Nice Guy ep 4, May Queen ep 11, To the Beautiful You eps 11-12 - the good, the mediocre and the bad

[dangermousie]

I believe in working my way up, so let's start with the bad. WTF, eps 11-12 of TTBY? How is it possible for my cute fluffy drama to go so boring? The fact that these eps focused mainly on the secondaries is a big big problem. I just don't find Eun Gyul either cute or compelling (I know, I know, minority of one) and why they thought spending a lot of time on Hana or Tae Joon/Hana would be of interest to anyone is one of the world's big mysteries. On the plus side, all that fast-forwarding saved me a lot of time so yay?

Worth checking out solely for this:




































Now, on to the mediocre, namely May Queen. I am in with this for the long haul (once again, with plentiful strategic fastforwarding) because I love the actors of the main trio and their chemistry and interactions are compelling, but my impression that this drama is written by brain-dead hamsters on a tight deadline has not lessened (why is this getting better ratings than the vastly superior Five Fingers again?) The way the whole 'is she my daughter? nope, probably not' thing is handled in this ep would have made my eyes fall out of my sockets if I felt invested enough in the ludicrous birthplot to care. I am beginning to believe pretty much every character in this except for the trio, In Hwa, and the uncle and aunt have cement for brains. This said, HJH is a darling, Jae Hee is doing his best in a role that is not making me ship him with HJH (grow a spine, dude! Go Oedipal on Daddy!) and the whole thing is worth watching for the marvelous faces Kim Jae Won makes. Why so darling, KJW! The drama gets about 50x better any time he is on-screen and he and HHJ have lovely chemistry. Can we ditch the rest of the waterlogged plot and just concentrate on them shipbuilding and enacting the most adorable revenge on everyone? Or something. I mean, who could say no to this face:





Adorableness galore:























I wish I could say I care, but I utterly lost interest in this pairing. Maybe because I am sick and cranky, but they are not cutting it any more. I can't wait for him to go off and marry In Hwa and wallow sexily, while she gets comforted by Kang San.








Ooooooh. Bring it on! A threesome, I mean!














And now on to the good - episode 4 of Nice Guy. Even cranky and sick me was not immune to how good this was. One of the things I love about this drama is that scenes are given room to breathe, characters (incredibly complex and fascinating) are given room to develop and process...





I love every bristly scene between Eun Gi and Jae Hee. With every ep we see more and more under EG's facade (she is so close to snapping - she is making all these wrong decisions because she is fighting heartless people with her heart). And we see more and more how empty Jae Hee is - she tries to fill that enormous emptiness with material things but it will never be enough because her emotional void can never be satisfied by simulacrums she is seeking. I love how rattled JH gets by every mention of Maru. I just want JH ground down, by now.








This scene and all the undercurrents - I love. I don't think Maru is in love with Eun Gi (yet?) but they click on some indefinable level. And if he can use it to get under Jae Hee's skin, all the better. While it's interesting to me how prickly Eun Gi opens up to him and even introduces him to his father and thus follows a brunch from hell. I love the scene where Maru systematically proves his utter ineligibility (while not caring a damn) and Jae Hee freaks out and Eun Gi sits in stony silence and than tells her father she doesn't care about his past, she cares about his present or future. What a contrast to Jae Hee. (And abusive daddy of course throws water at her).
























































My favorite scene in the episode wasn't one of the excellent EG/MR scenes but this one. The declaration of war by Maru - telling her he will pull JH down because she shouldn't be where she is, even the gutter is too good for her. Jae Hee's mistake is she keeps judging everyone by herself - if she appealed to his pity, understanding, better nature. But she treats him as a thing, as scum. What she tells him amounts to "you are a hooker who sells your body anyway, so just take the money and go away." Umm, lady, are you TRYING to have him go after you? But to me JH is like a badly programmed robot - she has only vague second-hand notion about how normal people interact.



































I don't really have any comments on this lovely scene except how the honesty of it contrasts with the poisonous scene with JH. And that he dries her face, wiping the damage her father has wrought.



























































Contrast of our main characters. This drama seems fond of that maneuver. Luckily, so am I.











This was the first episode in which I liked Choco. She and Maru were kinda adorable. (But his faaace when she said to move on from Jae Hee. Move on, dammit. If you don't know by now she is a monster, you are hopeless. But of course he knows, but he can't stop his feeling, which maintained him for so long, in a matter of days).























More cuteness - and he offers her a place to live if she is kicked out (and I loled like a maniac when she asked him to name ten people who gave up the throne for love and one of the ones he named was Gu Jun Pyo from Boys Over Flowers. Heeeee!) But then the tenor changes when EG forgets to hang up and JH shows and Maru overhears yet again, for himself, how monstrous JH is.


























He is there to help her fight! How is it that the perpetual gloom this show is mired in lifts the moment these two are together?


















And that's it for today, folks!

Comments

[iviih.livejournal.com]

I'm watching May queen, I'm even watching the first episodes and OMG, my brain, it hurts so much LOL. You were right about not watching the first episodes....

watching it for KJW to be honest.

Btw, It is just me who thinks Eun Gi is using Maru? I think she knows everything and instead of her falling in his trap, he is the one falling in her trap.


Also, random but just watched the director's alternative end of queen In Hyun's man and omg auhsayghusauhsausahu too perfect!


I wished to see it with better quality but better than nothing! I'm dying!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

OMG, if you found a link to the alternative ending of QIHM, pleeeease share? All I found is GIFs and they are driving me insane enough!

Re: NG. clairiere read the synopsis prepared by LKH prior to airing plus the scripts for the early eps and she says EG is not supposed to be playing Maru and is not aware of anything. I am fine with that because the angst will be sweeter (plus I love EG but she is not together enough to come up with a plan like that).

May Queen - leave your brain elsewhere when you watch. Seriously, the script is insane. But KJW makes it worth it, which is quite a feat.

[iviih.livejournal.com]

Omg, really she isn't? But that is soo not her kind of thing to do.

I saw the post with the gifs you also commented, I posted there the link there but it end up as spam...

you can find it on Soompi InHyun's thread couple.

here the video, not good quality but better than nothing:

Go to
tieba(dot)baidu(dot)com /p/1880011514
enter this password "0923" then press enter ( Your keyboard's enter key)

[oozzeee.livejournal.com]

,woah! that's some serious making out..

Kang San's pouting coz he wants some lovin' like that..

:)

[algelic.livejournal.com]

LE GASP!

That videooooooooooooooooo! :O omo omo!

[(Anonymous)]

Thank you. I hope you don´t mind I also watched it :-))

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

OMG I love you!

[elanatothemax.livejournal.com]

I too think that Eun Ki is playing Maru. It's obviously a mutually beneficial relationship, and I think they are both using each other to some degree. But she's too smart and paranoid to miss all the clues connecting him to Jae Hee.

That said, I do think she's surprised that he seems like a decent person the more she gets to know him.

[elanatothemax.livejournal.com]

Just read the other responses. Maybe I'm being too conspiracy theorist about this, but I will believe that EK doesn't know when I see it. It's just so out of character for her to fall so hard and so fast for someone she doesn't know, who appears in a situation where she is in danger (falling off the cliff). Not to mention that it is glaringly obvious that Jae Hee is jealous of and unsettled by their relationship. I'm prepared to eat crow if I'm wrong, but I must admit that I'll be a little disappointed if I am, because I personally think the Maru/Eun Ki dynamic would be much more interesting if they both start out using each other & then develop real feelings underneath the subterfuge.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I would prefer the "playing the player" scenario tbh because I like twisted but I don't think we've seen enough evidence for it and with clairiere's comments I think that scenario is DOA sadly. I think EG is a bit too unbalanced and needy to carry it out, anyway.

[clairiere.livejournal.com]

I didn't say "DOA", did I? :) We're only into eps. 5-6 this week, and this drama has a loooooooong way to go. Just because it's not happening now doesn't mean it won't happen later, when they're much more involved emotionally.

[walkwithheroes.livejournal.com]

I'm just watching Nice Guy, so that's all I'll comment on. I agree with you about the scenes between Eun Gi and Jae Hee having this intensity. EG is someone who puts on a strong face, but she's got a lot of stuff pulling her down. She's a strong girl, but she's surrounded by people trying to bring her down. JH started out as someone I could also feel for - it certainly didn't seem like she purposely manipulated MR into taking the fall. However, the more we get to see her and know her the more it becomes clear that JH will do anything and use anyone if it means getting and staying at the top. I look forward to seeing JH go down.


I also have to agree with you about Choco. I've never hated the character the way some have, but I kept wondering just what they would do with her. Yes, she is an anchor for MR and yes she has her illness (which I'm sure will pop up at a moment when things are really dramatic), but that was about it. The fact that they are fleshing her out (she knows what her brother does is wrong and she wants him to be happy, she's in love with the friend, she wants to be a singer) makes her a bit more likable to me. That scene at the cafe went on a bit too long, but I like that the writer is fleshing out characters like Choco and the friend. I like that Choco is sort of a EG/MR 'shipper and that she knows JH is bad news.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yes, I am beginning to warm up to the background characters. And the more the drama goes on, the more truly empty JH is revealed to be. I'd almost pity her if she didn't wreak so much damage in her wake.

[clairiere.livejournal.com]

Aaaaah my bastion of (NG) sanity in the midst of speculation-craziness... :) (Not sure why HN2, whose recaps and reviews I usually adore, is reading so much into the drama, when you and Ms. Koala and misterX and half a dozen other bloggers are accepting the plot and the characters for what they are, but I can't even follow the discussions any more, it's like some alt-universe they're talking about.)

I love the scene where Maru systematically proves his utter ineligibility (while not caring a damn)

I thought that made him the scariest person in the room, his utter non-reactions to Eun-Gi's father's abuse (of him, of Eun-Gi). When he tells Eun-Gi he can take whatever they dish out at him, he really means it and he really can (even if it kills more of his soul).

And yet... he's not a soulless person. He (still) can tell right from wrong. His barely suppressed fury at Jae-Hee and ability to tell she's "f*cking nuts." His honesty with Eun-Gi and ability to touch her and comfort her. (And no, he's not toying with her emotions, at least not yet, if he ever does.)

He's not in love with Eun-Gi, certainly not the way she is with him, but there's an undeniable connection btw them, a bond, beyond physical attraction, and I think he's aware of that on some level. I know some feel that he's playing her, but except for a couple of times (eg. when he showed up at the company HQ, but his real objective was Jae-Hee), I really do believe he meant every word he said to her. That he felt an attraction (in ep. 3), that she's the first woman he likes in a long time (why wouldn't he? she's everything that JH isn't), that he'd accept her if she needed his help. Eun-Gi could facilitate getting close to Jae-Hee, but he's also smart enough to do it on his own, and I feel that a lot of that's going on btw the two has very little to do with his agenda towards JH.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I would love double and triple crosses but I see no evidence of it in the drama - EG strikes me as too fragile beneath her deceptively steely facade to carry something so cold blooded out, anyway.

I agree there is a depth of compatibility and understanding between Mary and EG that simply cannot exist between him and JH. He has more in common with the abused rich girl than with JH who clawed her way out of the gutter on others' backs.

The brunch scene - I think the way he can be so fearless there is simple - out of all of them at that table, he is the only one who has nothing to lose. He has hit rock bottom before.

[clairiere.livejournal.com]

I would love double and triple crosses but I see no evidence of it in the drama

If that's what you're looking for, I wouldn't rule it out just yet. It's still early days, and there are many, many threads to unravel. Just b/c it's not happening now doesn't mean it won't happen later, when the stakes are much higher and the OTP much more involved emotionally.

I'm just saying it's not going to happen now not only b/c there's no evidence (in the eps.) and no intent (in the scripts), but b/c the plot's complicated enough already. There are at least two major events looming ahead that are going to throw everything in turmoil (possibly three, but I don't have a confirmation on the third one just yet), they don't need to pile on with 'oh btw I knew all along who you were.'

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, true. I am fine with no double crosses - this drama has enough as is. I do think it could have more impact later on, so we'll see.

[algelic.livejournal.com]

The only thing that interests me among those dramas is "Nice Guy".

Even though the first episode kinda disappointed me, it's been getting better and better. I loooooved episode 4!

I want Jae Hee to BURN and Maru and Eun Gi to be happy and poor!

[your-insomnia.livejournal.com]

Same here! Was disappointed with the first episode but have been liking it more and more as I watch layers of characterization being build up around everyone.I started out disliking Eun Gi but finding out more about her and her abusive father made me sympathize with her and I find myself growing rather fond of her.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Can I cosign the whole thing?

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

Oh, I will be all over the Nice Guy once it finishes. I find it very exhausting to watch non-finished dramas. For example, I am practically dying to know what is going to happen in Five Fingers (I loved the last episode, but I only watched it without subs)

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I find following airing dramas very exhausting but I have no patience to wait. Catch 22!

[village.livejournal.com]

There's so much good stuff when it comes to Nice Guy. I love that there's sort of a role reversal where Eun-gi is the icy male chaebol chasing the poor, and hardworking Maru. And I love that there's this extra layer of things below the surface when they're together.

We know that Maru intends to use Eun-gi as a stepping stone into JH's world but I also feel that Eun-gi knows exactly who Maru is. She has too many trust issues not to have had him investigated. And in scenes where the two of them are with JH, you can see her twisting the knife a bit because she knows JH is uncomfortable with it. Or at least that's how it appears to me.

What makes the situation compelling is that whenever they're alone together, the chemistry is blatant and there's a clear connection. I don't think she fell for him quite as hard as she wants him/everyone to believe, but I do think she's fascinated, attracted and she's on her way to that place. And while Maru hasn't fallen for her yet, he does feel for her. It's only a matter of time before his heart is completely moved by her.

Of course she might not have any idea who he is and my point is moot but their dynamic is still fascinating either way.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

My main thing with NG - I love that pretty much every one of these people is damaged but even though not all are sympathetic, all are fascinating.

[elanatothemax.livejournal.com]

I am obseeessssssed with Nice Guy. So glad to be following it along with you!!

[antonia zc (from livejournal.com)]

i dropped To the beautiful you after episode 1, mainly because i fall asleep while watching it and i didn`t care about it.
i'm also watching Nice Guy, the first 2 epis where ok with me... episode 3 and 4 I just love them, i love EG and MR scenes to pieces (even if i'm not sure about MCW 's acting, but i think she's getting better - sorry MCW's fans) after episode's 4 ending i'm dying to know what'll happen next, hope this drama has a happy ending for MR and EG (pleaseeeeeeee)
now maybe i'm a little shallow but i'm more hooked with May Queen than with Nice Guy, maybe it's all KJW's fault (i'm sure it is) but i looooooooove all his scenes, he's the best of the drama and he has great chemistry with HJH, plus HJH and JH look like siblings (after 15 years dating a kiss on the cheek is the great deal????). I also like IW's scenes, and aunt + uncle = amazing!!!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I am into MQ solely for the adorableness that is KJW/HJH. They are beyond awesome together!