What We Watched: July 2018 A Review

This month was a really fun one for Korean dramas. But we still think some were great and others fell flat. Here’s what we thought. Beware: Spoilers included.

Sketch ~ ongoing (ep. 13)

This drama had a great start but fizzled out at episode 11.  The concept of a heroine who could visualize people’s deaths in her drawings was edgy and intriguing at first and I really liked the team she built with the cop, the hacker, and the old guy (what was the purpose of him exactly?)  But in the end I found myself irritated by their inability to change anything.  Seriously, as much as they tried to save the people in her drawings, couldn’t they save anyone?  But noooo. Instead, half the time it was their actions that caused the deaths, and the only time someone actually made it out alive was because of the other “mystery” team!  Grr.  I’ll still probably go back and finish this one though (because Rain’s acting is freaking awesome in this) but I may be fast-forwarding when I do.

What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim ~ finished

This drama was like eating a cinnamon roll on a Sunday morning.  It was sweetness with a delightful bite and never a feeling of any real stress.

Park Min Young, the titular Secretary Kim Mi So, was just the heroine I needed.  She was smart, strong-willed, self-reliant, and able to keep her humor against Young Joon’s self-basking “aura.”  I loved her from the moment her red-haired ponytail bounced in.  Plus her style was amazing.  In fact, I loved it so much I went searching for where to buy her outfits.

However Park Seo Joon’s character Lee Young Joon did not win me over as fast.  His self obsession was so obnoxious in the first episode.  Every scene he seemed to be telling someone how perfect he was.  I was really uneasy that he might turn into the stereotypical rich spoiled hunk. (I’m looking at you, “Boys Over Flowers.”)  But mercifully, the more the show focused on his relationship with Mi So the less he was self-centered, and the more he just seemed endearingly delusional.

But while they were fun separately, the chemistry between the two leads was ravagingly delightful.  (And the kiss scenes were hot enough to set off the fire alarm.)  The development of their love-line was easy and natural (bordering on inevitable, but I’m not complaining) as they went from colleagues to friends to lovers.   Since I’m not a fan of the on-again off-again love stories, I really appreciated how focused Lee Young Joon remained on Mi So.  There was never any doubt who he loved or that he would find a way to win her.

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The story line about their captivity was interesting, although parts of it did seem forced.  The best part was actually watching Mi So piece together the events.  It frustrates me when heroines blindly believe anything they’re told, so watching Mi So doggedly go after the truth was empowering.  Throughout I kept cheering her on and hoping she wouldn’t give up until she had made Young Joon and his family be honest with her.

The only qualms I had were with the end.  The last two episodes dragged heavily.  I mean, yes, we love watching the cute finger hearts and listening to the couple banter, but come on.  PLOT.  We need PLOT.  It felt like the drama really could have wrapped at episode 14 or maybe 15.

But then in the end I really just wanted one more scene – their forever after scene.  I loved the wedding.  Really.  But since we knew for so long that it was coming, it just felt anticlimactic.  Where was the scene showing contortionist photographer Lee Young Joon taking pictures of Mi Soo on their honeymoon? Or their family on a car trip like Mi Soo’s family took?  I want to see the kids’ eyes roll when Lee Young Joon does his “aura” glow.  I’m sure that would make Mi Soo laugh.  Sigh.  Now it is up to the fanfiction writers.  (Anyone up for the challenge?)

Still, all in all “What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim?” will go down as one of my favorite kdramas from 2018 and with a high rewatch value.

Handsome Guy and Jung Eum ~ dumped

Drama, what have you done to my beloved Nam Goong Min?  I feel completely betrayed.  The characters in this drama are completely unlikable with no redeeming quality.  And what is with Nam Goong Min’s hair?  I was promised “Handsome Guy” and what I got was mop hair.  The story line, too, isn’t compelling or even interesting.  They tried to give me emotion and comedy, but delivered nothing.  I never thought I’d dislike a Nam Goong Min comedy, but here it is.

Are You Human Too ~ ongoing (ep. 14)

OHMYGAWSH, I love everything about this drama.  I love the Pinocchio robot who just wants to be human and his bossy bodyguard.  I love how his face lights up everytime he sees his mom or whenever someone says he did well.  Or when he hugs everyone who cries or when he can see through everyone’s lies with a touch of his hand, or…okay, I’m noticing a pattern here.  I love Nam Shin III.  Busted.

I honestly didn’t think I would ever enjoy watching Seo Kang Joon in a drama after the fiasco that was “Cheese in the Trap.”  But he has hooked me completely with this drama.  If he doesn’t win some kind of major award for pulling off these two drasticly different characters with such perfection, then I think there should be rioting.  Or a strongly worded letter.  (Yeah, that de-escalated quickly.)  But seriously, this man can ACT.  You know a performance is good when you find yourself studying his precise eye movements to figure out what he is thinking.  His EYE movements.  Gah, please somebody give this man an award.

But with four episodes to go, I’m really worried about how they are going to wrap this up.  I can’t really envision a world where sentient robots can live as humans.  And even if he somehow didn’t get exposed, can Pinocchio bot and his bodyguard really live together forever?  What about down the road when he needs repairs?  Or when the age difference becomes too obvious?  Or worse, if all of P. bot’s computing systems are really stored in evil Grandpa’s basement, then what’s to keep him (or someone else) from pulling the plug?  I need this drama to have a happy ending; I’m too emotionally invested for anything else.

Because This Is My First Life ~ finished

Recently I’ve promised myself that once a month I will finish one of the bazillions of dramas I’ve started and dropped.  “Because It’s My First Life” came to the top of the list because it really was good, but I was just too busy when it aired to finish it.  I am so glad I came back.  This drama is the loving catharsis I needed.

The set-up itself was great.  Two people who don’t know eachother make the zany decision to get married so they can share rent.  Of course, the fact that those two people were gorgeous Lee Min Ki and adorable Jung So Min didn’t hurt anything.

There’s just something about the co-habitation trope that gets to me every time.  Sometimes it’s the hijinks that pull me in, the falling into each other arms or accidentally seeing someone in the shower and the hilarity that ensues; but other times, like this one, it’s the closeness and sincerity that come from sharing your life with someone else.  There is a level of honesty that comes when you’ve seen someone without makeup and smelled their morning breath.

But what I really loved about the drama was how it felt so restrained.  It had this beautiful love story to tell, but it didn’t do it in a hurry.  Rather it let the story open like the petals of a flower: first a gentle easiness between the leads, then an openness, then a happiness together.  It felt so natural and genuine.  But perhaps where it was most authentic was in the relationship between the leads.  I loved how Jung So Min showed the little moments of hesitation that we all feel when we are around someone we’re falling in love with; like when she would make a statement and then lift her eyes to search Lee Min Ki’s expression for approval.  It was such a comfortingly real reaction.

But hold on, let’s talk about that kiss scene by the sea in episode 12.  Hands down, that is my new all time favorite kiss.  First of all, Lee Min Ki hit a new level of swoon-worthy when he told Jung So Min that their earlier peck was “not a real kiss” and then drew her in and kissed her so deeply I could feel it through the screen.  And I was totally with Jung So Min during that kiss.  Gah, when Lee Min Ki asked if she wanted to keep kissing and she replied “More…I want,” I was fist pumping and cheering and blushing and screaming and…you get the idea.  And then she was the one pulling him in closer and not being willing to stop even when her phone was ringing.  (fans self) But don’t take my word for it…

So what have you been watching this month?  Which shows have been your favorites?  Which ones do you not recommend?  Please share with us in the comments below.