So full disclosure, I didn’t hard drop this show. I just.. wandered off from it, after 4 episodes, and never managed to go back to it.
In the interest of closure, I’m writing a Dropped post, and will describe my experience with the show in this post, just to give you an idea of my impressions of its various working parts. I suppose you could think of this as a First Impressions sort of post; that works too.
If you have more experience with this show than I do (ie, you watched the whole thing, or at least, more than the 4 episodes that I watched), please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments, to help everyone else decide if it’s a show worth checking out?
In a drama landscape where characters have been traditionally subscribed to a patriarchal way of thinking, and where women – especially women in sageuks – have often been relegated to being pushed around by men who believe they know better, Rookie Historian stands out for daring not only to present a different perspective, but for presenting it as the better way.
Say, what?
Make no mistake, Rookie Historian is not a perfect drama by any means.
I’ll talk more about why that was the case for me, shortly, but really, for its bold stand alone, I feel like Show deserves some acknowledgement and praise.
One of the struggles that I keep mentioning to my friend Timescout, is finding the just-so, perfect balance between just watching what I want to watch, and liking what I like, and paying attention to positive buzz on – and therefore trying out – dramas that I wouldn’t normally have on my radar.
Sometimes, that curiosity serves me well, and I end up finding gems that I would’ve otherwise missed (OMG I freaking loved Money Flower, and My Mister, and neither of those were really on my radar to begin with).
Other times, though, I’ve lived to regret my curiosity, when the show in question just doesn’t grab me the way it’s grabbed other people.
So here’s the thing. Originally, I was going to give Your House Helper a pass, since the premise didn’t appeal to me that much.
But then I saw a fair number of comments floating around, saying that this one is surprisingly good, so I felt almost compelled to give it a chance.
Long story short, I had to work to get into this one, and while it had its moments in the middle stretch, by the time I got to the end, I have to confess, I felt a tad underwhelmed.
Not underwhelmed enough to give this show a terrible review, but underwhelmed enough to feel like I could’ve maybe spent those drama hours better elsewhere.
I don’t know if I’ll ever find that elusive balance between having the gumption to fly solo, and wanting to follow positive buzz so as not to miss any of the good stuff, but I’m certainly gonna keep trying. In the meantime, let’s dive a little bit into my experience with this show, shall we?
Disclaimer: Like I said, lots of folks liked this one, so your experience might vary from mine.
Sometimes, when you just need to get away from Real Life for a while but don’t have the mental bandwidth to commit to a full drama, a well-done little web series or mini drama can totally hit the spot.
I’m happy to report that Go Ho’s Starry Night is a great little bite-sized option that not only comes in short little 20-minute servings, but, given a little bit of time to settle, also possesses a pretty solid cracky flavor that had me clicking on the next episode, and the next – and then the next.
Have you ever had someone take you by the hand, and seem completely confident of leading you to your destination?
You feel safe and assured in following said person’s lead, and all your curious questions seem to be met with solid answers, to boot. Everything feels like it’s going Really Great.
…And then you know the feeling, when that all starts to unravel?
Like, the answers you get for your questions slowly but surely start showing cracks, and then you realize that maybe said person doesn’t know the way so well after all, especially once you notice that you’ve sorta walked in a circle, several times?
Sigh. That pretty much sums up my experience with Mirror of the Witch, you guys.
