Song Ok Sook

Review: Uncle

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

At its heart, Show wants to be a heartwarming, feel-good sort of story, in a Disney-Hallmark sort of way, but ultimately, it feels that Show was never confident enough, in its own skin, to just do what it most wanted to do.

Instead, Show attempts to spice up its story with feints towards darkness, and even makes an attempt at makjang, in its later stretch. These were not my favorite things, by far.

However, Show’s characters and relationships are just warm enough, that I was persuaded to stick with them until the very end, even when I was most underwhelmed by Show’s uneven tone.

It’s a pity, though, because Show could have been so much better, if it’d just stuck to the heartwarming stuff, because that’s what it does best.

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Flash Review: Fates and Furies

| kfangurl

Have you ever been hearts-in-eyes infatuated with someone – charmed by their good looks, sweet words, and thoughtful chivalry – only to be later disappointed by their glaring flaws, on deeper acquaintance?

Whether it was with a real-life crush or with a celebrity Oppa, I feel like many of us would likely have felt this way at some point in our lives.

That feeling, my friends, is how I felt, watching this drama. For Show’s first half, I was very much smitten, and gobbled up episodes back-to-back, pacing myself only because I sincerely dreaded running out of new episodes.

The bum thing was, Show became a lot less cracky for a good chunk of its second half. On the upside, Show comes back with a reasonably solid finale, so it wasn’t all downhill.

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Flash Review: Father Is Strange

| kfangurl

You know a show’s gotta be Quite Something, if it’s luring me out of the writing-hiatus-cum-drama-rut I’ve found myself ensconced in for the last couple of months.

I literally just finished watching the last episode of Father Is Strange today, and liked it enough to start poking around to craft a review right away.

Considering that 1, Father Is Strange is a 52-episode family drama, and 2, I’ve been feeling pretty uninspired on both the writing and drama fronts, this is a Big Testament to how likable I’ve found this show and its characters.

Even if you’re not usually into family dramas, I really do think you might like this one.

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Flash Review: Five Children [Five Enough]

| kfangurl

When you think about it, family dramas are pretty expensive in drama hour terms, aren’t they? I mean, they cost the equivalent of at least 3 whole prime-time mini-series’ worth of drama hours, after all.

Which is why, even though I really enjoy a good family drama every once in a while – not the makjang-fests where screaming, scheming, kimchi slaps, birth secrets and trucks of doom are regular everyday features, but the kind of family drama that’s warm, comforting, hopeful and tends to make you feel all toasty-warm inside – I don’t often actually commit to one.

This is one of those rare times where I did commit myself to one, and I’m super pleased to report that Five Children is solidly worth the drama hour spendage.

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Flash Review: My Daughter Seo Young

| kfangurl

Y’know, there was a time when I literally wouldn’t have touched this show with a ten-foot pole. Seriously.

Partly, it was because the premise didn’t interest me all that much. Partly, it was also because at 50 episodes, My Daughter Seo Young was a big commitment, and I could think of many much more interesting places to spend those drama hours.

Especially since I wasn’t all that interested in the premise. Mostly, though, it was because I didn’t care too much for Lee Bo Young as an actress (note the use of past tense!), and couldn’t see myself sitting through a long drama where she played the protagonist.

To think that I now have not only finished the entire show (50 whole episodes!), but would recommend it to other drama fans too. Wow, right?

So what made me pick this up again in recent months? Well, I’m gonna hafta say, it’s mostly coz Lee Sang Yoon looks roguishly delish with a shadow of a goatee. 😉

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Review: Gaksital [Bridal Mask]

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

A show that’s really good right away, and – gasp! – actually stays that way throughout its 28 episodes. That’s a rare, rare feat in dramaland, as we know all too well.

Gaksital is a show that manages to take a political context and ground it in the personal experience and emotion of our characters, and then by extension, help us to care about that political context in a way more visceral that I expected.

I found Gaksital intense, gripping, and gut-wrenching in some of the best ways. And I don’t even usually like shows with political contexts.

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