wuwei

Haha true that, in his last role "Deserving of the name" he even died more than once xD And concur on the comedy, he's acing it.

This is unexpectedly fun and quirky. Not surprised to see this coming from the same writer as Chief Kim, many similarities. Some social commentary, zany & refreshing characters - with lots of amusing yet endearing encounters. Comedy without loosing heart.

Enjoying the cast as well, especially Kim Nam Gil - he's just superb & such a diverse actor. I've always appreciated his rare charisma, but lately he's attained a level of naturalness to his acting that I think he lacked before. I must say though, I'd love to see him pick a role similar to what he had in 'Bad Guy' or 'Shark' (and with a mustache lol), but hey he's super good at comedy too, so not complaining.

Happy this is getting good reception in Korea, especially with it coming from a smaller network and all. Quality show despite its pretty standard trope exploration. Wish the story would focus a tad more on Cha Woo Hyuk's tragic childhood though, as it would add more depth to his character and motivations — rather than just focusing on his romance with Han Jung Won.

Loveee the ost btw. Reminiscent of lots old school K-drama ost classics. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NO90RHCa9Q

Very much so!

It really does and Mawang/The Devil is one of my favorites. I'm unsure whether Park Shi Hoo will be able to play his role convincingly though. We'll see.

Btw if you haven't already, check out Resurrection (2005). The best revenge drama I've ever watched, and it's by the same writer and director as Mawang.

Wow, this actually has all the ingredients of things I look for in dramas — revenge, melo cadences without being excessive, Illicit love affairs, characters with complex motivations, a non-linear narrative, matched with beautiful music & direction.

Acting is all around stellar as well, especially impressed with the main actress Jang Hee Jin - she's so goood!! I must say though.. that I'm surprisingly underwhelmed by Park Shi Hoo.. Now he definitely hasn't been terrible. But he's lukewarm.. And this role is one that requires a specific kind of depth and range.. And he's lacked it so far, you know his eyes just don't speak of that pain.. I find it quite strange as he had all these qualities in Princess' Man.

I never argued that differing opinions aren't allowed, obviously others are entitled to think whatever they want.

What I'm saying is that the journalist who suggested that "viewers had a hard time watching even out of loyalty" is flat out lying — since the ratings (numbers which you can't deny) suggest the complete opposite.

Favorite season by far.

I see your point, but to be fair Risako definitely isn't 18/19 y/o. She's a lot closer to Masao in age then it seems. And yeah Masao has displayed some questionable tendencies, but also shown admirable sides to him as well.

Overall though, my qualms with this season of Terrace House is that it no longer know what it wants to be. The unique qualities it had as a reality show are dimly present. It used to care about communicating the struggles and aspirations of the house members to viewers. It would also take time to film mundane interactions (even between non-romantic partners) in an effort to sincerely show the bonding of house members, as they grew to be a family.

This has been done away with almost completely and I fail to understand why. But what we're left with is an unscripted dating show (or not so much, Yui-chan anyone?) and even here it falls flat. I recently finished Heart Signal (the South Korean one) which does this a lot better, despite its flaws.

When a writer makes hit after hit its indicative she has storytelling qualities viewers like and find engaging. Hence why they tune in. If a writer's characterizations aren't aligned with your preferences, it does not mean the writer is bad, it means the drama probably ain't for you. Save yourself (and us) the torture and skip.

There's nothing wrong with constructive criticism or expressing why you find a drama underwhelming (I do it myself regularly), but the mindless one-liner bashing is getting out of hand.

Click-bait title with no anchoring in reality. Memories of the Alhambra's latest episode achieved its highest domestic rating yet (10%), which is a splendid success for a cable tv drama, and also signifies that Koreans are highly engaged with the show. Journalists make a living peddling lies, and netizens with 100+ upvotes on naver or what give you are not representative of Korean viewers as a whole.

Excellent reflections HangB, it's sad that we have people today who equate sincerity and displaying trust and genuine emotions to someone you care for - with being weak. "She’s crying for others, not for herself." — this is what I think about when I think of Jung Hee Joo. She's selfless, upright and sincere. This is seen not just in her relationship with Jin Woo but with her family as well. And great point on her taking a contrarian stance, something that indeed requires tremendous courage.

@StacyMartinsbabe I find it preposterous that you would assign suffering to someone you don't know based on decisions that they made knowingly. You're inadvertently ridiculing them and framing them as incapable of making rational decisions. PSH knew what she was getting into when signing up for this drama. She read the script, has likely watched one or several of the writers past dramas, and is able to deduce what the role will require of her.

What many don't seem to understand is that actors choose different roles for different reasons. Some roles will challenge them greatly, others are smooth sailing. The common factor is that they all want to be in dramas that achieve high ratings. That's how they stay in the public's consciousness, that's how they increase their brand value, and indeed that's how they make a living. PSH is one of the best in the industry at doing that, and so decrying her for being great at her hustle is a pathetic endeavor.

As drama fans we should encourage actors to accept a variety of roles but not bash them (or the script) when they choose roles not aligned with our preferences. A saner strategy is to simply not watch. I did this with Song Joong Ki — one of my fav actors and loved him in Innocent Man, but dropped Dots immediately as his acting (and role) was one dimensional.

Interesting, thx for sharing!

That was my exact reaction, but it definitely gets better. & ratings are generally always over inflated on MDL and not very indicative of quality. Production team is a better gauge.

Agree with @Domi, if you don't like after six it's probably not your cup of tea, nothing wrong with that.

No Chanyeol is barely in it. Give it 5 eps and you'll know whether it's for you. Hyun Bin is the star of the show but PSH really isn't bad except one unfortunate scene in ep 1. As far as the story - it does take a few eps to pick up in narrative, but its definitely engaging - with high quality direction.

How did this go from being one of my biggest disappointments of 2018 to one of my favorite sci-fi/fantasy dramas of all time?? It's insanely good. After a misleading and underwhelming start, it picked itself up progressively and now I'm hooked. Narratively rich and suspenseful, with intriguing world building — I'm even more impressed by the writer here than her previous works (hopefully she's able to wrap it up successfully too). And on the Director side there's the Stranger/Secret Forest PD. Obviously no reservations in his abilities - but he's really outdone himself here, and proven to master various genres with authenticity and ease. I'll look forward to his next project. And then there's Hyun Bin.. I can't think of any befitting words rn, but he's absolutely killing it, and his character is one I'll remember for sure.

Episode 1 was definetely the worst this show had to offer, both in terms of acting and directing. it gets progressively better by each ep.

Yes your words cut to the core of how it felt watching their relationship develop. Early on their interactions were brief yet vastly impactful. Whereas later scenes like the ones you mentioned - felt as if they were cut from a different cloth, and thus failing to grow roots in the life of the characters as we knew them. And perhaps this was a result of producers choosing to evade the incest plot and other stories deemed to dark for Korean audiences.

Haha yeah, its something one gets used to I suppose. I was one of those 9 fans btw. Memories of the show are highly positive, but yes things took a turn for the worse.. The writer is super talented though, she has an ability to capture one in a world like nothing else.