What Dramas Am I Watching This Week?

Here's what I'm watching this week! Of course the list is split by country and episodes I've seen so far are written below! There will be spoilers from now on so if you aren't caught to the episode number I list, you might want to go watch that episode and then come back! If you're interested in previous lists, click here and if you want to see a list of my favorite asian OTPs and ships, click here!

KDRAMA

Dae Jang Geum is Watching (5/12): This food-oriented drama imagines how the descendants of the famous Joseon woman doctor and alleged culinary genius Jang Geum (the subject of the famous sageuk Dae Jang Geum) might live today if they inherited some of her talents. San Hae has been gifted with an excellent sense of taste which has mad him a huge fan and connoisseur of food. His younger sister Jin Mi has been gifted with an exceptional sense of smell, and their younger brother Jung Shik has such excellent cooking skills he has his own Youtube vlog channel. The story follows San Hae at his work and his relationship with a rookie employee at his company, a woman named Bok Seung Ah.

This show is hardcore a cooking show with a mix of romance and it's so beyond hilarious to me cause I've never seen anything like it and I'm having fun. I do enjoy the food aspect but it's even more insane than Wok of Love in terms of cooking and sometimes I end up fast forwarding cause it's like I'm not here to learn new recipes. You also need to make sure you're not hungry while watching this cause everything looks amazing! Jin Mi is my favorite of the siblings and I enjoy her romance with Min Hyuk the best though it's unfortunate that it's the least shown cause I do think they're adorable. On the other hand I'm not super into the main romance with San Hae and Seung Ah and the love triangle they're forming with Jung Shik mostly cause I don't really love Seung Ah as a character but if I had to pick I'd want her with San Hae since their dynamic is better in my opinion. Overall this is a super light show that really has no stakes and I'm actually pretty down with that! I'm even enjoying the office antics from the crazy boss and her weekly costumes.

Fluttering Warning (5/16): A dermatologist, Cha Woo Hyun is extremely popular with women, but he doesn’t have much interest in dating. Yoon Yo Jung is a famous actress, who hasn’t been able to date another man since rumors started to spread 15 years ago. By mere coincidence, they decide to establish a contract in which they decide to “pretend” to others that they are dating and in love with each other.

I wasn't really interested in this show when I first heard of it but mostly that was cause the synopsis sounded like pretty much every other show out there but I was pleasantly surprised to find how much I enjoyed this show. First of all despite the synopsis, the male lead turned out to not be as cold as I expected! He was actually really kind and felt very genuine and earnest. I have such a hard time with cold male leads cause they always feel so wooden but Woo Hyun is adorable (props to the actor!) I also loved that Woo Hyun and Yo Jung's relationship started out friendly and that there were no miscommunications to make one hate the other cause it's so rare to see that in a drama like this (and you all know my dislike for enemies to lovers!) It's interesting how quickly they fell for each other tbh which means that we're going to get so much angst later! All the characters in this show so far are great including the reporter who decided she hates Yo Jung's ex with such a passion that she will do anything to support Yo Jung. She's also falling for Yo Jung's brother and I'm super down with them having a reporter on their side especially since that rich girl who wants to marry Woo Hyun is making waves. Speaking of, Woo Hyun coming from a rich family is a bit annoying but not entirely unexpected cause rich family problems are pretty much a given in every drama though I like that Woo Hyun feels more independent than most rich guys who's families don't approve of the girl they're dating. I also loved how he pretty much solved the problem of getting the rich girl to back off of Yo Jung by threatening to take over the company on the condition he doesn't have to marry her which screws up everything she's been doing. I'm sure though now that she's been dealt with that we're going to turn the focus to Woo Hyun's dad and how he'll attempt to ruin Yo Jung, I don't know how I feel about his mom yet though cause she doesn't seem to be after money but at the same time she's trying to force him into a situation he doesn't want.

FINISHED The Player (14/14): A police redemption team consisting of a swindler, a fighter, an elite hacker and a talented driver is asked to take back property hidden away by criminals.

The finale for this show aired this week and I'm mostly just feeling meh about it. I don't know if I would have enjoyed this show more or less if I hadn't been expecting something totally different but the way it stands I was excited when this show began only to be less and less interested as it went on. The only thing that kept me around was the friendship/found family that our crew made but half the time Ha Ri wasn't even apart of it cause he was always off doing the solo adventure thing since he refused to tell the others the truth. The overarching plot was kinda boring and tbh the way we defeated That Person was a bit of a let down. The plan was solid but the only thing he screwed up which led to our team winning was his target of choice for corrupt prosecutor. The Chief should have known that Jang would be the worst person to blame all this on cause he's literally the most stand-up prosecutor in the office. Picking one of the sketchy ones that fought with him all the time would have worked better though it did lead to a few great moments when even they questioned the logic of Jang being corrupt and going so far as to help set the record straight. I did enjoy the ending though cause I'm really glad that the trio didn't end up going to jail and that the four of them will keep on being con artists on the down low (cause they are still wanted) and that they kept all the money they stole. The last few moments made them feel so much more like con artists and this show feel like the kind of show I was hoping for than most of the whole season did. Overall I'd give this show a 8 / 10 for making me indifferent about the whole thing but not enough to make me want to drop it. There were some fairly badass moments and the soundtrack definitely helped as did the hints of undercover fun we had and honestly I wouldn't mind another season but only if they double down on the actual spy/con artist stuff and dial back the police-work a bit.

The Smile Has Left Your Eyes (14/16): A TV series centered around the unfolding relationship between free and unpredictable yet dangerous Kim Moo Young, who is called a "monster". He is the first assistant in a Korean beer brewery who becomes a suspect when his girlfriend's suicide turns out to be murder. His life begins to change when he meets a kind, warm advertising designer named Yoo Jin Kang, who wishes to be Moo Young's safe haven. She bears as many emotional scars as him. Yoo Jin Kang also has a brother, a homicide detective named Yoo Jin Gook, with 27 years of job experience. He strives to "reveal" who Moo Young really is and attempts to keep his sister, Jin Kang, away from Moo Young, with whom she begins to know.

We finally got some answers this week but I'm still anxious for more! Moo Young learned that Jin Gook was the man who killed his father and that Jin Gook was looking for him. It was a little heartbreaking watching him backslide from the good man he was for the past two weeks (even if part of me was like ooh get that gun and shoot Jin Gook for sure cause he's the worst!) and it was awful seeing Moo Young reach out to Woo Sang's sister cause that girl is not about to do any free favors and I'm not looking forward to what she's going to ask for in return. Seo In Guk really made me cry tonight cause his acting was incredible and when he said he wanted to be born again and then Jin Kang was like I love you anyway, all the tears!! It was also super ridiculous that freaking Jin Gook will STILL not tell the truth. He knows who Moo Young is and he knows that Moo Young knows who he is and what he did but heaven forbid Jin Gook take any action that isn't stabbing someone. It took Moo Young searching on his own to find out that his father was a murderer and killed his mother. We're also told that Jin Kang is actually his younger sister through Woo Sang and then Moo Young's memories which is on par for the jdrama but I still don't believe it entirely cause this show is all about how love redeems people and I seriously doubt Korea would go the jdrama route. I wonder if she was the child of the friend of Moo Young's mom who was in the cult and the two other people murdered by Moo Young's dad was her parents? I don't entirely mind if it's true cause this twist was epic in the jdrama but I also really want my couple to be happy in the end so it's like I kind of don't want it to be truth either!

FINISHED Terius Behind Me (32/32): Go Ae Rin is a single mother who after unexpectedly losing her husband, gets involved in a spy war. She lives in the apartment in front of Kim Bon. Kim Bon, who's code name is Terius, is a legendary black ops agent for the National Intelligence Service (NIS) who has gone into hiding after disappearing without a trace. 3 years ago in a failed secret operation, he lost the woman he loved. Since then, Kim Bon has hid away in his apartment, next to Go Ae Rin, isolated from the world around him and living in secrecy, trying to uncover the mystery behind what happened back then. When a mysterious incident arises in which Go Ae Rin's husband dies, they both team up to uncover a huge conspiracy which Go Ae Rin's husband had become involved in. Joining them is Jin Young Tae, a former con man who may hold the key to what Go Ae Rin and Kim Bon are searching for, and Yoo Ji Yeon, a fellow NIS agent who appears cold and unfeeling on the outside but harbors feelings towards Kim Bon, who she is kind towards.

The finale of this show aired this week and it was alright. My favorite part of this show was the spywork from the beginning and even though I complained here and there about how it was written (comedy took a precedent over good agents), I'm glad we spent the finale all wrapped up in NIS stuff. We finally got answers and though I wish that we had learned all this a bit sooner, it was nice because it gave us twist after twist. Like I expected it was actually Director Shim who was the CornerStone operative and Chief Kwon was just trying to do her job. I also laughed when we found out that she did in fact get that shirt with the gold clover buttons from him like I called last week. It was a bit surprising to find out that everyone made it out fine even if pretty much everyone was hurt during the finale at some point though I should have expected it since Bon got hurt so many times and was fine himself. I was sad for a second that Young Tae might have died cause he really grew on me with how precious he was so I'm glad he made it out okay. I also liked that Ae Rin was still working at King's Bag and that she's kinda an agent for the NIS cause she was pretty badass this season! It was interesting that the show ended with Ae Rin and Bon being together but also super weird cause we never got a kiss or any real romantic moments that weren't just hinted at. Either way I liked this show mostly cause of how weird it was and I'd give it a 8.5 / 10!

When Time Stopped (7/12): A man who can stop time meets a woman unaffected by time.
Moon Joon Woo is a seemingly-ordinary person, except for the fact that he can stop time. His special ability makes him lonely and he finds no meaning in life. When he needs somewhere to live, he moves into a basement owned by the building owner, Kim Sun Ah. Kim Sun Ah is a hard-working, financially struggling girl who appears to have much joy in her life, but in fact struggles to pay off her father's debt. Joon Woo finds that when he stops time, Sun Ah is not affected and continues to walk amongst a time-stopped world. With bubbly Sun Ah by his side, can the lonely Joon Woo begin to find the meaning of his existence?

I can't believe I didn't start watching this drama when it first aired a couple of weeks ago cause it's so much fun! It's exactly in my wheelbarrow of fantasy romance and though as of now the romance is pretty slow building, I'm having a ton of fun and I'm actually enjoying the slow build! I love the idea of being able to stop time and that the main lead is kind of an art thief in the sense that he's stealing art that others have stolen in order to repair it before returning it to the proper channels. I also love the main female lead and how she's so kind and hard working. It's super fun that they're the only two who can move when time is stopped and like I said before, I love their slow building romance and how she convinced him to use his powers to help others and how he saved her life a couple of times. I'm also fascinated with the idea that there are reapers in this world too that are around to stop people with powers though I feel like our main reaper kind of bends the rules so that he only catches people who use their powers to do bad things cause he found out about Joon Woo's time stopping but didn't do anything right away. I wonder if this show will have a super sad ending with Joon Woo dying but also living on through the story Sun Ah is writing or if they'll get a pass from God/Heaven cause they're using their powers for good. I also like that we spent the first couple of episodes focused on our main couple and then we spread out to get to know the tenants before I'm sure we'll refocus on the main couple!

CDRAMA

An Oriental Odyssey (24/50): In Tang Dynasty, the chivalrous eldest daughter of the Assistant Minister of Revenue, Ye Yuan An, saves Mu Le, an amnesiac young man of mysterious identity. Yuan An takes Mu Le in as a family servant, and the latter swears his loyalty to her. Along with Zhao Lan Zhi, a constable, the trio solve cases after cases together. But what is Mu Le's true identity?

We wrapped up the story with the puppeteer (with a shit ton of deaths and me feeling real sorry for the General's wife and daughter) but the more interesting plot this week had to do with Mu Le being sent to the army and seriously I was just as pissed as Mu Le that Yuan'an did that to him. Even if she had his best interests in mind, she's basically forcing him to do things he doesn't want to do just cause he's her slave and everyone in the army was pretty awful including Lan Zhi who I'm pretty sure was jealous of how much Yuan'an cared about Mu Le. I mean why else basically embarrass Mu Le by challenging him to a fight that Lan Zhi knows he will win and then talk about how Mu Le can never be with Yuan'an? I was thrilled he left to go with the bandits who ironically feel more like the good guys than the army does and I know Mu Le is going to eventually have to leave but I really hope he leaves to go figure out who he is rather than going back to Yuan'an as a slave or the army which I really can't seem him doing after he killed so many army men. I wasn't the hugest fan of the forced kiss Mu Le gave her but I still think they're endgame but if he stays as her slave I don't think they can be together. We got a bit more backstory on him in that he's definitely some sort of dragon monster thing and he definitely was living with someone who looks like Yuan'an (bringing credence to my whole kicked out of the magical dimension and sent to live as a human theory from a few weeks back) but also it looks like he's met someone he knows but she's being threatened into silence by some sort of spirit.

xoxo Allie