What Dramas Am I Watching This Week?

So 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 on 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

Big Issue (16/32): Set within the frenzy world of the paparazzi media. Due to a photograph, Han Seok Joo loses everything, including his job as a photographer for a top newspaper and his family. Ji Soo Hyun is the notorious chief editor of a paparazzi group. She hires the man to become a paparazzi photographer.

I keep wondering if there's some sort of overarching Big Bad in this show cause so far we haven't exactly had cases that relate to one another but this show seems like the perfect sort to do something like that especially with how we ended this week. I did really enjoy the case this week with the new actress who was being sold as a prostitute because I felt so bad for the girl and clearly Sunday did too though it was interesting watching how much Soo Hyun cared too. I really didn't think she had a line but apparently physically assaulting a girl is it but like not drugs or rape which you would think would be worse. I really thought the case would end terribly this week because I'm kinda waiting for a really big thing to happen and I thought that if we ended up losing the actress, Soo Hyun and Seok Joo would be more ramped up in the future and also because we've been on a winning streak for a while now and I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. I also low key kind of ship Seok Joo with his Team Leader though I think the show is starting to set up a romance between Soo Hyun and Seok Joo based on how Soo Hyun seemed to care about him this week. I'm also really curious about what kind of person the CEO is cause it seemed like he was afraid of the big bad prosecutor only to turn around and release the report anyway making we wonder what his game is. 

FINISHED Descendants Of The Sun (16/16): Kang Mo Yeon is a pretty and assertive woman who works as a cardiothoracic surgeon at Haesung Hospital. She isn't afraid to admit her mistakes and believes that capability overrides whatever connections you have. However, she is soon faced with reality that she cannot advance with just capability. Her life is forever changed when she encounters Yoo Si Jin, the Captain and team leader of Alpha Team who cares more about protecting anybody who needs help as well as his country, even if it goes against the order of his superiors. This drama will tell of how they both band together in a time of war and overcome the odds against them.

I mean you know I had to watch this drama right? It's one of the most loved kdramas out there so I went in with high hopes and seriously I should stop doing that cause every time I'm told that this drama is amazing, it always falls short for me. This time around it was awkward cause I just couldn't fall in love with the main couple. I loved that Si Jin was so calm and sweet and gentle and there was no moment where he acted like an alpha male or a cold male lead and I loved how steadfast he was in his love for Mo Yeon but she left a lot to be desired. Though I enjoyed that Mo Yeon never forced decisions on Si Jin once they got together, she started out as the kind of arrogant female lead I dislike who thinks that it's her way or the highway and that she's always right no matter what. I mean I totally understand that dating a soldier is tough cause of all the secrets and him being away for so long but her problem with him was that he killed people and I was sitting here like well no shit what did you think he does? This soured me on her and the romance that no matter what cute moments happened, I was uninterested. I only ended up sticking around cause I fell in love with the second couple. I adored Myung Ju as a character (and kind of wished she was the main lead) and I loved her romance with Dae Young and how much they loved each other and how they wanted to fight for each other but couldn't. I cried my damn eyes out during the M3 episode and it was her pain after his supposed death and his return that I cried about. I also loved the side characters especially Ki Bum who was a cutie though I did think the stakes were a little low for a drama about the military cause it seemed that nothing bad ever happened which is why I was never really scared. Overall I'd give this show a 9 / 10.

Eulachacha Waikiki 2 (2/16): Lee Joon Ki is an unpopular actor who runs the Waikiki guesthouse. However, business is bad and the guesthouse is facing bankruptcy. In order to revive the guesthouse, Lee Joon Ki asks his friends Cha Woo Shik and Kook Ki Bong to invest their savings in it. Cha Woo Shik is a picky person who dreams of becoming a singer. Kook Ki Bong used to be a promising baseball player, but instead is now stuck playing in the minor leagues. After Lee Joon Ki's request, they all put their money into Waikiki Guesthouse and start living their together. 

If you remember back the first season of this drama was on my top 10 asian dramas of 2018 list (at number 5 specifically) so you know I adored the first season of this show. When I heard that there was going to be a second season with a new cast, I was both excited and kind of apprehensive. Excited cause I can't wait to see what crazy antics the show will pull off next and apprehensive cause I really loved the original cast and I worried that by having Joon Ki still in it that we'd destroy one of the best parts of season 1 and that was Joon Ki's relationship with Seo Jin. After seeing the first two episodes I'm not entirely sure how I feel yet though so far it doesn't feel like it has the same charm as the first season. The budget is clearly much higher which makes the guesthouse set fancier and the lighting much better but the humor doesn't seem to be working as well yet. We also haven't met the full cast yet and with the first season, we slowly got to know each character week by week so I don't entirely want to judge the characters now. So far I do really like Woo Shik though Ki Bong doesn't feel like my cup of tea and Soo Yeon is fun but I haven't seen enough of the other two girls to judge them which is unfortunate. I wonder if we'll be pairing up couples like before because it looks like Woo Shik and Soo Yeon are obviously going to get together. Speaking of, it does suck that Joon Ki and Seo Jin broke up but I'd like to hope that maybe by the end Seo Jin will be back with a guest appearance and they can get back together or something!

He Is Psychometric (6/16): A boy who is able to read the secrets of those whose skin comes into contact with him, and a girl who does everything she can to hide her pain. In the drama, the boy and girl will meet and try to fix, heal, grow, and love from the small and big occurrences that happen in their lives.

So maybe after this week we can put an end to the skeevy feeling I get from Sung Mo cause it looks like his big secret is that he kind of knows who set the fire and killed all those people. It's probably that guy who was watching him in the current day and stabbed An and I'm assuming he must be Sung Mo's father who was probs abusive and that's why Sung Mo and his mom ran away 13 years ago. Obviously the man was following Sung Mo around for all this time but never interacted with him and only stabbed An after An followed him rather than out of anger or some other reason. In that case maybe Sung Mo wants An to read him so that An can figure out if this guy really did do it? It doesn't exactly explain Sung Mo's weird obsession with Jae In but maybe it really is just as simple as a creepy attraction that's not meant to be creepy and I'm just skeeved out cause of the age difference. I'm hoping that now that I know the secret behind Sung Mo that I can stop feeling the creeps around him cause I adore his relationship with An. My favorite moments were when they were playing around in the parking lot and scaring that one couple which by the by even if they were gay, that was an unwarranted response from that couple! On the other hand I was curious about whether Jae In was into Sung Mo or An but it looks like after this week it might be An cause she seemed to be sad that he didn't show up at the end of her shift. Sung Mo might be more of a hero worship for her. I was also kinda surprised to find out that her dad ended up committing suicide which makes me wonder if he knows who the real killer is and if that person threatened him by using Jae In so now that she wants to look into his case, he's scared she might meet the real killer.

FINISHED Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo (20/20): When a total eclipse of the sun takes place, a 21st century woman, Go Ha Jin, is transported back in time to the Goryeo Dynasty of Korea. She wakes up in the body of 16-year-old Hae Soo, an aristocrat living with Lady Hae, her cousin who happens to be married to one of the sons of King Taejo. She soon befriends several of the princes, who find her carefree and exuberant attitude refreshing. Although she knows she should not get involved in palace intrigues over the succession to the throne, she inadvertently becomes a pawn in the struggle, as several of the Princes fall in love with her.

My god if there's ever been a drama that I "hate watched," it would be this one. I was already kind of hesitant going in cause I know that this was a dearly beloved drama and with my track record I was afraid that I wouldn't enjoy it. Unfortunately this turned out to be the case here but not for reasons like I was bored or I didn't ship the main couple but in fact the writing made no sense and Ha Jin/Hae Soo was the worst female lead I have had the experience of watching. She literally started the drama upset cause her best friend stole her boyfriend and then turned around and did the exact same thing to her cousin. What kind of modern woman falls in love with a married man especially one that's related to you? Halfway through the drama she seemed to lose her entire personality and ability to use her brain and was wishy-washy about her love for Wang the rest of the time. Ugh the agony. She literally never trusted poor Wang So in the entire drama despite her saying she did every once in a while and it was ridiculous how quickly her mind changed about him despite her saying that she loved him. I hate hate hate when one lead turns on the other lead cause it's like bitch if you love him, trust him! She was literally the cause of all her misfortunes cause if she hadn't lied to Wang So about Eun then Eun would be alive and Wang So would never have tried to get the throne and then she would never have lost him. The ending wasn't tragic at all for me cause I was just like can this drama be over so I don't have to see Ha Jin/Hae Soo on my screen anymore and a part of me was glad she didn't get her happy ending cause nothing she did deserved it. On the positive side, Lee Joon Ki was really really really pretty in this, I liked almost all of the princes and their antics and the chemistry between Wang So and Ha Jin/Hae Soo was great too which is why I expected more from this drama and was let down at every turn. Overall I'd give this show a 6 / 10 and that might be a little too low but god damn that's how I feel right now.

FINISHED Touch Your Heart (16/16): Oh Yoon Seo is a popular actress. She is famous for her beautiful appearance, but her acting is bad. She gets involved in a scandal with the son from a chaebol family. Her acting career declines precipitously. Oh Yoon Seo hears that a famous screenwriter wants her to play the lead female role for a drama series. The character works as a secretary for a lawyer. To gain experience for the role, Oh Yoon Seo is required to work as a lawyer's secretary for a few months. Meanwhile, Kwon Jung Rok is an attorney for a law firm. He is arrogant and cold-hearted. One day, his boss asks Kwon Jung Rok to let actress Oh Yoon Seo work as his secretary for 6 months. He is not happy about the situation, but he has to accept.

This drama started out being pretty fun to me but like a lot of rom coms, it tapered off cause it felt like the show didn't have enough plot to fill the episode count so after Yoon Seo's stalker was caught, the show mostly just puttered along with nothing happening and it's the struggle cause I did enjoy the couple at the start but like What's Wrong With Secretary Kim, if there's no plot, I get super bored and cute scenes start to feel super cheesy. I need my shows to be balanced with romance and plot otherwise I start zoning out and that's what happened here. I'm glad that Yoon Seo and Jung Rok were able to make it despite her always being busy at work and his insane jealously which wasn't a real problem for the couple. It was also really funny when they tried to tell the Always Firm that they were dating and everyone thought they were joking before the CEO had a breakdown alone cause boy is in love with Yoon Seo. I also really loved Lawyer Dan and Lawyer Choi getting back together and I was glad that it was Lawyer Choi who did the chasing this time. They're scenes with the Always Firm after they came out as a couple were even funnier than Yoon Seo and Jung Rok. Overall I'd give this show a 8 / 10.

xoxo Allie

Arrow Season 7 Episode 17 Review

Well shit were the two words I thought as I ended this episode and dude are they true. I really enjoyed this episode and not only cause there were no flash forwards but I really liked seeing Emiko's backstory.

I was really shocked to find out that Emiko is actually the head of the Ninth Circle and not Dante after all which is crazy cause though I didn't trust Emiko's excuse to Oliver about being scared to leave Dante, I didn't think that she would be full-on evil! And that's what she is. Being the head of a criminal group and attempting to kill Oliver and destroying ARCHER could be things that could be redeemed but it was the final flashback scene which showed her having and knowing about the bombs Malcolm planted on the Queen's Gambit that really proved her badness cause what kind of person does that? Let's be honest Robert was the worst and we all know it especially after seeing him interact with Emiko in the flashbacks but Oliver was innocent and all those other people on the yacht and Emiko let them all die. I wonder if we'll get a scene at some point this season where she admits to Oliver what she did. I'm also still curious to know how she ended up in charge cause Dante taught her everything she knew and I also want to know what their ultimate goal is cause it sounds like they like to play with regime changes but I think it has more to do with owning and selling the best things cause why else would Emiko be interested in ARCHER?

Also can we take a moment to talk about why Emiko even knows anything about ARCHER? Like Felicity just built it and I'm pretty sure Oliver and Laurel are the only ones to know about it and we all know Laurel isn't gossiping with Emiko so it has to be Oliver. Like was he bragging about his wife to Emiko? They clearly aren't close enough to be eating together so it's not like Emiko is joining family dinners with Felicity and Oliver to hear about it. At least he didn't tell her about Felicity's pregnancy though if Emiko knew then everyone would probably know...

It was nice seeing Alena back tonight and it looks like she'll be joining Smoak Tech in the place of Curtis who left. We didn't get too much here other than the fact that Felicity is now trying to figure out a way to use ARCHER without having a DNA sample which I really don't know how that would be done unless she could hack into hospitals and get like birth records or something but it's not like hospitals carry everyone's DNA either and police files only carry criminal records so... I think we at least know that it works in the end though cause of the flash forwards and I think at least we know that Emiko and the Ninth Circle don't steal it either cause it's Felicity's until the future evil company steals it and maybe that future evil company is a Ninth Circle branch but until we're told that, I'm operating on the assumption that it's not.

I did really like the John/Oliver talks tonight cause if anyone understands having a sibling return only to be evil, it's Diggle. I almost completely forgot about Andy and how he was working for Damian Darkh in season 4 cause I do try to block out season 3 and 4 of Arrow but it served as a really good parallel. I loved that he was the first to suspect that maybe Emiko wasn't on their side after all and that he had that talk with Oliver about how he can't let family be his blindspot cause when Diggle did it with Andy, so many people died including Earth 1 Laurel.

Speaking of Laurel, I felt so bad for Earth 2 Laurel tonight and I really really hope that she doesn't end up joining Emiko and Dante this season cause she went through so much to become the good Laurel that she is now. It does super suck that only Felicity is the one who trusts who she is now and I hope that Felicity gets to talk to Laurel next week to remind her that she is in fact still a good person and that Felicity trusts her. Dinah was seriously out of line when she blamed Laurel for murdering that guy but it was a masterstroke of Emiko to release evidence of Laurel working with Diaz to ruin her though Laurel could always say that she was trying to be undercover and that it didn't work out in the end.

Haha looks like we will get a ton of Earth 2 Laurel next week but I refuse to believe Laurel switched sides until the end of next week's episode and even then it'll be iffy. I could see Laurel joining The Ninth Circle to spy on Emiko and Dante because if anyone knows not to bet against Team Arrow, it would be Laurel who lost to them while working with three separate villains (Adrian Chase, Cayden James and Diaz.)

xoxo Allie

What Dramas Am I Watching This Week?

So 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 on 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

Big Issue (12/32): Set within the frenzy world of the paparazzi media. Due to a photograph, Han Seok Joo loses everything, including his job as a photographer for a top newspaper and his family. Ji Soo Hyun is the notorious chief editor of a paparazzi group. She hires the man to become a paparazzi photographer.

Every week I forget what a terrible person Soo Hyun is and it's always a fun surprise when I start a new episode and remember it. This week our case has to do with a rich actor who everyone thinks has a hereditary disease that affects his body. I was a little confused about why this is news cause like so what if he is sick? It's not like that's going to affect his popularity or anything and it's not like he did it to himself as if he was a drug addict but the twist at the end of episode 10 where it was revealed that he was actually faking it so that he could get out of military service made up for it. I loved that Seok Joo was officially joining the crew this week and it's pretty weird to me that people in Sunday care about his old mistakes cause you would think that if anyone knew about sleazy photos it would be them and like we the audience know the truth but most of the world doesn't. I liked the woman he was assigned to work under and I can see a lot of fun antics going down between them and I loved how much she underestimated him especially since she couldn't get in to see the doctor but he managed to uncover everything. It's kind of hilarious cause he's leagues and leagues better than everyone else working at Sunday which is why they all hate him.

FINISHED Cinderella And Four Knights (16/16): Eun Ha Won is in the third grade of high school. She hopes to become a teacher which her late mother always wished for. Ha Won has a bright personality and a strong set of morals, but she is unhappy at home. She's unattached from her father, step-mother, and step-sister and also mistreated. Ha-Won works various part-time jobs to pay for her upcoming university tuition fees. She knows she needs to make more money to pay for the storage of her mother's ashes at the cemetery. Her mother's ashes were recently removed because of unpaid bills. Meanwhile Ji Woon, Hyun Min and Seo Woo are spoiled cousins and live together in the mansion Sky House. With their different personalities - Ji Woon is a tough guy, Hyun Min is a playboy and Seo Woo is a musician - they don't like each other at all. Additionally, Ji Woon likes Hye Ji who likes Hyun Min. One day, their grandfather orders his 3 grandsons to attend his 5th wedding ceremony. Hyun Min doesn't want to go, but he hires Ha Won for 3 hours and takes her to his grandfather's wedding ceremony. His plan is to upstage his grandfather's wedding ceremony with the surprise appearance of Ha Won. There, the grandfather witnesses Ha Won's no-nonsense attitude towards Hyun Min and decides to hire her as a live-in butler at the Sky House. He hopes she is able to change the ways of his grandsons.

I was in the mood for something super cute and fluffy that would make me smile the entire time I was watching it and this was exactly that. I loved Ha Won as a character cause though she was the pretty normal drama girl (poor and down on her luck) I loved that she never once felt bad for her and was badass enough to support herself and refused to look down on herself even once. I loved that she said everything she thought and refused to be a damsel. Her relationship with all the boys was pretty great and I liked that though each of them for interested at one point, Hyun Min was really only in love with Hye Ji and Seo Woo knew that Ha Won loved Ji Woon so he never acted on his feelings or tried to ruin her relationship with him. Ji Woon was the most precious hedgehog, all prickly on the outside but soft on the inside and I loved watching Ha Won and Ji Woon fall in love. They had so much in common from the start and I loved that though their relationship was full of misunderstandings at the start like most drama couples that Ha Won never used it to hate Ji Woon. They had such intense chemistry and I loved how natural it felt watching the two fall for each other though I was like come on kiss already (and when they finally did it was amazing!) I wasn't the biggest fan of the whole grandpa makes them breakup cause she's poor thing and I felt it was dragged a bit too long but the cute outweighed all of my complaints. On the other hand I really didn't care for Hye Ji who felt like such a fake person, the kind that pretends to be nice in front of you but hates you behind your back and it felt like she just wanted all the guys' attention on her all the time and at some point I stopped caring about watching her and Hyun Min's relationship who by the by I also blame for all this cause instead of talking to Hye Ji about how he felt like her brother's death was his fault, he decided to be an asshole. Overall I'd give this show a 9 / 10!

He Is Psychometric (4/16): A boy who is able to read the secrets of those whose skin comes into contact with him, and a girl who does everything she can to hide her pain. In the drama, the boy and girl will meet and try to fix, heal, grow, and love from the small and big occurrences that happen in their lives.

Ooh super not a fan of time skips and that's what happened this week. I was just getting used to this time in high school when we jumped forward two years for no reason. Maybe it's cause we didn't start in the future and flash back so I wasn't expecting it but I guess I get it cause we can do more with An and Jae-In if they're adults instead of kids. I do love them together and I've enjoyed how much they're friends now without any annoying misunderstandings or secrets between them. Poor An must be so scared whenever someone finds out about his powers so the fact that she accepts them and even teases him is definitely why he fell for her when they were in high school and it's super cute. I don't however love the weird feeling I get around Sung Mo and I can't decide why I feel that way. He and An's relationship is super sweet and I love how much they love each other and that's pretty much the only reason I'm trying to fight the goosebumps I get around Sung Mo. Maybe it's his sketchy relationship with Jae-In that makes me feel like he's interested in her romantically but god I hope we don't go that way cause it freaks me the hell out when high schoolers are in love with older men and like dude he must have at least 4 or 5 years on her. It also sucks for poor Ji Soo who is super in love with him and he has no idea. I kind of hope that she finds someone else cause I'm still not sure how to read him yet. I assume that this new suitcase serial killer might end up being caught by An and Jae-In and I'm super down for that.

FINISHED Please Come Back Mister (16/16): A man is worked to death, but he comes back to the living world in the attractive body of another man for a limited amount of time. Lee Hae Joon is a perfect man with good looking appearance, who works as a section chief in the women’s apparel section at a department store. But his body is actually possessed by the spirit of Kim Yeong Soo who was worked to death. Meanwhile, Hong Nan is a beautiful woman, but her spirit is possessed by a tough guy, Han Gi Tak. At the same time, Shin Da Hye is a beautiful housewife, but her husband suddenly dies. She falls into a love triangle with Lee Hae Joon and a promising store employee Jung Ji Hoon.

So this was definitely much different than most dramas I've watched before because like I've said, I don't usually watch dramas without any romance and I knew that's what this one would be like since the main female lead was possessed by a man but I wanted to check it out anyway cause I adore Oh Yeon Seo and I had seen a clip of her beating up a man in this show. I ended up being mostly meh about this show because I really disliked Yeong Soo's character despite being in Rain's body so I basically skipped half of the show but I really loved watching Yeon Seo play her character. Yeong Soo was the worst cause he spent so much time trying to make his wife fall back in love with him even though he knew he wasn't going to be around forever and it irritated me cause he was the kind of person who picked and chose what he wanted to hear so even when Da Hye was telling him over and over what her problems were, he ignored them. He even died in the most ridiculous way ever. Gi Tak however was so much more interesting cause he loved Yi Yeon but he knew that he wouldn't be around forever so he just tried to be there for her and support her and actually had things he wanted to get done in his second chance. I loved all the gangsters that worked for Gi Tak and I loved the little family they made. There were tons of funny moments and a pretty sad ending though I loved that the real versions of Rain and Yeon Seo were fated to meet anyway and I'd like to think they'll end up together in the end. Overall I'd give this show a 8 / 10!

FINISHED Romance Is A Bonus Book (16/16): Cha Eun Ho is a successful and handsome writer who is also the youngest chief editor at a publishing company. He has a calm demeanor and remains reasonable at work. He then becomes involved in the life of his childhood friend, Kang Dan Yi who was once a popular copywriter. She is now divorced, a single mother, unemployed and struggling in life though still attempts to find a job, but even with her once good career, she cannot. However, in a desperate attempt to find a job, she lies about her background and begins to work as a temporary worker in the same building under none other than Cha Eun Ho. As they become involved in each other’s life more than often, a love story begins to unfold.

The finale aired this week and tbh I'm kinda just glad this drama is over. I never really connected with it or adored it like a lot of other Lee Jong Suk dramas mostly cause I just didn't feel any chemistry between our main leads. I didn't love that Dan Yi spent so much of the drama seeing Eun Ho like a brother without any tension to be found in their relationship that would make it feel like more (sorry to compare again but look at Fight My Way!) and once they did get together, they spent it acting like Dan Yi wasn't married before and had never even touched a guy. I understand being nervous but I can't stand when in dramas two adults act like high schoolers. I thought the second male lead was super creepy for some reason and I never really enjoyed him but to my surprise I found myself lowkey on the ship with Seo Joon and Hae Rin. It was a little cheesy to have everyone in the company pair off by the end but I'll let it slide cause it's a rom com and I was thrilled that the show didn't end with Mr Bong and Ms Seo back together again cause they had real problems in their relationship and a hand wave just to give us a happy ending would have been really annoying. Dan Yi ended up back at Gyeoro Publishing which is pretty much what I expected and Seo Joon found out about his father and how much Eun Ho was there for him so that he could stop thinking the worst of Eun Ho. I did love that Kang's last letter was addressed to Eun Ho cause despite Seo Joon being his biological son, Eun Ho was there for him for 10 years without any complaint. Overall I'd give this show a 7.5 / 10 cause it was okay but nothing that I adored.

Touch Your Heart (14/16): Oh Yoon Seo is a popular actress. She is famous for her beautiful appearance, but her acting is bad. She gets involved in a scandal with the son from a chaebol family. Her acting career declines precipitously. Oh Yoon Seo hears that a famous screenwriter wants her to play the lead female role for a drama series. The character works as a secretary for a lawyer. To gain experience for the role, Oh Yoon Seo is required to work as a lawyer's secretary for a few months. Meanwhile, Kwon Jung Rok is an attorney for a law firm. He is arrogant and cold-hearted. One day, his boss asks Kwon Jung Rok to let actress Oh Yoon Seo work as his secretary for 6 months. He is not happy about the situation, but he has to accept.

I was really bored this week cause I'm never super into the breakup episodes in dramas and they're pretty much mandatory which sucks. Yoon Seo was really sad and I felt for her cause she didn't even know why Jung Rok broke up with her at all. It was extra annoying when Se Won told her that Jung Rok was having a hard time cause he made it sound like it was Yoon Seo's problem and if I were her I would have been pissed. Like the hell are you telling me for? He's the one who broke up with me out of the blue. Lol clearly I have feelings about this. Jung Rok on the other hand threw himself into his work so that he wouldn't have to focus on being sad and it was a bit heartbreaking to find out that he was sitting on that bus bench so much so he could look at a poster of Yoon Seo. Sidebar it did make me laugh a little cause I get that it's supposed to be a sweet gesture but you know how else he could have done this? By opening up google on his laptop or phone. It was also a little weird that we went back to an old case for the law case of the week and it was especially crazy that the woman who we thought was an abuse victim was such a schemer though it did lead to a bunch of great moments where the Always Firm had each other's backs. I also really enjoyed watching Lawyer Choi and Lawyer Dan together though Dan was so so desperate when they were dating and I kind of loved that she moved on so quickly cause I want Choi to chase her for once cause like I said last week, girl deserves to have someone want her first.

CDRAMA

FINISHED Cruel Romance (40/40): Cruel Romance tells the story of Rong Jinxiu, a country girl who travels to Shanghai in order to discover why her entire family was killed. Along the way, she meets triad leader Zuo Zhen, and after a series of accidents and misunderstandings, the two fall in love. Also vying for Jinxiu’s attention is businessman Xiang Yingdong, a businessman and close friend of Zuo Zhen. Ever protective of his woman, however, Zuo Zhen refuses to let other men even come close to Jinxiu – which ultimately pays off when a villainous Japanese man tries to finish off Jinxiu and her remaining family members.

After Well Intended Love I was in the mood for another cdrama and I wanted one with a bit of a dominant male lead and I have been wanting to check this one out for a while so I finally did. It was interesting experience cause I thought Jinxiu and Zhen had chemistry for days and I loved them together but the plot of this show was all over the place and I hated a ton of things. At the start it was a little insane how much Jinxiu despised Zhen for no reason and how she took every good deed he did as a negative while she treated Yingdong's similar and less important acts as perfection but then around halfway through the drama the romance started to build for real and I fell in love with their love. I adored how Zhen would do anything and everything for Jinxiu and their kisses were everything! Unfortunately a lot about their relationship was soured for me after the horrid storyline where Jinxiu was convinced that Zhen killed her family and the girl wouldn't even ask him outright cause it would have taken two seconds for him to clear her doubt and when episodes and episodes later she finally did, that's exactly what he did and I wanted to smack the girl for believing the man who tried to kill Zhen like three episodes ago. Mingzhu was such a sad character cause I thought she was very annoying for a while but then the whole get her addicted to drugs and then constant raping happened and I was horrified. I couldn't decide why she didn't just tell either of the Xiang men what happened but I still don't blame her for what happened. Honestly I couldn't care less about the Japanese arc in this and it was strange cause it was like the show and the characters wanted to be patriots or whatever but they didn't put enough energy into it which kind of negated the whole point. Overall I'd give this show a 7 / 10 cause it was a letdown. 

FINISHED Love Me If You Dare (24/24): Getting inside the head of a violent criminal is not easy. But Simon, Bo Jinyan, a brilliant criminal psychologist, has the ability to get into the minds of even the most mysterious and violent criminals. He was a professor at The University of Maryland and works as an analyst and advisor on the police department’s most violent or difficult cases. With the help of his young assistant, Jenny Jian Yao, Simon delves into the thoughts and intentions of the criminal mind. As the daughter of a veteran police investigator with a deep sense of justice, can Jenny help Simon open up emotionally as they work together to solve crimes?

After watching Cruel Romance and being highly disappointed in it I decided to change up my dramas and watch something that wasn't entirely a romantic drama and that's when this show came in. Of course I don't like watching dramas without any romance but this one had more to it than just romance and that's why I picked it. Plus Sandra Ma but you know sidebar. Overall I ended up really loving this drama. It was written to be extremely clever with plot twists that actually felt real rather than just something a writer wanted to add to mix things up. I loved the different cases and how Simon and Jian Yao went about solving them and how they gave us clues piece by piece so that we could play along and learn who the criminal was. I also loved the overarching villain and how each one was connected to another from Tommy to Xie Han to Zi Qi's fiance though I do wish we had gotten more single cases and spent less time on the overarching villain cause it did get to be a little too much at some points. I also loved the plot twist where we are supposed to think that Simon has a split personality and then have it revealed to us that he just made it all up like I actually thought cause Simon was captured by Tommy to study him and it would be an excellent way to get Tommy to think he has the upper hand when it was Simon all along. The romance between Simon and Jian Yao was paced perfectly and I loved how strong it felt though sometimes I did wish that it had been more overt. Jian Yao was an amazing female lead cause not only was she very observant and smart but she was logical too and didn't fly off the handle or get really angry when in different situations that other female leads that fit the "spunky go getter" type would and she trusted the man she loved and the love they shared when push came to shove (hello Cruel Romance.) I'd definitely give this show a 10 / 10 and recommend that everyone watch it!

FINISHED Well Intended Love (20/20): A third-rate actress with leukemia becomes entangled with CEO Ling because she needs him for treatment. In order to receive bone marrow transplant sooner and to continue her career as an actress, Xia Lin enters into a secret marriage with Ling Yi Zhou, the CEO of a company. Despite the conspiracies and misunderstandings they encounter, the two find true love.

I adored this drama to pieces and I can't believe so many people slept on this one! While the concept of this show was pretty basic and followed a lot of other drama plots, I loved how fresh this story felt. I have a soft spot for contract marriage shows cause you know I adore when the main leads call each other husband/wife so I was pumped to check this out. There was so much to love here that I don't even know where to begin. I adored that Yizhou was sweet to Linlin from start to finish and that there was no rich people drama from his grandma and since he had no family, there was no evil in laws either. There was also no company drama except for the end which was manageable cause it didn't take up the whole drama! Yizhou and Linlin were the cutest couple and I loved watching them fall in love but even better I loved seeing them continually loved each other cause so few dramas show us a married couple after they fall in love. I cannot explain how wonderful it felt to watch a drama where the main couple actually felt like a real adult relationship where they didn't kiss like once and then refuse to touch each other again! There was tons of chemistry between our leads and I loved the way Yizhou looked at Linlin like she was the only thing in the world he wanted. I will admit the circumstances behind Yizhou tricking Linlin into marrying him was uber creepy and if it was real life I'd be like girl run as fast and far as you can but this is a drama so I let it slide. I also loved the side characters from Chu Yan who was the most precious second lead and Feifei who played an amazing best friend and who I super shipped with Wen Li from the first moment they met. I also loved that there was some drama amidst all the fluff with the whole mystery of who's out to get Yizhou. Overall I'd give this show a 8 / 10!

xoxo Allie

The Flash Season 5 Episode 17 Review

Ugh talk about a tease. I really thought tonight's episode would be all about Nora coming out to the family about working with Eobard like the promo hinted at but instead that didn't happen until like the very end! Instead much of the episode was focused on Grace!Cicada which makes sense cause she just appeared and is already causing chaos.

Remember when Barry was talking to Cicada about his legacy and the legacy that he would leave behind for Grace and Cicada was like who gives a shit? Well spoilers you probably should have you asshole. Literally everyone knows that coma patients have a high likelihood of hearing what's around them (that's why it's supposed to be important for family and loved ones to talk to them all the time) so why he thought that sitting around an impressionable child and discussing his murder plots would be a good idea is anyone's guess. It led to Grace thinking that Cicada had it right and when she grew up and woke up that she should follow in Cicada's footsteps. I wondered how she had gotten back in time and it ended up being a stolen piece of Flash tech rather than Eobard like I thought perhaps it would be.

I was seriously shocked when Grace!Cicada ended up murdering Cicada though a part of me thought that this Grace was just too dark to allow literally anything to stop her from getting what she wanted even the only family that was left to her. It was funny though watching Cicada try to reason with her by being like your parents died cause of an accident and it wasn't that meta's fault when literally two weeks ago that wouldn't have mattered in the slightest to him. I was wondering last week and at the top of this episode whether Cicada would be a better person now cause I had a thought that maybe it was the dark matter that was triggering his anger and darker emotions and I still wonder that cause we never did get an answer especially since Cicada is dead now. He did seem softer but that might have been because of Grace herself and not the circumstances.

Cisco and Ralph's storyline was a little strange tonight cause Ralph wanted Cisco to introduce Camilla to the group and Cisco just wanted to keep his two worlds separate. In a way it did parallel the meta we had to save this week cause it's always better to not keep secrets from loved ones and I agree with the idea that keeping loved ones ignorant will do them more harm cause then they won't know what to look out for. There are rumors going around that Carlos is leaving the show and I could see this as a way for that to happen cause it was clear that he listened to Ralph when he said that separating the normal Cisco from Vibe wouldn't work so maybe instead of doing like Ralph thought and bringing Camilla into Star Labs, Cisco might just leave permanently after taking the cure. Of course this would suck cause Cisco is one of my favorites and Vibe's powers are so different and unique than the others!

Sherloque spent the episode trying to figure out who Nora's partner was and it was fun watching him do his thing and how he got there in a logical progression. It was a little asshole-y of him to out Nora in front of everyone but I could see that talking to Nora alone might not do the trick especially after she tried to get him off her trail so many times. I think Barry's reaction to lock her up had to do with the fact that Nora wasn't the one to tell the truth than the fact that Nora's working with Eobard. I really really hope that next week we get to explore this like I thought we would this week.

Yessss it looks like next week will be Nora's backstory! Thank you! I can't wait to find out what happened though I'm curious as to why the title of the episode is Godspeed cause that's a Flash villain. Will Nora end up being the villain for next season? Plot twist anyone!

xoxo Allie

Arrow Season 7 Episode 16 Review

This was not an episode of Arrow I was looking forward to because from previews it looked like it was going to be set in the future and I've been pretty vocal about how I've hated the flash forwards all season. The part of me that hates the idea that this is what the world becomes after Oliver and Team Arrow spent so many years of their lives protecting it still hated everything here but the rest of me thought that we got a pretty solid episode of television.

I do honestly think this episode was needed in terms of storytelling cause we've spent 15 episodes barely learning ANYTHING about what happened in the future and though some parts are still vague, the rest was colored in. I still don't know what caused Star City to hate vigilantes with every piece of themselves but apparently whatever it was led to Oliver and Felicity leaving and secretly having Mia. At the very least he was around for Mia's birth but I think Oliver must have died soon after. I was living when I realized that Nyssa was around to train Mia her whole life cause sister wives to the rescue amirite? While this was happening, Felicity kept working secretly to protect Star City.

I was so curious about why Mia seemed to despise Felicity so much and why she was so angry and I spent most of the episode irritated as hell with her despite thinking she was a badass and loving how competent she was at fighting. She had this massive chip on her shoulder and that led her to constantly be an asshole to everyone around her and it wasn't until the final talk with Felicity that I actually started to like her despite my need to want to like her cause she's Oliver and Felicity's kid! I think part of it is that we know that Mia's wrong in thinking that heroes and vigilantes are criminals but from her POV, it made sense cause of all the propaganda the Glades were spewing and it made sense that she hated Felicity so much because she thought Felicity had been lying to her for her whole life when actually Felicity told the truth and it was other stuff that led her the wrong way.

It does make me feel a little better about this future cause Mia clearly loves Felicity and they had a good relationship growing up and the only lies Felicity told were about how she wasn't a vigilante anymore. I really really really hope that angry Mia will be done with moving forward. I want to see her and Felicity and William bonding and more of her relationship with Connor please! I love the idea of Diggle's kid and Oliver and Felicity's kid being together.

I also loved the reunion between William and Felicity short as it was cause we've had more time to watch them together so their reunion was more meaningful. I loved that William was so happy to see her and that unlike Mia he had no real anger towards her now that he knows some of the truth and I hope at some point Felicity will explain how they never really abandoned him and that only once Oliver died that she thought she was protecting him by not reaching out. It was sweet though that his company only took off because Felicity secretly invested in it cause it was her own way of looking out for him.

I still want to know where Diggle and Lyla and JJ and Laurel are in this world cause we haven't seen head or tail of them and after we learned that Connor was adopted last week I thought maybe that would be because Connor took up the Green Arrow mantle while maybe JJ took over ARGUS but it seems that Connor took over ARGUS instead which makes me want to know why the show is ignoring JJ? Clearly Diggle is still alive but it's still weird that he would never have gone to visit Felicity and Mia especially if Oliver died and the same goes for Laurel who's friends with Felicity though I could see her dying before the current timeline.

The villain of these flash forwards is still kinda hard to understand but it seems like he stole Felicity's ARCHER program (which is anyone surprised at this reveal cause duh) and wants to use it to take over the world apparently but first needs to prove himself by killing everyone in Star City? I also don't entirely understand why Rene thought this was a good idea evacuating people or not. It's such a Malcolm Merlyn and the Undertaking move that I kept waiting for someone to call it out (especially from Roy) but no one did. I did love the whole scene at the party from when they infiltrated it to when Mia took down a crew of henchmen to when they destroyed the bomb trigger.

Thankfully we're going back to present day next week and back to what's interesting. Next week is focused on Emiko and what kind of person she is. I was a bit surprised cause I thought we might drag this secret on for longer but I think that we're coming to the end of the season and it's probably better not to drag it out. I hope we get her backstory next week and Oliver learns about her working with Dante!

I'll see you all tomorrow for my Flash review!

xoxo Allie

What Dramas Am I Watching This Week?

So 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 on 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

Big Issue (8/32): Set within the frenzy world of the paparazzi media. Due to a photograph, Han Seok Joo loses everything, including his job as a photographer for a top newspaper and his family. Ji Soo Hyun is the notorious chief editor of a paparazzi group. She hires the man to become a paparazzi photographer.

Wow what a messed up show. The story is a little too unbelievable and all the characters are terrible people but I'm fascinated anyway. I should have honestly known what I was jumping into with this show when the description literally told me that we're following paparazzi who by the way are the worst humans on the planet. I guess I just assumed that since this was a drama that we'd be seeing somehow more moral paparazzi but I think based on what I've seen so far the heroes are only the heroes cause the villains/targets are only so so much worse. In a way they are portrayed as not as bad as normal paparazzi cause they're not looking for romantic scandals but like illegal things. Despite this, the heroes themselves aren't good people. Seok Joo gave zero shits about that poor actress who was being raped and only cared about taking photos while Soo Hyun gave zero shits about blackmailing that poor actress into giving her an interview and whether or not Seok Joo lived or died after the train incident and the hospital. She is the direct reason for Seok Joo's life being ruined and I'm curious if he'll blame her or if he'll care cause he feels like in a place in his life where none of that matters anymore. Even more terrible is how little Soo Hyun cares and how even still she's using his weaknesses to help herself like using his sick daughter to get him to work for her and kidnapping him after he said no to her offer. The drama is filmed really well though and I'm fascinated with the world cause these characters are acting like their jobs are life and death with the blackmail and the thugs and the buying people off. I honestly don't care that much if we never see either character becoming good or getting karma to bite them in the ass cause after a few minutes of being shocked, I adjusted my lens to this world and I'm all in.

He Is Psychometric (2/16): A boy who is able to read the secrets of those whose skin comes into contact with him, and a girl who does everything she can to hide her pain. In the drama, the boy and girl will meet and try to fix, heal, grow, and love from the small and big occurrences that happen in their lives.

Sometimes it's really nice to go into a show with no idea what you're jumping into cause then you have no expectations that need to be met and that's what I found here. The synopsis was so short that I mostly just assumed that this would be a rom com set in a school with maybe a slightly dark tone but I was surprised to find that it feels more like an investigation drama with humor thrown in to smooth over the dark edges. Ahn is the adorable (I say that and he's like my age) being all energetic and upbeat and funny though a lot of this is a cover so people won't see his pain underneath it all. My heart broke watching him as a child and then when he was worried about people seeing him as a monster. Jae In is interesting cause at first she seemed like the kind of lead I'm mostly meh about, jumping to conclusions without any proof, but I did like that she has no problem with speaking her mind and as two episodes went on, suddenly I found myself loving her! I can already see the romance is going to be adorable and I love that the whole psychometry secret is out already cause it drives me mad when a major plot point like this is hidden from the other main lead (it's why I couldn't love Healer like I should have.) I also really love the little family Ahn made with Sung Mo being his big brother and Ji Soo being his big sister and I really hope that Sung Mo turns out to be a good guy like he seems cause there are hints of him acting a little dark. For a second I wondered if maybe he set the fire and all this is to hide that fact but then I remembered that we saw an older dude doing it so the darkness is probably just Sung Mo wanting to find the real criminal in that fire. As I expected in this sort of drama, all the main characters are connected to each other with Ahn's parents dying in the fire and Ji Soo's dad being the head detective who probably framed Jae In's dad while Sung Mo saved Ahn. I'm curious to find out what happened to Sung Mo's family and whether they died in the fire cause it looked like baby Sung Mo was at the orphanage with baby Ahn.   

Romance Is A Bonus Book (14/16): Cha Eun Ho is a successful and handsome writer who is also the youngest chief editor at a publishing company. He has a calm demeanor and remains reasonable at work. He then becomes involved in the life of his childhood friend, Kang Dan Yi who was once a popular copywriter. She is now divorced, a single mother, unemployed and struggling in life though still attempts to find a job, but even with her once good career, she cannot. However, in a desperate attempt to find a job, she lies about her background and begins to work as a temporary worker in the same building under none other than Cha Eun Ho. As they become involved in each other’s life more than often, a love story begins to unfold.

I was a little surprised when Dan Yi called Eun Ho her boyfriend this week but then I remembered they held hands and went on a date last week and in dramas, they're basically married now lol. The romance is totally working for me now on a basic level cause though I still don't think the main couple has chemistry, I do think a lot of their interactions are super cute and it's sweet how much they love and want to protect one another. Now onto the main story this week which I feel like is something that I don't understand probably cause it's a cultural difference. It seems insane to me that people wouldn't hire Dan Yi just cause she took a break from working for a while cause it's like she graduated from a really good school and she clearly did well at her job by winning awards and stuff but okay let's say I'll go with this idea cause it makes the most sense of my problems with this story. The bigger problem is that everyone's like super uncomfortable with her staying as a contract worker now that they know she's overqualified but like why cause it's not like Dan Yi is running around thumbing her nose at everyone/everything or constantly bragging about her old jobs and if it's really such a problem, why not just transfer her to the marketing team? The whole company knows that Dan Yi is a hard worker and really smart and still good at advertising so the idea that she won't be able to keep up with current marketing trends as a reason not to hire someone who took a break from work doesn't make sense here! It's also a little ridiculous that the CEO keeps being like Eun Ho this is a company, we can't bend rules when there's no board to talk to. All decisions are made by like five people and if they want to bend the rules for someone, why the hell not? I feel like a lot of this might just be contrived drama for the show but I'm sure Dan Yi will return to the company by the end even if I kind of want her to join somewhere else or start her own company with Eun Ho just to show everyone.

Touch Your Heart (12/16): Oh Yoon Seo is a popular actress. She is famous for her beautiful appearance, but her acting is bad. She gets involved in a scandal with the son from a chaebol family. Her acting career declines precipitously. Oh Yoon Seo hears that a famous screenwriter wants her to play the lead female role for a drama series. The character works as a secretary for a lawyer. To gain experience for the role, Oh Yoon Seo is required to work as a lawyer's secretary for a few months. Meanwhile, Kwon Jung Rok is an attorney for a law firm. He is arrogant and cold-hearted. One day, his boss asks Kwon Jung Rok to let actress Oh Yoon Seo work as his secretary for 6 months. He is not happy about the situation, but he has to accept.

We finally met Yoon Seo's stalker this week and I was disappointed that the whole thing with him was resolved so quickly. This includes the connection he had with the rich guy Se Won was going after cause I expected it to be a bigger mystery but instead everything is resolved offscreen and we're just told it all worked out. I guess I should have known cause this is a lighthearted rom com more than anything else and every time we get a new case that feels like it could go on for a while, it's finished in an episode or two. To my pleasure Jung Rok didn't get upset that Yoon Seo was at the law firm only to gain acting experience but unfortunately this was followed almost immediately by the noble sacrifice trope which was ridiculous but at the very least the reasoning behind it was better than Korean celebs can't date. I liked that it had more to do with the public view on her and how if they knew that she was dating while working at this law firm then the story would go from what a dedicated actress to she just did this to see the guy she liked. I really expected Jung Rok and Yoon Seo to have a talk by the end where he laid his cards on the table cause up to now these two have been pretty clear about their thoughts and I don't know why they can't still be together but just not in public. Like secret date like every other celebrity at least until the drama is filmed and after that people won't care that you might be dating the guy you used to work for. On another note I was living for how the Always Firm people were gossiping about whether or not those two were dating but the best part was when Lawyer Choi suddenly started crushing on Lawyer Dan too and that was everything even if the reason he ended up liking her was because she reminded him of his mother. I had that thought as a joke when the girls were talking about his ideal woman and then it came out to be true and I was mildly freaked out. I also loved how Lawyer Dan was like lets date and Lawyer Choi was so thrown. I can't wait to see more of their antics.

CDRAMA

FINISHED An Oriental Odyssey (50/50): Based off Miao Juan's novel. 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?

If you remember back, I started this drama back when it was airing in the fall but I ended up stopping around midway through the drama cause I was really not liking where the plot was going and I kept thinking I'd come back (which is why I didn't write up a dropped review) but recently I saw a YouTube video of Yuan'an and Mu Le and it was so adorable that it reminded me how much I adored them as a couple so I jumped back in. Unfortunately this second time around didn't help with the terrible writing of this show but I stuck around cause I loved Mu Le as a character and the costumes in Suoluo were so beautiful and I loved the back and forth banter between Mu Le and Yuan'an. Unlike most people, the time travel didn't bother me because I actually loved the idea of Yuan'an seeing Mu Le's past so she could stop blaming him for something he did that wasn't all that bad and because I loved seeing Mu Le/Prince Ying fall in love with Yuan'an over and over. It was once Yuan'an became a blue bat monster and the Empress of Suoluo started to make strange decisions that it lost me. Like you lock up one son after he tried to murder half the court, your second son and the Emperor but the second son falls in love and he's gotta be tortured almost to the brink of death and exiled? Like what in the actual hell and because of this it was so satisfying watching the Empress die. The sad ending didn't do any favors for me cause though I don't always mind sad endings, the fact that Yuan'an didn't actually realize she loved Mu Le and admit it until like episode 45 was completely ridiculous. I also hated that though Yuan'an and Mu Le got married like twice, neither really used it like in W where the main leads called each other husband/wife despite not even being really married cause why else marry so early in a show if we can't get such simple cuteness??? Overall I'd give this show a 8.5 / 10. It renewed my love for Zheng Ye Cheng as an actor and showed me how pretty Janice Wu is so it wasn't a total loss!

FINISHED Rookie Agent Rouge (45/45): Lan Yan Zhi is a privileged banker's daughter. She is a genius and has excellent observation and analytical skills along with a very sharp memory. She is not an average person and possesses qualities to become an excellent spy. She mistakenly comes into possession of a letter from the Japanese Army in 1937 and this is how her journey as a spy begins.

As you all know I adore Zanilia Zhao so of course I was up for checking out another one of her new dramas and I excitedly picked this one cause I love spying and cons and heroes outsmarting villains (it's what attracts me to heist and con-artist shows/movies too) and I was not let down. The pacing was a bit strange because it was exciting at the start but then slowed down a bit only to pick up again around halfway through the drama and the communism vibes was a bit too strong for my taste but I could let it pass cause obviously this was made in China and they believe in this message so I can't really complain. I loved the idea of following three major groups and seeing how differently each were portrayed in their ideals. I also really loved that unlike most shows, our leads were able to outsmart the villains almost every step of the way which was so refreshing cause most dramas usually make us sit through countless episodes of watching our heroes fail only to triumph at the very end. I adored our main lead Yanzhi cause I loved how super smart she was but what really grabbed me was Yuhao who was the perfect mix of sexiness and sweetness. I struggled for a while to decide whether I liked him or Song Mian better and though I think Mian was better looking, Yuhao was so much more competent which adds to his appeal cause he was a man who could protect you no matter what and Mian seemed to see people as tools rather than people. I do wish the romance between Yanzhi and Yuhao was a bit more overt but I could get past that since their love was evident in every move they made. Separately they were a force to be reckoned with but together they were unbeatable. The real problem was that I wish Yanzhi and Yuhao had learned about each other earlier cause it wasn't until like halfway through the show that they officially became a team and that's when the show picked up for me. My favorite scene in this entire show was the one where they were in that hotel restaurant with the whole Secret Service waiting for Yuhao's Communist doctor and they outwitted the entire room without saying one word of their plan out loud. I'm glad they got their happy ending but I'm not usually a fan of the time skip main character returns trope and it sucked that everyone we followed for 45 episodes died except for our main leads and Yanzhi's mom. Manna was a fun villain and I was actually okay with her redemption at the end cause though she did a lot of irredeemable things, there was a part of me that felt so much pity for her. I also kind of hated when Aoki and was replaced by Feng cause Aoki was a much more interesting villain though Feng was clearly smarter. Despite any of these minor complaints, I loved this show and I'd give it a 9 / 10!

xoxo Allie

The Flash Season 5 Episode 16 Review

I really enjoyed this week's episode of the Flash though the ending was funny cause I feel like it was supposed to be a big surprise when in fact it was pretty obvious from the start what was happening!

Let's start with Joe and Cecile who were struggling to work together which though it was great to have Joe back (the show doesn't feel the same without him), this storyline feels like a retread. Haven't we already seen this storyline with these two over and over? Maybe not with powers but I feel like we've definitely dealt with Joe not knowing how to work with Cecile before. Either way it was very smart of Joe to decide to look at the doctor cause I've been wondering why they haven't before since she's so sketch. I still think she's a hypocrite for trying to be a doctor but also assisting in the murder of dozens but it did suck when she was killed in the end which I was actually shocked about.

Another smaller storyline dealt with Iris who was feeling sad now that we were so close to catching Cicada cause she was worried that once he was dealt with, Nora would go back to her own time and she would miss out on so much. I'm not entirely sure why Iris is so worried about this cause it's not like Nora has to leave right away. After they catch Cicada, Nora could stick around for a little longer and go through that list with Barry and Iris and all's well that ends well. At the very least though it led to a really great emotional scene between Nora and Iris in the break room. I still don't entirely understand why Nora picked this time period to come back to cause you would think that she would want to stop Barry from disappearing in 2024 in the crisis but I still like the idea that her appearance has sped up the timeline making the crisis move up to fall of 2019 so if she sticks around until then that'd make sense.

At the start of the season I wondered why Nora hated Iris so much and now it pretty much just seems like Nora's an asshole who saw her mom as a monster just cause she stuck around and it's very similar to Mia and William over on Arrow who see their parents as terrible people for trying to protect them and I wonder if there's some sort of connection between the two cause though there's no time travel over on Arrow, it seems interesting that both shows are playing with the future even if William and Mia are from 2040 and Nora's from 2049 or so we're supposed to think. I still don't know what Eobard's plan is and why he cares about Cicada at all but I'm assuming that by him talking about the future changing that it's a result of the crisis being moved up like 5 years.

I thought it was funny that Barry and co were confused about how to reach out to Cicada while I was sitting here like dudes his daughter/niece! He loves her! Use that! And eventually they did but first Barry had to fail cause I assume the episode would have ended too fast. Sidebar but I laughed at loud at how Barry revealed his identity to Cicada cause the boy has no problem with letting everyone know who he is which is hilarious cause why even hide it at this point? Do like Oliver and reveal yourself to the world. It seems now that Cicada is human again but he was kidnapped by Grace from the future as well I think. I do wonder if she traveled back with Nora or on her own or if this is some sort of manifestation of Grace's meta powers like maybe her powers have to do with creating things from her mind cause we saw this Grace!Cicada in Grace's mind. It was a little funny cause it was clearly a woman under that hood and I was living for how no one else noticed. I am curious to know how Cicada will react to Grace and whether now that he's human again if he'll be calmer or still filled with rage.

Sidebar I'm still waiting for the reveal that Nora is working with Eobard to come out but now I wonder if Grace!Cicada will be the villain for the rest of the season. Do you think Grace!Cicada kidnapped her younger self too or left her in the hospital cause the next step seems to be to cure Grace as Team Flash promised Cicada and if they do that, the problem will be solved again.

Oh hell yes! The promo for next week seems to imply that Nora will tell Barry everything about working with Eobard and I can't wait! I wonder if this means that Grace!Cicada is in fact from the future and that Nora accidentally led her here.

I'll see you all Friday for my weekly drama reviews!

xoxo Allie

Arrow Season 7 Episode 15 Review

This was a really fun episode of Arrow and one that probably should have come earlier since it was all about Team Arrow clashing with the SCPD but I guess since it was just Oliver until now it was better to wait until all of Team Arrow was on board to do this type of episode.

Before we start, we should talk about the elephant in the room which is the fact that season 8 will be the final season of Arrow and that it will be 10 episodes long. I'm of two minds on this cause I really don't want Arrow to end as it is my favorite of the Arrowverse shows but on the other hand, I'm glad we get a planned conclusion so that we can get a well written end to this amazing show. Those ten episodes better bring back everyone that's alive or that we can like the 100th and 150th episode did!

As I said the main focus of this episode was the clash between the way SCPD does things and the way Team Arrow did. I was actually really surprised to find out that the mayor wanted the vigilantes to actually work as police officers cause I expected them to be more of a task force or like detectives so this episode was an eye opener. Also Oliver was allowed to wear his costume before but now the mayor banned it? I can't get a read on her cause she wavers between doing really obnoxious things and being a good person and I debated for a while if the show wanted her to be kind of minor antagonist but I think she's mostly just a bitch who apparently was best friends with a guy who was selling chemical weapons. I did love that Dinah was able to blackmail her into giving Team Arrow everything they wanted which was great and pretty much brings us back to status quo only now everything our crew is doing is legal and the villains will be arrested at the end. On the other hand, it kind of negated the whole point of this episode cause if we ended up doing exactly what Oliver and co wanted, why spend an episode debating how to follow the SCPD?

Also sidebar but this really didn't do any favors as to why the citizens of Star City should trust the police. Their policy in the field was terrible (even I could see that and I have no experience) and their computer system was so god awful. I was wondering if it would have been funny or not if Felicity ended up buying much better tech for that department and then that made me wonder once again how much money Oliver and Felicity had. I mean Oliver probs still has his trust fund after being ousted as CEO in season 2 and I assume Felicity got some sort of severance package from Palmer Tech after they ousted her in season 4 so a nice little nest egg?

As I expected Dinah can no longer Canary Cry which super sucks cause she was the only one on the team with powers and now she doesn't have them anymore which makes her and Rene basically the same in terms of character. Technically Diggle too but he's special so he doesn't exactly count. I did love the idea of the villains having chemical weapons and I kind of wished this was a Dante story arch rather than a weekly villain one cause how much more of a threat would he become if he started using this kind of weapon? I also don't really think we should be having episodes without any Dante since we're so close to the end and we still barely know anything about Dante and his plan and Emiko.

Speaking of Emiko, it turns out she's the one who killed Diaz in prison which was actually a surprise to me cause for some reason I didn't think of her last week when I was trying to decide who did it. I definitely knew it was someone working for Diaz but I thought it might be a Longbow Hunter. With this murder I think we're supposed to assume that Emiko really is a bad person. I was thinking she might be similar to season 3 Thea who was sort of manipulated into believing that Malcolm was a good guy and had her best wishes at heart but I don't think Thea ever killed someone on Malcolm's order. We also can't handwave this death away cause the show was making SUCH a big deal of Felicity wanting to kill him so we have to assume that season 1 murder logic doesn't count here anymore. I would say it's interesting that she knew who Laurel was but I think it's probs really obvious how she knows who Laurel is cause girl worked with Diaz who worked with Dante who's somehow related to Emiko so I'm sure he gave her all the details about everyone surrounding Oliver.I did like the confrontation though even if after Emiko was like who would believe you over me Black Siren my brain was like dude Felicity and Laurel are best friends so of course she'd believe you. Also Oliver and Brick are kind of bros so.

It was nice seeing Brick again though I still wish he had been part of the Ghost Initiative or whatever they were called especially if the reason he wasn't on it was because the actor was busy or they couldn't afford it since the Ghost Initiative was only in like 3 episodes. He did more during Oliver's prison arc.

Felicity and Oliver were precious this week cause I was living for pregnant Felicity and her constant cravings and I kind of hope this is an ongoing joke throughout the rest of the season. I also love how much Oliver lights up every time they talk about the baby or being pregnant. It was also super sweet when they told Diggle about the pregnancy and how happy he was for them too and how he brought Felicity ginger snaps like Lyla ate (lol way to not keep the secret to yourself Diggle though I'm sure Oliver and Felicity knew Lyla would know too given the whole married thing.) It also makes sense so far for Oliver and Felicity not to say anything about the pregnancy cause if Felicity isn't showing yet that means she's less than three months pregnant and most pregnant people don't say anything until at least 3 months cause there's a greater chance of miscarriage before then.

It's also interesting cause if we say that the show is running concurrently with our time now then the baby would be born sometime in September or October which is about the time that Arrow will be returning with its final season. It's also possible that Arrow will slow down their time so that the baby won't be born until right around the crossover in November or December cause the only way that I can imagine that Oliver and Felicity don't tell Dinah, Roy/Thea and Rene about their baby is if Oliver dies in the crossover and then Felicity leaves Star City to go to Vegas where her mom is or something.

And with that let's jump to the flash forwards which were boring again this week and we didn't really learn anything new. Mia and William spent the episode trying to find a cassette player and it was very similar to the Flash scene where Ralph and Barry went to the underground black market. I will never understand why characters like William or Barry won't just sit still when they're told to. Clearly Mia knows what she's doing in a place like this and what makes you think you're smarter when you've never been here or in Star City for that matter? I still hope that these flash forwards are some sort of red herring or will be changed after the crossover. I would love if this was the future after Oliver was killed by the Monitor in the original timeline but he survives somehow and the future changes cause damn it all but of all the shows, Arrow deserves a happy ending for it's cast cause they're the parent show of this universe and deserve to go out in glory.

Well throw all my predictions out the window cause the promo for next week was all about Felicity giving birth to Mia. The synopsis makes it sound like this will all happen as a flashback for Mia in the future which makes sense cause why would Arrow suddenly jump 7 or 8 months forward in time. At the same time showing Mia's birth through flashbacks in the flash forwards is the weirdest way to take this pregnancy storyline and once again leads me back to the idea that this future will not happen. I really hate these flash forwards honestly cause they're sucking all the fun out of the current day story! Also if we're supposed to fix Nora's future in the Flash, Mia and William deserve to have a better future too!

I'll see you all tomorrow for my Flash review!

xoxo Allie