DramaAjumma

It's not that simple. If it were, nobody would be rooting for the Rainbow Taxi team. The system is broken. There's corruption in the ranks. The law is manipulated by the rich for their own ends. If the cops and prosecutors were doing their job well, we wouldn't have any need for vigilantes.

Of course we respect the rule of law in general. But if the bad guys don't and the system breaks down, what are good people to do? That's the premise of this show.

I said the same thing to my kids.

I don't watch these kinds of shows for the romance. As long as the detective-investigative side of things is good, I'm happy. There's a lot of smart people too.

Well, he's jelly that's why.

I am watching the Imperial Coroner. It's not bad.

There's no doubt this show great entertainment value and I'm glad I picked it up. The overall storyline was decent and the youngish cast acquitted themselves admirably. I've never been a fan of Dilraba but I thought she did well here. The adorable Fei Liu has grown up into a fine young adult actor. That said the show wasn't without flaws as one might expect in an almost 50 episodes drama trying to have its cake and eating it. There were many moving parts in this (quite unnecessary) and they don't always cohere with the bigger intentions of the story. It's the result of trying to have broad appeal. I'm probably in the minority here but I did tune in to watch war, intrigue and backstabbing. There's a part of me that still thinks that Leyan doesn't really belong in this story. She should have her own spinoff.

I'm happy for the leads to have a unique, non-romcom type of romantic trajectory because they are independent strong-minded people. It is a testament to who they are. But I think they tried too hard to make their romance too different that the ending feels open-ended without saying why she's off doing her own thing especially when the war is supposedly over. Shouldn't they be off gallivanting the world? The last minute or so is a nothing burger.

My kind of drama. Smart leads and decent cases. Yay!

I didn't like the first 3 that much either but I warmed up to it when they toned down the slapstick. It does feel chaotic and incoherent at times but the threads eventually come together. I think the 20 episode format does cause problems for the writing.

I have the opposite view on this because I think Vincenzo is a great character and Song Joong-ki does a good job with it. He has his dangerous side but also he's caring warm side. He's capable of being childish too. It's a multidimensional persona who learns to appreciate and open up to the people around him.
My biggest beef with this show is really with how the villains were written particularly in the second half. If there's anyone who is dull and unidimensional, it's the big bad 3. They never seemed to learn anything.

I enjoyed the show a lot -- had a great time with it but I don't think the villains were the best.

Yup!

I'm in love with Yoo Ji-tae. Heh.

I started this by accident because of Tim Pei but it's hilarious. I feel there's a Lois and Clarke thing happening.

It's interesting so many think this is like Flower of Evil but that didn't occur to me at all. Even if there's any resemblance it's so superficial. What it really reminded me off right off the bat was When My Love Blooms especially with the use of flashbacks. I suspect not many people saw that one.

I had problems with the final act of Flower of Evil. It started well enough but went madly makjang. But that's a common problem with Asian dramas.
The first half was good and the leads were good, LJG especially.

There are aspects that are more LoTCH

It's nothing like Flower of Evil.

https://40somethingahjumma.substack.com/p/the-long-ballad-2021-a-tale-of-two

My weekly post of Long Ballad. Please find the link under the spoiler tag. Not my best effort but I'm going through some health issues. Thanks for reading the last one.

I like the word "digestible". You're definitely onto something about the demographics.