bloomingtide

Ngl, i needed to watch a light, fluffy drama after this one, because it bummed me so out. Like all the characters are so damn miserable, all the time. There is no levity in between to lighten the somber mood even a little which made it a really hard watch for me. And the passivity of the leads, especially in the latter half was reeeeally grating. They have things happen to them instead of them making things happen. It does has a good happy end, but it was a chore to get there and a shorter eps format could have helped a lot here too. KMJ and PEB really carried the show and were the reason i powered thru, albeit on 2x speed in the end lmao.

You know these people who loudly and often let you verbally know how they "DON'T CARE" and put on an indifferent, cold air but all their actions show the complete opposite? That is ML basically. He is a softie wrapped in a lot of attitude and supposed callousness that serves him well to keep people away/at arms length in order to not get hurt/betrayed by them as his grandfather was. Plenty of reasons why you are led to believe he is an unfeeling, materialistic jerk, especially in first few episodes. When in truth he is so much more than what meets the eye. His character development is one of the most satisfying ones in kdrama, imo, though he always had been a (not-so) secret adorkable cinnamon roll, lol. The char development just serves to bring him back to that point where he no longer feels the need to put on this whole show of indifference. And i love how the writers handled it.

FL is perceptive, smart, bubbly, sometimes loud and impulsive with a strong sense of justice and a big heart. She can and will kick ass if needed, but it first and foremost concerned with the safety and wellbeing of her community and finding the truth about her father's death. Fiercely protective of the people she holds dear. So she is nice and warmhearted but far from being a doormat and will make her opinions and thoughts clear. Impulsive in the way that she can run with a wrong assumption w/o proving facts, but she is not beyond to stop, reflect and to apologize for mistakes made at a later point. Wonderfully dorky and chaotic too, at times. She complements Chawoong (ML) perfectly for various reasons and is one of the few, if not the only one, to empathize with his situation, to understand him and get under his skin without much trying.And FL can read ML like an open book from the start, which given their further story and bg, is much less of an surprise than you may initially think haha.

Basically, they are both flawed people hurt by the past and circumstances in the beginning and grow/develop toward their better self during the drama. Also because they keep challenging, understanding and supporting each other. From the get go the writers make it clear that the leads relate to each other, in however small ways at first until it slowly becomes something bigger/more. Partners in every sense of the word, indeed.

Gyesoo Clinic Family is my second favorite squad in kdrama this year after the magic factory family <3 (From Now On Showtime) I looooove the found family trope and both dramas do it so damn well <3

Very few people have rated it actually, like not even 500 ppl. So if you like the drama, pls remember to rate every episode and the show in a whole. Let's bring its rating back up, as it reeeeeally deserves better

One of my favorite moments/scenes in this drama ngl. They have done a good job to make us empathize with jerk ML before (KJW's acting <3) of how he was always alone and how big and empty his home is. And then he finds the diary and it all threatens to repeat itself with losing HER as well, the only person who was always at his side. That was, daaamn, chefkiss angst extraordinaire because it all comes after him distancing himself from her and us knowing his backstory/reasons why...which makes it even more impactful tbh)

While in hindsight some side-characters were utterly dumb and useless, not to mention ANNOYING, i am still in awe at how well CL executed everything: pace, progression of characters/plot/romance and its rollercoaster of deliberate tropes/kdrama cliche bouquet in a 4th wall breaking, never too serious/overplayed wink wink nudge nudge way haha. I love it.

Hmm fair that your mileage varies, but so does mine :) I never finished goblin as i couldn't get into it (where this complaint probably stems from), but i see it more as homage/nod toward it than anything else. Goblin also does not have rooftops trademarked afaik 🤣 It is a drama that quite self-aware of what it is and never takes itself too seriously, so of course there are nods/parodies of other shows at times (that carousel scene for example, lol) but those are few in between. While it is not inventing the wheel anew (tbf, which drama is, lol) it does what it does well through a balanced genre mix and its good execution/subverting of tropes while playing others straight/progression of characters and all the shebang. All fits together well here, imo. Like, it is not perfect, no drama is, yet a very fun watch and one of the few dramas where i was never bored in any of the episodes. Can't say that of many shows these days, alas.

*takes deep breath* Again My Life, Tomorrow, Our Blues, My Liberation Note, Sh**ting Stars, Love All Play, Sound Of Magic (tho this dropped all eps at once on NF) Outside of SoM and LAP, all these shows also aired in the Fri/Sat or the Sat/Sun slot, so it was (already) tightly packed with MBC doing FNOS no favor in throwing it into that slot (Sa/Sun) as well, and at a late at evening time too.

Add this to the severe lack of any promotion by MBC nor VIU/VIKI, it almost seemed as tho the network(s) WANTED to kill this drama on arrival, ugh. Hell, 90% or more of the promo for it was even done by Park Hae Jin's former agency. So all these factors are reasons why the drama went under and got overlooked, despite being well-liked by a vast majority who watched it. I see something similar happen now with Poong, alas.

Yeah one of the very few times where i was NOT annoyed by the typical 2 yrs kdrama timeskip (although here it is even more yrs lol) Would have loved to see their wedding or at least a wedding pic or something, but oh well lol. It was still cute af.

If you liked this, try From Now On Showtime. Falls in the same vein of comedy, mystery/investigations, secrets of the past connecting the leads, crime/supernatural shenanigans with a lovable "found family" team mix, but is imo better written and has actual supernatural themes/things. ML is sort of a conman too, but in a very different way 🤣 and the leads are delightfully chaotic:

https://www.tiktok.com/@lovestoryedits/video/7093250331873660165?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1&item_id=7093250331873660165&lang=en

Mr. Queen and The Fiery Priest mix comedy with action/serious plot and quirky characters really well too. Poong the Joseon Psychiatrist is gravely overlooked despite it excelling in historical whodunnit, equally important and complex/smart leads, slow burn romance and lovable found family team supporting each other.

Yeah i approach it from a "this is the discount version of From Now On Showtime" pov and really don't think about anything too hard. And for this, so far it is entertaining. But then again i am not far into the drama yet so idk if things get worse than they are atm (eps 6)

I finished it a while ago and bad news is, the SFL never improves. Quite the opposite I feel this drama along with Yumi's Cell is the one with the most infuriating frustrating SFL. Coincidentally both are nearly the same roles played by the same actress. Talk about type casting lol.

Scratch that "borderline", the leads are officially dumb and dumber now, and suit each other. I dislike how they draw the most obvious secret out into cringe. They are still cute, especially ML but dumb af 🤣Then again, i have turned off my brain long ago while watching this and enjoy the fluff/cuteness, which is probably the only way to go about this drama lmao.

I think i am in the minority with that but while Veronika Park was funny and amusing in the beginning, seeing the one trick pony that is her character repeated over 16 eps makes it old and annoying fast tbh. SML lacks any emotional range tbh whereas the mains have it in spades, so i end up skipping the secondary couple scenes by now almost completely. And the main lead's too when it is too stupid a scene and i feel my brain cells crying for help haha

It is such a stupid drama that requires a lot of suspension of belief and the characters act borderline dumb often to drive on the plot. And yet, yet i cannot stop watching it, because the both main leads together are too adorable for words and their chemistry through the roof. Too bad the premise is what it is and thus i await the inevitable downfall. Still, even with all its flaws i enjoy it more than other CEO/secretary romcoms (minus Crazy Love which imo is a class on its own) simply bc the ML is not your typical cold/tyrannical boss but a lovable dork with a big heart.

I agree, except that i noticed that historical dramas have a harder time to gain viewership/popularity due to its genre. Unless it is YA BoF fantasy like AoS. And Mr. Queen is really the only sageuk that is universally liked/high rated afaik

ngl, the obnoxious fanbase of this drama is one of the reasons i never could get into it. First and foremost however, the plot is just fantasy standard fare with a kpop coat and nothing special/only as deep as a puddle while promising the ocean.

It is what she deserves 🐳

Well, at least it was opened and packed at the end, lmao. But yeah, boy must have been rich to not open up his restaurant for so long and only cook for FL 🤣

It had the misfortune to air at a time where two big, popular shows do/did, (namely AoS and EAW) so unfortunately the focus is on those dramas only and not many people even know of it. Kind of a second From Now On Showtime which shared the same fate earlier this year, sigh.

aww damn the rating fell under 8.0? If you enjoy the drama, please remember to rate every episode to help the ratings and this undervalued gem.

If you have never seen Shin Hye Sun's acting you are really missing out. She is one of the best actresses SK has to offer. Check out Mr. Queen, Thirty But Seventeen and Angel's Last Mission:Love with her.