The Wed-Thurs Battle: Joseon Gunman, Fated to Love You, & It’s Okay It’s Love

I’ve been in a bit of a drama slump lately. So it was terrific that at one stage there were not one, not two, but THREE current dramas I was eager to watch. Yes, folks, the drama gods are smiling kindly upon our Wed-Thurs slot!

If you know me, you might try to guess which one I like the most. And you would probably be wrong. Because I was totally wrong in my own predictions! You might expect me, famously grumpy and unimpressed by fluff, to be most on board with the serious fare, right? At least, that’s what I expected. So wrong!

Of the three, when they started airing concurrently a couple of weeks ago, the first one I would rush to watch would be… Fated to Love You (MBC). The fluffy, derivative one. I know right! So unexpected. It’s Okay, It’s Love (SBS) is coming in a close second for me. Joseon Gunman (KBS) is falling behind. What? How did that happen?

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Time Between Dog and Wolf (MBC, 2007) – Mid-point check in. And check out.

So. If it takes me four months to watch three episodes of a show, I reckon it’s safe to say that I’m just not interested and it’s time to give up?

*delete*

I really feel bad about bailing on TBDAW, I really do. I’m not quite sure why I simply can’t go through with it, but it appears that I really can’t. There’s nothing glaringly wrong with the show. In fact, I think it’s quite a decent specimen of its genre (thriller). I keep thinking, “Oh, I must continue watching that.” Then when I hit play, before long I feel bored. I can’t even invoke “Life is too short for bad dramas”, because TBDAW is not a bad drama. What gives?

(1) I don’t love Jun Ki sufficiently. (Sorry, Jun Ki, sorry.) (2) I can’t stand Nam Sang Mi. I find her incredibly boring as an actress and I have zero interest in her character. (3) I’m not nearly as irritated by Jung Sung Mo, I think he’s quite cute, but I’m not that interested in his character either. (4) It’s a show that take itself rather seriously, so if I’m not that invested in the story, it rather fizzles out. (5) The plot is somewhat predictable.

None of these reasons warrants hitting the “eject” button. Perhaps it’s the cumulative effect? Added to the fact that my life is crazy busy and I only have time to watch a couple of episodes of anything per week. Whatever the reason, it is with a sad face but a light heart that I clear my hard disk of TBDAW.

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Time Between Dog and Wolf (MBC, 2007) – Initial Reflections

I’m on Episode Four of Time Between Dog and Wolf (from here on dubbed “TBDAW”). It has taken me three tries – three tries! – to get past the first episode. Thing is, there are two things about k-dramas I can’t stand – (1) stories about pre-pubescent children falling in love (squick), and (2) exotic location shoots that make no sense, i.e., that drive the plot rather than plot driving location (e.g., why all that hanging around temples? Why speedboats on the Chao Phraya River? Apart from, they’re there, they’re nice to look at, and we can do it?). And both of these things we had in SPADES in Episode One of TBDAW.

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