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Yeh that can be a problem. I'm good at avoiding social media in general, though.

GENERALLY, I like series to be finished before I start watching them, so I have the chance to binge should I really love the show. All of these long dramas I've finished were completed before starting, but if a classic style 50+ episode epic sageuk were to come again I'd watch it weekly. Although some of these recent Cdramas I'm watching are quite long (still yet to catch up on the latest eps of New Life Begins and She And Her Perfect Husband). Still, 40 eps of 40-ish minutes is still a lot shorter than 50+ 1 hour episodes of these epic Korean sageuks.

My recent experience in drama has been that Chinese FLs are written far more admirably. I dunno if this is a general thing but I don't have many complaints for the writing of the FLs in A Dream of Splendor or She and Her Perfect Husband, nor Love Like the Galaxy. Even the sickly cutesy FL of Love Between Fairy and Devil showcases considerable strength of character and eventual maturity. Then I watch something like Reborn Rich and wonder what the heck is going on, and Cafe Minamdang was an abject disaster for FL writing.

All right, let's see. If this takes a big upturn for the better for me, I'll let you know and bow to your wisdom. I'm quite new to Asian dramas and haven't watched that many of them.

Well you seem passionate about it, so I'll tread onwards. Maybe you'd also enjoy New Life Begins as another drama which tackles various important issues and has its steady stream of small victories. It's a solid and fun romp which manages to be light and serious at the same time.

Not in love yet with Umbrella at episode 5 but I'm gonna give it a fair chance.

Does this actually get complicated? Seems quite tame compared to many other sageuks and especially Chinese historical epics. So far not many characters to keep in mind and they've been easy to follow (finished episode 5 just now).

There's no excuse for Cafe Minamdang. The FL is an impressive living array of incompetence and S-tier assclownery. She gets worse as well. I dropped around ep 7-8 or so IIRC.

IOTNBO got dropped hard as well. One of those satisfying and crushing drops.

This is not my experience at all. Historical dramas have not tended to improve from inauspicious beginnings, and those which were immediately intriguing have tended to remain so.

This is not my experience at all.

I've never been so emotionally devastated by a drama...

Not by Mother, not by Empress Ki... not like this...

Ep. 6 was the weakest episode thus far, no doubt. I liked 1 and 2 the best.

Lady "bring me a bowl of water" Han...

Good to see Jang Geum brought down a peg in eps 15-16. Valuable lesson to be learnt, because that was legitimate and misplaced hubris. Trying to pretty much cheat the values and spirit of the cooking task, and the shock on her face to learn she hadn't won as though she felt it was her god given right, was not a good look. I root for Jang Geum, but her actions here were the wrong path, and in the meanwhile it's her fierce competitor, Geum Yeong, who is broadening her horizons - not always submitting to the will of Lady Choi, learning from Jang Geum's willingness to explore, experiment, and study outside the immediate realm of cooking. It's understandable why Lady Han was so upset with Jang Geum, though she is rather severe.

"We all make mistakes. " --- Na Joo Daek trying to gee up Jang Geum.

2, 3, 3, 2 to finish.

Too obvious most of the time that it's two different people. He's an adult already.

Rather good, but I have issues with the casting and connectivity of the younger and older versions of the leads.

What's the other one which was ruined?

I also have a fave drama list. Gonna be interesting to see which dramas make the cut in the months to come. Any drama I give 8.0+ to goes on the list. Really need to get on The King of Pigs pronto - been meaning to for a while.

Slightly mechanical and contrived in how it rattles through the pressing issues and questions of sexuality, relationships and growing pains (especially for young adults and adolescents), but quite good anyway. (Also, male lead is a textbook INTP.)

That's terribad if true. His presence and aura was one of the defining aspects of season 1. An intimidating force.