Happy Friday! Here is our weekly review of the dramas that we are watching which is inspired from The Kthree’s Weekly watchlist and is a way to stay up to date on the dramas we’re liking, loving, and leaving. We watch lots of shows over here, mostly Korean dramas, but we also dip into western shows, so we will cover both. Let’s get into it!
Caution: Spoilers are rampant, tread cautiously!
KOREAN DRAMAS
Strangers From Hell (episode 8, 9, and 10)
Oh boy, we finally finished watching this series and it lived up to the wait. The two episodes leading to the finale were so thrilling! They had me on the edge of my seat with a pillow promptly secured in front of my face for any sudden goriness. The main actor was ah-mazing in showcasing just how insane he was going. He was not visualizing beating people up anymore, he was actually doing it, but more than that, he was almost killing people when he did it!
The thing is, he didn’t want to be provoked or hurt anyone, but when his limit was reached, it was reached. This is exactly what Moon-zo (the main psycho) liked about him and why he was grooming him to be a killer just like him.
The only problem I had with the finale is that they brought in a character to love only to kill him in a horrible way. I mean, can he at least help save the day and then die? You gone just drug him and do him like that? That was messed up. I was also a bit confused with the very very end, not with what they were saying, just with placing all he facts and steps together to build to that ending. There was one particular fact that didn’t match us which was the ajumma killing someone in the basement instead of someone else doing it (I’ll try and keep the ending spoiler free).
But honestly, episodes 8 and 9 more than made up for the little bit of confusion I had with the ending moments of the final episode. But mostly, I wanted a certain character to live who didn’t, so that made me pretty bummed. But, I definitely think that Strangers From Hell is a show to check out
Recaps: no recaps for these episodes yet
Vagabond (episode 8 and 9)
What in the Sam Hill happened with this show? I mean, it was already unbelievable. I was suspending my disbelief so much to help me enjoy it, but then they go and pull emergency surgeries with box cutters while inside an infirmary that actually has surgical gloves and transfusion bags in it? You’re gonna tell me that they don’t have scalpels? Sharps boxes are all over infirmaries, son.
On top of that, Hae-ri conveniently knows the blood type of the pilot and Dal-gun drops two liters of his blood to give to him? Then he does handstand pushups afterwards? And a chicken restaurant calls Tae-woong to save the day? Y’all, this show is just all over the place. I didn’t even mention that the NIS director that had a Nationwide hunt for him as a traitor is now running the special agent NIS division again.
It’s a hot mess, but I gotta say that I kind of love it. The episode flew right by while watching all the nonsense unfold in real time.
Recaps: episode 8 and episode 9
My Country (episode 4 and 5)
I am with the storyline. Like the revenge plot with Hwi and I love all the bad guys all around who are vying for power. I still think they try to be a little too cool for school sometimes, but that is not enough to take me out of the show. I can also appreciate that they kept today’s episode to almost one hour long. I think it was 70 minutes, which I will take ahead of 90 minutes any day of the week. Save that extra 30 minutes for the next episode, bruh.
One thing that did throw me off was the opening to episode 5. Watching it made me feel like I missed an episode. All of a sudden the new country is formed and everyone is in their place in this new setting. The King is King and the Queen is Queen and Bang Won is trying to say hello to his father who ignores him while the youngest prince does his lesson and Hwi is all of a sudden on the mend with Sun-ho and Hee-jae is going back and forth to the Gisaeng house again. I was just so confused. it would have been nice if they told us, okay y’all, 3 months has passed, we are in the Joseon Dynasty now. Or maybe they did and I missed it?
Recaps: episode 4 and episode 5
Melting Me Softly (episode 5 and 6)
Wackadoo on top of wackadoo on top of nonsense and yet episode 6 made me laugh a lot so I’m going with it. When I was writing up this shows Here’s What Happened summary I realized that nothing actually really happens in this show. It’s mostly all filler with a teeny tiny bit of story dabbled in every ten minutes or so. Maybe every 15 minutes?
So, I don’t have much to write about it. But it is a fun nonsense show to watch if you want to turn your brain off. it looks like the love line is going to start up in the next episode (they kissed in the preview!) so I’m excited to see all the romance filler that they can think up.
Recaps: episode 5 (9&10) and episode 6 (11&12)
The Tale of Nokdu (episodes 5)
This drama is basically the bees knees. The Tale of Nokdu is so fast paced, so fun, and so heart fluttery that I am smiling writing this about it. I love every single minute of it. I was laughing so hard when Nokdu was slapping all the guards in the opening of episode 5 and when she had to kiss Yool-moo and everyone was shocked beyond belief, then when Yool-Moo took off running from Nokdu like a running back and Nokdu when off charging after him like a wide receiver which culminated in one of them falling in a pond like a vampire and the other one pinning them up against the tree. Y’all, it was hilarious.
Episode 5 got moved to Tuesday due to the finals of the Korean baseball playoffs which meant that episode 6 did not air this week. Of course, they picked a huge cliff hanger to end on to leave us hanging until Monday. But I’m not complaining because I have a feeling that whatever they have planned will be worth the wait.
Recaps: episode 5 (9&10)
Flower Crew Joseon Marriage Agency (episodes 9 and 10)
So bored. Honestly, it feels like it takes days to watch one episode. All the characters bother me in one way or another. Well, Soo doesn’t bother me, but I feel like I shouldn’t like him as much as I do, so that bothers me. Gaedong bothers me the most of all because she is more focused on her love life than her brother (who she just found!) and would rather complain about working on being a lady than moving toward saving her brother and her life.
Flower Crew also feels like they have too much going on. They have the dead Prince storyline and the King handling political strife in the castle storyline and the Marriage Agency storyline and the Gaedong becoming a lady storyline. Those are their main storylines. But on top of that, they have sub storylines to deal with as well, like setting up Ma Hoon’s aunt with a new man so that her daughter can marry who she wants to. Or setting up the #1 scholar with his maid lover (which took like 4 episodes to do!).
I think Flower Crew really needs to settle on one solid storyline and stick with it because right now it feels like they aren’t really giving justice to any of their storylines.
Recaps: episode 9 and episode 10
When the Camellia Blooms (episodes 9 & 10)
When the Camellia Blooms is one of those strange shows that is a hit in Korea and kind of meh Internationally. I am really enjoying it, though I can understand the lack of enthusiasm with an international audience. The acting is great and the storyline is flowing well. It also received its highest ratings to date with the last episode of 14.9%. I feel like this might be due to the serial killer whodunit storyline that is unfolding nicely in pieces. Though I do wonder if the writer can keep this pace she has set because this show is a 20 (40) episode drama and we are only half way through.
Recaps: episode 9 (17&18) and episode 10 (19&20)
Extraordinary You (episodes 4, 5, and 6)
Thank you everyone for the recommendation to start watching this drama because it is wonderful. It might be my absolute favorite drama on right now (though The Tale of Nokdu is a close second). I really love how Dano is really trying her best and suffering through set backs as well as celebrating through successes in her trek to take her life by her own hands.
In the last episode, right when everything was starting to go perfectly for once, one of her main helpers disappeared without a sight, and that was the cliffhanger! Where oh where can you be Haru? I really loved how Haru was starting to appear more as a normal student and actually as a leading man up until he disappeared. He even got a name tag! But the writer must have thought he was taking up too much of this story because he went bye-bye. Sniff.
Recaps: episode 4 (7&8), episode 5 (9&10), episode 6 (11&12)
US TV SHOWS
I didn’t get a chance to watch any new US TV shows this week. Though I did rewatch season one of Daredevil and will most likely mosey on into season 2 once again. I also successfully convinced two other people to start watching, so I consider the week a big success.
And those are the shows we’re watching over here! My favorites by far are Extraordinary You and The Tale of Nokdu. Which shows are you checking out? Do you have any recommendations for me? I’m all ears.
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omg i agree (flower crew) !!!! also am i the only one who thinks the lines are too cheesy or there’s something off about it ?? idk it just isn’t working for me and im just keeping up to see what happens…..
Author
Yes, there is something about it that is like 8 years ago. It would have probably been a bigger hit if it came out back when Boys Over Flowers came out.