Crime Squad got a 6.7% nationwide (TNS), so not exactly ideal, but I heard there was a lot of positive comments from real detectives and netizens about how realistic the portrayal is. I'm just twiddling my thumbs hoping the folks over at DarkSmurf would have it fully edited/fan translated at some point, because I am SO THERE.
Sign had the worst first 4 episodes I've had the misfortune to watch in a while, but improved a bit once the cases kicked in. The first serial murder case was awesome. It's never going to be well-written or well-directed, but it's at least watchable after episode 5, and I really needed my mystery/medical drama fix.
Considering it's so early on in Gisaeng, I would be perfectly happy if they cut it down to 30 now. There's enough time to chop unnecessary crap out (read: the irritating sideplot about that dancing teacher ahjusshi at Buyonggak).
Since the current batch still doesn't interest me, I'm already looking ahead to upcoming dramas around May :P For the moment it looks like it'll be Can You Hear My Heart (Hwang Jung Eum and Kim Jae Won), Goodbye Miss Ripley (most likely Yoochun, Lee Da Hae, Kim Seung Woo and Kang Hye Jung), Maids, City Hunter, and Sweet Scandal. Can You Hear My Heart sounds bleh, Goodbye Miss Ripley has an amazing cast if it goes through but I've heard nothing about the plot, and similarly there's nothing confirmed about Maids or Sweet Scandal so far.
What teacher ahjusshi? I am skipping everything not involving the otp so much, I literally have no idea what's going on with other storylines except that grandparents found out they have a missing granddaughter :)
With that cast, I'd watch Ripley whatever it was about. I am also going to check out Heart because I have a soft spot for KJW. No Maids because I hated Pasta, and no City Hunter because the plot sounds awful and LMH has the talent for picking up the most idiotic scripts.
There's this annoying dance teacher at the gisaeng house, who's constantly whining and causing trouble and then fighting with the fat kitchen lady, Manager Noh. IT'S SO IRRITATING. I don't see why they don't focus more on the gisaeng girls or something, because they look like they could be interesting. I'm actually watching everything without hitting the fastforward button, which is unusual. It's probably because nothing's been offensively boring so far.
I've only seen KJW in Wonderful Life, which I strongly disliked, so I have no urge to watch him in anything else. The plot makes me wince a little anyway; guy who's deaf and presumably angsting paired with "candy girl" who's all cheerful, poor, and hardworking.
The casting of Ripley is a bit odd, if it stays this way. I mean, who's playing the main lead? Yoochun has the kind of star billing that equals current A-listers, but Kim Seung Woo and Kang Hye Jung are well-respected ~*~serious actors~*~. It's... strange.
Re; KJW. I loved him in Romance, one of those student-teacher dramas. I stayed away from WL because I knew I'd hate it.
The Gisaeng teacher thing sounds so boring. and speaking of gisaengs, I wonder if Saran will ever become one, this drama seems low key for such major drama/angst.
Ooh. Does Romance have a happy ending? And good move re: WL, because it was a steaming pile of shit. I kept screaming at my computer screen the whole time. I'm usually pretty anti-divorce, but the two leads pissed me off so much with their whinging and "we were forced to marry because we had a one night stand and now we have a kid, but we hate each other's guts so we'll argue day and night and write a contract to last for 5 years so that our kid can grow up okay" was just SO. MUCH. BS. Hello, divorcing once your kid is 5-years-old and therefore smart enough to know what you're doing is an even worse idea? And then it turns into them magically developing a bond as husband and wife because kid has leukemia or w/e. Wonderful Life my ass.
From the news on Zealioner's blog, it sounds like it will happen? She said something like "Im Sung Han is still thinking about how to do it", so presumably it's just a matter of HOW to get Sa Ran into the gisaeng house. From what I know of Assorted Gems, it started off cheery and the angst hit majorly in the second half, and I think it'll probably happen here. The only way I can see Sa Ran going into the gisaeng house is if there was some kind of separation between her and Da Mo, and in the time between, something happens (financially?) to force her to go for the job. Maybe Ra Ra gets jealous and screws up Sa Ran's chances of getting into the dance troupe.
Yup, happy ending. I adored his character in that one - he was such a wonderful, sweet, mature, angsty thing.
Re: Gisaeng. Yay! Glad it's going to happen, sadistic as it sounds. But I keep wondering how/why. For one thing, you are right, she and Damo have to be broken up and I am not sure how - because currently they are head-over-heels and getting closer every day, but also because they really seem to talk to each other and work out stuff. Hmmmm.
I might give it a try one day then. I'm leery of the melodrama synopsis, but it might be worth it.
One possibility is that Sa Ran's father kicks the bucket (remember he has heart problems?), and he tells Hwa Ja (the stepmom) that Sa Ran isn't his real daughter in the upcoming episode, so Hwa Ja might go Evil Stepmother on Sa Ran once she's no longer of use (i.e. broken up with Da Mo and therefore not going to be rich madam). It could also be that he kicks the bucket and it forces them into such desperate financial straits that Sa Ran's forced to take a job at the gisaeng house. Or she finds out that she's actually a child born out of wedlock and the shock/desire to find her real mother brings her to the gisaeng house where Soon Duk works? So many options.
Well, Da Mo's pretty much a goner; at this point he's going to be all OVER MY DEAD BODY about a break-up. He's only asked her about being his wife THREE TIMES, afterall. XD; So I think if they break up, the one who's going to put the foot down is Sa Ran. She's got so much pride that she'd probably suggest breaking it off if she finds out his parents disapprove, or her financial state gets so bad that she'll have to go to the gisaeng house.
Well, some of that asking was in his head :P But yes, I can't see him ever agreeing to a break-up - he didn't even give up when they barely met and she hated his guts for propositioning her, let alone after they've dated for a while and she's been so sweet to him. But yes, I can see the scenario where her pride would push her to break up (I am not so sure about parental disapproval - grandma likes her, the father seems oddly OK with whoever, probably after the gay scare, so I suppose it's left to the Mom to be the gatekeeper, which is probably more interesting conflict anyway because Damo genuinely loves his mother, unlike his bad relationship with his father). Hmmm. I wonder if the drama will give up "nooooo, don't leave me/I don't love you and off to be a gisaeng!" angst. Hmmm.
Stepmom is not the nicest but she doesn't strike me as Briliant Legacy level evil so we'll see.
At least we know the intention is there :P Da Mo's a pretty confusing person, really; sometimes the way he acts makes me question whether he's really thinking ahead about his relationship with Sa Ran, but then he'd come out with another "BE MY WIFE!" imaginary scene.
The Mom disapproved in the latest episodes, didn't she? Ep 13, I think, she was pretty against the idea when Grandma suggested that Sa Ran might make a good partner for Da Mo. Frankly her opposition baffled me, but I guess if she didn't oppose we wouldn't have much of a drama. I, for one, am totally looking forward to some "don't leave me, don't go and be a gisaeng!" angst :P I actually thought Sa Ran should've rejected him for a bit longer at the start; GIVE ME SOME MORE MANPAIN. I love a guy who'd wait for his lady love for hours, when he doesn't even know when she'd come home.
Sign had the worst first 4 episodes I've had the misfortune to watch in a while, but improved a bit once the cases kicked in. The first serial murder case was awesome. It's never going to be well-written or well-directed, but it's at least watchable after episode 5, and I really needed my mystery/medical drama fix.
Considering it's so early on in Gisaeng, I would be perfectly happy if they cut it down to 30 now. There's enough time to chop unnecessary crap out (read: the irritating sideplot about that dancing teacher ahjusshi at Buyonggak).
Since the current batch still doesn't interest me, I'm already looking ahead to upcoming dramas around May :P For the moment it looks like it'll be Can You Hear My Heart (Hwang Jung Eum and Kim Jae Won), Goodbye Miss Ripley (most likely Yoochun, Lee Da Hae, Kim Seung Woo and Kang Hye Jung), Maids, City Hunter, and Sweet Scandal. Can You Hear My Heart sounds bleh, Goodbye Miss Ripley has an amazing cast if it goes through but I've heard nothing about the plot, and similarly there's nothing confirmed about Maids or Sweet Scandal so far.
Reply
With that cast, I'd watch Ripley whatever it was about. I am also going to check out Heart because I have a soft spot for KJW. No Maids because I hated Pasta, and no City Hunter because the plot sounds awful and LMH has the talent for picking up the most idiotic scripts.
Reply
I've only seen KJW in Wonderful Life, which I strongly disliked, so I have no urge to watch him in anything else. The plot makes me wince a little anyway; guy who's deaf and presumably angsting paired with "candy girl" who's all cheerful, poor, and hardworking.
The casting of Ripley is a bit odd, if it stays this way. I mean, who's playing the main lead? Yoochun has the kind of star billing that equals current A-listers, but Kim Seung Woo and Kang Hye Jung are well-respected ~*~serious actors~*~. It's... strange.
Reply
The Gisaeng teacher thing sounds so boring. and speaking of gisaengs, I wonder if Saran will ever become one, this drama seems low key for such major drama/angst.
Reply
From the news on Zealioner's blog, it sounds like it will happen? She said something like "Im Sung Han is still thinking about how to do it", so presumably it's just a matter of HOW to get Sa Ran into the gisaeng house. From what I know of Assorted Gems, it started off cheery and the angst hit majorly in the second half, and I think it'll probably happen here. The only way I can see Sa Ran going into the gisaeng house is if there was some kind of separation between her and Da Mo, and in the time between, something happens (financially?) to force her to go for the job. Maybe Ra Ra gets jealous and screws up Sa Ran's chances of getting into the dance troupe.
Reply
Re: Gisaeng. Yay! Glad it's going to happen, sadistic as it sounds. But I keep wondering how/why. For one thing, you are right, she and Damo have to be broken up and I am not sure how - because currently they are head-over-heels and getting closer every day, but also because they really seem to talk to each other and work out stuff. Hmmmm.
Reply
One possibility is that Sa Ran's father kicks the bucket (remember he has heart problems?), and he tells Hwa Ja (the stepmom) that Sa Ran isn't his real daughter in the upcoming episode, so Hwa Ja might go Evil Stepmother on Sa Ran once she's no longer of use (i.e. broken up with Da Mo and therefore not going to be rich madam). It could also be that he kicks the bucket and it forces them into such desperate financial straits that Sa Ran's forced to take a job at the gisaeng house. Or she finds out that she's actually a child born out of wedlock and the shock/desire to find her real mother brings her to the gisaeng house where Soon Duk works? So many options.
Well, Da Mo's pretty much a goner; at this point he's going to be all OVER MY DEAD BODY about a break-up. He's only asked her about being his wife THREE TIMES, afterall. XD; So I think if they break up, the one who's going to put the foot down is Sa Ran. She's got so much pride that she'd probably suggest breaking it off if she finds out his parents disapprove, or her financial state gets so bad that she'll have to go to the gisaeng house.
Reply
Stepmom is not the nicest but she doesn't strike me as Briliant Legacy level evil so we'll see.
Reply
The Mom disapproved in the latest episodes, didn't she? Ep 13, I think, she was pretty against the idea when Grandma suggested that Sa Ran might make a good partner for Da Mo. Frankly her opposition baffled me, but I guess if she didn't oppose we wouldn't have much of a drama. I, for one, am totally looking forward to some "don't leave me, don't go and be a gisaeng!" angst :P I actually thought Sa Ran should've rejected him for a bit longer at the start; GIVE ME SOME MORE MANPAIN. I love a guy who'd wait for his lady love for hours, when he doesn't even know when she'd come home.
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment