Busy Bee
My workload has been particularly intense lately. I find nooks and crannies in my schedule to watch dramas, but I don't always have time to write about them. Lately, I started 2 new dramas that I'm excited about and finished about 4, including some that ended a long time ago. Go me!
Hwayugi
We now know how Sun Mi could potentially kill Oh Gong. I was skeptical and curious about how her emotions for him could turn murderous. But in actuality, she has such a strong pull over him, she has the power to unintentionally physically hurt him. I do think the geumganggo will come off soon. Oh Gong won't eat her. He sincerely loves her now. And I don't really understand why he loves her because I find her character to have grown quite uninteresting and sobering as the series as gone on. But he does love her. She does have feelings for him. And the geumganggo is putting his life in danger. Adding to the danger Sun Mi could possibly induce, there are several supernatural creatures that want to replace Sun Mi as Sam Jang so that they can control Oh Gong. So I do think this will happen soon.
This drama always keeps me on my toes. I, of course, am interested in how Sun Mi's and Oh Gong's fates will unfold. But I also want to know how Mawang will save Princess Iron Fan from her Prometheus like punishment. And I want to know how Jeo Pal Gye really feels about Buja. He keeps calling her his "little brother" which seems odd to me for a number of obvious reasons. I believe his affection for her lies deeper and I want to know how he will come to terms with her mortality.
Temperature of Love
Can you believe that I finally finished this? Because I can't. I don't know if it's because I spread out my watching schedule so much, but this felt like a sprawling drama that entered the world with a bang and crawled on its hands and knees to the finish line. I think the writers did a good job of representing a realistic relationship that takes work to continue. Jung Sun and Hyun Soo were really struggling before they decided to break up. They weren't honest with each other and seemed to resent each other as they tried to keep their interactions pleasant. It was exhausting to watch. But I suppose they decided a life without each other would be far worse than working at a relationship that exists. I thought their surprise wedding was cute. Of course it was held at Good Soup, because what other restaurant exists?? I think I'm most satisfied with Jung Sun's mom's transformation towards the end of the series. She went from asking people she barely knows (Jung Woo) for personal funding to finding a way to become self sufficient with her flower shop. And ok, she had Jung Sun's help in establishing the shop, once it opened, she stopped relying on men. Her younger ex, Daniel, sought her out again and she dismissed him. I guess it just takes some people a little longer to fully mature.
I'm Not A Robot
Well I guess I was wrong about that whole year long separation thing. This is one of those rare times that I'm happy to be wrong. I do have to say though that I thought the resolve was too quick. Ji Ah did work hard to gain Min Gyu's trust again. But none of that seemed to have much of an effect on him. In the end it took one short speech from Sun Hye to forgive and accept Ji Ah. And it was strange because even after he knew that Aji 3 was Ji Ah the whole time, it still felt like Ji Ah was a different person. It still felt like he was getting to know a stranger. I'm not sure if that was due to fantastic acting or flawed acting with continuity issues on Chae Soo Bin's part. I also missed a lot of the business collusion part of the plot simply because I could not stand to watch the Western actors. Literally anytime someone not Asian appears in a drama, it is the most cringeworthy thing. Their lines are written weirdly and I don't know where they find these actors, because they so clearly cannot act. Unfortunately, this drama included a lot of Western actors, from Johnny Brown and Tilda Mortensen to Mr. Martin and his associate. I did try watching one scene of theirs and I almost spit out my tea. So I wasn't really sure what was happening with Aji 3 in the end. I did however, find her little outing around the city on her own extremely adorable and loved it even more when the Santa Maria team watched it. Overall, this was a really sweet and uplifting drama.
This show has all the makings of great dramacrack: a swoony male lead, a relatable female lead, a contract relationship, and ridiculous side characters. I have to say, I was reluctant to root for this drama because I do take issue with the large age gap. Kim So Hyun may technically be legal now, but she's barely over the hump, and Yoon Doo Joon is 10 years older. Though I will say that Kim So Hyun carries herself with a maturity well beyond her years in all of her characters, she still very much looks like the teenager she still is. I find it strange to watch her drinking and watching soju bombs. And I thought it was ridiculous that they hired a different actress to play her younger self when she very well could have done that, as well. And Yoon Doo Joon very much does look like the man approaching his 30s that he is, so I find it just a little bit creepy when he gives Song Geu Rim longing eyes. I will perhaps warm up this as their chemistry grows over time. And as I said, Kim So Hyun is very mature for her age, but I find her acting to be phenomenal in this drama. She was already a tremendous actress beforehand, but she's somehow kicked it up a notch. I didn't particularly like Ji Su Ho in the first 2 episodes, I loved him in the 3rd one, and I liked him a little less after the 4th one. He's clearly already in the denial stage, which is surprisingly premature.
The Package
I finished this one, too. This drama left me feeling particularly fuzzy inside. The romance felt less engaging to me than it does in other dramas. However, it was the friendships and familial bonds that were left lasting impression on me. This drama was about listening to the people you love and trying to understand a different perspective than your own. It played with the perspectives of the viewer, as well. Towards the end, we learned the stories of the daughter and her father, and how their true relationship flipped all assumptions. I particularly enjoyed learning the daughter's perspective because we learn that she's well intentioned, she just doesn't quite know how to express herself. The video that got her into trouble at school was actually hilarious. And then she made that sweet video for her future step-mother, who we've been led to believe the daughter despises. It reminds me of Missing 9 in the way that the audience is left to interpret relationships and events, only to be shown the truth simply by explaining the story in another way. Lies were never told. The ending almost made me want to go on a package tour myself. Of course, then I remembered that I have been on a package tour and I did not form lasting relationships with any of those people, and continued to dislike most of them up until departure.
Go Back Spouses
I had one last episode to watch and I did so. I really liked how the romance in this drama was about family more than anything else. Jin Joo and Ban Do are each other's family. They spent almost 20 years with each other and have been through many major life events, such as Jin Joo's mother's death, together. They have a child together. Her parents are now his parents and vice versa. The story wasn't about falling back in love with each other. That would actually have been quite boring because they would probably follow the same pattern they had before they traveled back in time. The story was about accepting that they need each other and their child to be complete.
I was a little surprised how they travelled back to the future, though. At first, I thought they would stay in that timeline and make different choices. I was hoping that would happen because then maybe Jin Joo's mom could meet her grandchild. But then of course that child wouldn't be Seo Jin, at least not completely. But it was weird how they seemed to decide when they would return to the present day. How do they have that power? How did they know they wouldn't just wake up the next stay and still be stuck in the 90s? I also thought it was creepy how Jin Joo's mom discovered the truth and how she reacted. She was so accepting of everything. How did she believe it so easily. I was honestly so creeped out when she told Jin Joo to "return to her baby." I thought I was watching a horror movie for a moment. I know they needed to resolve that part of the plot, but it still felt unnatural to me.
This is such a low-key easy going drama. I know a lot of people are touting it as the male counterpart to Age of Youth. But I would say that Waikiki is even less plot driven and with lower stakes than AOY. It's like a sitcom, but it's far too long. It actually reminds more of Lee Kwang Soo's web drama Sound of Your Heart. I'm really enjoying watching this. It's bright, colorful, and fun. I love all the characters and I think the 3 main actors bring a distinctness to their roles that I really appreciate. I think winter dramas tend to feel melancholy and pale, and this drama provides a nice balance to what is available right now.
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