Are we certain that the creepy guy played by Choi Byung-mo is Do Min-seok?
I was thinking that it might be the village foreman, who might have been a serial killer himself and shifted the blame to Do Min-seok and his son? Remember the whole story that BHS told his daughter about having a good impression so no one suspects you? His dad and him always had a bad reputation due to their ASPD and were therefore easy scapegoats.
Anyways, I think that BHS killed the village foreman to end the serial killings. However, this left him with a trauma, because it is his first killing ever.
What other good shows did TVN had this year? Just recently got into K-dramas so always open for recommendations.
tvN is massively overrated. It has produced some of the worst shows as well. In 2019 for example they were also the producers of Melting Me Softly, Miss Lee and Abyss. When My Love Blooms is also frustratingly bad. Also, the episodes are not consistently good (good beginning, weak middle and good ending). Most kdramas are like that, but tvN is in my opinion the worst in this regards. The quality of JTBC is much better, more consistent.
Having said that it is best to be network-agnostic, especially if you are new to kdrama. Rather focus on the actors, actresses and especially the writers and directors you like. So if you enjoy My Ahjussi, then you will most likely also like Signal, Misaeng and perhaps also Arthdal Chronicles (same director). This formula mostly never fails.
The emotions between them started earlier. But i'm not surprised that we are given only 2 episodes left for actual…
I actually believe the obsessiveness of actors and actresses is increasingly becoming more similar to the idol culture. For example, JCW has the right to be in any TV-show he wants, but people take offense that he is not being the action hero. They treat him as he is their property. Also the rivalries between LMH, KSH and him is also un-actor-like.
You know what I think is unintentionally really funny about this show? The FL kisses the ML on his cheek already in first episode, which is considered by many (including myself) as too fast. Then it takes at least 13 episodes for them to bond, which according to many (including myself) is too long.
On the other hand, the slow nature of the relationship is also somewhat realistic. South-Korea has one of the lowest birth-rates in the world, because everyone is too busy working and Seoul is quite expensive. Since JCW is essentially operating a 24/7 convenience store, he hardly has time to date. KYJ on the other hand is not financially stable enough to date either - she has a sister to take care off.
Kdrama is such a weird phenomenon, it can basically portray the most unrealistic scenarios and we all consider them to be realistic. But whenever it is realistic, we consider it unrealistic. With American shows, I have never have this confusion of what is realistic or unrealistic. A story such as "Friends" never enticed hordes of people to move to New York for example, but there are loads of people that want to move to Seoul because of what they see in kdrama. The reality, however, is that "Friends" is more of a realistic portrayal of New York than kdrama is of Seoul. Weird ass shit if you think about it...
I just came across your post and I found your comment about Doctor John interesting. Did you happen to watch the…
I think you missed the subtle writing. I will address your three points. And I will try to find the scenes on YouTube with time stamps. I think YT will give you the subtitles automatically. Otherwise, press the "cc" button to select your language. If you do not speak Korean, I would suggest English (which I found the most accurate).
1. He did not fall asleep. He actually performed the euthanasia deliberately. He initially tried to save him, but he could not tolerate the suffering and the cries of the patient. So he eventually killed him off. See this scene (minute 13:15 until 17:30): https://youtu.be/kGLvwVFTxWA?list=PLShqORWiDquOFyuT7UtkSzyBIQ_pIT0Ih&t=795. I think he gave an overdosis of pain killers, hence the second bag. He did not monitor the bag to reduce the dose for the criminal to stay alive. Instead he walks away, so the criminal will overdose. But it is a bit unclear, but he does confirm it to the FL that he killed the guy off.
See also this other scene where he reiterated to the prosecutor that he performed euthanasia (from minute 7:30 - 8:10). https://youtu.be/m0mYuof5RPg?list=PLShqORWiDquOFyuT7UtkSzyBIQ_pIT0Ih&t=450. See also the difference between the criminal's scene and the actress with the cancerous eye. He explains why he sometimes performs euthanasia and sometimes not.
The creepy nurse forged the signature of the criminal that he want to be resuscitated no matter what. She did not want him to die, but to suffer. Dr John went against the protocol and killed him off. He knew the nurse forged the signature, but he did not bother to report her, because he understood the pain she had as a mother of a murdered child. See this scene (minute 8.50 - 12.20): https://youtu.be/3UunuPyb_t0?list=PLShqORWiDquOFyuT7UtkSzyBIQ_pIT0Ih&t=530
2. The father was taken off the ventilator. The youngest daughter never wanted to let her father go and would always perform CPR (we see this in one of the earlier episodes), but due to working with Doctor John she understood the suffering and pain, so she accepted her dad's destiny. The fact that the ethics committee decided to pull the ventilator is explicitly mentioned here (to be exact at minute 1:36 - 1:45): https://youtu.be/LvgpG0BhHWE?list=PLShqORWiDquOFyuT7UtkSzyBIQ_pIT0Ih&t=92
3. The prosecutor was not killed off, because his pain was still tolerable. the prosecutor explicitly chooses to be treated by Doctor John, because he knows that Doctor John is tenacious. As said, Doctor John only performs euthanasia when the patient suffers too much. Hence, why he saved the actress with the cancerous eye or the people trying to die "without fighting first"with the use of the euthanasia pill (Cherubim). In the prosecutor's case, Doctor John will treat him as long as he thinks the prosecutor can still be saved. If the pain is too much, Doctor John will give up. This scene highlights it (minute 2:05 - 3:10) : https://youtu.be/3UunuPyb_t0?list=PLShqORWiDquOFyuT7UtkSzyBIQ_pIT0Ih&t=124
I am not sure whether you like to rewatch kdramas, but try to rewatch Doctor John and you will notice that you have missed some important details. Hope my answer cleared some of your questions!
Lately, I find Dramas will quickly go against their premise and that rubs me the wrong way (as in I feel cheated).…
I just came across your post and I found your comment about Doctor John interesting. Did you happen to watch the show via SBS World? If that is the case then the show must have been severely edited to fit the YouTube criteria and copyrights. The music and editing on SBS World's YouTube channel are always modified that it sometimes become a totally different drama.
Anyways, to come back to Doctor John. The whole euthanasia-plot played a significant role in the drama. It started with Doctor John euthanizing the child murderer because of the pain he incurred due to cancer. He got imprisoned for that. After Dr John got out of jail, he immediately got a job at the hospital of the female lead's mother. The mother hired him, because she wanted to euthanize her husband, who was basically a vegetable after his climbing accident. Also, the lawyer of the hospital had some degenerative disease which would make him totally paralyzed. So they wanted Dr John to do it for them as euthanasia is illegal in Korea. The lawyer was also in some scheme with the former-Minister of Justice to create an euthanasia pill. Furthermore, the enemy (the prosecutor) of Doctor John had cancer and was slowly opening up to the idea of ending his own life when the time comes. Something the prosecutor was against initially with the child murderer. The mother of the other murdered child (the creepy nurse) and the sister of the FL later on also understood the motives of Doctor John. They learned that Doctor John was not pro-euthanasia or a murderer. He would often save people that did not want to be resuscitated. Instead, he was a doctor that believed in pain relief. So whenever there was a chance he could cure people, he would do it. It teaches the viewer that euthanasia is not an easy decision, but should be allowed when the suffering is too much.
I know it is a very poor summary, but it should be understandable if you have seen those scenes.
I keep saying it: severely underrated drama. The amount of tributes to other Korean, Hong Kong and even Western dramas, movies and songs are almost sentimental to me. Definitely an underappreciated part of this drama. Sometimes it frustrates me so much that people do not understand the jokes that I really want to write out all the references per episode. But then again there are so many that it would be a day job for me... Hahaha... Even without understanding the references, I think the main plot is actually quite decent, so definitely not a MMS 2.0 to me
That would be mind blowing but who knows? She might be hiding something as well although it seems rather unlikely
I don't think she is the culprit, but I do think she has some sort of switch that can make her go totally berserk. We have some snippets of it. I would also not be surprised if she already knows about the identity of her husband.
It would be such a funny plot-twist if Cha Ji-won is the culprit and married Do Hyun-soo as a disguise (who would expect the spouse of the suspect, right?). Haha, probably not. But I think she has some mental issues herself. She is definitely crazier than her lovey-dovey facade.
I hope he is a total psychopath. I want some mature drama such as Stranger where the male lead pretends to be a functional person, but has zero emotions... The fake smiles of Lee Joon-gi in episode 2 haha... love it...
It would be a huge joke and a bias of a award show if they not win the big awards i mean like come on. This cast…
Broadcasting awards (KBS, SBS, MBC) are less prestigious. Also, he never won the Daesang for SBS (that one went to Jun Ji-hyun). He won one for The Producers, which is KBS.
To be fair, he is impressive, but he did not bag a Blue Dragon or Grand Bell (the highest acting achievement, albeit for movies). Afterwards comes Baeksang. Most of the other actors I mentioned earlier did win Blue Dragon and/or Grand Bell, on top of a Baeksang...
But let's come back next year. Although I think we will have forgotten it by then ;-)
It would be a huge joke and a bias of a award show if they not win the big awards i mean like come on. This cast…
Sure enough. I am not saying that IONTBO is not a worthy winner, but there are so many series with potential still upcoming that I would not be surprised if it does not win.
The difference between all the ones you named (Stranger, Mother, My Ahjussi) is that we already know what the competition is/was, so it is easier to make a judgment. I named at least 13 shows that have potential and normally there are only 5 nominations. So it is going to be tough to be nominated in the first place. I think that 2020/2021 is by far the most competitive year in history. Also, your argument regarding TV-ratings does not really hold. Whilst the others were not popular, they climbed each week. This one continues to drop in Korea. As the Baeksang consist of older people, I would not be surprised that their taste is similar to the traditional TV-watchers.
By the way, with star power I do not mean people like LMH... With star power, I mean Best Actor/Actress material such as Lee Byung-hun, Ha Jung-woo, Hwang Jung-min, Jo Seung-woo, Gong Yoo, Jun Ji-hyun, Ju Ji-hoon, Yoo Ah-in. In other words, actors that are big on Chungmuro (movie actors...).
Having said that, if IONTBO wins, it will be very impressive. As said, this year will be one of the toughest years in history.
It would be a huge joke and a bias of a award show if they not win the big awards i mean like come on. This cast…
Bold statement, I could come up with a few names that I believe that can become good contenders and have the star power:
- Stranger 2 - Hospital Playlist 2 - Alice - Flower of Evil - Here - Sisyphus - Suriname - Hellbound - Squid Games - Move to Heaven - The Silent Sea - Mount Jiri - Undercover
We will see where this show will fall next year during the Baeksang's. It could be case that it will be totally forgotten, as it so early in the season. The sweet spot is to be broadcasted right in front of the announcements of the nominations. Also, it is a Korean award, so it might win some Hallyu award, but I doubt that it will take home the cake as it not unanimously loved by the general public of Korea...
Lol!!! the comment section!! Check out to know more ~https://www.soompi.com/article/1415027wpp/its-okay-to-not-be-okay-continues-to-rise-in-ratings-backstreet-rookie-and-once-again-see-slight-declines
A great drama such as IOTNBO does not need this fake reporting. The truth is that IOTNBO's viewership declined versus last week Saturday. I hate Soompi for giving room for antis in the comment section to call them out on selling bullshit, thereby allowing them to trample the show. Just report the first and second part of the ratings and not only the highest rating.
It is broadly accepted by the fans that the TV-ratings are not doing well, but it is massively compensated by the online buzz and streaming. Why does Soompi not write positive stories about that, instead of making catchy headlines that do not correspond with the truth?
just because you dont see it doesnt mean they dont have chemistry and everyone else is seeing it with a rose-tinted…
At first I thought that he had a point, but then I scrolled through his list and saw that he rated Touch Your Heart above Stranger and Signal... It then hit me, yet another Koreaboo that loves to chat shit...
Although I must admit that there are some questionable characters in BR, I really do not understand where the…
You are giving a valid argument why squids should not be eaten alive, which has a scientific footing and not a cultural one. It is something I can accept. But I cannot accept stuff that are derived from a certain superiority feeling by the West.
Shows such as BR are made for the Korean general public, but should still adhere to the Western standards/customs according to some i-netizens. Since it does not, these wankers are going to complain on the internet and write shit to executives of SBS, JCW' and KYJ's Instagram. That is ridiculous... Why should Korea adapt to the West, but not vice versa? Whenever I watch a foreign drama or movie, I try to accept the cultural differences in the story. Or do you think I am gonna write to the director and actors of a Middle-Eastern movie that women are not allowed to wear a veil, because it suppresses female rights?
It is this superiority feeling that I hate. The fact that we should adapt our own identity, culture and language to fit the taste of some illegal streamers. Look, if it was produced for American TV, then they have a valid point. Since it is not, they should just learn to adapt to our standards or not watch it. Or come with objective argument such as you did with the squid story.
I was thinking that it might be the village foreman, who might have been a serial killer himself and shifted the blame to Do Min-seok and his son? Remember the whole story that BHS told his daughter about having a good impression so no one suspects you? His dad and him always had a bad reputation due to their ASPD and were therefore easy scapegoats.
Anyways, I think that BHS killed the village foreman to end the serial killings. However, this left him with a trauma, because it is his first killing ever.
Having said that it is best to be network-agnostic, especially if you are new to kdrama. Rather focus on the actors, actresses and especially the writers and directors you like. So if you enjoy My Ahjussi, then you will most likely also like Signal, Misaeng and perhaps also Arthdal Chronicles (same director). This formula mostly never fails.
The stanning culture is strong though. Have you seen these pictures of JCW working at a local GS25 as promotion: https://www.allkpop.com/article/2020/08/ji-chang-wook-stops-traffic-and-social-distancing-as-he-works-at-a-convenience-store-for-one-day
On the other hand, the slow nature of the relationship is also somewhat realistic. South-Korea has one of the lowest birth-rates in the world, because everyone is too busy working and Seoul is quite expensive. Since JCW is essentially operating a 24/7 convenience store, he hardly has time to date. KYJ on the other hand is not financially stable enough to date either - she has a sister to take care off.
Kdrama is such a weird phenomenon, it can basically portray the most unrealistic scenarios and we all consider them to be realistic. But whenever it is realistic, we consider it unrealistic. With American shows, I have never have this confusion of what is realistic or unrealistic. A story such as "Friends" never enticed hordes of people to move to New York for example, but there are loads of people that want to move to Seoul because of what they see in kdrama. The reality, however, is that "Friends" is more of a realistic portrayal of New York than kdrama is of Seoul. Weird ass shit if you think about it...
1. He did not fall asleep. He actually performed the euthanasia deliberately. He initially tried to save him, but he could not tolerate the suffering and the cries of the patient. So he eventually killed him off. See this scene (minute 13:15 until 17:30): https://youtu.be/kGLvwVFTxWA?list=PLShqORWiDquOFyuT7UtkSzyBIQ_pIT0Ih&t=795. I think he gave an overdosis of pain killers, hence the second bag. He did not monitor the bag to reduce the dose for the criminal to stay alive. Instead he walks away, so the criminal will overdose. But it is a bit unclear, but he does confirm it to the FL that he killed the guy off.
See also this other scene where he reiterated to the prosecutor that he performed euthanasia (from minute 7:30 - 8:10).
https://youtu.be/m0mYuof5RPg?list=PLShqORWiDquOFyuT7UtkSzyBIQ_pIT0Ih&t=450.
See also the difference between the criminal's scene and the actress with the cancerous eye. He explains why he sometimes performs euthanasia and sometimes not.
The creepy nurse forged the signature of the criminal that he want to be resuscitated no matter what. She did not want him to die, but to suffer. Dr John went against the protocol and killed him off. He knew the nurse forged the signature, but he did not bother to report her, because he understood the pain she had as a mother of a murdered child. See this scene (minute 8.50 - 12.20): https://youtu.be/3UunuPyb_t0?list=PLShqORWiDquOFyuT7UtkSzyBIQ_pIT0Ih&t=530
2. The father was taken off the ventilator. The youngest daughter never wanted to let her father go and would always perform CPR (we see this in one of the earlier episodes), but due to working with Doctor John she understood the suffering and pain, so she accepted her dad's destiny. The fact that the ethics committee decided to pull the ventilator is explicitly mentioned here (to be exact at minute 1:36 - 1:45): https://youtu.be/LvgpG0BhHWE?list=PLShqORWiDquOFyuT7UtkSzyBIQ_pIT0Ih&t=92
3. The prosecutor was not killed off, because his pain was still tolerable. the prosecutor explicitly chooses to be treated by Doctor John, because he knows that Doctor John is tenacious. As said, Doctor John only performs euthanasia when the patient suffers too much. Hence, why he saved the actress with the cancerous eye or the people trying to die "without fighting first"with the use of the euthanasia pill (Cherubim). In the prosecutor's case, Doctor John will treat him as long as he thinks the prosecutor can still be saved. If the pain is too much, Doctor John will give up. This scene highlights it (minute 2:05 - 3:10) : https://youtu.be/3UunuPyb_t0?list=PLShqORWiDquOFyuT7UtkSzyBIQ_pIT0Ih&t=124
I am not sure whether you like to rewatch kdramas, but try to rewatch Doctor John and you will notice that you have missed some important details. Hope my answer cleared some of your questions!
Anyways, to come back to Doctor John. The whole euthanasia-plot played a significant role in the drama. It started with Doctor John euthanizing the child murderer because of the pain he incurred due to cancer. He got imprisoned for that. After Dr John got out of jail, he immediately got a job at the hospital of the female lead's mother. The mother hired him, because she wanted to euthanize her husband, who was basically a vegetable after his climbing accident. Also, the lawyer of the hospital had some degenerative disease which would make him totally paralyzed. So they wanted Dr John to do it for them as euthanasia is illegal in Korea. The lawyer was also in some scheme with the former-Minister of Justice to create an euthanasia pill. Furthermore, the enemy (the prosecutor) of Doctor John had cancer and was slowly opening up to the idea of ending his own life when the time comes. Something the prosecutor was against initially with the child murderer. The mother of the other murdered child (the creepy nurse) and the sister of the FL later on also understood the motives of Doctor John. They learned that Doctor John was not pro-euthanasia or a murderer. He would often save people that did not want to be resuscitated. Instead, he was a doctor that believed in pain relief. So whenever there was a chance he could cure people, he would do it. It teaches the viewer that euthanasia is not an easy decision, but should be allowed when the suffering is too much.
I know it is a very poor summary, but it should be understandable if you have seen those scenes.
To be fair, he is impressive, but he did not bag a Blue Dragon or Grand Bell (the highest acting achievement, albeit for movies). Afterwards comes Baeksang. Most of the other actors I mentioned earlier did win Blue Dragon and/or Grand Bell, on top of a Baeksang...
But let's come back next year. Although I think we will have forgotten it by then ;-)
The difference between all the ones you named (Stranger, Mother, My Ahjussi) is that we already know what the competition is/was, so it is easier to make a judgment. I named at least 13 shows that have potential and normally there are only 5 nominations. So it is going to be tough to be nominated in the first place. I think that 2020/2021 is by far the most competitive year in history. Also, your argument regarding TV-ratings does not really hold. Whilst the others were not popular, they climbed each week. This one continues to drop in Korea. As the Baeksang consist of older people, I would not be surprised that their taste is similar to the traditional TV-watchers.
By the way, with star power I do not mean people like LMH... With star power, I mean Best Actor/Actress material such as Lee Byung-hun, Ha Jung-woo, Hwang Jung-min, Jo Seung-woo, Gong Yoo, Jun Ji-hyun, Ju Ji-hoon, Yoo Ah-in. In other words, actors that are big on Chungmuro (movie actors...).
Having said that, if IONTBO wins, it will be very impressive. As said, this year will be one of the toughest years in history.
- Stranger 2
- Hospital Playlist 2
- Alice
- Flower of Evil
- Here
- Sisyphus
- Suriname
- Hellbound
- Squid Games
- Move to Heaven
- The Silent Sea
- Mount Jiri
- Undercover
We will see where this show will fall next year during the Baeksang's. It could be case that it will be totally forgotten, as it so early in the season. The sweet spot is to be broadcasted right in front of the announcements of the nominations. Also, it is a Korean award, so it might win some Hallyu award, but I doubt that it will take home the cake as it not unanimously loved by the general public of Korea...
It is broadly accepted by the fans that the TV-ratings are not doing well, but it is massively compensated by the online buzz and streaming. Why does Soompi not write positive stories about that, instead of making catchy headlines that do not correspond with the truth?
Shows such as BR are made for the Korean general public, but should still adhere to the Western standards/customs according to some i-netizens. Since it does not, these wankers are going to complain on the internet and write shit to executives of SBS, JCW' and KYJ's Instagram. That is ridiculous... Why should Korea adapt to the West, but not vice versa? Whenever I watch a foreign drama or movie, I try to accept the cultural differences in the story. Or do you think I am gonna write to the director and actors of a Middle-Eastern movie that women are not allowed to wear a veil, because it suppresses female rights?
It is this superiority feeling that I hate. The fact that we should adapt our own identity, culture and language to fit the taste of some illegal streamers. Look, if it was produced for American TV, then they have a valid point. Since it is not, they should just learn to adapt to our standards or not watch it. Or come with objective argument such as you did with the squid story.