Kmuse's Musings: Unromantic Kdrama Countdown

Unless you are hiding under a rock, you are aware it is Valentines Day (White Day) and have been bombarded by hearts, khotties, and sweet romance in all its many forms.  So I decided to go in a different direction and make a list of kdramas that are decidedly unromantic.  These are the ones to avoid if you are look for a good OTP, or in some cases just avoid altogether.  What do you think is the most unromantic kdrama.  It can be because the romance fails to work, or because the writers were writing a drama romance free.  We love to hear your opinions here at TCA.

Can I have my 118 hours 30 minutes and 11 sec of my life back???? The Worst Dramas of 2013!

This year has been truly an epic year for horrible dramas.  Not only have there been some really really bad dramas, but they all have the distinction of being in the very very bottom of My Drama List ratings.  To put it in perspective I have rated and watched around 300 or so dramas and all five of these are in the bottom 15 of that list. 

 I am putting out a spoiler warning for the following reviews since there is no way possible to describe how bad they are with out some spoilers.  So beware...... you have been warned.

Basketball 

 Now those of you who have followed me from the beginning know that my first dip into the blogging pool was following the ups (there were not many of them) and the downs of the drama Basketball.  Supposedly about the players that become the first unified Korean Basketball Olympic Team it quickly drowned itself into the drama writing equivalent of a tar pit.  We were forced to watch these characters do really really stupid things, achieve new levels of shallowness, and pretty much achieve nothing in 18 episodes (it was originally supposed to air 24 episodes but half way in the writing was on the wall that this was going to be a ratings bomb and they dropped the number down).  The romance was a joke, mostly because the main actress could not act her way out of a paper bag.  And the writers made her switch between the two guys as if she was the ping pong ball in a game.  It got to the point where I was voting for whichever character I liked least to end up with the twit.  Turns out she ended up with no one.  San ended up tormented for 18 episodes with no upswing.  And Chi Ho kind of sort of stands up for what he believes in...............maybe???  The show ended with a super duper secret plot to use an exploding basketball to create terror among the Japanese (oh and supposedly it was  a suicide mission).  The ball is thrown and????????????????????????????  Nothing.  That is where the show ends.  No redemption, no conclusion, just more messed up What the Heckory that makes us say "at least it is over".  All of the pretty boys in the world cant make this show worth watching.

Knife and Flower (Sword & Petal)

How can one describe the despair I experienced with this drama.  It had all the elements of a great drama.  Good actors (I love Choi Min Soo so so so so so so so much after Warrior Baek Dong Soo and Faith) and it had some of the most stunning cinematography out of any drama this year.  So what went wrong?  First, I have rarely watched a historical drama this boring.  The characters, who on paper and should have been really interesting (It was one of the bloodiest Coup's in Korean history), falls flat.  And instead of action we get a whole lot of staring into the camera (I swear the whole cast must have eye issues from not being able to blink on screen) and lackluster dialogue that made no sense.  I kept thinking that it has to get better but was left disappointed over and over.  Save your 16 hours and instead watch anything else.  This drama was a huge dud.

Nail Shop Paris

There are not enough words to accurately describe this psychedelic mess of a drama.  My 2nd lowest ranked drama ever, it achieves levels of crappiness that no drama should ever achieve.   I would purposefully watch it late at night when I was kind of punch drunk sleepy so I could get through it.  My drama BFF Angela and I  would always come up with reasons for the plot and I think we finally concluded that it was because all of the writers were drugged out on PCP.  There is no other explanation for these characters.  Said to be a romantic comedy revolving around flower boy nail artists and the happenings around them.  What it really ended up being was a drama about a bunch of nail artists that invaded their clients personal lives (in very very awkward and uncomfortable ways).  With a heroine who is a cross dressing half Gimiho writer who falls in love with the most boring vanilla character ever (oh and he is also a half Gimiho which is why she feels a connection to him).   The only good or interesting thing about this drama is Song Jae Rim as Kay (the B lead) who actually gets the girl.  As a character/actor he is very good but his talent just shows you what a crapfest the rest of the drama/characters are.  So take my advice and burn this drama out of your queue.

Queen of Ambition 

 If I was just going by the synopsis this is exactly the type of drama I love.  Lots of angst, a bit of murder thrown in, high and mighty presidents wife is dragged down because of her horrible past.  All the elements are there to send me into drama heaven.  But then I started watching it and was annoyed beyond bearing.  I don't know what it was specifically.............. it was the actress... 100% it was the actress.................. but this drama just fell flat and failed to grip me from the get go.  Not only does Soo-Ae give a wooden performance (SHE AND THE GIRL FROM BASKETBALL SHOULD GET TOGETHER AND QUIT ACTING!!!!!!!!)  But she becomes so unlikable I don't even want to see her on screen let alone in the drama.  Even the men of the drama were hard to really like.  Both were very "eh" and personally they kind of deserved what the got dating her when she was obviously a mega grade a WITCH.

I Summon you Gold

This drama has the distinction of being the absolute biggest mistake of my drama watching career.  It had so much potential.  I put so much time into watching it.  I actually really liked the first 40 episodes but then it felt like the writers all quit and they had people off the street start to write the scripts. People off the streets that were in the last stages of rabies and totally bat craptastically crazy.  Every character started acting completely different and it just felt horrible having to sit through an episode. If it had ended at 40 I would have given this drama and 8 or 9 overall but because of the awful last episodes I give it a 3 (I actually went back into My Drama List and changed the score so it would be my #1 lowest rated drama of all time......... Yes I was that pissed off).  You might ask why it was so horrible..... well let me tell you a little tell of forty episode of a drama, where you fall in love with the lead male (he had been trapped into a loveless marriage with a horrible women) and he finds his wife's doppelganger/unknown twin sister.  In order to not lose his inheritance he spends 40 episodes having this twin pretend to be his wife.  They live together, fall in love, do everything a good OTP is supposed to do..... And then they have him decide to stay with his psycho wife who suddenly had a change of heart.  And the main female lead stays alone and single supporting her twin and her ex love of her life in their new found relationship.  WHAT THE FLIPPING HECK WERE THE WRITERS THINKING.  Don't make an OTP and then get to the point where you cant see how you can make them get together because of Korea's conservative issues about family relationships.  It is not like you did not know how the Korean society was before you wrote forty episodes into a sister dates her sisters husband drama.  And then you expect us to be ok with it?  Are you CRAZY.  Even the lead male threatened to leave the show he was so upset with the script problems.  You know you have problems when you are at the finish line and even the cast thinks that this is messed up.  Biggest disappointment EVER.

Dishonorable Mention
Marry Him if You Dare - A romantic time traveling comedy that fails at being funny nor romantic.  And the time travel plot feels forced and awkward.  One of those dramas that you don't care who she ends up with since they are all either blah or boring characters that deserve to not be remembered.

She is Wow - Way to ambitious in its attempt to be edgy and clever.  The whole My husband is gay and we are faking that his young lover is really our son back from America while we hide our real son next door with the wife's boyfriend...................oh and then people die..................... is so overdone that you just are shaking your head by the end.  And thanking the kdrama gods that this was only ten episodes and not a full length drama. 

That concludes my Worst Dramas of 2013 list.  Check back later in the week as I list my top dramas of the year as well as the mega Korean Hotties of 2013.

Sincerely,
Kmuse

Basketball : Game Over

So I am throwing in the towel on doing weekly updates on this drama.  It is not the worst thing I have ever watched ( except for the main actress who truly is my new #1 least favorite leading lady) but having nothing really positive to write each week has gotten very frustrating.  I am hoping to do a review of the drama as a whole in four weeks when it is over, but for now I am hopefully onward to bigger and better dramas.  I just hope that I can see the actors that play San and Chi Ho in something else soon.  Both of them should be congratulated on being able to stand out even within a so so drama.  I hope they both have a long career ahead of them.

So you might ask what is next for me.  I am seriously contemplating reviewing Pretty Guy which starts this week.  It looks wonderfully fluffy and after drowning in the mediocre melo of Basketball that sounds like a nice change.  So I am going to watch the first episodes and see if I am inspired.  If not this one then I am sure that I will find one soon.

Have a wonderful week full of kdrama's and for those of you who are going forward watching Basketball I wish you luck.

Sincerely,
Kmuse

Basketball Episode 7: The Rules to Keeping a Secret

So I am not sure if you guys are staying up to date on the buzz around this drama.  But on Sunday there was an announcement that they are cutting this drama down from 24 episodes to 18.  Can I just say that I am one happy camper.  It is not that I would not finish this drama even if I was not recapping it, but that said, it is not like I am really loving it either so this gives me an extra month of reviewing something I might like better.  So with these positive thoughts lets jump into episode 7 and see where this train wreck of a love triangle takes us.

So I am still not sure with how I want to organize my blog posts on a regular basis.  Last week I did a step by step recap of the episode and while I dont think it was bad, it felt just a tad bit boring.  So this week I am going to try and just post the main concepts of the episode and see how that goes.  Personally if you are actually reading this it means that you are either one of my friends (you guys are awesome for watching this show just for me.........  you know who you are.........) or you have already watched the drama and just like reading recaps, so I hope I dont leave any gaping holes for you.  If you have a preference either way, or suggestions on blog styles I could try please leave a comment below.


Rules of keeping a secret:  #1 - Don't have everyone and their dog know your secret.

Of course even heartbroken San wins his basketball game (18 to 0 ...........  really how low scoring are these games?) and takes his team to the championships.  The crowd is cheering his name, his teammates are patting him on the back, and the reporters are circling like a bunch of hungry sharks just waiting to find out more about our new Bball star.  The only problem (beyond the fact that he was just deserted by his fickle girlfriend) is that his background is built on a huge fat whopper of a lie.

I would just like to take this moment to point out that I am done with the whole lying scenario.  I can understand lying to his girlfriend because he wanted to impress her and he did not feel like she would fall in love with a poor guy like him.  But the whole university lie?  Why bother.  He is there because of his talent and in part his good looks.  The coach of his team knows the truth because he was scouting him before.  What is the big deal other then the writers trying to create some kind of conflict to move the story along.  I personally don't really feel like it is working to well.

And when you build your life on a lie, that allows you to become vulnerable.  Enter Evil Bookie Ahjussi (who I guess did not end up in jail).  He sees that San is a hot star and has some weaknesses that can be manipulated.  So for either revenge or just because he sees an opportunity he forces himself into San's post game interview, announcing that he is San's manager.  With a few well placed comments about San's huge lies about his background San is forced to back down and accept Evil Bookie back into his life.


Rule #2:  Dont take the Ditzy Princess anywhere near your Secret hideout.

San runs to where the rally was to find Shin Young, but all he sees is choas and people being beaten and arrested by the police.  Shin Young was actually taken from the rally by a very cute working class hottie.  Why she is following this guy I dont really know, but lets just assume that he offered her some candy if she would follow him to his secret room (the historical version of a van).

Cute interlude:  Finally a romance I can support
We break into our regularly scheduled blog post to report that this show might actually have a descent romantic moment............  Yes I know I thought all hope was lost as well when we learned that street urchin was only 14...............  Our Ditzy Heroine's companion and random hot street thug had a moment.  He is forced to put his hand over her mouth to keep the police from finding them and she totally swoons.  Here is how it is done Shin Young.  Look at the cute expression on her face as she is overwhelmed by sparks.  The cute hiccups that she emits, showing that she was moved by the skinship.   If only we could have switched out the actresses parts in this show I would have been a happy camper.


The girls are led into a smoky filled bar/gambling establishment where we see Shin Young's reporter co-worker playing a card game and looking very important.  It seems that he is one of the leaders of the Korean underground movement and wants to have Shin Young join their group.

SERIOUSLY DUDE, YOU KNOW HER, YOU WORKED WITH HER, SHE IS REALLY REALLY VAPID AND FLIGHTY.  YOU ARE GOING TO TRUST HER WITH YOUR SECRET UNDERGROUND ORGANIZATION.  ARE YOU JUST PLAIN STUPID.

Rule #3:  If someone knows your secret, attempt to make them an asset and not an enemy.

Rather then fight Bookie Ahjussi about his new role as his manager, San makes the wiser (if not necessarily ethical decision) to use him to help hide his secrets.  They agree to spit all money 50/50 and another shady relationship is born, but on a little more equal footing then before.  However San encounters more enemies as he becomes more famous.  His old BFF from the shanty housing still blames him for his grandmothers death and the fancy pants basketball player (who just happens to be the master of the house San's mom works at) is out to get him as well.

  PLEASE REFLECT BACK TO RULE #1 AND ADD THIS SUB RULE..........  Dont have everyone and their dog know your secret. Especially if they have any cause to get revenge.

Needless to say, San is doing a horrible job at keeping rule #1 and finds himself constantly harassed about "his secret".  His ex BFF shows up at the basketball court all ready for a showdown.  He demands that San give him money to pay for killing his grandmother.  San refuses and states that he knows he was not the cause of her death and to please not contact him in the future.  His BFF breaks down in tears and punches San screaming that he does not deserve to live a good life while his Grandmother is dead and San (also in tears) screams back that he just wants to succeed and what is wrong with that.. To which BFF tells him that it is not ok to succeed when you don't care who it hurts.  Because then success becomes meaningless. This causes San to pause and hopefully get some common sense through his head that his actions now are having consequences.  Even bigger consequences since his name has power and can be used to cause others harm. Something that Chi Ho found out previously.  

So this ends out blog post on how to keeps a secret (or more accurately how the writers are forcing tension into the show in an attempt to make us care)  Now we have to watch everything unravel since lets just all admit that the chances of all of San's secrets not being revealed in the next 2 episodes are pretty slim to none.  

Now you might wonder what our Ditzy Heroine was doing while San was dealing with all this trauma.  Well on that note, I will just say that she (the fickle shrew that she is) was busy swooning over everything Chi Ho and we have this as our ending scene.  

Things are not looking good for either of our heroes.  Life is out to force both of them into conflicts and one of these poor boys is going to end up with a twit of a wife (unless we are lucky and this is one of those dramas where the heroine dies).  Lets just cross our fingers and hope for a dramatic death.

Sincerely,
Kmuse

Basketball Ep 6: My Fair Lady Edition

 Basketball Episode 6: My Fair Lady Edition

This week picks up the pace and takes our storyline from being just between the three leads, to include all of Joseon society.  We also get to enjoy several My Fair Lady makeovers and  a slew of scenes with both men brooding.  What could be better?

So we start episode 6 right where we left off in Episode 5.  Our Hero San is dragging Shin Young out of Chi Ho's car in a fit of jealousy.  Chi Ho follows and confesses to our heroine saying that he is not going to break the engagement, in which San says she is dating me......... And then it deteriorates into a fight between two elementary kids over a toy car... or the adult equivalent. All the while our blank princess is just standing there silent until Chi Ho starts to leave after saying San is not good enough for her.  It is at this point that she slaps the poor guy our of nowhere.  

 SIGH............  I just dont understand her actions and why either guy puts up with them.  

She yells at him that he should not judge San and he turns it back on her telling her that she is even worse since she has judged him in error constantly and at least he has not been hiding things and lying to her.       

 You go Chi Ho.  Tell her to her face that she is wrong.  Will she listen to you?  Not a chance in Hades, but still, am so proud that one character stands up to her annoying ways. ( Even if he would forgive her in 5 sec if she actually liked him.)

Chi Ho drives off and before the rear tire has left the scene she turns to San and has forgotten that Chi Ho even exists.   She smiles and gazes at San telling him sorry for everything since it was done without her knowledge.  He forgives her but continues to look troubled and upset.  Of course she does not notice since I am pretty sure she is incapable of human compassion and just asks him if he has missed her.  He goes in for the hug and vows to do better.  She just smiles silently.

Chi Ho goes home visibly upset and stomps into his room. (can I just say that I am loving his house.  That open style is one of my favorite styles of Asian architecture) and reflects on all of our blank princesses accusations (you know the ones where he is scum and judges others and does not truly help).  He then flashes on a memory of our street urchin which makes me suspect that he is not going to give her a choice anymore and she is going to become his Eliza Doolittle.

It is the opening ceremonies for the basketball league and we see all the teams lined up.  But there is a huge Chi Ho size gap in the blue team (not sure what his teams name is so we are going to just go with the color of their jerseys).   He is in the hallway gazing forward with a very serious expression on his face.   He tells his secretary/BFF that if anything happens to him he wants him to take care of Byeo Ri (aka Street Urchin) for him.   I get a horrible feeling that he has decided to make a stand against the Japanese establishment.  As the opening ceremonies commence everyone is told to face the national flag (Japanese flag) and bow in allegiance.  Everyone is bowing deeply until we see one person refusing.  Chi Ho stands tall and obviously defiant.  He then also refuses to bow to the picture of the Japanese emperor and people start to notice.  And instead of reciting the oath to Japan he calmly walks off the court shocking everyone.  This also causes the crowd (Koreans anyway) to start shouting that he is the Hero of Joseon.   It is a very cool scene and I just wish his motivation had been more for making a statement against the establishment and not just making a statement to impress a girl with his dedication.

I would like to take this moment and tell you how much I am loving Chi Ho right now.  He is a strong character (and very well played by this rookie actor) who sticks by what he believes, is very big on communicating, and for once is a straight forward type of guy.  Add the little bit of narcissist into his personality and you have my favorite type of character.  I am also glad that he is the 2nd lead since that means that he will probably escape the fate of hooking up with our ditzy princess and have a chance of finding a female worthy of him.  Kudos on the writers for creating him.

Chi Ho drives off to hunt down our Urchin with military police slowly in pursuit.  Also the opening ceremonies are even more ruined as the Japanese drag out anyone that had been chanting for Chi Ho's actions.  We see immediate consequences as anything that has Chi Ho's likeness on it is taken down and Shin Young is hustled home since her fiancee is infamous.  

Byeo Ri is in serious trouble being "taken" for by the Japanese out of her shanty.  Lucky for her Chi Ho is off to save her before he himself is arrested, and arrives just in time to save her.  He goes into full prince charming mode and asks our Urchin to please stay with him till her father returns so that he can know that she is safe, (totally swooning over the awesomeness that is Chi Ho at this point) and he leads her away. 

 

He takes her home and we get to watch his version of a makeover scene which involves a bath (thank goodness) and her wearing one of his shirts.  My favorite part is when he calls through the door to see if she needs help washing her back hehe.  She emerges not wearing anything but his shirt and obviously cleaner.  He just teases her about being short because of carrying around so many layers of dirt, but we see her crushing a bit on our prince charming.   I know that she was super dirty and a mega street urchin but seriously, are we supposed to believe that he thinks she is a little kid?  Kind of hard to buy that since she is obviously older.

As all of this is happening Kang San is playing his first official game and making his presence known.  By the end of the game the crowd is chanting his name but instead of celebrating his mind keeps replaying Chi Ho walking off the court.  He also gazes out into the crowd which is filled with the Japanese Flag being waved about.  You can feel the tension in him as he thinks about his anger at the establishment as well as how they have treated his mother.   And on the bus ride home he openly supports Chi Ho too his teammates saying "that at least Chi Ho is not a coward".

The next day the papers are abuzz with the news that Chi Ho is a womanizer and has been found to have bad morals.  But to the surprise of Shin Young there is no news about him refusing to bow to the Japanese.  It seems that the Japanese powers that be are trying to do a smear campaign and get rid of him silently.  This way he wont become a hero of the people, but just a rich loser.

 Poor Chi Ho.  Always misunderstood.  

Papa Ahjussi is in a dither trying to figure out how he is going to distance himself from Chi Ho.  He decides he needs a nice diversion to help people forget and chooses Kang San to fill that role.  He asks Shin Young to write an article about him.  His likes, dislikes, who he is dating (hehehe) and get it ready to print ASAP.   Looks like Papa Ahjussi is also pulling a My Fair Lady, but instead of trying to promote a girl he is hooking San up to be the new media sensation and golden boy.

The cops finally catch up with Chi Ho and escort him from his house.  His secretary and Byeo Ri (still dressed only in his shirt which no one seems to blink at) follow him outside the door.  She tells him not to go, but he just glances back and gives her a sad smile.  (OH MY WORD.  that look just killed me.  I am firmly becoming a fan of team Chi ho after this episode).  Just going to gaze at that picture for a second before going on.  Poor Byeo Ri has flashbacks of her father being taken as she runs after the car taking away Chi Ho.

It seems that Chi Ho's defiance has inspired others to stand up to the Japanese and it is causing chaos on the streets.  San observes this with great intensity as he goes about his life now that he is being turned into "Chi Ho #2".  Even being used to do the promotional adds that had previously been Chi Ho's.  Unfortunately, San is not as comfortable in this role and you can tell he just wants to let this all go and play basketball.

Chi Ho is being beaten and threatened in a detainment center.  He remains defiant as they ask who made him do what he did and he just yells.   "Min Chi Ho".

Seriously, how cool is he in this episode.  He has totally has stolen the show from the leads. 

He is beaten again until one of the evil ahjussi's (Papa Ahjussi's political nemesis) enters the room.  For reference purposes we will call him Evil White Hair Ahjussi.  I smell some politicking going on.

Back home in castle Min we find dad surrounded by his cronies, trying to figure out how they can help Chi Ho get out of detainment.  We also are introduced to his mother who is taking in Byeo Ri.  Also they are telling us that Byeo Ri is only 14.

SERIOUSLY???????  THIS IS NOT A 14 YEAR OLD PEOPLE.  It was bugging me enough that I looked it up on dramawiki.  Jung In Sun is a South Korean actress and 22.  Yup she is almost double the age they are trying to make her.  So annoyed now.  Yet another female character on my hit list with this drama.  So far I only like the main girls servant.

San walks the streets of Seoul serious as only San can be.  He is obviously still contemplating his stance on the politics going on right now.  And as he goes to see his mother he comes across her Japanese boss abusing his mother, hitting her with a broom and forcing her to pick up apple blossoms by hand.  Infuriated, he decides to put his personal issues on hold in order to get money to take care of his mom.

 His face is quickly plastered in every window and magazine and our new Golden boy is born.  Staying silent against the Japanese becomes more complicated as other basketball teams start to refuse to play until the national team has their suspension lifted and Chi Ho is set free.  San's own team has smatterings of talk about joining the protest but for the most part they are still concerned about being arrested if they support Chi Ho.  Through everything San just stays silent, but you can tell he is upset by the fact that he is not playing as well as usual.

Shin Young goes to Chi Ho's house to ask about his prisoner status.  She learns from cute secretary that Chi Ho will be moved to a prison soon and she becomes upset.  She reminisces about all the times she yelled at poor Chi Ho and how wrong she was about him.   It is becoming apparent that she might be starting to rethink her stance on him. 

Poor San again is just trying to survive but manages to upset Shin Young when he tells her that he will not be attending the Pro Joseon./ pro Chi Ho rally but instead will be going to his basketball game.  When she tries to guilt him in to it he declares that he is not interested in politics.  That he is there to play basketball not to start problems.  This obviously upsets his ditzy girlfriend and she declares that she is sorry she can not support him but will be at the rally instead of his game.  He yells at her that since he is doing all of this to become worthy of her she should do her part and support him.  And in emotional subtext you can see him begging her to choose him over Chi Ho.

 

So the day of the game/rally arrives.  We see various basketball players walking with purpose towards the rally as well as a very solemn San preparing for his game.  Just as the announcer is finishing the intro Shin Young walks quickly into the game and waves at San.  And we see him visibly relax.  Yet just when we think everything is peachy in OTP land, Shin Young says to her companion that she does not feel this is right to stay here and leaves. 

WHY DID YOU BOTHER TO COME AND RUIN YOUR POOR BOYFRIENDS HEART YOU SELF ABSORBED SHREW.

 I don't mind her deciding that she needs to stand by her opinions and going to the rally.  But to go support your boyfriend and then openly leave right away dashing his heart is just selfish and makes you look insincere to both causes/men.  Of course San is devastated and can not even go running off after her since it would be to close to Chi Ho's walk off the court.

At the prisons gate we see the bus transporting Chi Ho surrounded by supporters, guards, and reporters.  Chi Ho looks extremely dashing as he comes down (artistically bloody) and his expression is one of appreciation as he looks at all his supporters.  It intensifies when he spots Shin Young in the crowd and she stands there with her standard blank smile on her face.

My Thoughts:

I am liking the story surrounding our two heroes.  As circumstances shift around them they both have to make hard decisions.  Chi Ho finally is pushed into standing up for his Pro Korean beliefs.  And does it to the nth degree.  And through it all he keeps his prince charming persona intact.  On the other hand San decides to embrace the Japanese regime and uses it to better his circumstances which will in turn protect his mother.  Both men are bent on protecting what is important to them.  However I would like to point out that although both men have the opportunity to stand up against the Japanese, their circumstances are in no way similar.  Chi Ho comes from a very influential family who is not going to be hurt by his defiance.  I would be surprised if he really expected much more to happen then his imprisonment.  But with the exception of himself, his decision really is not fatal to anyone else involved.

In comparison, San understands what is at stake if he stands up against the establishment.  No one would be there behind the scenes to help him.  His mother would be left alone in poverty to suffer with no other family support.   And pretty much it would be a guaranteed death sentence if he was caught by the police.  It makes me wonder if Chi Ho had actually had someone else that he was responsible for if he would have made the same decisions.

Shin Young is driving me nuts with her waffling.  She has not even been dating our hero for very long before she is starting to drift off mentally with Chi Ho.  It just makes me feel like all of her "love" is very shallow.  She needs to maybe work on sticking with one thing and being sincere for a while rather then running around wherever her activist whim moves her.  She is my least favorite type of heroine.  I have noticed that this is the third drama by this director (Runaway Plan B, Chuno) where I have similar complaints.  Not sure if it is just chance or if this is just the way he sees women, but whatever it is, I am not a fan.  In all three dramas there is no depth beyond the pretty and if that is how a character is written/directed then how can I care if they have a happy ending.

It looks like next week brings more problems  to our heroes and I have to admit that at least for them I will continue to care a bit about this drama.

Sincerely,
Kmuse

Basketball Episode 5: Finally some Basketball....... maybe.

Basketball Episode 5:  Finally some Basketball.......  maybe.

We open with Papa Ajussi announcing the engagement of Chi Ho and Shin Young.  Which of course is a surprise for all three leads.  Chi Ho looks troubled, San looks devastated and Shin Young looks blank???

Taking a break to look at the many facial expressions of our Ditzy Princess.

These were snagged from a variety of the more dramatic scenes in this episode.  Notice the wide range of expressions that we have here.  We have smile and ???????? what I call the Kristen Stewart blank expression. These are from scenes where her engagement that she did not know about is announced, when she is watching the love of her life being sad, when her fiancee is declaring his love.  Seriously there is little to no change ever in the way she looks at people.  Driving me CRAZY.

The First Half:

Finally we arrive to the big face off.  The local team's coach just laughs and asks San if he really thinks he can stand up to Chi Ho who is in a whole different league then him.  Instead of really answering he just tells the coach I'm starting and walks onto the court, leaving the coach just gaping.  Seems San is in the zone ready to face Chi Ho.  And Chi Ho....................... is totally distracted by the fact that Shin Young is staring at San.   Why it is such a huge shock to him is beyond me. He knows she is dating him, has seen them kissing, and has been told by her that she has no interest in marrying him from the get go.  Seriously?  Why is the director trying to make this seem like such a big deal.  I would like to point out that a good quarter of the basketball game we get scenes of Shin Young staring (in what I suppose is supposed to be a supportive expression) out at San.  And another quarter of Chi Ho staring at Shin Young staring at San.  The only one obviously focused on playing basketball is San, who only stares at the ball and occasionally Chi Ho which is appropriate since he is the flipping opponent.  Not cool director.  You finally let me have a good action scene complete with 80's style basketball hype music and then you keep breaking the mood with this.  Lets just say that I am not the happiest viewer right now.

One thing I did find really interesting during the game was how we see Chi Ho becoming more and more selfish of a player the more he is shown up by San.  Rather then see himself as part of a team, he becomes a one man show, hogging the ball, ignoring his team mates, and pretty much just being a jerk of a player.  Where on the other hand San focuses on using his team to win.  He pauses and accesses where all his players are and takes the role of leader effortlessly.  Especially impressive if you realize he has never played with any of these men before.

Halftime:

Appreciate how the show brings snatches of history into the drama such as the half time show where a pro Japanese song is being sung.  Also the selling of Japanese war bonds, as well as the closing of all Korean media outlets and the forced changing of their names.  It is seamlessly done and gives you a sense of the times without hitting you over the head with it.  Now if only the rest of the plot could be written as well.

The Second Half:
We start the second half of the game with the arrival of an obviously twit player rushing in late for the game.  Turns out this is the boy who's parents had bribed the coach to take him over San back in the beginning of the drama.  The boy is shocked to see San playing on the team and when asked by the other team mates where he knows him from, San quickly reply's that they are from the same home town.

Sigh................  I thought we were finally past the whole lying about who we were part.  But I guess that Shin Young still thinks that San is a university student (although a poor one).   The ex school mate starts to smirk and shouts, Hey everyone San has not even finished high school........   Which leads to San pushing the boy(I am sure he has a name but I will wait to see if it is worth learning) up against the wall and tells him that "if you came this far by stealing another person's position, just shut your mouth and stay still". That shuts up the kid ASAP since San does look a little scary at that moment.

OK San I forgive you again just because of your hotness level.

On the other side of the court we see Chi Ho randomly pause and think about Shin Young.......  Seriously?????/  We are stopping the action for flashbacks of every interaction that he has had with Shin Young in 4 episodes?

 Director, if you are needed to stretch out the time with flashback filler this early in the drama then we are really in trouble.  And if you are just doing this to try and let me know that he likes her, then again we are really in trouble.  There is a time and place for flashbacks.  Right when you are seconds from getting a ball thrown at your head is not one of them. 

 He comes back into the game even more pumped up and determined to win.  We see that the score is tied 32 to 32 and in the last seconds he makes a buzzer basket.  And the pro team wins.

Post Game:
I guess that he really needed to act like a neanderthal because he promptly goes over to Shin Young, grabs her by the hand, and dedicates the game to her.   After which he drags her off the court followed by a hoard of reporters.  Poor San can do nothing as he watches her leave.

Left alone sad with his basketball we see poor San after the game.  But he is cheered up when Ahjussi secretary comes in and says that he passed the test and to come to work tomorrow.  Elated that he is going to be on the team San beams ear to ear, only to brought down to earth when the secretary tells him to stop being associated with Shin Young since she is engaged.

At the same time we see Shin Young screaming at Chi Ho for being such a bad person and to embarrass the man she loves by his actions.  I feel really bad at this point for Chi Ho who looks like someone shot his favorite hunting dog.  He starts to scream back in defense, "did you ever think of me when you were writing those lies.  On how I would feel being told of our engagement in front of strangers.  I am just paying you back for what you did to me".  Of course logic does not stop our ditzy heroine and she just prances away slamming the door as he looks on. 

Later that night it is decision time for two of our leads.  San stands outside her door.  His basketball jersey clutched in his hands.  You can tell he is trying to decide between the game (and all it represents for his future) and the girl.  Shin Young is also trying to decide the best way to let San know that she is not engaged.  Her companion promptly yells at her that she is to do nothing.  If she cries off the engagement everyone is going to think she is a fox out to seduce and use poor Chi Ho.  That they are already talking about how she is going above her station in marriage.  And once again common sense does not phase our princess as she declares that her reputation can be ruined.  What is it when she loves another. 

What follows is a pretty funny scene with the companion trying to sneak past Secretary Ahjussi to deliver a letter to San.  But it seems secretary Ahjussi is not so easily deceived and nixes their plans before the front door.  This forces Shin Young to go to great lengths to get rid of her bodyguard.  She decides to go on a date with her "fiancee".  Her fiancee (poor schmuck) wakes up the next morning all ready to go talk with Shin Young and confess that he does have feelings for her.  But when he opens the door he finds her on the other side plus her bodyguard.

She promptly declares that she is there for her date and tells Secretary Ahjussi to get lost.  Chi ho just smiles and agrees along with her.  Then when she tries to ditch him he just follows along like a sad puppy offering to drive her places and let her use him.  One of her errands takes her to her fathers factory where his basketball team practices.  Unfortunately for her they are off being paraded around as local celebrities encouraging the rich ladies of the community to give up their jewelry for the war efforts.

All but one player, Lee Hong Gi (the boy from San's high school) is late as usually and encounters Shin Young as she is leaving.  She promptly gives her letter to him to pass on to San, because obviously he can be trusted with a very personal letter between her and her secret lover (rolling my eyes again).  And being the total tool that he is, mocks San as he waves the letter around.  But San just grabs the letter casually knocking Hong Gi to the floor.  And upon reading the news that she is not actually engaged, he yells at his coach that he needs to take care of something and runs out of the gym.  I love how he just takes control of his surroundings regardless of where he might be.  When he was with the Bookie Ahjussi everyone had started treating him as the leader and we are seeing it again with his new basketball team. 

Encouraged by her love letter San goes racing to her house ready to make up?  Is it really making up when they never technically broke up?  Where he is upset to see Shin Young being dropped off by Chi Ho.  Empowered by the knowledge that they are not engaged, San also decides to become a neanderthal, grabs Shin Young by the wrist and drags her from the car.

Enraged Chi Ho burst out of the car after them screaming that he was sincere in all his dealings.  And that he has no intention of breaking of the engagement since he sincerely likes her.  And time halts for all of the leads as this bombshell explodes.  Well except for Shin Young since we don't know what she is thinking since her facial expression, YET AGAIN, refuses to change.

Yes the picture below is the exact moment when she has been dragged out of a car by her boyfriend and then told by her fiancee that he wants to marry her no matter what.  You think it would elicit a flicker in her eyes.  A slight opening of the mouth in shock....  Nope nada, nothing, a great big zilch.

My Thoughts:

Dear show.  Why are you letting me down so much.  With such a talented lead actor you could do so much.  He totally drags me into all of his scenes and makes me want to continue watching.  But then you add bad writing and sloppy camera work into the scenes and you lose me.  The street basketball games were so engaging.  I was brought into the games instantly and my heart started pumping.  But then get to the actual basketball game between the two leading men and we see shaky camera work so so action and a whole lot of Shin Young who is just sitting on the sidelines.  Now is not the time to try and make me care about the romance of any of the cast.   I want to see guys playing basketball and doing masculine manly things.  Not mooning over a girl or flashing back to scenes that really had nothing to do with what was currently going on. 

I am truly sad since I had such great hopes for this drama.  But it has gone from epic to eh....  super fast.  I foresee a lot of pushing myself to watch future episodes and I am really sad that there is still 18 more episodes to go.  Should have been smarter and picked an easier 16 episode drama for my first time.  However. as bad as things get in this drama at least I will still get to stare at Kang San.  Who happens to be a very very pretty silver lining to this black cloud of a drama.

Join me later in this week for more pretty Kang San when I review episode 6.


Sincerely,
Kmuse