katiecurrently

“I create opportunities even in hellish situations”

An emotional sucker punch. First they disarm you with mesmerizing action choreography and quick witted humor, then they hit you with the most gutwrenching reminder of all of the people who poured into you when you were a student, all of the teachers who sparked hope in you and paid for it with their time and money and heart.

This is such a beautifully woven drama that hit every single nail on the head. Casting? Flawless. Camera work? Engaging. Action? Listen I don’t even like fight scenes like that but I was EXCITED to see Ga Min in action every week. I wish there was more but I don’t even want the episodes to be longer because the shorter time limits kept everything fast and fresh- I just need another season and I need to know what happens next.

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500 Happier Day of Summer

As both a former teenager who was obsessed with 500 Days of Summer and an adult who’s obsessed with whatever the hell Ji Chang Wook is doing, this is an easy hit for me.

It’s been a long time since I’ve consumed any media involving manic pixie dream girls, and this deconstruction of it brought me to tears. The moment Eun Oh is finally confessing everything to her closest friends and being met with their love, understanding, and affirmation healed something in me. When I watched 500DoS the first time, I was watching for a boy I liked and I was young enough to miss the point completely. It took years for me to have my own identity crisis and find myself again, and a few more years to rewatch it and realize what I’d missed. I really really love that this take on it gave us insight on her perspective and that they were both able to love each other for who they really are by the end. Bonus: the main cast is full of stars and the various relationships were fun and engaging to follow. My only real critique was the lack of closure we got because they were setting themselves up for a season 2 that never happened.

P.S. Park Jae Won is giving major “see you at Burning Man” energy and it was very funny to me

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Long live the boxer bros

Somehow I think still less brutal for Lee Sang Yi than Hometown Cha Cha Cha?

A few noteworthy things- for one, this was SO much more gutwrenching than I anticipated. Episode 4 actually gave me stomach cramps. I have never felt so sick over fictional characters that I knew were not about to die. The plot integration of COVID and the financial consequences it had was executed flawlessly; the shift for the last two episodes actually provided some welcome relief as someone who doesn’t regularly watch action dramas. And finally, my new favorite duo, goofy golden hearted outrageously handsome boxer bros.

Very high hopes set for season 2! Please just let LSY keep his curls

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JCW and KMK Duo Forever

Starring Ji Chang Wook and Kim Mi Kyung absolutely delivering “loved ones in every lifetime” vibes. This was such a fun role to see KMK take on after being introduced to her through her motherly character in Welcome to Samdal-ri. She absolutely bodied it and I’m thoroughly impressed.

BIG fan of the overarching plot and getting to view all of it from the perspective of a gutsy reporter with integrity. I think viewing it from a journalism lens allows us to be more honest about corruption in the justice system and the story is so much better for it. Bonus points for villains that were truly despicable and slimy enough to make you nauseous. It’s extremely easy to see why this receives so much praise.

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Cinderella Meets Minutemen

nepo baby goes back in time to make himself even more successful

A phenomenal addition to the vault of time travel stories. It was really touching to see a central storyline more focused on a son and his friendship with his parents. Cried a lot- the scene with Grandpa teaching Eun-gyeol how to speak guitar is such a beautiful moment, and probably the one that i’ll carry with me the longest. SO glad the writers decided to let Eun-gyeol improve his family’s circumstances without saving his father from hearing loss. This is the best, most thoughtful deaf representation I can recall seeing, and it’s sparkling.

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Somehow not long enough?

"According to the monk who passed away, a child chooses his parents from heaven. The parents are so grateful for choosing them, just for that one reason, they give in to their children a thousand times."

In a drama with 100 episodes and what felt like a thousand things happening simultaneously, we always seemed to return to each character's family and specifically their relationships with their parents (even the side characters that we saw for less than a fifth of the drama). Those were always the moments that brought me to tears. I think I was especially touched by the portrayal of Ga Hee because there was so much of myself I could see in her as the oldest daughter in a big family. This struck the perfect balance between goofy moments and heartbreaking, poetic conversations between characters who truly care for one another. The length at first is daunting, but by the time you reach the end, it almost wasn't long enough.

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Swing and a miss

I wish I was rating this higher. I really truly loved everything about Scarlett and her various storylines. Unfortunately, in a show with three female leads, she’s only the second, and the first was a disappointment.

Instead of ranting about how stupid Ta Mi’s romantic ending was, I’ll focus on what was worthwhile. Scarlett is a phenomenal character and her chemistry with LJW made my heart skip a beat. I know there was less pressure on her relationships as the B plot character, but I wish we had had more time to explore her relationships instead. She is so grounded and real, and I’m SO so glad she got a happy ending.

The most noteworthy thing I will be taking away from watching this is learning that there are tags on here and I will be less heartbroken if I learn to read them. Que sera sera.

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Hong Sister Hype!

Picked this up with a friend since we knew the Hong Sisters and Go Youn-jung were involved (excited for Can This Love Be Translated!), and it was the best possible pregaming decision we could have made. I’m not even sure where to start or what to highlight. I’m so impressed with the writing team- every twist was unpredictable but made so much sense, and their characters were intelligent and human, so the plot moves at a lightning pace and I was genuinely shocked with how quickly things escalated. Aside from the main couple, Park Jin and Maid Kim were total highlights. The cast also seems to have a lot of chemistry together, and I wish there was another show with all of them included because I fear only 10 more episodes will not be enough for me.

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nostalgic for a time I never knew

10/10, flawless. Wish I could get reply 1988’d, but unfortunately I grew up with republicans and that would not end well.

Texted my sister before ep.4 “I love all of her friends. Taek is the cutest but he's too quiet so I don't think it will be him” and eating my words never tasted so delicious. Absolutely hooked at the end of ep.6. I was rooting for Jung-hwan until the very end, but Taek is so fucking endearing, how can you not cheer for him? I read an analysis someone had about seeing the show through the lens of Baduk, with Jung-hwan as the black pieces and taek as the white ones, and it’s something I will continue to think about often. The entire team behind this is so brilliant, and it’s easy to see why it’s so highly rated and recommended.

I’m just glad they’re all happy in the end- the fictional characters not the real actors and actresses. I’m catching up on the irl drama at LIGHT SPEED

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