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City Hunter: Episodes 17-18 (South Korea)
Right now my greatest concern is that they might sideline Kim Na-na, but with the emphasis put on his instructing her to wait, when she goes back to the president as Yoon-sung continues on to get drinks, I'm thinking (or hoping) they won't -- that they've emphasized the waiting in episode eighteen to build up to Na-na deciding she isn't going to wait for him; she'll fight beside him now. I hated that she was D.I.D.ed, and it isn't that it wasn't a gorgeous, nerve-wracking, and deeply, deeply affecting scene, for it was all of those things, but City Hunter doesn't exist in a vacuum. At the same time: regardless of the situation, Na-na isn't a damsel in distress; she has agency and the narrative respects her, her desires, and her efforts, and she's a proactive character. This isn't a defining scene for either Na-na or her role in the narrative, any more so than Yoon-sung is defined by any moment in which he is made passive by circumstances. But also: I WISH WE COULD HAVE SEEN HER FIGHTING BACK AGAINST MURDER MACHINE INSTEAD OF HAVING ONLY MURDER MACHINE'S WORD ON IT. And arrrrrgh. IDK. I feel like I should reserve judgment until the last two episodes air, maybe.
Hahaha, for a moment I thought the cliffhanger for episode eighteen would be: OMG, IS YOUNG-JU GOING TO SHOOT YOON-SUNG? when, uh, obviously he would not shoot Yoon-sung. Four episodes ago, sure, yeah, he probably would have enjoyed shooting Yoon-sung in the face, but at this point he's a) recognized his father's role in the plunge he took and b) in his more dogged, personal pursuit of City Hunter he has also come to recognize him not only as a rival and potential threat but also as someone who cares deeply about others, someone who is legitimately striving to protect the downtrodden, the unwanted, and the forgotten people. That doesn't necessarily mean he likes Yoon-sung, but nor does it mean he hates him.
NEGL, Jae-man's downfall has been one of my favorites for, er, personal reasons having to do with his attempts to privatize healthcare and education, aka THINGS I HAVE STRONG OPINIONS ABOUT!!! Privatized healthcare is garbage; the privatization of education is wholly reprehensible; fuck this guy because he is the worst. THE. WORST. Categorically, empirically, in totality.
Kyung-hee and Na-na! Na-na and Sae-hee! Na-na and Da-hye! Eun-ah and Da-hye! I WANT SO MUCH MORE OF ALL THESE WONDERFUL FRIENDSHIPS BETWEEN LADIES. So, that makes me sad a little, but I'm also just kind of horrifically gleeful that at no point in the show have any of the ladies been pitted against each other. Even when Na-na thinks Sae-hee and Yoon-sung are dating, she doesn't hate on Sae-hee! And Sae-hee phrases her confession of her relationship with Young-ju to Na-na specifically in regards to Na-na and her feelings, and the relationship Sae-hee and Na-na have. I WANT THEM TO STILL BE FRIENDS. :( :( :( But I understand also, and Sae-hee understands also, why it is Na-na might find it difficult at first to forgive Sae-hee's lie by omission. (This is something I love-love-love about City Hunter and how it's handled the peculiar relationship between Kim Na-na and Kim Young-ju, in that while his intentions are regarded sympathetically he is also held accountable both by the narrative and by Kim Na-na for his Daddy Long Legs facade.)
What else, what else. I LOVE EVERYTHING. Da-hye's crush on Young-ju omg. (LOVE CAN CHANGE.) Murder Machine tied up in Yoon-sung's storage room, wonderful; that can't possibly end badly. Yoon-sung buying out Hae Won Chemical and making the workers shareholders! Obvs there are a few things I love about City Hunter, QUITE A FEW, you might say, perhaps, if that is the sort of thing you would say, yes, yes, and amongst them is this: it considers the consequences! Responsibilities! While Jae-man may be guilty, the workers are not, and it isn't their burden to bear, that punishment meted out to Jae-man. LOL, I feel kind of like the odd one out because I don't think the quality of the show has dropped at all over the last few episodes? Maybe I'm just... one of the three people who find the corporate revenge stuff compelling...
I AM SO EXCITED FOR AND YET ALSO FEARFUL OF THE LAST TWO EPISODES. What if everything falls apart? What if they don't wrap it up? What if Kim Na-na doesn't get anything to do? What if Yoon-sung manpains? What if someone I care about dies? WHAT IF IT'S ALL DUDES, ALL THE TIME? WHAT IFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF.
I AM EXHAUSTED OF EMOTIONS.
Myung-Wol the Spy: Episodes 1-4 (South Korea)
SO CUTE + PRETTY + FUN. ALSO: SO FRIGGIN' FUNNY, omg, I watched the first two episodes a teensy bit tipsy (like you've never downed a strawberry daiquiri and watched a kdrama before, don't even give me that) but it turns out it's hilarious when I'm sober, too, which was nice to confirm. I'm not sure if I'm ~in love~ with this drama yet? I love individual pieces, but for some reason it isn't clicking for me yet, I think because I want Myung-wol to call Kang Woo on his crap but (for obvs reasons) she hasn't really done so in her current guise of fangirl/bodyguard outside of taunting him with the snake (lololololol omg THE GREATEST). But!!! She was snippy with him in the latest ep so hope springs eternal??? I just want her to call him an asshole to his face. :((( I WANT HIM TO FALL IN LOVE WITH ~THE REAL MYUNG-WOL.~
Also: ugh, damn, this show makes me feel like a sexually frustrated cave troll, GOD DAMN. Han Ye-seul, ugh, so gorgeous and running around in denim cut-offs and a bra that doesn't understand its job, why, WHY, W H Y. Eric Mun in the world's tightest button-ups + non-skinny jeans, just sculpted pecs + his business everywhere, like what the fuck, could you please put on a robe or something because I don't think I'm old enough to see that. I am going to die alone, but at least I'll have Myung-Wol the Spy (to drive that nail into my coffin).
White Christmas: Episode 1 (South Korea)
WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT. That was roughly a zillion times more engrossing than I anticipated. Bothered by and suspicious of how this show handles mental illness (wrt: Yun-su, Eun-sung, possibly the killer?? What is the deal with the killer's love of AC/DC because honestly, I love "Back In Black" but I don't love it enough to listen to it 24/7 at 5,045,763 decibels. At some point that was a question but I don't feel like giving it a question mark so whatever!!) and I am majorly side-eyeing the first episode's cliffhanger ending, thankfully resolved in the next episode preview, which also at the same time somehow made it worse. AND YET, I AM COMPLETELY INVESTED. Sometimes you have to watch a thriller and then hate yourself for it because everything is anxiety and terror and why do you keep reading true crime novels, Mem, what in the fuck is your problem, WHY DO YOU CONTINUE TO MAKE THE SAME MISTAKES. The world may never know. Okay, but omg, the guy playing Yun-sung is SO GORG. Pouty lips, cheekbones shaped by the steady hand of a master artisan, dark and soulful eyes: dude is a willowy d r e a m b o a t. He's also like eight months younger than me, which is apparently the exact number of months necessary to make me feel disgusting. I AM THE MONSTER IN THE CORNER. THE MONSTER IN THE CORNER IS ME.
SORRY ABOUT MY LIVEJOURNAL.
Right now my greatest concern is that they might sideline Kim Na-na, but with the emphasis put on his instructing her to wait, when she goes back to the president as Yoon-sung continues on to get drinks, I'm thinking (or hoping) they won't -- that they've emphasized the waiting in episode eighteen to build up to Na-na deciding she isn't going to wait for him; she'll fight beside him now. I hated that she was D.I.D.ed, and it isn't that it wasn't a gorgeous, nerve-wracking, and deeply, deeply affecting scene, for it was all of those things, but City Hunter doesn't exist in a vacuum. At the same time: regardless of the situation, Na-na isn't a damsel in distress; she has agency and the narrative respects her, her desires, and her efforts, and she's a proactive character. This isn't a defining scene for either Na-na or her role in the narrative, any more so than Yoon-sung is defined by any moment in which he is made passive by circumstances. But also: I WISH WE COULD HAVE SEEN HER FIGHTING BACK AGAINST MURDER MACHINE INSTEAD OF HAVING ONLY MURDER MACHINE'S WORD ON IT. And arrrrrgh. IDK. I feel like I should reserve judgment until the last two episodes air, maybe.
Hahaha, for a moment I thought the cliffhanger for episode eighteen would be: OMG, IS YOUNG-JU GOING TO SHOOT YOON-SUNG? when, uh, obviously he would not shoot Yoon-sung. Four episodes ago, sure, yeah, he probably would have enjoyed shooting Yoon-sung in the face, but at this point he's a) recognized his father's role in the plunge he took and b) in his more dogged, personal pursuit of City Hunter he has also come to recognize him not only as a rival and potential threat but also as someone who cares deeply about others, someone who is legitimately striving to protect the downtrodden, the unwanted, and the forgotten people. That doesn't necessarily mean he likes Yoon-sung, but nor does it mean he hates him.
NEGL, Jae-man's downfall has been one of my favorites for, er, personal reasons having to do with his attempts to privatize healthcare and education, aka THINGS I HAVE STRONG OPINIONS ABOUT!!! Privatized healthcare is garbage; the privatization of education is wholly reprehensible; fuck this guy because he is the worst. THE. WORST. Categorically, empirically, in totality.
Kyung-hee and Na-na! Na-na and Sae-hee! Na-na and Da-hye! Eun-ah and Da-hye! I WANT SO MUCH MORE OF ALL THESE WONDERFUL FRIENDSHIPS BETWEEN LADIES. So, that makes me sad a little, but I'm also just kind of horrifically gleeful that at no point in the show have any of the ladies been pitted against each other. Even when Na-na thinks Sae-hee and Yoon-sung are dating, she doesn't hate on Sae-hee! And Sae-hee phrases her confession of her relationship with Young-ju to Na-na specifically in regards to Na-na and her feelings, and the relationship Sae-hee and Na-na have. I WANT THEM TO STILL BE FRIENDS. :( :( :( But I understand also, and Sae-hee understands also, why it is Na-na might find it difficult at first to forgive Sae-hee's lie by omission. (This is something I love-love-love about City Hunter and how it's handled the peculiar relationship between Kim Na-na and Kim Young-ju, in that while his intentions are regarded sympathetically he is also held accountable both by the narrative and by Kim Na-na for his Daddy Long Legs facade.)
What else, what else. I LOVE EVERYTHING. Da-hye's crush on Young-ju omg. (LOVE CAN CHANGE.) Murder Machine tied up in Yoon-sung's storage room, wonderful; that can't possibly end badly. Yoon-sung buying out Hae Won Chemical and making the workers shareholders! Obvs there are a few things I love about City Hunter, QUITE A FEW, you might say, perhaps, if that is the sort of thing you would say, yes, yes, and amongst them is this: it considers the consequences! Responsibilities! While Jae-man may be guilty, the workers are not, and it isn't their burden to bear, that punishment meted out to Jae-man. LOL, I feel kind of like the odd one out because I don't think the quality of the show has dropped at all over the last few episodes? Maybe I'm just... one of the three people who find the corporate revenge stuff compelling...
I AM SO EXCITED FOR AND YET ALSO FEARFUL OF THE LAST TWO EPISODES. What if everything falls apart? What if they don't wrap it up? What if Kim Na-na doesn't get anything to do? What if Yoon-sung manpains? What if someone I care about dies? WHAT IF IT'S ALL DUDES, ALL THE TIME? WHAT IFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF.
I AM EXHAUSTED OF EMOTIONS.
Myung-Wol the Spy: Episodes 1-4 (South Korea)
SO CUTE + PRETTY + FUN. ALSO: SO FRIGGIN' FUNNY, omg, I watched the first two episodes a teensy bit tipsy (like you've never downed a strawberry daiquiri and watched a kdrama before, don't even give me that) but it turns out it's hilarious when I'm sober, too, which was nice to confirm. I'm not sure if I'm ~in love~ with this drama yet? I love individual pieces, but for some reason it isn't clicking for me yet, I think because I want Myung-wol to call Kang Woo on his crap but (for obvs reasons) she hasn't really done so in her current guise of fangirl/bodyguard outside of taunting him with the snake (lololololol omg THE GREATEST). But!!! She was snippy with him in the latest ep so hope springs eternal??? I just want her to call him an asshole to his face. :((( I WANT HIM TO FALL IN LOVE WITH ~THE REAL MYUNG-WOL.~
Also: ugh, damn, this show makes me feel like a sexually frustrated cave troll, GOD DAMN. Han Ye-seul, ugh, so gorgeous and running around in denim cut-offs and a bra that doesn't understand its job, why, WHY, W H Y. Eric Mun in the world's tightest button-ups + non-skinny jeans, just sculpted pecs + his business everywhere, like what the fuck, could you please put on a robe or something because I don't think I'm old enough to see that. I am going to die alone, but at least I'll have Myung-Wol the Spy (to drive that nail into my coffin).
White Christmas: Episode 1 (South Korea)
WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT. That was roughly a zillion times more engrossing than I anticipated. Bothered by and suspicious of how this show handles mental illness (wrt: Yun-su, Eun-sung, possibly the killer?? What is the deal with the killer's love of AC/DC because honestly, I love "Back In Black" but I don't love it enough to listen to it 24/7 at 5,045,763 decibels. At some point that was a question but I don't feel like giving it a question mark so whatever!!) and I am majorly side-eyeing the first episode's cliffhanger ending, thankfully resolved in the next episode preview, which also at the same time somehow made it worse. AND YET, I AM COMPLETELY INVESTED. Sometimes you have to watch a thriller and then hate yourself for it because everything is anxiety and terror and why do you keep reading true crime novels, Mem, what in the fuck is your problem, WHY DO YOU CONTINUE TO MAKE THE SAME MISTAKES. The world may never know. Okay, but omg, the guy playing Yun-sung is SO GORG. Pouty lips, cheekbones shaped by the steady hand of a master artisan, dark and soulful eyes: dude is a willowy d r e a m b o a t. He's also like eight months younger than me, which is apparently the exact number of months necessary to make me feel disgusting. I AM THE MONSTER IN THE CORNER. THE MONSTER IN THE CORNER IS ME.
SORRY ABOUT MY LIVEJOURNAL.