Welcome to my Saturday blog post where I give thoughts on dramas I’m watching, whether at the beginning, middle, or end. Whatever I want, because I’m petty that way.
This week I recapped episode 2 of timey-wimey-thriller BL(?) 4Minutes. This episode has more murders and less cats.
Second, I started recapping another show with episodes 1-2 of the-plot-is-in-the-title Thai BL Kidnap. The production is clunky and the material not handled seriously and for me, these go in the “pro” column.
Also, between Kidnap and Jack and Joker, I’m getting two sad, unloved rich guys as leads each week. I am truly blessed.
What did I watch this week? Just one review this week, a final review of:
Cinderella at 2 AM – 새벽 2시의 신데렐라 – 2024
Recently aired Korean rom-com with 10 episodes.
A woman discovers her younger-subordinate-boyfriend is heir to the company and takes his mother’s money in return for dumping him. This is how the story starts.
Here’s a link to my initial review.
The sad(ish) reality, if you consume a lot of stories, is that you will encounter a lot of “medium”. Yes, some stories will give you a transcendent experience like you’ve connected with the universe in a new and amazing way. Yes, some stories will lead you to call your poor brother at 8am from the bus on the way to work with an angry rant (not that I’ve ever done that).
But the majority of stories will leave you firmly in the middle. It wasn’t terrible. It wasn’t great. Some of it was enjoyable. Other parts were annoying. Some people will like it more than you. Some won’t. It’s very… medium.
This is one of those.
What was on the “wasn’t great” end of the spectrum
I’ll start with what did cause a small amount of angry ranting: the co-workers. I was concerned but optimistic about them in my initial review, but unfortunately, they only got worse. They weren’t smart. They were mean. The leads were endlessly nice to them. They were supposed to be funny. For me, they weren’t.
And in a show that had a strong anti-bullying message at times, it was jarring that they were supposed to be funny when they were being bullies.
Outside of them, there wasn’t anything that I strongly disliked. It was more about missed opportunities than things that were “bad”.
For one thing, it’s a noona romance (she is older and he is younger) but that never mattered. It barely even came up. But it could have been used as another wedge to drive between them by the mom and others who might disapprove.
As fitting of a prince charming type, he pursued her semi-relentlessly. This will bother others more than me. He also had a strong jealous streak, but I didn’t mind that either as it even became a source of comedy. I was more disappointed that they didn’t do more with the set-up. His method of pursuing her was pretty straightforward most of the time and in the middle, it became a little boring.
But there was plenty I liked too
A nice height difference. A deep voice. A strong woman. These are good starts.
I liked how it explored the Cinderella story. Maybe being in a relationship with a prince when you’re not one isn’t a wonderful, magical thing. Maybe coming from a poor, abusive family can’t be overcome by singing with some animals. The show explored the messiness and confusion of her feelings very well.
I liked the second male lead and how he fit into the story.
I liked the comedy when it was about taking the wind out of the character’s sails.
The second couple was adorable. Our prince’s older brother is living the life of a bachelor despite being married, drinking a lot in his underwear at home. Then his arranged marriage wife returns. These two married strangers have to learn to communicate. On top of that, they have certain assumptions about each other based on how the marriage came to be.
And I really liked how they handled the “Queen”. They never did that awful “it’s okay ‘cause parental love” thing. They flat-out say that she’s a bad mom. But they humanize her to the point where you understand her and her sons understand her better. There’s also a great bit that reminded me of Schitt’s Creek, complete with amazing fashion. The show gets 100 points for this.
So after all that, am I recommending it or not?
Maybe?
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