So here's what I'm watching this week! Of course the list is split by country and the amount of 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 reviews, click here and if you want to see a list of my Favorite Asian OTPs and Ships, click here!
KDRAMA
Dinner Mate (16/32): This drama is about a young woman going through a rough breakup with a longtime boyfriend she’s still in love with, and a man who has had a painful first love. They both meet unexpectedly in Jeju and continue their acquaintance in Seoul as well. Life has its way of bringing them together as they find themselves meeting at unexpected situations. Both have a common love for food and will cherish eating together and trying new cuisines.
So we're about halfway through this drama now and I'm totally shocked that Jae Hyuk is actually the yandere type in that he'll literally do anything violent or otherwise in order to get the person he wants and that's low key terrifying. I have a feeling that he was the reason Keanu ended up on the streets just based on how Keanu is terrified of him and even went as far as to warn Hae Kyung about him. I mean not that Hae Kyung really needed a warning cause the man saw how tightly he gripped Do Hee's arm and how he came all the way to Hae Kyung's office to destroy a table and have a mental breakdown in front of him. Unbeknownst to him though, Jae Hyuk might have done all of us a favor by revealing Do Hee's identity to Hae Kyung. I love that both figured out who each other were this week and that neither really cared who they were online cause they've gotten to know each other in real life so none of that matters. What's really weird though is how Do Hee reacted to it. Why is she so scared of liking Hae Kyung? I'm worried that instead of how cute they were together and how soft their interactions were before this that now we'll be seeing Hae Kyung and Jae Hyuk fight each other for her affection in that awkward kdrama way that's supposed to be funny but is actually cringe-y and even more so cause Jae Hyuk is clearly dangerous. It's probs too much to hope that Hae Kyung will be more mature right? I'd also like to believe that No Eul would be better and see that Do Hee brings out Hae Kyung's emotions like she never did and wish them well in the end but I'm sure that's asking for too much and we'll just get more catfights and jealously when she watches Hae Kyung be jealous or possessive around Do Hee and Jae Hyuk.
FINISHED Good Casting (16/16): Baek Chan Mi is a legendary agent for the National Intelligence Service. However, due to an excessive operation, one of her subordinates passes away. After this incident, she takes back all hope of returning to the field when she gets an order to go undercover. She begins working as a secretary for Ilkwang Hitech under the name, Baek Jang Mi. She is joined by a single mother, Im Ye Eun, who has the beauty of a girl group member, and Hwang Mi Soon, a housewife of 18 years whose family believes her to be an insurance salesperson. These three women begin to work together. Meanwhile, Ilkwang Hitech’s CEO, Yoon Seok Ho, knew Chan Mi as his tutor and had a crush on her. He can’t help but think that his new secretary, who looks exactly like his first love but has a different name and age, is a bit suspicious.
This finale actually felt heavily like it was intending on setting up a second season though in the end all the major story beats were solved. Michael was caught and then subsequently murdered by Tak who managed to survive all this time though apparently not enough to contact the NIS or anything. Myung was arrested and charged for every bad deed he committed though Seok Ho's secretary ended up dying. Woo Won and Ye Eun got together after he chased her to her apartment after she turned it down and though I really disliked their relationship and how he's this man-baby who has power over her, I do have to admit the scene where he told her to take charge of him after making him fall for her was cute. Even Chan Mi and Seok Ho got together which you know I was meh about but he learned that Myung actually wasn't the one to kill his father and that it was actually an organization called White Collar that did it who will probs be the Big Bads if we get a season 2. Honestly I'm just glad this show is over and as I think back to how excited I was about this show when it first aired, it's kinda sad. Overall I'd give this show a 7 / 10.
Mystic Pop Up Bar (10/12): “Mystic Pop-Up Bar” is based on a popular webtoon of the same name and tells the story of a mysterious pojangmacha (outdoor drinking establishment) run by a prickly woman and an innocent part-timer who visit customers in their dreams to help resolve their problems.
Well we learned officially that Gwi is the Crown Prince like I called weeks ago but honestly I'm just glad the show didn't pull a Hotel De Luna and try to twist the plot to shock us cause I prefer it this way! It would have made zero sense for the Crown Prince to not be Gwi! The bigger shock is the reveal that Weol Joo and the Crown Prince had a child and that child is the reason that Weol Joo agreed to undertake this 100, 000 grudge challenge and after hearing that, I'm almost completely certain that Kang Bae is the reincarnation of their kid. We're told that Weol Joo's child must go through a 1000 years of misery to make up for her killing the Sacred Tree (like in A Korean Odyssey) and Kang Bae definitely has had a miserable life so I defs think that it's him. We also learned that Yeo Rin is the reincarnation of the Cinnabar and that's why when men touch her, they see horrible things and that though Kang Bae's vision can't be turned off (cause of Weol Joo's shenanigans back in the day), he can stop his powers by getting with the Cinnabar aka Yeo Rin so that all works out cause the two are into each other. Meanwhile our evil spirit managed to kill every agent sent to kill him and now he's even destroyed the God of Death himself (through cheating but I think it counts) and I'm just sitting here like the Afterlife is so interested in punishing innocents like Weol Joo and Gwi but they can't muster up the tiniest bit of interest for an actual evil spirit that's going around murdering humans now??
My Unfamiliar Family (6/16): Is blood thicker than water? Kim Eun Hee, is about to find out. She is the middle child in a family that is slowly starting to drift apart. Her older sister is a former patent attorney, and her younger brother is a sensitive soul. And although her father is hard-working, he is often distant – an attitude that has her mother poised to begin a new chapter in her life. While she pines for intimacy, Kim Eun Hee keeps her feelings hidden from her family. Instead, she prefers to confide in her close male college friend Park Chan Hyuk – a man who has become more like a brother to her than any of her real siblings. And it is to him that she turns for love advice as she looks to return to the dating scene after a long absence. But what happens when events take a turn? Could the family pull together in time to weather the storm? And when the going gets tough, will it be Kim Eun Hee’s family or her friends who step up to the plate?
I want to scream to the heavens how thankful I am that this show might actually stick with Eun Hee and Chan Hyuk as endgame!! It was touch-and-go there for a bit with the reveal that Chan Hyuk liked Eun Joo back in the day and the fact that neither Chan Hyuk or Eun Hee batted an eye when they were teased about ending up together but this week even before the final moments of the episode, I had a feeling that they were protesting too much for it to be real. It helps that I really don't like Eun Hee with Geon Joo even though this week we learn that he actually did break up with his girlfriend and that she's the one who's refusing to leave so it's not exactly cheating but I'm also just a straight sucker for friends to lovers stories done well and that's exactly what we have here. Whenever Eun Hee has a problem, she turns to Chan Hyuk and I love that even when they weren't talking that he refused to take her ex's side and go to the wedding. Tae Hyung meanwhile up and ran away like the coward he is and eventually he got tracked down where he doubled down on his pathetic nature by pretending to be the bad guy around Eun Joo so that they could avoid the tough conversation and now I want Eun Joo to divorce him for all that he has and more especially after seeing how his mom reacted to the news. It does kinda suck though that Hyo Seok is also gay cause Eun Joo deserves a happy ending as well and I low key wanted it to be with the barista. I also get more and more horrified about the dad and how he treated the mom every week and truly I want her to get the marriage graduation she wanted cause that asshole deserves to suffer too.
Oh My Baby (12/16): Aged 39, Jang Ha Ri is the ultimate workaholic. She hasn’t even had a boyfriend in the past decade, long ago decided to forget about looking for love, and instead has thrown her energy into her career. However, as she works as a senior reporter for a parenting magazine named “The Baby,” she is constantly reminded of the one thing she wants most in life – to have a baby of her own. She decides to cut to the chase and try for a baby but wants to skip one key stage – and resolves not to marry. But as she turns her mind to single parenthood, she suddenly realizes that she is surrounded by admirers: freelance photographer Han Yi Sang, super-smart pediatrician Yoon Jae Young, and the office newbie, the doting Choi Kang Eu Ddeum. Could any of these three love candidates help Jang Ha Ri in her quest to become a mother? And could her quest inadvertently send her on the path to true love?
I was right last week when I said that Ha Ri would mull over what Yi Sang told her for a bit but in the end would choose him but that doesn't mean that it wasn't totally hard to watch how she shut him out so fiercely and how he shattered every time she did that. I understood where both were coming from but I do have to admit that I was little more on Yi Sang's side than Ha Ri's cause from what we know Ha Ri only has 3 months to get pregnant and it's like even if Yi Sang was perfectly healthy, the chances of her getting pregnant in the 3 chances they have are really low so it would have been completely irresponsible of Ha Ri to choose a future with a low probability over a future where she knows she could be happy! And worst comes to worst, if she wants kids all that badly, they can adopt after they get married. I'm still pissed that this show didn't even consider adoption an option and used it as a throwaway line this week cause it could really solve so many problems and it doesn't help that I'm watching so many shows right now where we see adorable kids in orphanages that need homes too! What really won me over though was how Yi Sang reacted to Ha Ri needing space and how steady he was in both his feelings and his love for her and that's exactly what every girl wants!! Can't you see why I think he's so swoon worthy?? In other news Jae Young is continuously being the worst and he's really making me uncomfortable with his stalking and I was super pissed that he found out about Yi Sang cause Yi Sang's fertility is none of his goddamn business and I hate that he was judgemental towards Yi Sang then ran to tell Ha Ri and even pretended like he was this magnanimous guy for not telling Ha Ri's mom. Ugh.
Soul Mechanic/Fix You (28/32): How do you deal with anger? Where does happiness actually come from? These questions are at the heart of Fix You, a touching drama about a quirky psychiatrist on a mission to help people heal, and a rising star whose emotional wounds run deep. Lee Si Joon is an eccentric but passionate psychiatrist working in a hospital. He cares deeply for his patients, whom he tries to help through valiant, yet often unorthodox efforts. Han Woo Joo is an up and coming musical actress. Honest and principled, her efforts on the stage seem to be paying off, but she struggles with anger issues and recurring mental breakdowns that threaten to derail her career. With compassion as his tool, can Lee Si Joon help mend her soul and let the healing begin?
Honestly I do feel like Woo Joo's sudden emotional growth came out of nowhere cause though she was getting better, I feel like this week meant to show us that she's almost completely cured and the only reason I can see for that is cause this show is coming to an end next week. I'm sitting here like if the show really wanted me to believe that Woo Joo was going to end this show almost completely cured, then it should have focused on her mental health a little more and less on the weekly cases and the heavy focus on whether or not Woo Joo and Si Joon could date. On the plus side, it doesn't look like their relationship is going to be talked about anymore especially since Woo Joo has officially switched doctors though I didn't love that she hopped from doctor to doctor this week and that she found out that she has BPD cause in real life she would have spiraled though in this show it seemed to have strengthened her resolve. Having said all that, I did love everything with her trying to be better though from how she was able to hold her temper and how she was able to rationally figure out how to be a good girlfriend to Si Joon and how she was ready to find out the truth about her birth mother. I loved that she asked for help when she needed it and I'm seriously all for it. Also awesome was how all of the residents and interns and nurses at the hospital rallied around Si Joon after his unfair disciplinary actions even though I was highly disappointed in how Dr In reacted to the whole thing.
DROPPED Sweet Munchies (8/12): Park Jin Sung runs an odd little late-night restaurant where customers only choose which drinks they want and their appetizers are chosen by Park, who customizes the dishes to match their drinks. His goal is to provide diners with warmth and comfort through delicious food and excellent customer service. Seeing customers enjoy their food also gives him a great measure of happiness. At the urging of one of his regular customers, Park becomes the host of a new variety show called Midnight Snack Couple, which shoots him to popularity and fame. Regular customer Kim Ah Jin is a passionate PD. She usually has a smile on her face and always looks on the bright side. Her optimism is only matched by her love of food and drinking. After working hard as a crew member in production teams for many years, she finally gets her break as a PD when she convinces Park Jin Sung to become the host of her TV show. Kang Tae Wan is a successful fashion designer. He hosts his own fashion TV program and comes to know Park Jin Sung and Kim Ah Jin when he’s brought onto the Midnight Snack Couple variety show as a stylist for Park. As the three work together, they eventually become involved in an atypical love triangle.
I know I'm so close to the end of this show but I don't think I can keep watching this one! Every week I'm so uncomfortable as I watch and I watch every scene with a big yikes in the forefront of my mind. It super sucks cause I adore Jung Il Woo and so much about this show would have been great if only the show didn't want Jin Sung to pretend to be gay as a plot point! I'm the type of person who can't exactly focus on the here and now when I know that something horrible is coming down the line but I suppose this week finally hit one of the many notes I was waiting on and probs the one I was most interested in and that was Jin Woo finding out that Jin Sung was pretending to be gay on Sweet Munchies. Honestly I was surprised with how small of a reaction Jin Woo had towards the whole thing but I guess he must know in his heart of hearts that Jin Sung didn't mean anything untoward with what he did especially after knowing how desperate for money Jin Sung was at the time. Their makeup scene was really sweet and I'm all for him silently judging Jin Sung for his mess with Ah Jin but I was surprised that he didn't ask Jin Sung to step down cause it's not like they're strapped for cash anymore. Ah Jin also realized her feelings for Jin Sung and they shared a kiss and it might have been the last straw for me cause as I pictured having to go into next week and cringing through the lies coming undone, I didn't think I could do this anymore so I'm sorry guys but I'm out!
We were able to wrap up our teenage gang case this week and it was absolutely crazy how emotionally attached I got to the younger dead brother and his relationship with his girlfriend. I will never get tired of how fun it is that this show will have Kang Ho and Moo Young work cases from two angles and yet end up in the same place! I'm just so used to female leads in these types of shows either needing the male lead to hold her hand through investigations or having nothing to do with the cases and just be a love interest so Moo Young is defs one of my favs! Oni was totally messed up cause he knew that kids under 14 can't be arrest and tried for crimes so he basically strong-armed runaways into killing for him so that if they ever get caught, his hands can be metaphorically clean since they all look up and fear him so they'll take the blame. Unfortunately for him, killing the younger brother was his fatal flaw cause he didn't realize that love overpowers fear any day of the week so their love for their friend led them to admit the truth to the cops. What's more interesting though was that one of the bullies from back-in-the-day ended up being murdered himself at the end of the episode cause someone decided to play vigilante and I'm assuming it was that weird old man that Kang Ho keeps following around.
CDRAMA
Fake Princess (14/27): So what if she loves money, don't all mountain bandits love money? For a chest full of gold, the mountain bandit offers herself up to the black-bellied prince thus marking the start to a beautiful romance. Chang Le was once a free and untamable female bandit. However, she becomes a fake bride in marriage to crown prince Li Che. Stepping into the confines of the palace, Chang Le finds it difficult to adjust after being repeatedly humiliated. Despite her situation, she learns to adapt like a feral cat showing her true stripes. Li Che who has traced every step vigilantly finds himself gradually attracted by Chang Le's liveliness. Each wearing a mask to hide their own motives, the two people find comfort in each other.
So much happened this week to move the plot forward and honestly I was shocked by it for many reasons. First of all, Chang Le revealed her identity as nothing more than a thief to not only Li Che but his Grandfather Shen and Sun Mo which I expected to happen at some point in the season but definitely not now! Not only is it super early in the show but she also was able to say it herself rather than having Li Che figure it out through a third party. The crazier part of all this is that Li Che forgave her immediately though I suppose the fact that she's not Liu's granddaughter is the best news he could possibly get cause now he doesn't have to worry about offending her when he gets revenge on Liu since she wants revenge on him too. I totally knew that Shen would be giving Chang Le fake poison cause obviously but his comment about how she looked like someone he knew was the most interesting part. She claims that she learned Duan moves through her master who probs was the last Duan but I have a feeling that she might be a daughter of Duan too and just not know it. In other news, I'm really not thrilled with the appearance of who I think is going to be the second female lead cause they're always so annoying but I'm not too worried cause not only is Li Che head over heels for Chang Le but they're already married so we can't go with the oh she's my betrothed so I feel bad about being mean to her. Yan'er and Heng'er running away was strange too cause I totally thought that she would end up married to the Emperor and that would be Heng'er's villain origin story but I suppose Liu is enough of a villain that we don't actually need more.
FINISHED The Romance Of Tiger And Rose (24/24): Since birth, a screenwriter finds herself becoming a character in the script of her own creation. However, she is not meant to live past three episodes! Chen Xiaoqian is a writer who poured blood, sweat and tears into creating a big female-centric drama. What could have started filming smoothly quickly turned south because of actor Han Mingxing's reservations about the script. Feeling wronged, Chen Xiaoqian vows to prove herself yet she accidentally gets stuck in a parallel world where her story has come to life. Now known as the 3rd princess Chen Qianqian, she is an insignificant side character with a horrid reputation that is not meant to live long in the story. In order to live, she starts on a road to reverse her fate. She also gets caught in between the arrogant and black-bellied prince Han Shao and the practically perfect Pei Heng.
What a fabulously cute ending to a fabulously cute show! This show has totally shown me that Zhao Lu Si is actually a really good actress and that the reason I've been meh about a lot of her other previous shows was either the script (as in Love Better Than Immortality) or the chemistry between the leads (like in Oh! My Emperor.) When she cried for Han Shao this week about how he's forcing her to go back to her world which means that he doesn't want her anymore, my heart shattered for her even though I knew it wasn't true! Everyone needs to be watching this show cause it actually does the same thing a show like W: Two Worlds did with sending a person from the real world into a fictional one only to fall in love with a fictional character while also making the romance between the leads super cute. I loved that we found out that Han Shao's mom was actually Hua Mulan and it totally explains why Han Shao was totally chill with a badass woman and how his parents who I thought were going to be these scary people ended up being just as silly as Han Shao was. One of the best scenes this week took place between the three parents as they argued over where Han Shao and Qianqian would live and whose last name their kids would take! I also really loved the fact that after Xiao Qian came into the real world that Min Xing got all his memories as Han Shao back too so the two can be happy all over again in the real world! I do wish that Xiao Qian would have changed her story cause Chuchu was seriously the worst but she's kinder than me though I'm glad she gave her Qianqian and Han Shao a happy ending anyway. Overall I'd definitely give this show a 10 / 10!
xoxo Allie
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