And now, your Beans of Wisdom

by javabeans

We’re back with more Beans of Wisdom! We’re glad that you guys liked the idea to highlight comments made on Dramabeans, and although we didn’t know going into this whether you’d even want to read the feature, or how many comments we’d want to post, we’ve been pleased with the results so far. Sometimes it’s actually difficult singling out a certain comment because there are others that get bypassed that may be just as worthy, but we’re working our way through the process and hope you enjoy the ones that do get featured. Yes, we’ve been up to our eyeballs reading the comments (there are so maaaaaany) but we hope it was worth it!

For instance, blnmom explained why marathoning is a no-go, at Comment #1.3 in “Spill the Beans: Late nights, early mornings, and being stuck in the middle of nowhere”:

I marathoned my first drama, All In, on accident. I only meant to watch one episode and then return the dvds to the friend who told me to watch it. I didn’t eat or sleep for 24 hours straight. Can’t recall if I went to the bathroom or not. Almost collapsed in true kdrama fashion.

After I returned the dvds, my friend asked if I wanted another drama and I emphatically said “NO.” Now I only watch dramas as they air to prevent another accidental marathon.

Here’s Comment #5 in “Lee Hee-joon up to play Jang Hyuk’s rival in Beautiful Mind,” regarding the upcoming show about a doctor with brain damage who can’t feel feelings. Wag_a_Muffin:

I believe the alternate title will be, “Dr. Noodles.”

There emerged an interesting thread in “Meet the beautiful knights of Hwarang: The Beginning” regarding the look of the characters and what constituted a “feminine” and “masculine” feel. TrinPie made this point in Comment #4.3.2.1.3:

It sadly stems from sexism. It’s ok for women to look and dress and act like a man, but as soon as a man looks or acts anything feminine it’s ridiculous, wrong, and silly. People who say things like that don’t even realize they have a sexist mindset because that’s how most of the world is conditioned to think.

I personally love their looks and find men who wear makeup attractive. Well, as long as the makeup is done well. I hope the show is good. I have high hopes because of the production group and PSJ [Park Seo-joon].

Girlfriday and I joked in “Lucky Romance’s leads get cozy” about our Ryu Joon-yeol trauma (we laugh to cover the pain). ObsessedMuch’s reply in Comment #17:

“girlfriday: Who’s this Ryu Joon-yeol guy who’s never been in dramas before? He’s very handsome.
javabeans: I don’t know, but I’m sure this will be his breakout role. It’ll be great.”

Now that made me snort. In office. In front of my boss. And I had to act like I had phlegm. Which believe me, is not embarrassing at all. Not.

I am picturing this scene in my mind, and it is making me laugh out loud. Thankfully, I don’t have a boss nearby to look good for.

Then in #64 of the same post, ticklemypickle added:

Wow! I’m so glad that Ryu Joon Yeol’s break out role will start with him getting the girl. I dont think I could ever handle it if he was the second lead in a drama that spent episode upon episode focusing on his love for the main lead, only for another character to swoop in and take control of the situation in the last 4 episodes. That’d be a real shame, a real shame indeed.

Our denial powers are fierce here in ‘beanland!

Sometimes it’s the comment chain that makes us laugh; in “Ji-soo joins Doctors as Park Shin-hye’s first love,” we start with Comment #26:

Yesindeed kicked it off:

I’ve been watching Ji Soo and Nam JooHuyk (Cheese in the Trap) doing their stint in Celebrity [B]Romance. (I know, guilty pleasure). […]

then added:

If interested you can watch on MBig Tv channel in YouTube or in Naver’s V app ( which I got for purely research purposes).

kanz replied:

Of course dear, we all know the importance of real-life bromance between two hottest young stars who happens to be brothers too in their upcoming drama. It’s all in the name of science. LOL

then hanie:

lmao
kdrama brings out our inner/childhood scientist dream~

Anything for science! STEM is important, STEM is real.

Alessar commented in the same thread, a few posts down at #28:

Ok but Ji-Soo is such a cutie I would totally believe PSH might fall for him while working together. ^_^

then at #28.1.1:

Ohho! That would actually be a great premise for a very meta- drama: the story of a young actress who had been successful from an early age, but then she’s suddenly paired with the hottest, cutest up-and-comer costar and actually falls for him. It’ll make his career but wreck his career (handwaving this) and that generates all the drama.

Write that drama!

There are a number of really great discussions going on in the various drama threads, and it’s a little sad that we can’t feature more of them, it’s also a great sign that we can’t, because it means there are so many of them. Here’s a sampling of episode-specific comments and analysis.

 
For instance, in the “Descended From the Sun: Episode 12” recap thread, CL said in Comment #48:

I don’t mind going along with some of the fantastical elements of the drama, when they focus on the main couple (which is like 80% of the show; when they pull away from the main couple, like episode 11, is when the show’s weaknesses become more glaring) because their characters and the development of their relationship are not only my main investment, my favorite part of the show, but also the most enjoyment I’ve had of any fictional romance in a long, long time. (And I’m not limiting myself to k-dramas.)

I was blown away by Mo-Yeon’s insight that if he keeps protecting her with his lies, lies she can’t argue with because they’re matters of national security, one day they’ll have nothing to talk about because the trust in their relationship will have eroded away. I wanted to weep when Shi-Jin retorted (in banmal no less; he rarely drops the jondae when he talks to her) “talk to me, tell me everything because everything you say matters to me.” I think one key aspect of his attraction to her is that she’s so grounded in reality, this is a woman after all who was worried whether her financial situation would affect her mother while she called out her will over the phone. And I think he craves the normalcy she could bring to his life. I wanted to shout back ‘no she doesn’t!’ when he struggled to ask the big question, “do you want to break up with me?”. But of course, all of her objections and misgivings are valid, and I love how she reached the compromise that allowed her to give their relationship a chance. Most of all, I admire her courage, the kind of courage that asks him, “give me the right to worry about you, let me shoulder your burden with you, don’t let me wallow in doubt whenever you’re not with me, if you’re in danger, I want to know.” His love for her must have blossomed like a hundredfold, because mine did.

Here’s Jamie at #12.2.2.2.1 in “Descended From the Sun gets Chinese remake”:

Definitely. I think it’s a matter of a different portrayal of a character – Song Joong Ki’s Captain Yoo Shi Jin is not that of a hardened, jaded soldier, nor is Jin Goo’s either. Perhaps that is because of the tone of the drama, which has more of a humanistic and romantic comedy genre as opposed to that of a true war drama, but both of them are quite positive and idealistic with a strong nationalistic streak, and they are still very motivated and truly believe in serving their country and civilians.

But in all honesty and and as such, we have not witnessed any scene yet in which they are struggling with some of the true devastations of war – such as witnessing underaged children not only being the victims of civil conflict, but also actively being used as soldiers and weapons themselves. There hasn’t been a scene where they have questioned their own belief and faith in their country as a soldier, which leads to a limit on the exact depth Joong Ki can really display through Captain Yoo. For it is pivotal that in many of the scenes of DOTS, the “higher ups,” i.e. the President, assert the importance of civilians and regular people, while the “followers,” such as the ministers, ect. are the ones who may be corrupt and not feel as morally inclined to protect them. There is a very, very easy dichotomy of good versus bad within this drama, and so while problems such as “following orders” are used in order to demonstrate Captain Yoo’s struggle, they don’t really show the darker side of being a soldier and the psychological, mental, and emotional toll of constantly having your life on the line.

And this is also why I feel that if an actor like KDW was capable of heading the drama, we’d have a drama with a very different feel and tone in itself. We’d have a drama that would portray not only the gray lines but also the various colours of being a soldier, but whether or not that would have the same appeal as DOTS would be taken into consideration.

And also, not to mention my disappointment at the handling of an arc that could have given Joong Ki a deeper reach when it came to acting, such as when former team members or comrades like Argus who began as soldiers fighting for their country turn around and become a patron of crime itself. Although I do feel that Joong Ki did a great job with this role and definitely deserves to be praised for the spark that he really brought to Captain Yoo, it is important to recognize that the tone of the drama doesn’t lend itself well to discussions about nationalism and war itself, and will likely be more remembered for its gorgeous cast and amazing chemistry, beautiful cinematography, and fresh, unique concept instead.

And a thought from Classy Glass in Comment #6 of “Descended From the Sun: Episode 14” about writer Kim Eun-sook:

I know this is kind of unrelated to this specific episode, but I really appreciate the direction that Kim Eun Sook took this drama. I was just kind of thinking about this after I watched the episode, and I love that [Kim Eun-sook] empowered the female characters. For example, [Kang Mo-yeon] was the one who saved [Yoo Shi-jin]’s life at the beginning of this episode. It’s [Kang Mo-yeon] who controls their relationship. And it’s [Myung-joo] who persuaded her father that [Dae-young] and her should stay together. The majority of the doctors, at least the ones you see, are women.

Compared to [Kim Eun-sook]’s past dramas, such as Secret Garden (It was Kim Joo Won who controlled the relationship as well as the one who persuaded his mom to let them stay together) or The Heirs (Kim Tan basically took control of Eun Sang’s life), DFtS has done a really good job to make sure that the women aren’t weak or dependent. I’m not saying that this drama is the golden standard for feminist viewers or whatever (because DFtS still fails in some aspects, like how [Myung-joo] is the only female soldier, who in fact is the commander’s daughter) but it’s been proving to be somewhat of a changing turn for [Kim Eun-sook]’s writing.

Btw, I’m not an avid drama watcher like some others on this blog (I don’t have time to watch a lot, and the ones I do watch have ratings above 30%; I also just really like this blog) so I’m only really speaking for Kim Eun-sook specifically. I’m sure other dramas do similar things, I just don’t know about them.

Here’s some food for thought from Newbie by way of So Ji-sub in Comment #6.2 of “Marriage Contract: Episode 10”:

So Ji Sub said in a promotional interview for Oh My Venus in Japan these days, that this drama is like miso soup. The basics are the same, but you can vary the ingrediences and present it in multiple ways. Guess this is true for all dramas. They can’t invent the wheel anew every time.

Marriage Contract is a very tasty miso soup.

Mmmmm…. soup.

It’s also good to know that Memory might be worth the watch. Thoughts from manam in Comment #3 of “Drama Hangout: Memory”:

I started watching this peeking through one eye and holding my breath for the rain of pain to come. But here’s the thing, Memory is not maudlin at all.

Lee Sung-Min blows me away as the imperfect, inscrutable, cutthroat and humane lawyer. I hated him at first and now love him more and more with each episode. I love watching his hoobae Lee Joon Ho in action with him and their chemistry is fabulous. They crack me up.

It isn’t all Alzheimer’s all the time here. BUT there is real depth and feeling–from the pain of losing a child to dealing with an ex-spouse to struggling with how to take responsibility for the things we’ve done. I find it gripping and can’t wait to see what happens next from episode to episode. Ah, this really is my favorite show right now. A real diamond.

From “Jackpot: Episode 3,” at #7, Itenoria noted:

What I don’t understand is how on earth she got pregnant so quickly. Keddong was most likely still a month old at best. Is that all that time when people were wailing that she had a premie and the child was not the King’s, the king was busy pulling off some hanky lanky? Because wow! The king sure likes to keep his lineage going strong. Maybe that powerful gaze of Choi Sukbin is still pulling him in . Because Jang Ok Jung has been in the palace all these years and only has one son. Choi Sukbin has been there all of six months and she already has two? Who knew Joseon Kings needed that outlet to rid themself of some energy? All those genuflecting advisers were making him what? Want his new wife some more? *smh

annflln:

YES exactly my thought! How she ended up pregnant so quickly. Two month difference is commonly heard, but one month?!!

and YY:

That’s why they called her Iron Wombman.

Then in “Jackpot: Episode 4” in #18, here’s Kiara:

Highlight of this episode for me was the meeting between Sukjong and Injwa. Ah Gravitas! Their conversation reveals quite a bit from the past, present and what’s to come in the future. I’m finally getting Injwa’s beef with Sukjong instead of …”it’s for the people of Joseon” excuse.

Past:
The 3 great purges during Sukjong’s reign.
1680 (year of the monkey)
1689 (year of the snake)
1694 (year of the dog)
I don’t even know which purge is related to Injwa’s grandparents. 1694 is a bit too close and Injwa ‘s grand plan was already set in motion. So, it’s either 1689 or 1680. I’m leaning towards 1680 since they were his grandparents.

Present:
Weak crown prince – an easier target for Injwa.
I wonder if he suspect the real intent between Lady Choi and Yeoning’s little display at the courtyard.

I’m liking the director and the camera shot over a dead hyena and the wild boar? (Lions will attack a hyena at every opportunity). Sukjong wasn’t out hunting for sweet little Bambi’s mother, he went for the big baddies).
I felt like Sukjong was taunting Injwa….”come and get me”.

Future:
Obviously Injwa is no match for Sukjong so he’ll go for his cubs starting with the crown prince by suggesting that Sukjong should step down and let him rule.
(Historically 2 yrs before Sukjong died, he let the crown prince rule the country as regent).

There is so much in this episode to talk about but my tiny little brain is unwilling to wrap around it lol.

Thank you Heads for the recaps! I’m enjoying this show. I’m quite pleased that it hasn’t become a factional war with ministers yelling at each other in the court but rather personal between a king and his subject.

And Kiara’s on a roll. Mostly, I wish all fanwars were fan-polite-disagreements-that-ended-in-smiles-and-tea. Here’s #22.2.1.2.14:

Lol this thread!

It’s ok if you are part of the majority. I’m ok with being one of the few who thought that she was decent in that drama.

It’s ok to have different opinions people. Relax and have a cookie.

This cookie is delicious.

 
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