What was the point?

Well this was a bit of a mess and I spent every episode asking what's the point, what's the point of all these new characters and all these different plot threads that are introduced but not resolved? It felt like the show was working so hard to set up season 3 that they forgot they were actually supposed to make season 2 and so what we got was this hastily cobbled together collection of episodes. In expanding the world outside the apartment complex of season 1, the writers also focused too much on adding new characters without giving us a reason to care about them, and even the core group of survivors from season 1 felt harder to connect with this time around because we kept jumping from one character to the next without really getting to spend much time with anyone. The CGI continues to be pure nightmare fuel but on the bright side, at least they didn't play that Imagine Dragons song 20 times every episode.

Read More

Blood Free had more chemistry and it wasn't even a romance...

I think this drama could've been a really fun makjang like Perfect Marriage Revenge if the main couple had incredible chemistry like Han Hyo Joo and Joo Ji Hoon in Blood Free, but sadly, that is not the case and the result is pretty lackluster. Rain does his absolute best to sell this romance despite the plot never really explaining why he falls for her, and I fully believed by the end of episode 1 that he would gladly go to hell and back for her. Kim Ha Neul, by contrast, is the definition of go girl give us nothing. I've never seen her in anything before this so not sure if she's just like that or if it was just this drama that did her no favors. Or perhaps she's actually the best actress alive because she was able to keep her composure and not melt into a puddle while Rain was wearing a perfectly tailored suit and promising to protect her with his life. Every scene between the two of them was him looking at her with longing and devotion while she stared back at him like he was a bowl of plain oatmeal.

The plot is unbelievably over the top and the show took itself so seriously that it actually became really unintentionally silly. Wansoo's press conference about the secret love child had me howling with laughter. There's a flashback where we learn that Wansoo's mom hid in the doghouse when debt collectors came and later when Wansoo goes to visit the house with her mom's ashes, it deadass looked like she was gonna put the urn in the doghouse. There's another scene where Wansoo and her evil mother in law (who is SO shrill and has a hairdo to rival Yubaba from Spirited Away) arrive at the same event in the same outfit and this is basically treated with the same level of gravitas as the high stakes conspiracies and coverups. There are SO MANY scenes of a middle aged man putting on chapstick and it wasn't even PPL!!!!!

Was it good? No. Did I enjoy it? Also no. But frankly it's hard to complain too much about any drama that gives us 10 hours of bodyguard Rain with that haircut in a black suit looking fine as hell.

Read More

Everyone on this show needed to go outside and touch grass, my GOD

If you're looking for a revenge drama about rich people behaving badly, you'd be better off watching The Glory, which is an altogether more satisfying execution of this story. That said, I do love watching horrible people get their just desserts, so I ate this up regardless.

The acting was quite good and Park Gyu Young was especially captivating as A-Ri, which says a lot about her skill as an actress because the script didn't really give her much to work with. It felt like we, the audience, were kept at arms-length from her for the entire show and even after watching all 12 episodes, I don't feel like I really know her as a character at all. The same goes for Si-Hyeon and I wish Lee Chung Ah had gotten a meatier role and a chance to do more than just look wan and melancholy. I do like that they maintained their friendship as I was convinced for the first few episodes that it was gonna be an All About Eve situation. The less said about the romance (if you can even call it that), the better, because what the hell was that? Congrats to this show for having one of the weirdest "romances" I've ever seen, I guess.

As someone who doesn't really care about Instagram or influencers, I found most of the conflict quite petty and hard to take seriously, and even though A-Ri's reputation (and by extension, her livelihood) was on the line, the stakes never really felt that high. I also think there was a huge missed opportunity for the show to say something about privilege, as A-Ri's massive success was not just due to her hard work, but her fashion knowledge from her wealthy upbringing and her industry connections thanks to her father's old company.

Ultimately, this was a fascinating peek into a world that is so outwardly glamorous and a good reminder to get off the internet once in a while, but instead of skewering modern internet/influencer culture, the show fell into its own trap and gave us the filtered, Instagram-ready version instead.

Read More

Sometimes, you just need a lighthearted show to put on in the background and this is that show. There are plot holes and cliches and tonal whiplash, and the show requires a high level of suspension of disbelief, but it's also fun and wacky and doesn't take itself too seriously and I thoroughly enjoyed myself even if I didn't really care about the plot at all. The overarching message about the importance of history (and who it belongs to) is compelling and timely and I loved that, for all the comedic moments, the show never forgot about its core theme. The whole cast is great but Joo Won is especially endearing as both the bumbling Hwang Dae Myung and incredibly cool and slick Skunk, and Choi Hwa-Jung is an absolute delight as Dae Myung's partner in crime and I would totally watch a prequel series all about her backstory because the brief montage we got was not nearly enough. And huge kudos to Kim Jae Chul for acting his heart out in a revenge thriller while the rest of the cast was having a blast in an adventure comedy.

Read More

The plot is tissue paper thin but let's be real, no one is watching for the plot.

The writers took one look at the current kdrama landscape filled with shorter shows with better pacing and tighter scripts and said absolutely not, we are going to create the first 16 episode drama that is made up of ONLY filler episodes. This is less of a drama and more of a very extended commercial for luxury hotels, 3 piece suits, duty free, Audi cars, Thailand tourism, and Danish butter cookies for some reason (I'll admit I was utterly delighted every time they opened the tin and there were actual cookies and not sewing supplies inside, if you know you know). Watching this show felt like taking a vacation and it was fun to leave reality behind and step into a world even more magical than Daeho - a world where rich bosses actually care about their employees' well-being (can someone force Bezos to watch this?).

There's a tiny nugget of a succession storyline buried beneath layers and layers of fluff, and if you squint, there are hints of a genuinely compelling and thought-provoking message about how capitalism favors profits over people and the value of labor, making it clear that the writers did actually put some thought into this before eschewing any sort of broader message in favor of putting Yoona and Junho in increasingly ludicrous situations to fill the time. As someone who likes to multitask but doesn't speak Korean, it was honestly great to watch a kdrama and only half pay attention and still not miss any important info and that's not entirely a criticism.

This drama is akin one of those insane milkshakes that used to be all over Instagram. It's not going to be for everyone but it also doesn't pretend to be something it's not. This isn't for people who want a deep, thoughtful meditation on life and love. It's for us simple bitches who want to look at pretty people doing fun, lavish things and not have to think too hard. Are there better dramas out there? Absolutely. But Yoona is a delight and Junho is always great at playing the rich, slightly pathetic failboy (see: Good Manager) and together, they are two dumbasses in love and I love that for them.

With the last 4 episodes, the drama seems to have taken a turn towards the melo, which I'm not overly fond of (if you've been personally traumatized by Moon Lovers, raise your hand) so I will probably skip or fast forward through the end, but again, that's not really a criticism.

I probably won't remember this show a year from now but I had fun watching it, which is all I can really ask for, and what I will remember is this absolute banger of a quote: "I just chased happiness and ended up here." May we all be so lucky.

Read More

Just like season 1, season 2 never lives up to its potential

In my review for season 1, I talked about how the show had a really compelling premise that was let down by lackluster character development, and sadly, that trend continues in season 2. For starters, the time jump to the modern day removed the most compelling part of season 1 - the theme of maintaining one's humanity while fighting against oppressors whose weapon of choice is dehumanization. The backdrop of Japanese-occupied Korea was one of the best (and honestly only) things I enjoyed about the first season and without that context, this turns into a more run-of-the-mill revenge story with a supernatural bent.

The story itself is extremely muddled. With only 7 episodes, it needed much tighter writing but instead we got a mish mash of private investigators, well-meaning but mostly useless cops, memory loss, long-lost lovers, a shady conglomerate conducting illegal human trials, superpowered ninjas (??), hideous tentacle monsters, and numerous double crosses and betrayals. Sprinkled throughout are some genuinely interesting points about justice and human connection, and in the last episode, Chae-Ok has a really gut-wrenching line where she says she's not afraid of death but of living forever alone without being able to die and I wish we'd gotten this insight about her character earlier in season and I wish we'd gotten it via showing instead of just telling.

On that note, character development is practically nonexistent, which is a shame because, again, the potential is there. Lady Maeda has consistently been one of the most interesting characters on this show but she was criminally underutilized here. She and Chae-Ok could've been incredible foils for each other as they both keenly understood the loneliness of the decades they endured after the events at Onseong Hospital but they only have 1 brief scene together. The Kuroko captain guy was also fascinating - he clearly had his own agenda in trying to save his girlfriend but again, none of that is revealed until the very last episode and then nothing really happens with any of that? Lee Moo Saeng is very good at playing a sociopath though, love that guy. Seung-Jo is another character whose shifting loyalties made him a wild card and I wanted to see more of his friendship with Tae-Sang/Ho-Jae. His struggle to embrace his inner monster vs following in his hyung's footsteps and being a good person was so compelling, which made his choice in the post-credits scene to basically unleash the naijin on the entire population of Korea all the more disappointing. Boo hiss, I was rooting for you, Seung-Jo! I don't even know what to say about Tae-Sang/Ho-Jae. With his superpowers, he seemed less like an actual character and more like a plot device this season. Again, Park Seo Joon did his best but it says a lot that my favorite scenes of his were the flashbacks to the 1940s, especially when we got to see the old House of Golden Treasure crew again. Chae-Ok, my sweet girl, how this show failed you. I loved seeing her continue her work of finding missing people in the first episode, but after that, it seemed her only purpose in the story was to get injured and be held hostage to trap Tae-Sang. The love story did not move me in season 1 and it moved me even less this time around but they deserved a happy ending so I'm glad they got it.

Will there be a season 3? I sure hope not and I will definitely not be watching if there is one. After watching these 7 episodes, season 2 doesn't even seem like it was really necessary as it just re-hashed many of the same plot points from season 1. To be honest, I think the multi-season format is kind of ruining kdramas but that's a rant for another time. This show would've been better off ending with one of the flashbacks we saw this season, with Tae-Sang and the rest of the House of Golden Treasure crew celebrating Korea's independence while Chae-Ok watches from afar. In the midst of the celebration, he notices her, and instead of walking away, she approaches him, and they get the future they deserved.

Read More

A love letter to love in all its forms

This is the first drama I completed in 2024 and what a beautiful way to start the new year. Above all else, this is a story about love, romantic love, yes, but also the love between friends, the love you have for your country, the love you have for your family (the one you're born into, the one you marry into, and the one you make for yourself), and above all else, the love and respect you have for yourself. Cho Yi Hyun and Rowoon absolutely shine as the titular matchmakers who have each known love and loss, who are each seeking their place in the world, and who end up finding solace in each other. Park Ji Young is mesmerizing as one of the best-written antagonists I've ever seen, balancing her character's calm dignity as the firm but fair mother-in-law with her quietly terrifying ferocity as the cunning puppet master pulling all the strings behind the scenes. The secondary characters are just as compelling and memorable, from the sweet but stubborn sister-in-law Ye Jin to the young and noble Crown Prince to the steadfast bookseller to the actually competent King to the real Yeojudaek to the old bachelors, and of course, the unforgettable Maeng sisters, who each got a love story that allowed them to stay true to themselves. It's evident that every aspect of this drama was produced with love and care, from the beautiful cinematography to the excellent writing and character development and I especially enjoyed modern style choices like the giant location headers and the mockumentary format at the beginning of each episode that made the show feel fresh and fun. The last episode became a bit too melodramatic for me but all in all, this was a gem of a drama that I can't wait to rewatch.

Read More

Forget what you think you know about makjangs and give this a chance

If Kingdom is the pinnacle of the zombie kdrama, I'd say Perfect Marriage Revenge is the pinnacle of the makjang kdrama and I mean that sincerely. I had absolutely no intentions of watching this but I kept seeing rave reviews after the final episode and you know what, they were right and I had an absolute blast. The writing is excellent, with dialogue that's fresh and snappy, and the pacing is pretty much perfect, without any of the usual filler you get in 16-episode dramas but also without the rushed ending you might get from an 8-episode drama. The characters are so fun - the good guys are easy to root for and the bad guys are even easier to hate - and the relationship between Ji Yoo and Do Gook is so compelling that they just might be one of my favorite kdrama couples of the year. I really hope other drama writers are taking notes because this show took a bunch of overused tropes and elevated them with a well-written and well-paced script and the end result was pretty much magic.

I know this wasn't a Netflix original, but it feels like it could've been, and I'll still consider it part of my holy trinity of revenge dramas: there's The Glory, if you want a dark, difficult melo centered around school bullying; My Name, if you want an action crime thriller with devastating emotional stakes; and now Perfect Marriage Revenge, if you want a near-perfect execution of a contract marriage makjang.

Read More

This could've been the next Kingdom but never quite lives up to its potential

The comparisons between Gyeongseong Creature and Kingdom will be obvious as both are Netflix originals with impressive casts that blend the supernatural/horror with historical events, and I really really wanted Gyeongseong Creature to be as good as Kingdom (which is one of my favorite kdramas of all time), but sadly, it never quite lives up to its potential. That's not to say this drama is bad and in fact, there's a lot to like about it. The cast is excellent (special shoutout to Choi Young-Joon for his chilling portrayal of Colonel Kato) and many of the characters and their relationships are easy to root for, the way the story weaves fact (the Japanese occupation of Korea and human experimentation) and fiction (the inhuman creature) is incredibly compelling, and its core message about freedom and resistance continue to be relevant, now more than ever. But where Kingdom is elevated by an incredible script with impeccably developed characters, Gyeongseong Creature is unfortunately let down by mediocre writing and lackluster character development.

What makes Kingdom so SO good is that the writing hones in on the themes of hunger and power in Joseon-era Korea and explores it via the supernatural element of zombies. The zombies are not the point of the story, the hunger is, and that core theme is woven into every aspect of the show and explored over the course of 12 episodes, resulting in a tight, cohesive story about how hunger can drive a nation to the brink of destruction. Gyeongseong Creature tries to follow this playbook and tell a story about freedom and resistance and the way war makes monsters of us all, sometimes literally, but the writing isn't strong enough to deliver on that lofty theme.

It was a huge miss for the show not to dive more deeply into Tae-Sang's journey from selfish rogue to reluctant freedom fighter, and even after watching all 10 episodes, I still can't tell if he's supposed to be a charming pawnbroker with a secret heart of gold and patriotic streak or if he's simply a rich man who wants to protect his riches and will only support noble causes if they happen to align with his own interests. The writers tell us he's the former, but end up showing us more of the latter and the fact that the show never truly integrates Tae-Sang (the main character!!) into the resistance storyline is a huge missed opportunity. Park Seo-Joon does his damndest to bring some nuance and depth to Tae-Sang, and the fact that he succeeds at all is a testament to his skill as an actor rather than the quality of the script. The other main character, Chae-Ok, is presented as a righteous character who has seen the horrors of man and the fact that she and her father don't become part of the resistance movement is honestly not really believable to me. The only character we know by name who is actually involved in the resistance movement is Jun-Taek, but he makes no real impact on the story until the end of the season, and that's really only as a plot device to introduce explosives into the narrative in time for the finale (what a waste of Wi Ha Joon). But for me, the most egregious missed opportunity to incorporate the theme of freedom and resistance into the story is with the treatment of the titular creature. I wanted so badly to root for the monster as the physical manifestation of the evils that Japan inflicted on Korea, as the horrifying culmination of the atrocities committed by the oppressed now exacting righteous vengeance on the oppressors, but we never really get to know Seong-Sim as a human and we see so little of her before her transformation that she's never really allowed to become anything more than just a monster.

This review probably seems harsh but it's only because this drama had SO much potential and I really wanted it to be so much better than it was. Don't even get me started on Lady Maeda, who is easily the most intriguing character on this show. She's revealed to be the puppet master behind the whole nefarious plot at the hospital, and for what? I'm sure the show is saving these answers for the next season, but by doing so, it falls into the same trap that Sweet Home season 2 did - they spent more time setting up season 2 than they did actually making a coherent season 1. As an aside, I have to say that Netflix is really ruining the pacing of its originals by splitting them up into parts 1 and 2. This show should've ended season 1 on episode 7 once they escaped the hospital because the remaining 3 episodes felt super rushed and ruined much of the tension and momentum they had built with the previous episodes. Pushing the storyline from episodes 8-10 into season 2 would've given that story more time to develop and it would've made the return back to the hospital and its bombing all the more impactful. I don't know what the hell to make of the time jump at the end but I know it wasn't a satisfying way to end this season.

All that said, I did mostly enjoy this show despite how negative this review is. The history of Japanese occupation in Korea is an important one and I think the writers did a decent job conveying the horrors of the time, both real and imagined. I'll certainly be back for season 2, but if you're like me and were hoping this would fill the Kingdom-sized hole in your heart, you're probably better off lowering your expectations for this one and rewatching Kingdom again once you're done, which is certainly what I plan on doing.

Read More

Come for Lee Yoo Mi, stay for 3 generations of women living their best lives

Look, this drama won't be for everyone. It's an unapologetically over the top fairy tale/comic book mashup with a barely coherent plot that requires a generous suspension of disbelief, and much like its predecessor, the writing and character development are mediocre and the treatment of the men in the family feels mean-spirited at best and downright abusive at worst.

And yet, I enjoyed it so much more than I expected because, for all its faults, this drama absolutely nails it with Lee Yoo Mi as Nam-soon. She is utterly incandescent as our titular strong girl and I know not everyone is a fan of the bubbly and naive female lead, but I loved her and her cheeky grin and her unwavering sense of justice SO much. Lee Yoo Mi truly carried this drama on her back (pun intended) and she was an absolute delight to watch and I can't wait to what she does next.

The rest of the main cast is a total hoot as well, Kim Jung Eun and Kim Hae Sook are both fabulously campy, chewing every scene they're in with aplomb, and I genuinely love that we got to see a 60+ year old woman with a romance subplot and doing more than just being a granny. Ong Seong Woo is endearingly earnest as the long-suffering good guy cop getting bridal-carried all over the place by his super strong girlfriend, and Byeon Woo Seok took "if evil why sexy" and dialed it all the way up to 11 and we thank him for his service (somebody needs to create a mafia bromance drama with him and Lee Hong Nae ASAP).

In short, this is not a drama you watch for the plot, this is a drama you watch for the actors hamming it up in the silliest situations. It's deeply unserious but pretty fun if you throw logic out the window, and above all else, I love that we got to see these 3 generations of brash, bold women who fearlessly pursued their dreams, protected their loved ones, and used their powers to do good with reckless abandon.

Read More