#my favourite part of this is that he calls s1 competent

[chasecordelias]

This is what Riverdale should have been the whole time. Season 1 was a very competent whodunnit murder mystery and then from season 2 onward it just kept getting more and more ridiculous. And the thing that makes it most ridiculous though - they always lean a little bit into how “oh it’s demons, oh it’s flying babies, oh it’s magical cults, everyone’s disappearing” but then they always explain it away like “well actually it was all just jingle jangle and it was the special paint they were using in the school and he didn’t come back from the dead, it’s actually his secret cousin’s twin who we just found out about who looks exactly like him”. With this miniseries, it’s like "La Llorona shows up, yeah the devil shows up, yeah ghosts are real, Sabrina’s real, magic’s real" it was actually like almost more believable because in a world today where everything’s superheroes and vampires and werewolves I kind of wish Riverdale was just that. The fact that they’ve been trying to keep everything realistic just makes it more ridiculous. Like I kind of wish it was just like “yeah demons are real dude” it makes it so much more easy to digest.

Alex Meyers

[drivingsideways]

k-drama rec list

Prior to 2020 I’d maybe watched 2 k-dramas in my entire life, but this year I got sucked in, thanks to some great recs, and y’know, *gestures * everything.  

I think I’d held off watching kdramas because my impression of them was limited to romances that I didn’t enjoy at all. But this was the year I discovered the equivalent of “gen fic” kdrama- dramas that had wonderful ensemble casts, strong story lines that weren’t entirely romance focused and also a variety in terms of themes and styles. A big plus was that I found so many of these dramas had women leading the writers’ room, and seeing the effect of that in the story telling. (Notable exceptions: a certain “star” writer who should please stop inflicting her badly written, formulaic crap on the world, yes Kim Eun-Sook, I mean you, and whoever wrote that trashfire Flower of Evil)

So here I am with my own rec list! Caveat- these are mostly not the dramas released in 2020, I’m still playing catch up! :)

Under the cut for length

My Mister/ My Ahjussi  (2018, Written by Park Hae-Young, Directed by Kim Won-Seok, starring Lee Sun-kyun and Lee Ji-eun aka IU) 

This was definitely my absolute favourite of the shows I watched this year across western/ asian media. It’s a story about the thread that binds us all and the ineffability of human connection. It’s also a story that deconstructs ideas of masculinity and honour and shame in a non-western context, but with an extremely compassionate touch.  It’s a story that doesn’t shy away from showing the consequences of material and spiritual poverty; and how one can so easily feed into the other. It’s a love story that isn’t a romance, except that it’s a Romance. It’s about finding salvation in one another and in the kindness of strangers.  It’s about choosing life, and picking yourself up off the floor to take that one last step and then the next and then the next. The one quibble I have with the series is that it could have been better paced, it does get extremely slow after the half way mark. But god, do they land the ending. Both Lee Sun-kyun and IU turn in absolutely heartbreaking performances, and fair warning, be prepared to go through an entire box of tissues watching this series. 

Life  (2018,  written by Lee Soo-yeon  and directed by Hong Jong-chan, starring Lee Dong-wook, Cho Seung-woo, Won Jin-ah, Lee Kyu-hyung, Yoo Jae-myung and Moon So-ri.)

Medical dramas are very much not my thing, and I wouldn’t have taken a chance on it except that @michyeosseo said I should, and she was right! It’s a medical drama in the sense that it’s set in a hospital, but rather than a “case-fic” format, this is actually a sharp commentary on the corporatization of health care, and the business of mixing, well, money and what should be a fundamental human right. Writer Lee Soo-yeon was coming off the global success of Stranger/Secret Forest S1 when this aired, so I understand that expectations were probably sky-high, and people were disappointed when this show didn’t give them the adrenaline rush that they wanted. On the other hand, I thought that this outing was really much more nuanced in terms of the politics and also how the ending doesn’t allow you the luxury of easy-fixes. This show has a great ensemble cast, and while it took me a while to get used to Lee Dong-wook’s woodenness (i ended up calling him mr.cadaver after watching this and was surprised to learn that he’s very popular?), in the end I was quite sold on his version of angry angst-bucket elder-sibling Dr.Ye Jin-woo. His best scenes were with Lee Kyu-hyung who turns in a lovely, achy performance as the paraplegic Dr. Ye Seon-woo who just wants to live a normal life. The love story between the two brothers is actually the emotional backbone of the story, and I think they landed that perfectly. 

My one quibble with writer-nim is that she ended up writing in a forgettable and somewhat (for me at least) uncomfortable romance between the characters played by Won Jin-ah and Cho Seung-Woo. I think part of my uncomfortable-feeling was that I got the strong sense that the writer herself didn’t want to write this romance, it was as if she was being made to shoe-horn it in for Studio Reasons, and she basically grit her teeth and did the worst possible job of it.  I do wish we could have absolutely had the OT3 of my dreams: Moon So-ri/Cho Seung-woo/Yoo Jae-myung like, c’mon TV gods MAKE IT HAPPEN, just...look at them!!!! 

Anyway, that apart, I think this was a very engaging series, and by engaging, I also mean thirst-enabling, see below. 

 Stranger (aka Secret Forest  or Forest of Secrets) S1 & 2 : (2017-, Written by Lee Soo-yeon, directed by 

2017′s smash hit aired a much anticipated second season in 2020, and I managed to catch up just in time to watch that live, so that was thrilling :D . Writer Lee Soo-yeon  mixes up thriller/office comedy/political commentary in an ambitious series. I think S1 is more “exciting” than S2 in terms of the mystery and pacing,  but S2 is far more dense and interesting in terms of political commentary because it takes a long hard look at institutional corruption and in true writer-nim fashion doesn’t prescribe any easy solutions. Anyway, please enjoy public prosecutor Cho Seung-woo and police officer Bae Doona as partners/soulmates kicking ass and taking names in pursuit of Truth, Justice and just a goddamn peaceful meal, along with a stunningly competent ensemble cast. Also yes, Han Yeo Jin is a lesbian, sorry, I don’t make the rules. 

Search: WWW  (2019, Written by Kwon Do-Eun, directed by Jung Ji-hyun & Kwon Young-il, starring  Im Soo-jung, Lee Da-hee, Jeon Hye-jin)

GOD. Where do I start? +1000 for writer Kwon Do-Eun saying “fuck the patriarchy” in the most grandiose way possible, i.e. absolutely refusing to acknowledge that it exists. Yes, this is that power fantasy, and it’s also a fun, slice-of-life  tale about three women navigating their way through work, romance, national politics and everything in between. It’s true that I wasn’t entirely sold on the amount of time spent on the romance, and I really wish they’d actually had a textual wlw romance, though the subtext through the entire series is PRACTICALLY TEXT. But still, it maintains that veneer of plausible deniability and I think queer fans who are sick of that kind of treatment in media have a very valid grouse against the show. On the other hand, personally I felt that the queer-platonic vibe of the show is very wonderful and true to real life, and it was only reinforced by the ending. This is a show written by a woman for women (like me), and it shows. 

Hyena  (2020, Written by Kim Roo-Ri, directed by Jang Tae-yoo & Lee Chang Woo, starring  Kim Hye-soo and Ju Ji-hoon )

Those of you who’ve been watching hit zombie epic Kingdom are probably familiar with Ju Ji-hoon’s brand of sexiness already. I had not watched Kingdom and got hit in the face by Mr.Sexy McSexyPants’ turn as a brash, privileged-by-birth, up and coming lawyer who gets completely runover by the smoking hot and incredibly dangerous fellow lawyer/competitor from the other side of the tracks in the person of Kim Hye-Soo. When I say they set the room on fire, I mean it, ok. Every single scene between these two is an actual bonfire of sexual attraction and emotional hand grenades, and they’re both absolutely riveting to watch. “Flower of Evil” wishes they had what this show has- an actual grown up romance as opposed to a thirteen year old twilight fan’s idea of an adult romance. 

The “lawyer” shenanigans and the “cases” are hit or miss, and I think the occasional comedy fell flat for me. But that’s not why I mainlined like 6 episodes of this series overnight like a coke addict, and that’s not why you’re going to do it either. It’s so RARE, even in these enlightened days to find a female character like Jung Geum-ja: hard as nails, unapologetic about it, and not punished by the narrative for it. The best part for me is that she feels like a woman’s woman, not a man’s idea of what a Strong Female Character should be. Anyways, when I grow up I want to have what Kim Hye-soo has ok?

Other dramas that I watched this year, quickly rated:

The King: Eternal Monarch (3/10 and those 3 points are only for the combined goodness of second leads who deserved better- Jung Eun Chae, Woo Do Hwan and Kim Kyung Nam. Please head over to my AO3 and read my attempts to fix this garbage fire and rescue their characters from canon)

Flower of Evil (-10/100, dont @ me)

Tale of the Nine Tailed (5/10, I think it succeeds at what it set out to do, which is a light hearted, sweet fantasy-romance-melodrama, plus “second lead” Kim Beom will make you cry as the hot mess of a half human/ half fox spirit ALL TEARS character. I think if you’re into kdrama romances as a genre, this is probably a good bet?)

Signal  (7/10,  This was the first full kdrama I watched this year and would definitely recommend. It’s a police procedural with time travel shenanigans and has an engaging plot, good pacing, texture and compelling performances. My one disappointment with it was the way they wrote Kim Hye-soo’s character. As literally the only female character to survive in any way, she was given short shrift, and toward the end it really began to grate on me.)

Six Flying Dragons - (7/10, also would recommend if you’re interested in Korean historicals. It definitely already feels a bit dated in terms of styling and production values, and even scripting and acting choices. But it has a good balance of fantasy and history and political commentary. I was not a fan of Yoo In-Ah’s performance in this series, but it’s not anything that would make you want to nope out of the series. It’s GoT , if GoT was thoughtful about politics and characters and not the misogynist, racist trashfire that it became.)

My Country: The New Age - (3.5/10, and that’s 3 points to Jang Hyuk’s fan and 0.5.points to Woo Do Hwan’s heaving bosom. If you like your historical drama/fantasy with very pretty men, very gay subtext -seriously RIP to show makers who thought they could hetero it but didn’t account for Woo Do Hwan’s Tragic Face- lots of blood and tears and very nonsense plot, this is right up your alley. I probably would have enjoyed it more in other circumstances, I think? But this one just annoyed me too much at the time! 

I have a couple of more dramas to watch on my list, that’ll probably carry me over into 2021, so see ya on the other side! :D

[sieben9]

“souls of the departed” impressions

{Quick request to anyone reading: I’m watching OUaT for the first time, and I want to avoid spoilers. So, if you want to discuss something spoilery, I’d be grateful if you could start a new post for that. Thank you!}

With thanks to Photoshop’s “Colour Balance” option!

Today on Once Upon a— Jesus H. Christ, will you look at that lighting!

Just…

Why.

someone call the editing studio and tell them they left f.lux on…

Ahem. Anyway. Underworld. Gotta say, I liked this one a lot more than I’d have assumed from the end of the last (half-)season. (Someone mentioned it would be a Regina-centric, so I expected at least some good stuff, but this was still a lot better than I could have hoped.) Maybe not my favourite ever, but definitely a good deal above average. It also serves as what I hope is a good introduction to this season’s theme…

Closure!

Also, “letting go”, I suppose, but I’m not getting my hopes too far up on that count. More under the cut.

OK, first of all, before we get into the meat of this episode…

NEAL! God, I missed you, buddy. Emma, could you maybe pull a Hella Varal here, and just… take him with you? No? Oh, come on, do I have to write everything myself here?

I will also say that I didn’t buy that “I had no unfinished business” line for a second. Neal, you left behind your heartbroken (former?) love, the son you’d barely met and for whom you were willing to throw all your principles overboard, just to meet him again, and a completely devastated father you’d just reconciled with. And none of that counts as unfinished business? Yeah, pull the other one and all that.

Also, nice going on telling Henry that his dad is OK, but not Rumple that his son is. Yes, I know that we’re pretending like the two had nothing to do with each other, ever, but still. Let me get the bitterness out early.

Other than that, this episode reminded me of two things. Well, three. First: damn, but Regina can sure carry an episode when the plot lets her.

Second, Barbara Hershey is a very handsome woman, and third: I want to resurrect Cora, just so that I can kill her again. You kind of forget what an astoundingly terrible person she is when she’s not around for a while…

OK, touching reunion over, now take your hands off her or so help me…

This whole plot did something I really like on this show, which is “take a tertiary character and flesh the hell out of them” (no pun intended). Henry Sr was mostly there to fill a specific role in Regina’s backstory so far, and while we got glimpses of his character, I wouldn’t have called him “well-developed” by any means. Which is perfectly fine! You do need that supporting cast to carry a story. It’s still nice when those people get their time to shine, and this was Older Henry’s opportunity.

…OK, bad example. look, it’s Once Upon a Time. sometimes these things happen.

This episode also reframed his actions during Regina’s childhood in a way that made him more sympathetic to me. I mean, he was always a genuinely nice person, and his death was awful, but while I liked him well enough, I had a hard time respecting him, because… well, we only ever saw him as “Regina’s dad”, and he seemed to fail his parental duties rather thoroughly.

Look, this whole topic is steeped in issues I am in no way an expert on. Living with a violent spouse (meaning Cora, in this case) is hell, and I assume different people deal with that differently. I didn’t blame Henry Sr because he never stopped Cora’s abuse of their daughter, mostly because I don’t think he could have. I blamed him because the narrative made it seem like he never even tried, instead just standing to one side, wringing his hands, because gosh, there was just nothing he could do, was there?

Anyway, like I said, this episode reframed a lot of that, both in the sense that he did, in fact, try, and in that he knew how badly he’d messed up, and wanted to see that made right.

And while the whole thing was obviously subject to time constraints (theoretically, I wouldn’t have minded a three-episode arc where Regina and her father come to terms with the good, bad, and ugly of their relationship and make peace with all parts together, but I realise that’s not really feasible), I really liked that this episode gave both of them... wait for it... Closure.

Even back in s1, Regina killing her father was never framed as an act of malice, but one of desperation, and it was made clear repeatedly how much that decision haunted her. I also just liked Henry getting to meet his grandfather and namesake.

“Thank you, Grandpa. For believing in her like I do.” “Thank you, Henry... for being there when I couldn't.”

no snark here, i just really loved this dialogue

I’m vaguely confused about Cora’s fate, I admit. Also about Hades’s zero-mistakes policies. How many hyper-competent evil people do you have around this place that you can send her off to Miller Hell for that one single tick of the clock? Just wondering...

In any case, I’m happy they seem to be picking up the “Regina is the saviour, but coming from the other direction” thing as Emma gets... honestly, who even knows what’s going on with Emma, these days.

In “just little things I liked”: the cameos. Just. All of the cameos. Loved hearing Cruella in the background, loved James in all his sleazy, awful glory, and especially loved the return of this little shit here.

welcome back, eyebrow boy! touch any of the characters i love and i will beat you with a cactus : D

Also, Regina eating pie.

Just. Yeah. Congratulations on finding what is probably the least heterosexual way to eat pie, and that’s saying something.

Oh, and as mentioned in my one liveblog-post: Rumplestiltskin, Dark One and grumpy tour guide to Hell. That man is so Done™ with everything and everybody. He spent six weeks in a coma, got kidnapped, beaten up, chased by bears, beaten up again, had his heart broken, was threatened with horrible death, was re-Dark One’d (which I can’t imagine is much fun, even if it was on purpose), got shagged within an inch of his life (one presumes), and blackmailed into going to the underworld for a guy he hates. What I’m saying is: let this man rest for maybe five minutes.

“I’m out” yeah, i hear that…

And, of course, the short-but-sweet (bittersweet, really) Rumbelle scene in the beginning. Look, Rumple, bud, if you could just tell her? Maybe just this once? …yeah, didn’t think so. You two are still cute and do some of the best goodbyes on this show. Please don’t mess each other up too badly this time around.

i really, really love these two idiots…

Meanwhile, in “setup” news… uh, Hook’s not looking his best, is he? Did he just fast forward all the way to Actual Hell, or what’s going on there? I mean, I’m sure I’ll find out whether I want to or not, I’m just trying to get myself interested in the alleged main plot.

And Hades, my guy, that hairdo is not doing you any favours whatsoever.

just… no.

They're going to have him be evil, aren’t they? ::incredibly long sigh:: Alright. Bring it on.