Tag Line: Criminals catching Criminals for the Police
Thoughts: Not surprisingly, this OCN production is a crime thriller with the same dark gritty setting that we saw in Reset and Cheo Young. The story focuses on the inability of the police force to capture violent crime offenders because they are understaffed and under-trained. After a high ranking officer's son, also a police officer, is murdered while chasing a criminal, he seeks out the help of a former officer to put a team together capable of catching the worst-of-the-worst criminals. The result is a task force assembled from prisoners: the gangster, the contract killer, and the serial killer. The first episode is action packed and the task force is veritable pressure cooker of personalities just waiting to explode. This isn't a genre that I personally like but I can attest to its watchability and wow factor. It's not a thumbs-up but I'll watch to see where it all goes.
Tag Line: When Prince Charming looks for a new princess... Cinderella fights back.
Thoughts: This is the story after the happy ending. An average man marries an average woman that can help him achieve his goals. But as soon as he achieves success, he dumps her for a hotter woman. The average woman gets an extreme makeover to become hotter than the hotter woman that stole her husband and seeks revenge. That is the tale of Birth of a Beauty. It's not terribly original and feels like a repackaging of Cunning Single Lady, which also starred Joo Sang Wook, with a little stolen plot from the film 200 Pound Beauty. It stretches the viewers ability to suspend reality with an extreme makeover involving head-to-toe plastic surgery and 100+ pounds of weight loss in just 49 days. But I'm willing to roll with it if it can sell me on the relationships. There have been some very real and touching moments in the first two episodes and my heart went out to the character Sa Geum Ran. I want her to win. I just hope the lesson learned, when it's all said and done, is that physical beauty is less important than one's character. And, that love shouldn't come with the condition of having super model good looks.
Tag Line: Ex-Cons Start a Bakery
Thoughts: The first two episodes in this k-drama have been somewhat underwhelming. It starts with the arrival of the newest inmate on the block and then we enter the flashback. At the end of episode two, we are still working our way through the flashback. There have even been flashbacks in the flashbacks. I'm ready to get back to the present but I suspect that we'll be subjected to one more episode set a year prior to the prison scene. There's nothing super compelling about the story thus far. They are all women that have been manipulated and set-up to take the fall for crimes they didn't commit (or intend to commit). They all have a mysterious connection to one another as if they were destined to meet in prison and then start a bakery together. The writer and director will have to work some overtime to throw in an unexpected twist to a plot that, at this point, seems very predictable. I'll keep watching for Han Ji Hye and Ha Yeon Soo. But my expectations are fairly low at this point.
Tag Line: Hunger Games meets Truman Show meets Survivor
Thoughts: I'll preface my comments by admitting that I have never read the manga or seen the Japanese television show off which this k-drama is based. As a stand alone production, I have really enjoyed the first two episodes. This k-drama follows the reality program "Liar Game" as contestants are forced to lie, cheat, and/or steal in order to win a large sum of money. Shin Sung Rok is devilishly delightful as the MC of the Liar Game and Lee Sang Yoon has shed his good boy image from Angel Eyes to become an ex-con. The female character is a rather bland role and any actress with a pretty face can easily pull it off - she's not what sets the show apart. It's the creepy Hunger Games vibe of man vs. man set under the lense of reality television that makes this series compelling. The fall line-up of k-dramas has been rather disappointing thus far so I'm really excited to watch this one progress.
Tag Line: Dear Abby... Sincerely, Frustrated K-Addict
Thoughts: This is a strange series that doesn't quite fit the mold of a k-drama. The working premise of the drama is that mysterious DJ hosts a pirate radio program to help others with their relationship issues while playing a few tunes. The bulk of the episodes are spent reenacting the content of his audience's e-mails asking him for advice. From one episode to the next, the same troupe of actors are assigned new characters with new stories to tell with the DJ being the only constant element to connect it all together. It ends up feeling more like a collection of short stories than a cohesive piece built around the life of the DJ. He is the only true thread in this this k-drama but the show has yet to provide any details that would make the audience care about him and his radio show. It just needs something...more. The actors are competent but the writing and direction could use some tweaking. This one is a bust for me.
Tag Line: Joo Won's Beethoven's Virus
Thoughts: This South Korean adaptation of the Japanese-Manga-Live-Action-Drama Nodame Cantabile looks and feels very much like its predecessor. There were no striking differences coming out out of the first episode. Joo Won is believable as an aspiring conductor with a cold personality. There's no one better when it comes to sneering. But I struggled with Shim Eun Kyung in the Nodame role. Her performance often felt forced and there was no immediate chemistry with Joo Won. Nodame Cantabile is perfection so this cast has big shoes to fill. It will be interesting to see if the writer/director continue to follow the path of the original or take a departure to create something new and different. I'm not ready to condemn the series. Let's wait and see more.
Tag Line: This is my life. =(
Thoughts: Siwan front-lines this k-drama about a failed-to-go-pro baduk player, Jang Geu Rae, that turns in his game board to work a 9 to 5 office job. The first episode starts in the present with him in an exciting chase scene in a foreign country before it rewinds back to the year 2012. We then see our hero wearing his deceased father's too-big-suit as he shows up for his first day of work as an intern. The office setting is dreary and there is a sense of foreboding, like it could all go wrong at any moment. I'm intrigued! Siwan is an engaging presence on screen and really sells himself as an inexperienced office worker just trying survive day to day. It's easy to empathize with his plight. Throw in the parallels of office life with playing a game of baduk and it should be make for an entertaining series.
Tag Line: Green Acres is the Place for Me
Thoughts: What happens when a rock band takes up farming? That's the question that Modern Farmer hopes to answer. ExSo was once a promising rock band with a bright future. But several years later, the group has disbanded and only its lead singer, Lee Min Ki (Lee Hong Ki), has held on to the hope of getting the band back together. When Lee Min Ki inherits a plot of land from his deceased grandmother, he decides to take up farming cabbages in order to finance their come back album. He recruits his former band mates to help him and the quartet sets off for a wild adventure in rural South Korea. Park Min Woo, Lee Si Un, and Kwak Dong Yeon round out cast. The first couple episodes have largely consisted of Lee Hong Ki yelling at people. Still, this role is a much better fit than his previous role in Bride of the Century. I'm not totally sold on this premise but there have been some legitimately funny moments and I can appreciate the lighthearted comedy. It's not quite worthy of a thumbs up at this point.
Tag Line: Holy-Age-Reversing-Meteor-Backman!
Thoughts: Any k-drama that involves aging an actor by 30+ years with wigs and make-up is going to get a thumbs-up from me. Choi Go Bong (Shin Ha Kyun) is the chairman of a large corporation. He's spent his entire life building up his company and his fortunes. But now that he is approaching the end of his life, he's found himself surrounded by people that only have dollar signs in their eyes as they wait for his death. His only son has no interest in running the company, either. By a twist of fate, he swallows a piece of meteorite and his age is mysteriously reversed by more than 30 years. The first few episodes have been fun and the cast is entertaining. Jang Na Ra co-stars as the potential romantic interest for both the elder and younger Choi men and I am really enjoying her in this role. This k-drama is perfectly timed for the holidays as we root for Choi Scrooge to learn the value of relationships and atone for sins of the past.
Tag Line: Not an adaptation of the novel.
Thoughts: I'm going to put this one right out there. If you name your production Pride & Prejudice, your production should have some relationship with the novel that bears the same title. I was kind of excited thinking that a clever writer had taken Jane Austen's classic novel and k-dramafied it. Sadly, that is not the case. Choi Jin Hyuk headlines this legal drama about a couple reunited as prosecutors after five years apart. It was an okay start but somewhat bland and has failed to catch my attention at 1 1/2 episodes. I'll keep watching for the obvious reasons (Choi Jin Hyuk & Lee Tae Hwan) and hope that it gets better along the way.
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