What Are You Watching?

I haven't posted in a while.  Real life has gotten in the way and I am seriously behind on my dramas.  Queen In-hyun's Man/The Queen and I is seriously tempting me to start.  Crazy!  I can't even manage to watch the dramas already on my list. But how can I resist the drama that caused the infamous Fan Meeting to End All Fan Meetings?    I need a day that I can do some serious marathoning. 


Big is a lot of fun, if not the cracktastic rollercoaster ride you normally see from the Hong Sisters.  Admittedly, a lot of the time it coasts on Gong Yoo's charisma and abs.  I Do, I Do I'm really enjoying, even though I don't get the romantic pay off there that I get from Big.  Protect the Boss I'm really lagging on and I'm still too traumatized by King 2 Hearts to pick City Hunter back up again. 


How about you guys?  What are you watching?

Too. Many. Dramas.

I'm watching 5 dramas.  Drama overload.  There aren't enough hours in the day.  


City Hunter I haven't watched since a certain event in King2Hearts because the drama is hurtling toward its endgame and I'm still traumatized from K2H.  If anything bad happens I can't take it.  So rom-coms it is! I'll come back to it because it's really good but I've got to be ready for it. 


Protect the Boss I'm really enjoying, but it's been spinning its wheels the last couple of episodes so I picked up Full House thinking I wasn't going to watch anything currently airing and I wanted to see something a little more old school. 


Foolish, foolish Penny.


I already posted about I Do, I Do.  I've been totally sucked in because I want to see how the drama between the A and B female leads plays out.


And then there is Big.  I was feeling some ambivalence but it's the Hong Sisters and Gong Yoo so it's not like I could stay away.  Plus I really liked Lee Min-jung in Boys Over Flowers (She played Ha Jae-kyung.  Am I the only person who was upset that she didn't get the guy?  I actually liked Ha Jae Kyung more than Geum Jan-di and thought that Lee Min-ho had a ton more chemistry with Lee Min-jung than Ku Hye-sun. But that's another story...) Anyway....Gong Yoo is killing me playing a teenage boy (*waves hands* "Whatever!") and his post army body is....killing me in a completely different way.


(Dear Gong Yoo,
I'm sorry for objectifying you.  I know it is wrong.  But the army was very, very good to you.  And everyone else.  The end.


Love, 
Penny)


So, yeah, it's Drama City around here.  Sigh!  Can you tell I'm really, really happy?


P.S.  We need to talk about the person responsible for Rain's wardrobe in Full House.

King 2 Hearts Wrap Up

Oh, Show.  Why did you do this to me?  At times you were some of the best TV ever, other times you were so painful to watch I literally cringed.  


Sigh.


Spoilers behind the jump...

King 2 Hearts Episodes 17 and 18

Don't go into this post expecting organized thoughts or deep insight.  After episode 18 ended I was left babbling incoherently in a corner and I typed.... something. It's all a fog at this point.


Spoilers after the jump...

Why I Love Show and Want To Have Its Babies

Seriously, it's ridiculous how much this show reduces me to a squealing fan-girl. I'm sure it sickens you all. I love how Shi-kyung stays loyal and trusts Jae-ha’s motivations even when he’s hurt by his actions. 
I love how Mom is so gentle and loving but can still open up a can of whip-ass.

I love that the supporting characters are just as well written as the main two and that in many ways this has become an ensemble drama simply due to the strength of the writing and the AMAZING work of the supporting cast and the PD.

I love how vulnerable Shi-kyung and Jae-shin are with each other.

I love that I’m seeing Lee Seung-gi mature as an actor right before my eyes.  He is without a doubt performing on a whole new level with this drama.  
 I love that the main female character is truly a strong lead and that even when the drama descended into angst between herself and Jae-ha, we got some weepy scenes--but she never seemed like she had a personality transplant.  And the look on her face at the end of episode 16?  Is it next week yet?

I love that all the women in the show are strong in their own unique ways.        
 The main couple has one of the sweetest relationships I’ve seen in a long time and they’ve EARNED it.  
 

King 2 Hearts episode 16

So is it just me or are people in one of two camps about this drama?  There is the "meh" camp that just doesn't see the appeal.  And then there are the people who LOVE IT WITH THE FIRE OF A THOUSAND SUNS. 


I'll give you one guess as to which camp I fall into.


I finally watched episode 16 and I'm currently an incoherent mess.  It's lucky for me all K-dramas aren't this good simply because I would have a heart attack.


I'll try to write a longer post when I can come up with something besides "Squeeeeee!!!"

King2Hearts Episodes 13-14

I really like the rhythm the show has going.  Wednesdays are the lull that provides character development and moves the characters around to where they need to be when the storm hits on Thursdays.  Then Thursdays are punch, punch, punch.  Basically Wednesdays lull you into a false sense of security so that Thursdays can traumatize you  leave you trying to catch your breath for the next week. 

Spoilers after the jump...

King2Hearts: Oh My God You Thought The Dissertation Was Long Post

King 2 Hearts why can’t I quit you? There’s only two weeks left and you’ll be over.  What will I obsess over when you are gone?

So I was watching Game of Thrones. During the scene where Margaery Tyrell was navigating the logistics of trying to get pregnant when your husband the king is gay (and I guess turkey basters don’t exist)  I had a lightbulb moment. That’s the job of a queen, to have an heir. That encapsulates it.

Yeah, so now you’re saying “Well, duh, Captain Obvious”.

And then I started thinking about King2Hearts.  As one does.  Or at least I do.  All the time.

Spoilers after the jump...

The King2Hearts and the Monomyth

So, last time I talked about archetypes a little bit.  I have a feeling this is going to turn into a series, because the more I think about it, the more this show fits the whole Joseph Campbell Hero's Journey Monomyth.  


I'll explain what I mean after the jump and try not to make it too pedantic.  Spoilers through episode 10. 

My King 2 Hearts Dissertation

Seriously, this post is so freaking long. I'm warning you now.  I've had a chance to think about episodes 9 and 10 and I'm having a lot of...feelings.

Please tell me that we’ve reached the Black moment.  Cos I don’t know if I can handle much darker than this.  Buckle up because this post is so freaking long I wish I could get college credit for it.

Spoilers after the jump...

The King 2 Hearts

So I've finished episodes 7 and 8 and boy, what a wild ride.  I think I have whiplash. I can't remember the last time I cried so much over a drama.  


Spoilers after the jump....

Geek Post

I am a language geek.  Somewhere in the multiverse I am a linguist.  In this universe I'm just a dork with books on etymology and the history of the English language.


So, as you can imagine, when they highlight dialect differences between North and South Korea in The King2Hearts I squee like a fangirl.  I don't speak Korean, so it's thanks to awesome recappers like girlfriday  at Dramabeans that I even realize some of the nuances of what is happening on the screen.


More after the jump...

What? No Puppy?

South Korea is having an election today, so King2Hearts has been pre-empted by election coverage.  Noooooooooo!!!  Don't they know that I need to see this episode? 


Darn democracy in action.


The good news, according to the peeps at Dramabeans, is that we will have two, 2, two episodes tomorrow night.    Let us now say a prayer for the nimble fingers of the lovely subbers. 

Episode 6, The King 2 Hearts

I finally watched episode 6 last night.  Awww, Puppy is growing up!  It helps that he's co-starring with Ha Ji Won.  She's one of those actresses that makes the actors around her look better.  She has crazy chemistry with everyone.


I love this drama so much. I want to hug it and pet it and name it George.