listen, there's a lot of TV and someone has to watch it

[sarea]

OK, it's been both longer and shorter than I thought re the last time I posted. >.> Sigh. It's a new year! I'm not even going to try and keep to any kind of promise about journaling, because right now I'm trying to get on the "good diet/good fitness" train and it's already exhausting trying to keep up with that. It's been less than a week, but I've been okay about it so far. I'm so out of shape my bar is very low in terms of what I can accomplish, so it's not impressive. It's just better than NOTHING. My goal is to lose 5lbs a month, which I'm not sure if that's realistic or not. I guess we'll see where I am after the first month and assess from there.

Anyway, this post is not about boring life things, this post is about all the TV I'm watching! Which is a lot! I can't believe the last thing I talked about was Hwarang. Oh boy.

Well this list isn't going to write itself, so here we goooooooo!

Here's all the stuff I've watched since my last post. I feel like there's so much I might miss something!

ENGLISH DRAMAS (I don't know what to call these. Western dramas seems both misleading and antiquated. American isn't accurate since sometimes it's not American. So "English," meaning English-language, is what I'm going with.)

- Big Little Lies: My expectations were pretty high for this one given that it's HBO and has an all-star cast, and usually when that happens I end up finding the show/whatever underwhelming. But this one met my high expectations, and I ended up really enjoying it! I love a good murder/mystery, and the added pathos of the townspeople just made it better. I don't really get what season 2 is going to be about, but I'm looking forward to it (even though like most American shows, I fully expect it to go downhill because they don't know when to let things just END). The show reminded me, too, of how much I loved Monterey when I visited... and it depresses me that I'll likely never be able to afford to live there!

- The Handmaid's Tale: I've watched part, maybe most, of season 1, and it's gotten all this critical acclaim and people love it, and blah blah, but I haven't been into it the same way. One episode doesn't lead me to desperately want to watch the next. I don't find the world appealing at all (which seems obvious, but this is coming from someone who normally likes dystopian settings), and the protagonist is only vaguely interesting to me. (Possibly because Elisabeth Moss has always been on the positive side of meh for me. I loved Mad Men but she wasn't one of the reasons why.) I think part of the reason why I like stories set in a dystopia is because a better world, and happiness, is usually within grasp, it just takes some hardship to get there. But in this, I don't see how things can ever get better! It's a bleak world, and I don't see how that's going to improve any time soon. In which case, what am I watching for?

- The Man in the High Castle: The last time I talked about this show was a full year ago, Dec 2016 (looks like that's when the second season was released). I have no idea where I was in the show at that point, and my comments are too vague to place it, but it's possible it was at the end of S2 (which is the last season that's aired so far). I don't really take back anything I said about it ("It's good enough to keep me watching, but not good enough for me to rec wholeheartedly. I really want to like it much more than I do. The problem is that they don't really give you any characters to root for in any real way. They're all kind of superficially drawn and only vaguely interesting. I also don't really ship anything on the show, but I could ship Joe/Julianna if only they'd give us a little more on that front... Instead, they seem to be cooling off on it entirely."), but I have to say, it's been on my mind and I've been wondering when season 3 is finally going to air (sometime in 2018, apparently), so maybe I like it more than I thought.

- The Punisher: I mostly enjoyed this one, although I didn't see it that long ago and I've already mostly forgotten what happens, lol. I'm not the biggest fan of Jon Bernthal (I hated him/his character in The Walking Dead), but I liked him fine in this. I was really into it at the beginning... waned in the middle... and interested again at the end. I definitely wasn't much into Frank/Karen, because there was hardly anything there! The show sort of weirdly made the audience want to ship Frank/David's wife? Except also not? And I totally couldn't, since David was alive? Just so weird that they did that. But my biggest problem with the show was actually David, who was just so milquetoast to me. The actor was all wrong for the role, imho. May or may not watch season 2, assuming there's more.

- Stranger Things 2: So here's an instance where I had high expectations, and it didn't meet them. I enjoyed the first season very much, but I was disappointed by almost every part of season 2. The only part I liked was the addition of the new girl. Otherwise... meh. In season 1 the kids managed to be kids, while avoiding the things that annoy me about kids. In season 2, annoying kid syndrome was out in full force. They were all SO ANNOYING, doing all the stupid things kids do that drive me up the wall. Yes, let's keep a strange creature as a pet despite all indications of it being evil and/or dangerous! And many points were predictable, too -- I knew that Dustin keeping it around would help them later, because it wouldn't attack due to it being him... but they did it in almost the most unbelievable way possible. I LOVED Hopper in season 1, except for his having given up Eleven. That part really bothered me, and they didn't really address it in season 2! I guess the fact that he was trying to raise her was supposed to make up for it? Except he was a terrible foster dad! He left her alone for AGES. It's insane what she was able to get up to while he was away... and when he got better, he didn't immediately go home! He just called her! Like WTF. There was real shit going down -- if you think of her as a little girl, then doesn't she need to be PROTECTED? And if you think of her as someone who can handle herself, then wouldn't THIS be the time to reveal her existence?! Although I really, really disliked Eleven in season 2. She was a total brat, behaving in ways that are exactly why I can't stand kids, lol. And they never addressed why she was a bitch to Max, even after she must've realized that Max didn't have any interest in the beak-faced kid whose name I can't remember. And then there was Max's douchebag brother, who I'm not even sure what the point of his character was. Jonathan I have always found unattractive and useless. You know who my favorite characters were this season? Bob, who of course died because Sean Astin is taking career advice from Sean Bean, and Steve, who is useless when he's with Nancy, but totally awesome when he's being a hyung to the boys. HAHA!

- Travelers: I'm only on episode 3 of this one. The premise of it intrigues me more than the actual execution of the show so far. It's about a group of people from the future who have zapped back to the past, taking over the lives of people who were already going to die one way or another, in order to save humanity (of course). I think Eric McCormick is a little out of his element in this role. The writing is kind of meh, and there are already logical inconsistencies that I'm finding fault with. Your research can lead you to know that a police officer is going to have a heart attack, but it wasn't good enough for you to realize that one of the hosts was a mentally disabled woman? Why would you take the body of a host who has an infant to care for? If Agent McClaren was going to die by falling down an elevator shaft, but he's saved, why does he "die" anyway? I'm not sure how long I'm going to last with this one.

- Westworld: Wow, again, I finished this one awhile back so it's crazy to me that I haven't mentioned it. I really, really enjoyed it. Even though it has a fascinating premise, it took me a few episodes to really get into the world, and then I was really into it. I totally ship James Marsden with Evan Rachel Wood, even though it's not strongly and even though it's probably pointless to ship anything in a world like that. I'm interested to see what season 2 will bring!

KOREAN DRAMAS (shows with asterisks next to them means that they're WIPs for me)

- Because This Is My First Life: This show had a lot of promise, and in some ways was really good. It's one of the most progressive K-dramas I've ever seen, especially in terms of the treatment of women, and I hope I see more of that. Buuuuuuuuut... I hope I see more of it in a more natural way. The way the show ended up handling that element almost made it gimmicky, like it was a plot device similar to traveling back in time or twins switching bodies or whatever. Part of the problem was that I found both of the leads very tiresome. Didn't find the hero -- neither the actor nor the character -- attractive, while the heroine was totally meek except for like two instances. Every time they would have one of their quiet exchanges it made me want to /wrists. Watching a scene with the two of them was like slogging through mud. I liked the heroine's friends (for the most part), and their storylines, but ultimately it still ended up being a drama about women who finally found love and thus was happy. One of them should NOT have found love and THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN OKAY. In fact, it should have been the girl who'd been in the long-term relationship (the boyfriend played by Kim Min-seok, who I loved from High School: Love On). They were NOT right for each other, and nothing that happened in their storyline actually solved any of their problems! They should have broken up, stayed broken up, and for that to be JUST FINE. My favorite character in the whole show was actually Bomi, who was awesome -- she is how women should be portrayed in modern-day shows. I was slightly bummed that they had to make her be *Bomi* for a scene or two (aka girl idol stunning) -- why couldn't she have just been Min-seok's brainy coworker? -- but overall a minor ding.

- Black: Watched this one on Netflix, of all places! Apparently they have a bunch of Korean dramas there, including some that are exclusively licensed (like this one)! Why do they make me subscribe to so many places? Whyyyyyyyyy? Anyway, I loved this one a lot. Go Ara plays the heroine, and I liked her in it. It's a good thing I saw her in Hwarang, because I was REALLY meh about her in Reply 1994. But the surprise was the lead actor, who I didn't know previously, but who apparently is a cemented Hallyu star: Song Seung-heon. He's older than the typical Korean actors I like, much more chiseled man type than boyish guy type. But he was DELIGHTFUL, the total star of the show. He plays a detective whose body is taken over by a grim reaper, and goes from being a nice, goodhearted but obsequious guy, to being a total badass who's boorish and rude. The reaper is trying to capture his partner, who's run away and hiding in a human body, and he enlists the reluctant help of Go Ara, who can see shadows attached to people who are about to die. Go Ara knew the detective when they were younger, so that past attachment leads her to agree to help him. The plot gets SUPER complicated and convoluted, especially at the end, but miraculously still mostly makes sense. Toward the end a lot of stuff unravels, and it starts to make less sense, and I really, really wish the ending had been different... but the rest of it is so strong that I still would say I loved the show for the most part.

- Go Back Couple: Another winner. I really loved it. The male lead is played by the guy who played Haitai in Reply 1994, and I loved him there, too. I wasn't really sure if he was leading man material, but he definitely is. The premise of the show is that a married couple goes through tough times in their marriage, and they end up getting divorced. Then they somehow end up as their past selves in college (where they met), and getting to make different choices. The thing that surprised me about the show -- other than being really good -- is that it's one of the few shows/books/etc that's actually made me see the value of marriage, or made me want to be married. Most romances I consume is about the romance, and the marriage part is just sort of an afterthought, not really important. But seeing everyone's lives intertwine was really special. Weird for a show that's about the dissolution of a marriage!

- I Do, I Do: This is an older drama about a successful shoe designer and a young ne'er-do-well who has hidden creative talents. It was... okay. It's an older drama so it felt its age, and suspension of disbelief was required for a lot of it, but the leads were pretty good. I'm surprised I haven't seen them in anything other than this. Ultimately, though, I wouldn't recommend it.

- I'm Not a Robot*: This one is a WIP that I'm currently in the middle of. I generally don't do WIPs, so it's saying something that I am not only following it, but following it pretty avidly. It's particularly impressive given that I didn't know anything about the male lead, I disliked the female lead from Cheer Up!, and the premise is slightly ridiculous (a girl ends up pretending to be a robot). However, it's all working. The writing is okay, but it's really buoyed by the leads, particularly Yoo Seung-ho. It would be so easy to find him totally ridiculous, this guy who has a psychosomatic disease wherein he's allergic to humans, and who could be fooled into thinking this girl is a robot (when she has so many micro human behaviors that should have outed her long ago)... but instead, he is really sympathetic, and his angst over his growing feelings for a robot really makes you feel for him -- none of which would be possible if not for the strength of Yoo Seung-ho's portrayal. Also, I've grown to be fine with Chae Soo-bin. They're about midway through the drama now, and I just hope that this one doesn't completely fall part in the homestretch, like so many do. (I feel vindicated in liking this one, because both of the top editors at Drama Beans are watching and liking this one, too. And apparently I'm going to have to get used to liking Chae Soo-bin, because she's in two other dramas that are on my watchlist!)

- Missing Nine: Good lord, what a disappointment this was. The premise is Lost-esque: a bunch of survivors of a plane crash have to survive on an island together, with the added bonus of them all being part of the same entertainment company. But at least Lost had a few good seasons before it devolved into crazy town -- this one went there almost immediately. The connection between the two leads came far too quickly, everyone behaved in inexplicably asshole-ish ways, and the plot was stupid/maddening. I even like the actor who played the bad guy (Choi Tae-joon), but thought it was COMPLETELY INSANE that they were all, like, on friendly terms with him at the end after he MURDERED ALL THOSE PEOPLE. Neither of the main leads were all that compelling, either. Ultimately, the show was a total clusterfuck.

- My Love From Another Star: It's a total travesty that I haven't written about this one, because it's now on my list of all-time faves. Sure there were some problems, including the sacrificial hero trope that can be quite bothersome, and the pseudo-science that doesn't really make sense, but for the most part it was everything I want in a romantic dramady. The leads were freaking fantastic, with Kim Soo-hyun playing the role of the emotionless (SO HE THINKS) alien, and Jun Ji-hyun playing the role of a self-involved Hallyu actress. Her involving him in her insane escapades were always amusing, but when it was time for emotion and angst, boy could these two pack a wallop. LOVED IT, highly rec.

- Nightmare High/Teacher*: This is a web drama that adelagia and I are watching because of Lee Min-hyuk. Kim So-hyun is in it, too, which baffles me... I assume she/her agent must've agreed to it before School 2015 catapulted her to "real" drama leading heroine status. Anyway, it's been interesting so far; each story seems to be a vignette about a student getting back at other students being mean to them. I'm kind of hoping it gets a little more varied with the storyline, but bullying in Korean school dramas seems to be inevitable. Really makes me glad I didn't go to school there. I think it'll get more interesting when things start to affect Min-hyuk and So-hyun more; currently they've basically been bystanders to all the events.

- Plus Nine Boys: I both liked and didn't like this one. There were four storylines (about four guys who are at their plus-9 ages -- 9, 19, 29, 39), and by the end I really only liked two of them, 9 and 19. It was almost inevitable that I would like 19, because the characters are played by Yook Sung-jae and Park Cho-rong, but honestly their story was the sweetest, most interesting, and felt the most real. The 9 one was just funny. The 29 story was good to start, and then it got dumb and super boring. The absolute worst was 39, because I haaaaaaaaaaaaaaated the heroine so. much. Her reasons for having left the guy were stupid, her behavior was appalling, and the fact that no one else saw it as such was completely baffling! I multi-tasked every time this couple was on screen. It's disappointing because I think this was otherwise a cute premise and could have been a strong overall show, if only they'd nixed the 39 storyline and did better with 29.

- Shopping King Louis*: I'm enjoying this so far, but Jade and I are watching this together so I may not finish for awhile, as she's not in a watching mood these days. I'm glad I saw Suspicious Partner before watching this, though, because I like the heroine a lot more now. SIG is, of course, SIG, somehow adorable and hot at the same time... but even he cannot save me from feeling frustration at how he spends money/buy things when they HAVE NO MONEY. It's like reading the Shopaholic books, which made me INSANE WITH RAGE. This show doesn't make me feel that level of frustration, but there are definitely elements.

- The Village: Achiara's Secret: I liked this a lot. It's a murder mystery, and Yook Sungjae plays a young, inexperienced cop who helps the heroine (Moon Geun-young, who is pretty drab/boring in this) solve the mystery of her sister's disappearance. Sungjae is great in it, but there's a large supporting cast, so there's a lot going on. Shin Eun-kyung, who plays Chef's mom in Oh My Ghostess, is in this too, and she's great.

- Various dramas that I have stalled on for awhile, but can't seem to finish even though I have every intention of doing so: School 2015, The Scholar Who Walks the Night, Descendants of the Sun, Jealousy Incarnate

- Dramas that I have seen the pilot and will give it a shot: Duel, Healer, Chief Kim

- Dramas that I've started but will not go on: 9 End 2 Outs (too dated), She Was Pretty (too frustrating. Even Park Seo-joon can't save it), Flower Boy Ramen Shop (too dated, and also I find the lead male deeply unattractive. He's the lead in Cinderella and Four Knights and is one of the primary reasons I couldn't go on with that show)