PrettyCarEye

I think you may have things mixed up. There is no statue of limitation on murder in the United States. SoLs on murder in the US was removed from the law books decades and decades ago, if not longer. It was Korea that had a statue of limitation on murder until the law was recently changed.

I'm looking forward to:
1) Half & Half ... iffy about Chæ Soo Bin as the female lead, but love Jung Hæ In so I guess I have to watch it.
2) Hello Mom ... maybe, will wait to see what the general buzz is like. Premise sounds good, but this being a k-drama they will likely throw some over the top makjang in there & that's definitely not my thing.
3) Itæwon Class - sounds good! If it ends up having some romance, I'll watch it. Park Seo Joon is bæ.
4) Kingdom 2 - Can't wait! But I'm so annoyed that no definitive announcement as to when it will actually air has been made. Like what the heck are you waiting for, Netflix?
5) The Monarch - I'm willing to give it a chance since it's a Kim Eun Sook drama, even though I haven't liked a drama of hers since Lovers & City Hall.

DISAPPOINTMENTS
Psycho, But It's Okay - Man, I was reeeeallly looking forward to Kim Soo Hyun's comeback, but why does the female lead have to be PSH ...??? Wæææææ? As much as I like Kim Soo Hyun, I don't think I can deal with PSH. She's one of my most blacklisted actresses. Lord save me from the things I consider for a hot oppa...!!!

Ahhhh, Vagabond! LOL, no, not a fan. I actually don't think I've ever seen a drama with her in it. I have been contemplating watching Vagabond, however, because I like action romance dramas. Aside from her, how did you like it? Was the experience completely ruined by her or did it have some redeemable qualities? lol

Chief of Staff?

Hi Hoyce, now you got me curious! Do you mean ...

THIS COMMENT SPOILS THE ENDING OF GOLDEN EMPIRE & PUNCH.
DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE SPOILED.
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So is killing off his lead characters a continuous habit of Park writernim? Granted, I've only seen 2 of his dramas, but in both the ML dies. I mean, yes, these guys were pretty darn corrupt. Their actions negatively impacted people's lives, but why do they always have to die? Especially while those who do far worse get to live and atone for their crimes in prison?

Park Jung Hwan, despite his fine self, without a doubt needed to pay for his crimes - I mean, fabricating evidence, tampering with evidence, racketeering, money laundering, bribery ... done not for any 'honourable' reason, but for his own personal gain (and often at the expense of innocent people like the bus driver who saved his daughter's life). He needed to spend at least 12 years in prison (Jo Kang Jæ 8 - 10 years for bribery; Lee Tæ Joon, 20 years for bribery, money laundering, fabricating & tampering with evidence, conspiracy to tamper to with & fabricate evidence; Yoon Ji Sook, 25 yrs for attempted murder & tampering with evidence; Lee Ho Sung, 10 years for tampering with evidence). Just as with the other drama, I have mixed feelings about Park Jung Hwan's punishment being death even though I already knew he was going to die when I started the drama.

Why did he have to die, though, while people who covered up murder (and tried to frame other people for it) & attempted murder get to live? Park Jung Hwan got blinded by his own greed & did some horrible things, but he was redeemable. He should have gone to prison, come out, redeem himself and live a peaceful, honest life with his wife and daughter after paying his debt to society. After all, he's now a disgrace to the prosecutorial profession & will never be able to practice law again. He'd have to start all over as a middle aged man after serving time in prison. He & his family would likely have to move out of Seoul to a place where nobody knows his shame. There are so many ways he could've been punished. I was also not satisfied with the death of the ML in the other drama. Not for any idealistic reasons, but because death didn't seem like a suitable or justifiable punishment for the character.

Sure, imminent death made Park Jung Hwan realize that he'd spent his short life prioritizing all the wrong things ... and that's a valuable lesson, dying with the regret & shame that you did not value what was most valuable in your life - your family, your kid. Maybe this is the lesson Park Kyung Soo wants to impart to the audience, but I'm not sure if he's sending the right message when in his world the worse of the worse get second chances but the leads are portrayed as so irredeemable that the only acceptable punishment for them is death.

Now, I realize PKS's writing is probably inspired by real life & so his dramas have to capture a certain level realism, but the power at the end of the day is in his pen. His message doesn't always have to be a morbid one; it can also give hope that people have the capacity to change and learn from their mistakes, esp when they're still young as were Park Jung Hwan & the other guy. That they can redeem themselves, turn over a new leaf & atone for their crimes for the rest of their lives.
However, PKS is particularly harsh to his lead (male) characters. I hope this is not a trend he keeps up in all his dramas.

Smart dialogues, layered, multi-dimensional characters & exploring themes of corruption, revenge, lust for money/power, narcissism, psychopathy, betrayal - are Park Kyung Soo's hallmarks. This is my 2nd drama of his; my first being Golden Empire, one of my all time favourite shows. Maybe because Golden Empire was my introduction to Park Kyung Soo's clever, intricate writing, I enjoyed it a lot more than Punch. The writing was so good in GE, the acting superb, the dialogues ... some of the best I've heard. It's by far one of the most extraordinary drama experiences I've ever had. Punch is good too & boy, Kim Ræ Won is always such a tall, cool glass of water ... but basically its story line, with all the backstabbing & shifting alliances, is just a repetition of what we saw in GE. The plot, though unfolded in a different setting, felt recycled; I think that's why Punch made less of an impact on me. I already knew what was going to happen, nothing surprised me. Like even if I didn't know the ML had a terminal illness, I knew the end would likely be tragic. In essence, it kind of feels like once you've watched one PKS drama, you've watched them all. 8/10

Agree 100%. She's a good actress but not in romantic roles. She and Lee Sang Yoon played a married couple in My Daughter, Seo Young & they had zero chemistry, not because they don't match, but because you could really see that she wasn't too into that aspect of the role. She always comes across as too standoffish and cold for any romance she's involved in on screen to be believable. I hesitate to watch this drama given that it has some romance and she's the female lead.

The writer is known for his complex story arcs and deep, metaphorical dialogues. In many ways he's South Korea's answer to Aaron Sorkin. He tends to explore the darker sides of human nature - narcissism, greed, the lust for money & power, corruption, lack of integrity and morals, murder, suicide and so on. Usually people in the worlds he creates put very little value on romantic relationships (the only love that's important is the love of power & money), which is why there's hardly ever any real romance in his shows. There might be hints & sexual chemistry between the characters, but it's usually never explored beyond that. His dramas are most suitable for mature audiences with above average intelligence and critical thinking ability. One also needs to pay attention and have a good memory to process all the backstabbing and shifting alliances that are hallmarks of his dramas. If someone is the type of viewer who wants instant gratification and who doesn't understand how the pursuit of money & power works (that it corrupts even the most righteous & well-meaning) they'll come away from his dramas feeling bitter and frustrated. You really need to have some life experience to appreciate how well he captures the duality of human nature in his shows.

She usually doesn't do so well if there's a romantic arc. Too standoffish and cold for any romance she's involved in to be believable. Think I'm gonna pass on this one even though I'm a huge fan of the writer. Not because of the lack of romance, but just can't deal with LBY as the female lead right now.

I thought I was the only one who did this. When I watch shows with my favourites, I sometimes find myself wondering how they're doing ...? Will I wake up one day and hear that they're gone because of suicide? It's macabre to look at a person, esp someone you don't know personally, and that's your first thought.

Korea has a hush-hush culture so a lot of times people don't know (and probably don't care?) that a person is struggling because people are so good at keeping secrets and not showing their true selves in public.

Also mental illnesses are hard to treat, even with professionals, family and friends around to support. I've known of people who had all these resources available to them and they still chose to end their lives.

Sometimes the afflicted feels like professionals who are treating them just can't relate to them or reach them in a way that makes an impact. Sometimes the professionals are inept and make the patients feel worse rather than better (as was the case with JongHyun, apparently).

In essence, depression is a demon that can only be fought off by the individual it possesses. People around them can try to support as much as possible, but ultimately only the person affected will have to face the demon and find some way to fight it off. Unfortunately, many people try and fail. Not because they're weak, but because that's just how life works. Not everyone can win.

Korea needs to really start thinking about how to change those toxic aspects of its culture that cause every last demographic in its population to be killing themselves. It's sad as a mofo.

Suicide has reached pandemic proportions in South Korea, with pretty much ALL ages and socio-economic groups being affected. Suicide among men is still higher, but the number among women seem to be getting bigger every year. The country also has the unfortunate and terrible honour of being the suicide capital of the world among so-called OECD nations.

When known and or popular public figures take their own lives, it usually causes a ripple effect throughout the nation, resulting in more people taking their own lives in response.

With THREE (3) suicides by celebrity young people under 30 in rapid succession, they're probably withholding the cause of death out of valid FEAR that a whole bunch of people, esp young people, will start to die off by 'copycat' suicide. As for Cha's death, some media outlets have reported that it's a suicide, though the police hasn't confirmed it publicly.

Are you meaning to suggest that only men 'exploit power and are selfish' when you say 'strong women' don't mean 'act like men'? Because, really, some of the worse asshole bosses I have had in my 36 yrs of life - who have been selfish, exploit their power positions and push away the ladder for other women to climb have been women. Selfishness and abuse of power are neither based on or limited to one gender. This is a very egregious feminist lie that only men are bad while women are angels.

Wow ... and you sittin' here telling me to chill ... you have some damn nerve. You're about to have an aneurysm over my comment and I'm the one who needs to chill.
Boy, go sit your dumbass down somewhere ... smdh

LOL, believe it or not I'm chill as a mofo, but sometimes MDLers are annoying as hell. lol Since you only joined in March this year (2019), you might not be aware of it, but I've been here since 2012 so I've seen a lot of trash comments, particularly on this topic, hence my little rant above. You better not be one of the romance haters & complainers otherwise I'mma come for you too. ;-)

Who were the original members?

Copycat suicide quite likely, though a cause of death hasn't been confirmed yet. It's known to happen a lot in Korea, esp after a celebrity commits suicide.

Giiirl, I'm sitting here wondering wtf...??? smdh

Had an affair and is now in a relationship with married director Hong Sang Soo.

I just finished watching Prison Playbook and it was bromance overload. I loved every minute of it! Right now it's the best bromance drama for me.