TL;DR: I desperately want a reference to “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” now. Please give it to me in the final episode?
Woo-jin tried so hard in this episode and things did not turn out very well for him, which is fitting as we head into the finale. His character has consistently been in my top three through the entire show, so while I’m irritated by some of the things he did this episode, I’ve already forgiven him for basically all of it.
TL;DR: The future timeline remembered how close it was to the finale and got back on track.
But before we get to that, I just want to take a moment to appreciate all the lovely emotional moments that happened in part one. With Bum-gyun’s memory quickly fading, we were able to see three people’s perspectives on happiness, identity, and memory, and I liked that there weren’t any neat answers. Continue reading “Circle: Two Worlds Connected, Episode 10”
TL;DR: There are only two people left unaccounted for in the future. I am concerned.
It took us three-fourths of the show, but we have finally uncovered the crucial step between the blue bug bots and Human B, and it was an alien’s compassion for a small boy. (Perhaps I’m reading too much into Byul’s emotional capabilities back in 2007, but I’d like to think that at that point she had figured out enough about fitting into humanity that she wanted to solve Woo-jin’s problem.) It was a sweet little moment from Woo-jin’s point-of-view, but apparently it was also the one temptation all of the nearby neuroscientists couldn’t resist.
Well, with the exception of one, that is. Maybe two, if Woo-jin counts. Continue reading “Circle: Two Worlds Connected, Episode 9”
TL;DR: I am disappointed that you chose the least interesting answer for one of the grand mysteries.
So far my greatest disappointment in Circle is the fact that the future timeline is nowhere near as emotionally engaging as the present timeline. In fact, it serves more to provide disappointing answers rather than build something worthwhile on its own. The future timeline really stalled in this episode, with way too much screen time wasted on putting people into positions instead of getting to the action. Continue reading “Circle: Two Worlds Connected, Episode 8”
TL;DR: Why did you have to ruin something I was enjoying so much?
Everything was great through part one! I was really looking forward to talking about how Professor Han is in full-blown evil scientist mode, what it means for us as the narrative continues to pull away from Woo-jin’s perspective and focus more on Bum-gyun, and the revelation that Gyu-chul made a run for it after hiding all the crucial data.
And then part two happened, and I just want to scream. (Trigger warnings for suicide and child sexual abuse, for the record.) Continue reading “Circle: Two Worlds Connected, Episode 7”
TL;DR: “If we get married, let’s live like friends and have fun, like this, forever.” <– What you should never say if you actually want this to happen.
Would you look at that: a saguek where the end of the childhood portion is marked by tragedy, bloodshed, and the separation of the OTP. AKA, standard fare for sageuks. It felt a little hollow to me, partly because Yeonsangun’s tendency to make what could have been written off as a childhood indiscretion/impulse as something being on par with treason is just plain tiring, and partly because I’m really annoyed that they bothered to separate Chae-gyeong and Jinseong at this point in time. Continue reading “Seven Day Queen, Episodes 3 & 4”
TL;DR: We’ve hit the midpoint, friends, and that means we have several new answers and new questions.
Jung-yeon carried the emotional weight of these two episodes, which was a welcome surprise. As more of her secrets get revealed, Woo-jin becomes shrouded in mystery himself, and that is a fun narrative switch I did not anticipate. Continue reading “Circle: Two Worlds Connected, Episodes 5 & 6”
Despite Gary’s departure, this was actually one of the better Running Man months in (my) recent memory.
#324: Goodbye, Gary
I had half expected that Gary’s farewell episode (well, the first half of his farewell, at least) would be something a bit…grander. You know, one of those episodes where one of the members is the star/main character with all sorts of racing about and ridiculous hijinks and constant focus on Gary.
Instead we got a quieter, more intimate episode, with small, silly games and a hidden mission that Gary never quite caught on to. It felt like an everyday, the-draw-is-the-banter episode, which is both bittersweet and also fitting for a departure episode.
(And of course I cried at the end of this episode–between Ji-hyo starting to cry and all the touching letters and presents at the end, I stood no chance.)
I don’t know if it will make my rewatch list; we’ll have to see how I feel in a week or so. Right now I’m mostly sad about saying goodbye, even though I’ve known this was coming for months now.
TL;DR: Oh no, it’s cute.
That’s not to say there aren’t some problems. Episode one in particular feels remarkably uneven at points due to the jarring juxtaposition of comedic and dramatic scenes. (And, as is usual for me, I find the style of humor more irritating than enjoyable.) Still, despite some pet peeves, Seven Day Queen manages to do the most important thing well: putting us solidly behind plucky country girl and future queen, Chae-gyeong. Continue reading “Seven Day Queen, Episodes 1 & 2”
I am very excited about this week’s episodes of Circle because we now have confirmation that Jung-yeon is a constant in all timelines. As such, I thought it would be fun (and possibly even helpful) to do a quick overview of what we know about her and the questions that are still waiting to be answered.
Byul, aka The Alien (2007)
What we know:
The questions:
Continue reading “What we know and don’t know about Jung-yeon”