"Just Lovers" Episode 5 recap

Kang-doo's meltdown at the construction site, provoked by a random boot, of all things, is the first time we've ever seen Kang-doo get worked up over an emotion that's not righteous indignation. Kang-doo is legitimately scary in this scene. Additionally, as seen from the vantage point of Moon-soo, a fellow survivor with much better emotional control, Kang-doo's actions are much more difficult to justify. It turns out, guilt is the big factor.
"Just Lovers" has been toning down the whole class conflict issue lately. On the surface level this would seem to be just to bolster the romance, but really, the main reason is that it forces us to recontextualize Kang-doo's attitude in times of relative peace. While Kang-doo's motivation is generally noble, he is not an easy person to deal with. That Moon-soo is patient enough to try and deal with Kang-doo while he constantly tries to give her the cold shoulder, is a major virtue on her part.
It's very relieving that Kang-doo is around, after all, when we consider the trouble that Kang-doo can get into when she isn't. When Moon-soo and Kang-doo come up with a constructive goal to do in their off-hours, it's pretty obvious that this is the first time in a long time that Kang-doo has been able to sincerely relax. When he does lurch back into old habits, this turns out to be for the better. Rules of politeness, after all, aren't really that important when a person could be in physical danger.
One generally mild issue with all this is that Kang-doo, as a character, is far more dynamic than Moon-soo. His trauma is a lot more worrying because there's the genuine concern that he will go into meltdown mode again. Moon-soo, by contrast, doesn't really have a worst case scenario. Even in the wake of her recurring nightmare Moon-soo is always calm and collected. I do like, by the way, that the dream sequences continue to be frightening even though they always end the exact same way.
It's the little emphases that matter, the tiny details that come to mind only sometimes, and only with the right emotional prompting. Compare that to Joo-won's investigations, that are only ever concerned with the hard facts, and so inevitably missing these important subtleties. The monument, for example, was almost certainly intended in good faith. It's just, faith alone isn't really enough for a survivor who feels to have been betrayed on a much more fundamental level.
Review by William Schwartz
"Just Lovers" is directed by Kim Jin-won-I, written by Yoo Bo-ra, and features Junho, Won Jin-ah, Lee Ki-woo, and Kang Han-na

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"Argon" Episode 2 recap

After a powerful start, "Argon" takes a little step back and an even more sombre look into how morality and principles are challenged in systems that rely on strict hierarchal rules, cronyism and a work culture of underhanded pleasantries. Yeon-hwa's own contract continues to be scrutinized, but it is our hero who has to make tough choices this time. The truth is important, but choosing strangers over loved ones is not easy.
We get to discover Yeon-hwa's (Chun Woo-hee) character a little more this time around and I am pleased by part of it. Despite not being well-off economically or well-connected, she has the guts to dive in and try, but also the skills to go with her efforts. As glad as I am that her report is professionally made, I do still take issue with her go-to contact providing her with solutions. I wish to see her network beyond her one all-knowing plot device contact.

On the other hand, I am glad that the solution presented to Baek-jin (Kim Joo-hyuk) by his crew comes after he has to challenge himself and compromise on his principles. I still feel the series is being too idealistic in many ways, his crew unanimously accepting unemployment for the sake of the truth being one, but this is still fiction and a series about a man slowly turning into a villain is not as easily digestible as a heroic crew rescuing him from immoral decisions.
As I said, convenient solutions aside, Baek-jin does make the call to compromise and accept corruption by his deceptively friendly senior, so the fact that Yeon-hwa and his crew provide a way out does not diminish the narrative value or social commentary of an otherwise morally upstanding man having to choose his employees' livelihood over doing his job according to the appropriate ethics. Baek-jin is still fair and it shows in how he gives Yeon-hwa a chance, but he is human and this is what abusive systems do to people.

I have not talked a lot about the "Argon" crew so far and that is because they are not very well developed at this point in time. They are the typical overworked and underappreciated caricatures lead by the standard archetype of an easygoing "mother hen" good guy, but I hope to see more of their individual personalities, ethics and skills as we move forward. This includes said mother hen, Sin Cheol (Park Won-sang).
Overall, I am pleased with what I see so far. Baek-jin is an interesting character and Yeon-hwa will hopefully continue to grow and become as bold within her workplace and with her initiatives as she is with her pursuit of information. As for the Evil Old Rich Dudes™, I hope they will not take over the story as they usually do in Korean drama. See? I can be idealistic in my hopes too, "Argon".
"Argon" is directed by Lee Yoon-jeong, written Jeon Yeong-sin, Joo Won-gyoo and Sin Ha-eun and features Kim Joo-hyuk, Chun Woo-hee, Park Won-sang and Shin Hyun-bin.
Written by: Orion from 'Orion's Ramblings'

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"A Korean Odyssey" Episode 1 recap

It has been a while since the Hong sisters were in any way exciting and while "A Korean Odyssey" (also known as "Hwayugi") is not exactly wowing with its first episode, the drama presents the workings of what could be a really fun story. We have a case of every man and beastie for themselves, as we meet a lot of characters, none of them anything but self-serving and with some pretty hefty behavioral and personality issues. I pity our heroine already.

One thing I am glad to see here is that trademark wackiness of the Hong sister dramas. Everyone is overacting in some form, but they are often enjoyable. We have all manner of demons and monsters in different forms, so the drama does not feel like a complete copy of "Master's Sun" when it comes to its supernatural manifestations, although the scarier ones do have a hint of nostalgia about them.

What I particularly love about the series so far is how things we may be used to in a different context are amusingly made very "extra" here as a form of meta commentary, something the writers are good at. The celebrities working for the Bull Demon King (Cha Seung-won) literally suck their fans dry, our deities all wear the extravagant clothing we like making fun of in dramas, but they do so because they are not human. They are petty, overly self-indulgent or simply trying to get by.

There is a lot of character and backstory information dropped on us here and perhaps my big complaint with the series opening is that this happens through overly visible exposition. It just feels silly having characters openly state their predicaments and identities to themselves or one another, as if the other party did not already know. It is done for the sake of viewers, but the trick is to make it look like it is not and "A Korean Odyssey" does not even try.

All in all, however, this is an okay episode. I usually cringe with damsels waiting for princes to save them, but the premise of Oh-gong (Lee Seung-gi) and Seon-mi's (Oh Yeon-seo) relationship does not belittle her own character, because it makes perfect sense for a child to be traumatized and left wanting when her only hope it taken away from her. Oh-gong just has a lot of work to do for redemption.

I am also interested in the true nature of our deities. We know the Bull Demon King, or Hwi-cheol gets very affected by Seon-mi's blood due to her being Sam Jang reborn and his character has admitted to being a demon punished in exile. I am also curious why the fire on that mountain affected him so. Why is Oh-gong fine with the smell of the blood? Others too. I have questions and that is a good thing, especially given how uneventful the episode is.

"A Korean Odyssey" is directed by Park Hong-gyoon, written by Hong Jeong-eun and Hong Mi-ranand features Lee Seung-gi, Cha Seung-won, Oh Yeon-seo, Lee Hong-ki and Jang Gwang

Written by: Orion from 'Orion's Ramblings'

"Nothing to Lose" episodes 19 - 20 recap

On the latest episode of the SBS drama "Nothing to Lose", Jeong-joo (Park Eun-bin) heard that Myeong-hee (Kim Hae-sook) had the cell phone, which was the evidence she needed, but Myeong-hee didn't share it.
Myeong-hee let her hear the recording of Ga-yeong on the phone, which contained a recording of the moment of Ga-yeong was murdered. Ik-cheol was upset that he couldn't protect his daughter and testified the truth.
Myeong-hee gave Jeong-joo the file with Ik-cheol's recording and Jeong-joo used it as a base to re-investigate Kyeong-ho's case.
Jeong-joo was tired and asked Eui-hyeon (Yeon Woo-jin) out for a drink. Han-joon (Dong Ha) called her just then, but she didn't answer. Eui-hyeon asked about their relationship and Jeong-joo said he was just a good friend. Eui-hyeon gave her the recording that Kyeong-ho left behind.
In the end, Dae-soo (Kim Min-sang), who is in charge of the case, had retrial because the new evidence was so strong. Jeong-joo requested Jin-myeong (Lee Duk-hwa) as witness and he came. Eui-hyeon advised her Jin-myeong would feign ignorance, which he did.
Jeong-joo solidly made her case.

Source : www.osen.co.kr/articl...
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"Prison Playbook" episode 10 recap

On the latest episode of the tvN drama "Prison Playbook", Kim Je-hyeok (Park Hae-soo) was funny. He worked on getting better and practiced hard during prison life. He wanted to tell Ji-ho (Krystal), but they had broken up.
The drama showed flashbacks of his happy time with Ji-ho. He was watching TV with her on the sofa and put his finger on her cheek. Je-hyeok's mother and his sister Je-hee (Im Hwa-young) recognized this as behavior only people in love do. To cover up his mistake, he tried putting a finger on his sister's cheek, but stopped when he saw her expression and even tried it on his mother.

Source : news1.kr/articles/?31...
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"Black Knight" episode 6 recap

On the latest episode of the KBS 2TV drama "Black Knight", Sharon (Seo Ji-hye) hugged Moon Soo-ho (Kim Rae-won) in front of Jeong Hae-ra (Sin Se-kyung).
Sharon met Soo-ho and Hae-ra on her way to meet Jang Baek-hee (Jang Mi-hee) and the four of them ate together. Sharon approached Soo-ho with the excuse of wanting to make him a shirt and asked him to spread his arms wide. She took the opportunity to hug him.
Soo-ho and Hae-ra were surprised and Sharon said, "This is how we do it when we don't have any tape. You should come and see that it's quite accurate". Moon Soo-ho replied, "I'll have a measuring tape ready next time".
Sharon thought she had the upper hand, but Soo-ho visited her the next day and said, "Please don't do that again. You were too playful in front of the woman I like. Just make her clothes, I have plenty of shirts. My friend has a shop in Milano and I only wear his shirts".
Sharon was hurt again. At the end of the episode, she was given a magic bracelet in return for the clothes and she used it to become Hae-ra to seduce Moon Soo-ho.

Source : www.newsen.com/news_v...
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"I'm Not a Robot" Episodes 11-12 recap

Obviously sincere though Min-gyoo's efforts may be toward trying to make up with Baek-gyoon's team so that he can hold on to the medical miracle that is AZ3, he still constantly fails basic social tasks. Note how Min-gyoo can't remember the names of any of Baek-gyoo's assistants. Which is fine, really, I can't remember them either. Actually I'm pretty sure we've only ever heard them referred to by ridiculous-sounding nicknames, further mitigating the severity of Min-gyoo's failure.

Meanwhile, Baek-gyoo continues to be an idiot when it comes to anything except technological design, although as usual this is more implied than explicitly shown. We're given very obvious clues that Baek-gyoon's new investors are not to be trusted. You would think Baek-gyoon would be more cautious considering he knows the dangers but apparently the notion of Min-gyoo being a pervert really is just that offensive to the guy who modeled his robot after a romantic interest from college.

Unfortunately there's no dramatic tension to speak of when it comes to the villains. The only ones who pose an immediate danger are always framed in terms of comic relief, so it's difficult to see them as a threat. On one end it's good that we're mainly worried about the prospect that Baek-gyoon might actually takes Ji-ah away from Min-gyoo, since it's much easier to root for Min-gyoo's mental health than it is against vaguely defined corporate espionage.

But this leaves Ri-el as the closest thing we have to a villain, which is weird because Ri-el's main crime is that she's a terrible date. Episode twelve is, along those lines, mostly just a pastiche about nerd dating life. No matter how much Min-gyoo prepares, in the end it all means nothing because Ri-el seems to be on a mission to just not have any fun at all. That Ri-el explicitly says she wants to meet again is quite literally the only indication we have that she cares about seeing Min-gyoo at all.

The relationship between Min-gyoo and Ri-ah remains compelling, although it too is hobbled by the fact that Min-gyoo doing anything romantic with Ri-ah in AZ3 garb at all has now been outlined as creepy and beyond the pale. I'm a bit concerned for Min-gyoo's mental state. He certainly knows that it is wrong to have a relationship with a robot. So there's only so long this charade can go on now before it just becomes abject cruelty to him.

Review by William Schwartz

"I'm Not a Robot" is directed by Jeong Dae-yoon, written by Kim Seon-mi-I and Lee Suk-joon-I, and features Yoo Seung-ho, Chae Soo-bin, Uhm Ki-joon, and Park Se-wan.

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