The TV Roundup #15

You'll notice the last TV Roundup was last year April. Something you should probably know about me: long-term follow through of hobbies is not my strong point. I am easily distracted by the next shiny new thing (hobby) or activity until I get bored. The new distraction could be a new show or something as mundane as real life problems or an anxiety spiral and avoidance of productive activities. Ho hum. Aaaaaaanyway.... I'm feeling that writing itch again and I don't want to spoil on Twitter, hence a blog post. A large majority of my viewing time has been sucked in by Netflix. This is great news for my budget as that means I could cut other streaming subscriptions.

Twenty-five Twenty-one (2022, TVN)

Go Yu-rim's woe-is-me brattiness was getting on my nerves and affecting my enjoyment of the show, so much so that I dreaded watching episodes 9 and 10. I actually put it off until Monday (I usually watch day of release) and likely would have put it off even more if I had any other shows. I am so glad I bit the bullet though. The show handled Go Yu-rim and Na Hee-do's reconciliation in a very satisfactory manner and now the show's back to being my weekly happy pill. <3

Thirty-nine (2022, TVN)

We are six episodes in and fully into the meat of the story. While the acting remains great, I was starting to get annoyed that the focus of the show was primarily Cha Mi-jo's (played by Son Ye-jin) POV. I get it. Son Ye-jin is the big star. Of course she'd have the most screen time. I initially didn't mind, I love Son Ye-jin unni, but the disproportionate screen time doesn't feel organic anymore. The show was marketed as an ensemble story but its 80% Son Ye-jin all the damn time. The dying friend, Jeong Chan-young (played by Jeon Mi-do, who is knocking it out of the ballpark btw), gets may be 15% and Jang Joo-hee (portrayed by the lovely Kim Ji-hyun) is lucky if she gets 5% POV screen time. That's what it feels like anyway. Unfortunately, Cha Mi-jo is kind of boring and so is her love line. Jeong Chan-young is actually the more interesting of the trio and its not just because she's dying.

The show was preempted last week to cover South Korea's presidential elections. Hopefully this week rectifies my gripes, because I would love to see more of the Chan-young's and Joo-hee's POV.

Forecasting Love And Weather (2022, JTBC)

This was another weekend show I dreaded watching. I AM SO ANNOYED at the insecure man-baby second male lead. I swear whenever he's on screen, I want to reach in and sock him. I don't get it. Whatever did the ladies ever see in him??? One stayed with him for 10 years and almost married him, one actually did marry him after only a few months of (adulterous) dating. He has little to no self-awareness, he's overly proud despite not having the competence to back it up, he even gets his girlfriend to do the work and then takes credit for it. He's immature, jealous, and insecure, and thinks everything is about him him him. IT'S SO AGGRAVATING AAAAARGH. 

What's her face, the cheating partner, her name escapes me right now. I actually pity her. Marrying Assface was her punishment.

That reminds me, I'm actually quite pleased with the way the show handled the aftermath of the cheating and showing all four leads as nuanced characters - yes, even Assface McCheater. No one is "bad" 100% of the time. Reporter lady cheated on her boyfriend, I'm not disputing that what she did was wrong, but I was surprised to see that she had completely valid reasons for falling out of love and needing to move one from that relationship. I just wish she had the balls the end the relationship before jumping into the next one. It's the same with Assface, he was unhappy with the relationship but too much of a coward to end his relationship. Sigh. Both of them were wrong and are each other's punishment, with her being punished more than him imo. I have no sympathy for him.

A Business Proposal (2022, SBS)

This show was  a pleasant surprise. I wasn't expecting to enjoy this as much I did. I even binge read the source manhwa after watching the first two episodes. It was clear from the get-go that the drama adaptation made changes to the female lead and some plot points, such as the FL's job and work ethic, which I think really works and even elevates the drama. And can I just say that this is excellent PPL for company Bibigo. It gets exposure without being put in any negative light. *cough* Coffee Bay in Pretty Noona *cough*

Kim Se-jeong continues to impress, Ahn Hyo-seob is pretty good in this too. Both of them have different vibes from the manhwa characters but they've made the characters their own. The other two leads, Seol In-ah and Kim Min-kyu, are REALLY good. Chemistry-wise, it's fantastic. All four leads have chemistry with each other. I LOVE the friendships in this, the girls especially. They crack me up so much. I'm looking forward to lots more chaotic besties hijinks, with their lawful good loves staring on fondly.

AAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!
Screen grab from @notseorina on Twitter.

The Love Equations (2020, WeTV)

I started a Gong Jun drama watching spree. I think I first watched TLE in 2020 but never got round to finishing it. It is just as enjoyable a watch as the first time I saw it, but once again got bored at around the same plot point. I will try to finish it this time though.

Begin Again (2020, iQiyi)

Still can't believe Gong Jun's in his late 20s. He has such a young-looking face. I would've guessed late teens to early 20s at most, but he's turning 30 this year. Begin Again is EXACTLY the kind of show I was in the mood for: sexy fluff. Well, it could be sexier - it was mostly talk - but I'll take what I can get. This show is funny and I love that the female lead (Zhou Yu-tong looking fiercely fashionable and radiating big boss energy) openly admires and lusts after the physical attributes of the male lead. It's something I could never do in real life, I'm much too reserved for that, but I admit my internal thoughts are sometimes more in line with FL's antics. Lost interest in the show towards the end but I enjoyed it overall. Oh, and there is a VERY CUTE KID in this. Kiddo was actually the reason I wanted to watch this show in the first place. 8/10 would recommend. (I almost forgot. Shout out to the gorgeous Wu Man-si. She's so pretty it almost hurts.)

The TV Roundup #13

Has it been a week already? My, my, time sure flies. I wanted to say something about clichés and then I realized the song playing in the background right now as I'm writing this is Cliché by mxmtoon lol.

You Are My Hero | E32-E40

All's well that ends well. For me this was a Ma Si-chun show all the way but I am VERY biased. YAMH, though not completely my cup of tea, is actually very nice fluff. There's an earthquake and one too many hostage situations but no one important to the story dies. In fact, I don't recall there being ANY deaths even among background characters. No wait, I remembered wrong. There was at least one. His death was plot device though and not even an important one lol. Overall, I'd say the show is a relaxing, feel good watch. The OTP has great chemistry and they communicate! They're a breath of fresh air and are honest to God couple goals.

I also love the character growth of Mi Ka. She went from a fresh med school graduate who was a (justifiably) nervous wreck when she was in a life-or-death situation in episode 1 to the incredibly brave and professional physician in the finale's hostage sitch. She was scared for her life but she did her doctor duties and went through it all with an admirable calm and grace despite the threat to her life. Love her!

Heaven's Official Blessing | E01-E04

The story is going at a snail's pace. I forgot how slow animated series can get. Things do happen I guess and yet I'm not...satisfied? I'm not sure that's the right word. Anyhoo, my interest only ever ticks up when the OTP is getting too close for comfort. I'm of half a mind to just check out the source novel, but at the same time, I want to check out and do a million other things as well.

Gifted (2017)

This isn't a TV show but I saw it on Netflix so I'm lumping it in here. I'll probably put films I see on here too. I can't be bothered to create a separate post for movies unless I feel inspired to write a whole post on a film.

Back to Gifted. It's the story of Frank, a single man (Chris Evans) raising his intellectually gifted niece Mary (McKenna Grace) and the ensuing custody battle that occurred when his exacting and ambitious mother Evelyn (Lindsay Duncan) finds out about the kid's intelligence. Octavia Spencer also stars as Frank's no-nonsense neighbor and McKenna's frequent babysitter/friend.

McKenna is the star of the show - no contest. Close second would be the easy and natural rapport she had with her "uncle." Chris and McKenna both shone best in their scenes together. You cannot help but root for the uncle and niece they played and the strong bond they share.

Lindsay Duncan as Evelyn the grandmother was excellent. On paper, Evelyn was very easy to hate. It appeared that she was trying to realize her failed (frustrated?) dreams of academic superstardom in her daughter Diane, a one in a million kind of math geeeeeenius who had the talent to potentially crack a long unsolved math problem. That obviously didn't pan out because Diane dies, and then little Mary comes along. Cue drama. Lindsay Duncan's nuanced portrayal turned Evelyn from hateful snob to... well, she's still a snob but one whose viewpoints I could understand and even concede. In her own way, she too wants the best for little Mary.

Octavia Spencer. Siiiiiiigh. Octavia Spencer was criminally wasted on this. Her character was not really necessary to the plot. I can't believe they cast an award-winning actress to basically scold Chris Evans when his character's being a dumbass. Such a waste.

Verdict? It's a good film. I cried a little bit. Very straightforward story elevated by its talented and charming cast. 3/5 stars.

Four Sisters Before The Wedding (2020)

Another one released on Netflix today. This is the prequel to the wildly successful 2013 family comedy-drama Four Sisters And A Wedding. FSAAW is ICONIC. It is easily one of the most memorable and meme-able films in the last 10 years. The pressure is high for FSBTW. Did the prequel deliver? I think yes. It didn't blow me away but I wasn't disappointed either. The movie was very well cast and the young actresses, while still relatively green, were able to channel the OG actresses' portrayal and at the same time put their own stamp to the characters. Charlie Dizon as Teddie was a particular standout.

There were moments, some lines, that made me cringe but that might just be me and my dislike of typical Pinoy cheese. Overall an enjoyable watch. 3/5 stars.

Prequel and OG movie posters.

And now some of my favorite moments from A Wedding. These ones are often memed as well.

*Chef's kiss*

The TV Roundup #12

I spent a third of the past week fighting off a low-grade migraine but I still somehow managed to "watch" a lot of episodes. "Watch" in quotation marks because I was only paying half attention for most of these. Oh and I was able to finish several coasters, a bottle cozy, and one baby mitten! I am slowly getting better. Next week's project is the other half of said baby mitten and a second pair using different colored yarn and slightly pattern.

Mask | E01-E12

Started off the week with this rollercoaster makjang craziness. Did it make much sense? No. Was I entertained? Very much so. All the actors gave their 110% and, to quote Anna Kendrick:

LOL no you can't click play. It's just a screenshot off YouTube. This is my favorite behind the scenes episode. Trevor Noah + Anna Kendrick is the dream team.

It blows my mind that Mask came out in 2015. I thought I first watched this nearly a decade ago. That's how far ago 2015 feels like. This trip down memory lane brought to you by a hankering for a good contract marriage drama. Mask was just the ticket. Su Ae and Joo Ji-hoon going from sorta enemies to becoming each other's ride-or-die was *chef's kiss*.

 

Oh! Master |  E05-06

I actually started this show last week but forgot to add it to the list. It's cute enjoyable fluff but not very memorable. If I stop watching for whatever reason, I don't have much incentive to go back. Lee Min-ki's character here feels like a slightly different iteration from his last two projects. Nana, as much as I would love to love her, just isn't there yet. She's still very green and it shows. I got the impression off twitter that she was one to watch out for so I went in expecting her to be much better than what she's showing right now (this is her first acting project that I've seen). I am probably being harsher on her than I normally would be, but I want her to be good damn it. I like her and she does show promise. I hope she gets to demonstrate her acting chops as the show progresses.

Confession: I have a not insignificant girl crush on Nana. Pic from Pinterest.

The Sword and The Brocade | E37

Losing interest with this one. Not very surprising considering my only interest in the show was to see the OTP get together and now they're finally shacking up and being lovey-dovey like a true married couple. Don't even talk about the stupid politics. It's dumb and boring. Show ends next week so maybe I'll watch the remaining episodes on 1.5x while I do chores or something.

You Are My Hero | E01-E31

YAMH ate up my week. The TV "Medicine" drove me bonkers in the beginning but Ma Si-chun is so gosh darn adorable I had to keep watching. I'm glad I pushed through (only paying half attention and skipping whole scenes helped hehe). The OTP is wonderful together. Considering both Mi Ka and Xing Ke-lei are each other's first, they're giving us old married couple vibes and a maturity that is not often seen during the first blush of a new relationship. The secondary OTP is cute too. Ruan Qing-xia (another lovely face to add to my girl crush list) more than Shu Wen-bo. Shu Wen-bo is a frustrating, dense block of wood. Multiple times I just wanted to reach in through the screen and knock some sense into him.

Jiang Pei-yao looks like a cross between Rainie Yang and Nana. Pretty pretty <3. I definitely have a girl crush type. This gif and more here.

Cutest little munchkin ray of sunshine. Source of this adorable gif.

The TV Roundup #11

Easter egg hunt! Find the eight hidden eggs.

Happy Easter Sunday? I hope you and yours are safe and healthy and may you continue to be in this increasingly dystopic world.

Jane The Virgin | S1E01-E06

This was a comfort binge. I am in dire need of a cute English language rom-com or family show -English language anything really - to watch while I ate so I had the option of just listening and not pay much attention to the screen. But there are SO MANY available options and analysis paralysis hit me like a ton of bricks. My go-to is usually Jeopardy but I'm running out of episodes to watch on NF and I'm not really in the mood to look at pretty houses and get house envy in BBC's The World's Most Extraordinary Homes. Then I remembered Jane The Virgin. Rewatching Jane and Rafael fall in love felt like a good use of my time and this show always gave me good vibes. I skipped most of the murder mystery bits, Petra's machinations, and the family drama though. Good times.  

The Sword and The Brocade | E31-36

The problem with smart people is that they think too much. And that's basically what happened for the majority of episodes 31 to 34, where the two leads obviously care for each other but won't communicate. There's an element of pride and fear of rejection at play that keeps them from laying it all out in the open and asking the other person to love them. Finally, the dam bursts in episode 35 and we get our confession, first kiss scene, and some bow chika wow wow. Shiyi's cherry is popped and the marriage is consummated at last. And then the merrily wed cuteness we'd all been waiting for. Yay!

The only other plot point that interested me was Shiyi realizing that she no longer hates Madame Luo and her narcissistic step sister. She recognizes that both of them were products of a misogynistic system that pits woman against woman and in they end the women all lose. It's a downer but evidence of further character growth for Shiyi. Down with the patriarchy!

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime aka Slime Isekai | E01-E27

"What if we make the lead character a slime? No, I mean a literal slime. Hear me out."

This is how I imagine the pitch went. It's...odd. I'm not even talking about the slime protagonist, although it IS a factor. The story features a mismash of various fantastical creatures: orc, troll, demon, goblin, dwarf, dragon, etc. The plot isn't anything I haven't read before (minus the slime part) but something about this particular story felt slightly off. I can't quite put my finger on it. Perhaps you could call it quirky and that's the charm? To be fair, it IS enjoyable enough and very easy to watch. It's got humorous moments and I managed to watch a full season (24 episodes of <20 minutes each) before I got tired of it. My sister LOVES it and had been raving to me about it for a while now. She says she's watched Slime Isekai three times and switched to reading the manga and later the light novel when she ran out of episodes and translated chapters to read. Different strokes for different folks. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

That's the protagonist caught in a tug of war between two female characters in his pseudo harem. I did say it was weird.

Search (2020) | E01-10

I checked this out for Jang Dong-yoon, who I'm happy to report was eminently likeable even when his character was being a dumbass. For a mystery series, this show was plenty stupid and I've lost count of how many times I caught myself metaphorically scratching my head. From a common sense stand point, the characters do things that make no fucking sense. I'm disappointed this drama didn't live up to potential because it has a bunch of solid actors (Park Yoon, Moon Jeong-hee, Lee Hyun-wook) and they are the reason I kept watching when the writing kept going to Idiotville. When I was just about ready to call it quits, they turn Yeon Woo-jin's character into a DMZ monster, which pretty much guaranteed I was staying 'til the end. I know he was only a cameo but man was he criminally underused. I'm glad there are only 10 episodes. There's only so much story they can milk out of this premise. Search would probably be better as a movie.

 

The best and the only non-stupid character on the show. Good girl Mac.

The TV Roundup #10

This week has been alternating bursts of productiveness and indolence. I did some studying, screened people for vaccination, doomscrolled (schadensurfed?) news on Twitter, fell into a YouTube black hole. Exciting stuff.

None of the shows I watched this week merited the honor of header pic so I chose this pic of Song Joong-ki instead. I heard he was pulling a homme fatale and then I saw him with the horse and the swoopy bangs. I almost regretted dropping Vincenzo. Almost. To be fair, I have heard good things since I dropped it. Who knows, maybe it'll get loads better for the rest of its run.

The Sword and Brocade | E26-30

Yawn. I was bored. Shiyi's investigations lead her to suspect Xu Ling-yi and she accidentally stabs him with scissors. This obviously causes Problems on top of other crap they've got going on. The Emperor sends him somewhere far to deal with...something. I forget what. I usually skip the politics and I have pandemic fog brain. Last Wednesday feels like last month. Anyway, Lingyi goes despite his injuries, she gets rightfully exiled and punished for the injury she accidentally caused. I say rightfully because no mamma, especially one as protective and biased as Grand Madame Xu is going to care that it was an accident. Other shit goes down, somebody tries to kill Shiyi, Lingyi comes back in a dramatic rescue. They sort of reconcile but not really (he's still understandably cold towards her) and that's where it ends. Weird place in the story to end but oh well. They've got 15 more episodes to make up and for crying out loud will you kiss already???

A still from episode 36. THIS is the kind of cuteness I want, Show. Gimme gimme!

Jeopardy | 2017 Tournament of Champions

Austin Rogers is defeated after 13 (14?) straight wins and he comes back to play in the tournament of champions. And what a tournament it was! All the champions who came back, Rogers included, were excellent. The two-part finale was particularly riveting. The final players, Buzzy Cohen, Alan Lin, and Austin Rogers, were all great players and entertaining personalities. They're probably my most favorite trio of players ever. I love the gags they and Alex Trebek did at the beginning of each match. It was clear that everyone was having lots of fun.

Look at those scores! It was a tight match for most of the games until the daily doubles came into play and caused an upset.

The TV Roundup #9

The world, or at least my world, is back to where it began a year ago -- a lockdown. We've come full circle. Vaccines are available but supply is limited so healthcare workers, front liners, and other vulnerable populations are given priority. And if you can get a vaccine, do it! For your sake, and for the others who cannot get safely vaccinated for health reasons.

The Sword and The Brocade | E01-E25

This was an accidental binge watch. It's like I made up for lost drama watching time in one day. I watched 19 straight episodes. I did skip most of the political scenes but that's still a lot of hours. I haven't done a marathon binge of this length in a while. 

I really like the OTP dynamic here. Individually, they are smart, capable people, but together they are the most awkward beans ever. Watching them change their minds about the other and slowly fall in love (slooooow burn) has been an absolute delight. I do have to report that Episode 24 onward has been rather boring. I don't know if it really is that way since our couple has been separated (one is off to do his duties, the other is left at home) and the politics has been ramping up or because I've hit saturation point and need to do something else. Which I did.

This may be my most favorite Wallace romantic leading man yet. Xu Lingyi is awkward, sweet, respectful. He's flawed but he tries his best. When his wrongs are pointed out, he accepts criticism and tries to change his ways.

Shoutout to actresses Ying Er and He Hong Shan for their riveting portrayals of first wife Luo Yuanniang and concubine Qiao Lianfang, respectively. I especially liked Ying Er's calculating Yuanniang. She was a big reason I stayed during the first 10 or so episodes when she was alive and the romance hadn't started yet. She schemed and planned all so her son's safety and legacy is protected. I do not condone the things she did, but I admired her strength and composure in the face of death. Concubine Qiao, on the hand, is an utterly hateful woman and yet I do not find her annoying to watch on screen. Actress He Hong Shan has breathed life into this character, made her feel real and at times even sympathetic. No small feat that.

New (to me) actresses to watch out for.

She Would Never Know | E14 - E16 Finale

There was a tonal shift in the final two episodes. It's like the first 14 episodes were shoujo and then a 5-year time jump later and we have a josei in our hands. It's a different flavor but I liked it. I liked it a lot. It was a lot less cotton candy fluff and melodrama. The effect of those five years really showed and I'm happy to report that all main leads, including annoying secondary characters all showed growth and maturity. Let's count it down:

Whiny Mom. I think hers is the most drastic change, except for the Banshee Princess. She finally woke up, looked in the mirror, and gave a good, hard look at herself. Then she stopped living in denial land and actively took steps to improve herself. The immediate result is a shocking 180. It's like they cut out her necrosed personality and grafted a new one in place. Amazing. I even found her interactions with our OTP cute in the final episode.

Cheating Ex and Banshee. I'm still not sure how I feel about the eleventh hour character rehab but I appreciate the maturity and perspective they both obtained after five years. I am glad that they both managed to move on, get closure, and be civil down the line. Nice little bow ending I suppose.

Chae Ji-seung and Lee Jae-woon. A couple we stan. The OTP might bring the chemistry and cuteness, but this couple isn't any less sexy or desirable. We have two mature individuals who went in knowing their own and the other person's worth. They knew what they wanted - a life with each other - and lived their best life to make that happen. It's honestly amazing how well they suit each other. I can only wish that I be blessed with the same kind of stable, loving, respectful relationship they have.

Chae Yeon-seung and Dr. Doth Protest Too Much. Internalized homophobia and cowardice. That's what ultimately killed their marriage. Sad. She is everything that is good and kind. It is his greatest fortune that she fell in love with him and continued to love him despite his fuckery. (And to be clear, being gay or whatever the hell gender he is is not the instigating problem. The problem is he had an emotional affair with an ex and dragged her into the cesspool of his self-destructive confusion and cowardice.) She was beyond generous when she offered to stay with him and be his beard shield while he came to terms with his true self. And finally, finally she's free. It only took five years. Ultimately, I believe divorce is good for everyone involved. All three (mom, dad, kid) will be happier and mentally and emotionally healthier in the long run.

Yoon Song-ah and Chae Hyun-seung. Have I mentioned that I really like the shift in the OTP dynamic? For the longest time, it felt like Song-ah held the power in their relationship and Hyun-seung, like a true adoring puppy, tailed after her and selflessly gave her what she needed. She herself saw how unfair that was on him and broke up with him for "his own good." Pfft. Correct diagnosis, wrong treatment. Breaking up was not the answer, but she finds that out for herself. Now girlie is chasing after puppy. Turn about is fair play and I love it. I really enjoyed the moments of her "wooing" him and having her be vulnerable and open, so he can finally see how much she loves him too (in vino veritas hahahaha).

There was a point when I wasn't sure if I wanted to go back and finish this show but I'm glad I did. I really enjoyed these final two episodes and the series as a whole. Lots of warm fuzzies and smiles from me. In the end, there's really not much to the show: it's just two lovely people meeting at work and falling in love in the process. Shows like this live and die on the chemistry of the leads and I'm glad to say both Won Jin-ah and Ro Woon delivered in spades.

❤❤❤

Jeopardy | Austin Rogers episodes

Champion Austin Rogers has amassed over USD 400,000 at the point I stopped watching. His brain capacity for trivia is amazing.

Suits | Season 6

Suits is one of my all-time favorite shows. It's so easy to watch and sometimes I watch random episodes just because I miss the OG cast. This is one of those times. I didn't watch the whole season, just selected episodes of Mike in prison and when he first got out.