed. If you find his behavior offensive, you're right, but only for a twinkle. Gu Jun-Pyo is a quasar, Jan-di, the red giant. Once their paths collide, the quasar changes course, shooting down to earth. All those episodes find Jan-di schooling Gu Jun-Pyo. He accepts her tutoring and becomes a better, happier, more peaceful man. The opening of the show finds him a veritable toddler - le infantile terrible - throwing tantrums and money at everything that vexes him. Don't think for a moment that he's domineering, abusive, or controlling in the relationship; that ain't what's going down. Jan-di would kick him in the head if she didn't want his attentions. Anyone thinking Gu Jun-Pyo is in the lead is projecting. He enters HER world, and it's endearing. They travel light-years to bond, only to have that bond tested to the extreme. The gravitational pull between them only strengthens as they share any orbit to work through obstacles together.

BOF is an excellent choice for teens. Jan-di is a shining role model. Her beautiful smile elevates all who are in her proximity (except The Witch). She stands for what's right. She is courageous. She's a veritable Joan Of Arc in the battle for Shinwa High- Without the burned-at-the-stake thing. Yet, she can be as comforting as a plate of warm pancakes. The way Gu Jun-Pyo adores her, emitting rays of warmth in which she can bask, should resonate with teenage girls, and prod them to reflect on their standards when it comes to boyfriend material. If you can swim with it and overlook some of the goofy stuff, you will escape to the great beyond with this entire group of friends. You will also be treated to an epic kiss, mid thruway at rush hour, in the background is the sun dropping from the sky, igniting the space between them. Eat your hearts out Sunny, Ginger & Miranda.

The notoriety of the show, which includes its effect on popular culture, plus the fact that BOF boosted Kdramas' popularity globally, as well as the numerous nominations and awards bestowed all supply evidence that this series is WONDER-FUL.

IMHO~》》

Directing 7
Acting 8
Romance 9
Flutters 8
Warmth 7
Art 7
Action 5
Thought provocation 6
Ending 8

For Age 13+ with cautions: Jan-di gets duped into taking fetish photos. She's shown in a childlike skirt and wearing bunny ears. She holds up a revealing costume and refuses to put it on. There are two setups to look like two singles shared a bedroom (to get an enemy in trouble), and there was a lie about a pregnancy scare. These would all be good for generating worthy discussions regarding safety of person and reputation. Decide accordingly.

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⛴ Blue & True On Jeju ⛈ °8.5° °Excellent°

Jeju is Kcountry's Hawaii. It's where e'erbody wants to vacation. OB is an ensemble piece that is much like a vacation (or a series of daytrips, perhaps) with several of the characters. We visit them separately, but it all blends together.

Imagine growing up in touristy Hicksville. It's the sort of place where a poor kid might bring a piglet onto the bus, but there's a smattering of rich kids in the mix to mock the poor child. Surrounded by small-minded Hicksville, if one is smart, one might get to escape. We're describing Han-Su. The kid with the piglet was his first gf. He went to the big city, attended a top university and landed a job in the financial industry. Things didn't stay afloat, though. They stalled, sputtered, and started to die out. After agonizing years on the skids he must crawl back home, where he learns that his uneducated, 🐷-loving, 🐟-monger ex is SWIMMING in money from slowly buying up small shops and collecting rent. Kids, none of you think you'll hit hard times. Most kids anticipate good things. Just treat everyone with respect and never get too cocky - just in case.

As the show starts, we drop in at the 🐟market on Jeju Island. A group of local women and two men go out on a boat for the day's catch. One of the women draws the ire of the others. 💭Should we fire her? 💭She flirts with everyone. 💭Everything she says is a lie, too! That's what the women are thinking. Cut to the men: ‘What would you think💭 if I went out with her?’ One is asking the other. Does anyone else find the worldwide consistency of human nature reassuring? OB is a 2022 release that is rated 88 on AWiki. It is 1 season consisting of 20 55-minute episodes, and it's competent from the start.

It centers around the local fish industry, particularly the Haenyeo (female divers of Jeju Island). Per Wiki: Haenyeo (or haenyo - "sea women") “are female divers in the 🇰🇷 province of Jeju, whose livelihood consists of harvesting a variety of mollusks, seaweed, and other sea life from the ocean. Known for their independent spirit, iron will and determination, haenyeo are representative of the semi-matriarchal family structure of Jeju… Traditionally, girls started training as haenyeo when they were 11 years old. Beginning in shallow water, trainees worked their way up to more challenging depths. After about seven years of training, a girl was considered a "full-fledged" haenyeo. Today, the oldest haenyeo are over 80 years old, and have been diving for more than 66 years… Because so many families relied on the haenyeo for the majority of their income, a semi-matriarchal society developed on Jeju with the haenyeo at the head of the household. On the tiny islets off the coast of Jeju, such as Mara Island, where sea-diving was the sole source of income, this reversal of traditional gender roles was fully realized; men would look after the children and go shopping while the women would bring in money for the family. Other manifestations of Jeju's unique society include men paying a dowry to the family of the bride (a reversal of the custom on the 🇰🇷 mainland) and families celebrating the birth of girls over the birth of boys.” These are some baaaad broads.

The filming is competence all day long. One shot of the sun breaking through onto the water from a moving boat is gorgeous. Each episode’s intro reveals which couple it's covering. We rotate from the adults in the present to the kids of the past, showing the community's circle of life. They also cycle kids from the present into the rotation to create the feel that time will churn on. In one shot, a man doesn't merely remember his old self jumping in the ocean while in his street clothes, but he floats next to a vision of his former teenaged self. It's an exceptionally well done scene. A typhoon is coming. It coincides with the time a teen boy must tell his father that he got the daughter of dad's archenemy pregnant! There's adorable animation effects to represent a kid's dream. ‘Could I love a liar?’ A man wonders this as he writes those words on the glass. She calls him and asks if he misses her? We look at him, through the glass, through those words. “I do,” he says. The OST is VG. Once Again, by WINTER & NINGNING is a great song, as is Who am I, by Kim Ji Soo.

Here who we're dealing with:

Jung “Eun”-Hui & Choi Han-Su: Cha Seung-Won is Han-Su, a Jeju Island native who has to come crawling back from Seoul. When we meet him, we can see that he's a guy used to holding in pain. I've only seen him in Korean Odyssey-7.2, in which he plays Devil King, the consummate egotist. He commands that show. In OB, when his HS friend is complimenting him on growing up well, his look of ruffled discomfort along with deep sorrow is arresting. Seeing him as a defeated man in ep1 delights me because it showcases his range of talent. His acting only gets better. The great Lee Jung-Eun stars as Eun. She has, at times, taken my breath away with her skill. She plays a middle-aged spinster fishmonger who meets up with her first love again.

“Min” Seon-A & Lee “Dong”-Seok: To his mother: “What is your favorite memory?” “Right now,” she claims. She doesn't look particularly happy, though. He's played by Lee Byung-Hun, who is sort of a legend. It's strange to see Eugene Choi from Mr. Sunshine-9 or Squid Game's Front Man cutting loose and dancing, I must say. (And he can smile! Who knew?) The luminous Shin Min-A plays Min Seon-A, a Jeju native turned Seoul-cialite who must flee back to Jeju once in awhile. She improves every feature she appears in. She actually has carried some shows on those narrow shoulders. My favs are Oh My Venus-7.4, & Tomorrow with You-7 (despite its flaws). No Gain, No Love-7.4 is fun, and whoo don't luv some Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha-8.2? Whenever she returns, Dong is turned inside-out.

Park Jeong-Jun & Lee Yeong-”Ok”: Kim Woo-Bin is in the show as one of the fishermen, Jeong-Jun. He plays Choi Young Do in Heirs/The Inheritors. Not everyone loves that show but my vote is that it's worth watching for him alone. He steals it. He is fantastic in OB. He's simply got the goods. Ok (Han Ji-Min) is new in town and she's a gorgeous, flighty flirt. The women despise her, while the men don't seem to notice her deficiencies.

Bang Yeong-Ju & Jung Hyeon: Two HS students, whose fathers despise eachother. Each knows /exactly/ how to get back at dad. Bae Hyun-Sung & Roh Yoon-Seo are fabulous. She has a particularly strong presence. As is typical, all the kid actors are exceptional (especially Kim Jae-Won as the young Hansu - well - swoon on me! - and Ki So-Yu as Son Eun-Gi is outstanding). There's a superfluity of kids in the flashbacks, so we get a good look at the stars of tomorrow. There's also an epic teens' first kiss. “Epic” extends to the later fallout.

One couple talks about parents. She's fighting depression, and her father had committed suicide. Now, she's in the middle of a custody battle for her son. She talks about how she explained to her son, who is afraid of the dark, that her sickness makes her feel like she's in the dark even during the day. Even when there's other people around, she's always alone in the dark. As for the man, his relationship with his mother has stalled for years. "I wonder if my mother ever loved me as much as you love your son," he queries. The woman begins a poignant soliloquy. Did her dad love her? If so, how could he leave her? She realizes that life must have been incredibly difficult for him. Then she was flooded with resent. Why didn't he tell me? I could have given him a hug! He should have told me he was struggling! I would have tried to make him smile. Soon, she starts to blame herself: She didn't /ask/ how he was. She never asked what was giving him such a hard time… She has regrets. {In the form of a PSA I'll say that unthinkable, absolutely unbearable pain is one cause of suicide, though it is not the right option. As another PSA, I'll say to always consider the potential effect of prescription medications on yourself or a loved one, because your doctors probably won't. Prescription drugs almost killed me and my doctors sat back and yawned as they observed. I don't think they are trained to even think about side effects, which are apt to worsen over time.}

Dong brings his mother to where he's staying and Min is there with her son. Mom, who was forced to be a man's mistress and put up with substandard treatment of her son in order to survive, looks at young Yeol and knows that her son, Dong, will do better. The full range of emotions displayed by actress Kim Hye-Ja (Mother-8.8), as she takes in woman and child, is magnificent. Everyone raves about Parasite-9, understandably so, but I like Mother, also by the legendary director Bong Joon Ho, even more.

Two old friends address a very old rift. ‘Had you been completely loyal you would have confronted me and said that you were hurt, just like you're doing right now. And if I didn't acknowledge my mistake and refused to apologize, you should have tore my hair out… That's what a loyal friend would have done… what kind of loyal friend holds a grudge like a stranger would?’

People are just a bunch of piranhas and peckerfish, afterall. Gossip (and, by extension, toxic pride) are themes, as is the weight of caring for someone with special needs. Caring for someone with special needs would be much easier without all the staring and nastiness. It's a human impulse to stare at something different - something extraordinarily beautiful, ugly, malformed, unique, short, tall, dark, light - something or someone unique. Maturity is learning to be unselfish, and to be unselfish, we must have empathy. We must be able to put ourselves in another's shoes and imagine what it would be like to have everyone stare all the time. What’s it like to be constantly asked about one's height, or a scar, skin color, disability, or beauty? Let people be. Don't be a peckerfish. Try being the one person who doesn't question a person's accent or some other thing they've had to deal with a dozen times a day.

A pair circles eachother tentatively. One of them has secrets. The other wants the truth. Ultimately, the truth will be about the one without the secrets, not the one who kept things close because of past heartbreak. They struggle because one is always waiting for a muddy shoe to drop and ruin everything: One of them has been conditioned to expect disappointment.

"I bet they even keep count of their neighbor's underwear." Small town gossip and general nosiness is on display. One of the old classmates who works at the fish market scolds Eun: “You shouldn't be hanging around with a married man!❗ …Have you eaten yet? Do you want to get some breakfast?" Of course, /he's/ married, too. The locals consider the wealthy Eun their own property. Anyone like Han-Su sniffing around could endanger her available funds. This leads into another theme···

"Just a Little Bit More." America's first billionaire, John Rockefeller, said that was how much money would be enough. The problem of money in relationships and the powerful temptation to suck-up to rich people is addressed. All of Eun's relationships are tarnished by the fact that she has money. It's part of her appeal. I've found myself acting differently around rich people over the years because I was horribly immature. Certainly, money is appealing, but rich people aren't necessarily so. Money is a hurdle that good character must overcome. Successful people tend to subconsciously believe they are intrinsically better, and thus more deserving of their good fortune. Wealth has a tendency to make people more self-focused and less generous as they turn their gazes inward. People have greater fear and pain from a loss than they have pleasure from a gain, and rich people see giving away money as a loss. Yet our subconscious prompts us to treat these types extra special in hopes that something will rub off. A friend of mine says that rich people will screw you over “because they can.” We get led away by what we want. The key is to not want much - be content. Take every person on their own character merits.

And dive into OB! It's that vacation you never want to end.


QUOTES📢

There's no way to satisfy everyone.

Don't say that with your beautiful mouth.


〰🖍 IMHO

📣8.5 📝8.2 🎭9 💓7 🦋5 🌞7 🎨6 ⚡4 🎵/🔊7 😅3 😭4.5 😱2 😯3 😖1 🤔4 💤2 🔚9


Age 14+ with the following cautions: R language F💣s, @$$hole × 2, B!+ch × 2, Sex, teen pregnancy, abortion. Rated: TV-MA: Mature Audience Only.


Re-📺? Likely

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love to hate you 8.9
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Her Private Life 8
My Sassy Girl / Yeopgijeogin Geunyeo 8.5
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✒ ⚕️ The New Normal? °good°

Crazy, I'm crazy for feeling so lonely 〰 I'm crazy, crazy for feeling so blue 〽 Worry, why do I let myself worry ? ♻ ¿ Wondering what in the world did I do? 〰 I'm crazy for trying and crazy for crying 〽 And crazy for loving you-ooo-oo
~Willie Nelson, as sung by Patsy Cline~

“We all stand on the border between normal and abnormal,” we hear. Normal. What is that, even? One thing that's typical is that, “In a lifetime, we will all experience some difficulties.”

Jung Da “Eun” is a person who loves. She cares. This cruel world isn't always kind to such fragility. One thing I've learned from hitting bottom - from complete and total failure to stay afloat - is that we all have our limit: Mind-over-matter cannot fix everything. We can't power-thru every problem. Each one of us is capable of crashing. DDOS serves as an elementary school primer for mental illness. That is not a criticism. The treatment is gentle and simple, but the facts are true. We see that all types of people, successful and floundering, well-off and poor, from intact families and broken backgrounds, all types of people can struggle with mental illness. Park Bo-Young (Oh My Ghost-10, Doom at Your Service, Strong Girl Bong-Soon) is Eun. I love her. She's legendary in OMG, and she's one of my favorites just from that show. Lee Jung-Eun from OMG is reunited with Park Bo-Young as Song Hyo-Jin. She's my favorite actress right now. Her part as a nurse manager is not a big challenge. She doesn't do much until ep10. It's wonderful to see her onscreen, regardless.

DDOS is a 2023 release that is rated 91 on AWiki. It is 1 season consisting of 12 52-70 minute episodes. The opening credits, artwork and music are spot-on and properly set the mood. Jang Dong-Yoon (The Tale of Nokdu, My Man is Cupid-5.9) plays Song Yu-Chan, Eun's lifelong bff. This is the 1st effort for director Lee Jae-Kyu. Same for the writers: Lee Ra-Ha (webcomic), Lee Nam-Kyu, & Kim Da-Hee. DDOS is a drama that contains some romance, but romance is not the centerpiece. Even so, the primary romance is cute and the 2ndary one is sweet. Yeon Woo-Jin (Thirty Nine) plays Dong Go-Yun. I've only seen him as a recluse in My Shy Boss-6.5. In DDOS, he plays a wacko (in the funnest sort of way). It was great to watch him in such a different role ~ He's funny! Contrary to what one might think, he is NOT a patient. He's a doctor from the next unit over. He's an eccentric - a term used for functionally crazy people of means. Eccentric people often are such because they don't see the point in being fake to fit in with “normal” people. Eccentrics think that “normal” derives from one original and the sheeple who copy that original ~> y’all are nutz.

Nobody can recite the perfect formula or ratio, but a functioning society requires that we all hammer our individualism down to fit in with others. (Keep yourself and your domicile clean. Be polite. Don't lie, steal, or harm. Stop at the red light and go on green. Keep your word. Take your meds. Don't be too loud.) If we are too individualistic we create friction and strife. If we hammer ourselves down too much to fit in, though, we lose ourselves, usher in an oppressive system, and propagate phoniness & depression (Don't speak the truth as nobody can handle it. Don't wear/eat/like that, as people will think you're strange. Do this, don't do that. Join here. Hate those people. Vote this way. Don't disagree. Take your meds. Think this way.) There's not one thing normal about normal. It's often a means to bully others, “What we probably need right now is the courage to face down the hate directed at us. Yet our longing to be loved by others, our need for approval, they cause us to take the knives to our souls and carve out what we want others to see. That's the reason we are always enduring unhappiness and pain,” is one character‘s astute assessment. Gaslighting. Social anxiety. Paranoia. Toxic mothers. Bully bosses. Obsession. Compulsion. Obsessive-compulsiveness. Depression. Narcissism. Suicide. Most odd behavior is linked to pain. So how, then, should we live? Unselfishly, most of all. Authentically, next. And we should re-examine our presuppositions every few years. Remember, it's simply impossible to be human and to be correct about everything.

One patient wants to talk to the psych about obsessive knuckle cracking - it makes his knuckles large and that could “hurt others”. After a couple visits to discuss this weirdness, the doc has had it and cuts him off: “Large knuckles won't hurt anybody anyway!,” is doc's parting shot. Later we see how and why the doc was so tragically wrong. It's funny.

“Strange, isn't it? We always notice other people's flaws before our own flaws. When it comes to that, we're all blind.” Amen to that. They take a deep dive into the stigma around mental illness. The nurses comment about how many of them chose that field due to a sick loved one.
Eun is compassionate. That may make her slightly less efficient at her job, but does it really make her worse at it? She's providing care and encouragement to those who see very little of those human qualities. The mentally ill tend to experience public ignorance, intolerance, and isolation. “It's not that I like my child being called disabled,’ says one mom, “but that is the reality.” What is more difficult for a parent to go through than mental illness in their child? It's not only heartbreaking, but it's also emotionally and physically exhausting. It's Hell's roller coaster and the off-switch isn't working.

Sometimes, all that pain leads to suicide. They couldn't address mental illness without going /there/. A patient’s self-inflicted demise causes multiple ripples through the unit. One of the nurses is so heartbroken that she ends up being committed for depression in the fallout. She doesn't want to come back to work. ‘Can you not take a pulse now? Can you not set up an IV? If you can do your job, who cares what anyone thinks about you?’ Sometimes we want to quit because things didn't go the way we wanted. Well, welcome to the human race! The people who think things are going the way they want just haven't had their troubles yet. Nobody gets everything s/he wants.

The rest of the unit is in pain over the suicide, too. “Self-harm is really a cry for help. Some might want attention, while others have been pushed away so often by society that they start believing they deserve it,” a nurse opines. Cliches contain truth, but are often treated as final truths when they fall short of being so. One cliche that is not entirely false but still does nothing to bridge the gap between logic and emotions is that suicide is an act of cowardice, which clearly isn't entirely true, either. I don't believe that suicide is the answer to anybody's problems, but it is an act borne from unbearable pain. If one hasn't felt emotional pain so horrendous that one wishes s/he was never born, then perhaps, be slow to pronounce callous judgments (shut-up and count your blessings?). The whole unit reacts to the death of the patient, but each professional also handles it personally. “Dealing with death isn't something you can just get used to. It's sad every single time.” One new employee accused the lead doctor of not caring about the patient's demise and gets a talking to. Later we'll see that doctor, who supposedly doesn't care, taking some pills.

Pills. That seems to be what Western medicine is now reduced to. In my case, the pills nearly killed me. I had Serotonin Syndrome, and none of my doctors caught it - Not even when I was experiencing escalating seizures and losing my mind. Doctors don't seem to think in terms of bad drug reactions. Their answer for me was only, ever, MORE 💊. I am thankful to Redditers because they are the ones who put me on the path to recovery. Medication can be a life saver, but the ultimate recovery would be to get off the meds, if it can be done safely. Nearly dying from prescription medication has spurred me onto a journey of health. We have a plethora of chronic illnesses now that hardly existed a few decades ago. If you find yourself overcome with anxiety, depression, or any number of GI or autoimmune diseases, please consider, along with whatever else you are doing, going organic and eliminating sugar. Not only does sugar have highly addictive qualities (so they put it in everything) and zero nutritional benefits, but sugar and grains feed fungi that exist in our bodies, and these fungi can affect our emotional and GI health. This is why you'll hear “health nuts” constantly going on about gut-health. Serotonin receptors are in the gut, not the brain! For me, going off the meds was only part of my recovery. I had to clean out my whole system and it is an ongoing process. We joke about the warnings that accompany drug commercials and all the ingredients in our food that we cannot pronounce, but there is a dark side to this stuff that isn't funny - not one bit. Years before I knew I had a problem (I was on the medication that was slowly killing me for 10 years) I heard cardiologist Christopher Davis, a nationally recognized “Top Doc”, speak. He realized that the medical industry was generating lots of income, but not making anybody well. He now runs a clinic that focuses on the right food as the primary medicine and he's healing people. He's getting them off of the meds. I might not be completely sane, but he certainly is, and thankfully there's a growing number of functional medicine doctors with the same vision, who see themselves as more than a drug-pusher.

In all, shows like this are a public service. This subject is a heartbreaker, so with the remaining space, here's some jokes to lighten the mood.

☄I have generalized anxiety disorder, but it sucks because it affects me specifically.

☄They say mental illness runs in my family. But in my family, we’re all pretty lazy, so it just sort of meandered its way through the generations.

☄I don’t do drugs. I do therapy. Unfortunately, therapy isn’t as fun and it’s just as expensive.

☄I have bipolar disorder, generalized anxiety, disordered eating, and psychosis—which are more friends than I had in elementary school.

☄I never say I’m bipolar. I like to scream it at the top of my lungs while running around naked at the supermarket.

☄It makes perfect sense mental illness runs in my family. I’d run too if I had a family like mine.

☄The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four people is suffering from a mental illness. Look at your three best friends. If they’re OK, then it’s YOU.

☄My therapist told me that I over analyze everything. I explained to him that he only thinks this because of his unhappy relationship with his mother.

☄A question that always makes me hazy is, is it me or are the others crazy?

☄They called me mad, and I called them mad, and damn them, they outvoted me!

☄I told my wife the truth. I told her I was seeing a psychiatrist. Then she told me the truth. She was seeing a psychiatrist, two plumbers and a bartender. (Rodney Dangerfield)

☄Hello, welcome to the mental health hotline.
If you have obsessive compulsive disorder, press 1 repeatedly.
If you are codependent, please ask someone to press 2 for you.
If you have multiple personality syndrome, press 3, 4, 5, and 6.
If you suffer from paranoid schizophrenia, we know who you are and what you want. Stay on the line so we can trace your call.
If you are delusional, press 7 and your call will be transferred to the mothership.
If you are hearing voices, listen carefully and a small voice will tell you which number to press.
If you are manic depressive, it doesn't matter which button you press. No one will answer anyway.
If you are dyslexic, press 96969696969696.
If you have a nervous disorder, please fidget with the pound button until a representative comes on the line.
If you have amnesia, press 8 and state your name, address, phone number, date of birth, social security number, and your mother's and grandmother's maiden names.
If you have post traumatic stress disorder, slowly and carefully press 911.
If you have bi-polar disorder, please leave a message after the beep. Or before the beep. Or after the beep. Please wait for the beep.
If you have short term memory loss, please try you call again in a few minutes.
If you have low self esteem, please hang up. All our representatives are busy.


QUOTE📢

Happiness isn't complicated. Being free to do what you like, that's happiness.


〰🖍 IMHO

📣7.5 📝7 🎭8 💓6 🦋5 🎨7.5 🎵/🔊8 🔚8 ♦ 🌞7 ⚡3 😅3 😭6 😱3 😯4 😖2 🤔5 💤1

Age 11+With a caution about some infrequently scattered PG-13
Language: ($h!+, pr!(k, b!+ch) this is a gentle introduction to the issue of mental illness that reinforces compassion. To that end it is well suited for kids and adults. Rated TV-14


In order of ~lite&trite~ to ~heavy&serious~ you may also like:

Modern Day:
Mad For Each Other 7.8 ~silly fun;
My Secret Romance 7 (if you ff thru overdone flashbacks);
A Witch's Love 7.8;
Love to Hate You 8.9;
Her Private Life 8;
Touch your heart 8.2;
Romance is a bonus book 7.9;
Oh My Ghost 10;
It's Okay Not To Be Okay 9;
Love Struck in the City 7.3;
Hospital Playlist 9;
My Mister 9.5;
More Than Friends 8;
I'll See You When the Weather is Fine 9;
Something in the Rain 9

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✒ ⭐ Utterly ✨ Starstruck ⭐ °5.9° °Avg°

💥 You've been slain❗ Oh no. What's Jingjing gonna do?

This show is anxiety treatment. It's soothing, as the dulcet voices speak Mandarin that is beautiful to listen to; it's almost like a massage. Heartbreak & tense moments are kept to a minimum. It's very pleasant hanging out with this pair, even though they're a little boring. Those thoughts & feelings will carry a viewer to the 20-something episodes. At some point, one must acknowledge that the dialogue isn't much more than: “Look at me I'm pretty,” and “Look at my boyfriend. Isn't he handsome?” The writing and dialogue are so flat they're nearly 1-dimensional.

YAMG is a 2021 release of 32 35-min episodes. It was still a few episodes too long and the content was too stretched out in the end. I don't hate this show. It has some lovely moments. It's easy to see why many would enjoy this, but it's just not my poison, so I'm unable to easily overlook its shortcomings.

Stalett, Qiao Jingjing, was a high school classmate of now rocket scientist Yu Tu. She had a crush on him, but he was only interested in the stars. (Now that she's a huge ⭐ he might take notice). She never forgot Yu Tu, but she stopped thinking about him and went on with her life. The entertainment industry is half smoke and mirrors - they sell fantasy and most of their narratives are closely managed: They flat-out lie about the stars' personal lives. Jingjing is starring in a movie about gaming. She got too carried away one day and gave the (very false) impression that she's good at the game Honor of Kings. This got her an invite to the upcoming game tournament, but at the same time, it generated skepticism and mean talk online. If she doesn't get real good real quick she'll be a laughingstock. She needs a coach.

Yu Tu is a near master at the game. She's aware of his online persona and reaches out to him to teach her gaming. He doesn't make it easy, but he comes around and works with her. The rest of the story is them falling for e/o and them acclimating to their relationship. She has to keep her love life a secret. That's one obstacle. They have the HS reunion and a trip home to their families. That's a big deal. Then it's sorting out their busy careers and each making time for the other. Let's not forget the gaming tournament: Yu won't let her fail. I doubt any viewer thinks she'll mess that up.

Dilraba Dilmurat is everywhere. I've seen enough close-ups of her face for a lifetime. She's beautiful, and she has impossibly big eyes. As far as acting goes, she can be likeable, but her range is limited. She does a good job at playing cute. Yang Yang is also very popular. My First look at him was in The King's Avatar-7.9, which is quite good. In KA he's an analytical gamer who plays Glory, and he's virtually sexless. In YAMG his friends call him “girl repellant”. His hair is more tailored in this show which gives him a leaner look. He transforms into a good romantic ML, here, once he decides what he's going to do. He changed his voice in YAMG to make it deeper and more serious. It doesn't sound authentic. I've long been on the fence when it comes to his talent. I considered him average in Who Rules the World-7.5. I admit that he managed solid sex-appeal in YAMG and he was also quite good in Love 020-6.7 (but that show could also be better). Currently, his name on the billing wouldn't move me towards or away from a show.

You give me the moon and I'll raise you some stars This romance is lowkey. It comes very close to dragging alittle, but in the end, it's sweet. In the early episodes It's hard to imagine what's going to fill the rest of the time. Some of their time apart should have been halved or quartered, but it worked. Many of their romantic scenes work, too, though the latter ones are repetitive of the earlier ones. It would appear they had sufficient content for 20-25 episodes max. They stretched it too thin.

Therefore, YAMG should have been better. They had the ingredients and the tools for a top level romance. Chinese modern-day features often contain awkward dialog and wooden interactions between actors. Everything's stiff. Their idea of amusement is when he acts smugly. Sometimes it works. Smetimes it doesn't. One of my discarded titles is the ironic: He's so good looking & she's so good looking, it /must/ be love. There was a time when they commented on looks one time to many ~~} that was in the teen episodes. They go beyond any scrap of good sense with it. It started to feel gross. My rating would have been lower, except she /really is/ cute and gorgeous, and he /really is/ handsome. That does take them a long way. In the last half dozen episodes it became increasingly difficult to hang in there with them, however. The final 2 episodes are more about patriotism and a love for China's space program, which our ML is an employee of. There's nothing wrong with that.

Some of the outfits are awful - almost beyond imagination. They have so many wardrobe misses that I questioned myself on the “hits”. The red dress she wears is stunning, without question. He's got some cool slip-on ankle boots that are a little bit platform. I love them. Maybe I'm wrong - I am a sucker for crazy socks and shoes. They look sleek to me. There's other times where the fashion is disastrous. Yu's mother runs out of the front door during breakfast in a long sleeve velvet (velour?) dress that looks more appropriate for a cocktail party. Furthermore, she runs out to the front gate in her slippers, which would never happen. There's another scene where they're hanging out indoors with their coats on. I can't help but contrast the wardrobe in modern day features to the costumes in Chinese historical and fantasy features, which are resplendent works of art. It's fascinating. As far as music goes,. Stereo Love, by fewtile, is a world🏅class tune; it's sad, haunting, transportive, and it's on my Spotify.

Who will like this? Diehard romantics and romance junkies who are looking for a low stress,low mental energy watch. I didn't mind it at all, but there is nothing that beckons to me to circle back to this couple - ever. My world will not revolve back in that direction.


QUOTE🗣

He {my dad} doesn't have the right to express his opinion in front of my mom.


〰🖍 IMHO

🎬7 🖊〰 5 🎭67 💓67 🦋66 🌞 6 🎨6 🎵/🔊8 😅2 😭0 🤔3 💤 3 🔚5

Age 13+ plenty of kissing and they hit the sack prior to tying the knot.

Poli-wagging; 4/10. Many modern-day Chinese features send the message: Be a good citizen. It would be un-American to not criticize our own government, right? That's a jailable offense in China. There is no perfect government in the world, so there's always something to be improved on.


Re-📺? 🆖

In order of ~lite & trite~ to ~heavy & serious~ you may also like:

🌐💓 -
C🇨🇳:
A Little Thing Called First Love 8.5;
Find Yourself 8.9;
The Romance of Tiger and Rose 9.8;
The Sleepless Princess 9.1;
Wait, My Youth-8.4


Romance junkies only: Accidentally in Love-6.5 ‘18 B-level scripting, acting, and directing, but still fun/strangely relaxing to watch,
Well-Intended Love-7.5 Rom-porn - extra points for the dopamine but many object to an outrageous stunt the ML pulls,
Boss & Me-7
When I Fly Towards You-7.8,
You are my destiny-6.8 cute and sweet and 1/2 padding,
Meteor Garden-7.4 - 70% flowing 30% dragging and BOF is better,
Hidden Love-7.8

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✒Mello Yello Pop ⭐ Lo Fizz °6.8° °Sweet But No Tang°

SIMTAF happens after a clash between a reporter and a pop superstar that ends with her getting fired. Next, she seeks retribution - through social media and VERY public demonstrations. The whole spectacle was on display for rabid fandom to devour. What usually follows a spectacle these days? The reality show. The pop star will marry his anti-fan. He quips: ‘Anti-fans are fans in a way after all, aren't they?’

Proximity Alert! The best way to overcome prejudices is through exposure, or proximity. The more we're around somebody, the more we'll see them for who they are instead of what we chose to believe before we knew the person better. (As an aside, color is one of the first things we don't see anymore once we get used to being around a person. There's a few things that are less important than the shade of someone's skin). The more we're around somebody, the more their looks change based on their inner beauty whether for the better or worse.

That's the set up. He's basically a decent guy who's gotten a tad spoiled from being a star. She's an aggressive, intelligent reporter who is the opposite of spoiled. They detest e/o. Thus the show promises us some 💥-sparks-Tension-🔥-PASSION, but we get very little of that. They start with the marriage, which is a sham. She gives him a good scare as she peels out in the convertible: The show creators, thus, reiterated their promise (FIB) that 🎆fireworks🎇 are to follow.. and… there's almost none💢. It's really perplexing as to why they didn't show them bickering while filming their show. That would have been so much more fun. The 1st episode is disjointed, sloppy, and unfocused. It lags. What they ended up with is close to glorified time-killer.

Thank the stars, they cast,actress Choi Soo Young as the FL “Geun” Young. She is special. They mostly squandered her talent. She stole the show, Run On-7, as half of the 2ndary romance. They tossed in the MSP trope (Missing or separated parent(s) which doesn't do much to enhance the plot. The show borders on bland, but it has its moments. The leads are competent and likable, while the writing is insightful in places, and those serve to guard against total floppage.

Choi Tae Joon (Suspicious Partner, Ugly Alert) portrays ML, Hoo Joon. Hwang Chan Sung (True to Love, What's Wrong with Secretary Kim-6.8, My Holo Love-6.8) is JJ / Choi Jae Joon. Han Ji An (Oh Seonam Girls High School Investigators, The Vanished) is In Hyung. Her character drags the series down a peg but she ends up providing some of its greatest depths. True, I hate the look on that girl's face. She's trying to make her singing career work and it's not going well. As her character is under tremendous stress, she holds her mouth tightly and always looks anxious. She's so stiff that it seems as if she has a neck and shoulder injury. She skulks with her shoulders drooped and her head downcast, looking a bit like a chipmunk that's about to barf. It was difficult to watch. She seems to see herself as a powerless victim and is so caught up in her trauma that she isn't once engaging, relatable, or sympathetic. I felt uneasy every time she was onscreen. She gave us a gift, in the end, though: In Hyung concludes that while she's dreamed of being loved by many people, she realizes that she's not a person that knows how to give or receive love. Few people can turn their gaze from one of self-absorption to true introspection and reach that level of internal honesty.

It seems like SIMTAF was shot as a reality show. There's nothing slick or smooth at all. There's little soundtrack, even though we're following the music industry. It's nearly lifeless at times. Geun is always beautiful, but some of her outfits are atrocious.

Yet, there are worthy themes. "In real life we all cover ourselves with prideful wrapping paper." His pride. Her prejudice. They need to crumble. One of the friends is full of hatred and bitterness over a past event which he seems to have misunderstood, to a certain extent. Things became worse over the years, not better, because his anger couldn't be mollified. It hardened into bitterness. He let a person live rent-free in his head for years! That's the same as enslaving oneself, so don't let that happen. How lying isolates us in the middle of the wilderness is another theme. “I came a long way on wings made of lies. But I realized I had nowhere to return to on wings of lies. Whether they are exposed or not, at some point our lies run their course. We who are fortunate reach our dead-ends with enough time left to do some good.” That quote is more profound every time I read it.

To the final shot, though, this could have been tighter, neater, funnier, fit together better, and it could have had a better flow. It could have been alot better, yet it still wasn't bad. As I write this I'm trying to decide if this show is worth watching at all? I'm wondering if I should have abandoned it. This might be worth watching for their first kiss. It's well above average - an 8, minimum. They think no one is watching, and nobody was, but the cameraman left the camera rolling. They are so exposed, snagged, ~oh snap~ Well, lookie here. The fans are going to lose their minds!


QUOTES🗣️

Things that don't fit always become a problem.

You have to tell seven lies to make one lie work.


〰🖍 IMHO

🎬6 🖊️〰6 🎭 7.3 💓68 🦋7 🌞7 🎨65⚡4 🎵/🔊73 😅45 🥺35 😭35 🤔64 💤5 🔚74


Age 12+

Re-📺? pass


It's the we've-been-forced-to-live-together trope! Similar offerings:

My First First Love-8,
A Witch's Love 7.8;
Playful Kiss-7.3,
My Roommate Is a Gumiho-7.9,
Crash Landing On You 9.1;
Oh My Ghost 10;
Mr. Queen 8.5;
Romance is a bonus book-7.9,
Hotel del Luna-8.4,
Because This Is My First Life-7.7,
The Bride of Habaek-7,
That Winter, The Wind Blows-7,

🇯🇵Mischievous Kiss Love in Tokyo-7.8

🇨🇳Well-Intended Love-7.5 19 Rom-porn - extra points for the dopamine,
Love Between Fairy & Devil 8.9;
The Romance of Tiger and Rose 9.8;
The Sword and the Brocade 8.6 - arranged marriage loosely fits in this category

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✒❌️Wrong Car ✅️Right Destiny °7.5° °VG°

They say nothing is free. WIL is about a free ride that isn't free, in the end.

“How could I have leukemia?” Xia Lin (aka "Lin Lin" aka "MuMu”) knows this makes no sense. Her personal and family history are clear of health issues. She's flummoxed as she bulls her way out of the hospital and flings open the door of her Uber. A strange man is in her ride!?! Whatever, just “drop me off first, I'm in a hurry,” she honks. “Well? Scoot Over!” The stranger scoots. (We all Uber in Maseratis all the time, right?) The stranger takes a call from his friend: “I'm alone on the street! Where are you, you were supposed to pick me up!” Sounds like that come from the other end of his phone convo. Stranger, Ling, (Xu Kai Cheng from Novoland: Pearl Eclipse) laconically shuts him down cold: ”Take a cab.” Next, Ms MuMu gets a call from her actual Uber driver… Whoops! Wrong car…

Or wuzzz it?

WIL is a 2019 release that is rated 7.6 on MDL, which is actually a middling rating for that site. Viki has it at 9.3. Why the disparity? WIL contains some triggers that many viewers will find unpleasant, specifically the making of a monster. It's also about the unmaking of a monster. Some viewers will not get beyond the triggers, while others will enjoy the dopamine rush that a classic style romance delivers - he's really, really into her. Our ML grew up with a domineering father. His mother is gone - she finally had to escape her horrible husband and she abandoned her son. Ling picked up some bad tendencies from Fughee (dad) and brings them to his love life. There's nothing unrealistic about that pattern. WIL is about how MuMu‘s presence reforms Ling’s tattered emotional state. The point is that he has issues and needs some work. It isn't justifying his behavior, even if his wrong acts work out in the end. If abusive and domineering men are a hot-button trigger for a viewer then (based on the ratings and reviews) WIL is not the one to watch.

This is a non-spoiler review, so no specifics, but our ML pulls an outrageous stunt because that is all he knows. Fughee brought him up to be emotionless, manipulative, authoritative, and domineering. He desperately craves love but is not equipped to give or receive it. Some watch this and can't get beyond the urge to cancel our ML entirely. On a core programming level, I'm incapable of hating a show in which the ML loves the FL as much as Ling loves MuMu. Keep in mind that equality of the sexes in Asia is decades behind the West. This show is actually performing a service in representing this behavior as wrong and in need of reform. Our FL absolutely refuses to put up with it.

Perhaps that will help you decide if you will enjoy WIL or not - it's only value is in its wind-down escapism, so if it will get one worked up, one should avoid it. People take every trend too far, and our cancel-culture has gone too far. Wrongs should be addressed, corrected and even punished, but we are too quick to throw out human beings. ‘Bringing out the lions’ has never fixed any society or any wrongs, and it never will. None of us are without blemishes. Our first goal should be to promote growth in others. Blocking, mocking, and cross-offing might make a person feel better (superior) in the short run, but it does harm and not good, ultimately. Now I've gone way overboard for a piece-of-fluff show. Moving on…

Mixing up cars is not enough to bring them together. They didn't even exchange names, after all. MuMu glimpses her medical file & learns that the closest match for a bone marrow donor is a stranger, Ling Yi Zhou. She studies up on him - he's a CEO & he will be hard to reach. FeiFei (Liu Jia Xi from The Last Immortal) is her cute & spritely friend. She will teach MuMu how to hook a guy. There's 3 main principles: 1. Commitment. 2. Be Shameless. 3. Be committed to being Shameless. With help from Fei Fei she starts scheming.

Many women have already schemed to meet Mr. Ling, so MuMu & FeiFei are to be congratulated, as it isn't long before MuMu gets her 1-on-1 and sees he is her kind Uber-stranger who gave her a free ride. He won't help, though! He's a businessman, and there's nothing in it for him. No deal. MuMu becomes very emotional and decides she's going to die in a beautiful way. She jumps into the water. For those of you who haven't watched many Asian features, particularly Chinese ones, walking or jumping into the water is treated as a tragic threat of imminent death. It's something I found amusing the first few times I saw it, but now I'm so used to it I just take it in stride. It's a representation of a suicide attempt and it should just be taken as such, no matter how inauthentic and downright silly it appears. Even the Netflix show, Marco Polo-8, has such a scene. It's obviously a cultural thread that connects a patch of ideas and images to which we, in the West, are not privvy.

Anyway, near drowning (her acting was perfect, too. He complimented her) wasn't enough to bring them together, or save her life. She had to go on a campaign. She learned his schedule and he got used to seeing her face until he finally breaks down and agrees to help her. He has 1 condition: Marry him. Marrying her will chase away all the annoying women coming after him. He doesn't have time to work on human relationships. He really doesn't have the desire to, either. She is well suited for the position because she needs something from him. MuMu has a dream of being an actress. Perhaps being married to this well connected guy will save her career as much as it saves her life. Tit-for-tat he understands. Ling can make sense of that. FeiFei theorizes that Ling's real motive is to hide the true nature of his relationship with his actor friend, Chu Yan (Ian Yi from Killer and Healer). Ling needs MuMu to keep him “straight,” ahem. Come to think of it, their first date was /shopping/... 🤔

Actually, what Ling cares about most is making his grandmother happy. It's Grandma who wants him to get married. So, they get to work. Contract signing (with only moderate haggling), civil ceremony (more like a registration), the surgery, recovery, and choosing what family property to occupy (such problems)… They keep the marriage 100% packed away until the move-in stage. She wanted it kept under wraps completely (“😤You're supposed to keep it a secret!” ”😶I took that clause out.” 😤😤!)

Soon she becomes curious about whether Ling finds women attractive or not. More exactly, whether he finds /her/ attractive. She tries an experiment👙 or 2… They fall for eachother early, so most of the show is adjustment issues. He was honed by his father to be ruthless. He's done some ruthless things and he's accustomed to having complete control. How will she respond when the truth comes out? More importantly, is that gonna fill 30 episodes? They have a couple surprises. This duo has some 👛👜🎒stuff💼👝🛍🛄 to work out.

Ms Mu is played by Simona Wang (The Legend of Du Xin Wu). She is bright and endearing. Her manner allows her to appear cute though her looks are more classically beautiful. She was born in ‘91 and was 28 years old when WIL was released. She's supposedly just 21 in ep1, but she does appear older than that. The show covers a few years so it catches up with her. Director, Wu Qiang also brought us General's Lady, Miss Crow with Mr. Lizard & The Eternal Love S2) and screenwriters, He Dun and Yang Huai penned Cute Programmer & The Romance of Hua Rong.

They've almost completely course-corrected in recent years, but for a long time it was common for a Chinese modern-day feature to have inane dialogue to the point of… - well, pinch yourself to check that you aren't dreaming, and confirm they actually committed something that feeble to film. That bad habit probably led to the plot twist that got women's rights groups in a twist (they ain't wrong!). It's more a matter of 1. How seriously do you take a show like this and, 2. If a character makes a mistake, even a particularly bad one, but they have sincere remorse coupled with a complete turnaround later, can we forgive h/h?). WIL has above average writing and dialogue.

The acting is above average. Ling's mother had to hold back tears at one point and the actress was breathtakingly effective. I held /my/ breath. The wardrobe is above average (except for Chu Yan's suit of blue squares which brings on morning sickness). Speaking of wardrobe, Ling looks fabulous in a suit, and I'm not crazy about suits. The script and the plot are well above average. It could be argued that Chinese modern-day dramas are best watched while in rem sleep. They're melodious and often soothing though overflowing with poor plots, wooden acting, and awkward dialogue. The value and/or rating of a feature is in both its technical excellence and its emotional connection. Chinese historical and fantasy features are among the best in the world, but their modern-day stuff has been technically appalling while being emotionally palliative. Guess what? Emotions win 90/90 -> They win 90% of the time for 90% of the people. And Chinese modern-day features are Prozac.

WIL has the 🇨🇳usuals: Flashbacks. Amnesia. Poison. There's a plot twist with one character that's just laughable (Ling's mom). Some of the sequences and side stories are nonsense. Romance fans should still like it quite a bit, though. The building where he works looks like poured liquid with wavy sides. It's an architectural jewel. The filming location is Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, which is on Taihu Lake, 100-150 miles from Shanghai. Another building is a horizontally lit sphere. Swanky. She's always wearing star jewelry and I love it. Each episode ends with a cute vignette looking back on a scene from a different take.


QUOTES📢

S1
In this world there are three things you can never hide: a cough, poverty, and love.

I guess poverty has limited my imagination.

〰🖍 IMHO

S1
📣7 📝6.8 🎭7.3 💓7 🦋7.5 🎨6 🎵/🔊6.7 🔚7.5 ♦ 🌞5 ⚡5 😅3 😭3 😱3.4 😯2 😖1 🤔2 💤2.5


Age 12+ kidnapping, Adult situations, sexual content with lots of kissing, pregnancy, violence

Rated TV-14: Parents Strongly Cautioned. Re-📺? Not impossible


Historical/Period:
Overlord 8.4,
The Sleepless Princess 9.1 (there's a minor fantasy element),
The Romance of Tiger and Rose 9.8,
Under the Power 8.6,
The Rebel Princess 9.1,
The Sword and the Brocade 8.6 (in the style of ancient Chinese opera),
Ruyi's Royal love in the palace (episodes 1 - 49 are a 9.3. While looking up it's historical accuracy, I learned how heartbreaking the rest of the show is. It's over 80 episodes, so that's a hella-lotta hurt. I am not up for it now, so I stopped at episode 49, which is a perfect ending. I cannot recommend episodes 1 - 49 enough. It's near perfect).


K:
My Only Love Song 8.7 excellent comedy;
Mr. Queen 8.5;
My Sassy Girl / Yeopgijeogin Geunyeo 8.5;
The Kings's Affection 8.3;
Mr. Sunshine 9


Fantasy - Heavenly realm:
Love Between Fairy & Devil 8.9;
Once upon a time in Linglian Mountain 7.5;
Douluo Continent 9.4;
Handsome siblings 8.7;
Heavenly Sword 9 (Kung-fu!);
Ancient Love Poetry 8.6;
Eternal love 8.3 + its sequel Eternal Love Of dream/Three Lives, Three Worlds, 10 Miles Of Peach Blossoms 7.7 (I watched these in the wrong order, which was a shame. EL is not without flaws, the FL being the biggest issue, but overall it's outstanding. The sequel was not originally planned. EL actually tells the same story as ELOD as a secondary romance, and the show was so popular that they did the sequel and changed quite a bit).
Love and Redemption 10
Historical/Period:
Overlord 8.4,
The Sleepless Princess 9.1 (there's a minor fantasy element),
The Romance of Tiger and Rose 9.8,
Under the Power 8.6,
The Rebel Princess 9.1,
The Sword and the Brocade 8.6 (in the style of ancient Chinese opera),
Ruyi's Royal love in the palace (episodes 1 - 49 are a 9.3. While looking up it's historical accuracy, I learned how heartbreaking the rest of the show is. It's over 80 episodes, so that's a hella-lotta hurt. I am not up for it now, so I stopped at episode 49, which is a perfect ending. I cannot recommend episodes 1 - 49 enough. It's near perfect).


K:
My Only Love Song 8.7 excellent comedy;
Mr. Queen 8.5;
My Sassy Girl / Yeopgijeogin Geunyeo 8.5;
The Kings's Affection 8.3;
Mr. Sunshine 9


Fantasy - Heavenly realm:
Love Between Fairy & Devil 8.9;
Once upon a time in Linglian Mountain 7.5;
Douluo Continent 9.4;
Handsome siblings 8.7;
Heavenly Sword 9 (Kung-fu!);
Ancient Love Poetry 8.6;
Eternal love 8.3 + its sequel Eternal Love Of dream/Three Lives, Three Worlds, 10 Miles Of Peach Blossoms 7.7 (I watched these in the wrong order, which was a shame. EL is not without flaws, the FL being the biggest issue, but overall it's outstanding. The sequel was not originally planned. EL actually tells the same story as ELOD as a secondary romance, and the show was so popular that they did the sequel and changed quite a bit).
Love and Redemption 10

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