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 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

Law School (8/16): When a grim incident occurs at their prestigious school, justice through law is put to a test by a tough law professor and his ambitious students. Yang Jong Hoon is a criminal law professor and a former elite prosecutor, whose harsh words make him the professor to steer clear of. At the same time, there’s something compelling about his strict teaching methods and his refusal to accept less than the best from his future juniors in the legal profession. Han Joon Hwi, a first-year law student, is at the top of his class. He’s a natural leader whose good looks and easy charm make him the perfect man - on paper. However, there’s an unexpected side to him that remains well-hidden. Kang Sol is another first-year law student who overcame childhood poverty and hardships by gaining special admission to the school. She walks a path of thorns due to her constant sense of deprivation and shame amidst the wealth and talent that surrounds her. Eventually, her passion will enlighten her on what it truly takes to be a good lawyer. Kim Eun Sook is a civil law professor who was once the head of the law school’s free legal clinic. Her natural air of authority and freewheeling personality earned her the reputation for being a master in court. Known for being a highly-relatable professor, she is the sole colleague Yang Jong Hoon dares to confide in.

We're officially halfway through this show now and thank goodness that things are finally being cleared up! I don't actually think that we were supposed to know about Kang Dan before this other than maybe that person being someone Sol A knows but as it turns out she used to be a volunteer for the Assemblyman and she was the one to propose the Lee Man Ho law but he stole it and she was trying to sue him with the help of Professor Yang though I think that he probs ended up threatening her into dropping the charges and the rapist on the other hand is looking for her cause she apparently was close to his son at the orphanage. I am starting to wonder if maybe Seung Jae is the missing son this week and that maybe he ended up marrying Dan which is why he's always so affectionate towards Sol A and why he keeps talking about a wife but we've never seen. We did learn that it looks like he's been hacking into the professors' computers and stealing the exam papers which is why he's a straight A student. Also in the spotlight was Ji Ho who we learned was the son of a toy company CEO who died after being wrongly accused. The prosecutor who leaked the info was Prosecutor Jin who did the same thing with Professor Yang's case so it's a pretty well used trick of his and I can't wait until he's screwed cause by now he's not even trying to pretend like he's trying to find Seo's killer anymore. We also saw Ye Seul accidentally hurt her abusive boyfriend but Yang saw her so I'm sure that he'll be fine and Ye Seul won't be like charged for attempted murder or something especially since everything the boyfriend does will look bad on the Assemblyman so they'll probs just hide the whole thing.

Sell Your Haunted House (8/16): Ji Ah, a woman who has inherited exorcism abilities from her mother, is the owner of Daebak Realty, a company that specializes in selling haunted houses. Ji Ah looks perfect and is also brilliant, but her hot temper makes her fists fly before her words. One day, Ji Ah encounters a conman named In Beom who specializes in exorcism fraud. Late at night when Daebak Realty operates, In Beom visits Ji Ah to make an offer. He suggests that they team up to exclusively sell houses that are haunted by vengeful spirits and lingering ghosts. Can the two get along well and deal with house prices, ghosts, and their sorrowful stories?

This week marks the halfway point of this show and honestly I've been enjoying this show so much that I didn't even realize it until I started this review cause it simultaneously feels like too early and also about freaking time that In Beom and Ji Ah figured out how their past intersects. Ji Ah's reaction was totally heartbreaking cause the last person whose fault this whole thing was definitely poor In Beom. I don't know if In Beom's uncle really did kill for the CEO but either way it seems that all the ghosts of the dead possessed In Beom who was taken to Daebak to be exorcised and I'm still waiting to find out what went wrong. My vote is still on the secretary who we find out was the one to call the police but maybe the file she stole had important information Ji Ah's mom needed to exorcise In Beom and so she was indirectly responsible hence why she's so adamant about hiding things from Ji Ah. The cop is a weird thread this show is trying to interweave as well but it does seem like he's on the up-and-up himself which makes me think that he might play a bigger role later once he starts to believe in ghosts. I'm also assuming that though Ji Ah and In Beom might be on the outs for most of next week maybe they'll get some sort of information that will make them team up again and find out the real truth.

So I Married An Anti-Fan (2/16): Hoo Joon is a top star while Geun Young is a magazine reporter. For a potential news article, Geun Young decides to attend an opening ceremony for a club. There, she witnesses top star Hoo Joon's violent behavior and she also vomits on him by accident. This leads to Geun Young losing her job. Believing that Hoo Joon was behind her firing, she decides to get him back by demonstrating in front of Hoo Joons management office. Slowly, she begins to receive media coverage on her demonstration and soon becomes famous as an anti-fan. A PD approaches Geun Young about participating in a reality TV show which revolves around the idea of a top star and their anti-fan living together. Being unemployed, she decides to accept the offer. Meanwhile, Hoo Joon is offered the same reality TV show and accepts to try to improve his image. Hoo Joon and Geun Young try to give each other a hard time on the reality show, but soon start to fall for one another.

If you didn't know before watching this drama it was actually filmed back in 2018 but was delayed for some reason that no one really knows about which is why when watching it you have to give them a tiny bit of slack in terms of the writing. I'm honestly so deprived of rom coms that I have actually decided to stick with this drama even though it has a lot of elements I don't usually enjoy. I started watching kdramas more recently so I missed out on the nostalgia of old-school dramas in which the female lead is a bit of a bumbly idiot and needs her love interest to solve all her problems. Like okay Geun Young is super adorable and I love how kind she is but she's also a touch too airheaded. I mean after she gets fired instead of moving on or finding a new job she decides to try to expose Hoo Joon as a bad guy without any evidence? And then when she finds out her mom cancelled her lease rather than getting a hotel or staying with her guy friend until she finds a new place she sneaks into Hoo Joon's house? And Hoo Joon rather than even looking at the memory card of her camera decides that she must be up to no good and blames her for his bad behavior? I also have to say that all the side characters are annoying to watch too but I suppose I'm in for the ride until something better comes along. At least I don't not ship the main couple?

Taxi Driver (8/16): Do Gi has lived more honestly than anyone else as an officer in the Special Forces. Yet, when a serial killer murders his mother, he spends his days in agony. While feeling wronged and broken, Do Gi meets Jang Sung Chul, who recruits Do Gi to work for his company, Rainbow Taxi. Far from an ordinary taxi service, Rainbow Taxi is a secret organization that avenges victims whom the law didn’t protect. Here, Do Gi becomes a star driver who delivers satisfying revenge. Meanwhile, Ha Na is a prosecutor who investigates Rainbow Taxi. She is furious with their lawless behavior, but at the same time, she feels confused to see them solve cases that the law cannot. Between those who believe that revenge embodies true justice and those who pursue the outlaws, Do Gi seeks what justice truly means.

So we got the whole story for Go Eun and her sister and as it turns out the sister commited suicide after her boyfriend leaked a sex tape of them online. Go Eun went through a mental break of her own after she found out but Rainbow saved her and I was honestly so thrilled for her when Rainbow destroyed UData though I do think it underplayed the fact that the boyfriend was in on it. All they did was beat him up once and rescue his latest victim but like that doesn't mean that he won't do it again in the future though maybe we're supposed to assume that he's in the same thug jail that they've used previously alongside the other hands of UData that Do Gi beat up. I do have to admit that last week I was like oh this CEO is too fake only to find out in the time between episodes that he's actually based on a real life CEO and isn't that just the most horrifying? I also have to say that unfortunately Ha Na and the entire prosecution is really not working for me. I just don't care about her hunting down Rainbow cause I'm on Rainbow's side and I just want to watch them destroy criminals.

FINISHED Vincenzo (20/20): At the age of 8, Park Joo Hyeong went to Italy after he was adopted. He is now an adult and has the name of Vincenzo Cassano. He is a lawyer, who works for the Mafia as a consigliere. Because of a war between mafia groups, he flees to South Korea. In South Korea, he gets involved with Lawyer Hong Cha Young. She is the type of attorney who will do anything to win a case.

The finale for this show aired this week and I have to say that on the whole I'm content with what we got though there is one thing that is sticking in my throat. My favorite thing about this show hands down was the fact that from beginning to end Vincenzo stayed the bad guy. Like he's got principles and codes but never once did he stray from his mafia ways. I thought it was refreshing that we saw him kill and torture rather than go the forgiveness route or even leave them to the law like other dramas would have. Each of Babel's deaths were so well tailored to the people they were and honestly props to Vincenzo for managing to really screw the Babel trio over. The thing that did make me laugh was how they were so shocked and surprised at his viciousness as if they didn't know this whole time that they were screwing with an actual mafia member and as if they hadn't read his file before. Like why did they think that he was never going to kill them? I even didn't mind the CLOY ending where Vincenzo and Cha Young have to be in love in two separate places even if I think it was cheesy and kinda lame that the police suddenly decided to get off their asses and do something. Like Vincenzo has the NIS on his side so if he really wanted to he could have stayed but there's also something poignant about how he built an island for people who wanted to retire from their lives. The thing that was really irritating though was poor Han Seo's death cause he really did spend every minute of his life as an abused victim and it reminded me a lot of the anger I felt towards Tale Of The Nine-Tailed when they killed off Kim Bum's character. If Vincenzo can sail into the sunset still the villain why does Han Seo need to be "redeemed" through death? On the whole I did have fun and I surprised myself with how much I fell in love with the ensemble when if you remember I hated them all at the start of this show. 9 / 10!

xoxo Allie