Dabosil

The human and cat stuff is connected, I mean between the metal-ball plotline and the leading or even supporting romance lines.
It's flipping between the
1. Rom-com, slice-of-life, critical look at Korean society, petty drama storyline
2. Metal-ball killer of unknown reasons/motive

apart from probably a vague connection to Choi Chi-yeol's past.

Su-A appears in-frame, but what I mean was she's just deemed not important to the plot anymore. Just as a fact. Which true, she isn't, though it striked me odd how she was dropped quickly but her mom remained such a strong narrative character.

You know, I love the actress' voice as well. It's really different and she should go narrate audiobooks or do asmr or something.
She also has this classy, elegant look I think she's one of those people who actually have more character as they age; her eyes are really interesting too.

Ack I was super invested in this drama throughout but somehow today, going through the 12th episode (I stopped a little before the middle) it seems kind of boring and seemed to meander.

I like Sun Jae's mom as a character but I hate Hui Jae's storyline (and somehow I just think...Hui Jae's actor's acting is quite wooden. Also doesn't help that the character is just so detached from the story (I'm not even sure if I should blame this instead, I just feel zero-zeroness of zeroability seeing this play out, it's so random). He also has the face of the guy who plays the innocent, awkward , unknowing guy OR the depressed kid and somehow the entire vibe of this character seems very copy-paste, type-casty, it's just quite boring. As for Secretary Ji they way they go about it is...like don't lean into it so much, there's zero mystery. If it ends up being someone like the best friend of FL I will give them props for the 180, I will, but I'm quite sure of the conclusion right now.

Also, is anyone actually like, actually interested in the metal-ball killer, because to me it's a done-and-over situation. We also haven't seen much of the leads in this episode.

I'll probably continue it later but this episode seems pretty bland basically.

Also tried to avoid spoilers above (--> the spoiler tag) but tell me if it's literally in the blue. Don't know if y'all agree.

I'm thinking about the direction of this drama and it's:
- Metal-Ball Killer found and revealed
- If the two prime suspects (and actually, only suspects I'm pretty sure) are not the killers then it will go into their (sad) backstories
- The leads being together and having a first kiss (I don't think they're getting married or anything and they won't have any major arguments or even conflicts unless it's related to metal-ball killer but this is highly unlikely)
- Sun Jae and the daughter of Fl getting together
- Sun Jae probably stepping into his own/leaving his mom/his mom having one of those realization arcs or begging for forgiveness scenes
- Something about The Pride and Choi Chi-yeol's career decisions
- Season 2 Bait-FL's sister coming back, Metal-ball killer being FL's sister (wait what), Choi Chi-yeol's backstory coming back to haunt him, god forbid Choi Chi-yeol getting an actual apartment with natural light (yeah, I'm going off track right now but I'm not feeling it)

Dan-Ji is also a super underrated character
and continuing from what I said about the last few episodes, Su-a hasn't appeared recently at all.

No I mean seriously WHY does the metal-ball killer exist, this puts the show in such a weird genre right now; it doesn't add to the suspense, it just completely changes rails like it's telling two different stories.

Theory: Unless the only way to tie the two together is through Choi Chi-yeol so the killer is the teacher-friend of Chi-yeol because it relates to his past..?
???

Edit: I edited this several times so forgive me
I will say I appreciate that Sun-Jae and Hui-Jae legitimately look like siblings.

Not sure if this counts as off comment but in the time waiting for Crash Course I caught up on You Season 4, The Last of Us, Partner Track, and The White Lotus. I mean...
Just give me all the episodes lol.

The funny thing is that K-drama romances are the dramas I forget and get over the most easily after airing but DURING its airing time it's the type of drama I most anticipate; I don't get the same feeling of impatience when I watch any other drama/genre. Anyone else relate?

What is that cliffhanger~
On another note, I hope the slow burn works out because the tension is building. I hope when the leads actually get together there's a good payoff.
I also think that for this sort of drama, the social dynamics of a star math teacher (and test obsession) and a single-actually aunt-mom are enough for the background drama.

The metal ball killer is really so random in the midst of all this other stuff and I can feel that the Hui-jae plot is going to be a total twist (like maybe he's hunting down the killer or something, also just because we know NOTHING about this man or his personality other than the same crazy-mom-grades-obsession stuff, totally detached to the main storyline, so...)

I hate the moms, but they're also kind of interesting. If I try to look at it from their perspective, I can vaguely see how self-righteous they believe themselves to be.

One more thing; the music at a little more than 38 minutes in sounds like the repetitive first few notes of the opening theme for the tv show 'The Last of Us'.

Also, I'm surprised that Su-a's presence has diminished In the latest few episodes.

Am I also the only one who thinks Chi-yeol's home decor is trash; gray is fine but he has all grey everything; I know that's the point but, still. I love it whenever the scene isn't in his home; He probably has a very low electricity bill as well tbh.

I also noticed the influx of product placement in the last two episodes. Getting more popular maybe?

I've watched it to episode 11 and it's nice overall like it's nice and I can't say much about it, but it's way too slow-the pauses, the dialogue, just very slow, and some characters just get so annoying. I can understand why, but it was frustrating. I like how the ML is gray, I like the couple's relationship, and I like their chemistry, but it's so irritating the way so many side characters (and also the leads) handle things and keep having emotional scenes (I don't mean just crying), it's just overall taxing, so dropping it. Plus I've started skipping forward, so it's not a good sign. And the way people come across information and stuff like that, and how people don't actually explain the source of the conflicts and what they actually think, ugh...also all the victim blaming is just, nah. One thing I appreciate is the insight and further thinking into how every step a public figure makes really reflects on their character in the public; it's understandable to everyone on the surface, but this is where I could actually see it.

Just checking out the cast list but...
the screenwriter of this drama is Kim Eun Sook? Kim Eun Sook?
Well, she's doing good in career development and like, screenwriting development for sure. Kudos.

What I was thinking about was how the bullies bully people they believe are 'below them' and yet care so much about their children. Well, caring for your children is universal and absolutely understandable, but is the disconnect/lack of empathy because of power status? I was actually pretty surprised that Yeo Jin cared so much for her kid/had a 'good wife good mother' fantasy. Is it because the kid she has is the kid SHE has, so the kid has power? As in, let's say for some unknown reason the child she gives birth to does not have power, she would not like the child? I just can't wrap my head around it. Obviously, the world has bullies and some people are like, just bullies, but I can't understand the logic.

I've only watched two other dramas she's in, which is her last one (I forgot what it's called but the English translation had a word that started with N in it, I think, oh gosh my memory), and I thought her acting was subpar from usual acting standards. That's to say, the script was freaking terrible, but her speech delivery wasn't great and I couldn't get a sense of her emotions or character. The other drama I watched before, Encounter, I actually loved because I did think the leads had chemistry and because they did well in all around the departments, but nothing out of the box, but it was very well rounded. But even so, it didn't make me interested in her (her work). I'm sure she gets hate and I'm super against hate, but I'm not usually interested in her either because I really would like actors to do better with acting. That said, I think she did a great job in 'The Glory', but I would give bigger props to the younger actor (because of those traumatizing scenes, like). I also think that because her face is usually kind of, idk the word for it, stark? it fits better with the character here.

What I mean is, I don't think she's a good actor but for the work I've seen, she's done an acceptable job. And with this show, I think I definitely have a better impression of her. I am also against hate and I think people are weird for bothering to hate a person (esp. because they're misidentifying their feelings). However, I strongly encourage constructive criticism to actors and the development of better actors in the industry, esp. in regards to popular actors, who I think should be up to the bar.

Inspired by a comment I read below; I love this show, but I realized I had a passing thought I forgot about in the show, which is when Lee Jun-Ho said that 'if it's love, it's love' and that his love wasn't just pity. He is definitely characterized as a nice guy, and there were many scenes between them I felt could just be from his niceity. I would love to know WHAT made him fall for her and what changed (apart from his niceity to like, everyone).

Overdue watch, but I jumped into this after being wholly impressed by Park Eun-bin in 'Extraordinary Attorney Woo', and the comment section had recommended this. While I loved her acting in this show (and it seemed like the highlight, esp. with all the terrible 'pretending to be a male' acting in other similar shows) it didn't make me immersed enough to find her irreplaceable (as in, I could imagine that some other actor could have also been in her place). Even less said for the Male Lead, who I thought was highly impulsive. Impulsiveness is usually mixed in with morality in leading characters for shows, so it's not terribly annoying, but it's a characterization I see constantly so I have less patience for these similar plot threads (as a result of such a personality). I felt the male lead's acting was acceptable, but nothing more, and it did not make me interested in the actor. I also felt that the story was too childish at times, especially as the ML didn't seem to consider the FL's feelings. Huge props to the young actors who kept me invested in the first two episodes. I think the most impactful moment for me was when the real Lee Hwi died. While I usually am impatient for the younger actors' parts to finish, this drama and the actors did that well. I think it was a pretty good watch in the first ten episodes, but in all honesty, it was mostly the first few. However, as the comment section has mentioned, it dragged on way too long in the middle for no good reason, and I ended up watching it at 1.25x, which wasn't even unsettling, because of this show's CONSTANT usage of slow-paced shots and dialogue. I am also so sick of hearing 'I Believe' and 'If I'....it's stuck in my head in a bad way. One thing I would disagree with from the general opinion is that the show had too much politics because I thought that was the most interesting part, and even that was slightly childish. Although I understand that this is primarily a fictionalized historical romance, there are some details I think stamp over my brain and that I cannot accept, like the fact that EVERY single character accidentally spies/follows someone else and figures out some sort of secret, while every character also easily does so. It's like none of them have any spying precautions; I almost thought that they were making fun of themselves. I especially could not believe it when the young Ji-un saw his father killing the maid, and THEN Da-Mi saw him seeing the killing while such an experienced commander had no idea. This is especially jarring with the number of times this type of scene influences the plot and the fact that in the post-production, the sound of a secret sword being unsheathed was very loud. Finally, I couldn't really buy into the relationship because for me, when the primary genre is romance, chemistry holds it all up. I am absolutely willing to forgive or ignore ginormous plotholes when there is chemistry between the lead actors, because that is the most important aspect. However, I just couldn't feel it (the comments below didn't mention this much so Idk if I'm in the minority), so this made me notice more of the bad choices that were made. Also, as this is fiction, I was more in favor of a 'woman ruling the throne' ending because the quick succession of deaths and of 'rulers to be' in the end and whatnot was quite random to me. I'm not sure if FL wanted to be the ruler or not because she was very unused to it as a child, but later on in her dialogue with the dowager queen, she mentions 'what the people want' not herself, and also how she wants to live as her true identity (but not mentioning the aspect of ruling). She seemed to care a lot about the fate of the people and of the people itself, so I thought it was ambiguous. Added to that, I realized only in the last episode that the FL did not ever actually express much of her thoughts as the replacement, because it felt jarring when she suddenly said things about 'jut because she is a woman', and I realized that in her conversations with others who knew about her real identity, this had never been brought up, rather, the hardships of maintaining the identity, so I think there could be a better precedent for that. I could go on more, but mostly it's been an unmemorable drama because of the seen-before plots. Maybe I've watched too many dramas, but I felt quite bored because of the familiar succession of events. That's not to say it's a bad drama, because I could see myself enjoying it a few years back, perhaps, and I can see why newbies to K-Drama would like this. I think the most interesting characters, like Lord Sangheon and Ji-un's commander dad and Commander Yoon could have a better role, esp. because Lord Sangheon isn't all wrong and because somehow this man is stupid enough to not tail his King grandson around when half of the plot is about people finding out secrets by spying and as these characters are terrible at keeping their footsteps secret. Oh my gosh, did I mention the constant flashbacks to previous scenes simultaneously. I also noticed that Commander Jung didn't actually change at all; his values were still to his family and in the end, it was simply that there was a chance for a. his loyalty and relentless protection for his family, b. the withering strength of his boss, c. morality that he usually ignores but understands, and d. the endangerment of his family to all coexist. So he stayed true to his values, actually. He was one of my favourite characters.

I have to mention that I hated the Netflix subtitles. Firstly, it was subtitled by like three different people, and I felt that it could have done a better job representing even the formality of language in a historical-esque drama. Many times there were words like 'wanna' and 'way more' as opposed to 'much more' which really brought me out of it. I have to say as well, I think the ML didn't really act accordingly as a subject many of the times (and I'm saying before his and FL's relationship), where if you think about the parameters to etiquette and whatnot around the scene, it wouldn't make sense.

Finally; since they have the tool of 'the woman pretending to be a man' trope, I think they could allocate more of the show to this suspense. It was there in the start and the end, but missing in the middle. I didn't really feel any tension during the middle because it was mostly the romance in between.

I might seem to have a lot of criticisms, but in reality, that's if I actually think about it-it's very much a passing drama to me. I can't rate it lowly, but it made a very whisperish impression, so it's closer to indifference. That said, I will still check out Park Eun-bin's other works.

One thing though: great job on matching child actors to adult actors, and for matching Commander Jung's actor to Rowoon, as they seamlessly look like father and son.

Just finished two episodes and I have a few thoughts: First of all, the actress for the young Dong-Eun is doing a great job. Second of all, even though I've never been a fan of SHK (as in, a bystander) I feel somehow proud that her acting has improved here. I think perhaps it helps that the character is quite silent and has trauma, etc. Third of all, the blue in the filter is turned on highhhhhhh. I love that the young actors match their older counterparts in looks though. Also, the story is really gripping me. Finally, this is one of the dramas where the warning tags are actual warning tags (since sometimes the warning tags are actually referring to quite mild content that hint towards a certain thing happening). Lastly, I wonder why it's called 'The Glory'. I also love the cinematography and the opening sequence is pretty cool.

Ay, good news, good luck, and a happy new year! Dispatch is going to be really busy in the next few days lol.

Alright, so idk who'll read this comment since the drama's way over by now but I only did realize that it was popular some time ago. Quitting in the middle of episode 6; it's not TERRIBLE or close to that, but hugely indifferent as a rom-com. It doesn't spike in areas compared to other rom-coms like 'What's wrong with Secretary Kim', and I use that as an example primely because to me it's so similar, other than the fact that the company surroundings don't seem so stuck-up and that I think this FL has a touch more personality. (Not to mention the hairstyle; I totally thought the ML here was also Park Seo-Jun for four episodes until I searched it up; I'm not going to point fingers but it seems rather coincidental). I can see how it's a good K-Drama intro drama but so far all of these plotlines have been overused. That's to say, I'm only on episode 6, so I'm not sure how things will turn out, but I'm not that interested (and I think the falling for each other seems particularly forced here, as well as the chemistry being meh (acceptable only, so it doesn't give the show props, but that's a subjective pov)).

However, the show isn't all just recycled material; for example, I liked how the company is involved with food tech and product development; this is one of the first times where the actual workplace is quite interesting for a FL in a rom-com, rather than just a background tool. I also like that the FL's initial seven-year crush guy has a few scenes with his girlfriend, including an intimate one; it's more realistic and breaks the mold of this second lead just being sort of there (although I'm sure he'll turn out to like the FL but that would def be daggers to his girlfriend). I also like the end of episode 5 getting into how the law in SK gives a petty fine only for spying criminal acts; that was an interesting thing to learn and plot point. The 'fake drama' in the drama that mirrors the drama is also a fun little dig at themselves and I like how they often point out tropes. Also, the grandpa breaks the 'really harsh grandpa' trope. But all these are small things, not enough to warrant my continuous attention on the actual, main, storyline.

I have to say, I'm also rather surprised it broke the 'contract marriage pact' so quickly. I suppose it's a self-acknowledgment of the serious 'tool-ness' of the tool hahaha.

Not in any way bad; but for me, it's quite unoriginal and I guess overhyped.
Good as background music if you have to use it some way.
7 probs?

I hate to be that person; after a nice comment section rant though, I might say, 'keep calm and carry on'

also:
let's go zen and do some post-drama therapeutic mental/physical yoga. and enjoy Christmas or boxing day. open some gifts. aye.
Give a rating, wait for SJK's next drama (and grandpa's!) and move on to the next drama, not worth wasting the mental energy.
breathe in, breathe out~

To be fair the comment section is cracking me up though
(but I'll get going)
It was a fun time on MDL at least!

I know Business Proposal is popular AND a recent drama so I might give it a try, but I also want to steer a bit clear of business since y'know, Reborn Rich. Someone above also recommended Waikiki so it must be good, and I'll check both out. I've vaguely heard of Shooting Stars too.

Hahah have a break and do some yoga or you know..eat that leftover yule log cake or whatnot

To sum up the comment section reactions rn I would use the 'Oh My God' meme. I can literally hear the tone in my head when I scroll.

Haahahah love your comment,
That last episode was wholly unnecessary! I think the romance in Memories had similar problems to Reborn Rich here actually. Though at least the loop thing makes some sense here, while the video game into reality physics was just...random. So he disappeared into thin air, I presume? And in whatever cage they're locked into, they don't need to eat, drink, walk, and they're invisible to the real world? Aye, alright!

+1!

Haha, I am guilty of watching HotD. It's pretty good actually; but also, if you need the mental space to recover. But it's not that similar to GoT; it has the fantasy elements but I woulf say it's def. also a succession drama like Reborn Rich and kinda like The Crown (the first few seasons of that show that is). The spectacle of GoT was always enhanced the experience but it was definitely the politics that was most intriguing; that went down the drain. Also, the sex is turned way down, which idc, but also the relationships are more focused on with a lesser cast (not as expansive, going through the Seven Kingdoms, sicne it's mostly about the Targaryens).

Lol unneeded synopsis. The silence in the space-nah, I was screaming and telling anyone I knew about how mad I was. Def left with way more than a bitter taste in my mouth-I am def experienced with bad endings I would say so I don't think I'm as angry here as everyone, so do you!