SKITC

Is team-mance a word?

Well, if it's not, it should be. Or at least after season 1 of "Flex X Cop" it should be.

It's easy to find grievances here. They tend to be very upfront. First, the name is dumb. The marketing poster is a mess. The theme song is so cheap and grating. The whole opening credit sequence actually is awful. And the first impression that Ahn Bo Hyun makes as Jin Yi Soo is [grimacing emoji]. It's such a caricature of a shallow, arrogant, entitled rich brat that is falls flat. And speaking of flat, Jang Hyun Sung as the conglomerate chairman just quite can't deliver the gravitas of that role and never seems like the deeply emotionally torn person that the character he's portraying is meant to be.

Oh? And the name. THE NAME. Why is it Flex? Why is there an X? Did the producers just pull random words and letters out of a bag to determine the name? It's just so dumb.

But the heart of the show is pure 24 karat gold. Kim Shin Bi and Kang Sang Jun don't get loads of lines but their characters, the young somewhat naive and excitable one and not quite as young hard-nosed and stern one, are the perfect complements to each other and to the lead characters. Park Ji Hyun is flat out strong as Kang Hyun. Her character is the violent crime team leader and she's almost all business all the time. In the moments when she's not in work mode, she's still tough and direct and no nonsense. Even in the solitary scene where she is comforting Yi Soo, it's not explicitly tender or sweet.

And the whole production works because Ahn Bo Hyun is playing Yi Soo. Despite the first impression, once this actor and character have settled in to this complex role, the combination flat out slays. Beneath the couture wardrobe and expensive cars and luxury watches, is a man that is deeply broken and intensely driven and fairly insightful with just enough self-awareness. Although it's probably not a serious enough role to warrant award consideration, it's a role tailor made for Ahn Bo Hyun's sheer physical size and his rare ability to alternate between blazing cockiness and tender vulnerability.

There's some nicely written mysteries for the violent crime team to solve early on as Yi Soo works his way in to a role within the team. Some are more credible but the one that is the least believable somewhat validates itself at the end with a dramatic scene between Yi Soo and Kang Hyun. Eventually, the overall arc meanders back to Yi Soo's personal backstory and conglomerate family and the violent crime team fades somewhat to the background. While it's still an entertaining arc, when the focus spotlights Yi Soo alone, the magic of the chemistry between the four team members is lost.

Fortunately, while much of the last few episodes is entangled with Yi Soo's family shenanigans, the final episode balances things back with a sensational, touching montage, a not-so-unexpected twist and setting up what will hopefully be a season two that continues this team-mance (someone please contact Merriam Webster and have this added immediately) at the same level of excellence.

So while the opening credits should be skipped highly recommend just about everything else.

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Peaks. Valleys. More peaks. Lots of valleys.

"Bo Ra! Deborah" has many characteristics of a dyed in the wool, stock set up rom-com. But it's oddly light on the romance between the leads, erratic with the comedy and with a narrative that is stretched extraordinarily thin across its run. Despite it's negatives, Yoo In Na is terrific as the titular lead once she is allowed to play to her strengths. Her presence makes this a show worth investing the time (at least most of it) to watch.

The rest of the cast? Park So Jin is marvelous but is paired with Lee Sang Woon who plays an exceptionally unlikable husband in a particularly dismal manner. June is a refreshing and likable and energetic presence but Kim Ye Ji's character is so inconsistently written that until a late arc adds some heft to their relationship, it's a disappointing subplot. Hwang Chan Sung works as a loathsome ex to Bo Ra, but it's a one-dimensional caricature which naturally raises significant credibility issues about how she ever would have considered him a desirable match in any respect.

Yoon Hyun Min somehow is getting lead roles despite being the epitome of bland. The writing doesn't do him a lot of favors as his character has an arc but he is asked almost universally to not emote in the slightest. Even in the big moments, it's a character that seems to only exercise restraint, caution and detachment.

What would have aided "Bo Ra! Deborah" more than anything else would have been to axe a good chunk of episode 2 and almost the entirety of 3 & 4. What could have been accomplished with a handful of scenes and a brief musical montage is brutally trod through nearly 200 minutes of excruciating run time. It gets better, much better, at the halfway point and continues almost through to the end with some strong episodes.

Memorable? No. Enjoyable? Ok sure.

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“What’s a trebuchet?” asks the screenwriter…

“It’s like a medieval catapult only with a fancier French-sounding name and that makes me think it would hurl you much further out to the frigid waters of the East Sea than a regular catapult if you ever bring me a script that has a pedestrian hit by a motor vehicle again,” says the producer.

Yes, “Strangers Again” can’t help itself from using this beaten to death and then cremated and the ashes buried beneath the deepest depths of the ocean terrible trope. Not just once but twice in critical plot junctures near the end of its run, the show reverts to the pedestrian accident to advance the story. It’s a capsulized version of The Issue with the show - lots of the little things work well and there’s some promising ingredients but when it has to set aside the less important storylines and supporting characters, attempts to advance the central story of the drama is an undercooked and awkward mess.

The show is part legal drama set in a smaller firm that mostly handles divorces and custody disputes. Kang So Ra’s Oh Ha Ra is the young star litigator who has a side gig on television. Her ex-husband, Jang Seung Jo’s Goo Eun Beom, has fallen on hard times since their divorce and is dodging landlords and other creditors. Before long, the two are back in the same office and reigniting (or rehashing?) their feelings, both warm and rage-fueled.

Also in the firm are the usual support staff that occasionally appear to have some side-plot about to emerge but it never does. And the co-ceos, the terrific Jeon Bae Soo and fantastic Kil Hae Yeon, were nice additions to the cast but their characters don’t allow them many opportunities to flex their considerable acting prowess. There’s also regular sideplots that last 1-3 episodes. Some thread together with the primary Ha Ra - Eun Beom storyline, others tend to provide no entertainment or other value other than to fill runtime, particularly one with Jeon Bae Soo’s ex-wife, an American and a dog.

Where “Strangers Again” shines is with the secondary couple of Jo Eun Ji’s Bi Chwi and Lee Jae Won’s Si Wook. Both are colleagues in the small firm, but begin as absolute opposites. Bi Chwi is a liberated, opinionated and adventuresome modern woman. Si Wook is buttoned-up and formal. What begins as an inebriated hotel hookup becomes a poignantly realistic portrait of two people who seemingly have no future as a romantic couple that find themselves unable to let go of each other. It’s marvelous work from both the writers that conceived of these multidimensional characters to the actors who bring them to the screen so vividly.

It seems like an entirely different crew was at work, however, with the Ha Ra - Eun Beom main couple. Neither character is coherently written - Eun Beom swings wildly and inexplicably back and forth with his feelings for Ha Ra while she is marketed as the “Goddess of Litigation” but she misfires at her job more than an Imperial Stormtrooper for the entire first half of the drama. The second half almost entirely drops the legal portions of the story for some standard family intergenerational trauma. Meanwhile, with neither a novel narrative nor mesmerizing characters to play, neither lead actor proves capable of rising above the mediocre material given to them. There are short sequences where the two leads are given better scripts so their more comic-sided talents can shine. And these happen often enough to emphatically crystallize what the show could have been with a tighter, more fun-focused script.

Some other minor issues - not strong work from the hair team. Kang So Ra, in particular, did not look like either a well-heeled professional attorney or desirable woman. The wardrobe people consistently put cast in clothing that was several sizes too large. And while there should be merit points for attempting an unconventional ending, it also warrants barbs for botching the execution. The destination it arrives at is a choice (whether it is THE choice a viewer wants or not is up to that individual) but it gets there by meandering through half an episode seeming to set up something much different, then plods through long sequences of unneeded redirects through minor storylines then with a perfunctory exchange, it simply ends.

Overall, it’s not something that can be recommended.

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This genre deserves a better class of criminal

The above headline is inspired by the scene in "The Dark Knight" where all the cash from Gotham's mobsters has been stacked in a giant pyramid. And the Joker says to one of the crime bosses "You see, I'm a guy of simple taste. I enjoy, uh, dynamite and gunpowder and gasoline!" And then he sets fire to the mountain of loot.

The production team of "When the Stars Gossip" were clearly inspired.

Not for the part where someone writes lines for what became an Oscar winning performance.

Just the part where they amass an incredible amount of currency and then pour a toxic solution of nonsensical scenario, savagely bad dialogue, aimless direction, inept acting, bonkers subplots and staggeringly implausible relationships between characters and then drop a lit flare of pointless cgi effects on top.

The word "morula" should be banned from every script ever from now until the entire universe collapses into a giant singular black hole.

The person who thought it would make for comedy gold to put a single English speaker in a Korean space station full of Koreans who are all speaking Korean amongst themselves and with the Korean space command on Earth and doing Korean fruit fly sex experiments and eating Korean food and drinking Korean contraband booze and even the mice are probably squeaking in rodent Korean and EVERY SINGLE THING IS KOREAN and then MAKE THE KOREANS SPEAK IN BROKEN ENGLISH instead of having the English speaker attempt to speak Korean should be exiled. From earth and every corner of the internet. From this solar system. The Milky Way. And when we all end up in that one giant singular black hole with the entire rest of the universe, we're gonna hunt that dumb[bleep] down and exile him from that too.

So many more things to flambé, but it's just so dreadfully bad that it's not even fun to skewer.

"You see madness is like gravity. All it needs is a little push!" And this space stinkfest can get a little push right the bottom of the sea and forgotten.

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Instead of "Why Her?" how about "Why Any of This?"

This will be brief.

Seo Hyun Jin does, for a good stretch, some of her best work.

Hong Ji Yoon, refreshingly, has a strong guest spot in episode 1.

These two are in a scene together that is very much the high point of the show. And to its credit, any part of the first episode involving either of these two actors is very, very good.

And to the show's credit, that momentum from the opening episode keeps the intrigue up as all the backstories and setups are brought out.

But once the primary narratives are fully underway, this is an awful, terrible, bad and [insert the negative adjective of your choosing here. Actually, as many as you like.] show. Just a few of the issues...

The relationship between Seo Hyun Jin and Hwang In Youp has as much heat as the rings of Saturn. Which are, just in case that's not a clear metaphor, made of ice floating in the cold vacuum of space.

Hwang In Youp as Gong Chan seems to have no idea what to do with the character. It's all overdone makeup and hair, awkward shocked expressions and head-tilted stares at Seo Hyun Jin. And that's largely the fault of a poorly created character. If there were any element of reality in this production, Gong Chang would have been hauled away and locked up as a stalker by the 20 minute mark of episode 3. Of course, Hwang In Youp seems uncomfortable. He's supposed to be a hero but all of his behavior is gross at best and criminal at worst.

Heo Joon Ho has the chops to be a super evil bad guy. But the setup is so ridiculous that it's unbearable to watch. And much of that is because Lee Kyung Young is one of his cohorts. The only plausible explanation for how he shows up in every show of this genre is that his wife is the casting director and would prefer that he not be around her at home.

Bae In Hyuk is also listed as a lead and here's the exhaustive list of the qualities that he brings:
1. He is present.
2. He says the words from the script.
That's the end of the list. The is not even a subatomic particle of effort beyond showing up and reciting the lines.

This review could continue at exhaustive length with further failures and faults of "Why Her?" but in the interest of remaining somewhat compliant with the "This will be brief" opening, the review will conclude with "Why? How about no. Just No.".

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We grow up when we realize that adults don't know what to do either

As children, we hear our teachers give us instruction with such confidence. “These facts are the things that happened. These numbers add up to this sum. Our governments follow these rules that we call laws.” Outside on the playgrounds, we make up new games and the rules are made up on the spot. But around adults, it appears that there are systems and pieces that fit together and when we grow up, we’ll know the answers to how things work and where we fit.

And then we reach adulthood ourselves and find that adulthood is lot like the playground games where we’re all making it all up as we go as often as not. Some of us excel at it and a lot more of us struggle to figure out who we are and how we find success or even just live in such a world. At the same time, we find moments, ephemeral as they may be, of unexpected grace and beauty and kindness.

“My Liberation Notes” is an exploration of this reality we live in and it is a stunningly beautiful rendition. Few dramas can combine such lush cinematography with immaculate editing, astonishingly original dialogue, a marvelously composed score and backdrops that might be ordinary in purpose, but are stunning with the vividness of their color. Even had it been sixteen episodes without characters or dialogue, there’s a bevy of gorgeous photography and musical accompaniment worthy of viewing pleasure.

As for the narrative, three unhappy siblings that live in the countryside divide their lives between long commutes to unrewarding jobs in Seoul and toiling on the family farm with a taciturn father and persevering mother. As adults, they all find themselves unsure of their place and their purpose. The oldest sibling is Ki Jung who has a talent for loudly saying the worst possible thing in a public place. The only son, Chang Hee, is a grown man that usually behaves like a squirming, uncomfortable child in church that simply wants to leave. The youngest and main character is Mi Jung, a soft-spoken but unbending and fearless woman that’s never found anyone that understands her. Dropped into this mix is a man known only by his last name, Gu, who is incredibly diligent and skilled but also an unapologetic alcoholic.

As for the plot, it’s very strictly and very real slice of life stuff. It’s getting through petty work disagreements. It’s complaining about the heat or suffering from the cold. It’s waxing nostalgic with old friends. It’s yearning for a few minutes of happiness a day or a new relationship. There are few destinations and the journeys rarely follow a particular direction for any length of time. There’s not so much buildups and reveals and cliffhangers. Rather, there’s symbolism and hidden meanings and guarded dialogue. When a shocking event does happen, it’s revealed initially so matter of factly that a viewer not intently watching might even miss how quickly the news had dropped.

The cast performances are outstanding. Lee Min Ki and Lee El, as Chang Hee and Ki Jung, are the extroverts and thrash and churn through their characters’ frustrations, joys and fears. Several supporting cast members shine too, especially Han Sang Jo as a longtime friend and occasional accomplice to Chang Hee, and Chun Ho Jin, as the siblings’ father. And it cannot be overlooked how much Park Soo Young and Lee Ji Hye shine brightly in very limited supporting roles as members of Mi Jung’s Liberation Club.

Kim Ji Won’s performance as Mi Jung is subdued as the character is extremely guarded and only very slowly reveals herself to Gu. It’s a very good performance and certainly one that should stand out on her resume. But despite having some of the best dialogue of recent memory, Mi Jung never comes across as a relatable human. Whether that’s due to Kim Ji Won’s restrained manner or just that the character’s humanity seems broken or whether this is a production that just isn’t interested in having characters that viewers should root for, that’s the end result - with a central figure that’s emotionally distant.

Meanwhile, Son Seok Koo as Gu is downright brilliant. He barely speaks for several episodes but his smirks and squints and head shakes and intensity belie that this is not simply a normal man with little to say. As his story unfolds and his internal struggles are revealed, it’s a devastating performance. None so far in 2022 can come close to matching it.

Overall, there’s very, very little to find fault with in “My Liberation Notes”. It is exquisitely produced from almost every angle. And it is highly recommended.

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Ji Hwan Y Dangerously

Making a reference to a forty year old movie is probably not the ideal method of appealing to the younger demographic on MDL. Perhaps something iconic like "Breakfast Club" or "Beverly Hills Cop" would spark the right nostalgic vibe. But a forgettable, middling, sophomoric mess? Terrible idea but here goes anyway.

"Johnny Dangerously" was a 1984 movie meant to capitalize on the emerging stardom of a young Michael Keaton who had just exploded as a comedic star after back-to-back hits in "Night Shift" and "Mr. Mom". Pairing Keaton with Amy Heckerling, the Greta Gerwig of the 80's who established herself with the scintillating "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" should have been a can't miss project. It was a massive failure though. Probably because the concept was a parody of the incredible mafia movies of Coppola and Polanski. "Johnny Dangerously" was both a critical and popular bomb.

"My Sweet Mobster" encounters some of the same problems. Meant to be a comedy starring a zoot suited gangster that meets the girl of his dreams and wants to do right by his family, both start strong and score genuinely funny moments. And both don't really know what to do beyond lampooning the tough guy stereotype. Once the joke about the gangster not being such a big, tough, heartless guy, but a kindhearted softie gets played a few times, there's got to be somewhere else to go. It's fun at first. The more chaotic and frenzied it is, the more at ease Han Sun Hwa is. And Uhm Tae Goo is legit a delight as the flummoxed suitor. And Im Chul Soo takes his nemesis to an absurdly sketch comedy level. But at some point, "My Sweet Mobster" can't squeeze any more gags out of the cute, awkward gangster likes the bubbly kids streamer. And the options are:

1. Cut it short. The big secret gets revealed. Happy embraces. Roll credits. But it's a 16 episode contract, so this is a not an option.

2. Keep going back to same well. This was the route taken by "Johnny Dangerously" and it did not work.

3. Revert to stock drama storylines. Triangles. Hospitals. Roadtrips. This is where "My Sweet Mobster" goes and while it's not entirely unpleasant, it goes exactly to the exact destination and along the exact route in the exact manner as any regular viewer of k dramas can expect. Which is unfortunate because the two leads had a lot of promise if they had just avoided doing exactly the usual, typical, same ol', same ol' familiar stuff. It's also just a drag to go from light, fun romance with a supporting cast of fairly lovable goofballs to family angst and corporate & legal melodrama.

4. What could have worked was investing more screen time in the aforementioned supporting cast. Kim Hyun Jin isn't going to win any awards (see my review for "Peng" where he was one of the four horsemen of the borepocalypse) but the one night stand with Moon Ji In that becomes something more is terrific. And there are hints of other potential subplots with Moon Dong Hyuk with Song Seo Rin and Kwon Yool with Shin Soo Hyun (like repeated, explicitly telegraphed, unmistakeable flashing lights saying "LOOK AT THESE TWO. RIGHT HERE. THAT GUY. WITH THAT WOMAN. THEY'RE GONNA BE A THING. JUST WAIT.") Do these go anywhere? No. Foreshadowing with a payoff? When there's sixteen hour long episodes to insert said payoff? If drama malpractice was a felony, this crew would be behind bars for a long time. Then there's the backstory for Park Jae Chan and his first love? It's there but to what end? None that makes any sense other than make life more miserable for Ji Hwan. And the most endearing of the supporting characters, Yang Hyun Min's Jae Soo, gets used for cheap laughs, reduced to a plot device to set up a final conflict and transformed in to a blubbering weakling.

Had these supporting characters been given meaningful and fully explored subplots in a more ensemble style show, "My Sweet Mobster" could have been a massively charming and entertaining watch. It's still good but it simply can't turn a cheeky, cute romance in to a riveting sixteen episode run.

Recommended but with cautions that it will get frustrating to watch. Perhaps if it had a love broker* though...

*see Michael Keaton in "Night Shift"

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What if there were Drama Bars like Sports Bars but for drama fans?

There may not be a large cross section of rabid professional sports fans and diehard Korean drama fans so this metaphor may not work. But for those that haven’t, imagine being in a sports bar with the vast array of screens, each showing different sporting events. This one has baseball. That one has MMA. Over there is basketball. And viewers are trying to assimilate all of them at once. All of them have a common element of athletic competition but there’s different objectives and strategies and rules.

Watching “Kiss Sixth Sense” is somewhat like this somewhat disorienting, many-things-happening-at-once where there’s some commonality but no synchronicity.

The only interpretation of how and why the pieces of “Kiss Sixth Sense” don’t sync up is that each character and actor seem to be acting in a different genre of drama. It’s like if multiple users across the planet on Tik Tok dueted the same script but each had a unique take and approach and someone spliced them all together into twelve episodes of hour long Korean drama television. It sounds like a viable plan for a social media account, but how did it go for this program? Let’s break it down by cast member and character…

Hwang Bo Ra as Um Ji: Genre - slapstick comedy. Does it work? Intermittently, as the character is a minor character and there are occasions where the show has gone into a more manic comic mode for a few moments. When it works, however, it only works in the immediate context of that particular scene and not within the show in general.

Kim Ga Eun as Ha Woo - office mockumentary. Does it work? For a few episodes, it’s passable. She’s a little bit of a wild card. But the interesting elements of the character are written out less than halfway through the run and the production staff seemed to realize they didn’t have any plausible direction for the character so she appears less and less. It was probably the right call but a better call would have been to have a compelling direction for the whole subplot to go.

Tae In Ho as Seung Tak - medical dramedy. He’s a part comic, part stock drama character. Does it work? No. The actor can’t muster even mediocre comedy skills and the dramatic parts are so poorly written, which might work for his skills, he doesn’t have even a shred of credible material. As referenced with Ha Woo, storyline was unnecessary and reeks of “We need to fill time and just put anything in there that can eat up 6-8 minutes per episode. We’re desperate. Anything. ANYTHING.”

Lee Joo Yeon as Ji Young - makjang parody. Frankly, this character was so thinly sketched out, that it’s a struggle to identify any characteristic other than coming from a family with money. She’s barely on screen enough to evaluate if it works or not.

Kim Ji Suk as Pil Yo - coming of age melodrama. Does it work? Not even a little and this flop of a performance is almost entirely the fault of the casting office. Kim Ji Suk is a talented actor but he’s not blessed with enormous range. This character is completely outside where his strengths lie. Need a wild and crazy and frenetic and heart on his sleeve kind of guy? Kim Ji Suk will kill that role. But Pil Yo is wistful and emotionally lost and needy and none of these traits are in Kim Ji Suk’s wheelhouse.

Seo Ji Hye as Ye Sul - romantic comedy. This is the singular pairing of cast member and character that works. Seo Ji Hye is dynamite at comedy and while Ye Sul has scenes where she’s serious and dramatic, it’s nothing that Seo Ji Hye can’t handle.With the right context around Ye Sul, she’d be a fine centerpiece of a terrifically entertaining production. Even if there was simply a good scene partner opposite her on a regular basis, “Kiss Sixth Sense” would at least be a worthwhile investment of leisure time. However…

Yoon Kye Sang as Min Hoo - supernatural crime thriller. Does it work? OMG not even close. The character is meant to be a prickly and rough exterior but kind softie on the inside roguish type. The portrayal needs an actor to be able to convincingly transition from the tough boss to kind mentor to brilliant business mind to caring boyfriend. Yoon Kye Sang delivers every line like each word is a railroad spike and he’s swinging a 20 pound sledgehammer looking to bury it in a single strike. Nuance? More like nuclear.

As for other issues, the sound has some glaring editing problems. There’s but a shred of a plot which is to put Min Hoo and Ye Sul together. Once it happens, there’s nowhere to go. The storytelling within each episode is barely stitched together and, over the course of twelve episodes, is completely incoherent. Characters that seem important in early episodes vanish entirely. Or they continue but are entirely different individuals and there’s no explanation why they’ve changed.

It’s getting close to a year since Disney+ ventured into broadcasting Korean dramas. In that time, they’ve distributed only one show (“Snowdrop”) on a wide international basis. As for the quality of their other shows, it’s been far more “miss” than “hit”. This is not to say that the Big Mouse should bail on the genre, but at this point, there’s scant evidence that they had any idea how to approach this market and nothing to indicate that they’ve learned anything since they entered.

Not recommended. But should someone pull the trigger on a Drama Bar so it possible to watch eight different dramas at once? That sounds totes awesome.

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There's lots and lots more wrong than just an uninspiring lead

Like almost everything is wrong with "The Impossible Heir".

Let's start with the well-worn scenario. Who's the successor to a conglomerate empire chairmanship? The illegitimate son that probably needs some intense psychotherapy for his simmering rage issues and definitely should learn some impulse control? Either of the legitimate sons that couldn't outfox a 4 year old in a Monopoly game? The bloodthirsty and estranged wife? The brilliant schemer secretary with no apparent blood relation to the current chairman?

Here's the problem: it's impossible to care about who wins the succession battle because it's impossible to care about any of the characters involved. The villains are laughably incompetent. The hero (or the one who is supposed to be) is as boring as dry paint and an ABYSMAL judge of character for someone who is supposed to be so brilliant. And the morally ambiguous anti-hero bad boy is so unbalanced that he's easier to pity than to root for.

Shorter: all these characters suck.

And that's if they weren't so conceptually cliche' (which they are and painfully so) and inadequately portrayed.

Lee Jae Wook - let's rip every bit of possible personality from his acting as possible. Great idea.

Lee Jun Young - he would kill playing a character with a serious mental disorder. But In Ha is obviously meant to be just not terribly bright and a bit overly ambitious.

Hong Su Zu - it's possible that she can act. Probably not. The smart betting money is definitely against her. But with a character so bland to portray, there's no way to ever start to figure that out.

Lee Ji Hoon - while it might be unfair to Hong Su Zu to judge her based on this show, there's enough history from other shows to declare with certainty that Lee Ji Hoon is awful. Yes, the character is supposed to be loathed but this performance is so bad, it comes across as pathetic instead of someone worth hating. It's a nauseous experience to watch him.

Han Sang Jin - no real notes on the performance but it should be noted that there's no small number of actors that bear some tiny bit of resemblance to Choi Jin Ho and could be believable as having 50 percent of Choi Jin Ho's DNA. Hang Sang Jin, however, is not one of them. Theoretically, it comes out later that he's not the chairman's son actually but that would betray the all-powerfulness and all-knowingness of the chairman character.

Choi Jin Ho isn't bad.

Choi Hee Jin is pretty good but gets 90 seconds of time on screen per episode. When she does make a brief appearance, she's treated like garbage by everyone. Literally every single other character is toxic to her. It's not fun to watch.

On top of the overall narrative structure, the direction and editing seems bent on making things more interesting by making the smaller arcs as baffling and poorly sequenced as possible.

Bad show. Very bad. Even for those that are ardent fans of one of these cast members, stay away. Far away.

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Monologuing

This will circle back to "The Kidnapping Day" but it will be a bit of a scenic route.

It's easy to pinpoint the scene that transformed Bill Murray from one of many cast contributors on an after-dark weekend sketch comedy show. Sure, he was already known as one of the charter members of Saturday Night Live but he was anything but a bankable movie star. But one modestly budgeted, lightly raunchy summer camp comedy changed that. In the late 1970's and early 1980's, the summer camp setting was became one of Hollywood's favorite locations for everything from horror to teen drama to comedy. In 1979, the poor ragtag kids camp up against the rich, spoiled kids on the other side of the lake was the basis for one such movie. In "Meatballs", Bill Murray played the first of the many iterations of the sardonic, sarcastic, lazy, laconic and acidic cool loner. And like in many other of these roles, the centerpiece of the role is an extended monologue where he sheds his aloofness and delivers a fiery speech to rally his followers to new heights.

The rest of "Meatballs"? Pretty generic stuff. But the monologue from Murray is spectacular. Much of it is simply repeating over and over and over again "It just doesn't matter!". Screaming the same phrase at the top of his lungs. It just doesn't matter. Repeatedly. It just doesn't matter. Again and again and again.

It just doesn't matter.

"The Kidnapping Day" is a drama, unsurprisingly, about a kidnapping. Myeong Jun, a dad down on his luck with a critically sick daughter, kidnaps Ro Hee, the daughter of a rich doctor, hoping to ransom er for enough money to pay for his daughter's surgery. But nothing goes as planned because nothing in Myeong Jun's life does. As things spiral out of control, there's almost everything but aliens and ghosts and mermaids thrown in. Murders. Crooked police. Power hungry wealthy families. Stoic killers. Mouthy bad guys. Unethical medical experimentation. Orphanages. Slums. Mansions. Hospitals. Boats. Beaches. There's so many elements that it's impossible to coherently piece them together.

It just doesn't matter.

The rich family floats in and out when necessary as a plot device but they're mostly there to advance some forward action by the bad guy. The bad guy is basically a mouthy venture capitalist. He's not a flop as a villain, but it's a fairly generic character. The crooked cops are even less prominent than the rich family.

It just doesn't matter.

Kim Sang Ho plays a critical support role but the script asks far too little of him and it's one of his least compelling performances. The problem is less severe with Kim Shin Rok's Hye Eun (Myeong Jun's ex wife). She's meant to be a morally ambiguous character, part regretful mother and part brilliant schemer. But the mother side is never convincing and the schemer side rarely makes sense. If she's supposed to be in hiding, why would she wear some of the most garish outfits in the Eastern Hemisphere? Why has she anticipated so many things but left an absolutely vital item unaddressed until far too late? And for a character that viewers should be on the fence about, she's indefatigably unlikable. The performance by Shin Rok is solid but she's too often asked to do things with the character that are, even in the most charitable light, confounding.

But it just doesn't matter.

Even Park Sung Hoon who has been on a tear of scintiallating performances in 2023 with terrific performances in "The Glory" and as an unconventional police officer in "Not Others" comes across flat here. It's the maverick cop with a heart of gold. And it's not a fresh take on the archetype.

Guess what? It just doesn't matter.

The plot meanders through the kidnapping, the morally murky medical people, the venture capitalists, the police, the power hungry family and ends up with a weak final confrontation. A cliffhanger from the end of one episode transitions to a completely different place and an almost total absence of a resolution to a main character on the verge of death. The police are dumb when it's convenient that they be dumb. And then they wise up at the most convenient time. The crime scene is abandoned. Literally. The investigators take the bodies and apparently then just leave. It's bizarrely implausible.

One last time. It just doesn't matter.

It doesn't matter because the characters of Ro Hee and Myeong Jun and the performances by Yoon Kye Sang and 12 year old Yuna are transcendent. They are magical when they are together and the moments when they are pulled from each other are heartbreaking. It's an oddball pair, the rich girl from a sheltered life and a guy with a lifetime of fumbling away his chances at every opportunity. For Yoon Kye Sang, it is without question and by a considerable margin his best work of recent vintage. And for Yuna? It's a performance that can hardly be believed to have been rendered by someone of such young age. Among non-romantic relationships that have been portrayed in this genre, it is in acutely rarefied air. And it is why all of the other things just don't matter.

Minor items:

It is always welcome to see Kang Ha Neul in a brief but excellent cameo.

Same with Kim Ki Doo.

Kim Dong Won does a nice job with the nearly mute assassin with unclear loyalties role quite nicely.

It just doesn't matter? Actually, nah. Not at all.

"The Kidnapping Day" is a tremendously entertaining drama thanks to the lead performances and it is highly, highly recommended watch.

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Why so serious?

For a program that is set primarily in a beach front town and featuring a cast of young, single twentysomethings searching for romantic entanglements and with no serial killers or zombies or alien invasions or natural disasters or economic catastrophes or even a mild food allergy, a viewer might expect "Manatsu no Cinderella" to be nothing but start-to-finish hijinks and giggles and cartwheels.

It's not.

There's few jokes that land. The romances are lukewarm. The dialogue is cliche. For some reason, most conversations between characters are blocked so they're standing at unnatural distances away from each other. Most of the cast has a single facial expression (pout, giant grin or shocked face). There's also a single entry on the soundtrack that is repeated nonstop. Twists though? None.

So not recommended?

There is one thing. Nana Mori puts on a clinic of taking a tissue thin character and imbuing it with enough charisma and an easygoing, natural air that when she's on screen, it's a worthwhile watch.

But that's it. And for those that might appreciate Nana Mori here, the recommendation is not this lifeless, empty summer yawnfest. Instead, flip over to Netflix and check out "Maiko-san Chi no Makanai-san".

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Big hearts for this season although it needed a quicker pulse at the end

“Hospital Playlist” had a stellar first season which left some very large matters unresolved at its conclusion. So there had to be little doubt that there would be a season two, but considerable question about whether it would be able to maintain the same degree of excellence. With its return engagement now fully released, Hospital Playlist does, for the most part, match the high bar set by season one. The primary ensemble is not only splendidly cast, but the characters are deftly written. The dialogue and production values are excellent. There are few scenes that are not entertaining or meaningful. If only it could have built up to a higher pitched conclusion, the second season of “Hospital Playlist” might have ended up as one of the very top productions of 2021.

In fact, the first four episodes of season two are far and away the best run in either season and among the best of any drama. Much of the credit goes to some outstanding material for Jung Kyung Ho’s Jun Wan as he struggles with a relationship that is both long distance and secret leaving him unable to share his woes. Alongside this arc is a marvelous narrative of a mother waiting for her child’s heart transplant and Jun Wan’s perseverance when her resolve falters. Jung Kyung Ho is tremendous here and, of the five main actors, his performance stands out.

It stands out to some degree because the other four are less compelling in season two. It is only by a small degree, but it is a decline nevertheless. For Jo Jung Sook and Jeon Mi Do, the main issue with the characters of transplant surgeon Lee Ik Jun and neurosurgeon Chae Song Hwa are that they are as superhuman as any comic book hero could be. They are both brilliant doctors, warm friends, funny, terrific bosses, etc etc. Song Hwa’s largest flaw is that she can’t sing. Ik Jun’s flaw? He’s nosy but he has the best of intentions. Without more serious flaws, the characters lack depth.

As for Yoo Yeon Seok’s Jung Won, with the possibility of priesthood out of the picture and the only one of the main five in a relationship for the entire season, his personal narrative became boxed in and without suspense. Despite that, the relationship between Jung Won and Shin Hyun Bin’s Gyeo Wool is a delight. It is so delightful, in fact, that just a series of small day-to-day interactions between them is as captivating as almost any of the heavier storylines.

Kim Dae Myung was quietly the star of season one. And Suk Hyung’s personal life is set up to continue to push him forward as the most compelling character. Professionally, his child deliveries always have potential for high emotional impact. Personally, his complex relationship with his mother makes his story fertile ground for big moments. Mostly, however, it is Ahn Eun Jin’s Min Ha that stands out here. Her pursuit of Suk Hyung despite his intransigence delivers because of the splendid work by Ahn Eun Jin. Now that Shin Hyun Bin is getting leads in other productions, Ahn Eun Jin should absolutely be next in line.

If there is a serious flaw of season two, however, it is not in the main characters or the actors portraying them. The ensemble, rather, is as good as any cast save perhaps “Vincenzo”. But the storytelling takes a noticeable dip in quality after episode five. The passage of time lurches forward irregularly for several episodes. A patient that seems to be a long term ICU inhabitant is prominent for a couple of episodes and then never reappears. Another recovering from a brain injury intermittently pops up but not often enough to leave an impact. Jung Won’s mother, played by Kim Hae Sook, has the most consistent screen time of any supporting character but outside of a brief health crisis, has an almost indistinguishable relationship to the primary narratives. And there is a deliberately painfully long build up of the central relationship of both seasons of “Hospital Playlist”. The length of the suspense is not an issue. Whether the payoff delivers is questionable. It’s a solid scene, but not the devastatingly memorable one fans were undoubtedly expecting.

A more minor quibble - the episodes are incredibly long. Very easily, the season could have been sixteen or twenty episodes of more manageable viewing time.

And a major plus - where season one excelled with the development of the main ensemble of five, season two is borderline magical when it allows supporting characters to take the reins. Shin Hyun Bin, Ahn Eun Jin and Ha Yoon Kyung all have episodes where they are captivating. Jung Moon Sung, however, is hands down phenomenal throughout season two. The relationship between his Do Je Hak and Jun Wan is more entertaining than any of the romances. The arc of his wife’s pregnancy is the most poignant of the second half of season two.

While it is a somewhat anticlimactic conclusion, “Hospital Playlist” is a captivating production with one of the best casts assembled and is highly, highly recommended.

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Compelling, tense entry in the assassin genre

Does "Kill It" have a particularly original story? Nope.
Does it feature a dynamic performance by the main character? Uh, not really.
Is the background to the plot laid out in a coherent manner? Not even close.
Are there characters that serve no purpose and the production would be better off without? Very much so.
Is it branded well (title, poster, etc.)? That's all horrible.
Is David McInnis competent with a Russian accent? It's a 0/10. Incredibly bad.

Despite these shortcomings and some others, "Kill It" is an admirably executed show in a genre that, worldwide, has produced some incredibly entertaining pieces. Jang Ki Yong certainly has the assassin role down. In fact, he's almost too grim and silent. But he is wholly convincing physically and athletically as Soo Hyun. Nana is not a natural for the role of veteran, hard-nosed detective. It's the off-duty scenes where she is clearly more at ease in this role. Nevertheless, she is capable enough as an actor to hit the serious notes too.

Jung Hae Kyun is a marvelous villain. And the villainy that he is up too is top of the charts for bad behavior. Once his scheme has crystallized, "Kill It' really hits its stride. Moreover, unlike some dramas that like to rehabilitate or humanize their villains, not here. Quite the opposite actually and it ratchets the tension up continuously right up to the end.

The standout performance, however, is Roh Jeong Eui as, Seul Ki, the young woman taken in by Soo Hyun as a child. It is a complex character and Roh Jeong Eui is wonderful in every facet.

Despite some lowered expectations with the poor marketing and a fairly clumsy first few episodes, the second half of "Kill It" is terrific entertainment. It may not be something for all viewers, but anyone that enjoys the action genre will be pleased.

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Well executed show hobbled by a lack of direction

Crosswalk cliche score - 4 - did manage to squeeze in a bit of a twist, but couldn't stay away from this trope

Little sib score - 6 - Dam's bro was dull but Kim Do-Yeon was fantastic as Sun Woo's little sister. She barely appeared as the show wore on though.

Power coat score - 9 - Woo Yeo may not be the most dynamic character, but the dude had a sweet collection of threads.

Product placement score - 1 - Subway, ewww. They even centered an entire episode around it. Ick ick ick.

Cameo score - 10 - Ko Gyung-Po is nice and Jung So-Min is even better (although a few more speaking lines would have been nice). But Oh Jung Se's appearance is sublime. It's brief but magical.

Overall, I enjoyed the show but it's a sugary snack of a show rather than a memorable, must-rewatch powerhouse. Hyeri nails Lee Dam's impulsive and positive character. Jang Ki-Yong certainly sell the weariness of a near 1,000 year old creature and seems to be having a nice arc to the character in the first half. But unfortunately, the writing lets down and it's back to Boringville for Woo-Yeo. And that's the main problem with the show. It progresses sharply in the first half, but it struggles to set up any lasting tension. Obstacles arise, but none seem particularly threatening and, soon enough, are easily dispatched.

I think that the impression that secondary couples are usually better than the primary is very often incorrect. But IN THIS SHOW? Kang Ha-Na and Kim Do-Wan are heavenly. Every moment they are together on screen is a joy. Very likely the best secondary couple of any show I have seen.

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Fairy Tale Mashup

This is not complicated. It's very much the "Shin Eun Soo Show" with a stock plot, stock supporting characters, stock high school setting, etc. The plot is almost verbatim "Ugly Duckling". Shin Eun Soo's Se Ri is not an exceptional student, comes from a middle class family and although she has a few close friends, is not particularly popular. Her defining feature is her persistently curly hair which she dislikes and blames for her romantic misfortunes.

Cue the cutest boy in her class recognizing her existence.

Cue her crush on said cutest boy.

Cue entrance of new, nice boy that does anything Se Ri needs.

Cue serpentine series of events of dealing with hair curls and high school crushes.

The supporting cast is actually pretty strong. Cha Woo Min, Yoon Sang Hyeon, Kang Mi Na and Choi Gyu Ri all are as good as the script allows them to be (which is unfortunately pretty limited). Gong Myung probably isn't the best choice as a credible high school boy but when a production needs a laconic, slightly depressed, quiet type, that's Gong Myung.

But as noted above, this is really a beginning-to-end spotlight vehicle for Shin Eun Soo and she mostly delivers. It's a departure from the high school students she's played previously. Her character is not a rebel, is not angry at the world, is not griefstricken or living in an abusive home. Se Ri is a fun, typical teen but Shin Eun Soo brings her to life as an exuberant, extroverted, energetic bowling ball of harmless mayhem. She's far from perfect. She'll cook up a selfish scheme.. She has no shame in asking her friends to go along with her impulses. She is oblivious as, well, most real life teens are. But she's easy to root for because she's genuine and warm and kind underneath the frenetic exterior.

Is it award-winning fare? No. Is it going to transform Shin Eun Soo's acting career in to a stratospheric, A-list juggernaut? Also no.

But it definitely does enough that it wouldn't be a surprise if sometime in the near future, this actor does have that transformative, breakout performance.

Not a must see but recommended nevertheless.

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