#but dude. was picking apart ep 1 AGAIN and remembered this detail

[havockingboo]

In case you missed this little detail ;)

That spooky crate really is something people get killed over!

But why take over the casino? Was that the end goal or was it just a lucky coincidence to take Chester’s place?

What could this D.H./Disco Head guy possibly want with that crate?

We’ll just have to wait and see in *checks calendar* 57 years.

[vaguely-concerned]

R-r-r-rewatch thoughts for The Mandalorian S2 Ep2

(or Chapter 10 as they seem resolved to call it)

- can I just express my joy for a moment that in one episode we get peli, the answer to my pleas for female representation in the ‘sketchy middle aged car mechanic’ niche, and a female alien designed with no consideration towards sexiness. (I mean I’m sure there’s someone. There is always someone somewhere on the Internet, is the bitter truth history has shown to us. but it’s not the intention behind the design haha)  

- they do take great pains to deliberately show you boba’s armour several times both in the recap and in the episode itself, so never despair he is very likely still on his way onto our screens once more

- this dude holding the baby hostage wanting specifically the jetpack in exchange is the one (1) break this whole episode gave din lol 

also the Patented Mando Finger Curl of Stress while he talked softly and calmly to not promp this asshole to make a sudden move... the most endearing character tic, I love my space cowboy dad so much 

- fun continuity detail: din is all out of whistling birds now, and you can see it here!

I wonder if he could still use the same mechanism with different ‘ammo’, it’s just not as effective? from the way the armorer spoke whistling birds seem quite rare and it would be an inefficient use of beskar if that’s the only thing it can be loaded with

 - I love how after the last episode, a 50 min epic with a bunch of original trilogy significance and impressive technical achievements and exciting character reveals, I was like ‘yeah okay I suppose that is quite interesting’, and this mess/comedy of inconveniences is the thing that fully makes my brain tip into the obsessive ‘BABY AND DAD SHOW!! BABY AND DAD SHOW!!!!!’ mind state lol

- ah the traditional ‘mando trudging slowly but steadily through the desert’ montage we all love to see (I hope this is going to be a Thing for the second episode of every season from now on) 

Also I assume his suit has some sort of temperature regulation built in and that’s how he didn’t, y’know. die under the blazing desert sun

-

CAT FIGHT CAT FIGHT man I love the jawa. also mando doesn’t even glance over at them, really emphasizing how he’s like. done with this entire day (and it’s all barely even getting started din! i’m sorry)

 yodito’s look in this scene tho... he’s like ‘we’ve Seen some shit lady’ (actually I think he’s staring at ‘dr mandible’ like O___o. it’s been a long day for a lil boy) 

you get to see dr mandible’s cards a few times, so I assume anyone who knows the rules of... sabacc? probably? could figure out beforehand that he was in a bad spot. (the star wars fanbase is one of those where I KNOW the rules exist somewhere, and I know people who know those rules exist too)  

- that sound the baby keeps making -- the ‘boo-a’, sometimes with a p-sound at the end -- if that’s the precursor to him saying any variation whatsoever of ‘dad’ or ‘papa’ or ‘baba’ or even ‘buir’ or anything, I will die. I will sink to the ground in a heap and never get up (the way he keeps seeking out gaze contact with the helmet and seems perfectly satisfied with it too... fasdhfaskdjhl my FEELINGS)

- it seems confirmed in this ep that the mandos who died on nevarro did so while holding off the enemy so the rest(probably especially the children) could get away; some of them appear to have escaped. which I guess is a small relief

- 

frog lady stepping out of the shadows and into our hearts

I like that her firm nod after Peli translates ‘her husband has seen them’ lets us know she understands... basic? is that the common tongue thing in star wars there’s just so many to remember across fandoms lol? perfectly well, even if she can’t speak it. 

- mando might be running low on ammo for the pulse rifle, if the fact that he hasn’t replaced the missing cartridge on his... bandolier belt thingy is any indication

ETA: actually ignore me this has been a thing since the literal first episode of the show my brain just had a hiccup lol

- so baby seems to use a little bit of the force to pull the eggs towards him -- I wonder how often he ‘taps into it’ or if it’s always ‘on’ in the background for him. if so I guess there’s no wonder he’s so hungry (but also... kid you can’t end this lady’s entire family line like that one cat who singlehandedly made extinct a whole species of bird! D:)

- din so rarely gets openly angry, he just gets passive aggressive and grumpy. and that’s probably not the healthiest way to deal with things but I love him

- frog lady reacts so strongly to when din sends the ping when nothing else woke her up, I wonder if she can hear more frequencies than a human

- 

hello darkness my old frieeennnddd

- 

proof nr 1508 that din does not starve this baby you guys, he even has his own little tray just the right size for him! as it happens the baby simply seems to prefer eating things that are... still alive in some capacity. which, uh. maybe they can invest in some form of non-sentient crickets or something for him to hunt down and.... oh dear

- 

Look how they massacred my boy

By the way I finally managed to put into words why the Razor Crest -- and particularly the way it keeps getting beaten to hell and back and patched up again --  is so symbolically important and meaningful to me in this show in this post over here! it’s always a great relief to me when I can finally understand what the hell I’ve been going on about all this time and this was one of those lol

-  honestly if it weren’t for frog lady and (more importantly) the baby I think there’s a slight chance din would’ve gone ‘well I had a good-ish run of it for a while there’ and just let the ice claim him haha   

- “Why don’t you come over here and give me a hand. Make yourself useful” This is the one time in the episode I think he crosses the line into just being a dick for a moment (but noticeably the baby isn’t just a little hurt at this reaction, he’s clearly surprised and confused, which means this really does not happen often. after the time mando’s been having recently I guess a moment’s snappishness is understandable haha. he does follow up right after with being much more responsive and attentive when the baby toddles away from him, so it feels like it’s going to be okay)

also the ‘boo-ap’ sound is there again when he’s trying to get din’s attention. just sayin’ 

when din comes over to see the footprints baby makes a declarative little meep like ‘see??? I did tell you!’ haha

- it is very funny that mando is using all his technology meant to track down dangerous bounties in the grungy depths of the criminal underworld... to find a naked lady just chillin’ in a hot spring 

- 

cue the ‘father is evil?’ memes fsadfda. actually the funniest thing about this moment (apart from the fabulous finger acting) is that din actually snatches a few eggs out of the baby’s reach more subtly right before, and that baby only whines for ALL OF ONE SECOND before he goes to sniff around for other food possibilities fkadfhjkds. from my experience with human children he’s a lot less prone to tantrums. yodito doesn’t get mad, he gets even 

- baby running towards din through the hatching spiderlings like ‘DAD I FUCKED UUUUUUP’, din’s little strangled ‘ngh’ sound as he picks the baby up and watches all the creepy crawlies come out... *chef kiss* impeccable 

(that little ‘ngh’ and the soft shocked ‘ah ah AH!’s from when he goes flying at the beginning of the episode... pedro pascal and his voice work for this character gives me so much life. in some ways din has this sort of dignity and grace and in other ways he uh extremely doesn’t. he gets to be cool but also vulnerable in ways a lot of male main characters don’t and it’s probably why I love him so much) 

btw here is that moment when din moves to hold the baby tightly against him with both hands as the big spider appears, because it gets me right in the heart... it such an instinctive thing of holding on to the dearest thing you’ve got before something bad is about to happen

fdsafhsdakjlfhsdkjlhfsdajhf oh my god the baby is clutching din’s finger with his little hand during the chase!!!! 😭😭😭

this FUCKING SHOW has just WEAPONIZED putting in small details everywhere to convey the love and tenderness and attachment felt by a little muppet doll even where only weirdos like me will frame by frame their way through the video to see it I am so MAD

- frog lady going ‘fuck this’ and bounding along is  e v e r y t h i n g 

- din is an amazing shot, though, he doesn’t seem to miss a single one in this whole scene (then again there’s something to shoot at basically everywhere one can take aim so lol)

-

baby hiding behind/half hugging din’s boot as he tries to get the doors closed hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I can’t breathhhhheeeee 

honestly every single one of the baby’s proximity seeking behaviours in this ep has me on my knees 

- it’s very unfair to play the heroic happy mando music like everything is going to be fine and then have a huge fuck-off spider drop down from the ceiling and break it off mid-tune, the mandalorian, you have trained me in certain ways and now do you betray me??? how can I trust again

- the camera work in the scene with the new republic guys gives such a good sense of the discomfort of being judged from on high by someone or something you can’t really see -- the glare of the lights blocking out everything in the shots from din’s pov makes it feel like a tense interrogation (the new republic dude who is actually dave filoni has such a look of fondness as he watches din tho it’s kind of sweet)

- ...oh no I think baby was actually considering munching on that dismembered spider leg YODITO NO JUST EAT YOUR KRAYT DRAGON BABY

- hngh this is a weird filler episode and it has my entire heart. I suspect we might get some episodes of a more stationary baby between active ones like this -- you can tell a little bit in this episode that especially having him running around fast is quite difficult to have look natural, they likely save that effort up for when it best serves the narrative  

[wearingmywings]

Destiel Meta - an outsider’s perspective

I’ve been reading meta for about a year, but now I wanted to add my own post regarding it.

I don’t really see things when I first watch episodes, I don’t get mirrors or parallels or pay attention to background details like wallpaper or neon signs or anything like that. I’m not good at analyzing things or interpreting it, not in literature nor film, I don’t do something in this area professionally or studied it. 

However, there are some things that jumped out so much that even I thought “Hey, that’s something!”.

Part 1: Mirrors

Seriously, mirrors? You’re telling me that it’s a known method to present mirrors to characters, that they can be used in subtle or totally obvious forms, and they can tell you a lot about the character that’s being mirrored just by existing? Wow that’s so cool!

14x300: In the first scenes when my friend yelled “Look! they look like Dean and Cas!”, I wasn’t 100% sure if that’s what was going on, but oh boi at the end of the episode it was crystal fucking clear. Three people next to each other, the one on the right taller than the others, one is wearing a jacket resembling a trench coat, one is wearing plaid. Trenchcoatjacket and Plaid are holding hands.

We noticed Plaid’s crush on Trenchcoatjacket the whole episode, it was so obvious! Hm, what else was there in resemblance? I remember the taller kid was pretty nerdy, and Plaid stole the Impala at one point, so it’s pretty clear we have Sam and Dean here, which leaves Cas for the last person, and it fits so well! Thats awesome!!

Apart from “Lebanon”, the episode ‘Mint Condition’ basically taught me how they use mirrors and that I should pay attention to them right now. They pointed out who was Sam and Dean, then resumed with the plot and I sat there thinking “Oh!”.

My friend explained to me how the ghost of that episode relates to John Winchester, and honestly if you follow the train of thought about mirrors that the episode presented to you, it’s pretty easy to get there.

Dreamhunter: The confirmed ship with two girls, ah yes! Again, I don‘t really pick up on visual cues or background stuff, but when Kaia said to Claire “I’ll go with you,” I had flashbacks to the season 11 finale immediately. I mean, using the exact same dilagoue? But alright, maybe they’re gonna keep playing it as a cute subtextual crush or how you call it, because neither of them says “You’re my crush”, so-

Oh, wait, Kaia was also stabbed in front of Claire who screamed “Noo!!”, that’s another striking resemblance. Hm.

Oh, Dreamhunter is confirmed to be a couple thing? Neat! So does that mean all the DeanCas stuff is romantic? Because y’all used the same dialogue and plot.

Part 2: Dean’s pining (season 11)

To be fully honest here, I didn’t understand season 11. At all. I didn’t get the whole Amara thing, why was everyone talking about pining? Dean told us that it wasn’t about desire with him and Amara, just a weird fixation, but still, the lady in the senior home told Dean that he “was pining for somebody else”. That makes no sense!

Unless it’s true? Dean didn’t pine for Amara, he tells us that, but everyone’s still talking about pining, therefore the topic of pining is important. Dean x Amara wasn’t romantic, that’s clear from what Dean told us and how he behaved, so no pining.

The only person left he could pine for is Cas. The dude who let in Lucifer, who Dean’s worried about, who Amara touches and she knows where Dean is? That’s..interesting. I’m still kinda confused, but some things are clearer now. No romance between Dean & Amara, but pining is still a theme, and only Cas makes sense. Got it.

Part 3: Cas’ endgame as being human

I wanted to include this because I’ve had this headcanon for years, then saw the meta community talk about it, and honestly there’s one scene to watch and it’d be clear that Cas wants to be human.

“We need grace-” “He can have mine”. 14x08

Alright dude, you’re so eager and ready to throw away your grace? Okidoki.

To go back in time, everyone always had these TED talks about how Cas loves humanity and loves humans and human things, that he feels stuff (season 4 yall, it’s been a while), that he compliments Hannah with things that “are human”. He doesn’t get along with other angels because they’re different than him, or they don’t understand his love and devotion for humans. He spends pretty much all his time on earth, around humans, because he loves them, and one in particular.

To quote Metatron, “He’s in love with humanity”. Do I need to add more? No? Fantastic, because this post is long enough already.

Part 4: Random things in no particular order

Episode 12x12, because come on. Some people took the gifs of Cas’ deathbed confession and connected them to the shots before, showing you where everyone’s standing, who Cas is looking at, and it’s so bloody clear. Don’t get me started on the singular vs plural “i love you” because I literally don’t have to, it’s right there.

“I could go with you”- season 11 finale. Cas, ready to die to accompany Dean on the suicide mission to save the world. He wants to ease Dean’s fear and be there for him until the very end, without hesitation. Castiel really fucking loves Dean Winchester. Wow.

That’s it I think? Those are the top things that jumped into my face when I watch the show, things I didn’t have to read other people’s thoughts on to understand what’s happening. :)

To finish this up I want to say something about meta writers. I didn’t start out reading meta, I didn’t really care for details and background stuff and took the show as I saw it, which is why I shipped Destiel immediately because there were enough things so blatantly obvious to me that I just had to. Then I found @tinkdw, then @bluestar86, @dotthings, @occamshipper, @postmodernmulticoloredcloak and all the other bloody amazing meta writers, and boom! A whole new world!

I started a series rewatch, read the posts for the episodes or seasons, paid more attention and there was so much to see and notice! It gave me joy in watching SPN in a time where I was kind of burned out because I had just discovered the bad side of the fandom and was a bit hopeless, for my OTP and the show itself. It gave me friends, and interesting conversations, but more importantly: These people helped me be realistic about episodes, upcoming episodes and PR stuff. “PR is not showrunning” was a strange concept to me before they showed me what it meant, and I vividly remember being in tears before all this after some PR material promised amazing things but failed to deliver.

These people are so good at predicting what’s going to happen because they read the fine print and understand it, pack it up and show it to us who either can’t read the fine print or dont notice it. They help fans to control (?) their expectations, to soften blind excitement over promo shots or interviews with people who have either no clue what they’re talking about (Jensen bby, i love you but what are you even saying?) or are purposefully exaggerating things.

They saved me from so much disappointment, they improved my fandom experience and changed my feelings for the show and how I watch it. There are so many interesting things to discover, things that confirm theories and explain plot points. I haven’t been disappointed in a new episode because of PR or rumors since I’ve met them, except ep 300 but that’s...a whole other thing. They were right about that too, though, and I didn’t listen. Catch me crying at four am because of it.

I love those people immensely, and I’m so thankful for them. They take the time to write all these essays about the show, all you have to do is read them.

A toast to meta writers! Consider this your personal love letter.

Kisses,

Jana

[thedramafilesblog-blog]

Welcome to our ‘End of Year Review/Awards’ post. Yes it’s in January because we’re doing it in line with Chinese New Year! So Happy New Year Everyone!

RedRosette J: Hey Everyone! we were really behind on the end of year reviews and awards posts that everyone was doing at the end of 2016, so we decided to do it in line with Chinese New Year because technically 2016 just ended (LOL)! We came up with random categories based on what we thought was deserving of a best/worst/whatever award. We also are basing this list off the dramas that we watched this year (we have not watched some of them so those aren’t included in this list). So….Enjoy!

Jubiemon J: We had this idea a while back but remembered it now! Yes, Chinese New Year ended recently. This is probably going to be a savage post, so let’s hope you’ll like this!

Best Couple

RR: So it’s really hard to say which couple is THE best, but there are a few strong contenders in the running for best couple. I wouldn’t award this title to one particular couple per se, but would award it to a few couples because I think that they were all ‘best’ in their own way. My picks for Best Couple are: Shopping King Louie, Descendants of the Sun, and Oh Hae Young Again. All of these couples had redeeming qualities. SKL was really all about their devotion to each other and the cuteness, DOTS was about two people who learned to be with each other while still remaining very much a part of their own established lives and OHYA was about two people overcoming their insecurities to be with each other (sort of). At least that’s what I got out of them. These are all qualities that a ‘best couple’ should have so, I’m choosing to award this title as a combo award!

Worst Couple

RR: I think the Worst Couple title should go to IU and Lee Jun Ki in Scarlet Heart Ryeo. If anyone is curious as to why we’re awarding this, please read our reviews on this drama. We go on ad nauseum about how badly these two are as a couple.

JM: Yes, the Worst Couple award goes to these two. I still think IU and Kang Haneul had more going on…. *face palm* Yes, we did extensive reviews about their relationship, so please check out those posts!

Other Contenders for the Title: Kim Woo Bin and Suzy in Uncontrollaby Fond and Hye Ri and Ji Sung in The Entertainer.

Cringiest Drama

RR: Scarlet Hear Ryeo. Ugh. Again for reasons see previous review posts.

JM: Agreed! Especially the awful editing and multiple versions floating around and . . . well, check our reviews.

Drama “that had shit going on and then shit hit the fan and everything died” Award

RR: This category was created specifically for W – Two Worlds because when it started out it was amazing and we were all glued to our screens and freaking out and yelling and gasping and it was awesome. Then episode 6 or 7 happened and everything just went south. All of a sudden, none of it made sense and it just became a hot mess so it gets its own special category.

JM: The title of that award came from me, just saying. ;) Sorry for the long-ass title, but I think it summed up W very well. We didn’t review this drama because we hadn’t started our blog yet. However, both of us watched it and like RR said we were literally SO into this drama INITIALLY. Then . . . he kept dying, reliving, the dad also kept dying, reliving, etc. Oh my god. No.

Worst Legal Drama

RR: If you’ve been following us, you will know how we feel about this drama….Woman With A Suitcase! It was so awful that we had to stop reviewing it halfway. If you decide to do a legal drama, make sure you have a legal consultant is all I have to say for this drama.

JM: I think what made Woman with a Suitcase awful was that the lawyers solved the legal problems in a very similar fashion for each case. More details can be found in our reviews.

Most Ridiculous Action Drama

RR: This is also a special category that we created for The K2 because it was just completely ridiculous. The plot was a big mess and consisted of ridiculously long action scenes, Yoona acting like an infantilized Bambi, and the evil Mother lady directing everyone from her secret supercomputer in an even more secret underground lair. Seriously? (We actually reviewed this whole drama too -_-)

JM: I have to be frank. I watched the first episode and saw that she was running for 90% of the ep. I knew that this action drama would be a mess. I don’t know how RR stuck with this drama. I fast-forwarded through the first episode and finished it in less than 10 minutes. All I got from it was this: she ran.

Most Pointless Adaptation from US TV Shows

RR: Entourage gets this award. Unlike the other adaptions which got better reviews (I didn’t watch those so I can’t comment on those), this was just an excuse to have penis jokes and watch dudes walking around in their underwear. The characters apart from Jo Jin Woong and Park Min Jung really fell flat and didn’t really do anything much. Most of the time the 60 minutes felt really long and pointless, hence it deserves this award.

JM: Ah, I tried to watch this drama too but then dropped it after the first few episodes. We were really looking forward to potentially reviewing this, but . . . no. The first few episodes were just the guys talking and talking and talking. Nothing really happened. *Yawns*

Most Underrated Drama

RR: When Age of Youth started out, I honestly didn’t see it going the way it did. I really liked the way it portrayed the girls’ friendships and individual struggles. They were all really relatable. Maybe it’s because I’m also a twenty-something struggling through trying to figure out life, but it really resonated with me. I liked how this drama also left the ending very broad and open, as if to say that the characters struggles continue on and it’s not something that can get wrapped up neatly in a bow at the end as how it is with life in reality. It was definitely the most underrated drama of 2016 in my opinion.

JM: Jesus, Age of Youth is SO underrated. I wished we had started this blog earlier so that we could review this drama. I have to say the ending was kind of rushed and could have had more, but overall I still really enjoyed watching this drama. There was just the right amount of suspense, gossip, mystery, friendship, love, and drama. This drama is perfect for those going into their late teens to mid twenties. So many of the problems that the characters face are realistic and interesting.

Best Remake

RR: Being a huge fan of the original drama, I was a little skeptical about the remake but 1% of Something really delivered and is totally deserving of this title. Ha Seok Jin and Jeon So Min were the perfect Lee Jae In and Kim Da Hyun. It was the perfect contract dating love story, and I think that’s where the perfection lies: in its predictability and normality. Plus Ha Seok Jin had much better hair than Kang Dong Won in the original. It was a really good remake. I’d recommend watching it if anyone hasn’t already.

Best Reverse Harem Drama

RR: I would award this title to Cinderella and the Four Knights. It was a bit all over the place and Ahn Jae Hyun spent most of it brooding over Son Na Eun‘s dull as ditch water character and Jung Il Woo was an ass for most it. But once you get over it and focus on the cutesies, it’s not awful. Its still a lot better than the reverse harem nightmare in Scarlet Heart Ryeo so I will give it that!

JM: Personally, I couldn’t get into this drama so much. Maybe in the end . . . where there were more cute fluffy scenes and I wanted to watch some cuteness. But yeah . . . this drama was kind of stereotypical? I did like the character who was the musician.

Worst Web Drama

RR: So I actually gave up watching Seven First Kisses after the Lee Jun Ki episode. NO ONE KISSED ANYONE!!! WTF?!?! How is this okay? You get all these hot guys and no one is kissing anyone? The title of this show is the epitome of misrepresentation! -_-

JM: This was the drama I watched when there was nothing else to do and I needed to pass around 10 mins of my time. I watched the whole thing because I wanted to know whether she would get kissed. I mean, the actors and the actress really got it easy for their roles. They didn’t even have to KISS each other. Even as an advertisement, this failed. I still have no idea what Lotte Duty Free is selling. A lifestyle? A romance? A fantasy that will never be fulfilled?

Contenders for Best Web Drama: High End Crush and The Miracle

Worst Character – The One You Most Want To Push Off A Cliff

RR: If I absolutely HAD to pick one character, I’d choose……IU’s character on Scarlet Heart Ryeo. I just couldn’t deal with the wishy washy-ness going between Kang Ha Neul and Lee Jun Ki  and just her attitude in general. Ugh. Off the cliff you go!

JM: Soo from SHR. Yup. She was super weak, flat, stupid, selfish and more. How could she not So even be with his daughter? Huh? That really boggles my mind. Guh.

Worst Mom

RR: Hands down the Mom in Scarlet Heart Ryeo is the worst drama Mom of 2016. I’m guessing that EVERYONE has seen this drama so it warrants no further explanation. If you don’t know what I’m talking about watch this train wreck and you’ll see.

JM: Oh dear. I forgot about her until RR mentioned her. LOL. I guess she was such a bad mom that I had to blank her out. I still don’t understand why she hated So. LOL.

a) Evilest Mother in Law

RR: As a sub-category under Worst Mom we’re doing the ‘Evilest Mother in Law’. This title goes to…….the Mother in Law in Happy Home who used emotional and psychological terrorism to subjugate the daughter in law. It was frankly quite terrifying to watch. Honourable mentions in this category should also be: Do Kyung’s mom (the money stealing mom) in Oh Hae Young Again, the whole in-law family (they killed the daughter-in-law’s mother and father) in My Daughter Geum Sa Wol and Gab Dol’s mom (abusive mother in law) in Our Gab Soon (this one is still airing though so it doesn’t technically count).

Second Leads:

a) Who Should Be First Leads

RR:  Hands down this title goes to Baek In Ho in Cheese in the Trap, although arguably this did happen for like half a second so…..But he gave us all the feels with the moping….

Other Contenders for the Title: Ryu Jun Yeol’s character in Reply 1988 and Lee Joon’s character in Woman With A Suitcase.

b) Best Male Second Lead

RR: The adorable Gong Myung’s puppy character with the crush on Park Ha Sun‘s character on Drinking Solo was by far the best second lead. And because you know that he can never be the equivalent of a first lead, it really was the one character that gave you a real case of Second Lead Syndrome.

Other Contenders for the Title:  Go Kyung Po’s character in Jealousy Incarnate, and Ohn Joo Wan’s character in Beautiful Gong Shim.

c) Best Female Second Lead

RR: I honestly can’t think of any second leads who are decent and not absolutely horrible people. Except maybe Shin Hye Sun’s character on Legend of the Blue Sea (but technically its not included as 2016 drama because it ended in 2017 so it doesn’t count)

d) Bitchiest Second Leads

RR: Most female second leads are by default absolute bitches so it’s really really hard to pick one particular character. For this reason, I’m going with a combo award again. I’m choosing Seo Hyo Rim (the sister) in Beautiful Gong Shim, Jeon Hye Bin (the sister) in Woman With A Suitcase, Park Se Young (the adopted sister) in My Daughter Geum Sa Wol, and Lee Sung Kyung (the twin sister) in Cheese in the Trap for the Bitchiest Second Lead title. Is anyone else sensing a trend with the evil sister thing in 2016?

JM: I concur. Bitchiest everywhere. Man.

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Worst Actor-Please Go Back to Acting Class Award

RR:  By far the Worst Actor title goes to Baekhyun on Scarlet Heart Ryeo. It was just terrible. Too much of everything. Please. Go back and get some acting lessons.

JM: I think they made him do aegyo WAY too much. I get that his character is supposed to be really innocent and cheerful, but . . . yeah. If he does pursue acting, I agree that he should take more acting lessons!

Candiest Candy

RR: I absolutely love Gong Hyo Jin, but her character on Jealousy Incarnate was the Candiest Candy character of 2016. Candy characters annoy me but oddly, I didn’t hate her version of Pyo Na Ri which I think is the point. She was dogged and clingy but not in a creepy or desperate way. Also, her fashion in this drama was absolutely on point so….Kudos girl!

Worst Kiss

RR: OMG. These were the absolute worst kisses in the 2016 dramaverse. The IU and Lee Jun Ki kiss on Scarlet Heart Ryeo (they were all horrible so you can choose which one you hate more) and the Park Shin Hye and Kim Rae Won in Doctors (also known as the ‘Dancing In The Rain Kiss’). These were all equally horrible in their own right. Mostly because a) the kissing was bad and because b) it was super awkwardly positioned. Ugh. How hard is it to mess up a kiss scene?

JM: SHR for me. RR actually showed the “better” kiss scene from SHR. I’m telling you, the worst kiss in that drama has to be the initial forced kiss from So. The director even filmed the kiss upside down so you couldn’t see much of the action at all. The kiss was reflected from a pond. LOL. (Yes I know LJK has said in an interview that he hasn’t been that good with kiss scenes in the past, so I was kind of looking forward to seeing some improvement on his hand for SHR. Unfortunately, those scenes didn’t show . . . much. I wished they had created better kiss scenes.)

Best Kiss

RR: Hands down, the best kiss of 2016 goes to……Seo Hyun Jin and Eric (also known as the ‘Wall Kiss’) in Oh Hae Young Again. This kiss is totally deserving of this title. It was very much what you would expect a real kiss to be; all the tongues and hands and feelings. So very realistic. An honourable mention should also go to Gong Hyo Jin and Jo Jung Seok (also known as the ‘Locker Room Kiss’) on Jealousy Incarnate. *fans face*

Best Makjang (Or worst depending on your approach to Makjangs)

RR: I would award this title to…..My Daughter Geum Sa Wol! It had a little bit of everything; fires, death, birth switches, birth secrets, love affairs, awful in-laws, noble idiocy, poverty, a Romeo-Juliet-esque love story etc etc. It was all super intense and very much in your face all the time and made you want to scream and/or pull your hair out. It was great.

a) Best Family Drama

RR: In line with the Makjang is the Best Family Drama title. I would award this to Five Children. It’s all about a blended family coming together and their extended family drama. If nothing else, the scene stealing Sung Hoon and Shin Hye Sun put this drama on the map with their super awkward ‘Supremely Obnoxious Jock Falls For Nerdy School Teacher’ love story!

Best Costumes

RR: The costumes in Moonlight Drawn by Clouds were absolutely beautiful!

JM: Yes. So pretty.

Worst Costumes

RR: The outfits and style choices in Lucky Romance were absolutely atrocious. They made Hwang Jung Eum look like some New York city bag lady. It was absolutely terrible! An honourable mention for worst costumes also goes to…..Hwarang: Poet Warrior Youth for its god awful drowned rat hair! (it’s technically still airing so it doesn’t count but I think it deserves to be included twice in this category for both 2016 and 17!)

Worst Script

RR: I mean there is no contest for this……Scarlet Heart Ryeo (If you want to know the reasons why please read our review posts on this)

JM: SHR!!!!! They had a NOVEL and a Chinese script to work with. Things shouldn’t have gone wrong.

Worst Editing

RR: Again, no contest….Scarlet Heart Ryeo

JM: SHR. Cutting off the actor/actress’s speech before the scene ended? Having multiple versions going on? What? No.

Worst Manhwa Adaptation

RR: When you basically make the Male Lead disappear and replace him with the Second Lead for half the show which is totally not what is in the Webtoon, you deserve this title. Cheese in the Trap, I’m talking to you!

JM: My God. The webtoon is SO MUCH BETTER. Guys just read the webtoon and ignore this drama. What a waste of Park Hae Jin. He’s a really good actor. (Watch him in Bad Guys).

Most Underused Talent Award

RR: Talk about a waste of talent. This title goes to Ji Sung in The Entertainer. This whole drama was pointless in the first place, but to cast Ji Sung and then have him do barely anything and give him have an awkward love line with Hye Ri? Really? That’s the best you could do? -_-

Actor Who Did A 180 Award

RR: Honestly, I didn’t see this coming. When UEE was cast in Marriage Contract, I must admit that I was less than excited. But, she totally proved me wrong by really killing it in the role. Oh My God. She gave me all the feelings. It was a job very well done. *applause*

Rising Star Award

RR: I didn’t really notice any newbies that really took my breath away in 2016 except maybe Kim Min Suk who was Private Kim Ki Bum and Jin Goo’s little ‘brother’ character on Descendants of the Sun. He also went on to play a cute doctor on Doctors later in the year as well. He’s doing quite well playing resident puppy roles. Keep it up!

Best Drama

RR: For me, this year’s Best Drama Award should go to Descendants of the Sun. In spite of some of its cheesiness, what I really liked best about this show was the characters’ dedication to their own lives and careers and choice to be with each other without giving these up. They remained very much their own person until the very end and were not willing to compromise things that made them, them. This is often not the case with most drama characters, so it was really refreshing to see a love story being portrayed in such a way. Its really the twenty-something struggle (love vs career) and these two really figured it out amidst the landmines and natural disasters.

JM: For me, the best drama goes to SIGNAL. If I could vote Signal for everything, I could try to squeeze it in for anything. ;) I’m sort of biased because I adore watching murder mysteries. I find the suspense to be fascinating. All of the actors were great. However, the younger male police lead (Lee Je Hoon) . . . he was decent but still not as skilled as the veteran actors. The cases were also very interesting and I heard they were based on real cases which makes the drama even more fascinating. I think the drama also brings on some social issues to light which is great. BRING ON A SEQUEL or another wonderful murder mystery drama for 2017. PLEASE.

RR: That’s it for our 2016 wrap up! Goodbye 2016! You will not be missed!

End of Year Drama Awards – 2016 Welcome to our 'End of Year Review/Awards' post. Yes it's in January because we're doing it in line with Chinese New Year!