#but when the setting is so far beyond our normal - typical of fantasy and sci fi - then you absolutely NEED to go outside and touch grass

[constantvariations]

Remembering how someone once brushed off the criticism of v5 being mostly in a single room by saying "most sitcoms take place in a single room!" as if Remnant isn't an entirely new world with unique landscapes and cultures that should be explored

[markoberposts]

More Fun Movies Seen

     Well, I did yesterday as I’d forecast within my prior posts.  I went out and saw another large group of movies all at once...this time FOUR of them one after the other all at the same theater...this occurring once again at Tempe Marketplace as I’d done the day before as well.  In fact, I’ve just set what I’m sure are 2 separate new records for myself thanks to all of the great new Summer movies that have come out all at once.  As I’d talked about yesterday, I had just seen on Thursday all of the 3 movies: Child’s Play, Annabelle Comes Home, and The Secret Life of Pets 2.  And then on Friday--yesterday--I followed this up by further seeing the 4 movies: Men in Black: International, Anna, Toy Story 4, and then lastly, The Dead Don't Die.  So seeing yesterday’s 4 movies both sets a record for me for the most theater movies seen all in the same day as well as the most--as in 7--theater movies seen all within a short time period...that of a 2 day period.  So I think that the movie-makers have been making up for last year, being that I don’t recall there having really been very many movies at the start of Summer that had attracted my attention in 2018.  But wow...this was a lot of movies for having seen all at the same visit, with my having scheduled them intentionally so that I’d have about a half an hour between each movie if for no other reason but to go outside the theater and get warmed up again!  And I say that with this even being in Phoenix and with it having been 110 degrees at the time!  Yes indeed, they keep our theaters cool by comparison, especially when you are wearing shorts and a thin T-shirt.

     Anyway, to start with, the movie Men in Black: International was a very fun and cool movie, with both of the lead actors of course being great within it and with my particularly enjoying watching Tessa Thompson, even with my not having become a fan of hers before this movie.  And of course all of the cool aliens really make it interesting and fun to watch...it being right up there with Star Wars in this regard and probably even much more elaborately designed within these movies compared to Star Wars or most other Sci-Fi movies.  Anyway, the story was exciting and fun, and the special effects were as great as ever.

     And next I saw the movie Anna.  And although it was a bit different than I’d expected, it was nevertheless interesting and fairly exciting.  I admit that what had attracted me to it the most was the previews where it had showed her literally destroying guys around her with hardly lifting a finger, being such a precise and skilled fighter.  I hadn’t read about it in advance, however, so I was surprised by it being a story about growing up in Russia and working for the KGB.  But that was still by itself somewhat interesting, although I admittedly enjoyed the action scenes quite a lot more.  I was, however, sympathizing with her all along, hoping that she would eventually find freedom.  And even though I’ve always been strongly against killing any life forms (and no I’m not a Democrat...I’m actually an Independent simply because I don’t align with ANY political parties...not even whatever being an ‘Independent’ represents simply beyond being literally independent from all party ideals, my feeling repulsed by ALL political parties), I nevertheless find it odd that I’m able to--for movies such as this--feel completely okay watching her slaughter people left and right, perhaps simply because they’re supposedly the bad guys...or at least they’re agents who align themselves more with loyalties to bad people rather than to upholding what’s good and right on a moral level.  And of course I also really enjoyed the movie because the actress is simply beautiful.  In fact, I had to look her up after the movie for this very reason, finding that she is actually a true Russian actress, and that this film was a French film, even with it also focused on the American C.I.A.  And when I looked her up in Wikipedia and then in IMDb, I was at least happy to see her smiling and happy most of the time, being that she did a great job of appearing so depressed and sad most of the time in the movie, with the couple of sex scenes not really detracting much from this overall dark mood.  But in the end, it actually finished rather nicely.  So I’d say that it was a pretty good movie overall.

     And then I saw the movie Toy Story 4, which I really found to be very pleasant and entertaining, with it actually being just as much a love story as it was a movie about helping “Forky” to get back to its little human female creator kid who was really missing it quite a bit.  And aside from the movie also being a love story involving Bo Peep and Woody, it was also the tiniest bit about it kind of resembling the Transformer movies, at least as far as how a human might be able to cause their toys to “come to life” as happens within the Toy Story movies.  But this movie was really fun and exciting, and the dummies in it were really rather scary.  In fact, I’d always wondered exactly why the ventriloquists had designed dummies to look like that...with their always looking so spooky-like!  We never find out within this movie...but it does work well to make it rather scary.  And I love all of the carnival scenes, being that they reminded me of another recent animation movie that I’d seen of a similar nature called Wonder Park, which I’d enjoyed because of the fantasy aspect of finding a hidden giant place such as Disneyland tucked away in some remote hidden forest.  Anyway, this movie, Toy Story 4, was great and exciting and fun and was well worth seeing.

     And finally, I then saw as my last movie for the night the movie, The Dead Don’t Die, which was a very, very slow-paced but nevertheless campy type of amusing movie about the end of the world zombie apocalypse.  It has a lot of appealing parts to it, although it certainly didn’t follow the typical Hollywood type format of a small group of people--especially the heroes--surviving in the end.  Nope!  We all die in the end...and that is that!  LOL.  It really was a bit sad in this respect, however, because I really wanted the always-attractive Selena Gomez--normally known for her songs--to actually survive in the end.  But SORRY!  She’s a goner just like everyone else is...except perhaps the man in the woods...oh, and the alien-lady, who was VERY interesting to watch because of her always looking...well...kind of like an alien!  But she was really great in this movie with her abilities to strike zombies down with her sword!  Too bad she couldn’t rescue them all in the end.  But perhaps some of the funniest and oddest things were the tendencies of Adam Driver--the bad guy in the latest Star Wars movies who KILLS his father Han Solo (DARN HIM!)--to step outside of character and talk about the script of the very movie itself.  And this is part of what makes it so funny, being that from the beginning, Bill Murray asks him about what’s going on and Adam Driver always responds that he has a feeling that things will end badly.  Eventually, in fact, Bill Murray finally asks him why he always acts like he knows that it’s going to end badly, and that’s when Adam reveals that it’s because he’d read the script!  In response, Bill Murray finally then admits that he’d read the script as well, of course, but that he hadn’t read that it would end badly.  Anyway, there are plenty of other fun jokes within it as well, with the key to the humor being of course the deadpan reactions by most people, especially Bill Murray and Adam Driver, to all of the various events that happen around them, even as they work to both figure out things and at least attempt to see if there’s anyway to help people out.  But of course there isn’t in the end, because when the Moon develops a purple edge to it, and the Earth changes its rotation, then we are all DOOMED for sure!  So we’d best take a lesson from this movie, with that lesson apparently being for us to simply give up!  I mean, if there ever really is a zombie apocalypse to come of this nature, then there wouldn’t seem too awfully much that we could do about it.  But who knows, perhaps a small group of survivors might be able to board one of the rockets from either Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos and somehow make it outside the scope of influence of such a badly-resurrecting type of force!  Or then again, perhaps instead someday a resurrection might occur where the people aren’t really zombies, but actually become once again like normal people, although perhaps with bodies that no longer age nor feel pain.  Wouldn’t that be great?!  One can always hope...   :)

[queermediastudies]

Infinite Diversity in Limited Combinations

Group #2

Madeline De Aguero

Analiese Schulzki

Amy Oh

Star Trek, depending on who you ask, is a silly sci-fi show for nerds, an inspiration for a passion in STEM fields, or a hopeful view of humanity’s future. Star Trek has attempted to represent minorities and diverse experiences for over 50 years. The original 1966 show, and its various incarnations, have had the unique ability to address controversial topics due to its futuristic setting. Metaphors for social issues can take on new forms to get past the censorship of the CBS overlords. However, the one topic Star Trek engages minimally with is queer sexualities. Star Trek debuted its first openly gay character in 2017’s Star Trek: Discovery.

Capt. Kirk and Spock share an intimate moment. (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier)

While, it is important to note the rewrite of original show character Sulu as gay, this decision came as an afterthought, and in a Star Trek timeline not of the original cannon. LGBTQ representation is a low priority for writing staffs who focus on how equality function within our society. This begs the question: why the critical engaged Trekkies haven’t asked for more? After taking a closer look as specific Star Trek episodes (from the original series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Enterprise, and Discovery), we have found that queer content exists within Star Trek, but they are visually based, not content based. Historically, Star Trek has been revered for its motto, “infinite diversity in infinite combinations”, while these ideals have led to intersectional portrayals of race, ability, and gender, Star Trek proves to have its limits as sexuality gets left behind. While Star Trek has been one of the most progressive franchises in film and television history, we argue that when Star Trek portrays queer interpersonal dynamics through images, the story of specific episode or film is augmented to tell as straight as possible of a story. When these images from Star Trek are taken out of context, a queer reading becomes the dominate reading.

Capt. Picard lays naked in bed next to the clothed omnipotent being, Q. (Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 6 Episode 15 Tapestry)

Source: https://www.netflix.com/watch/70178003?trackId=200257859

Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) was injured in his fight against the Lenarians in The Next Generation, season 6 episode 15. The fight happened outside of the conference room where his artificial heart is failing. The episode continues on with the captain being stuck in a fantasy world where he is young again - a fantasy created by the omnipotent being, Q. The first impression behind this image before I (Amy) was introduced to the full series was that it was inherently queer. I saw the potential behind the image as being slightly queer as the man on the left, the naked one, seems to be pulling the blanket higher over himself while the other man looks at him. It is almost in a bashful manner that he is hiding his body from his friend. However, as I watched the episode, the true and ‘straight’ context came out. “While we acknowledge that homosexuals as well as heterosexuals can operate or mediate from within straight cultural spaces and positions-after all, most of us grew up learning the rules of straight culture we have paid less attention to the proposition that basically hetero-centrist texts can contain queer elements, and basically heterosexual, straight-identifying people can experience queer moments.” (Doty, 1997, pg 2-3).

One thing to note throughout the episode is the Captain Picard is in a ‘dream’ world where he is able to fix the mistakes of his past - anything that he felt guilty about. When we place the GIF back into the episode, the captain and his love interest when he was in his 20s finally make the move to be together - sexually. However, when the camera pans in the morning from the clothes to the naked captain, we can assume that the woman and captain had slept together. However, the captain wakes up next to Q. Here, we can take into context that the captain may have slept with the omnipotent being as he is the one controlling everything.

This is where we can note that Star Trek is inherently queer and “...marks a flexible space for the expression of all aspects.” (Doty, 1997, 3).

Doctor Bashir shudders as Garak places a hand on his shoulder (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 1 Episode 3 Past Prologue)

The character Elim Garak, a Cardassian, in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in first introduced in the third episode of the first season. His guest staring role serves many purposes for the overall arch of the series, but in his debut episode, he was written to be a part of the “frontier” young doctor Bashir wants to explore. He is the only of his species living on the space station and rumored a spy for his government. Garak asserts himself in Dr. Bashir’s personal life from the moment he appears onscreen and when Bashir shares this with his colleagues, they laugh at his fascination with the station’s tailor.  While Star Trek’s alien races maintain varying cultural differences from western society, the vast majority are heteronormative. As Venzo puts it, “…queer people are positioned as the one group of  ‘aliens’ the Federation has little or no interest in encountering… the future itself is inherently heterosexual” (289). The queer interpretation of Elim Garak is unique to the Star Trek franchise, not only is the audience projection a queer reading onto the Garak/Bashir scenes, the actor Andrew Robinson was as well, “..I just tried to go as much against the grain, as much against human stereotype as possible. And especially in America, there is so much about sexuality that is outside the normative heterosexual category, that I thought really… I hope it really upsets people too” (Tremeer, 2017, para. 3). The writers of Deep Space Nine wrote against this interpretation, even giving Dr. Bashir a female love interest in the last season, but as writers digressed from Robinson’s acting choice, Robinson and the fandom engage with a deeper committed to a queer Elim Garak.

Jadzia Dax and Lenara Kahn practicing “science” in Dax’s quarters. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 4 Episode 5 Rejoined)

Jadzia Dax & Lenara Kahn are both Trills, a species that has symbionts living inside them, each symbiont hold multiple lifetimes of experiences as these symbionts are passed from Trill to Trill for hundreds of years. The Dax and Kahn symbionts were a couple in their past hosts. When they meet again for the first time in decades the sexual tension is immediately. However, in Trill society, it is forbidden for relationships to be re-established in new hosts. If they do re-establish a past relationship, they will be exiled from the Trill.  It is important to note that in their past host, they were a heterosexual pairing. On first look, one may think that there was groundbreaking queer exposure within a show from the late 80s early 90s, but in reality, this episode is a perfect example of context built to make the queer as straight as possible. In order for this episode to be made there had to be a way to interpret it as straight. With this specific episode in Star Trek, “offers a model of proliferation—of multiplications, hybridizations, disseminations—beyond and besides teleological, Oedipal conceptions of a linear track from past to future. Just, then, as queer theory helps us to interrogate television (with its typically still-overly-simplistic binary categories of “gay-straight,” “masculine-feminine,” “normal-abnormal,” “us- them,” and so on), might television help us think outside the binaries of queer theory itself” (Joyrich, 2014, pg. 5). These characters, although the storyline is misguided as a queer text, does something for the Star Trek universe which was show actual representation. There were far less representations on television of women being intimate and kissing one another, this episode if anything proved that it can be done. Like many queer break through texts, Star Trek not being the first, but continued to add the necessity to show LGBTQ charatcters and intimate moments on network television.

Kira Nerys as the Intendant and Ezri kiss. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 7 Episode 12 The Emperor’s New Cloak)

Source: http://www.agonybooth.com/star-trek-deep-space-nine-the-emperors-new-cloak-23468

The Emperor’s New Cloak comes in late to the Deep Space Nine, one of the final 25 episodes released of the series. In this episode, Quark and Rom are blackmailed into going to the mirror universe to save Grand Nagus Zek who has been tricked by the Intendant Kira Nerys who only wants a piece of technology that is available in the mirror universe. The mirror universe version of Ezri Dax was tasked to encourage Quark and Rom to go over to the mirror universe to Grand Nagus Zek, which proved to be very easy because Quark has feelings for his universe’s Dax. This epsiode was the first of the franchise that included a lesbian kiss without having some explanation of gender reversal or an experimentation between characters, rather confirmed that Intendant Nerys to be one of the first canonically open bisexual character in the Star Trek Universe.

The episode began with Quark’s creepy obsession with his universe’s Ezri Dax talking about how she has to feel the same way, praying to a figure to help along the process of her liking him, and claims ownership over her when Mirror Ezri shows up and says “you aren’t my Dax are you”. Mirror Ezri and the Intendant kiss as a reveal Ezri’s betrayal towards Quark, Rom, and especially Zek who had fallen for the Intendant. Quark’s creepy obession with Ezri aside, this episode while being revered for its inclusion of the momentary relationship between Mirror Ezri and the Intendant is rather problematic in their representation. First, Nana Visitor who plays the Intendant states she never intended for her character to be bisexual, it was just assumed and she attributed her actions to be confidence not sexuality which abruptly takes away queer value of this character. There is also the negative representation of the Evil Bisexual Trope. The idea of the Evil Bisexual Trope is that these characters are tricking the straight person into sexual situations and continues to vilianize the LGBTQ community.

Moreover, these characters were not lasting; Mirror Ezri made an appearance in this the final Mirror episode and the Intendant only had a five episode arc. Finally, the end of the episode although subtle with their suggestion of lesbians living the the mirror universe all of the male characters continued to harass Mirror Ezri by implying being together would “help her with her conscience”. Instead she leaves with another woman to get “debriefed” which the other characters find uncomfortable and want to leave immediately. Therefore, Star Trek implies that a queer universe exists within their world, but like most network television they just chose not to be apart of it.

Star Trek: Voyager explicit heterosexuality and rejection of any queerness reinforced throughout entire series. (Publicity shot)

Source: startrek.com

Star Trek: Voyager was the fourth live action Star Trek series and is the very definition of eliminating and alienating the entire LGBTQ community. Voyager has the classic elements that Star Trek prides themselves on which is the exploration and tribulations of humanity throughout circumstance and space. This series has been revered for their inclusion by having the first televised interracial kiss between Captain Kirk and Uhura in the original series and was thought to have pushed the boundaries once again by having the first female captain. “While Star Trek: Voyager was initially lauded for featuring a female captain, Kathryn Janeway, her WASPish, liberal humanist character is ultimately place in counterpoint with the simultaneously sexy/robotic human-Borg character Seven of Nine, who introduction to the series was thought to have attracted more viewers due to her sex appeal.” On one hand this specific series was set to celebrate difference but “reaffirmed the idea that humans, as opposed to aliens, are superior” which implied the same from ethnically diverse and LGBTQ characters. There is this idea in hollywood that you can’t have both meaning we deem diversity by one character to carry that entire load of the show and once you have the token diverse character that means they can continue to have straight white men carry the show. Voyager had their one, which was the lead character Captain Janeway who is a woman and two other racially diverse characters so they assumed they covered diversity which completely alienates other forms of representation specifically overtly even subdued queer characters eliminating them from this series as a whole.   

Sulu and his family as the first openly gay character represented in Star Trek. (Star Trek: Beyond)

Source: https://www.hulu.com/watch/1086789

Fifty years. That is how long it took for the Star Trek series to announce their first openly gay character and it came and went in the blink of an eye. In 2016 before the release of Star Trek: Beyond they made announcement that beloved character Hikaru Sulu will be the first openly gay character and every bigoted self proclaimed nerds were outraged because they felt as though this was coming out of nowhere and only trying to accommodate the political atmosphere of inclusion and partaking in the character assassination of a fictional character. Upon viewing the film, there is hardly any reason to be outraged because in true Star Trek style there was hardly anything to see. The only reference to Sulu being gay was he met up with his husband and daughter at the end of the film after rendering them and the members of the Enterprise safe. This moment which was acted well and and sincere felt as though it was an afterthought because it was. This reboot of the original series already had two films under it’s belt and wasn’t shown until the end of the film. Furthermore, the portrayal of the couple very much played into the heteronormative narrative of the nuclear family of being married and having children most likely to make it “family friendly” towards its audience.

When it was revealed that Sulu was gay, George Takei who originally played Sulu in the first Star Trek Series and strong LGBTQ advocate, did not appreciate the choice of Sulu being gay. In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter he said, "I’m delighted that there’s a gay character. Unfortunately, it’s a twisting of Gene’s creation, to which he put in so much thought. I think it’s really unfortunate." To quote Lynne Joyrich, “Dependent on viewer receptions as much as, if not more than, authorially performative productions, the mainstream itself might be thus realized, re-viewed, or remade as “queer.” This does not mean simply that queers can enter that arena and be included; rather, it means that the whole thing is exposed precisely as an arena act—one that is both overly familiar and narratively estranged, social and antisocial in its narcissistic niche, exaggeratedly positive but with alienating negativity in the way it makes a fantastical fetish out of the boringly banal.” To credit Takei, the setting of Sulu being gay feels like they are just dropping it in to be more inclusive and not to enrich the character of Hikaru Sulu.

Anthony Rapp and Wilson Cruz as the first openly gay characters in a Star Trek television series.

Source: https://www.vox.com/fall-tv/2017/9/22/16338658/star-trek-discovery-cbs-preview-showrunners-anthony-rapp

Discovery is the first Star Trek television show in 12 years. In that 12 years, society’s view of LGBTQ folk has changed dramatically. In the year leading up to the premiere, fans debated online how progressive this new show was was actually going to be. Discovery released a statement on September 30, 2017 saying that not only was there to be a gay character, played by Anthony Rapp, this character was to be in a relationship with the ship’s doctor, played by Wilson Cruz (McCormick, 2017). CBS’s decision to release this information months before the premiere of the series was deeply intentional, serving two purposes. The first, to spark queer viewership, a group now recognized as a target audience companies can profit off of. Secondly, the debut of Lieutenant Paul Stamets and Dr. Hugh Culber did not involve the common place gay tv introduction in which the audience is immediately informed through unrealistic dialogue that is solely meant to let the audience in on how progressive they are. Instead, they opted for a more subtle introduction. If they did not release a statement announcing this couple, it would not be clear they’re together until the end of the 5th episode of a 15 episode season when we see them brushing their teeth together before bed. Stamets and Culber are in interracial couple who have a loving relationship, their professional life is inseparable from their relationship, but they appear to navigate this well. If Discovery stays on this track and introduces more queer characters over time, Star Trek may have taken a turn away from the heteronormative. This shift, while exciting thus far, still has yet to definitively shy away from more current gay television tropes. We will have the wait and see what happens in the “future”.

Dr. Hugh Culber comforts his partner, Lieutenant Paul Stamets, in their quarters, much like Star Trek comforting queer Trekkies everywhere. (Star Trek: Discovery Season 1 Episode 5)

Source: https://startrek.blognook.com

References

Doty, A. (1997). Making things perfectly queer: interpreting mass culture. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Joyrich, L. (2014). Queer Television Studies: Currents, Flows, and (Main)streams. Cinema Journal,53(2), 133-139. doi:10.1353/cj.2014.0015

Aroeste, J. L. (Writer). (1968, October 18). Star Trek: Is There In Truth No Beauty? [Television series episode]. CBS.

Venzo, P. (2016). To boldy go where we should have gone before: Symbolic annihilation and queer interventions in the Star Trek texual universe. Queer Studies in Media & Popular Culture,1(3), 285-295. Retrieved October 5, 2017.

McCormick, Joseph Patrick. “Get Ready! Star Trek: Discovery Is about to Debut a Gay Couple.” PinkNews, PinkNews, 30 Sept. 2017, www.pinknews.co.uk/2017/09/30/get-ready-star-trek-discovery-is-about-to-debut-a-gay-couple/.

Tremeer, Eleanor. “Exclusive: 'Star Trek's Andrew Robinson Talks LGBT Representation & What 'Discovery' Must Do To Move Forward.” Exclusive: Why Star Trek's Andrew Robinson Played Garak As Pansexual, Movie Pilot, 4 Aug. 2017, moviepilot.com/p/exclusive-interview-with-star-trek-ds9-andrew-robinson/4336798.

Wenz, J. (2014, March 27). Deep Space Nine: The Gayest Star Trek. Retrieved October 5, 2017, from http://the-toast.net/2014/03/28/deep-space-nine-gayest-star-trek/.

[hanahinatahana]

Currently Watching

Seriously long and some spoilers so...

General and I: Kinda stalled out on this one. I don’t know why, but I keep watching something else instead, probably because I read something about Bai Jei and Ping Ting being separated for a large chunk of time, which I knew going in, but I’m not really in the mood anymore for the angst. Not dropping this one though, but I need some time. Plus, 3310 is more interesting. Knowing myself, it’ll probably take me the rest of the year to finish this.

3 Lives 3 Worlds 10 Miles of Peach Blossoms: As everyone said, this has a slow introduction, but now that the characters are established, the story has picked up and I’m really enjoying the immortal politics.

Buang Hong: After watching episodes of Kluen Cheewit with all the excessive drama, BH can pale in comparison. I love Kim and the match up between her and James is cute, but no where near as powerful as Mark/Yaya. I feel like channel 3 did this show a disservice by putting it on after KC. But the story is still good and I will persist :)

Tunnel: Okay, Choi Jin Hyuk is hunky, but I don’t really like this show. After the drama shifts to the present, I just don’t like how easily he’s moving around in this foreign reality but beyond that I do not like or think it is necessary to see the romance between the partner and the professor. I like that the partner has a connection to the past, but I don’t really like either of these characters. As I said before, I usually have a great experience with OCN and I don’t want to give up on this show, but right now I need to put it on hold. I was in the mood for a good crime/ suspense show so much that I started TWO new shows to fulfill the need.

Signal: Show number 1 that I started because of Tunnel. I already finished this one. Actually binged it last weekend instead of watching Tunnel and BH lol. Very emotional. Very well written and acted. I was a bit disappointed by the last 20 minutes because I had been wishing for a reunion from the first or second episode, but didn’t get one. Otherwise, I highly recommend it to anyone that like crime, sci/fi, and sentimental dramas because this one is hella good.

Medical Examiner Qin:  Show number 2 I started because of Tunnel. This one hit me in the first few episodes with a gruesome murder but has since tapered off into mysteries that are less gory and more interesting and complex. On episode 10 already, and the friendship has started to blossom between the three main characters as they are called to crime scenes and solve cases together. I like the dynamics of the group, and even though the synopsis talks about Dr. Qin being a bit grumpy, which he can be, the character isn’t needlessly bullheaded. The doctor can recognize and respect the skills of the people around him and it goes to making the series enjoyable.

Chronicles of Shannara: Love fantasy and the lead is cute. So far I’m liking the magic aspect, the costumes and set design but the acting could be better. Not too many complaints, I’m only on episode 4 and with US commercial television, I usually give shows a 10 episode limit before I decide to watch or drop. Cable shows, my limit is 3 episodes. I’m up to seeing where this one will take me.

SKAM 4: I caught on late to the series, but I finished season 3 a little more than a month before season 4 started, and I’m so glad I learned about this show. I love the lowkey vibe of the friendships, settings, and costumes. Minus the drinking, it reminds me of my actual high school experience. I have been waiting for more information about a lot of the characters, but Sana in particular so I’m happy that she’s getting a chance to shine this season. Also, kinda pissed about Noora and Willem. We spent all that time watching them waffle and fight for their relationship, only to have it fall apart in season 3 with no seeming hope of its revival in season 4?? Really? *le sigh* Don’t get me started...

Make It Right 2: It just premiered and our favorite couples are back. From the trailers there’s trouble ahead for Fuse/Tee and Book/Frame. More than anything, I like how honest these romances are about the feelings within the pair. One of the reasons I didn’t enjoy the second season of Lovesick is because there was just way too much show and not enough process between the mains. MIR is more sexual, which is cute but not necessary, but LS was just missing in progress. Phun/Noh, 16 episodes into the second season, weren’t any closer to being together or even truly comfortable about their feelings than they were at the end of the first season. The trailers showed third parties being introduced so I hope we’ll see some pining, but also so honesty from the couples.

Mystery Queen: Tried the first episode. I love Kang Hee but I think I will sit this one out. I’m all crimed out at the moment lol besides I wanted to get some k romance back in my line up.

Suspicious Partner: The first few weeks were good. When it comes to rom-coms I have to honestly say that I don’t normally read the synopses thoroughly. Most times I gloss over them more interested in who is starring and what the poster quality looks like. That being said, I was surprised as sh!t when a murderer appeared and our girl is suspected of the crime. This threw me off for a bit, as well as the time jump from the ending of the trial to the point where they meet again. The fact that she “stalks” him for that time period is odd. The fact that the ex that cheated was a childhood friend as well as the lawyer that was the other man in the cheating scene. This drama, definitely isn’t the typical rom-com even if it still manages to hit the mark on some of the feels and moments that we all expect to see.  I think that the two best friends should just get together, since that would at least mean that they didn’t break their long time trust with Ji Wook for a one night stand.Gearing up for episodes 13 -16 J

Ruler Master of the Mask: Now, I wasn’t sure how I would like the new half hour episode format, but at least for this show, I’m really digging it. I get some really good scenes quickly and don’t feel guilty for moving on to something else. Seung Ho, So Hyun and L are doing the damn thing in this show! We need to do a slow clap for L’s acting improvement since his last role. Boy has obviously been putting in work. The other two are just as magnificent as always. Things boiled over last week, with the death of the king and royal concubine, and after MANY tissues and some chap stick to heal my bruised lip that I bit to hold back the tears, I’m ready for another round. One thing though. The grand-daughter of the pyungsoohwe leader, Hwa Gun, is the same actress from Let’s Eat, and although I liked her there, she is giving me so many creepy vibes in this one. I like that she saw someone that she liked (he was a handsome guy and ya know, he said her life) and decided to get to know him better. I like that she didn’t seem to find the need to lie about it to her family, even though it wasn’t a popular idea. What I don’t like, is the feeling of uneasiness that I get from her. I feel like, the moment she realizes that Lee Seon doesn’t/won’t love her, she will turn into his worst enemy. Lee Seon has liked Ga Eun from the beginning and she knows that, but I’m just nervous about what will happen if they are able to really be together.

Princess Hours Thai: Skipped all other Thai adaptations (for now, I intend to watch them), because they were stories that I really enjoyed and had clear memories about. But, Goong has kind of faded from my memory. I remember liking it but I don’t really have any recollection of events anymore. This lakorn is cute and if I’m not mistaken, there is actually less angst between this couple. Kaning is a bubbly artist and Inn is a repressed prince that is actually in love with another woman. Now that the other woman, Minnie, and the scheming ex queen and ex crown prince back in town, I’m expecting the struggles and fights to increase. But for the first 6 episodes there were mostly moments of sexual tension, great scenery, and or Inn being mean to Kaning only to get wrapped up in her cuteness and their attraction to each other.

Seven Day Queen: I will watch the first few episodes, but as time crept closer to the premiere of this show, I think I’ve psyched myself out . I don’t like anyone in the cast except PMY and the concept makes it look as though she’s going to be sad and moping for the majority of the series. I’m going to watch, but my finger will probably hover above the keyboard in order to make a quick exit if I just can’t deal.

Fight My Way: Probably going to pass on this one. If the reviews are really good once it ends, I may think about watching it, but I’m not excited about the pairing.

My Sassy Girl: Only two  episodes out and already there are so many mixed reviews. Another show that I will watch with the esc button on the ready. I may have more luck with this one though, for the simple reason that I like Joo Won and Yeon Seo.

Fighter of the Destiny: Very slow going although like all the cdramas I’m currently watching, I have no intention of catching up or even trying to speed my way through the episodes. I like the story and visuals so far, but Luhan’s acting is a bit lacking and to be perfectly honest, he’s just so damn pretty and baby-faced that I’m having a hard time getting into the story as much as I wish I could.