Daniel Wu is so friggin' talented. It's so refreshing to see an actor who actually has a personal background in the martial arts perform his own stunts! It's just that much more realistic.
This season has been a lot slower than previous season, and I'm not sure if I like it. On one hand, character development is more intricate, but on the other hand, some scenes are completely unnecessary. Ser Barristan did not need to die though. It's as if he died just so the writers could keep the Grey Worm and Missandei romance side-plot alive. Ugh.
The second half of the show kinda drags a bit - the way Korean shows add scenes that don't add much to the story, and you can tell the scriptwriter changed things to accommodate the TV ratings - but the first half of the story, and some of the side story lines (e.g. Lee Jaekyung conspiracy, and the detectives) make the show worth finishing to the end.
Got my hopes when I saw on Netflix that they released a six-episode Taiwanese romantic comedy just four hours long because Asian dramas have a tendency to drag out their stories, but whomp whomp, the first season is just build-up for the second season. It's still a cute four-hour binge watch, and it's probably higher quality and more succinct than most Asian dramas of this genre, but man, some of the pacing and tonal switches during the show could still use some work.
Holy crap. Rachel McAdams just continues to impress in this series. That entire sketchy pimp house scene is absolutely intense.
God fuck, Korean dramas are so fucking illogical. I started watching this under recommendation of a couple of friends, so even though I have my doubts about how good this drama is, I decided to give it a try. The first two episodes were OK. They were fast-paced enough that I could look past some of the stuff that I had problems with (e.g. the misplacement of idiotic jokes, some pacing inconsistencies etc.) But by the end of the second episode, I knew that I couldn't sit through all 11 episodes - even though they were only 11 episodes - so I skipped ahead to episode 10.
The first half of episode 10 is actually quite good. I enjoyed catching up what I had missed in the 7 episodes I skipped over, but when the second half of the episode rolled around, I just got more and more frustrated at the drama series. Why are Korean dramas so frustratingly illogical and coincidental?!
Korean dramas have a habit of prolonging even the most intense scenes and story plots, ironically making them less intense with characters staring at a point slightly off-camera. Or they'll blur out knives (!) but not guns (!) in a show about murderers. Or they'll have characters just sitting idly in cars while waiting for important phone calls. Or they'll have V.I.P. victims taking instructions from a stranger over the phone, even after he says "I can't... I can't trust any of you!" (but you're trusting a random stranger on the phone, bruh). Or they'll have a character about to shoot a guy's head off, but oh-so-conveniently, they'll have another guy enter the scene just in time to stop him, but even when that's convenient (and I look past that), when the character falls onto the ground during the attack, and the gun is still near his hand, he doesn't grab the gun to retaliate, he just gets up and allows himself to be punched again.
Stop stretching out these scenes! Stop treating audiences like dimwits and that we can't solve things by ourselves. These scriptwriters need to stop laying out the details of a murder plot line-by-line as if the audiences can't figure it out ourselves, and as if we need a constant reminder of what happened the previous episodes.
Also, I bet if Korean dramas could take this entire series and trimmed out all the camera shots of characters staring emptily slightly off camera, I bet each episode could probably be at least 10 minutes shorter. Thus, the entire drama maybe one or two episodes shorter. Instead, they could use these two episodes and fill it with actual character development and actual story development, instead of filling it with prolonged over-dramatic stares.
Personally, I think Nao and Issei are a better match together. Nao and Uehara are on two different extremes.
Holy shit that ending! Did Alice Cooper lose control or did Chic?!
And you know, I wasn't really feeling the whole FBI side plot at the beginning, but I really liked how they intertwined Veronica's and Archie's storylines together in this episode. The Poppa Poutine murder is gonna be a fun conversation topic next episode.
Also, are the writers finally learning how to wrap up loose ends and not write so episodic?! Because if so, about time!
Sunny is back! And by "back", I mean that he's back in the Badlands and as the proper protagonist again! YAY. The whole civil war thing was getting boring. Also, I would not mind an alliance between Sunny and The Widow. They would make a good team!
Oh god, this show is just blowing me away. From Randall prompting the "Big Three" cheer between his siblings, to his father telling them the cat story, to Kate being an absolute darling at a Hollywood party was just so endearing. BUT THAT PLOT TWIST AT THE END THOUGH. WTF. NOOOOO, WHO ARE YOU EVEN, MIGUEL.
"Are you mad? If you're trying to get rid of me, I'm going to try to make it as hard and as horrible as I can." - Matthew Goode's portrayal of Henry Talbot made him a perfect match for Lady Mary. His smouldering eyes were just so on point during that line delivery!
Violet Crawley honestly has the best one-liners in this show. She's hilarious! Also, Matthew Goode is just so handsome. Totally swoon-worthy.
Ugh, who is this stupid River King. He's ruining everything. It was obvious right from the beginning that Quinn was gonna die eventually - and thank goodness too, because his Southern (?) drawl was awful - but god, the River King really fucked this up by splitting up the M.K. and Sunny storylines. How are they going to reunite now?! Although I guess the River King can't really be blamed, wheelchair Waldo is a traitor too.
M.K.'s voiceover at the end is super cheesy. I hope they remove all voiceover lines from the script next season. And I hope we get to see Tilda, M.K., and Veil form an alliance next season.
The first season is better than the second season by miles. And I think it's because there was a severe lack of adults (AKA a reasonable and responsible human being) in the second season that could keep things humble. Instead, the whole second season is just one hyper-melodramatic pool party with no real consequence to the crisis at the summer house this summer.
The announcement also revealed that season 3 was officially greenlit ahead of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes and production will not begin until “after labor negotiations with those unions have been resolved.”
Per above, I hope this means the writers will actually take their time thinking through a more realistic and less melodramatic storyline for all the characters. I'd like to see Shayla (Minnie Mills) make a reappearance too; she was fantastic in season one.
Yessss, this is the love triangle I've been waiting for! Finally!
There are some pacing issues in the beginning and middle of this show, but Maggie Gyllenhaal puts in such a stunning performance, you'll be willing to ignore it. Lubna Azabal is also incredible in this. Good spy thriller for those interested in learning about the Israel-Palestine conflict.
This is a great adaptation of Taiwan's In Time with You. The two leads - Rika Adachi and Jin Shirasu - have great chemistry together, and they're also talented in acting some of the more nuanced scenes between the two best friend characters, but this Japanese series lacks the magic that Taiwanese director Yu Ningchu brought to the original Taiwanese series that made the show a truly unforgettable small-screen experience.
It's been a while since I've seen the original Taiwanese series, but from what I can recall in comparison, this adaptation drags out the ex-boyfriend subplot far longer than the original show. He takes up 8 episodes of the full 16 episode series, whereas in the Taiwanese version, he is a less prominent character and the focus is shifted to Li Daren instead. By stretching out this subplot, I think it took away some of the sentiment the audience feels for the best friend relationship that's supposed to be in the spotlight instead.
I'm a bit disappointed that this show didn't meet up to my expectations as a ~perfect~ drama adaptation of In Time with You, but I also realize that the original Taiwanese version had just set my expectations far too high. Despite all of this, I would still recommend this Japanese adaptation to anyone who has seen the Taiwanese drama and wants "the feels" again. Jin Shirasu plays the "Li Daren" role to a tee.
The conclusion to the teenage boy murders was so unsatisfying. We spent over three episodes learning about these murders, yet we don't get any scenes of the criminal speaking to Simon at all. No verbal confrontation of why the criminal did what he did, so there's no real validation of Simon's theories. Instead, we jump pretty quickly to its aftermath - the end of Jenny's contract, and the next steps of these characters and their relationships. I guess this is just a new type of crime drama that I'm just not used to.
Really happy for Tony and Elaine! They're probably the most deserving of the four couples to win, because of how much friendly teamwork they put in into their relationship. Darron and Alex come a close second simply because of how much they've grown as father-and-son in the 50 days. All in all, I think all four couples are kind of deserving of their places. I'm also really glad that Natalie and Shameema helped Josh and Felix out too; that was a really kind moment.
Great season. If they have a second season, I hope they extend it to eight episodes; six episodes is a bit cramped in terms of content!
This is easily the best episode of the entire series – all the subplots finally converge to one. The protagonists, the antagonists, the detectives, and the supporting characters all react to one single event where they are all connected to in some way.
Whoa, I admit, I did not expect that ending at all. I always thought it would be Uehara proposing to break up rather than the other way around. Kudos to Nao; she's way smarter than she looks. She's finally starting to find her own two feet. Hope she pairs up with Natsume later in the future, he's a good influence on her.
OK, the relationships in this show are all wrong. They should go like this: Nanase x Natsume, Nao x Issei, Uehara x Saeko, and of course, Micchan x Marina. Daisuke can just die alone lol because he literally has zero facial expressions except for "pleasantly surprised" and "surprised".
Honestly, I feel like Justin is just misunderstood. You can tell from the 'present' scenes of him and his home situation that the stuff at home affects him deeply. That he's been acting stressed the past few episodes because he feels powerless to protect the women in his life (e.g. his mom, and now Jessica). This is probably why he just sat there on the couch at the party, because this has happened before, where other men have harmed the women he loves, but psychologically, I guess, out of habit, he didn't feel like he had the power to stop it. Then, maybe coincidentally, but after he visits the home of a "regular family" - that interaction between Alex's dad and Justin broke my heart; the way Justin's eyes literally warmed up and gave Alex's dad a big smile when he got offered leftovers from their dinner - it sort of becomes the tipping point of when he realizes that he does have power to change things.
I really love the entire character arc of Justin, to be honest. The writers did a fantastic job in crafting his story, and the actor did an equally fantastic job in portraying all of Justin's character nuances.
This was a great episode overall. I love the fact that we got glimpses of what the families are like for a couple of the minor characters: Alex, whose dad is strict/firm because he works as a cop, but loving too, as we can see by Alex describing how both his parents cook (e.g. his mom cooks, his dad grills); Zach, whose mother is the atypical overbearing Asian mother, but he has an adorable relationship with his sister (e.g. eating his sister's veggies for her when their mom isn't looking); Mr. Porter, who we slowly begin to find out that everything, at both work and at home, is taking a toll on him; and of course, we get more of the families behind Clay and Hannah.
10/10 to the writers, director, and actors. Stellar job all around.
Tilda's fight at the end was kind of weird. It was unexpected in a way that it didn't feel characteristic of her to rebel against the Widow. Yes, she's been doubting the Widow's actions for the entire season, but the lines she delivered before the big fight don't really depict her true frustrations or emotions towards the Widow. Again, the show really needs better scriptwriters. Ally Ioannides, Tilda's actress, finally shows off her acting chops though, so at least we get that.
Marton Csokas' acting is driving me nuts. His weird accent is so gimmicky. His accent, more than anything, makes me dislike his character. Also, can't wait for more scenes from Sarah Bolger. She's one of the better actors on the show.
Yara Greyjoy's plan to ally with Dany Targaryen was really predictable. How did she hear about the Queen of Dragons anyway? I don't remember anyone telling her that Dany was in Meereen.
Also, I wonder who Sansa wrote to.
Predictable resurrection, but I appreciate it nevertheless. I'm bummed out about Dorne (episode 1), and I wish Margaery can return to King's Landing soon - the priest guy is an ass - but I'm looking forward to what's gonna happen with Sansa Stark this season. She finally has an exciting story line! Yay!
Well, damn, this episode has everything: 1) Alison and Donnie twerking; 2) An amazing flashback dream sequence featuring Beth that was very well-edited; 3) Delphine returns; 4) Felix fucks Rachel up; 5) Paul being an utter gentleman, "It was never Beth I loved" swoon; 6) Paul dying; 7) Helena returns. Holy effing shit.
Keisha Castle-Hughes is amazing as one of the Sand Snakes. I can't wait to see her in action!
This was OK. It's a pretty fun watch if you're looking for an easy romantic-comedy-ish TV show to watch (or movie, depending which version you're watching). My problems with it was that it was too modern at times. I felt it was absurd that the Bennet family took in Amanda Price so easily even though she first greeted them in a black leather jacket and jean pants, they didn't blink an eye or react to the fact that she looked completely different from the average girl in 19th-century England. In fact, all through the series, the other characters didn't question her at all! Even though she used words normally not used in that era. But even aside from the cultural inconsistency in the series, I also had problems with the last episode of the show. It didn't explain how or why Amanda Price was suddenly able to magically pop back into 21st-century London through a random door, when she wasn't able to open up the other door at Longbourn despite her dozen tries attempting to open it.
Other than the script problems I didn't like, I found Amanda Price (her character or her actress) really annoying. The way she complained all the time even after days in the new world. If she so loved the Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen world, then she should go with it, instead of whining all the time.
The finale bothered me as well. It felt too much of a happy-ending to be realistic. If the writers were able to write Jane and Mr. Bingley back together at the end, then I don't understand why they would dump Elizabeth Bennet to modern independency to stay consistent to the original story. I think Amanda Price ending up with Mr. Darcy at the end contradicted itself by not staying consistent with that theme.
Overall, I think the show is good for a fun easy romcom watch, especially for a modern fantasy take on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, but it could have used a more consistent script. I understand the events of the book were important to portray for the series, but still, some things needed to be explained to make it more realistic.
