Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
답답해. That’s the first feeling that comes to mind when I think of the K-drama “The Interest of Love.” The entire series is about a group of broken people who can’t articulate how they feel and are in a constant state of unhappiness because of this.
The conceit of “May I Help You?” revolves around a young woman who is working as a funeral director. Dong-ju is smart with a sunny disposition, but no one believes that handling dead people is a suitable career for her. But she has been gifted with a special power to talk to the deceased and grant them their final wish.
There’s a lot going on in this second season of “Alchemy of Souls.” The spineless King from the first season returns with a greed for power; the real Queen battles her soul-shifting nemesis; the Crown Prince — who had previously been smitten with Mu-deok — is attracted to Bu-yeon (and rescues a turtle to please her); and Jin Mu — the half brother of Jinyowon’s leader, Jin Ho-gyeong, enforces a reign of terror on everyone, including his sister.
“If everyone decides to corroborate a lie, then it becomes the truth.” One of the characters in the K-drama “Revenge of Others” says this near the end of the series. And in many ways, it sums up the thesis of this high school revenge series, which is a murder mystery with twists and turns. And though I guessed early on who the murderer was, I didn’t anticipate the why.
Yu-mi is smart and talented. Unfortunately for the overly proud girl, she hails from a working class family. Her parents own a small tailor shop. At a young age, she learned sign language to communicate with her mother, who is unable to speak. Although none of this is shameful, the class-conscious little child does feel shame throughout her life because of her family’s difficult circumstances.
“The Glory” had so much promise — a strong leading lady (Song Hye-kyo), a skilled screenwriter (Kim Eun-sook), the backing of Netflix’s money, and the promise of a scintillating revenge thriller. And yet at the end of the eight-episode first season — stop doing this, Netflix! — I found myself underwhelmed.
“Remarriage & Desires” is a revenge drama that focuses on a woman whose husband is cheating on her. After he asks her for a divorce, he learns that his mistress embezzled money and set him up as the fall guy — and falsely accused him of sexual assault to further incriminate him.
“Alchemy of Souls” revolves around a nobleman who was born a mage, but had his powers taken away from him by his father, who may or may not actually be his father. The secret surrounding his birth runs throughout the series and is a source of contention for Uk, and rightfully so. Everyone deserves to know where they came from and these secrets that supposedly are for the child’s own good rarely are.
Describing “Reborn Rich” is tricky without giving away the ending. Is this K-drama a time-traveling thriller? Or a revenge series with the poor battling the obscenely wealthy? Maybe it’s a tale of repentance? It’s all that and more. Smart and calculated without resorting to tired tropes, “Reborn Rich” offers powerhouse performances by Song Joong-ki (in two roles) and master actor Lee Sung-min (“Misaeng”), who at just 54, convincingly portrays the former’s grandfather.
The premise for “Bad and Crazy” had the potential to be a really good crime procedural, where almost everyone is crooked. It stars two really great actors, Lee Dong-wook and Wi Ha-joon. So what made me stop watching? My latest K-drama notes…