"My Daughter, Geum Sa-Wol" episode 31-32 recap

Sa-wol (Baek Jin-hee) revealed Man-hoo's (Son Chang-min) evil doings in front of public.
Sa-wol prepared a testimonial recorder and footage of proof the at the 32nd anniversary dinner of Bogeum Group. The footage revealed that Man-hoo had pushed Heung-do (Song Ha-yoon) to death because he was afraid of anyone discovering the recorder.
Heung-do, whose memory had come back slightly, also claimed that Man-hoo had pushed her and a confession followed. A restaurant employee who saw Man-hoo push Heung-do claimed what she saw and the chairman of the CCTV said, "I collected the footages of the CCTV on the day of the accident. I was put in a better position in exchange for getting rid of the CCTV. Another employee confessed that he was the one who kidnapped the cooking lady and sent her to the asylum.
Previously, Deuk-ye got the help of an employee to get Ji-sang out of the asylum. The hospital was on fire and Deuk-ye made it look like Ji-sang was dead. Man-hoo believed she was dead and Deuk-ye put her father in the hands of Ki-hwang (Ahn Nae-sang).
Ji-sang appeared at the scene where Sa-wol was revealing the truth about Man-hoo who had kept Ji-sang away for 20 years. Man-hoo felt at risk when he saw Ji-sang.
Meanwhile, "My Daughter, Geum Sa-Wol" is a drama about the place humans call home with the lead of a character named Geum Sa-wol.

Source : www.osen.co.kr/articl...
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"All About My Mom" episode 37-38 recap

Yoo Jin told her mom Ko Soo-sim that she didn't go on her honeymoon.
On the 19th, Lee Jin-ae (Yoo Jin) and Kang Hoon-jae (Lee Sang-woo) had to come back from the way to their honeymoon because Hwang Yeong-seon (Kim Mi-Sook) was sick.
Jin-ae's parents didn't know this and they were very anxious to hear from her.
Im San-ok (Ko Doo-sim) asked her why she hadn't called on the phone and Lee Jin-ae told her honestly that she didn't go on the honeymoon.
Meanwhile, Lee Sang-woo and Yoo Jin shared a sweet kiss on the thirty-eighth episode of "All About My Mom".

Source : news.joins.com/articl...
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"Riders: Get Tomorrow" Episode 7 recap

There's less emphasis on rickshaws this episode as character motivation ends up hinging on the various romances. Consequently my feelings on "Riders: Get Tomorrow" trend toward the lukewarm as usual. I'm always a little puzzled by how this drama makes money out to be a big deal, and then we get plotlines where characters are obviously and explicitly spending their cash on rather frivolous projects. Did So-dam forget about her loan, or was that resolved when I wasn't paying attention?
All right, all right, just because someone is in debt doesn't mean they can't have any fun. But little logical problems like this always pop up in my head when I'm constantly forced to confront the fact that "Riders: Get Tomorrow" isn't really about anything. There's little conflict except with the romances, and the romances are so constantly passive that it's often hard to tell when progress is actually being made.
I will admit that the whole sequence where So-dam flashed back to all the really obvious clues that Gi-joon was hitting her was fairly cute. I'm kind of surprised she reacted the way she did, but, well, mostly I'm glad Gi-joon gave much of a reaction at all because that much at least managed to set up the conflict of the cliffhanger, which will hopefully make the next episode more interesting than this one.
In other dubious honors, "Riders: Get Tomorrow" manages what has to be the most inefficient product placement I've ever seen- the DigiFun Art Festival that features as a major plot point ended a week ago. While I'm glad to see any evidence that the live shooting system is on the way out, really, I might have actually wanted to go to that if I'd known it existed before watching this episode. Although we don't get to see what's going on at this festival anyway, so that much is really just curiousity for curiousity's sake.
That's what it feels like watching "Riders: Get Tomorrow" right now. Occasionally we get good funny scenes, like the three personality types guys have when it comes to meeting certain kind of girls. But by and large this drama is just a vast wide expanse of nothing. While it's not especially terrible, "Riders: Get Tomorrow" is really bad at eliciting any kind of serious emotional reaction. There's no build-up or pay-off. Without these elements, there's nothing to look forward to, and that's a bad place for a drama to be.
Review by William Schwartz
"Riders: Get Tomorrow" is directed by Choi Do-hoon, written by Park Sang-hee and features Kim Dong-wuk, Lee Cheong-ah, Choi Min-I, Yoon Jong-hoon, Choi Yeo-jin, Jo Byeong-gyu and more.

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"Splash Splash Love" Episode 2 recap

I tried watching the second and final episode of "Splash Splash Love" with more of a relaxed mind. As tempting as it is to attack the drama for illogical character reactions, the premise is a high school girl who teleports by jumping through puddles. One of the highest-tier Korean kings is being played by the leader of Beast. High school textbooks are presented as a literal metaphor for saving your life. Gangnam Style pops up in an educational context. There are rape jokes that are funny mainly because they're being accompanied by silly sound effects.
You know what? Even if I were to try to review "Splash Splash Love" seriously, the drama is too ridiculous to stand for any kind of major critical scrutiny. It's like trying to make fun of a circus clown. I can get maybe two sentences in before I realize that rain-drenched kisses are such an overdone trope in the first place that there is no possible way "Splash Splash Love" could somehow make them less dignified.
I don't think this drama even had any kind of a serious plan. I can visualize writer / director Kim Ji-hyeon-III sitting at the head of the staff table just instructing everyone to write down every potentially funny joke they can think of and they'll try to turn it into a coherent story later. I mean just look at the outtakes at the end. Even the actors are barely capable of pulling any of this off with a straight face. I don't know how they were able to keep themselves together for the more dignified scenes.
It probably helps that the more dignified scenes are mostly just pointing out the obvious flaws in the premise- how it really doesn't make any sense for Dan-bi to consider sticking around in the past. How the Korea of yore has social customs Dan-bi could of course not possibly adhere to. How eventually smart phones run out of battery, and so on, and so forth.
Watching scenes unfold like that I almost feel like I'm being mocked. That's right mister drama critic we know the premise was just a ridiculous ploy to unload a bunch of silly jokes- what are you going to do about it? I guess nothing. I'll sit here and enjoy that incredible soundtrack and try to enjoy myself and just pretend like "Splash Splash Love" works as a metaphor for growing up and finding your place in the world because trying to watch this drama any other way is a hopeless waste of time.
Review by William Schwartz
"Splash Splash Love" is directed and written by Kim Ji-hyeon-III and features Yoon Doo-joon, Kim Seul-gi-I, Jin Ki-joo, Ahn Hyo-seop, Kim Kap-soo, Im Ye-jin, Jeong Gyoo-soo, Lee Dae-yeon and Ko Gyoo-pil.

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"Answer Me 1988" Episode 14 recap

One of the nicer parts of "Answer Me 1988" is how incredibly even-handed the drama is with character focus. Part of this is probably just a necessity of production- if Deok-seon was actually the focus the way lead characters normally are I'd expect Hyeri would have collapsed from exhaustion due to overwork by now. Instead, her role here is subdued to a mild act of heroism while focus instead shifts to Jeong-bong and Mi-ok. In case you don't remember who those characters are- Jeong-hwan's older brother and Deok-seon's shorter female friend.
The plot point? Ironic nostalgia. First, while (some) people think the eighties were cool today, back in the eighties people thought the fifties were cool. Which is ridiculous and nonsensical yet totally in keeping with the time period- and especially the thought process of young people in any era. Another intriguing angle is taken with phones- and how the absence of cell phones made dating much harder than it is in the present day.
Or do they? Think about it- while the entire restaurant scene is heartbreaking, the end is truly touching because back then, ambiguity and guilt were much easier to pinpoint when so much information was so hard to know. Contrast the present day, where instant messaging and a lack of mutual friends makes it very easy to be rude and mean to a person without intentionally being rude and mean. If SMS had been a thing, Bo-ra could have ditched Seon-woo at the concert guilt-free.
And what a shame that would be. Seon-woo agonizes over what to make of Moo-seong (Taek's dad) for reasons that are fairly obvious, especially after the scenes we see in his room. Airing out these frustrations to Bo-ra is able to help Seon-woo move on and realize that everything is going to be all right. It's no coincidence that the major catatlyst for this breakthrough is Moo-seong himself being that same shoulder to cry on for Seon-woo's mother.
Even though all of these scenes are, strictly speaking, minor storyline events, all of them pack a real strong heartfelt punch that, for all the eighties trappings, tends to hit universally, reminding us that fashion notwithstanding we're not all so different on the inside, and good advice never really changes through the ages. Take Dong-ryong's word with Deok-seon. Overthinking things isn't any way to go about life. True love and compassion, in whatever form, are what manifests when you just want to do whatever you can to help.
Review by William Schwartz
"Answer Me 1988" is directed by Sin Won-ho, written by Lee Woo-jeong-I and features Seong Dong-il, Lee Il-hwa, Ra Mi-ran, Kim Seong-gyoon, Ryoo Hye-yeong, Hyeri, Ko Kyeong-pyo and Ryu Jun-yeol.

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Puck!

SBS' short drama, "Puck!" starring Lee Gwang-soo as the lead will be aired on the first day of 2016.
An insider in the broadcasting circle told TV Report on December 18th, "Two episodes of "Puck!" will be broadcast in a row at 8:30 AM on January 1st".
Jo Joon-man, a loveless and hopeless man in the drama "Puck!" joins an ice hockey varsity team and his life starts changing gradually since then.
Lee Gwang-soo plays the main role, Jo Joon-man, who is a cold-hearted, rough and merciless private loaner, but is hiding sorrow deep inside him. Son Soo-hyeon has been cast as the female lead to partner with Lee Gwang-soo in the romance storyline.
Jo Yoon-woo plays Jeong Pal-gbong, an ace player in the varsity ice hockey team and Kwak Dong-yeon plays Hwang Geyong-pil, a warm-hearted ice hockey player, who will never give up on his dream.
"Puck!" received Top Excellence Award from Sports Scenario Awards hosted by Korean Olympic Committee last April.

Source : cinema.net/add/...
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"Answer Me 1988" Episode 13 recap

Bo-ra helpfully narrates the theme of this episode at the closing. This is fortunate, since until that point I was at a bit of a loss as to what the title card, a linguistic variation on the title of "Superman is Back" variety show, had to do with the episode proper. We don't really get to see that much of men taking care of their families, unless you count Seong-gyoon's misadventures trying to fix household appliances back in the days before it was cheaper to just buy new. Indeed, one memorable sequence involves the entire neighborhood getting riled over a nonexistent crisis.
That much reminds me of a scary story- lie down in your apartment and scream for help. Observe how no one will come to ask what's going on. Note how the exact same thing would have happened if you had actually been serious hurt. Now that's a terrifying thought. What does any of this have to do with "Answer Me 1988"? Simple- if you told this story to any of the characters in this drama, they wouldn't understand it because apathy to neighbors is incomprehensible to them.
That, in the drama's broader estimation, is what "Superman" is. This is an identity not based on one's ability to exhibit super-strength, but rather their determination to do their best by friends and family. If this means dropping everything to go into panic-mode over a loved one, so be it. It also fits in well with Nietzschean ideals of how the superman is one who creates life- although I'd rather not delve into complex German philosophy when the title in all likelihood is just a reference to the silly TV show where Song Il-gook takes cares of the triplets.
"Answer Me 1988" is plenty silly too of course- for the better. The more I see of Bo-ra and Seon-woo together the more I like them. It's adorable how Bo-ra is constantly asserting pecking order when their relationship is supposed to have some sort of implied equality. Yet for all this, even Bo-ra lacks courage enough to be as open with her college friends as she is with Seon-woo.
This is just one of the many ways that "Answer Me 1988" stresses the importance of love and community in a local environment. This drama ranks as the best nostalgia trip I've ever seen simply because it makes the late eighties look, for all its relative primitiveness, like a paradise. Love for the Superman means willing to act like a jerk for fun, to act like a jerk because the other person needs to hear it, and understanding that an apology is necessary for truly hurtful slights, however accidental.
Review by William Schwartz
"Answer Me 1988" is directed by Sin Won-ho, written by Lee Woo-jeong-I and features Seong Dong-il, Lee Il-hwa, Ra Mi-ran, Kim Seong-gyoon, Ryoo Hye-yeong, Hyeri, Ko Kyeong-pyo and Ryu Jun-yeol.

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