This has been a week of endings. I finished Still Shining, In Your Radiant Season, The Practical Guide To Love and Fight For My Way.
There were some beginnings too - I started Love Beyond The Grave, Story of Kunning Palace and Reborn Rich. Meanwhile, I continued to watch the adorable The Village Barber.
I loved most of the the time I spent watching Still Shining. This slow burn, angsty drama was, for its first half, both heartbreaking and also healing. Park Jin Young gives another powerful, emotional performance (phew that man can make me cry).
I am still not sure, almost a week after finishing, what I think about this drama’s final act. I feel that it is both frustrating and also, maybe beautiful?
There is much to love about In Your Radiant Season (Disney). I adored the drama’s quietness, its atmosphere, its healing tone. I loved Sun Woo Chan (beautifully portrayed by Chae Jong Hyeop) and the relationship between the three sisters and their grandmother. However, for me, the show struggled with its competing narratives, rushed its conclusion and never quite fulfilled its potential.
It gives me no pleasure to report that The Practical Guide To Love did not work for me and that I found it disappointing and, with a couple of notable exceptions (Lee Ki Taek and Jung Hye Sung), dull, dull, dull. Honestly, it is a miracle that I finished this show (see my review for my full thoughts).
I inhaled Fight For My Way (Netflix). Not sure what took me so long. I started this drama because of Park Seo Joon but fell hard for Choi Ae Ra. I love, love, love Kim Ji Won in this show. I actually loved all the characters in a drama that made me laugh and swoon in pretty much equal measure.
I am halfway through and very much enjoying Love Beyond The Grave (Viki). This drama is stunning to look at the costumes are beautiful. I am also all in for an all-powerful FL and a smart and utterly devoted ML. The show knows what it is doing and doesn’t linger long on pesky plot machinations before giving us more time with our main couple.
Story of Kunning Palace ((iQIYI) continues to be gripping and compelling. It is early days, but I am loving this intriguing show starring Zhang Ling He and Bai Lu.
I started Reborn Rich (Viki) this week and have watched three episodes. This show is slowly growing on me. I love the way the viewer, with a passing knowledge of South Korean and global history, can participate in this transmigration tale of revenge.
If you are in need of comfort, I would highly recommend reality show, The Village Barber, in which Park Bo Gum, Lee Sang Yi and Kwak Dong Yeon set up a salon in a small village and have wholesome interactions with the people living there. This is the perfect therapy for these dark times.
Finally, I watched Left Handed Girl (Netflix) this week. I loved this Taiwanese film which follows a single mother and her two daughters after they arrive in Taipei and open a small restaurant in the heart of a night market. It’s a gem.
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