@momosan
Thank you!!! TVU is also where I'll go to first, but I would hound BBC, my spanish would only allow me to follow the GOOOOAAAALLLLLL on univision!

@bad guy

I just finished ep1... seriously I'm w/ @ockoalatwin @belleza it has a well done dorama feel to it, can still see the MiSa stamp. KNG's GW is what I envisioned White Night/Byakuyako's Ryoji will be sexed up. There were scenes that I wished can be made even more spare and tone down the histrionics, the first meeting of OTP is messing w/ me, I thought HGI's JaeIn, who has more than I expected feisty skills in words, should totally slice that whole crew esp sexy bastard and not let them just slide. I can do w/o the contrivance. Yeah sexy bastard's pornstache has to go, it's too much sex for the character to be some faceless stuntman. I'm also not welcoming the instant reduction to puppy fangirling of Monet over GW. This is too predictable for it to be an interesting trope many years ago.

but wow HGI, this is totally unexpected, I've seen and loved La Dolce Vita so Oh Yun Soo bringing it to the table, I'm expecting, not totally loving her lines in that rooftop scene, it's too much for her cool. but wow HGI is GOOD! And I'm also squeeing and having an instant girlcrush on Shim Eun Kyung's tomboyish little sis. I think I'll be enjoying the ladies in this way more than I would ever thought.

Throw me more murder mysteries!

@twin
haha it's sooooo cute and adorable and bringing back all the LoCH <3 lurking Mousie's lj. we did the exact same thing!

@ momosan

i wish someone would say that to my mom... and then lock TOP up in the room w/ me! LOL!

@ supah

ain't it weird how that skinny lilo GD has sex appeal once you actually acknowledge his being? just seeing pictures does not do the boy justice. watching his personality come out in performances.. interactions w/ the other boys.. and it's like "DAYEM! GD IS SO HOT!" outta nowhere!

@ twin

just wanna say "THANK YOU" for forcing me to get into BB. cuz it took so much arm twisting. haha.

So far, Bad Guy has elicited references to certain aspects of the following dramas (from all who have seen ep 1):

MiSa
A Love to Kill
What Happened in Bali
Byukyuyako

Nice, isn't it? [please discount my reference to Kurosagi, which is a blight on the planet, but merely used as a stylistic comparison point).

@ belleza

I just recently watch BSGS, and the transformation of KNG is nothing short of the biggest change from Pirates-era Barry Bonds into Giants-era Barry Bonds (and no, HGH was not used by our Sexy Bastard).

It's like he was always playacting in the early parts of his career, pretending to be a stereotypical k-actor. When he was all along a Tony Leung-esque presence in terms of just being rather than saying. I agree, if he was from the Mainland, he would be a giant star.

Wow. To think he had this breakthrough bf he did his MS, because the only other transformation I've seen is pre- and post-MS Jang Hyuk (and I have a reference point only bc I watched Bright Girl). I guess Bidam and Dae Gil can only be played by these kind of actors.

@ twin

I'm wishing that the ladies didn't just get all moisty and feverish when they met KNG in Bad Guy. Its not necessary, he's hot, we get it. But isn't HGI really stepping up her game? That makes me happy, really, she's past the ingenue phase and needs to wash the stink of Witch Amusement out of her hair.

Now, if only Lee Ji-ah can not annoy me in Athena (btw, my gut tells me she's cast partly bc she's an English speaker). But then why not cast Leslie (Han Ye-seul - Cerritos powaaaa!)? Wait, who am I kidding. :-P

@ Ana

my twin is right. TOP=0 only applies to those who aren't affected by his growly hotness. And there's a DANCE TUTORIAL?!? *throws work to the side and scrambles to find it*

@ twin

yes, it was a real struggle to get you into BB lols. i had to work REAL hard for that :) and ditto what you said to @ momosan. Momma, please lock me in a room with TOP. PLEASE...

@lb_tmi - T.O.P is H.O.T but GD is Hotter ;-D But based on the voice alone I have to concede that growly TOP is a teensy bit hotter than GD:-) Ah think my brain has turned to mush after overdosing on too much BB.:-)

Been meaning to catch Bad Guy but I've been sidetracked by the Jdrama 'Last Friends'.It's addictive to watch in a creepy sort of way and I'm curious to know how it ends.And the background music is just hauntingly beautiful.

@lovenyc52- Here you go :-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rq5cPaTPTpA&feature=related

@ockoala,

Dong Yi is totally meta for me I loved Spring Waltz (yes, yes, Belleza doth loveth the Seasonal Dramas), Brilliant Legacy, and of course Temptation of an Angel (note: Dong Yi's best female friend was the spoiled girl in Temptation as well!) Bae Soo Bin is playing the desperately loyal and wonderful and kind and loving and undersanding oppa to Han Hyo Joo. Again!! And it should be a "not again!" moment, but here it's even more expressively done and it Breaks! My! Cold! Heart! Again!

Also loving the soundtrack. A little bit of Sangdo. A little bit of CSI.

"I’ll check back into Dong Yi in the twenties (esp. if Kum Suro turns out to be all bark no bite). You will be checking out Kim Suro, no? It doesn’t like like all of Buyeo or Gorgeyeo is going to show up, but maybe some of Shilla and/or Nakrang?"
Kim Suro

@supah,

"it could’ve carried far more impact and thus been more in sync with adult Gun-wook’s heartstoppingly hurt expression (Bidam, is that you?) worn inbetween his flashbacks."

Part of it is Kim Nam Gil and part of it is the moody cinematography. The show's visual style reflects the "Seasonal Dramas" (director worked on those) as well as A Love to Kill and Le Dolce Vita. One trademark of the Seasonal Dramas was isolating one or two characters in intensely colored backdrops, as to create a sense of either desolation or stark intimacy. The wrinkle here is the noir motif (i.e. A Love to Kill.) You see this effect with Gun-wook on the roof playing with the child. You also see it when he's under water as well as when he's replaying his life in his head.

Gun-wook vaguely made me think of Chuno's Dae-gil. Gun-wook definitely has a plan . . . but what if he doesn't? And that's what I really liked about the last 10 minutes of the episode. Kim Nam Gil just gives you enough -- and not one look more!! -- that suggests his character is very miserable and unrelieved by his conscience. I think the difference between KNG and, say, So Ji Sup is that the latter plays melancholy from a self-centered nobility, whereas the former is just so, so fatalistic.

All really great Wuxia characters are really fatalistic. The tragedy isn't the tragedy, per se; it's the awareness that you are merely chess piece to the narrative that cycles with massive, awe-inspiring indifference to you. Kim Nam Gil, among K-drama actors I've seen, plays a little from that tragic wisdom. It's not as noticeable as the pornstache.

"I absolutely love how a major plot point has already been uncovered in the first episode, that is possibly indicative of the rest of the show’s fast pacing and that it’ll have far more tricks up its sleeve (yes please, show!) than to dedicate the entire 20 episodes to that one particular plot point (noooo!)."

The story concept is fairly conventional (esp. for a SBS drama), but the sensuality and grittiness of the show genuinely recalls What Happened in Bali. The bathroom scene, the "is he going to touch her . .. " scene, and so on. I also liked how the show holds out on introducing the rival male character until Episode 2.

@ Ana

eeep!!!!!!!!!!!!!! holy cuteness. HOLY CUTENESS. [it actually took me 3 tries to spell cuteness correctly the 2nd time around cuz i was spazzing so much lols]. haha GD at the end. /i dies. he's so... light on his feet HAHA. and Dae is always SO HAPPY. i can't help but have a GIANT smile on his face whenever i see him hehe.

THANKS!!!

@ belleza

"All really great Wuxia characters are really fatalistic. The tragedy isn’t the tragedy, per se; it’s the awareness that you are merely chess piece to the narrative that cycles with massive, awe-inspiring indifference to you. Kim Nam Gil, among K-drama actors I’ve seen, plays a little from that tragic wisdom"

That's exactly why QSD was so bi-polar (from what I saw), because it was like everyone else was in a sageuk (including Yushin and the power rangers), the story was following the tried and rule How-To-Make-A-Ruler-in-100-Days formua - but Bidam was in a wuxia!

His Bidam - from his kick-ass wuxia skills, to his intense love-hate-hate relationship with his master and his mom, the consuming love for Deokman, etc., it was like he stepped out of a Gu Long novel and accidentally wandered into QSD. The intense passion he showed, boring holes into Lee Yo-won forehead, THAT's wuxia, NOT sageuk (even Damo pull down the passion and transformed in into all-abiding love without the sensual overtones - well, except the cave scene, kekeke).

I would compare Bidam to a Meng Xingyun in Meteor Butterfly Sword or a anti-hero from a Louis Cha novel, like a Lin Pingzi from Wanderer (except he gets the girl thanks to some nifty re-writing of HISTORY - OMG, still cannot comprehend, historians are rolling over in their graves).

Anyways, after MS, KNG is DUE to cross-over into C-dramas like Jang Hyuk, with the right wuxia vehicle, of course. (imma gonna think about which one for him).

@twin
seriously HGI is making me SOOO HAPPY! I dont even rem her this natural and at ease w/ the camera in Yellow Handkerchief, her best work to date?! When u mentioned she reminded u of YEH PT cameo, true, the hair and the styling, but actually she reminds me more of SYJ, esp if we're talking facetwin, SYJ's regular-self goodness. She's not there yet, but I can see some potential!! and some potential to be close to SYJ is ALL GOOD!

tbh I like sexy bastard most in BG when he toned down the sex. When he's firing all the gear, I cant handle it and still feel the character. I mean I'm bugged by the instant frelling of Monet, but I'm morally disturbed by the angel ahjusshi worshipping by the baby girl.

haha and how on earth can we handle him post MS?! We should start pondering and bring on our defense now.

Oh, I would happily sacrifice a pinky if we can trade Leslie w/ LJA in Athena. Leslie was funny-awful as an evil gumiwo in gumiwo the kdrama (I would even say worse than KTH, and that's long before the improved IRIS KTH) but she's not a distracting bobbled-head when she's trying to be evil, so w/ spare lines, she can do a cold b8tch. And Leslie has a bit of subtle now after WISFC. At least I can see her on the right path of improvement... whereas I really dunno what drug/water LJA is taking, how can u be awesome in your debut then go exponentially horrific fr there?!

@celestialorigin-sama
not sure the route, if it's up to Hubs we'll do a stretch of HWY1 for sure and thus 101. But we'll be tight for time, we need to settle in first by midday. Lets keep in touch w/ tweets! :)

O...um... my taste in drama is embarrassing and I just follow my erratic fancy, I do drop them like flies even when I'm an ep or 2 till finish line. Damo is even better in a rewatch and I loved it as a kdrama newbie. I dont think that one can ever disappoint.

I think u'll like BG, I'm liking it a lot on a whole, yes I see a bit of Sora Kara in plot, but stylistically this is even more controlled and less 'pretentious' if I may? There r a lot of tropes that r not really my thing rearing heads already, but if they r done right, I can swallow that, so writing-wise, I doubt it'll be as twisty as Sora Kara, but acting, esp the ladies, I'm loving.

o speaking of Chow Yun Fat and just that irking of the Better Tomorrow of the Asian pretty robot SSH... I saw some stills of CYF in his upcoming film, he's playing a gangster circa 1941 in Shanghai w/ Gong Li as his ladylove. I dont care, but I love my Shanghai Bund and I miss CYF killing ppl w/ his devil may care gangster.

"The intense passion he showed, boring holes into Lee Yo-won forehead, THAT’s wuxia, NOT sageuk"

Oh I know. Basically Bidam was your classic Ashes of Time wuxia loner/hero, and Mishil was your classic Empress Dowager "The Mandate of Heaven is mine bitch!" Everybody else in QSD were in Boys Over Flowers Boys. Naturally I went nuts for both.

"It’s like he was always playacting in the early parts of his career, pretending to be a stereotypical k-actor. "

I think everybody's appreciation of Kim Nam Gil is pretty much the same. Step A: "Who is THAT?!?" Step B: "That's HIM???" I was that way when he was in When Spring Comes. I barely remember him from that show, except the impression that he seems amicable but kinda bland. And even now, KNG doesn't really have the necessary "You Can't Take Away Our Freedom!!!!" soul-2-soul presence to play the big-time sageuks or top flight K-drama leading man. When his character in QSD becomes Prime Minister (where at that point, Bidam more fit into the sageuk template), you can pick up his straining for effect.

More or less, a lot of us watch K-drama for imposing, magnificent presence. Even Lee Jung Ki or Binnie, for all their handomeness/prettiness, gives off that distinct "camera is mine!!" relationship that pulls us to the tube, consider the personality of their reaction shots, discuss our subconscious reactions to their "being" in front of camera. Even Song Seung Heon pretends to that star quality template (i.e. see East of DONGAAAAAA!!!!).

KNG isn't really like that. He can't just stand there for a 5-second reaction shot and make us go "wow." He has to do something. He has to gesture. It is his gestures that are transfixing (and this is a sign of both great Canto and Mando matinee acting.) In Bad Guy, notice how the camera loves his moves. Or how his face turns from a sadness remove to a determined half-sneer in the last shot of BG Ep01.

@ belleza

Wow, Team MOB is back together for now, all because of the Sexy Bastard. So is the power of KNG. *bows to his feverish existence*

"In Bad Guy, notice how the camera loves his moves" - I concur, KNG doesn't preen in front of the camera like SSH, he doesn't dare the camera not to love him in Binnie does, and he sure as hell doesn't make idol-love to the camera like Junki does. (just borrowing a few of the names you threw out).

KNG thinks in front of the camera, is this how to convey the desired effect, his whole posture bends and molds to the moment.

KNG's sudden rise from unknown to dare-you-not-to-gape-at-him presence is even a step above Yoon Sang-hyun's transformation from no-presence second-to-fifth lead drifting from drama to drama, into certifiable sexy ahjusshi in QoH. I can't quite pinpoint what changed about YSH (me love the new YSH) the way I can dissect KNG's metamorphosis.

Its akin to KNG ate a magic chicken, turned into Bidam, and the rest is history (but for the fact that his pre-self is immortalized in celluloid wherein we can go back and gaze in amazement at his wan incarnation.

Love your Bidam/Mishal wuxia construct analogy, spot-on as always. I have to continue to wonder how meta it would have been had Bora played Deokman/Seon-doek as intended. Would it have turned Bidam's love into the love that cannot be bc it's too oppa-like?

The camera can't love KNG unconditionally, bc KNG isn't that handsome. Don't flay me folks, its true (why else did he punt around for awhile). K-ent needs their leading men certifiably handsome beyond belief, with the exception of a few I can name who by thunder and lightning is your leading man come hell or high water because he just is (Kim Myung-min. Uhm Tae-woong, etc.).

I can't even say KNG is a GREAT actor like those two I mentioned. KNG is a mesmerizing presence now, that's it. But that's more than enough. In C- or HK-ent, KNG would be a giant star, because they don't require "pure handsome" as a predicate (see: Gallen Lo, Felix Wong, Chow Yun-fat, Ray Lui). [And J-ent, being handsome manly is not even a plus, its kinda a minus actually. KimuTaku is manly handsome. The rest are quirky handsome or Johnnies].

I love how KNG wills you to hate him, and only makes you love him more. Bad Guy is his vehicle alright. Can't imagine yet another star who had the balls to go for broke.

@ announcement abt my future wellbeing

I was pretending I didn't see this, but its no use, those 15 minutes are seared into my brain.

I'm going to need some therapy in 2 weeks or so. Intense OT therapy. Because out of sheer the-DVD-happened-to-be-next-to-the-elliptical kismet, I watched the first 30 minutes of ep. 1 of Friends, Our Legend.

Hyun Bin.....that man on screen was NOT my Binnie. He positively terrified me so bad I couldn't even concentrate on the kid's section, I was quivering. I don't think I can make it to the legendary ep 19 samsooki kept talking about. I'll probably just faint by then.

"I have to continue to wonder how meta it would have been had Bora played Deokman/Seon-doek as intended. "

Yeah, that's what surprised me about the Dong Yi casting. Both Brilliant Legacy and Temptation of Angel were popular shows last year, and they were being cast in similar roles. Now, Dong Yi works successfully with that emotional shorthand, but at the same time, it's not easy to isolate the Dong Yi viewing experience from precedent.

I have a working theory that Kim Nan Gil acts the way Lee Jung Ki looks. If so, then the Chae Sun Ah Theory may apply (pet theory that Kim Sun Ah and Chae Rim are spiritual sisters and could swap signature roles and still be great.) For example, it goes without saying that KNG would have rocked as Iljimae, and Lee Jung Ki could play a Bad Guy.

@belleza
Oh, definitely no problem at all with KNG, I just felt the childhood flashbacks (which were great, except for the kid's acting) didn't really meld into GW's mood in those last few minutes of 1. GW's mood was fantastic. It was all so transparent how rattled he was by the near-miss. Was also surprised they showed this kind of vulnerability so early into the game.
It takes me a while to really get into a show (about 4-5 episodes) so I'm still feeling my way around it but after episode 2, it seems it'll be a fresh take on the WHIB-MiSA-and-similar-kdrama genre. During the first episode I expected lots of mystery and appreciated the opening freaky Friday feeling setup and the little clues dotted here and there. But then the show began laying out its cards on the table.
All in all I am enjoying this uncertainty in where the show's headed.
That includes not being able to pinpoint what exactly is up with Gun-wook. It's like we know everything, yet oh no, we don't.

Love the SJS and KNG descriptions, word!
I've kinda realised I love KNG, that much more out of the two. Not Lee Han but Kim Nam-gil.

He's great in BG, he has the temperament down pat, he's not soul-killingly languid (as SJS in MiSA) there's definitely some burning embers in place of his heart, yet he is all cool, composed and sensual on the surface. I do see some Dae-gil in him but this Gun-wook is so many shades darker.
Oh dammit, I give up trying to pinpoint. -- belleza, I'll stick with what you said before the ''not as noticeable as his pornstache'' line. Yes, totally that.

I'm no fan of moustaches but he is rocking that pornstache, like really, it goes so well with that sulk.

I don't know about you guys, but I do see screen presence, not a very commanding one, but it's definitely there, it's the subtle kind that invokes feelings of excitement/giddiness, or is that just me? And oh! Those sad eyes, aaarrrgh!! They pierces usss!!!

Some quick points on episode 2:
1) It's official, everyone is demented (except for one).
2) Hong Tae-sung (KJW) is sizzling.
3) Ladies, please keep your knickers on, and for goodness sake, get OUT of the leading man's hair.
4) The flashbacks were much better this time, this time they did warrant 'that face' from adult GW.
5) Loved the ending; ''hi, my name is sanity, you've obviously never seen me before, but here's my business card and call me if you ever need me.''

@ belleza

Your Chae Sun-ah theory merits consideration. But then again, let's talk about them switching the iconic roles - i.e. both switching out AAE and the later if we dared to switch them out of MNIKSS and Dalja's Spring. I don't doubt they have the acting chops to do it, I wonder how much of it would succeed. Was MNKISS and AAE as successful bc of the quintessential ingenue Chae Rim circa 2000 and get-out-of-my-face-you-pretty-boy exasperation Sun-ah was feeling circa 2005.

I think it was, hence, they can do it, but it won't be the same. Samsoon and Dalja seem like hard people to like, we can ROOT for them, but do we want to be BFFs with them. Probably not? Hence, we love them only bc it was Sun-ah and Chae Rim seeped into their bones.

As for Junki and KNG switching up Iljimae and Bad Guy. We're too early to tell, must complete Bad Guy in total to assess. But it merits serious consideration as a possibility. I'm assuming you're talking about the Kay persona of Junki circa TBDAW as a basis for the Bad Guy attitude, no? Again, don't doubt that KNG can nail Iljimae with his eyes closed and hands tied behind his back.

Question about Junki as the titular Bad Guy. Junki is missing the soulessness that KNG is currently channeling (and that he channeled in QSD before he fell in love with Deokman). Junki from the get-go (I'm talking from King and The Clown onward - sob, utter heartbreaking gloriousness) always was the boy who "cared." I've not seen Junki ever do the Jang Hyuk end of ep. 10 of Chuno stare of complete and utterly frightening intensity like hell is welcoming him and he's daring hell to lay a hand on him. Even when Junki is bad, it's because he's too hurt to be good.

Whereas, KNG is giving off vibes of - Life, you grind me into the ground, well, here I am, I got up, and I'm going to make sure you pay, with my last breath. Junki always seems like he is holding onto something precious, KNG is mesmerizing because its like he has nothing tethering him to this world anymore, whether as Bad Dude or as Bidam, so its go for broke.

Again, the acting is there, I don't know if switching it up can create the same sensation in us watching it. But I love your theory, I theorize we can replace SSH with a robot and we won't know the difference. :-P

@ momosan

What the heck was that?! Mildly offensive and wholly WTF.

Since you are the soundtrack connisseur, did the scoring for Bad Guy ep.2 bother you as much as it bothered me. Not that it was bad, it was inexplicably overscored. Especially when they did 2 minutes worth of Habanera that did not tie in with the scene. Now its making me listen to Maria Callas doing Carmen in a loop.

o GAWD... r u sure twinie? Friends, Our Legend? U have to part w/ a however tiny bit of your heart and never gets it back... I'm only good at hand holding, fangirling and gathering flowers for potpurri. This is serious OT therapy, u'll need samsookie + president langdon to friendsit u.

since we're on a KNG celebration, and I'm a worse than usual CUinduced scatterbrain

*not safe for faint of heart/blood allergy*
http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/7159/e0d69d82ba8abfa0f703a61.jpg

POOR BiDam!

IF KNG and JunKi can mash and churn out 2 sexy namjas/bastards out of them, we'll get world peace. JunKi still needs to de-energizer bunny more, he's too ready to please, he's good to great scene to scene but I actually would desire more je ne sais quoi fr him. I find KNG in BG still a bit unsure of how commanding he can be on screen, he tapped into a lot of that in BiDam but this revengeful hero role (which can not be more cliched) needs a more swallowing presence, he's great in subtler scenes but when he should burn it like a Kimutaku (obviously this is not acting we're critiquing), he's relying too much on the physical, the pornstache, instead of giving me burning in his guts. KNG is not enough to convince me some more outrageous plot points.

I'm liking BG, it's VERY well made, but it's too cliche-laden. I like the PD enough, if I'm going to nom on cliche after cliche, it's best done by him, but the stories he loves to tell r not my thing.

@momosan,

O MY that Hite CF, can I find it outrageously offensive IF I'm Hispanic?! WTF was the point?! It desizzle my beer!

@ unni

You WILL hold my hand, won't you? I'm only doing this for you (and samsooki, wherever he is), you know? You said you would watch LoCH2008 and I said I was gonna watch Friends, Our Legend (btw, you got the bargain there, what with cutie pies doing love-hate-love, and I'm stuck with the heart grinder show).

Mr. Hyun Bin only showed up for 15-20 minutes in ep.1 , and he sucked the air out of MY GARAGE. I could not breath, it was like any second he could implode or explode, and I was cowering under my elliptical. I don't know how Kim Min-joon can do multiple takes with him in his face. The eyes, they have no light in there, just sheer dead orbs.

Utterly breathtaking cinematography as befitting the story and cast. I may give up half way, I just don't know if I have it in me to stomach and digest this drama (in all honesty).

@ unni

Okay, I promise. I guess I have to re-watch Otomen alongside FOL. Sigh, pink one minute, heart eaten with a spoon the next. Nice...

I don't know why, but seeing this correlation chart just made me start cackling like a mad woman:

http://wiki.d-addicts.com/File:Bad_Guy_Correlation_Chart.jpg

All I can say is, the heart of this drama is bound to be Han Ga-in (she's the tether for KNG), and initally I was not so peachy keen on her being cast, and now I am just dying for their emotional connection to be forged.

Sorry, I'm at it again...
What I like most about BG (which I forgot to mention earlier) and what sets it apart is the cold, stark, brutal hostility. The Hong family are all hostile bastards (and I'm going to be evil enough to throw prissy ballerina Monet into that equation, too). GW is a product of their making, via. this very hostility and what I see in GW is someone more than capable at executing his plans, he is capable of anything. It's true he has nothing left to lose.
Maybe his flashbacks are serving a dual-purpose, that aside from telling us his backstory they are also trying to shoehorn in hints of his inner humanity and his vulnerability? And that he may not be so cold. Possibly. But I just don't buy it. Maybe I will, later. (However I do see a glimmer, a minute one.)

With SJS characters the 'inward nobility' is very restricting, even when he had nothing to lose, whether as Moo-hyuk or Lee Cho-in. When out to hurt others he was only hurting himself more, as a result he was one hot emotional mess.
Dae-gil had the capacity, he had nothing to lose, but he was also a tad on the foolish and self-destructive side (at least his purpose for living was foolish, I thought so...).
Now GW has a kind of hunger which won't allow him to go the self-destructive Dae-gil route. He's much more in control and precise, he won't squander away time and effort.
He is nothing like Bidam here, Bidam was good-natured to begin with and was later corrupted. (Oh, wait?)
I think that's pretty much all I can think of. But there's my additional two cents.

Also, I love the cinematography, I haven't seen any jdrama noir to liken it to, but there's a potent, rich atmosphere in some of the better scenes and a WKW kind of feel, particularly with the night shots and the restaurant scene where Jae-in + dongseng are eating ddukbokki.

Now if they'd only get rid of all those crazy women, and keep only Jae-in (HGI) and Tae-ra (OYS).

@mookie
Woooh... neon red eyes...

OMG! Miss belleza is here!!! So happy to see you! luv reading your comments as always on top of ockoala, mookie sama, momosama, langdon and others.

Yep, momosama. That once CM was a total WTF material, for sure, lol. Almost made me scream "Help me!"

Only slept total of 4 pathetic hours this morning. my head hurts and I am a basket case.

Some people talking about GD above... Yes, I know. I thought I was a Daesung fan till I saw BB live in Japan 3 months ago. My God. GD'd like a ephemeral, yet eternal(duality, here) wire of energy, almost from outer universe or something. Who can resist that sort of phenomenon? literally out of this world... Boy, all I can do is to repeat myself in various ways... Sigh. I'd better have more highly potent green tea to wake myself up.

uggh. I gave the worst presentation ever today. On the flight home while working on a sudoku puzzle, I fantasized about working at a 7-11 where I never have to give another large presentation again. Plane was an hour late arriving at the gate, airplane food sucks, cab driver tries to fleece me, fought with said cab driver before realizing it was act of futility. At least I'm back on NYC soil. The smell of the city is enough to invigorate me and make the bad day go away.

I'm going to spend half the day tomorrow catching up on CU 15-16 and drown my sorrows in CMJ's eyes and a pint of ice cream.

About 5 minutes into Episode 2 of Bad Guy . . .

Wow. This feels like not only a J-dorama, but a GOLDEN ERA Kimataku J-dorama.

Kim Nam Gil's charisma is BLINDING already. It just feels like this character was written for him. Dare I say it -- it even feels Leslie-esque.

I'm sure I'll hate the rest of the episode. ;)

^ o I hate the rest of the ep, is the writer a highsch girl that's watched melos and call that credentials??! I wanna slice grownups in glass shards and let them bleed in the rain and see HOW that feel.. BUT that usu mean u'll get a great kick out of ep, Belleza?

*hug* nycgrl, but *phew* at least long wkend is COMING!

u need to stock up to 17, 18 for CU. see, I stop ranting like some crazy woman.

"And it definitely reminds me of A Million Stars Falling From the Sky and Kimutaku, which I loved loved loved."

This might be a unofficial remake. Notice how they wear the same hat.

@langdon813

E subbed one??? 30 secounds later. OMG! Thank you! It's up at Viikii!!! I've been checking the site all day long and gave up and was watching C subbed drama... I'm going there right now<3<3<3. No wander you are still up.

Kim Nam Gil. Bad. So bad. So, so bad.

*sigh*

Even when Gun Wook revisits his angst, KNG doesn't give you easy pity or points for determination. Gun Wook's elliptical, complex, BITCHY, and utterly utterly shadowy. He's, again, Leslie-esque, flirting with that dark, drifter, beauty of Days of Being Wild and other dislocated antihero pieces. KNG is won-der-ful here.

(And Kim Jae Wook does easily his best acting yet in this episode. As Mookie pointed out, there's some major melo bits here -- though admittedly, it's visually gorgeous in the way A Love to Kill was -- and well there's always that part of me that hungers for a little Jo In Sung in some prince's mama complex. But Kim Jae Wook works his wardrobe spectacularly here, be it an old wool sweater or a tailored suit, it lends misshapen soul to his characgter.)

There's no frigging way this show is going to sustain its fusion of Sora Kara Furu Ichioku no Hoshi, What Happened in Bali, and Le Dolce Vita. But hopefully Bad Guy goes down swinging. KNG+OYS are fire together.

And I like the fact that Han Ga-in's character is not blindingly pure and a stand-in for virtue when no one else has any (maybe that's where the little daughter comes in). My major beef (which I'm going to hide on at the tail end of the OT so no one if going to read it) with Mawang is Shin Mina's character construct and being beaten over my head with the symbolism and the didactic and the deconstructionist of the good vs evil human nature arguments. Doesn't mean I don't love Mawang (I just might) or I don't love Shin Mina's performance there (I certainly do).

Bad Guy - enjoying everything except the writing, which is scene specific porn to show off KNG at this point. I'm not seeing the vision and I'm not enjoying the heavyhanded noir crosscut with melo. Pick a style, stick with it. WHIB was melo all the day to the glorious end and it worked so well as we can all attest.

Please PD get some input into your writer. Your visuals aren't being matched with top notch writing. The acting is elevating the entire drama kinda kicking the writer aside and daring me NOT to love it based on the charisma alone. And I'm falling for that trick.

@ockoala,

"I’m not seeing the vision and I’m not enjoying the heavyhanded noir crosscut with melo."

I actually think the writing, while sometimes nutty, is great. It's a simple K-melo story told very diffusely and with so many characters and would-be triangles, this thing seems very likely to collapse. But I love how, so far, the mini-triangles give us such fractured psychology pretty much across the board. I actually think it's the PD giving us all the melo bits, as to provide a safety set for the audience and probably himself. After all, he IS a melo director.

But the micro mechanics of the writing is unusually tight. For example, the elevator scene is just an effective sequence of details. In conventional melo, we would have Gun Wook seduce Mo net on charm alone, and then the elevator door would simply open for the big reveal. But, the setup is intricate. When he goes into the elevator, you don't realize his intent until he changes the floor. But that only works because the older sister is really pissed off and is angrily waiting for her sister to come back. At the same time, he seduces Mo Net by observing the one detail that would affect her, that is, she doesn't want to be married to that man. But that observation only works perfectly, because her older sister brought that man with her during the visit. And so on. Even with how Gun Wook looks at Hong Tae Ra, that works effectively because he has done that with her a few times in the episode, each glance anchoring what is an awesome piece of progressive seduction between the two characters.

Everything fits marvelously, and it makes me watch the show very closely. It's also maybe the only show I've seen this year that I feel the actors are being tasked to do film-style acting. Kim Hye Ok (the matriarch of the family) is actually a strong character actress (if you see her in film), but she rarely flexes that in drama. The meal scene between her and Kim Jae Wook is just delicious. Her character seems favored toward her son and almost amused by his bad behaviour, until he points that at her. Then she seems genuinely up for the challenge.

I'd better go to bed for more productive tomorrow. Just finished BG2. It's sort of strange? or may be actually expected? that I'm so entranced by the BGM, so smooth and elegantly calculated that I find myself in their own micro cosmos created by ? I don't even know who's the director... It's almost like I'm in somebody else's bad dream but I can endure it because it's not my dream, after all, sort of... Well, that is why it feels like this is not your average K-drama to me. The distinction is easily made at subconscious level within me so far apart from the fact I usually get so disturbed by tragic natures of stories or abhorrent characters that I reach the point of Oh, no! my heart can't take it any more , pretty quickly. LOL, Maybe that what a drama should be, after all. Garh, I don't even know if I'm making any sense??? Music that what carried me away from my reality... Anyhow, again , it's 140am... sigh.

Yess! Belleza, you are a genius. Leslie Cheung (in DOBW) must the closest match to GW’s character. It’s all in his insolence, his disregard for others, his being consumed with self-pity, his belief that everything revolves around him, the cocksurity and his self-awareness, particularly of his sensuality and luring in the women.
Yet I couldn’t help but feel drawn to LC in it. He was obscene in it, a monster, but a very alluring, beautiful monster. Shim Gun-wook couldn’t be a closer match.
I loved all the events that took place in that film, it wasn’t at all moral and righteous yet it did have a concealed sense of justice woven into its storytelling and everyone got their due in such a way that was befitting of their character and was truly, lipsmackingly, satisfying to watch.
And now that you’ve pointed that out, I also see Carina Lau here, but split into two, her childish innocence and naivete played by Hong Mo Ne (Monet?) and the irritating, clingy, vamp half of Lau played by the actress girl.

I’ll stand by the Leslie Cheung likeness. Sorry, haven’t seen Million Stars and Kimura Takuya in it. (I almost did watch it some time back but then read spoilers and swore never to touch it, ever in my lifetime.)

@ nycgrl / misa

Righty. Made it to the end. Dear me, I can totally understand why they went for that ending, and I don't disapprove, but it somewhat lost me in its contrivance. The continuity and logic issues didn't help. But I forgive it. Because while I remained quite dry-eyed throughout, the show held my attention and didn't make me roll my eyes, for all its excesses. And, two beats from Winter Sonata? Definitely superior!

Of course, what we ALL agree on is that SJS just kills it (and, btw, has anyone else noticed that he has beautiful hands?). I agree, he transcends acting. Any moment now I will get a phone call from MooHyuk saying, "I'm dying, come play with me" and I will totally abandon my life as I know it and get on the plane to be with MooHyuk, it goes without saying.

And I think I may be coming round to ISJ love - the Eun Chae type of character usually irritates me, but in this case doesn't, which says something. I don't even mind when she does the screeching-crying thing, which I usually abhor.

We come back to our drama-satisfaction having a context. I can well see how MiSa would blow one away years ago. Even today I'm impressed, and my main complaint is the lack of originality (which wouldn't have been such an issue years ago). I'm also pondering this drama-in-time perspective because I've just re-watched the first 3 episodes of Mawang. And you know what, it wasn't magic. In fact, it's a teeny weeny bit tedious when one knows all the plot points. Not subtle, our Mawang. (No, ockoala, I'm not going to disown you. Your criticisms are all legitimate.) But, I DID love it when I watched it, one of the first K-dramas I watched. I loved it very much, and I proudly stand by that.

No, I haven't watched White Tower, though it's on my shelf... However, see below...

@ ockoala / FOL

As it happens, I have FOL on DVD, and nothing new lined up to watch (unless it's CU or PT catch-up, both can wait, bah). Tempted to crack it open and watch with you. Shall we have synchronised wailing and wrist-slitting?