Shahrizat Jailan

Lead Actress in Empress Ki & Secret Garden

It's called "preference," my dear. Everyone has their own personal reasons for liking or disliking something. It could be because of the actors. It could be because of the genre. It could be because they simply like the story. It could also be because of the concept and novelty of the idea behind the story. The plot is only one part of what makes a drama good to a person. What's important is how a drama makes you feel; how emotionally invested one can get watching it.

Take "The Last Empress," for instance. Plot riddled with more holes than a cut of swiss cheese, but people eagerly wait week after week for new episodes, including myself. It's all just entertainment anyway. And we are each entertained in different ways. Everybody raved about "The Master's Sun," but I couldn't force myself to sit through it, no matter how much I like So Ji Sub. So I dropped it, no problem. Same with "What's Wrong With Secretary Kim?" which I dropped almost towards the end. If you like the show just watch it. If you don't... well, the choice is still yours, to continue watching or otherwise.

So right about Song Seung Heon. That scene when he attempted to take selfies with his mom had me bawling like a baby. Phenomenal actor. Quite versatile. His comedic timing is on point; I wouldn't have thought he could do comedy.

Perhaps because of the complexity of the plot Black hadn't managed to keep people into it for long. For me though, it's one of the few dramas whose character portrayals and arcs had me so emotionally invested, especially in SSH as both Joonie and Det. Han Moo-gang. So much that I was royally pissed off that he was dealt with such a shabbily-written ending.

You deserve a medal for binge-watching Six Flying Dragons! The intensity of the drama and plot would have given me a heart-attack for prolonged stress and anxiety, heh heh. I remember having to take an entire day away from it before the episode where Bang-Won executed the Crown Prince, his own brother. For SFD, I think I only managed to watch as many as 4 episodes a day, in between work, kids and husband (much to their exasperation)

But I do concur with you about the types of dramas that I think are best binge-watched or other wise. For me, any investigative, thriller or high-stakes kind of drama absolutely needed to be binge-watched. The cliffhangers alone would spur me on to hit the next button and before I knew it, it's almost morning! Black had me binge-watching like crazy, and then they gave us THAT ending. ...On the other hand, slow-paced dramas like Encounter or many rom-coms don't normally hold my attention for long. But then maybe it has a lot to do with genre preferences.

Warrior Mu Hyul is Yoon Gyun Sang's best and most memorable character portrayal, in my opinion. His other roles have not really made such significant impact. But then I have not watched Clean With Passion For Now

Watching the last episode was truly difficult for me. I had an inkling from the start that Yeo Woon would meet his death, and at the hands of best friend Dong Soo. I was incredibly unhappy that the tide was turned into that direction by none other than Cho Rip. It did feel a bit random, like he became the plot device that turned the best friends against each other despite Yeo Woon's effort to disband Heuksa Chorong and end the association's reign of death. The Prince Heir even granted a kind of amnesty, in giving Yeo Woon his last chance to end his assassin's ways DESPITE knowing Yeo Woon's connection in his late father Prince Sado's death. It's just utterly regretful that Cho Rip felt it within his perogative to judge and dictate what might or might not become should Yeo Woon continue to live. The moment of his death, thankfully, was his own choice. But regretful, nonetheless.

It had been great journey, watching this series. Amazing fight scenes, beautifully choreographed moves. Ji Chang Wook holding a sword is a thing of beauty, and so is Yoo Seung Ho in sageuk costume. His assassin in angst portrayal absolutely believable. And I loved how markedly different each stage of progression Baek Dong Soo's training and skill-mastering had been. Him being Joseon's best swordsman was utterly justified and it's a testament to how talented Ji Chang Wook is. Yeo Woon did help, in spades, behind the scenes. But to me, it didn't take anything away from Baek Dong Soo's contributions to the plot progression.

If there's anything I would lament about the drama is the selection of actress playing the Samini. As the supposed female lead, I felt that even the supporting actresses delivered better performance. She was too wooden and her facial expressions were one dimensional. It was as though she had the same response to every situation, be it sadness, worry, thinking, etc. It's really disconcerting watching Ji Chang Wook emoting like crazy only to be met with the same deadpan expression over and over. Okay enough ranting for now.

Sorry for the rather long, spontaneous review. All in all, I really enjoyed watching Warrior Baek Dong Soo and hope that we would get a chance to see JCW and YSH collaborate for another sageuk in the future. And this time, don't kill off whatever character YSH will be playing. Jebal...

Hoping to see him in another sageuk drama in the future. Something action-packed. Enjoyed his fighting scenes in Hwarang. But let him get the girl this time around, heh heh.

Have you seen him playing demon masquerading as a human in Gu Family Book? All in Sageuk costume on top of it all. A demon one can voluntarily sell their souls to, heh heh.

You mean like that other drama, Fates and Furies. It sounds just awkward. I don't see the need for the pluralization at all.

I'm always saying it as "Memories of Alhambra" without the word "the" because in my mind I have been subconsciously thinking that *Al* is already *the* in Arabic. Oh and by the way, the name originated from Arabic الْحَمْرَاء‎ (Al-Hamra) that literally means "The Red One." So when saying "the Alhambra" we're probably saying "The The Red One," hehe... Fun fact for today.

Sometimes the best things about a drama is the way they make us feel watching it. Emotional investment can often score higher than the technicalities of the plot and script. I found faults here and there as well, but I still pledge my undying love for the series because of those memorable moments that tug at my heartstrings, illogical they might have been!

This is quite tame compared to the VIP movie, which is on your Planned to Watch list. Seeing babyfaced Lee Jung Suk transformed into an evil madman shook me to the bone

Seo Biseo coming back as an NPC fighting the zombies off like a fallen hero continuing his work even in death. That right there is one unique moment that even Pokemon Go has never seen before.

I can't stand 2 people in this drama series; the old king for his weak and gullible character and the samini for the almost non-existent acting of the actress portraying her. So much can be done for that character yet they had to choose someone with a one-type-for-all facial expressions. Even supporting casts could emote better than her.

I know it's unfair to compare this to Six Flying Dragons, with this being produced almost 8 years ago. However, having being exposed to 6FD production quality, you just can't help but to make comparisons.

This show is annoyingly addictive, in a soap-opera kind of way. Stayed glued to the screen despite rolling my eyes out, here and there.

Is there any hope at all for Healer 2.0? Wookie is coming out of Conscription next year in April and what could be a better "debuting" project than coming back as our beloved night courier, complete with spanking new skills? Ji Chang Wook in action is absolute crack; not many are able to execute fighting scenes quite as well. AND he runs so beautifully too. Would love to see Yeong Shin returning as an ace reporter, savvier and sassier.

With his own mom not realizing or remembering her son's seafood allergy, it's no wonder Se Ho turned out the way he did. It's like he existed only for the mother's convenience. And then there was that look on his face eating black bean noodles for the first time. So sad to think how it was only at 18 years old when he discovered the joys in life's simplest things. Companionship, comfort food, family values.

Let's not complain about the characters yet. The female lead might have the biggest character development and story arc yet.

And then there's Yoo Seung Ho, whose delicate features should be made illegal on the face of a man.

Those were some really potent tears, I'm telling ya. Went through the bracelet like acid.

Agree about the comic strip. I felt that it was too random and came from nowhere!

Excellent writeup. I love visual analyses such as this. I remember reading about that of Ghost Detective's, and commenting on how a drama, although found lacking in terms of plot development, could be rescued by something as subtle as visual aesthetics. For me, other productions that gave me the same chills of excitement and wonderment was Chicago Typewriter.