bloomingtide

Next week/episodes tho, thanks to In Ok discovering they don't sleep together and offering her bedroom to them to rectify this 😏 (while probably also remodeling the office in the annex into a baby room, so only the one bedroom is left in the end. At least i am hoping that to happen, lmao)

But of course the preview could be lying like the delulu clown again. Would not be the first time. Here is hoping though 😉

Would rather say somber is the mood the drama has throughout. It is not a tearjerker tho.

Personally it was one of my fave dramas last year, but you gotta manage your expectations. Don't get fooled by the perky romcom facade, this drama is build upon a sea of tears, death/loss, survivors guilt, and traumatized characters (ML has a lot of baggage with unprocessed grief and guilt, so it needs empathy from the viewer's side to understand where he is coming from. FL bears the scars of her mother's death for plot reasons) with some lighthearted moments in between. It does have a lot of heart and care for its characters tho and its raw portrayal of grief in the latter episodes is one of the best and most visceral/real i have seen in a drama.

Also once they are together, the leads have one of the most healthiest, supportive and mature relationship i have ever seen in a kdrama. Issues between them are solved in a very timely manner and with great compassion instead of assumption and accusations. No break ups or stupid drama between them either. To watch two highly emotional intelligent and empathic people slowly fall and be there for each other on their way to healing/moving on was SUCH a treat, even though their romance definitely took a backseat in favor of the main (mystery) plot unfolding in the latter episodes. (Also don't trust everything certain characters recall past events, bc there is an unreliable narrator under them haha.)

The news are played on the radio while Taehee is driving, saying it was a random act of violence or something like that. The show generally uses by way sources for narrative purposes. As in gossiping people on the sideways, news in tv/radio, documents/newspaper ...stuff like that :)

https://shorturl.at/dzKS9 😉

Let's also not forget that she also tends to blurt out vague he said she said's based on her assumptions without prior clarification with Bora waaaay too often. And that always toward the one person that she shouldn't (Soohyuk) thinking she is being so helpful to her. When in truth it only made matters worse not once, but a couple of times for Bora.

i feel the latter episodes of the show will be post birth of Jinjja. So that is where we'll see her makin a return to her work as an instructor, reviving her career while parenting with TK and their fams together. Until then, YD is most likely gonna tutoring joseon granny for her to learn to read and to grow closer to her currently disliked in-law. I bet YD will turn out her fave she is doting on in the end hehe.

I don't see inconsistencies beyond TK being hot/cold toward YD but that is a more a matter of "flying too close to the sun" in regards of his feelings (for her) and thus withdrawing before getting burned. As for his fam, Taekyung kept his distance to his toxic family for the majority of his life, since they never accepted and saw him as less pre- Yeondoo,. Hell even his career was deliberately chosen to be financially independent of them. But the whole incident with his mother brought him back, cue the whole Sejin marriage bullshit until YD saved him.

When YD moved in tho as his "wife", he tried to continue living his life as he was used to, keeping to himself and away from his family and her. He did not take into account that YD would not have the same choice being at home all day while he worked. So she was left to his family's bs and him simply telling her to stay away without involving himself any further in supporting her was entirely unhelpful and egoistic. Until it reached a breaking point and he not only finally stepped up for her, but also apologized for leaving her on her own. Since then, he is getting more and more involved and included in family matters also thanks to his mother finding her standing/place within. Plus he is taking better care of YD too, who is actually the catalyst for these positive changes in his family (and his mom's confidence) to happen, since without her he would simply continued to be withdrawn and an outsider.

I do think that is the joke (and a wink nudge nudge toward the viewers) that it flew over both leads' heads with Scully and Mulder ending up being MARRIED 😁😂😂

Welcome to any list on MDL ever. It is always about popularity in here, not actual talent/quality of a drama.

They make a lot of "same guy/taste" jokes in the beginning and i just love how much TK hates JH upon their first meeting and even more when he puts the pieces together of him being YD's cheating ex bf. So i hope it is just that aka an early wink nudge nudge bc both have the same taste and love(d) the same woman. Also TK taking over the role of the father while JH is the bio (deadbeat) dad. Lots of similarities but it doesn't need to mean they are long lost half -brothers on TK's father's side or something)

But ofc with this drama is nothing impossible and TK may end up being blood-related to Jinjja after all 😂

Ikr? This was so wild, really like four dramas in one episode and it sent my head spinning haha. It stays dramatic throughout but thankfully it slows down enough so you can actually BREATHE unlike while watching episode 1 of it 😂

😁

Honestly both leads are, and/or will be for quite a while swimming in the river of denial once their hearts starts to flutter.

I mean i am already happy that they decided to become friends, which is just another way of saying "lets get to know each other better/closer" in their case. 😏 I take my crumbs of leads relationship development where i can them and (try to) manage my expectations bc previews are like SJ, lying liars 😂

German-Korean represent😁 Kinda weird to think he grew up in Cologne which is not that far from where i live heh. So he is not only fluent in german but on a native level and i always giggle when i hear him speak german, ngl

Well but *they* know they are not really married or a couple, even if their families sees them as such. Hence they are awkward about sleeping together in a room/bed. It is a cultural thing for the most part (where it is seen as customary for men/women sleep in different rooms only, unless they are married) but also because they do care for each other. And not in a just friends way (anymore) so this adds another layer of awkward on top. Whoops. 🙈🙈🙈

Which is why i can't wait for next week's "there is only one bed" situation created by his family/mother haha. 😁🍿 🍿

Also i was bored and went back to the beginning episodes for the leads' scenes.. What i noticed is that Taekyung is never ever indifferent to Yeondoo, not once even early on. Okay given that she vandalized his car and all that is understandable haha. But still YD has *such* a talent to get under his skin without even trying. Be it in a negative (early on, the car and TK's "cheating" incident and their bickering) or positive (him worrying about her is practically his MO, from episode 2 onwards hehe) way. He is also getting overly involved into her matters and/or protecting her when there is no actual need for it, other than him wanting to. Which is... interesting to watch with the knowledge of the latter episodes in mind, ngl.

Lol, sounds like someone is in denial tbh and this is why she got this backwards 😁

Yep, they need better communication as a team, for sure. TK obviously disliked the decision to let duplicitous witch back into her job, but he tempered his frustration about it toward YD since she had been so worried about Jinjja. Loved that he told her to always talk with him in regard of that snake 🐍 going forward, because it will be much needed in the future to coordinate together how to handle her.

As said the individual scenes of them both together onscreen alone compared to where they are around family is still very imbalanced, so i hope they cut back on the latter while increasing the former to let their relationship to each other develop more. TK offering friendship bc he wants to get to know her better, beyond any "contract" and that cute arcade "date" is a good first step here indeed.

Exactly. The leads acting like this and their overall questionable actions/reactions has really not endeared me to any of them thus far (tho this certainly is a script/writing problem than one with the characters as they are unfortunately written to act this way after all)

I am still holding out for things to improve this week, but so far these four episodes had been an exercise in frustration more than anything, alas.

Yep exactly. I feel so far there was a lack of (and i do want more) scenes with just the two of them, getting to know each other and finally talk about that is not involving either of their families. But instead about themselves, their hopes and dreams/fears/past ets. So we can get to know them better too, bc rn there are many things still rough and up in the air about their characters in general. The playground scene was a good start with her really opening up to him for the first time and feels like the kickstart for something more, the much needed shift in their relationship. Please more of that and a few less family dinners and scenes with the full ensemble to give their relationship room to breathe and grow.

Either way, i digress, point is if you want a quick romance fix this drama or weekend dramas in general are the worst choice to make. If you lack patience to see the leads and characters slowly slowly grow as people, on their own and together, these kind of dramas are very likely not for you (Tho i iterate that Five Enough for example did its overall pacing better with the leads but we are getting there with the TRHC leads too at last, however slowly)

Pacing is different in each WE drama, but generally there is always always a slow burn happening between the leads and events are more slow. Generally we see the characters doing more day to day slice of life things instead of a tightly plotted story. 50 episodes takes a lot of time investment but it allows the characters a lot of breathing room. So you actually see a slow, more natural progress and development with them and some who start out nasty (like joseon granny here) will be kind etc in the end through experiences made and lessons learned.

Good WE dramas are also My Golden Life, My Father Is Strange and +1 for Five Enough if you want a wholesome slice of life family drama with smart leads without screechy villains.