Groundhog Day

Winter is coming to an end, finally. I always love the arrival of winter; the first snowfall, holidays, and celebration. But it quickly tires and I yearn for the freedom and mobility that comes with warmer weather. I want this winter, in particular, to end soon. Meanwhile, I've reached as far back as dramas from last May and I'm well on my way to being all caught up.

While You Were Sleeping

Now that I've finished this, I think I can say that it failed my expectations. I really liked it in the beginning. I thought the drama introduced its characters in an interesting way. And I do think the character and relationship development was the show's strongest point. Each of the 3 main leads (Hong Joo, Jae Chan, and Woo Tak) were complete strangers in the beginning, but by the end they were deeply intertwined in each others' lives. A good deal of that, however, was due to the fact that they dream with each other, which I don't think was explained very well. And then there was lawyer Yoo Bum, who had so much scum walk in his office, he slowly also became scum. There were moments where they showed his uncomfortable conscience vigorously washing his hands after defending a client. And by the end, he went beyond his client's darkness and attempted to kill Hong Joo (who he was once in a relationship once, I think), as well as his client. And he didn't seem to have any guilt about that. He was just annoyed that he didn't get his way.

But halfway through, it seemed the writer had wasted the set up. There were many procedural episodes in which the main conflict surrounded people who would never return once their cases were closed. It's just difficult to care and invest in high intensity, temporary plot lines. I think I would have been more compelled to finish this earlier if the plot has been more like that of Nothing to Lose, with one strong core conflict. I also didn't like the way the writer seemed underestimate the viewers' intelligence. There were so many court scenes in which the case was debated in a non-sensical way. Or there were times when a lawyer would say something completely obvious, not relevant, or just flat- out ridiculous and everyone in the room would gasp. I would just sit there and think "really?? You're going to fall for that bullshit??" In general, I just felt that the writer could have put more effort in.

One more thing that really annoyed me is Detective Choi's situation. First of all, it was so obvious that he was the man Hong Joo and Jae Chan saved as children. They took so long to figure it out, another example of how the writer underestimated the audience's intelligence. His hit and run death was actually one of the most satisfying ones I've seen. Not that I enjoy watching people get run over!!! It's just that most of the time it feels like characters are staring at an incoming vehicle for several minutes just waiting to get run over, when it feels like they definitely have enough time to get out of the way. In this case, it happened very quickly and Choi definitely did not have time. But then Jae Chan just cried over him forever without calling an ambulance! And an entire crowd of people just gathered in a circle also not calling an ambulance! The cops got there in time to arrest Yoo Bum, so it wouldn't have taken that long for paramedics to show up. He probably could have been saved if anyone had done anything. Ugh so frustrating.

Strongest Deliveryman

I really struggled to watch the last few episodes. I wish they had ended it with winning the bid against Jung Family Foods. That would have been much less painful. Instead, I had to watch Kang Soo's loyal employees leave him, Kang Soo going utterly broke and unable to pay whoever stuck by him, and Kang Soo giving up on his dreams. I suppose it was somewhat necessary to see that side of Kang Soo. He had never given up on anything before. I was surprised when he just left Seoul and told Dan Ah to just leave, as well. He spent so much time begging her to stay. But in the end I guess everything worked out, because after all, this wasn't a melodrama.

Hwayugi

Ugh Sun Mi was so close to taking the geumganggo off! I just want it to happen already because I know that it will. It has to. I really don't think Oh Gong would try to eat her at this point. What I'm worried about is Mawang. At the end of episode 16, it seemed like he was ready to throw all caution to the wind. He's seriously considering the idea of just eating Sun Mi since he no longer trusts the heavens. What I don't understand is that I thought he freed Princess Iron Fan from her fate by absorbing her pain. Why is he not planning to reunite with her and why is he so much more fixated on his son now? I feel like there must be something I'm missing. Also, what is the point of the charming/murderous politician? I can see how he was relevant to the plot because he ran over Buja and hid her to save face. But now he's still here, just drawing suspicion, and the priestess is still just here via Buja's body. I just don't understand how either of them are relevant to the core plot anymore.

Radio Romance

So much Squeeeeeee. I find Su Ho to be one of the most interesting male leads I've seen in a long time. He's just so hard to read. Geu Rim narrates her life out loud, but Su Ho doesn't. It's so difficult to tell what he really thinks about people and why he does what he does. But oh my god his voice. I just love Yoon Doo Joon's voice in this drama so much. There's something very boyish about it, but also yearning and controlled. I replay his scenes over and over again just to hear his voice. Now that I've got that creepiness out of my system, I just have one request: get of the poodle hair! I hate it so much when characters are given curly hair to make them seem frumpy. I'm not buying it. I also can't stand Tae Ri, but I do sympathize with her for essentially having her entire career hinge on Su Ho.

Waikiki

This show is bouncing-off-the-walls crazy. That whole wedding deception was insane!! I don't understand why these people always lie about the baby. Just say that you're babysitting for a friend! Don't claim that the baby belongs to one of you and that your girlfriend/wife ran away or died. Every single time the Waikiki group of friends gets pushed into a corner, it's because they lie about Seol. And I absolutely love this drama for all of it's zaniness, but it can be quite disgusting at times. I'm thinking about how Seo Jin's boyfriend picked his nose until it bled and then proceeded to touch food with said nose-picking finger. For the record, that is absolutely 110% worse than a natural facial hair growth disorder. I'm also thinking about the huge glob of snot that fell into Joon Ki's mouth during his scene with the intense actress. I have to admit that I skipped parts of all of that.

School 2017

When you're young, it always feels like world is going to end. The smallest things feel significant in a way that no one will understand, especially not adults. I felt that this School series represented that part of youth in the truest way. I was a teenager not that long ago, but watching this already felt like peeping behind the curtain of a secret world that I no longer understand. Not that expulsion and school corruption are not serious, or should be treated lightly. But adults were always the enemy or simply got in the way. And it made it difficult for me to connect. But I think it was nice to have a comparatively light School series. I never watched School 2013, but School 2015 was very dark and it kept me on my edge. I think I'm most thankful to this series for introducing actor Kim Jung Hyun to the world.

Seven Day Queen

I was scared to watch the last episode of this drama and I put it off for so long. It was such a beautiful moving story and I didn't want it to be tarnished by anything. I also knew that it wasn't possible to have a happy ending because of history. I don't know if I was really satisfied by the ending, but I guess it was better than changing history. Every time Yeok made promises to Chae Kyung, it saddened and frustrated me because I knew he couldn't realistically keep any of them and I think maybe the both of them did, too. But he tried to do this until the very end. He held on to her so desperately. But she convinced him to let her go because she was always the stronger one. She always desperately wanted him, too, but remained wise. She took responsibility for her life and his, which is what made her one of my favorite drama heroines of all time. I think the three leading actors, Yeon Woo Jin, Park Ming Young, and Lee Dong Gun made this drama absolutely spectacular. I found it compelling at every moment and couldn't have asked the drama to do anything differently. I loved it.