One Zombie, Sharing Her Love of all Things Hallyu With The World
After all the excitement of last week’s episode, this week’s happenings seem a little dull but where this episode lacked in action, it made up for in plot development so it’s not a total loss. Continue reading “ZOMBIE’S DRAMA REVIEW: The Three Musketeers Episode 3”
Like many of you, I’ve been squeeing over the pictures and teasers of The Three Musketeers for what feels like ages now, so it only makes sense that now that I’ve finally found a place to watch this highly anticipated drama, I’d have to take this one on as my next to review. Because really, how could I not? It stars Jung Yong Hwa and I’m pretty sure that by now, you all know how I feel about him! Continue reading “ZOMBIE’S DRAMA REVIEW: The Three Musketeers Episodes 1-2”
This week brought us the finale of one of the most interesting and frustrating dramas I’ve watched in quite a while. Chock full of spies and double agents, miracle-working doctors, dirty politicians, plots to rule the world and long-lost love, Doctor Stranger was certainly one of the most complicated dramas I’ve ever watched and one that hooked me right away so it’s only natural for me to feature it as this weekend’s drama to marathon.
Taking over the God’s Gift-14 Days time slot on SBS, Doctor Stranger was toted as a medical romance but the truth is, it was so much more than that. The story follows Park Hoon (Lee Jong Suk), the son of an incredibly skilled doctor and surgeon, Park Cheol (Kim Sang Joong), who is shipped off to North Korea in a secret mission to save their glorious leader. What was supposed to be an in-and-out operation, carried out in the strictest of secrecy, turns into something much more desperate as Park Cheol learns that his son has been brought along to provide him the “motivation” needed to succeed in this surgery. Things quickly go from bad to worse as Park Cheol and Hoon soon realize their dream of returning to South Korea will never come true. So much happens between the time Park Cheol and Hoon arrive in North Korea and the time Hoon can finally escape that I can’t even begin to go into it all here, just know that things happen and eventually (as in about twenty years later) we find Hoon living in South Korea, desperately searching for a way to rescue the love of his life, Song Jae Hee (Jin Se Yun), from the prison camp she’s been a prisoner in for years.
Using the extraordinary medical skills he learned from his father, Hoon becomes a surgeon at a prestigious hospital in Seoul where he quickly finds an anesthesiologist who bears an uncanny resemblance to Jae Hee. Through more twists and turns than an amusement park roller-coaster, Hoon finds himself in so many unpredictable places there really isn’t any way to recap what happens without giving things away. Let me just say that this is one of those dramas that you really need to watch for yourself, just so you can understand the level of crazy that happens in every stinking episode. Believe me when I tell you, there is rarely a dull moment in Doctor Stranger.
So, with a drama so full of action, mystery, suspense and yes, even love, you would think that there would be enough to keep me satisfied and if you’d talked to me during the first half of this drama, I would have wholeheartedly agreed with you but, something happened as the second half of this drama unfolded that left me flipping tables and bawling my eyes out, all at the same time. For the sake of those of you who haven’t watched this drama yet, I won’t go into details but let me just say that I suffered a severe case of second lead syndrome here and seriously, I think I’ve been scarred for life. Oh Soo Hyun (Kang So Ra) plays Hoon’s second and she is, without a doubt, one of the most amazing female characters ever in the history of Drama Land. Seriously. She is everything a female lead in a drama should be but never is and somehow manages to attain a level of awesome that most characters could never even dream of reaching. She’s really that amazing and she certainly overshadows our female lead which is why I suffered as much as I did. There’s only so much I can handle when it comes to seconds and Doctor Stranger eventually crossed the line.
That being said, if you’re looking for a drama with action, suspense, a healthy dose of romance and a bunch of political shenanigans and medical drama thrown in, just to keep things interesting, then Doctor Stranger is probably the drama for you. I thoroughly enjoyed the way this drama kept me on my toes as I could never accurately predict what was going to happen next. (I don’t know how things are for you but for me, this unpredictability was a rare treat.) To be fair, there were also moments that had me scratching my head, wondering how on earth that could ever possibly happen and also moments when I just wanted to throw things because everyone was being an idiot (usually while patients bled out on the table in front of them) but I was willing to overlook a lot because I loved the overall plot of the story, harbored a massive soft spot for Hoon and thoroughly enjoyed the abundance of amazing side characters. After all, Kim Tae Sool (Jung In Ki), aka Sunglasses, was pretty much the most amazing character in this entire drama and Han Jae Joon (Park Hae Jin) was this fantastic enigma of good and evil that left me wondering whether I should hate him, love him or just drool over him. (Pretty sure I did all three at some point, sometimes all at the same time…)
However, this drama also has some pretty big flaws, most of which I won’t get into because I absolutely hate spoilers myself and refuse to inflict them on others but I will say that things do kind of fall apart at the end. I made many predictions about the way this drama would resolve itself and I have to say, very few, if any, actually came to pass and it’s not because I’m a horrible predictor of the future. Mostly there were a whole lot of plot holes and characters who did a complete 180 for no reason whatsoever which, you have to admit, is pretty darn frustrating, especially if you’ve been hating them for oh, say, twenty episodes… If that weren’t frustrating enough, there’s also the whole second lead thing which, I will warn you now, if you find yourself prone to suffering from second lead syndrome, chances are you’re going to want to run as far away from this drama as you possibly can because this one will most likely shatter your heart into a zillion tiny pieces. (Hope that doesn’t spoil things too much for those of you who haven’t watched this drama yet. If it did, I’m sorry!)
Plot holes and craziness aside, I did enjoy this drama (for the most part anyway) but I know I’m not the only one who watched it so now it’s your turn to tell me what you thought of Doctor Stranger. Did you like it? Did you hate it? Were you a Quack Couple shipper like I was or were you shipping the OTP? I want to know it all so be sure to leave me a comment below. Oh, and if you’d really like to dig into the ins and outs of the drama as you watch, be sure to check out the review Hallyu Tanya and I did of Doctor Stranger here.
This week I’m recommending what could very well be my all-time favorite K-Drama, though to be honest, I’m not sure I’m ready to commit to one singular dramas as the best ever. However, if I ever were ready to make such a commitment, The Master’s Sun would definitely be at the top of my list of candidates because it is absolutely fantastic!
South Korean hip-hop group B.A.P invaded the northern Midwest Saturday night at the Star Plaza Theatre in Merrillville, Indiana, making their first appearance in the Chicago-land area as stop number three in the U.S. “B.A.P Attack” portion of their LIVE ON EARTH 2014 tour.
Continue reading “B.A.P ATTACKS CHICAGO WITH A SHOW THAT’S OUT OF THIS WORLD”
To offset the overwhelming abundance of cute I’ve been floored by this week, I’ve decided to recommend a darker drama for this weekend’s marathon, one with action, mystery and suspense all centered around an oh-so-adorably un-dead male lead… Vampire Prosecutor. Continue reading “FRIDAY NIGHT DRAMA: Vampire Prosecutor”
Anneyong! I really want to dive into the episodes from last week, although a bit later than planned! We saw Ma Te get humiliated, but overall a lot of growth in all the characters.
Ma Te convinced Gwi Ji to take him to the MG Group Party, just to be humiliated by one of Jackie’s friends in front of Park Ki Suk, who he believes to be his father. It is rather unfair that this woman painted him as a player, however Ma Te has no one to blame but himself. He should have realized that his past and his decision to take on the ten women task that Yu Ra gave him would come back to bite him somehow. There is no way you can move through so many people in a short amount of time and not be seen as opportunistic or of bad moral character. He is then further insulted by Hong Na Ran when she laughs at his attempts to meet his father and calls him a piece of trash. This leads him to breakdown for the second time in the show.
In true spoiled-brat fashion, Gwi Ji got rid of Myo Mi so she could have Ma Te to herself. Sadly for Ma Te, you can tell that he actually liked Myo Mi so he is a little disappointed, but admits that Myo Mi is the queen of timing, which was the lesson she was to teach him in the end. I’m actually sad to see Myo Mi go. She was one of the better characters in the series since she was so very grounded considering her profession and the people around her. That type of genuine person is really what Ma Te needs to have in his life.
In the lesson of clout, Ma Te decides to challenge Gwi Ji’s father and ask/demand SS Home Shopping network from him. Gwi Ji challenges Ma Te to submit to her by making him her boyfriend with SS Home Shopping as the bait, but Bo Tong steps in and gives him a reality check by slapping Gwi across the face and calling her trash for using those types of tactics. Bo Tong is, of course, correct. You shouldn’t have to buy your boyfriend via his humiliation. I enjoyed Gwi Ji and Ma Te receiving a dose of reality, even if it did result in Bo Tong’s arrest.
Ma Te and David face off at the police station over Bo Tong. David’s tells Ma Te that he is going to protect Bo Tong, however Ma Te is unsatisfied with that. Subsequently, he decides that he is going to protect Bo Tong and tells her that to her face, which is an admission of his feelings for her.
Continuing her evil ways, Na Hong Ran manages to set up Park Moon Soo and get him arrested for illegal gambling. Although he is dismissed from all charges after some investigation, she continues to press the situation and uses it to try to remove him from MG Group all together.
Going further, it seem that Bo Tong will never get over her obsession with Ma Te. She decided to seek out Yu Ra and beg on her knees that she give Ma Te the passcode he needs to see his father. This leads to David confessing to Yu Ra that his is a son of MG Group and the agreement that he will work to protect Moon Soo and take down Na Hong Ran. Once Yu Ra tells Bo Tong that David is giving up everything for her, Bo Tong runs to him and David admits that he loves her.
Yu Ra ends of giving Ma Te the code per her deal with David, but he deletes it because he did not earn it for himself. This is by far the most grown up thing we have ever seen Ma Te do! Not because he didn’t earn it himself but because he is uncomfortable with the fact that so many people are being affected by this passcode. He is actually starting to take the lives and feelings of others into consideration although it put himself into a tougher situation.
Gwi Ji gets herself into a situation that she cannot get herself out of because she refuses to apologize for ruining a shoe. Ma Te comes to her rescue and proceeds to tell her that sometimes you have to learn to choke back your pride, which is a lesson she needs to learn. Money can’t buy everything.
I don’t know if I can forgive Ma Te for the awful prank he played on Bo Tong when he got drunk and told her that he loved her. Granted, he immediately told her that is was a lie and explained why he has such a hard time dealing with feelings, but it was cruel. At least he is learning that he doesn’t actually know what love is and that is the first step to finding out. He does tell Bo Tong not to go anywhere until he figures it out, but that makes me wonder if he wants a safety net or if he actually does have the beginning of feelings for her.
We get to witness the board meeting in which Na Hong Ran tries to get rid of Moon Soo, however David enters the meeting and as the majority stockholder saves Moon Soo from being dismissed from his position at MG. This leaves David in the crosshairs of Hong Ran because she’s going to do everything in her power to figure out just who he is.
Getting his comeuppance, Gwi Ji’s father starts to feel the pressure when Prosecutor Lee Kim investigates the company. Gwi Ji decides that she wants to study in exchange for marrying Ma Te. Her dad won’t have it though and tells Ma Te that he’ll give him SS Home Shopping if he can get Lee Kim off his back and he stays away from Gwi Ji.
Ma Te tries twice to get close to Lee Kim but fails because she can see exactly who he is and how he works. He appeals to her sense of loneliness and is straightforward with her about it and the situation.
Our cliffhanger into the upcoming episodes is Park Ki Suk telling Na Hong Ran that David/Joon Ha is, in fact, his son. There was something gratifying about seeing her knocked off her pedestal from that news. She did make me laugh when she asked if he was “going to pull out a new son every time Moon Soo gets in trouble.” That was pretty classic!
I am intrigued by Yu Ra’s interest in Ma Te’s watch that Bo Tong has since it matches the piece that Hong Ran has!
So what do you think is going to happen next? Are we going to learn whose son Ma Te really is? Will David be safe from Hong Ran? Who will Bo Tong choose? Let me know what you think in the comments below or tweet @Hallyu_Tanya!
Zombie: So is it just me, or are things kind of falling less-than-spectacularly apart for Pretty Man? I mean are the writers just so confused, they have no idea how to write their way out of this mess they’ve put themselves in or have they just given up completely?
Tanya: I’m pretty sure Ma Te fails in a fantastic way or just gives up altogether because there is no way they can make it through four more women in 4 episodes. If you have such a strong concept at the beginning of a show I don’t understand how you can just abandon it near the end, but that seems to be what is happening here.
Continue reading “HALLYU ZOMBIE DRAMA REVIEW: Pretty Man Episodes 11-12 (1/2)”
Zombie: So apparently I’m not so very good at guessing what’s going to happen next as I was completely WRONG about David’s true identity…
Tanya: I’m actually starting not to like David so much. He seems overly spiteful, but holy plot twist Batman! I’m starting to have suspicions that maybe Ma Te is the long-lost son of Na Hong Ran. That may be tragic, but also explains why she disappeared and is still keeping him away because she doesn’t want anyone to know.
Continue reading “HALLYU ZOMBIE’S DRAMA REVIEW: Pretty Man Episodes 9-10 (2/2)”
It’s all competitions, confessions and confusion in this week’s episodes of Pretty Man which means there’s a whole lot to dig into and a few tears to be shed…well, at least on my part anyway…
Continue reading “HALLYU ZOMBIE’S DRAMA REVIEW: Pretty Man Episodes 9-10 (1/2)”