Ksy Tries: The TV Roundup #5

So a life update. I am back to doing physical internship, but with much more favorable hours than I would've had pre-pandemic. Today marks day 5 of hospital work. Things are hectic but honestly a lot less stressful and tiring than I was expecting. Basically my anxious self overprojected the potential physical and mental toll physical internship was going to put on me. Don't get me wrong, I am still tired as a dog at the end of each day, but it could be a lot worse. The consultants, residents, and nurses were all SO NICE and supportive. That alleviated a lot of anxiety honestly. It is such a different culture here than I am used to and it fucking blows my mind. I'm so grateful that I chose to intern at this hospital. Also because of the work hours, I still have some time to keep up with the blog. For now I can see myself, posting at least the TVR each week albeit with much less shows on it.

To All The Boys: Always And Forever

This is probably the most boring of the 3 films, but it gets by on the oodles of charm of Lana Condor and Noah Centineo have individually and together. I appreciate the messaging though, and I'm glad Lara Jean chose New York, chose the path that lead to self-growth and development. For a hot minute there, she was turning into THAT girl, who gave up her dreams for her SO, and we know that rarely ever ends well. Because few people, let alone teenagers, know themselves well enough at this age to know if this was what they truly want out of life. You need to get to know and love yourself first before you can be in a healthy, loving relationship. And part of that process is opening yourself up to new experiences, new places.

Peter K also did some growing up and patched old wounds. As much as he loves LJ, I disliked that HIS vision of their future, his growth, his needs, seemed to take precedent over hers. I don't think he did it intentionally, but it felt like he made plans without considering if this was the best move for her objectively. It could've been, yes, but it wasn't. To be fair, before Lara Jean went to New York, she didn't have any solid plans or anything she wanted for herself beyond being happy with her beautiful boy. When she finally did realize that, Peter K was surprisingly mature about it. He was sad but he didn't lash out (much) or insist that she come with him. It was surprisingly less dramatic than I was expecting. A breakup was expected. Their paths were diverging, they were moving literally cross country from each other.

During this difficult time, Peter K reached out to his dad. And he gave some pretty solid advice about putting in effort and not giving up too easily on a person you loved. He has apologized for his past actions and they've formed a tentative relationship.

At the end of the day, alls well that ends well. LJ and PK get back together and agree to LDR. Will they survive the distance? Who knows. They're certainly confident. We're different, says Lara Jean. I may have rolled my eyes so hard I had to manually unstick my eyeballs from the top of my orbital sockets. Probably the the tropiest, most cliche thing in the entire movie. Really wish they hadn't added that line. Oh, well. 3/5 stars for this film. Solid, enjoyable YA fare.

Lana Condor is cute as a button.

She Would Never Know | E10

Hurray hurray they're together and we have lip contact! I am enjoying everything about this couple. They talk, they listen to each other, they consider the other person's needs. Lovely.

The director person and the designer noona are my other favorite couple. They're actually even cuter than the OTP. The director is so freakin' earnest and forward, he's like a puppy on a mission. He knows what he wants and he goes for it without hesitation. It's adorable. It says a lot that I can call him adorable because the actor played a very effective cheating asshole in My Name is Kim Samsoon and I still haven't forgiven him for it. He has that classic asshole face you love to punch. But it's all good because my gosh he's really selling madly crushing on Wang Bit-na. Can't blame him though. She purty.

Song-Ah's cheating ex - I keep forgetting his name - is surprsingly a non-issue. He has moved on essentially and busy dealing with his own demons. Lashing out at his entitled fiancee (and wow she's going full Harpy in the previews). He's still scum, but he's almost pitiful now. Almost. He needs to learn how to cut off toxic people in his life. That's his biggest problem. After a certain point, he can only blame himself for not being decisive in cutting out the cancers in his life (his dad, the obsessive fiancee then suicidal admirer). He's his biggest obstacle.

The most annoying character on the show is Song-Ah's mom. I have zero patience for her and her pa-victim (playing victim) ways. Even more than the cheating ex and the harpy, this character is the one that inspires violent passions. I can't help but feel for Song-ah and scream my support that YES, SHE SHOULD LEAVE YOU. The mom's an emotional vampire sucking all the joy out of Song-ah's life, a dead weight pulling her into the miserable black hole the mom lives in. Their relationship is a perfect example of not liking someone you love. And it sucks.