What Shows Am I Watching This Week?

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Stargirl Season 2 Episode 12

As penultimate episodes go this one wasn't half bad! Apparently Eclipso's big plan is to use Courtney as his host which is a pretty solid idea given that she's one of the only ones who can defeat him though I don't entirely know where Jennie fits into the whole thing. Maybe she's a backup plan? He already convinced her to admit that she hates him last week and with Cindy egging Courtney on to embrace her darkness she might just. I mean honestly it's a bit of a contrived plot given that Courtney herself has been told over and over again that only light can defeat the dark so it's pretty clear not only will focusing on love and hope help but I'm sure it strengthens the Staff too. I do have to say though that it was a little heartbreaking having to watch Cindy watch Courtney be so happy given that she just lived through hell. I mean Courtney's got the best family and amazing friends and Cindy just has her anger. Meanwhile Jennie was poisoned by something and it seemed to be giving her visions which either Eclipso created or she's actually seeing a possible future in which Courtney embraces the dark and becomes Eclipso's host. I kinda hope it's the second cause I really would have thought that the Green Lantern Ring would be able to filter out this kind of energy otherwise. 

xoxo Allie

What Dramas Did I Finish This Week?

Hello and welcome back! These are the dramas I finished this week. 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

FINISHED Lost (16/16): Lee Boo Jung has hit rock bottom. She has a thankless job, her marriage is in shambles, and now she has a possible criminal record hanging over her head. At forty years old, she feels like she has reached the end of her potential and has amounted to absolutely nothing. Her elderly father is the very last thing she cares about in the world. Lee Kang Jae is only twenty-seven and has his own successful stand-in escort business but he is so ashamed of the person he has become and is so far beyond caring about himself or life that he wears apathy as a second skin to the point that he becomes unrecognizable even to himself. The two of them have lived at the threshold of each other's lives without ever truly intercepting the other. Then one faithful day, both moved by personal loss and grief, Kang Jae sees Boo Jung and recognizes a familiar lost soul in her. "Lost" is the story of these ordinary people struggling to find their footing in life.

Wow talk about an intense show that's also super depressing you guys. This is a show that I would never have watched normally cause I like my tv and movies to lift me up rather than put me down cause life is hard enough sometimes that tv and movies are my escape but something about this show kept dragging me back week after week. I think a major part of it has to do with how this show managed to deconstruct the typical drama tropes. I mean I totally expected Boo Jung's ex to be a cheating abusive monster only to find out that he actually tries his hardest to be what she needs despite there not being any love between them. And truly this was the case for the entire cast of this show. They were all painfully human and the mistakes they made really were just mistakes. I also adored the intense chemistry between the leads and my inability to figure out if the show wanted them to be lovers or mother/son or friends. A lot of people compared this to My Mister which was another show in this vein that I never watched but I had heard that there was no romance or even any hint of it so that's why I was low key shocked to find the leads find love with each other but once I wrapped my brain around it, everything fit perfectly. I could see exactly what they saw in each other and though I wish that the ending hadn't been so vague, I'd like to imagine that they found the courage to be together in the end. 8.5 / 10

FINISHED Yumi's Cells (14/14): Controlled by a complex network of cells, each and every human on the planet is kept running by an unseen operating system that is, for the most part, completely ignored. Though humans never give much thought to how they manage to function, day in and day out, the cells within the human body are constantly at work, doing their part to keep their human alive and well. Which is why on the outside, Kim Yoo Mi may appear to be just like every other single working woman in the world, but underneath that ordinary exterior lies something truly extraordinary. Having recently suffered a painful breakup, Yoo Mi’s love cells have fallen into a deep coma. While the surrounding cells work hard to revive their fallen compatriots, Yoo Mi spends her days stuck in the grind of everyday life. With a heart still broken and no romantic prospects, Yoo Mi’s love cells might have been in serious trouble had it not been for the sudden appearance of Goo Woong. An emotionally stunted game developer, Goo Woong has no idea how to express his true feelings, but after meeting Yoo Mi, he finds himself wanting to try. With his own love cells unexpectedly sparking Yoo Mi’s back to life, things between the two start to get interesting. With both Yoo Mi and Goo Woong’s cells working overtime, the two find themselves drawing ever closer. But will the efforts of this small collection of cells really be enough to bring two hearts together forever?

When I say that I've never seen such a unique kdrama before I'm totally serious on so many fronts. Not only is the whole internal animated cell concept something I haven't seen before I also really adored the way this show depicted relationships. Like sometimes I need the cutesy soulmate dramas but other times I get a little exasperated by the idea that one person defines your whole love life which is why I'm not entirely sure that I can make a fully informed decision on what I thought of the show yet. Like okay so this show was based on a webtoon right in which Yu Mi is our main character and her love interests come and go but I'm worried that like a lot of other webtoon adaptations this show will take it's liberties on the plot and make Yu Mi stick with Woong cause kdramas need a male lead rather than having Yu Mi be the star and everyone else be there to make her look good. I do have a little hope based on the one scene this show had where Yu Mi was told that Woong wasn't her leading man. Now don't get me wrong, Woong isn't the worst male lead I've seen but because this show was so good at depicting characters with real flaws I find myself loving the moments when he's sweet especially at the start (and of course he's handsome) but then hating him for always putting his pride first and wanting better for Yu Mi. On the whole I'd give this season a 8 / 10!

xoxo Allie

What Shows Am I Watching This Week?

Hello everyone and welcome back! Let's dive right in shall we?

Stargirl Season 2 Episode 11

So leaving the Shadowlands was a lot easier than I expected and though I actually really liked this episode on the whole, part of me feels like we didn't spend enough time delving into all the angst of what could have been with Courtney's Purgatory. Like imagine if we started the episode with that sad reunion scene at the house and then had a full episode with Courtney getting tortured by Eclipso and her demons only to start next week's episode with the family going to find Shade and Courtney finding her inner light only to run into Dr Midnite and Cindy and escaping. Having said all that since that's not what we got let's talk about what we did get. I liked that we brought Dr Midnite back though I'm not sure what role he will play going forward given that we have a baby JSA and no need for an adult but maybe he'll like wander off to find his wife or whatever family is left. I bet Rick and Jenny probs aren't thrilled that the one JSA member that survived wasn't their parent! Cindy's also back which I expected from the moment she was sucked into the Shadowlands but now maybe she'll be good? I'm still wondering where Artemis snuck off to. The other important thing is that Shade seems to have died which super sucks cause I liked him and I wonder if he's actually alive and actually just returned to the Shadows to heal. 

FINISHED Titans Season 3 Episode 13

Well this was a finale I suppose no matter how rushed it all felt. I will never not hate what they did to Jason but like I guess I've made my piece with it as I did with everything that went down with Bruce. I mean fine whatever I guess in this world Batman kills the Joker and moves on with his life? Jason also peaced out in order to find redemption while Tim took his place on the Titans as the new Robin and I can't wait to see his costume! The cast is for sure being mixed up like I thought with Blackfire and Donna leaving and I wonder if all the name drops of Roy Harper means that maybe we'll see him next season. Honestly though I'm surprised the show didn't seed anything for next season leaving me wondering if there even will be a season 4 and what it will be about. I mean we already hit all the big notes with Trigon, Blackfire, and Deathstroke in terms of Titans arcs so what's left? Terra? I mean there's no Deathstroke to be behind the wheel but you could always replace him with Cadmus or something and we know this show loves love triangles so Gar, Terra, and Rachel could be a thing too.

xoxo Allie

What Shows Am I Watching This Week?

Hello everyone and welcome back! Let's dive right in shall we?

Pretty Smart Season 1

Okay so look I'm not always the hugest fan of sitcoms cause something about them just lacks stakes and I tend to find their humor is not for me or that the whole episodic nature of them prevents me from caring about the characters but I wanted to check this one out cause of Emily Osment and Gregg Sulkin who are two Disney actors that I've adored since I was younger. I even watched and enjoyed Emily's last sitcom Young & Hungry (even if the last season kinda fell apart for me) so I dived in not sure what I would find. The pilot was rough I have to admit cause it went really hard on the stereotypes that each character was embodying but as the season went on the characters all mellowed and started to feel like real people rather than caractures so I was definitely recommend at least waiting until episode 3 before you choose whether to drop it or not. Yes there were some episodes that were a bit boring given the nature of a sitcom but on the whole I really enjoyed every one of the wacky adventures our cast went on. I even fell in love with Chelsea and Grant and their chemistry though I did think their interest in each other started off a bit fast cause if these two already have feelings in season 1 then we're clearly in for the long haul in terms of the will they/won't they dating and breakup relationship carousel that sitcoms are known for. Having said that I totally called the cliffhanger of the season and I'm really left wondering if there will be more!

Stargirl Season 2 Episode 10

As much as hate the nonsense with Courtney and Mike mistrusting Barbara and Pat now for "their lies" this show still slays me every week with how good it is!! Shade showed up again and told our heroes that the only way to stop Eclipso is to fix the Black Diamond but he lied and actually said that in order to return his shade powers to him and instead fixing the Diamond brought Eclipso to them and Courtney was sucked into the Shadowland. I'm assuming that she's going to meet up with Cindy and the original Dr Midnite who are also there and then eventually they'll return. I also really liked seeing Jenny again though her whole side plot with her brother really feels like it could be a backdoor pilot cause I know Berlanti wants to make a Green Lantern show and what if this it that? Honestly I'm not that thrilled about it cause I wanted a show with more aliens and a focus on the Lantern Core instead of a singular Earthly Green Lantern cause god knows we have enough of the same old same old superhero stuff and I wanted something different! 

Titans Season 3 Episode 12

For some reason I went into this episode thinking it was supposed to be the finale so I was a bit surprised to find out that it's actually the penultimate and I'm still not sure what I'm supposed to be feeling or how. Dick was thrown into the Lazarus Pit and he's come back supposedly a new person or whatever and it literally just took him asking Jason to help him for Jason to be like yeah okay I'll be good again therefore I will never not be bitter at how this show ruined Jason though like the show I have a pretty short attention span so maybe by the time next season comes around I'll be like murderer who? Rachel is also continuously making me laugh with how she still feels like she's not back yet with how zen she is and uninterested in anything that's happening in Gotham. Like maybe it's the actress struggling to act next to Gar who's emoting his butt off but it's hilarious to see them be complete opposites in the same scene. Donna is also reminding me why I don't love this version of her with how she tries to force her opinions on others though Tim wanting to be Robin is so hamfisted that I'm just rolling my eyes. It also looks like Connor is becoming more like Lex with how he refused to listen to what Blackfire wanted and destroyed her ship in order to keep her with him though really why he thinks she'll forgive him for this is up in the air. I'm assuming that next week being the finale that obviously we'll defeat Crane and maybe the Titans will return to California though I'm not sure if any of the cast will be changing.

xoxo Allie

What Shows Am I Watching This Week?

Hello everyone and welcome back! Let's dive right in shall we?

Stargirl Season 2 Episode 9

So the big secret that Barbara and Pat were keeping from Courtney is the fact that the JSA stopped Eclipso back in the day by killing the host and I'm sitting here like okay so it was as dumb of a secret as I expected it to be which is why I need Courtney to build a bridge and get over it. I mean what was she going to do if she knew this at the start of the season? Eclipso didn't have a host back then and I actually still don't know if he has one now (or is it Cindy?) so that advice is useless not to mention the fact that I don't see her stepping up to murder someone after she saw how killing Brainwave affected Yolanda. On the plus side we did see that Shade is somewhat okay though confused and I wanna shout out the fact that on this Earth Jay Garrick is also played by John Wesley Shipp cause it makes my heart smile whenever I see him play another Flash! Poor Mike was also tormented by Cameron and the fact that despite what he's said I think a part of him does feel guilty about accidentally killing Jordan though I also think this was definitely a preview for what's to come cause there's no way that Cameron lets his father's death go.

FINISHED What If Season 1 Episode 9

With this final episode What If has come to an end. I don't think anything could beat the horror that I felt watching Ultron rule the world last week but I had a fun time watching how our team of Avengers beat him. It ended up being all of the heroes we met over the past 7 episodes and a Gamora from a world we actually didn't experience. Zola did end up being the lynchpin to save the day though it was also heavily in part due to Dr Strange who caught Killmonger and Zola in a pocket dimension fighting to capture the Infinity Stones. I'm still left a little discombobulated in terms of the overall story cause we never really got answers as to who the Watcher was or why he couldn't interfere but I guess we're not meant to cause this was just supposed to be a quick pop into this world. Maybe next season we'll see him being punished for interfering? 

Titans Season 3 Episode 11

As penultimate episodes go this really wasn't a great one. I don't know why in the world this show is so adamant on separating the Titans all the time. If the showrunners/writers wanted to write a show for Nightwing that's what they should have done rather than pretend like they wanted to write an ensemble show about a team of heroes. Like don't get me wrong the Batfamily is for sure my favorite part of DC but I also have a soft spot for the Titans and Young Justice and the Justice League so I wanted a show like that! We never actually see the team be a team and I'm exhausted by it. Starfire found out that she never actually had fire powers and that they were stolen from Blackfire as a child so Tamaran didn't fall into a civil war. I wonder if this means that we'll get more comic accurate starbolts now? Dick was a dick and took out Connor and Krypto using Kryptonite in order to fight Jason but was shot by a civilian instead. Jason is still all over the place in terms of writing but I think him seeing Crane having lost his mind will probs have been the last straw. It also appears like Dick will be going into the Lazarus Pit that Gar and Rachel found given that he is practically dead at the end. I'm still kinda wondering where Bruce is after Donna found him trying to kill himself. She meanwhile has teamed up with Tim as they arm more civilians to fight the cops on Crane's payroll. 

FINISHED Leverage: Redemption Season 1B

Back in July when I originally watched the first half of this Leverage revival I think I knew that it was actually only going to be part 1 of 2 for this season but somewhere along the way I totally forgot that there was a second part coming so when I realized this week that it was airing, I cannot describe to you how excited I was! I absolutely adore this show and I was ready to jump back into the world it built. 1B was just as good as 1A which like I said in my previous review was just as good as the original Leverage. The Jackal Job actually made me cry and I always live for cases like the Hurricane Job and the Golf Job which separates some parts of the team from the rest so we can see them shine in new ways. I also had a soft spot for the Train Job cause like Parker and Sophie I adore trains and the romanticism of them and movies like Murder On The Orient Express! Mr Wilson was still working for me as the new Nate and though I still prefer Hardison over Breanna, I was used to her presence in this back half so she didn't bother me as much either. Having said all that I do have to say that the overarching season villain of RIZ did feel a bit like a James Bond type of villain trying to come up with this absurdly complicated take-over-the-world plan but I did like that they connected back to Mr Wilson who started off this whole Redemption arc at the top of the season through Ethan and I had fun watching the Leverage team take them down anyway. I really really really do hope that this show gets a season 2 and we get this same cast back again but if this was just a one and done type of revival I would be happy enough too given that I never thought that I would get a chance to see more of this world in the first place!!

xoxo Allie

What Dramas Did I Finish This Week?

Hello and welcome back! These are the dramas I finished this week. 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

FINISHED Police University (16/16): Hacking was the only way out of Kang Sun Ho’s miserable life ever since his parents passed away from an accident when he was just ten. He eventually puts his genius hacking skills into practice in an attempt to steal illegal gambling funds to pay for his adoptive father’s cancer surgery. One day, Sun Ho bumps into a charismatic judo girl, Oh Kang Hee, and falls in love at first sight. Just to be with her, he sets a goal to get an acceptance letter from the same university as Kang Hee’s and eventually gets accepted. However, he does not expect a familiar face from his previous misdemeanor, Yoo Dong Man, to greet him as his professor. At first, he’s not very pleased to see him again, but he gradually grows fond of Dong Man, the man of justice, to the point where he respects Dong Man’s philanthropic and brave nature as they continue to bicker with one another. Just like that, what started as love at first sight becomes Sun Ho’s life goal, a police officer.

I'm not entirely sure where to start this review off cause the finale for this show which aired this week left me feeling mostly meh. There was nothing fantastic about this show but there was also nothing that annoyed me so I'm left treading water like yeah this is a show that existed. The main focus of this show ended up not being kids attending a police academy but wannabe cops working with actual cops to solve a gambling ring case and uncover police corruption. On paper this should have been up my alley cause I do prefer my cop shows to have crimes being solved in them but I ended up thinking the main case was kinda boring so I didn't connect with the show. Like maybe it was the mystery that didn't seem mysterious enough or maybe it was the romance that didn't spark enough chemistry but either way I just watched this show on autopilot. I guess I did like the way all the main characters were a team and the comedy worked for me sometimes but the reveal that the ultimate bad guy was the head of the police academy did nothing for me. All in all this is a very mid show and I'd give it a 7 / 10.

CDRAMA

FINISHED Upcoming Summer (1/1): It tells the story of a girl who failed the college entrance exam and a young man who's a free soul. Chen Chen failed the gaokao (National College Entrance Examination) while Zheng Yu Xing had to return to school because he missed the exams. The two ended up meeting because of a lie Chen Chen said and had to come up with a way to quell the doubts of their teachers and parents. Having met in their youth, they hold hands as they face different problems growing up and forge a deep friendship.

You ever start a movie expecting one thing only to be blown away by how it's actually another? Well that's exactly what happened to me with this movie! I expected the whole thing to be super depressing and focus on kids struggling to get into college only to end up laughing my ass off for the first half and then feeling all melty and soft inside at the second half as the movie gave us a beautiful look into one-sided love! I blame the synopsis entirely. Like I don't even have the words to describe how I connected with this movie. The characters are all fantastic as is the acting. I love the relationships between all the character and I both love and hate the open ending! On the one hand my brain is like it makes it more realistic that Yuxing doesn't fall in love with Chenchen after his injury if he didn't love her before but my heart is like buuuuut happily ever after! 9.5 / 10

xoxo Allie

What Shows Did I Watch This Week?

Hello everyone and welcome back! Let's dive right in shall we?

Stargirl Season 2 Episode 8

Darkness is the name of the game and I really really really feel bad for poor Rick who started the episode thinking about colleges and now might be going to jail for assault! Like I don't know why exactly I thought that Eclipso would only target Beth and not both at the same time other than maybe a meta reason thinking that it would be better to spread out the mayhem over 3 episodes rather than 2 but he's for sure getting exactly what he wants. With Yolanda quitting and now Rick destroying the Hourglass, it's just Beth and Courtney now. I did like that Beth dug deep and found her courage rather than succumbing to her fears like Yolanda and Rick did though all the race commentary was a little heavy-handed of the show given how little it clearly wants to actually touch on race. In the end though her goggles might be the only thing able to see through Eclipso's visions making her a trump card. I'm also still waiting for the Green Lantern to come back! It does look like Mike and Barbara might be next on Eclipso's list though which kinda sucks.

What If Season 1 Episode 8

Good god guys this episode should have been named Anxiety for all that it made my heart palpitate the whole time! Ultron was so so so much scarier in this show than he ever was in the Age Of Ultron movie and I spent the whole time biting my nails worried out of my mind over Ultron's power even though I knew well and clear that I should be hyped cause his taking over the universe and the multiverse meant that we would see all the What If heroes we followed for the last 7 episodes come together to fight in a new Avengers lineup! Talk about good storytelling! The fact that he could see the Watcher was one thing cause so could Dr Strange but jumping into the Watcher's world was a whole other! I also can't help but wonder if the fact that he so easily defeated big dogs like Captain Marvel and Thanos and even the Watcher himself makes it a little unbelievable that Party Thor and Captain Carter can but then again we already have a built in way to win with Natasha and Zola next week!

Titans Season 3 Episode 10

Color me not at all surprised to find out that this show is making Jason turn bad all over again. If it couldn't have shit on him any more then here we are. After tricking the Titans into poisoning Gotham's water supply, Crane convinced the city it was the Titans who did it and made them fugitives. He also paid off the cops to kill them and I'm left here like maybe they should just wash their hands of Gotham's hot as mess. We end the episode with all of the Titans split up. Dick and Connor are together as are Starfire and Blackfire who speaking of ended up switching powers with one another somehow though I wouldn't be surprised if this show ends with both of them having half of Starfire's powers. Also important is that Donna is in Gotham now as is Raven who found Gar and I guess that is the most exciting thing about this show to see them all come together again. I do wonder what is up with everyone constantly talking about being more than a soldier cause not only did Blackfire give that talk to Starfire but Donna got one too. I know in some incarnations Starfire runs the Titans while Dick's off doing his Batfamily thing but if that's where this show wants to go then why Donna?

xoxo Allie

What Dramas Did I Finish This Week?

Hello and welcome back! These are the dramas I finished this week. 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

FINISHED Argon (8/8): Kim Baek Jin is a popular anchor, reporter, and leader of investigative reporting program Argon. He does not tolerate unverified reports and requires facts he can personally stand behind. He also demands this standard of journalistic integrity from his team, who often call him "the Psycho" behind his back. After Kim Baek Jin's team reports on a story that Argon's broadcast station's higher-ups disapprove of, the program is bumped to the midnight slot and Kim loses of his senior reporter. Lee Yeon Hwa is a rookie contract reporter who's assigned to the team to replace him, and she works hard as she's always looked up to Kim Baek Jin as a role model from afar. The team at Argon grows through many trials as they struggle to tell true and meaningful news stories that the public needs to hear—all while the broadcast company tries to undermine their goals at every turn.

I decided to check out this show pretty much cause I saw it on Netflix and I was actually really blown away by this show and how it was clearly everything Hush that kdrama about reporters from earlier this year wanted to be. I wonder if it's expert writing and tight story can be linked to it's shorter episode count cause that meant there was no time to dawdle around. I really enjoyed that the show actually focused on reporting and the news rather than the politics of the media cause I've seen a million of those types of shows and the only show about reporting that I had watched to this day that was actually about reporting was Pinocchio even if that one was a little more rose-colored than the world actually is. All that to say that there was some politics in this show but it felt like the perfect amount. I really enjoyed all of the main characters and I especially loved that Yeon Hwa was super competent and badass cause she actually was able to bring news stories behind her drive and for once it was totally obvious why a veteran like Baek Jin would approve of her outside of her being the female lead (I'm looking at you Hush and the extremely childish female lead.) The ending didn't actually answer all of our questions or wrap things in a nice bow but I guess it makes sense since the world isn't perfect. 9.5 / 10

xoxo Allie