Good Casting Episodes 5&6

@dramajib​ jumping in early:

In the words of Drake, “I mean, where the $!&@ should I really even start?”

It says a lot that we’re into week three of this drama and I’m still heavily utilizing the fast forward button. I’m pretty sure there’s no way I would get through it if I had to actually watch the whole thing in real time, it just d-r-a-g-s so much sometimes! And then by the time we get to the point, I find I don’t even really care anymore. 

Case in point - I was quite enjoying what Director(?) Tak brought to the table, in terms of his weird power games with Chan Mi, and the way he switched so quickly from being a subservient dog with the uncle-director dude, to being a flat out thug around the research director.

But by the time we got to the (frankly quite upsetting) pesticide scene, I wasn’t even really concerned that a major player was suddenly being written off the table entirely. I suppose subconsciously I know that he’ll resurface, but... still. 

I don’t know what changed, but I found myself, in this week’s episodes, more interested in the fluffier parts of the drama which I’d previously decided I could do entirely without. I really enjoyed watching CEO Lee Sang Yeob (will get to remembering his actual character name soon, i promise) pine for his lost love - although, and @triangularlily​ is not going to be pleased with this confession, I don’t particularly care very much about Chan Mi. I’m suddenly so invested in this relationship of yore, but only in his side of it. I am curious about what happened, because that whole flashback was super interesting, but I don’t care about her feelings and wellbeing, just his. 

I think a lot of that, honestly, just has to do with her gait. Why that would throw me off so much I don’t know, but the way her shoulders don’t move when she strides purposefully around, while very inline with how I’d expect a deadly superspy to walk when they’re determined and focused, is also very very distracting.

I started this drama confident that I wouldn’t care about what was going on in the company, and be invested almost solely in the NIS aspect of things, of catching Michael and of clearing up what happened to Ye Eun’s baby daddy. This week’s episodes have flipped my focus completely around. While I do think it’s interesting that the doe faced driver-lackey boy in the team is the only one who’s seen that photograph of Ye Eun with the dead agent, I found the comment in the screenshot above even more interesting. It’s such a fascinating comparison to when our CEO says to Chan Mi that he’s all about giving people second chances. Right now, I kind of want to know how his dad died and how this evil uncle dude got the power, more than I want to know who Michael is.

(also bratty superstar Woo Won is growing on me even though I fast forward every childish temper tantrum aka 95% of his scenes. I must be out of it this week, it’s the only explanation for my completely illogical response to these episodes.)

Good Casting 3 & 4

@triangularlily​ checking in super late because she forgot what day of the week it was.

It seems like skipping is the theme for all three of us this with this show. For me, I am seeing that there are parts/scenes I really like and others that I really do not. And those scenes that I really do not like I seem to be skipping through. There isn’t really a middle ground. For instance I loved the end of episode 4 when they show up to save Ye Eun and do that walk in and then beat everyone up, however I had to skip over the part where they were driving there because I don’t understand how causing the driver to drive recklessly will help them get there faster. I think it was supposed to be a joke but it comes off not funny at all to me when the kidnapping of Ye Eun is supposed to be an intense moment.

I think that is the biggest downfall of this show for me so far is that some of the ridiculous plot points and jokes take away from the overall story and tone. And you might ask me, “well aren’t you watching a kdrama?” Yes, and that is a fair question and I think it just comes down to the timing. It’s not that you can’t have a ridiculous plot or jokes, just figure out better timing. I know plenty of other movies/shows that manage to be very funny/ridiculous and yet intense/sad at the same time.

This is why I rather agree with @rocknghorss​ and @dramajib​ that by skipping it makes the show a bit more enjoyable because I can skip over some of these scenes/jokes and still somewhat keep my suspension of disbelief.

Good Casting 3&4... It’s Good!

Title of the post aside lol, is it bad that when I (Marie here) liberally pressed the 10sec skip button, I enjoyed the drama a whole lot more???

Usually, this would be a sign that it’s time for me to drop a show, but in the case of Good Casting I don’t want to drop it!  I just want to narrow down the currently too numerous to count storylines to three (3).  They are, in no particular order:

On the meta side of things, i found it really frustrating, the way the show hammered home that women are excluded from spaces and/or criticized based up their willingness/ability to adhere to certain beauty standards.  I also skipped through almost all of the scenes where Mi Soon is relegated to the “unbeautiful” caretaker role.  But then I started thinking about it a little more.  Because @dramajib​ is right.  Mi Soon absolutely gets shit done.  She’s doing the most even with her dumbass husband, she’s going to (probably) take her daughter’s struggles in a stride once they’re revealed.  On top of that, she’s basically leading the team from behind. 

So is the show really trying to point out that conventional measures of beauty, actually really miss the mark?  And maybe all of the ways that the world devalues women who don’t fit the mold are actually bullshit and should be acknowledged as such...

I don’t know.  It might not be that deep, in reality, because this is a show where we have a first-loves-meet-again-but-one-of-them-has-amnesia (maybe??) as a major plot point lol.

Good Casting Episodes 3&4

@dramajib​ checking in first this week

Confession: I totally fast forwarded a fair portion of this week’s episodes. Mostly during the hijinks-y bits, because the humour still isn’t growing on me (the action scenes are still a lot of fun though). 

I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s never funny, because it does work from time to time - for some reason, Mi Soon’s interaction last week with the security guard cracked me up, although I’m hard pressed to point out exactly what was so funny about that compared to, say, her getting stuck in the vents this week.

Speaking of Mi Soon - the whole “she can’t get an in anywhere except as a cleaner/cook/old maid figure because she’s not young and sexy” got old really quick. The only thing I can say in favour of that schtick is that it’s kind of realistic, in that most spies probably aren’t Charlie’s Angels or James Bond levels of sexy glamour; they’re probably most successful when they’re nondescript and unmemorable.

But unmemorable doesn’t make for good TV, and I get that’s where we’re going with this, but when it’s juxtaposed with her louse of a husband, and the inevitable self-blame when she realizes she hasn’t seen the problems her teenage daughter is going through right under her nose, it just serves to piss me off. Especially when she’s probably the best at her job of all three of them.

Hear me out - Chan Mi is super competent, but she’s so impetuous and blinded by her emotions (although I do love the dichotomy of her being a sweet frilly doll loving girl while simultaneously kicking all the butts), and Ye Eun appears to be super level-headed and smart, but she’s really just not cut out (or ready yet) for field work, and it shows. Mi Soon though, gets in there and gets the job done, while simultaneously reining in Chan Mi’s impulsiveness and trying to teach Ye Eun as much as she can along the way.

Her character serves very much in the role of comedic relief, so I anticipate that I’ll continue to fast forward through many of her scenes, but somehow, in spite of that, I’m currently still 100% team Mi Soon. Go figure.

Good Casting 1 & 2

SMK’s Marie Has Some Thoughts About This One

A bunch of women thrown together for a top secret, desperately important mission.  The only issues are: only one of them actually seems to care and all three were coerced into actually doing it.

That was a pretty big record scratch moment for me.  It didn’t help that I came into the show totally wrong about the premise (like REALLY wrong).  I was expecting a ragtag group of women to find themselves and forge long lasting friendships with one another, type of story.  So far, that’s not the vibe at all.  Which is ok.  It’s kind of refreshing.  

Instead of sisterhood, we have three women in different life circumstances who aren’t bonding so much as they’re putting their heads down and getting the job done.  At least in my experience in the workplace, that’s been the norm, rather than the bosom buddies, you’re my sister from another mother kind of friendship that I see portrayed on tv more often, if women are given time to interact with each other meaningfully at all, that is.  And I like seeing that reality reflected on my screen.  What’s more, they screw things up.  They aren’t super spies, they’re normal humans in abnormal situations, being stretched a little past what they were hired and trained to do.  

Of course, there are hijinks, with the story being about spies, there must be hijinks.  Obviously, there’s tragic backstory that links all the main characters together.  What kind of self-respecting drama worth the name would skip that bit?  But for me at least, this boils down to a workplace and human drama, which is the kind of story I didn’t know I wanted but I’m glad I’m watching.  

Next up: @triangularlily or @dramajib who did indeed know what the drama was about when they started it lol.  

Nokdu Flower 1 & 2

We’re back!!! And we’ve jumped straight into the good stuff.

A note from dramajib: I’ve been travelling, so this post has been dwelling in our drafts for a couple of weeks now. But I’m back and getting ready to catch up, so stay tuned!

My Girlfriend is a Gumiho - Episodes 7 - 10

@rocknghorss: I finished episodes 7 & 8 and I’m full of happy shipper feels. 

And some sad ones about Noona.

@triangularlily: Yes same here. And annoyance at the aunt and grandpa

rocknghorss: Yeah! Listening to some rando girl you’ve never met before rather than talking to your son’s friends (whom I’m pretty sure both Grandpa and Aunt have met) is a stupid move

@dramajib: I’m not really mad at Aunt, but Grandpa should know better. He met Mi Ho and liked her, why is he trusting third hand gossip over his own instincts?

rocknghorss: Right! It would’ve made more sense if they’d made Grandpa wary of Miho instead of being essentially her cheerleader. Also, Grandpa is all about pushing his kids into relationships, which I find amusing. I feel like in kdrama where there is a grandpa, he’s either sort of bumbling or standoffish, and this guy is neither.

dramajib: True. I sort of really like him. He better not die or fall really sick or anything

My Girlfriend is a Gumiho - Episodes 5 & 6

We didn’t take a three month break between episodes, we just got too busy to post! So here’s a delayed post about episodes 5 & 6, more to come soon!

@dramajib: I’m done with 5 & 6, although if I’m honest I may have fast forwarded a bit

@rocknghorss: Nooo lol

rocknghorss: You know, something I like about Woong in these two eps is that he’s both totally upfront about not liking her for real, and etc, and yet he keeps giving off all these mixed signals. He’s the stereotypical little boy pulling at the hair of a girl he likes. 

It’s not “good” behavior by any stretch, but at least he’s not being two-faced like hip-hop dude

My Girlfriend is a Gumiho

Episodes 3 & 4

Dae Woong the Man-Child

@rocknghorss: Daewoong is such a frustrating man-child!!! I get that Miho is.. screwing up his game with noona but why can't he treat her more nicely?

@dramajib: I think he's being plenty nice as it is actually. Like he could just ditch her entirely, but he's put up with her (until now anyway). Mostly out of fear, but still. It's not just noona she's screwing up for him, basically since he met her he's got no money, can't go home for (misguided) fear of her eating his family, he's discovered that most of his friends were fake friends..

rocknghorss: I know :( I'm just biased...

dramajib: Ahahahaha aren't we all. 

My Girlfriend is a Gumiho

Episodes 1 & 2

Ageing

@dramajib: This fashion is slightly killing me already

@rocknghorss:  HIS HAIR!!! Also at one point I swear Daewoong is wearing pants with reinforced knees....

dramajib:  hahahaha I have not seen those pants yet. But also, how YOUNG does he look

rocknghorss:  He’s definitely got the baby face :D I’d forgotten til I started watching that Seunggi was in this and Hwayugi so it’s kind of blowing my mind how much younger he looks here

dramajib: Right?! Like I wouldn't say he looks grown up or anything in Hwayugi but then you compare it to this and you're like oh shit, no, boy def grew up

@triangularlily: It takes me back cause around when this came out was when I first started watching kdramas. Like also the phones lol

We’re Back!

Hi everyone!!

We here at SMK are putting our schedules in order and getting ready to watch a drama together again. We’re not sure if you’ve noticed, but we’re pretty bad at picking dramas to watch together, so we’d like to ask you all to help us out!

Let us know what you’d like us to watch and recap! It can be anything, as long as it’s not too long (Marie suggested Queen Seon Deok not realizing it was 62 episodes long!!) and not too hard for us to find. Give us your best recs!

Thanks guys :)

Hwayugi 19-20

Speeding our way through the penultimate episode

@dramajib: I'm about to check for subs again but wanted to posit an alternate theory - amnesia! Can't believe none of us considered that as a possibility

dramajib: Hah omg what is this show.

(a couple of minutes later)

dramajib: Omg I cannot with this show. Why are we not watching this together in real time ugh

@rocknghorss: Lol. So we can share our misery?

dramajib: For real. I bet you'll know which moment it was once it happens too

rocknghorss: (a bit later) Is PK dying????  

rocknghorss: Oh he’s not.  Geez.

@triangularlily​: Ekta I think I did mention amnesia once before but I can't remember the context I think I was talking about possible endings but maybe I dreamed it

triangularlily: Did u finish episode 19?

triangularlily: I guess Ekta might have gone to bed tho

rocknghorss: Yup I fast forwarded it through it and was glad I did

triangularlily: Lol I skipped thru it too

rocknghorss: 👍

rocknghorss: I want to start ep 20 but the subs are only at 80%

rocknghorss: And I’m super pissed that Seon Mi basically just sacrificed herself and didn’t even get to fight the dragon herself!!!

triangularlily: Yeah it was just a mess really I felt like it was a fail on all sides like I don't understand the motivation behind the deities.  Like why can't they just let Son Oh Gong deal with it because in the end he did, not Seon Mi.  If you’re gonna act like there isn't an alternative then don't make the alternative actually happen!

rocknghorss: Exactly!

triangularlily: And since she hasn't really completed her summons what will happen now?!?

rocknghorss: Oh! Like will the dragon come back??

triangularlily: Oh idk maybe that too. I meant like will she just endlessly reincarnate as Sam Jang or something?

triangularlily: Since the whole point of her being Sam Jang was to stop the dragon and then she would be normal right? And dead but u know. But she didn't defeat it

triangularlily: Also I couldn't take the dragon fight seriously at all cause the cgi was so bad

triangularlily: 😐😧 <--- me watching the dragon

rocknghorss: LOL

rocknghorss: they spent all the money on eps 1-18

triangularlily: LOL probably

rocknghorss:  It did look like something from a 90s movie

triangularlily: They don't have to spend a lot of money they could have made it a shadow or cloud or something with a vague dragon shape that probably would have looked better and be scarier

rocknghorss: :D I think they gave up on making anyone or anything scary around the halfway mark...  also I think I may have to actually go back and watch all of ep19 cause I just realized I don’t know what happened to Ah Sa Nyeo

triangularlily: I don't think they showed it? Last they showed she was with ice general in like a field and she was just looking up at the sky I think? Before Son Oh Gong defeated the dragon?

triangularlily: But I was skipping so I might have missed it

rocknghorss: Yeah that’s the last bit I remember too

rocknghorss: Maybe they’ll address it in ep20

Hwayugi 17-18 (II)

@dramajib I don't see how they're going to wrap all this up without it feeling anticlimactic honestly. Like the last we hear is that Oh Gong, by defeating the Geumganggo on his own, has created an opportunity to change fate. Which fits in with the Son Oh Gong of legends who is constantly defying the gods and the restrictions they try to impose on him

dramajib: But given how Sam Jang's duty/task has been this huge overarching driving force, I just don't see how they'll build it up enough in two episodes and knock it down without it just being another "haha jk easy fix" thing

dramajib: Another thing I wanna talk about is Ma Wang and also Bu Ja so holla when you guys are up

@rocknghorss​:  About Ma Wang... I’m feeling sympathetic toward him again

@triangularlily: Can I just say I wasn't paying too much attention to the episode and I was about ready to quit when I thought they had actually killed the secretary dog whose name I'm forgetting

triangularlily I was like THIS IS THE LAST STRAW

rocknghorss Lolol

Hwayugi 17-18 (I)

Magical Girls

@triangularlily​: I'm trying to watch ep 17.  Ugh I'm getting more and more frustrated with this show

@rocknghorss​: 😢

triangularlily: Also I was gonna watch 18 but the subs aren't done -_-

rocknghorss: Are even the subbers getting frustrated?

triangularlily: Maybe lol

@dramajib: I still can't put my finger on why this show isn't winning for me. I love many of the characters. It's visually stunning (most of the time, shooting stars aside). The campiness is just the right amount for my tastes. The story isn't super predictable

dramajib: So why do I get so frustrated with it all the time??

rocknghorss: I think I'm frustrated because all the pieces are there, but the cracktastic flavor of their earlier dramas is just missing

dramajib: Could it be because we're watching it as it airs rather than bingeing the whole thing?

rocknghorss: Maybe? It is easier to get caught up in the hype when you watch something all in one go round

triangularlily: No I watched Master’s Sun as it came out and it wasn't like this

dramajib: Maybe it's a SMK curse. Maybe we should watch something non-fantasy that none of us are excited about next so we don't get disappointed lol

triangularlily: LOL yeah....

rocknghorss: that's just asking for trouble :D

rocknghorss: Question! Did either of you ever watch/read Inuyasha?

triangularlily: No

triangularlily: I know of it tho

rocknghorss:  Ah. Well, it's extremely similar to Hwayugi.  The main protag is a girl who develops magical powers due to a demon-boy/ she was always going to have magical powers anyway.  They have adventures, she's meant to save people/the world etc etc

triangularlily: Oooh interesting

rocknghorss: Yep. The most interesting bit is that the girl makes the demon obey her with a necklace.

rocknghorss: B/c otherwise he'd kill her... and of course eventually they fall in love

dramajib: Oh! That's a bit disappointing to me actually - I'd thought this was an innovative take on the Journey to the West story, but it seems like they've just meshed the two together then, by taking some characters and back stories of one and combining with the other

dramajib: Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it's just not as new as I'd thought I guess

rocknghorss: Agreed.  It's another entry into the "Magical Girl" trope, which is, like you said, not a bad thing.  I actually really loved Inuyasha back when it was airing, but the anime had the advantage of literally hundreds of episodes to explore its mythology, as well as a baddie who was actually frightening (while we have BuJa/Ah Sa Nyeo and all I can think about when I see her is "Will BuJa ever come back?")

triangularlily: Yeah when will Bu Ja come back

rocknghorss: :/

rocknghorss: I feel like she's going to come back in the very last episode and then die.

Hwayugi 16

Sex for real this time? & Further Frustrations

@dramajib: !!!! Just saw some caps on Tumblr and omg do they have sex for real this time?!?!

dramajib: I don't want to watch that!!

@triangularlily: I saw both episodes (tbh I skipped some parts) but I didn't see that

@rocknghorss: no they don't…

rocknghorss: i actually really wanted to talk about Oh Gong with you guys to get your thoughts.

dramajib: In what sense?

rocknghorss: Soo a few eps back when they were dealing with that demon that was killing children and stealing their souls, they didn't show it but Oh Gong punched that demon in the face.  This is somewhat in line with his character (I guess?), but it rubbed me the wrong way considering that the other (male-appearing) demons he's helped defeat he didn't beat them up.

rocknghorss: In similar fashion, he loses his temper when Bu Ja takes over SamJang's body and tries to choke her!  It seems like a pattern of violence that is made excusable because Oh Gong is technically not human

rocknghorss: Or am I reading too much into it?

triangularlily: Hmmm yeah I think for the two cases you mentioned like I thought it was maybe more cause Sam Jang was threatened by those two which is why he was more violent?? But like idk I don't feel good about it either

triangularlily: Like I just still don't care about the main two

triangularlily: I was only invested in Bu Ja and Ma Wang but Bu Ja isn't around and I'm annoyed by Ma Wang’s story rn idk

dramajib: The violence thing didn't jump out at me. If anything it seems a bit like they're trying to make a point that Oh Gong doesn't differentiate between men and women and demons, but will protect his own at all costs.

dramajib: But now that you've mentioned it, it is interesting that he hasn't gotten that violent with men. Except maybe the henchmen who threw Bu Ja off the roof

rocknghorss: Exactly!