bloomingtide

Yeeees, say it louder for the people in the back. It has the most fluffy and satisfying ending, wrapping up everything neatly and adorably with a bow, and leaves you with warm fuzzies and a smile when the credits roll. Indeed a rare feat of 2022 kdrama, for some reason.

So if you need a break from (pseudo) grim-dark thrillers that flail and flounder in the end, pick up this underappreciated gem of a comedy/romance/supernatural/investigation mix that falls into the same vein like Mystic Pop Up Bar but is more light and chaotic. Ghost crew is best crew <3

(And now i wanna rewatch, bc i miss my chaotic chaseul power couple and magic factory fam 😭)

Tbh, he is so similar to his slimy weasel role in Vincenzo that i downright expect that titular ML to burst into a scene and set him on fire with his lighter at any given moment 🤣 (or you know, cause him to be shanked on the steps of the court, like in the good old days)

Yeees. It has been a week and I'm still not over FoE. I have pure adoration for the narrative's equal appreciation and importance for ML/FL without favoring one over the other (like Big Mouth did) and as a married couple. Their story, past and present was front and center to the plot and thus this thriller would have not worked without romance, without the stellar portrayal of both actors of their characters and us seeing their depth of care for each other. I have rarely seen this and its progression done so well and so mature in a kdrama and would love to see more ride or die power couples, especially married, going through struggles together instead of giving up on each other at the slightest challenge posed. (tho with how deeply ML felt and came to understand his emotions i rather think he was misdiagnosed and was told until he believed he has aspd/is a psychopath tbh, when it actually was all a matter of trauma/worst upbringing)

In comparison this is also where Big Mouth failed... i kept waiting for more scenes of the married couple together, like in the first half where they supported each other thru thick and thin. But once he got out of jail... it all just stopped? They were distant and estranged and felt more like buddies instead of a long married couple. FoE really did that a loooot better, ngl.

oh thanks for the warning, i probably equip myself with a light-hearted kdrama on the side while watching this :D Proper closure is always great, especially after the disappointment big mouth was for me this weekend, lacking it in its ending. For now the tone of the drama (eps 2) is silly and light, so i hope the shift to dark/angst later on won't give me whiplash haha

it has been a week since i watched FOE and i am still not over this drama with the leads and their deep DEEP love, trust for each other through all the difficulties and struggles thrown at them. And my pure adoration for the narrative's equal appreciation and importance for ML/FL without favoring one over the other (like Big Mouth did) and as a married couple. Their story, past and present was front and center to the plot and thus this thriller would have not worked without romance, without the stellar portrayal of both actors of their characters and us seeing their depth of care for each other. I have rarely seen this and its progression done so well and so mature in a kdrama. I would love to see more ride or die power couples, especially married, going through struggles together instead of giving up on each other at the slightest challenge posed.

Plus the villain was actually believable and scary in parts, and we also had a police force (and detective) in a thriller that was not near braindead, hurray. I do believe tho that Do Hyun So wasn't actually on the aspd disorder spectrum but his lack of emotions was brought on by his upbringing and the sheer volume of deep deep trauma. Or if he was, he would be up very high on the spectrum as he clearly feels deeply and has (developed) a sound understanding of right/wrong and moral values. It was more a matter of him having to learn to understand his emotions and how to express them. In the end the story got a bit off the rails but came together nicely after all. And their scenes of the confrontation/DHS breaking down on the street, them under the umbrella and DHS being tricked into thinking his wife got killed (and LJG's acting in that scene) will forever live rent free in my head.

on one hand i expected the writers to stall it further as they never follow through on early commitment of the leads to each other (or if, it is done terribadly, hello forecasting love and weather i am looking at you) but on the other hand i am too busy rolling my eyes about their lack of guts. Tho Yu Ri seems to be a ride or die kind of gal so i am sure she won't give up as easily haha

Ah yes, JCW's complex portrayal of a male victim of repeated violence, psychological abuse, physical abuse and manipulation and his journey of healing/moving on from it is so boring, sure. Maybe watch the drama before talking out of your ass? (¬_¬)

It is really a popcorn drama full of nonsense and stellar lead chemistry (Bossam couple modern AU spy fanfiction) so don't think to hard and just roll with whatever silly, fun things happening on the screen 🤣

Thought we were past the fridge female characters for ML's emotional advancement/ give him motivation trope but obviously nah. Ugh, FL got done so dirty (in order to prop up ML) and it basically ruined this drama for me.

Writers need to stop tf using female characters as plot devices. (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻

haha, yeah i was forewarned by the reviews but episode one, which i started just now, gives a good impression what to expect (later on) as it begun with murder and a bang. Literally. 😬🤣

ikr? It is not two strangers that make kissy faces with each other but long term old friends after a period of separation, with both having harbored feelings for the other for a long time (one being self-aware of it, the other not) So this whole will-they won't they spiel is redundant bc of course they will and they are more than qualified to skip a few steps due to all that. Because at this point it is just putting together what belongs, haha.

Plus i really would love to see a drama whose leads navigates the plot and difficulties while they are in a relationship without them calling it off every hot five minutes. Gimme a ship who goes thru struggles together and comes out of it stronger, instead to tearfully break up and tackle them on their own ( like 99% of kdrama, ugh) That would be an interesting dynamic and direction tbh ... but we will see how they gonna handle it.

Everything that Big Mouth is not, tbh

lmao, he phoned it in big time indeed.

Rewatcned scenes of Flower Of Evil to wash the bad aftertaste away Big Mouth left me with today and stumbled over the scene where ML is tricked to believe his wife is dead/killed. Couldn't help to compare it with the reaction Chang Ho had when his wife *actually* died. and had a good laugh, because wow there is *worlds* between them.

Yeah that is fair. Imo it was all just so very badly executed and nonsensical that i could not suspend my belief long enough, unlike i did/do in other kdramas. This is why the ending and the drama itself fell apart for me, alas.

Yeah sure, but if you take glowing blue stones out of xrays bc they look pretty it is called natural selection instead of radiation accident tbh. As for the rest i just copy paste the comment the user nosnoop made further down, bc this is exactly why suspension of belief (even for a kdrama) did not work and that all is science/medical bs the writer could have avoided if they used google for five hot minutes or so:

- Radiation does not cause lymphoma
- Stage IV lymphoma is considered potentially curable (and not terminal) - with 64 to 70% 5-year survival rate
- You don't get this much radiation unless NK Chemical is doing Uranium enrichment or there is nuclear reactor inside.
- Do Ha looks like he had Acute Radiation Syndrome, and it takes very high level of radiation exposure to die like this. We are talking nuclear power plant accident or something similar.
If that water has such insane level of radiation, PCH won't be safe standing there next to the pool.
- Cancer is not a bullet that insta-kills

i want this drama to be played at my funeral.... so it can let me down a final time. 7.5/10 due to the last three episodes.

korean learner here, the title can/is actually be read as meaning both in hangul, which i always found clever. Mouse is normally 쥐 in hangeul, but they used the english loanword of mouth and mouse for the title in hangeul which is 마우스 so it is phonetically the same thing ;)

Yep. Vincenzo still reigns supreme with giving the baddies appropriate screentime as they are getting what they deserve. Pure poetic revenge/justice *chefkiss*

And I am so pissed about Miho. They have done her so dirty. Alone for this i will shave off a whole point off my initial 9.0 rating, maybe more. (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻

Currently watching the last episodes and ngl, the whole miho has late stage leukemia from being exposed to dangerous chemicals one time (wut? i am no doctor but this is not how it works i think) sobstory arc is only annoying me instead tear-inducing. They really did find no better use for her screentime than turning her into an angst generator? Really? Ugh.