UnaSpenser

so disappointing. there were so many problems with the script, the dialog was horrible, the lead actress just didn't fit the role, and they made all the characters kind of boring. I wasn't feeling any of it.

Also, why the hell is there any presence of a Western religious organization in a story about the origins of an island off the coast of the Korean peninsula, rooted in Buddhism? It smacks of colonizing savior complex. Just no.

the romance picks up in book 3.

I like that, in the beginning, its just made known that Luo is gay. No fanfare. He just is. Its not some big surprise or the source of any bigoted tensions. The novel is a crime/suspense story and it just happens that the lead characters are gay. And fall in love.

No one ever explicitly states that she died, so, clearly, the director wanted to leave it open.

If it weren't for the fact that I've known people who have died of cancer and how sickly they looked before they finally passed, I would absolutely say that she died in the snow. And he's imagining her.

Having her look perfectly healthy and then just "fall asleep" in the snow is a strange turn of events. Its so unrealistic, in a story that wasn't unrealistic up to that point. People wither away and their face becomes sallow. They get very weak. Her climbing that enormous staircase suggest that she wasn't too sick, at that point. We don't know how long they stayed in Qiang village, but still, she looked healthy when they got out of the car. So, was it suicide by hypothermia, in order to avoid the worst of it? If so, why did he survive? Or are we just supposed to accept the TVLand version of cancer death and see it as her finally succumbing to the cancer she was battling, even though she looks healthy as a horse?

Since, they did that, I find myself able to believe she went off for some advanced treatment and just returned. Except.... why wouldn't her mother have been with her? Or anybody? He would not have left her side.

So, i think its supposed to be that she died and he's wistfully remembering her.

thought I would binge this, but its kinda hard to stomach the way this painfully sick approach to schooling is going on. The acting is almost too good, because they are stressing me out. Will have to pace myself.

Gentle request to mark this as a spoiler. I was waiting for this to finish before starting. Am only on ep 4 and now I know something I wasn't meant to know, yet. Not a big deal, but it would nice if this had been marked. Thanks.

Look for the scene in the ending credits…..

When considering a pairing that defies our norms,, it isn’t just about age. It’s about power differential. A couple should be equitable partners. Neither should feel afraid to speak their truths and neither should feel less than or unable to leave.

In a male dominated world, men start out with more social power. If they’re older they have even more. If they’re famous, they gain more power. If they’re wealthier it’s an even larger power gap.

But, sometimes these can be offset. In this story, she’s the wealthy one. So, she has the social power and financial security to be equal to him. Also, she has been through a lot more than most people her age: parental illness, parental suicide, parental PTSD, her own PTSD, her own illness, a harrowing two years of treatment and a grim prognosis for her life.

She knows that her prospects of living more than a few years are nil. So, she has a certain amount of forced maturity. She also has no concerns about being taken advantage of.

She’s facing death and she wants to have the best life she can. She has no time to waste. Being someone her own age, lacking in the the depth of understanding life and death and what to value, would lead to depression. Exactly the opposite of what she needs. So, she pursues him persistently, because she’s short on time. Her pursuing him and him being reluctant helps to demonstrate that he’s considerate and not some scum dude who treats her like a prize he won.

All of this is why the age gap concern is eradicated. Her close friends and family understand it all. Her mom and Mr. Han both investigated him, to make sure they felt she was safe with him. Once he checked out, they didn’t care about age. They loved her and knew that she had found what she was seeking. It was their gift to her to not make unnecessary issues and let her have a passionate experience before her life was over.

They definitely left things open to interpretation.

Did she just rest and then he took her to an airport where she flew for some advanced treatment? And finally returned after a year?

Or was he just fantasizing and she died in the snow? (Although, that’s not how it would look when someone died from cancer. She would not look perfectly healthy and suddenly get “tired.” ) And why were they lying down in the freezing snow if the Tibetan plateau, anyway? No one would last long doing that. Especially in the clothes they were wearing. lol

Ok. I came back to keep watching, even though I hate the trope of not telling a partner that you have a serious health issue.

This is the first time that I ended up feeling that I understood why she was doing it: she expects to have a short life and she wanted some time and experience that just felt normal after all that she’d been through already, with her parents. She didn’t want that time tainted with him constantly worrying or fussing, as she’d already been suffocated by that with her mom.

Also, I was so pleased with the mom listening to those around her and finding some of her center, again. She had been traumatized by the experience of her husband, and then her daughter’s illness. She was a warrior for her daughter, but it took its toll and she got a little twisted. I can see that being a natural response. What they did better here than in most dramas is that it doesn’t become her permanent state of being. She starts to recover and heel and we start to see her better self. Her conversation with Xiao Han was amazing.

All of the acting in this has been sooooooo good. I’m glad I came back to finish it.

Addicted.

I can’t really recommend the drama. The actors had great chemistry, and each played their roles so well. But the story is one of a very toxic relationship and it was disturbing to see how many people saw it as romantic. Luckily, the drama stopped before the worst of it, in the novel. The novel is just twisted.

However, the use of Trouble I’m In was absolutely perfect for the moment. I learned the song after hearing it there. Sometimes, you can glean good things from sh*tty stories.

The quote on the back is the original. She swapped it out, I'm pretty sure.

this is the second time I've heard Trouble I'm In used in a really effective way in an Asian drama. Its has such a specific vibe.

they are sisters, but yes, we meet another little girl in the village. she says that her sister is with at her mom's house. so... maybe her mom lives closer to the ML?

curious: the young niece(8 or 10 years old?) shows up at the ML's place, having run away from home. Later, we learn that his hometown is a village in the mountains near the border of Tibet. (look up info on the Qiang) It requires an airplane flight to get there. How did the little girl manage this on her own?

I'm pretty much in agreement. Why would anyone put up with her nonsense? She lies, she's always saying goodbye, and she has no respect for boundaries. When she started going through his stuff I was furious. Also, someone who isn't forthcoming about their life's challenges isn't partner material. She wants to desperately know about his past, but its not relevant to his present. Meanwhile, she's a ticking time bomb and she has forcefully inserted herself into this man's life, knowing that she could relapse and die.

I'll never understand why anyone finds it romantic or a good story to have characters who leave someone who loves them without telling them the truth and, instead, leaving them heartbroken as if they'd been rejected. Its far more damaging to someone's psyche to do that rather than let them go through the natural process of sadness and grief. Why are there so many stories with this plot device? I absolutely loathe it.

Once I realized that she was doing this, i stopped watching.

This drama leaves me with one serious question: is there no such thing as bedside manner in Chinese medicine? Its rather chilling to think that someone would have your life in their hands, but they have no interest in making sure that you have any quality of life while under their care.

Its hard to find decent romantic comedies in CDrama-land. Most of them are over the top with these gross tropes and/or have very weirdly inconsistent characters or totally absurd plot devices. That said, two that I was surprised by were: Be My Princess and Becoming You. (I haven't completed Becoming You, yet, but so far, I think they've done a good, fun job with the body swap bit. Having been done a bunch, that plot device requires really good execution or else it can be full of eyerolls and stupidity. So, far, its pretty well done in Becoming You.) I'm sure there are others, but these popped into my head. (I don't have a good memory for names of things.)

I find that CDramas do better detective and bromance stories than romance. When they leave out the gender dynamics, they can write interesting things. Ancient Detective was pretty light and visually rich, with a fun twist. It has fantasy elements and its goofy and very stylized. It was actually rather mesmerizing and I'm really hoping we see a Season 2, because they dropped a big twist and left a huge question at the end.

I found League of Noblemen to be enjoyable. It has light humor strewn throughout a story that looks at how three people process grief and injustice and the balance between the desire for vengeance vs peace. There is one supporting character who is just the greatest friend. And it was so nice to see that actor get to play an admirable character rather the spoiled jerk he seemed to be getting typecast in before. Anyway, it was worth watching for friendship development.

People have said they really liked My Roommate Is A Detective. I found the lady friend/rich girl to be totally annoying, so I have to see if I can go back and just grit my teeth through her scenes.

ugh. wanted to enjoy a light drama. with the opening sequences giving us a strong FL character, who didn't speak in high tones and act all coquettish, I thought I'd give it a chance. But I ended up dropping it. Too many worn out, toxic tropes and a lack of commitment to a truly grounded female lead.

1) could they stop making dramas where rural people are depicted as so naive that they're stupid and prudish? Its so classist. Naivete doesn't equal stupid. So, why present this character who is introduced as so grounded and wise and then make her so stupid that she can't look in a mirror and see how horribly she applied makeup? Or that she didn't need the makeup because he had already told her that he'd fallen in love with her? It might make sense for her to be gullible about power dynamics, but the character that we were introduced to wouldn't be so personally insecure that, after they've already established a dating relationship, she succumbs to bad advice, which doesn't suit her personality, at all.

Rural folk may be naive about political machinations in power organizations, but they are not naive about the facts of life. They are very aware of, and, in many cases, less prudish about sex. The minute they had the FL respond to the MLs physical advances with squeamishness, I was done. I had been hoping there would be a more adult story line there. They live in the same apartment. They've been dancing around the fact that they are attracted to one another (supposedly. it was actually hard to sense that she felt any attraction) So, once they admit things and enter into a romantic relationships it is wholly unbelievable that she would shy away from kissing and keep sleeping in a separate bedroom. Real life doesn't work like that and it ruins a story when they keep using this trope. Its not funny. Its cringeworthy and insults the audience.

2) could we please stop having the "oh no, I know something I will hide from my partner and, instead will break their heart in order to "protect" them from hard feelings/whatever" scenario? OMFG, its infuriating. Because, if anyone ever did that to me, even after learning why, I would never want them back in my life. They can't be trusted and they have zero understanding of partnership. When difficult things come up, talk to your damned partner about it and figure out how to proceed together. If writers are going to have characters do this, it should be the definite end of the relationship. It is NOT romantic to have them get back together. Its toxic as hell.

3) the villainous younger brother who doesn't want to share his bro with anyone else was broadcast in the first scene we meet him in: when playing a game with his grandfather. It was poor writing to be so obvious, but also just a gross setup for the story. Like, really, this is the best you could come up with? An immature kid would rather destroy his brother's life than learn that he gained more family? And no one around notices his furtive behaviors? And this supposedly wise woman who has grown up being trained to have a clear mind falls for his crap? Its just all so lame that its disappointing.

4) how many times can it be considered entertaining to have the character who presumes a right to a relationship with someone who has made it perfectly clear that they aren't interested?

Is there really nothing fresh to write?

I won't even go into all the stupid portrayals of business management. Drama writers in South East Asia are very wedded to the most unrealistic and ridiculous ideas about what goes on in a business setting. I wish some of them would take business management courses and go intern for an executive, so they might have some idea of how business really works. These caricatures of business are so prevalent that I've just learned to expect them and hope that other aspects of the story can override the deep eyerolls I'll be suffering through. In this case, there wasn't enough there to get past it.

4) I see indications that the lead actor is fairly skilled. He gets to show a little bit of it here, when he switches gears from the self-collected CEO and goes into traumatized child mode. However, they need to stop putting so much makeup on him. He has larger than life features and unless the makeup is subtle - more natural skin tones, lip color, etc - he borders on clownish. Will the Chinese ever get over the idea that pale white skin is attractive? Its ghoulish. White face has its place in traditional opera, but in these modern dramas, its off-putting.

Agreed. I'm sad that they chose SSK. Her acting always feels flat, coming from her head. She lacks animation. There is no gut. Having her in a drama that is this gritty, where everyone is supposed to feel pretty earthy and grounded just doesn't sound like a good fit. I guess we'll see.

he steals the show in Love To Hate You.