I'm Jessica and this is Pebaki Rambles, where a couple of
friends review Korean dramas and we're back out of hiatus really
fast. To do a review with two of my
really good friends, I've got Sammy from Korean from contact
slash BL Buddies podcast. Hey Sammy, what's up?
And I have Liliana with me from Tian Soju podcast.
How are you Liliana? I'm.
Good. Thank you.
How are you? I'm doing well, so we were just
giggling before we got on this podcast talking about a whole
other thing which is only for Love, the currently airing sea
drama with Wong Hoodie and by Liliu.
Yeah, so we'll just be. I'll just switch my.
Brain. Yeah, I'll just be switching my
brain. I've out switched.
We've been, yeah. So we basically have to change
gears here to talk about Duna. And the reason why we're doing
this podcast is because Sammy really wanted to talk about
Duna. And she was like, are you going
to cover Duna? Have you watched it?
And I was like, no, I hadn't. And then Liliana was also like
I'll volunteers tribute to talk about Duno with you guys.
So then this trio like came to be and I have not made it a
secret about my feelings on Duna as I've been watching.
It's taken me longer than usual to watch 9 episodes of a show,
but we are finally here to talk about it, hash it out and just
have a good time. So before we do, if this is your
first time listening, thank you so much.
Go ahead and subscribe on your favorite podcast app.
We're on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcast and many more.
And if you like us, please give us a review on Apple Podcasts
and Spotify. Also, come check us out on
social media to stay up to date on our latest episodes and
reviews and content and Tiktoks and everything else.
You can find us on Twitter X, formerly Twitter, Instagram,
Facebook and Tiktok at Tibac Pod.
And if you're a fan, please consider becoming a patron.
It is such a great way for you to get involved and show your
support. You can check out the page on
patreon.com/always Critic Pod and thank you.
Shout out to our patrons, Curtis, Bale, Cindy, CD, Alana,
Grace, Lorna, Caitlin, Sammy, Tanmay, Michelle Adya and Erin,
thank you so much for being patrons.
So I'll just go ahead and give the Asian Wiki synopsis, go
through the cast, which is not very extensive, and then we'll
just like get into it. OK.
Sounds good ladies. Yeah, I'm ready.
I'm already laughing, OK, the Asian Wiki synopsis reads.
Yi Duna was a member of an idol girl group.
She was the main vocalist and the most popular member of the
group, but she suddenly announced her retirement.
She now stays at a shared house located near university and
rarely goes out. Meanwhile, Yi Wanjun is a
university student. He's warm hearted ordinary.
The most fact that they call him ordinary.
It's pretty funny. OK, warm hearted ordinary young
man without anything special in his background.
He begins to stay at the shared house where either not resides.
His warm heart gives either not comfort.
They get attracted to each other.
That's basically it. So that's that's it.
That's the story. That sums it up perfect.
That's all nine episodes. Yeah, so it aired on October
20th, 2023. So we are less than a month
after its complete airing. All nine episodes dropped at the
same time on Netflix. It is directed by actually a
very like, prolific director. We have Yi Jung Kyo and he's
directed. Romance is a bonus book.
The Good Wife, My First Time, A Witch's Love, Heartless City In
Need of Romance 2012. But most importantly, this man
is directed Crash landing on you.
That makes sense. That makes a lot of sense, but.
One of my faves. Aha.
Are you in like 50 million other?
People I know, right? I know, so popular.
So it was written by Minsong A, who also wrote the web comic
that this is based on, which I believe is called The Girl
Downstairs. And who is the Girl Downstairs?
It is BAE Susie. She plays Duna.
She's been in Anna, Startup Vagabond while you were sleeping
uncontrollably fond goo family book Dream High.
We've actually covered This is the 4th drama from Susie that
we've covered on the podcast 'cause we did Dream High while
you Were sleeping and startups. So there's episodes for each one
of the shows in the back catalog.
How do you guys feel about her? How do you guys feel about
Susie? I think A big, like breath.
Before because like I will say she's a very, like, divisive
actress. Like lots of people really love
her When they really, really love her, Like they are very
vocal about it. That's great.
I think she's improved from earlier dramas.
I mean, she's not necessarily an actress that I'm like, Oh my
God, it's Susie. I need to check that drama out,
if that makes sense. But I will say I have seen quite
a few dramas of hers. I saw, you know, while we were
sleeping and I saw start up and I feel like she has slowly been
improving on her acting. So yeah, that's all I that's my
two sides. I think I.
Think I have to. I have to agree.
I mean, I did. I think while we were sleeping
was probably the first one I saw her in and.
I I enjoyed her, but I wasn't like, Oh my God, like you said,
I'm going to follow her everything she comes out with
kind of thing. But I yeah, I agree that she's
gotten better in her acting. This character in and of itself
was kind of like bland. So I didn't feel like she needed
to act a lot. Yes.
So I've my thoughts on Susie are so well documented because we've
done 3 episodes now on a show at first.
But yeah, she's improved over time.
But I personally can't get over like, it's Susie, right?
I'm never lost. And like, Oh my God, I didn't
even realize that that was Susie.
She was like totally different character.
I was so immersed in her performance.
Never, never, never. I'm always like, oh look, it's
Susie. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I'm never bamboozled, never hoodwinked into whatever role
that she's playing. And I think her best.
I think her best show is start up.
To be quite honest, I thought I had problems with while you were
sleeping and it was more plot than her in particular.
And then dream high. Like if you go back and listen
to that episode, we really ranked on her and her
performance. It was just terrible.
That was the first thing she was ever in.
That was 2010. It's now been 13 years, and I'm
still a little bit like, where's the, you know, people improve
for less, People improve, project to project.
And I feel like it's just marginal for her in this role.
She's playing almost like a facsimile of herself because she
used to be AK Pop Idol. So she is a former K Pop Idol.
She knows how to sing and dance. She was trained and JYP which is
a whole nother thing but. Yeah, you know, this feels like,
I don't know if you guys saw that movie.
Marry me with Jlo. Oh, and Owen Conagh?
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I think I.
Have Wilson, Owen, Wilson. Yeah, yeah.
Where Jlo's playing an aging pop star with a very similar
aesthetic to her own Jlo career in real life.
And she was dealing with a lot of the same issues that she
deals with in her regular life. So it felt very on brand.
And she, Jlo excelled in that role because it was playing off
of the own. Her own.
Yeah. So this show could have done the
same. I think it could have been like,
Oh my God, like this is so revelatory and all this stuff.
And wow, she really understands like the concept and it's so
meta and whatever else. No, I didn't necessarily.
Feel like that. But she plays opposite Yang
Sejong who plays one June, the student that gets a They have an
attraction and he's been in a lot of stuff like doctor,
romantic, dual temperature of love, still 17 in my country,
the new Age. How do you guys feel about this
guy? Have you seen him in a lot of
stuff? I think I've watched him in a
couple of things. I watched him in Temperature of
Love and Doctor Romantic and still 17 as well.
I think still 17 is probably one of his best roles to date.
That is a really, really, really good drama.
But then again, his leading lady leaves for no question in that
one. So yeah, I I don't know.
Like he's OK again. I've enjoyed his role so far,
but it's not like somebody that, you know, I'm chasing after
every every, you know, for every, every drama that he does,
right? This was actually my first time
watching a drama with him in it, OK?
And I really enjoyed him. I thought he was.
I like how they kind of described him as plain.
And, you know, I don't know, I guess I kind of liked that
aspect about him. Because, yeah, he wasn't.
He was like, I think it made it slightly more believable.
It wasn't this like stunning man, you know, just all of a
sudden being a college kid, it was just an an average guy.
He's very handsome, average guy, but just just an average guy.
So I did, I did like him and I thought he definitely acted a
lot better than Susie did. I I I connected more to him.
I felt his feelings. More than hers.
So yeah, I think that I, I did like him and I probably would go
back, 'cause I I do know that temperature of love.
I've seen like bits and pieces of it, and it looked really
good. So I might, like, go back, yeah.
So I might go back and watch some of his stuff.
Yeah. I also watched my country, The
New Age. I didn't finish it because.
And you should watch it. Oh my God, Sam, 'cause it has
who? The one in it.
Yes. Oh wait, that is he the the
opposite lead. Oh my God, I didn't even.
OK, I do know him then. I've seen, I've seen bits and
pieces. Then I do know him.
I didn't even realize that was him.
Yeah. Oh wow.
It's like a long haired, wusha type hero.
So definitely give that a shot. It was just kind of like super
heavy. And it was, I don't know, like I
just wasn't feeling it. So maybe I should go back and
watch it, 'cause I dropped it like at episode like 8 or
something and it was a 20 episode show with like hour long
episode 20. Episode shows are killing me
now, man, girl, tell me about it.
So. That being said.
Minus the Chinese dramas that go from 50 plus, you know, like.
I was about to. Say a drama realm.
Yeah, I I I think also it's because when it comes to K
dramas, it's so rare for it to be an hour or less.
It's like an hour 10. Some of them are pushing an hour
20 an hour and a half. And I'm just like I can't do
this. Like I need it to be at maximum
do an hour. I can do with, you know I can
deal with that an hour is OK. Even though like my sweet spot
for an episode is like 40 to 45 minutes but I know K dramas
don't do that. So an hour.
But no they they just love pushing it to like an hour 10 an
hour 20 or you know do a hospital playlist and do like
almost two hours per episode And I'm like, I can't.
I can't the. Movie is calm down.
It's insane. So I dropped a Spaniard show one
time and it was such a good show, but each episode was
almost two hours long and I was like, I can't sit here for two
hours and watch one. It's.
Wild my my my partner watched for some reason got hooked on
this like Turkish show and it's like 52 episodes, 2 1/2 hours
each, 2 1/2 hours each, 50 plus episodes and he watched the
whole thing and I'm like I don't understand it's that is that is
that is commitment. Yeah, I've only watched one
Turkish. This is such a side tango.
But I've only watched one Turkish show and I couldn't
finish it because it was so long.
The episodes were so long, but I still remember the the leading
lady. Her character's name was Fadi
Day. Does that ring any bells for
anybody? I can't remember what it's
called for the life of me. Anyway, if you're listening and
you know what Turkish drama I'm talking about, please, like hit
me up and be like you watch this.
Because I couldn't finish it. It was wonderful, but I couldn't
finish it. OK, so anyway, what did you guys
think about Duna? And I don't know.
Who wants to go first? I will go last everyone.
First, because I think I'm going to be like the middle ground
here. Because I reckon Sam loves this
show. Jess doesn't necessarily like
this show and I'm like the meh. It's like, you know I didn't
particularly have that explosive feelings towards it either way.
I was just like, you know, I I I will say I finished it because
we were recording this because otherwise I would I would just
be like I I don't I it's not there's nothing really grabbing
me. But yeah, it's not like I was.
Isn't that invested? Like it's literally you know
that sound when you just go, you know, it's it's like it's middle
ground, middle of the ground, so to speak.
So yeah, that's my my thoughts on it.
You're just kind of meh. Yeah, like I don't.
I don't know why it I. We'll get into it into in the
spoilers, because I feel like I'll probably spoil some things
if I explain why that's my reaction.
So without like spoilering anything I think like also I did
binge this yesterday like I watched it all in one sitting.
I I was very deliberate with my not.
I didn't Fast forward, but I did put it on like a 1.75 speed.
At one point I was just like I this is fine.
They speak. Very slowly.
So I can keep up with it. Like if I can keep up with
Chinese dramas when they're going 10 miles an hour speaking,
I I can deal with this one, which was like they, I feel like
they deliberately spoke slowly, like throughout the drama.
So I was like, you know, I can speed it up, It's fine.
So yeah, that that's how I binge this whole thing yesterday.
In one sitting. I don't know if it would have
affected me if I had watched it like an episode a day or
something like that, if it would have, if my feelings would have
been slightly different. But yeah, that was my two cents
on it. Like, I didn't think it was the
worst thing I've ever watched. But it's by no means the best
thing I've ever watched either. It's like a very middle of the
ground. More towards the lower end
rather than the. Higher end, yeah, the lower.
End rather than the higher end. So, yeah.
All right, Sammy, talk to me. Well, OK, I it's OK Where do I
begin? Because I did.
I really did enjoy it. But I understand why people
don't. And I and I can almost agree on
some points like. Actually a lot of points like.
I agree with her. It wasn't this riveting, like,
you know, amazing drama. But for some reason I feel like
I just. I really something about it just
like hit me. I don't know what it is because
like I I completely understand why people didn't like it.
But for me it it just like. I'm not going to spoil because I
don't want to spoil like, she said.
We'll wait for that. There was there was points where
I was very angry and there was points where I was like, I hate
this show and then I was like, but at the same time the reason
I hate it is why I like it. So that's it's kind of like that
that that feeling I would and I I would almost say I'm in that
same middle range. As Liliana, but on the other
side of I would recommend it. I did enjoy it, you know, I
would like tell people to watch. It I I kept thinking, do you by
any chance think because it's. I don't know how to phrase this,
but because you write books that are kind of like almost in the
same world, they're not the same by any chance, but you know.
And then they would that affect or skew like your opinion of it
do you think? It could have simply because I
am writing AK Pop series right now that maybe I was like oh AK
Pop Idol. I need all the inspiration and
this is great and kind of thing. So maybe it could have skewed my
my view. Yeah, I never thought of that.
But yeah, that could be could be a reason.
It's an interesting take, Liliana.
I do not go ahead books and again like I've watched a lot of
musical K dramas, as I said in the Dream High episode, and
they're usually pretty pretty fun if nothing else.
And I think I was expecting it to be a little more lively, I
guess. And it wasn't.
It was more of a quiet show. And there's nothing wrong with
quiet shows. I love quiet shows.
Like, I just talked recently about my liberation notes and I
love that show. It's very quiet, introspective,
probing. And the show duna is not that,
even if it wants to be. So I think it was boring the
most, the best, the worst crime I think is that it's boring to
me and that nothing really happens.
It's literally just episode upon episode of Susie outside chain
smoking in near freezing temperatures and.
Very little clothes, scantily clad, a lack of clothing,
alarming lack of clothing. And then Yang Sejong just coming
upon her and being riveted for some reason by this pop star out
of her element. And I there's nothing to latch
onto to me for either character because they don't really go
into that much detail. Every bit of back story that you
have for each character is told in these sort of flashbacks.
And when I mean flashbacks, it's not like a big scene.
It's literally flashes of story, like a little vignette here, a
little thing here. Never a complete scene that
gives you the full context. And so you just kind of have to
make of it what you will and connect the dots.
And in a nine episode show, you'd think this would be really
tight. I was like they have space here
to expound and actually tell us some of the story and get to the
meat of the issues and either one of their traumas so to
speak, or like what they're what they're kind of running away
from. And I don't think they ever got
there and it was just sort of implied.
Why are we implying like just like this isn't a 16 episode
show, this is a nine episode show.
And why is there still empty space?
I think also for me, there was a lot of like side characters that
were not necessarily needed in the drama.
I would have rather them have like focused completely on our
main couple and their story. Because at the end of the day,
without knowing where these characters come from, there's no
way you're going to be able to connect them and like believe in
their relationship and why they were kind of like so dependent
on each other for that amount of time.
Like you can see it, but it's not.
Do you know it's not like hard set in stone if that makes
sense. So I I thought there was a lot
of time used elsewhere that wasn't necessarily needed and I
don't, I was about to say I don't think I've, I don't watch
a lot of like K pop based dramas.
But for example there was one and I think it was either last
year or the year before and it's called Le Coupe or something.
Did you guys watch that one? No, I don't.
Think so. This is another show and it's
always. Nodding my head, no, no, no,
it's I can't remember what it's called now, but that's I think
it's something called lacoop or something and.
That is what made me think about this drama is because that is
about a failing girl group and they're about to be like
disbanded and they say we are going to turn this around but
after we hit a number one, we will still disband.
And they did such a beautiful like pacing and that's a 12
episode. So it's only like 3 more
episodes than Duna and they touch on a lot of things that
Duna touch. Pictures on.
But they do it so beautifully and they do it like really
nuanced and what not. So when I was watching this, I
kept thinking this could be as good as that one, but it's not.
So I in the back of my mind, I kept like thinking about that
one. I'm going to have to look up the
name of it. It's called Idol, the Coupe.
Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah, that's the one.
It's a fairly like underrated K drama for me.
I think. OK, but.
It's basically it is set in the K pop world and like I said, it
is about a girl group who is failing miserably called Cotton
Candy. Yeah.
And their company is about to like disband them.
And there's a lot they talk about stalkers, they talk about,
you know, sassangs. They talk about a lot of things
from the industry that Doona kind of like touched on so
quick. Yeah, it hints that so quickly.
And yeah, I think that one did a better job.
Handling like those storylines. So while I was watching this, I
I will say I may be very biased because it kept me bringing back
to that drama and thinking this could have been like, I know
there's a way to do this better. They just didn't quite land it
in Doona, I think. I agree.
I think you know. I also agree with the whole
There was characters that I don't think we're necessary, and
if they were supposed to be necessary.
That should have been made way more apparent in like the
beginning. It was just kind of like they
just kind of got kept getting thrown in randomly and you're
like, wait, why did this person just come into the plot line and
then just leave the plot line? And I I do get that.
Yeah, the mom. Yeah, the mom.
Yeah, I I even had that as a note that I said.
I was like, why is she even here?
Like you mentioned her, such a big name to Kim Sung Young.
Exactly. You could have mentioned her,
left it at she was a shitty parent, and then just never
brought it. Like never.
You know, expounded on that. But you brought her in to just
already reaffirm that when that space, like you said, could have
been filled with something else, like their relationship,
figuring out whatever. Yeah, I think that this
relationship, this couple, they just like the idea of each
other. Yeah, and they never really got
to know each other ever. They are a little bit toxic in
my mind because they are very, very reliant on each other.
She needs him to heal herself, if that makes sense.
And he kind of needs her a little bit as well.
And then you see the reversal towards the end where she's
like. You know, I don't quite need you
anymore, but I want you. And it's like, well, that should
have been the case kind of like all along.
Because if you're reliant on somebody else for that happiness
and that that relationship is like doomed to to to fail in a
sense like, I understand. I also think like one of the
themes. And this is like my take away
from, you know, the drama as a whole.
I think one of the themes that they were trying to work on was
like timing and how timing is so key in like relationships in
general. Like when they first meet, she
kind of needs them. It's like, you know, that's
their timing to, you know, because she needs them.
But later on, she doesn't anymore.
Like that relationship just doesn't sit well anymore in the
time in their lives that they are at that point.
But but yeah, I I don't know. I don't know.
I feel like this was slow and fast all at the same time.
The pacing was off, especially the last three episodes.
I was like, I this is ridiculous.
I don't expect this out of AK drama.
I you know, K dramas are known for.
Being good. Like to me at least, like when I
think of a K drama, I think of really good storytelling in
general and by norm, not all the time, but by norm.
They tend to have like, you know, good pacing and storyline
and whatnot, and this just felt like a little bit all over the
place. A little bit.
I know a little bit. The first, Yeah, that's the one
I was looking for. Like for the first six episodes
we were telling one story, and then for the last three episodes
we wanted to cram in everything. Yes.
So we told 50 stories at the same time.
And I'm like, this is not good editing.
This is not good storytelling like.
I just, there's no need for it. There is no need for it.
And like all of a sudden, everybody's story matters and we
need to know what's happening to every character.
And I'm like, we don't. We really don't like, we don't.
So yeah, I have other thoughts, but I'm like, I I don't want to
spoil. I don't know the spoil section.
Yeah, I think that the pacing issues really stem from the
writing, and it's written by the web comic Minsonga.
And unfortunately you see this all the time.
And like the West too is, you can't have if you don't.
If you write books, you don't necessarily automatically know
how to write a screenplay. And that's the case of, here's a
great example, JK Rowling with the fantastic Beast series.
That is a train wreck of ignoring all the controversy
around JK Rowling. Those Fantastic Beasts movies
are hot trash, and it's because she was the sole screenwriter on
it. And.
I never watched them, so I have no idea.
Oh God. Well, I'm have been blessed to
have watched all two of those movies and thank God they have
totally done away with that franchise.
They're not trying to make more movies because they're they just
suck so bad. And it's the same for, jeez, no,
this doesn't. This is, I was going to invoke
George Lucas. I don't want to do that because
what I mean is you need to have, you know an editor or somebody
that's there telling you no or some kind of sounding board.
And usually authors are just doing, you know, they have their
own outline. They have things they want to
accomplish. They have characters that are
their favourites and they write to that and then when it goes to
a publisher, they edit it. Yeah, but for screenplays,
there's no screenplay. Like, there's no hierarchy in a
screenplay, right? It's however it is like it's all
loosey, goosey. They might bring in someone
later to jazz it up and change, make some changes and it go
through multiple hands. But at the end of the day, it's
all case by case, and her being the slow screenwriter on this
makes me think they were like, oh, we'd love your webtoon,
we're going to adapt it into a show.
Why don't you write the screenplay?
And there was like nobody else saying.
Hey, this is not a good idea. Paced like she started.
I felt like it was almost like she started writing it.
She was like, oh, I can get through this, you know, blah
blah, blah the like. The pacing was good for six
episodes good. And to me, well, the pacing was
good. And then all of a sudden, like
you said, they rushed all these characters and they rushed all
these plot lines in that if they had been built up throughout
those first six episodes, it wouldn't have felt rushed.
So I almost was like she was writing these six episodes and
went, oh crap, I only have three left, OK, just put everything
else in here. I'm not going to focus on, just
get it all in. Like I got to fix it all the
characters and blah, blah, blah. So yeah, it felt like a dream as
well. Like, I don't know why the whole
show feels like a dream sequence.
Yeah, it doesn't feel. I think, again, I think that's
the way it was filmed. I think that's the way it was.
Shy. Yeah.
OK.
So I don't have really have that many other things to say other
than like, I was very displeased by this show.
I probably would have dropped it had I not been like been boozled
into doing this episode. So I I want to thank you guys
for, you know, watching this show with me.
I think Liliana was the only other person on here that was
like, I would have dropped it. I would have.
We have integrity people. We watched the whole.
Thing I didn't even watch it on a faster speed I.
Oh, I did regular speed and I was very distraught because.
And then the other thing was I didn't think that they had
chemistry. Did you guys feel like this?
This couple had tremendous amount of chemistry and it was
worth. It I watched.
I for me, I don't think it's necessarily a, again, actor,
actress problem. In this case it stems from the
writing I think because I am a firm believer in to, you know, a
good actor and a good actress can't make a script good it.
There's just no way they can. And I feel like because to that
point we haven't really seen them build the relationship or
anything like that. Their story hasn't been told
well for me personally. I wasn't really that invested.
And if I'm not invested they can have like the best on screen
chemistry. It's probably not going to work
for me because I'm like, you know, I'm not invested in this.
Like it's not. OK, so I think they were OK.
But again, that I feel like that's just my impression for
the whole thing. It's just like it was OK, but
it's not even like it was OK. It's not like that, you know,
underwhelming. I feel like I was a little bit
underwhelmed with their, their chemistry.
So yeah. I I had moments where I liked
their their chemistry was really good.
And then? There were moments where I was
like, are these two even in the same drama, Like, and and that's
coming from someone who enjoys the show.
But, like, it's true, 'cause there was just moments where I'm
like, I do you two like each other.
And then there was other moments where it was like, oh wow, like
there's there's a connection here.
So it was very. Yeah, touch and go.
And again, like she said, I don't know if I can necessarily
blame them and their acting, if it was the writing that, you
know, kind of steered them in that direction.
Right? Right.
I heard a crazy, bold claim on TikTok that this was some of the
best kissing ever in a cave drama.
Absolutely not. Listen, my, pardon my French
book, get the. Fuck out of here.
Listen, I love. I.
Let's be real here. I will.
Sometimes start K dramas because of a kiss I saw on Instagram or
TikTok and I'm like, I need to know more about this and I will
watch the entire show that while they had their moments,
absolutely freaking not. Absolutely not.
Forget whoever said that doesn't watch K dramas.
Or they're like they're very young and don't understand.
No. No.
Like, I will say no no, because like, I literally started the K
drama. Oh, revenge marriage something.
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Perfect revenge marriage.
Yes, yes. And I'm like that is good
chemistry. That is good build up.
You know I I'm all down for that one and literally I've only seen
three episodes and I'm like, I'm sold.
Give me more right now. So you know that's like and
that's that's like a muck Jung. So you know if if people are
hooching and chooching about a Mac Jung and chemistry in a Mac
Jung, you know it's going to be good.
And like I I will say, I will also say in defence of this
drama a little bit, I am watching really good dramas
right now. So you can't.
You can't. But but I do think it does
affect me a little bit because I'm like.
When when a drama, like when you're watching something that
you're really, really enjoying, for me personally, it works that
way. When you're watching something
that you're really, really enjoying and then like, you swap
to something that you're not enjoying as much.
And it's like it almost like the flaws become even more obvious,
if that makes sense. No, it makes 100% sense.
Because you're like, no, no, no, Because you're like, but you've
just watched this and this works really well.
Like, why can't you make it work?
So I feel like that, to me, was also the place that I was at as
well, because I've been. Guys, I've been, I've, I've left
the house Friday morning and then I've not left the house for
three days because I've just been in my house watching
dramas. It's been a great weekend.
So I was like, this is getting, you know, ridiculous.
So I feel like I was even getting more frustrated for the
fact that I was like I could be watching anything else right now
and living the time waster. Life and this is what I'm
watching, so this is wasting my time, is what you're saying?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, it was.
It was OK. So Sammy, if you can just
briefly just what pinpoint exactly what you loved about the
show? I think you it actually it
didn't have to do with the main two couple like the main couple.
It actually had to do with the the one friend Jinju.
The the girl, I don't want to spoil it.
The second lead essentially I she was a character that I
really fell in love with. And I, you know, I was kind of I
was more interested in her story arc throughout the story.
Yes, I I did enjoy the two main characters a little, but it was
more I I ended up enjoying the side characters more.
Than the main couple by the end. And I think there was a lot of
lessons that you kind of learned but not fully learned through
every single character. And I liked those lessons.
I just wish that they were completed a little bit more.
But I think I liked I I liked Jinju.
She was probably my absolute favorite character.
Did you like the second couple? I did love the second couple.
I saw the 2nd couple. That's the second couple.
Yeah, they were. Which, which, which, who, who
who are? We Could so was like the workout
guy. The workout guy and the
Brazilian. Girl oh, Oh yeah, She and you
know the living daylights out of me, but.
She's very good. She was speaking Portuguese.
Portuguese Yeah, that's right. When you know when.
In the beginning when she was yelling at the at the
ex-boyfriend. Because she's from Brazil, like
she lived in Brazil. Oh.
I'm going to have to have a look at that because I missed that.
Completely. Well, to be fair, she was
watching it at speed up speed because like the girl was
intermixing Portuguese and Korean, so you might have not
heard the Portuguese and only heard the Korean ending of
things. Also there is there is like yes,
Brazilian Portuguese is still considered Portuguese, but if
you get down to the nitty gritty of it, it's very different to
like mainland. Europe like the one that I.
Like Spain and like Spanish and Spain and Spain.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Very similar.
But I completely miss this. I I will have to go back.
That's why she was wearing, like, all the Brazil shirts.
I caught the fact that she was like, coming from Brazil and
whatnot. I caught all of that.
But I did not like, catch the She's speaking Portuguese.
That's really bad. Oh God, I'm going to get my
Portuguese card revoked at this point.
I thought you would for sure have an opinion on that.
Yeah, yeah. All right.
That's bugger. I'm gonna have to watch that and
like, see how good it is or how bad it is.
Yeah, I at first I didn't understand like why they were
bringing her in, but I kind of liked her being brought in at
this. I liked all those secondary
characters. I just wish that they had
brought them in in a more timely fashion, like they introduced
the two roommates, the two guy roommates.
Right off the bat, 'cause he gets to the thing and whatnot,
but then you don't really see or hear them for like 4 more
episodes and then they all of a sudden come back in.
But I wanted to like grow with them.
And that whole house share thing on, well, that was something
that I saw online was that people were like, oh, I really
like the female relationships in this show.
What all 5 minutes of it that you got and I was like, what?
I I liked it. I wish there was more of it.
But yeah, I can't say that that I just.
I think I liked the characters individually especially, like I
said, especially Jinju. But yeah, I think that's that's
why I liked the show. I liked there's there was things
that I felt could have impacted more, but they did make an
impact on me at least. Gotcha.
Well, I think we have come to the end of our rope here in the
non spoiler section, so I'm going to break for spoilers if
you guys are OK with that. But before we do, what would you
rate this show Out of Five's Hold you bottles?
Why do I keep laughing? Because they're like it was.
Because you hate it. I like it.
Liliana's mid about it. OK oh, since I'm mid about it I
I will go three like I really wish I would go more 2.5 but OK
2.52.5. I'd say I'd say like 42424.2 all
right, so 2 bottles, that's really high.
Look at Jessica. I was like 4.
Should I go 39? Should I go 3.93 point nine OK
3393.9 All right 2 bottles 2.53 point 91.5.
Wow, I'm shocked you even gave it.
Yeah, I was like I I thought. She was going to go like point.
I thought she was going to go point .2 bottles.
A singular shot, 1 1/2, so 2 bottles.
Because if I like the second couple.
I thought the last episode was pretty good.
All the things considered. I think maybe I was just happy
it was over, but I was like, all right, we can move on.
Let's just get into the spoilers like shit.
So if you don't care about spoilers, keep listening.
If you've watched the show, keep listening and we'll see you on
the other side. You want to come in?
All right. We're on the other side of
spoilers, so I'm not sure where you guys want to start first.
I'm totally open. I don't even know.
I don't even know where to start, where to start.
See, this is the thing, right? This right here says everything
you need about this drama. It's the fact that whenever you
do a review about a drama and you're dying to just jump in to
spoilers, that shows that like, how excited you are.
If you're like, I don't even know where to stop and not even
go to weigh so. See, I know where I want to
start, but that seems ridiculous.
Yeah, you just go like it doesn't matter.
Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
I just agree on it. I want it to start at the end.
OK, let's do it. Because I have a very strong
love hate relationship with The End, simply because you know, so
she goes back into her idol life.
But why? Yeah.
First of all, why oh why? She goes back?
Wait, she I She goes back because she doesn't have the
money to break the contract. Yeah, she can't get out of the
contract. Yeah, can't get out of the
contract, so they convince her to go back, but as a so she
wears up and down that that's not why she went back.
Yeah, but it is. It is, but it is.
And and well, then she also says that she started singing again.
They gloss over that song. I was like she.
Started humming. She started humming, and I was.
Like she was. Thinking she's humming,
Congrats. And then all of a sudden she
meets with one of her old group members and you know, the group
member. I again, I liked these other
characters because the group member goes, I know why you
could like I believe you that you couldn't sing, because I
feel that way too. And like I wish they expanded on
that. You know, the stress of being an
idol, like causing this, like panic and and you know, these
kinds of things that just like could destroy their career.
Simply dynamics. The group dynamics, the
animosity that they seem to have.
Towards each other and then you know that, and then that manager
who's an absolute piece of. Garbage for her, and I thought
there was something sexual going on between them and I.
Would have been there. Definitely is because he kind of
like almost. I don't I I'm gonna say he
almost grooms her in a way. Like he almost grooms her
because he approaches her when she's very, very young.
And I will say this kind of speaks to something in K Pop in
general that's happening in Korea right now.
It's the fact that they are having.
Literal kids debut and singing these over sexualized songs and
you know, it's ridiculous. I I think there should be a set
like. Age for you to be able to debut,
but this is very much shown in here.
She did not have a great childhood.
She, you know, her childhood was garbage and he took complete
advantage of that by approaching her and offering her this whole
new life and saying I can give you this, I can, you know, make
everything better and then specifically asked would be be a
family. Yeah, And because that's what
she said she was like. Yeah, because.
That's what she wants, that's what she's been missing and then
like. He abuses that.
He really abuses that. And then he is playing on her
feelings. He knows she has fallen for him,
but it's not like the type of love where she's in love with
him. She just like is so desperate to
have a family and everything that like this guy that she sees
as his savior, as a savior is like everything to her.
Like he is so toxic to her. And I hate the fact that the
drama kind of like. Made her go back into that world
and but the the problem with that being is it's not that it
made her go back into that world.
It's that it made her go back into that world.
And she was like I'm happy now and I'm like but what has really
changed? You haven't shown me what has
changed for you to be able to be happy.
Like you can't have the male lead come in all of a sudden,
he's fixed her and then like. Bye.
I want nothing else to do with
you. And now like I have my life and
it's exactly the same life you had previously.
And yet now you can sing. And yet now you can do all of
these things and you are happy like I It makes no sense to me.
I. Agree.
I agree. I didn't understand why she.
Here's the thing. She could have gone back to the
art because she can sing. She's got it back again because
he helped her. You know, overcome those issues
she had, but not with that manager, the man who literally
caused her to do like to be what she was, to do what she did to,
you know, all of these issues. And then like when she walks out
of the hospital after she like sprained her ankle and he
literally just continuously gaslights her, saying it's all
her fault. That they're in this predicament
he has, it's not his in any which way.
And it's like, excuse me Sir, for her to go back to him pissed
me off because she could have easily.
And then he said he wiped his hands of her.
But then he all of a sudden is her manager again.
And you know, in that same thing that I, there's a lot of things
again. They were trying to tell us like
2 + 2 = 8 and I'm like what are? You talking about?
So she goes back to being an idol, which, you know, I always
kind of saw that was going to happen.
I was hoping, like you said, it wasn't with this same toxic
thing that like is around her. But what pissed me off was
really the end where, you know, she sneaks out to go and see him
and he basically says he's like. They're done.
They're broken up and whatever. And so then she goes back to see
him again and she and she like, you know, she has this argument
where they throwback, they threw back words that he had said to
her previously like tell me you're sorry, tell me you love
me, you know, that kind of thing.
So here I am thinking that they've made-up, they're going
to work on this relationship because she even said.
That after her contract, like or you know, they can wait a year
and then the the world will be less angry about her dating
somebody. So I was seeing all these things
as hopeful lines of they were gonna have a happily ever after
even with this world. And then to see them not have
that pissed me off. Pissed me off because yes, you
know me. You know me.
I write romance. I watch romance.
Romance ends with a happily ever after.
So here I am watching this expecting that and I'm not
freaking getting it. And if I could have accepted, it
was not going to be a happily ever after if you didn't put
romance in the title or in the in the little categories.
So I found the ending completely open-ended.
I didn't think it was a hard stop on their relationship.
I just thought they were going to go maybe there's, I mean,
they didn't even say, they didn't say that they were back
together. They didn't say that they had
rekindled their relationship. But because they hugged in the
in his room, in his like, rented room or whatever, where they had
that argument and she was like, say sorry, blah blah.
I was like, OK, they've reconciled.
So that's a good place to maybe rekindle their relationship.
And even though they were in the same place at the same time,
they didn't see each other or they passed by each other,
whatever. And it seemed kind of negative.
I saw it as, oh, they could definitely still get back
together. This is just one day in their
lives post reconciliation. And I thought it was more of
like a positive ending. It was pot.
I get it because it was. I agree it was open-ended.
But I need the ending. I think I need it.
I just. I want it.
For me personally, it kind of like just shows that they're
both going their separate ways. For a little bit because they
need to learn who they are as people and to grow apart from
each other independently because they were too what's the word
I'm looking for yeah Co dependent on each other and they
need to like walk away from that because that sort of
relationship doesn't necessarily I personally don't think it
would work. So I feel like they need that
space and that time to and what I saw it as the ending was they
that kind of like. Reconciliation of them, you
know, first of all, I don't understand why she needed him to
say sorry and why she needed him to say, you know, he regretted
it because because no, like it was on her part.
She kind of, like started to walk away.
She ghosted him. So I don't understand.
He tried that. That really.
Eve me off like nobody's business because there is no
need for that. She's in the wrong.
Not him, like he tried, like he understood that this was
something she had to do and he was being supportive of her.
She was like, he was like, I miss you texting her.
She nothing. Nothing.
And like, they could have gone around to that.
By being like she didn't have her phone on her, like her
management, she said. She didn't have her phone.
But it's like management did take her phone, but it's like
she took her phone when they moved into that house.
That's great, right? Fine, She took.
She had no phone. But why the heck does he have to
apologize then? Like, I don't understand it,
that that whole scene is just, like, you know, ridiculous to
me. But what I saw it as was them
putting their past to rest. That's it.
That's like, you know, done. And then moving forward, growing
up independently. And then I feel like the door is
left open for them to be able to rekindle.
Now, do I believe that a relationship between them would
work? I don't think I do, but that's
another case of whether you know, their story just wasn't
told well enough to me. I am not a person who needs like
the happily ever after. I I don't if the story, if the
story doesn't necessarily warrant it.
I didn't think they would end up together right from the
beginning. I didn't think they would.
The story would be happy by the end.
I really didn't because it didn't seem like that type of
vibe and that type of drama to me.
So I wasn't like that disappointed or even that, you
know, shocked that they went the in that direction.
And I was like I kind of saw this coming, like it feels like
this is where they're gonna come from.
So but yeah, that scene just really annoyed me because I was
like, I don't understand why he's the one apologizing and.
She needs to work on herself a lot more.
Like she is broken and she is like messed up and she kind of
like needs. And also it's like if she's gone
back into that world, what's there to say for her to not fall
into that, you know, space again?
And it's like, why does he have to keep picking up the pieces?
It's like it's not fair on his character when he's like trying
to move on and to make something out of his life.
So. So yeah, I do.
You know what Hot take? I really, really wanted him to
get back together with the Is it Ginger?
The You want him with Ginger? Yeah, I feel like they could
have worked out. I feel like after because like
they. I feel like she like.
I feel like she had the most growth as a character, 100%.
It's ridiculous that a side. She's my favorite.
Yeah, it's ridiculous to me that a side character grew so much
and beautifully. Like, I loved her storyline.
She went from this very sheltered, you know, all
encompass, and she took herself out of that situation.
It's like she didn't need a man. She didn't need any, but she
kind of like took herself out of that situation.
And yes, she was in a really bad place for her.
A while. But once she's like, I love the
fact that she's like, I like you and he says, I don't like you
back. You know, we've missed that
train and she's like, fine, but we can't be friends right now.
I need to heal from this. So she walks away.
She takes herself first, she walks away and when she's comes
back, she has healed and she's become like this very like
different person. She grew up.
That's what I feel like she did. She grew up and the other
characters like, especially our main couple, certainly did not.
And that's probably what I'm seeing, especially our female
lead. I feel like she's very stuck in
that, I don't know, child, not child, but like the stage where
the manager kind of picked her up, if that makes sense.
So I. Almost wish.
I almost wish they gave that character arc to Duna because
that not necessarily because in a.
In a way, it almost kind of is very similar.
Where they had these not great father figures and you know,
like you said, Jinju removed herself from that.
She grew up and she became this amazing, you know, happy, full
of life, person, well travelled, all this stuff that, you know, I
wish that Duna had done. And I wish that's what I think
it is. I think, you know, I wish Jinju
was the main character, like if that was the main character's
arc, I probably would have liked it more.
I will say I think there were positives like you said, you
know Duna and I can't remember his name our.
Male lead. The male lead they they came
into each other's lives. I feel at a time that they both
needed each other and. They kind of helped each other,
work on different things. Did it end up being slightly
toxic? Absolutely.
But I think, like with her, she taught him or showed him how to
be how to cut loose on certain things.
Like, OK, yeah, you can skip a class you, but you won't miss
all this stuff. You can, you know, you can enjoy
doing this. You can, you know, do all these
things while still being that studious person he was.
And then he kind of gave her this.
He allowed her to be the child she couldn't be when she was a
kid. Like when they were hitting the
they were playing that Mallet game and you know playing I
didn't see that at all. I saw that the Mallet game was
just a more healthy way of of. Getting her anger out getting.
Anger out versus just chain smoking.
Of of course, yeah. It that's another aspect of it.
But when they were like, you know, picking up the the toy,
The Little Mermaid toy and stuff like that, I feel like he kind
of gave her, like I said, the childhood.
She didn't. So here's I'm going to jump in
here and just say the thing that really irked me about Duna and
one June was that Duna felt like a Manic Pixie Dream Girl.
She just felt like someone who was reckless and loose and just
flitted in and out of his life, and he was this uptight dude who
needed to get out of his comfort zone.
And for her, like you said, the lesson that she teaches them to,
like, cut loose and not everything has to be so serious
and he could skip class and whatever the hell.
And that seemed like the more damaging thing to the show was
that Duno was they did not spend that much time dissecting what
the hell her trauma was. You just kind of had to like, be
like, Oh yeah, she's just K Pop Idol, and she's just traumatized
for the entire experience. The visual of her drowning on
stage is supposed to somehow give.
Us. The entire thing give us the
entire story that Oh yeah, no wonder she lost the ability to
to sing and how she just broke down on stage and couldn't
continue the performance and left the group and like we're
just supposed to inherently understand her issues and that
is not the case at all. We can infer as much as we can
based on like what we know about the industry and how toxic and
and sort of predatory it is and how the manager treats her when
he comes back into her life. But honestly, I'm missing a lot
of connective tissue here, and it makes her seem like she is
this Manic Pixie dream girl who's just there to help the
male lead along in his life and his journey.
And not help herself and not help herself.
Like, where is her personality? How did she get to be here?
Why is she stuck here in this house and can't leave?
Like, she just made it seem like the manager dropped her off at
this house with like, what? What do you mean he just dropped
you off here? Like, what is your purpose?
Like, do you feel like singing is truly the thing that you
enjoy? Like, I We never got to that.
Yeah. I feel like they did Her Story
really, really dirty because I feel like.
The writing, like I said, an actress can't make a script
good. And if her story isn't there,
like, I I don't know what they expected.
Like they spent so much time. There's so many scenes, like
Jess was saying, there was so many scenes where she was just
outside chain smoking and I'm like, you could be telling me a
story right now. I don't need to see her.
Like, I get it, She smokes, whatever.
Like I don't need to keep seeing it over and over and over again.
I understand she's in a bad place.
Tell me how she got to this bad place and then tell me how she's
going to get it out of it. Like there's no, it's like all
of a sudden she's OK. It's it happened within the span
of like 5 minutes of drama where she suddenly couldn't sing And
then now she sings and now she's on stage and now she's happy and
now she's saying she's happy and I'm like no, no, no, no, no, no.
I'm missing a whole chunk of drama right here, like in in her
storyline. Like I just feel like the
writing is a complete let down to all of the the drama as a
whole and to me like I can, I can all my signal by directing a
little bit acting you know. But bad writing, That's like
what a drama stands like on if the writing is bad, then
everything else is not going to be good.
Like they can't make good scripts, you know?
But I mean bad scripts. Good.
And I feel like her character was done really, really dirty
because again, they had the time. 9 episodes.
Like, don't come at me saying, oh, they only had nine episodes.
9 episodes is plenty of time to tell a full story.
Like you don't need that much. There was so much time spent on
things that I don't need to like that scene that Jess was talking
about, about her jumping into the water.
We saw that scene like three or four times throughout the whole
shot. And it still wasn't explained.
I get it. Like, I get it.
She's she's falling into a pool of water.
Great, great. I have seen this scene, but what
exactly? Happened to her on stage.
Oh, what is? Fall off the stage, Yeah, and
she collapsed. Like what is what happened
actually? Yeah, they, I feel like they
they. They would bring up things about
her trauma, but then not real like you said, Not really dive
into them to the point where we could understand her.
Like when she got locked in the bathroom, she starts freaking
out. OK why is she freaking out?
Why is she? Why does she not like this?
When the lights go out, she starts panicking.
Why does she start panicking when she you know?
You know, when she jumped off the stage to 'cause this whole
thing to happen? Why did she do that?
Like, they really never got into the nitty gritty of her
character and why she, you know, feels these these ways.
And like, even when she's like, oh, I have a stalker and he's
literally watching us and like, points to him and you know,
shaking, she's terrified. But then they just leave it.
It's like, no, this girl should be dealing with this shit.
And I think, I think what bothers me is, you know, as
people who are seeing it from the outside, we know that mental
health issues are a problem in the K pop world.
And they tend to get swept under the rug, which is really
unfortunate because these kids need that mental, you know, they
need therapists, they need psychologists, they need these
people. And I think this just kind of.
Brought that to attention, but then didn't fix the problem.
They didn't get her a therapist. They didn't get her a
psychiatrist. They just said yeah, no, she's
mentally unwell, OK. And you know, and you know
what's frustrating about it? This is a Netflix production.
They could have gone there. It's not an in house Korea
production, it's a Netflix production.
They can push a lot more on Netflix productions that they
can on in house, like Korean productions.
And I feel like they could have taken this to be a drama that
can just kind of like show the other side, show the ugly side
of it. And I suppose they don't want
that because they don't want, you know, people to see that it
can get really, really bad. But they could have been like,
look, this is a problem. This is how we're going to fix
it. And they could have been like
this, could have been something. Yeah, they could have had him
telling her she needed to go to therapy or when like.
She did 100% she needed therapy like and it was just like why
not get that therapy while you're literally stuck locked in
this one little room? Or like if anything make him a
psychology or major or whatever so that he could be the one
analyzing her and like helping her in some way.
It was just those kinds of things.
I get it. I get why people don't like the
show and I can't tell you why fully, why I loved this show so
much. But like I did, and I think it
again, I think it had to do with all those secondary characters,
especially Jinju. I really loved her character
development and I think I can see why they said, like some
people said, they liked the whole girl friendship thing.
Because I do. I did like how.
Duna reacted with Jinju's father.
Like, you know when he called and he's like you stupid bitch,
you just think you can be out all night, blah blah blah.
And she like realized what kind of situation she was in and
like, befriended her to, like, help her out of that situation.
I think it had its moments of being good, but I'm I also.
Don't like how, oh, go, go ahead.
No, I was just about to say, you know, related to that comment,
if she can help somebody else out of that situation, why can't
she help herself out of the situation?
I know it's like look. You're right, right, right
situation and you know, I did the.
The manager who's telling her things about herself and telling
the audience things about her. That I'm like, why can't we just
figure this out on our own? Like they're not showing us,
they're just telling us. Because in Episode 5, the
manager goes, be careful when you're alone in a crowd.
It's obvious your loneliness, your desperation to be loved, to
try to compensate for never having it.
You're afraid of losing people's interests.
And I'm like, what the this astute like observation about
her coming from the worst person?
From the worst person in the show and he knows it and then
doesn't fix it. It's like so toxic.
And she doesn't. Like we're not told.
And that's why I say he gaslit her.
He blamed her for all of that, like all of those issues.
When it was him who caused those those problems and her mindset
of things. It was her.
It was him. It was her mom and then the
grandma. I was confused by that whole
thing, the grandma, So that house that she was in, that she
takes. 1122 It's her grandma's house because that's where she
was staying when her mom left her.
Yeah, I feel like, Oh, yes, sorry, it's just going back it
just. Clicked.
It's just like it was. So first of all, why didn't he
just ship her off to that? Because there's red one there.
She would literally be by herself.
She wouldn't cause a single ruckus.
She would not. She would just be in this house.
Why the group house? Why the?
Yeah, why the shared home? Like, what did he think that?
And then like, on top of that, there was a hold on, there was
another plot hole. And now I can't remember it, but
it had to do with that. Like, there's so many plot
holes. There's so many plot holes in
this, oh the plot hole of them eating JA Jong Yun together.
And it like leaking that you know she's having dinner or
she's. Having Oh, right, right, right.
There was a paparazzi. There and everyone's like, yeah,
and everyone. They were photographed together.
Yeah, everyone's hating on her for eating and you know, like
having this life with a person and all this.
They're hating, whatever. But then she goes to a club
where we actively see someone recording her.
Yeah, but nothing from that. Nothing comes of that.
I'm sorry, You You're telling me that there's more people in a
Jajang Mun Chinese restaurant at frigging midnight than at a
club? Sharing what?
What? The paparazzi like Angle just
annoyed me? God.
Why do I like this show? Can I question myself on I, I
right, I like this show. The thing is that the more I
talk about it, the more annoyed I get.
Right. I think.
I think I loved it because I hated it.
Now I'm like feeling this, like maybe it wasn't a real love.
It was just I love to hate it. I yeah, I, I, I and then she.
She just. I didn't think she liked the
guy. I didn't think she liked one
June at all. She likes the idea of him.
I like messing with him and like, 'cause, like, she, yeah, I
think she liked the idea of him and like, she's really broken
and damaged and I feel like she just likes playing around
because that's what people have done to her.
So that's how she kind of, like sees the world and does her
thing, but that's no way to treat a person.
Again, I This is why I keep saying I don't think they would
have worked. I I think he deserves like,
better than her in a sense. And again I think it is, it's it
all like to me, it all stands to bad writing.
This show was badly written and that has just like made it, you
know? Again, I I would have not
finished it unless we were recording this because I just
don't like, you know, I just don't think of it as anything.
There's so many potholes, like the relationship is not
believable for a second, and I feel like there's a there's a,
there's a line that separates loving somebody and being in
love with somebody. Like she may have loved him but
she wasn't in love with him. I don't think she knows what
that is until she kind of, like works on herself and fixes her
her problems. I wished, you know what?
I wish this story would have gone down.
The line of this shared house becomes like a really good
fountain family and she kind of like fixes herself up and she
launches herself back into her career with a different manager
and like. That's what I was hoping.
I would have loved that story. I would have eaten that up like
nobody's business. And I get it.
It's based on a webtoon and you know the story is already told
in the webtoon. But again, that's not, you know,
exactly the. 3rd house thing is really done well in so many
other K dramas I don't understand.
Why so many? Like I remember there was one
that I really loved and I love the season One of it.
Hello, my 20s. Oh yeah, I know that's true.
I haven't watched it. But I do know.
Talk about a girl power and like, female relationships in
the shared house thing, I was like, Oh yeah, this is great.
I love. Laughter.
And Waikiki was another good one I like.
There was one with Jisu who's been cancelled.
Oh, my first first love. Yeah.
That's a good. One, I was AGI was a G SU Stan
so hard. I was oh, that hurt me.
Yeah. My car was literally I I named
my car when I first got it years ago, 'cause it was, I think
cheer up had just come out, and I named my car G Pajoon, 'cause
that was his character. And cheer up, So yeah.
I'm very upset about the GC thing.
My condolences. So anyway, what I'm trying to
say is the shared house thing could have been something, but
it wasn't. Agreed.
That's why I said I liked all those characters they brought
in, these characters that I I could see, like you said,
building that family of, you know, people she never had, that
she needed and you know. That she needed in her life to
build. Like when the girls all moved
in, I was excited about that. I'm like, this is great.
They're gonna, you know, there's gonna be this big family kind of
growth and then it kind of just instantly fell apart like they
were living together and all of a sudden Ginger was like.
I'm out. I can't, I can't live with, you
know, one June. And like, I was like, wait,
wait, wait, wait, What's happening?
There was that scene with Duna and Jinju where she goes to her
house because she can't get a hold of and like, see, that's
that's what we. But even then she has like, this
shoulder to cry on. And she could have opened up and
she chooses not to. She like, she chooses not to.
And I get it. It would have been awkward at
that stage because, you know, she's crying over the guy that,
you know, Ildri's kind of like trying to get over.
But I really appreciated her character even while not doing
the because she was like, I know why you're upset, but I'm going
to focus on the fact that you need a friend right now rather
than the fact of the why you're upset.
And she's still offered that support.
And I feel like, again, I feel like the drama is like Much Ado
About Nothing. It's kind of like it's
everything and it's nothing at the same time.
And that that's like my description of it.
It's kind of like, you know everything and nothing at the
same time. And it could have been.
It feels like they were trying to tell 3000 stories and nine
episodes and they wasted 6 episodes of not doing pretty
much nothing and then three episodes of we're going to do
everything. So, you know, I I am very much A
and I feel like that's something that's been happening lately
where cage dramas try to be be a few different genres in 1K drama
and it doesn't necessarily work. And this one, I feel like it's
that it was trying to be a romance, drama and a mellow
drama and you know, a bunch of genres in one thing.
Yeah, exactly. And it's like pick one and be
really good at that one. That's going to give you an even
better chance at it, you know, at being successful rather than
picking 345 and being subpart at all of them.
So that's like, yeah. Going back to Jinju for a
second, because you guys really seem to like her.
I found her a little bit annoying because she was trying
to make a relationship happen. Fuel a relationship with Wanju
based on nostalgia and you can't do that.
Like she was. Like we liked each other in the
past, we had these great experiences.
We grew up together. That was her sales pitch,
basically. For the relationship And like,
it's dead and buried basically. Yeah.
But what I am in the beginning, yeah.
I was going to say what I appreciate about that is yes,
she did have that. But then she kind of like steps
away from it, and I think she realizes that, yeah.
And she's like, you know, after he's, he explains to her.
Like, I don't like you in that way.
That's not. I feel like she has the grace to
sort of like step back and walk away from it and then like, I
think in retros because, like, it's kind of like what they say.
Retrospective is great for everything, isn't it?
So I feel like at that point, once she kind of, like steps
away, she realizes that and then she goes off and like, she does
brilliant. Like she lives this, her best
life out of all the characters. I feel like she had exactly.
She had like an arc, you know, gross.
And she was like, I'm taking myself out of this.
I'm going to be doing being a me for a while and that's what she
does, so I appreciate that. I like that she had that whole
thing where she was presenting a a false facade.
She was this rich girl with a really good life and she had a
great family when in reality her dad was insane machismo.
My God, so bad was. Abusing them.
And I think I wanted to sit more in that, like that whole thing
was very familiar to me. Like I said, I'm Hispanic and
so. My best friend came from that
background growing up and she came to live with us and
everything to get out of that situation that she was in with
her dad and the scene of like the dad cutting the sister's
hair that. Was horrible.
I was like, oh, that's too close to home.
Like for me, I was like, oh, I got chills.
And that's just like, again, a little vignette that they're
throwing at us, a little flashback vignette versus a
really deep connection that we're.
Granted for Jinju, that character and it's, I think it's
a problem, right? Like they gave her such an
interesting story and she gets such a great arc and like you
barely see her in the show. I think that's one of the major
problems for me about this drama and it just doesn't apply to
her. It applies to every single
storyline. It's the fact that they try to
tackle really big issues, whether that be an abusive
father, an abusive manager, whether that be the background
you come from and then they gloss over them.
It feels disrespectful to people who you know are in those types
of situations. It just feels, it doesn't sit
well with personally, it doesn't sit well with me.
The way they we just kind of like gloss over really big
traumatic events and it's like okay, that's it, just showing
you this, let's move on. That's kind of like the
impression I got from a lot of these really big events.
And I think that's, you know, apart from the bad writing.
That's one of the things. And again, this stems from that
bad writing. It's the fact that they gloss
over really, really traumatic things.
And it's not like it doesn't land well, like that.
That to me is never going to land well, I don't think.
Yeah. The second couple.
So let's quickly go through the second couple.
I love them. I thought they were the star of
the show. By the end of the show, by
episode like 6 or so, I was like.
This is it. Like we can stay here with them
and we don't need to go back to the 291 June because and I
called them the jiu jitsu couple, yeah, that makes sense.
Facts. Yeah, because he was sort of
annoyed with her and she was like this, so bubbly and
extroverted and loud, and he was very quiet.
And it was the grumpy sunshine trope that I like love.
Exactly. It was grumpy sunshine.
I tend to love that trope, but for some reason it just didn't
land for me. I don't know if by that point I
was just so annoyed with again I benched the whole thing.
So I don't know if by that point I was just so annoyed with the
show that I was like, I this character is very loud, very
chaotic, a very I, I, I. Didn't like her until they
started pairing her up with with.
Agreed, 100% agreed. She was very obnoxious.
She was very rude, Like, and I'm like, are you just saying all
foreigners are obnoxious and rude?
Because I feel like every time they throw, you know, somebody
not Korean or pretending not to be Korean into these things,
they tend to be these like very kind of negative stereotypes.
Wait, was she not meant to be Korean?
No, she was. She was.
She was Korean, but she moved to Brazil.
So, like, I got that. OK.
Yeah, yeah. OK.
So she was like, I think when she gets kicked out of the
school, like she gets kicked out of the door, she said she
because I'm a foreigner and. Lost.
So yeah, she. Was very don't even consider her
Korean. Yeah, yeah.
And so she's like very, you know, loud.
And what I'm very loud. Like, I can't argue that that's
some of us over here. I will say, I will say, I will
say that does kind of now thinking about it, that does go
with Brazilian culture and Portuguese culture in general.
We tend to be very loud people. I'm Hispanic and Italian.
I'm always loud. Like, we're loud by nature.
People like, a lot of the time they'll question me.
They'll be like, why are you arguing with your mom?
I'm like, I'm not arguing with my mom.
I'm like, I'm having a nice conversation.
Like, I don't understand what you're talking about.
It's because we tend to be very loud in general.
I used to be called out in school constantly for how loud I
was like, they would my parents, Oh yeah, yeah, my parents would
be like, my mom would be called in.
And she's like, she's a bit disruptive to the classroom,
'cause she's so loud. And I'm like, I'm sorry, I can't
tell. Because you don't even realize
that's the volume you're talking about.
So, so she. Was like that she they they
built her a little different than the other characters
getting. Pretty obnoxious because she's
like not reading the room and she's like not not kind of
considering other people. And that's that's fine up until
like, they get to her and Jong UN.
And what I liked about them was that they showed the moment that
he fell for her. And I was like, oh, this is
great because they're eating after like the jujitsu thing,
and it doesn't even matter what they're talking about.
But all of a sudden she starts eating.
She's like, Oh my God, this is so the little happy doing the
happy. And he is like, Oh my God, like
you could see his like the heart eyes.
Yeah, I love when? He asks.
The the other roommate, like, what does it mean when, like,
you feel this kind of way when somebody just, like, does this
and he's like explaining it like, I thought that was so
cute. I agree.
I think they were the cutest couple.
I loved them. Like their couple made more
sense because. Again, they were the grumpy
sunshine and they worked together to like make themselves
like at the end when they like kind of Fast forward and they're
living together and like, she comes out and she gives him a
hug and they're all like so cutesy together and they are
like. Oh, I loved it.
I absolutely loved that. I thought it was so flipping
cute. They are your very
straightforward romance from com couple though, aren't they?
So it I mean it they these couples tend to land in general
because it's the true and tried formula of of romance I think.
I did like the other housemate you did.
Because I didn't like. Him he No, I didn't.
OK, let me, let me rephrase this.
I didn't like him in the like in that whole, like in the shared
house. But I loved.
Him in the future, where he's literally deciding
heartbrokenness to sell women on how to get men.
I thought that was absent. I was like that is.
Perfect. That like they nailed that
character. That was hilarious to me.
I did enjoy that. This is what I mean.
Like the friends are living in a comedy ROM com world.
And then like the Wayne couple is like living in LA, You're.
Right. You're so right.
It's like two different stories.
It's two completely different stories.
And also, I love the fact that our male lead is described as
this very, like, ordinary, very plain guy, and yet everybody's
in love with him. Can we just?
Literally, right. Everybody's in love with him.
Dude is in. All three women.
All three women are in love with him at some point, so.
Also like, what's there to like about him?
Like, let me just let me just go for one June for a second
because I'm confused about what is appealing about him other
than he's hot and he's hot. Really don't like ordinary
ordinary. He was like having conversations
with people and I'm like. Where's the personality?
Like land. Yeah, he's a bit, yeah.
I think he's the type of character that is just like a
people, people pleaser. So he'll just kind of like go,
go along, you know? I saw some people like making
reference that he's kind of like a golden retriever and I'm like,
no, I don't think so. I don't.
He was. I felt like he was socially
stunted with women. Yeah, yeah.
Because when he talked to his buddy, he was all like, he was
very chatty. He could talk about anything,
everything, whatever. But when it came to the women,
he was very awkward and like, and it was maybe because he did,
you know, he liked Jinju. So he was like, awkward about
the fact that he had told her he liked her and she dipped on him
like completely ghosted him kind of thing.
That wasn't that was on her too. Yeah, no, that wasn't on her.
And then I think with, I think with Duna it was more the whole.
At first she was very standoffish to him and he didn't
know why and he was like, OK, I'm just gonna like, who is
this? Like she?
Why does she hate me so much already not realizing that the
hoodie he was wearing that his friend gave him was her group.
First of all, how do you not know that as your best friend is
the biggest fanboy of this? Group and he gives like he's an
idiot. Logo on it.
How is he in engineering or whatever for he's in?
But yeah, so like, that was with him and with her.
And then the other one, he just absolutely hated her.
Simply because she was friendly, right?
She wasn't. She was.
I mean, she was a lot to handle. It was a lot, but she wasn't
like that as a kid. She just wanted to be a friend
as a kid. Well, yeah, but some people
don't want to be friends. I'm like.
I guess you keep pushing and keep pushing and keep pushing,
like if you're imposing on somebody like like I.
Mean I think it was well I think with their relationship it was
more so the the the parents had started that and so she had this
mindset of. I he's he's my future husband
and whatnot, so maybe that's why she became so pushy, but yeah.
OK, so let's talk about things that don't make sense, like
every whole show. The what?
Besides the whole show, I'm referring to their sex scene,
which begin with oh, I'll take off my shirt.
My wet. Shirt I can't.
I can't. But I was like I.
Was like homegrown. First of all, it's a crop.
Top Second of all, it's loose fitting.
Third of all, it's not like like athleisure that's like spandex
and stuck to your body and that when it gets wet, OK, maybe you
need a little help getting it off.
I was like, how can she not take off her shirt?
I was truly baffled by take Off My.
Shirt, I will say, though they're they're kissing under
the bridge. That was OK.
I I don't know you guys which? 1 the.
First one or when they're sneaking off.
It's probably the first, I don't know the.
First one, I think by the by the shared house still.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
I I will say though, I don't know how well this was at normal
speed because I did not watch it at normal speed.
And sometimes speed up kiss scenes work like a charm.
They make them so much better. So I don't know, but at the
speed that I was watching, that kiss scene worked pretty well.
I I liked their kiss scenes. Their kiss scenes were great.
Were they the best I've ever seen?
Absolutely not. I did enjoy.
I did enjoy the reverse countertop as I've called it and
like. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
The. One being pushed up to the
countertop. I really liked that.
I thought that was really like. I thought that was a good one I
did like. Both under the bridge scenes,
under the bridge kiss scenes where they were like sneaking
off and he like pushes her into the into the wall and then I
think she spins him and pushes him against.
I liked, I liked their kissing scenes.
I did enjoy their kissing. Scenes.
It was all right to me. Yeah.
It was OK. It was, yeah.
OK, I saw it wasn't the best. I did like them though.
I did like them. I just, yeah, I feel like I
should change my rating of this. After after everything, after
everything I've complained about like I can't, I can't validate
MY39 based on jinju, you know. Do we have anything else that we
want to talk about? Because I we can't sit here for
another hour and just really bash on this.
Show I know, I know. I don't think I have anything.
You're good. Yeah, I'm good.
Like I it's done. I'm, it's behind me.
I don't intend on revisiting again.
I'm going to go and go back to my only full love after this for
some therapy. Fair enough.
Anything else you wanted to add,
Sam, about the show? No.
I I honestly, I like after after doing this.
I'm kind of like enraged by the show that I'm like, why did I
like this? So much.
There was also, like the two faced CEO of the company, the
entertainment company. They were like the manager made
it a point of saying I'm not the one that's suing you, it's the
it's the president. Or.
The CEO who's doing it. So then they finally show the
CEO later when she's saying when Dunas like I'm going to come
back and I'm going to be a soloist and all this stuff and
the. CEO is super.
Agreeable. Yeah.
And she. Was like, yeah, that was
confusing. I was like, wait, wait, wait, If
this was, if this is how it could have been, why didn't you
just do that? And she wouldn't have even had
to leave and all this kind of stuff.
I think for me as my last point, the thing that I'm most mad
about this, it's the fact that the show had so much potential
and they wasted it because that is also that is like a crime to
waste like potential that yeah that's that's all my my
thoughts. Can I tell you when I first saw,
like, even the trailer or like those, you know, two second
teasers? Oh yeah, yeah.
Yeah, of this show. Can I tell you I thought it was
a horror show because the font gave me horror vibes.
Yeah, the Duna font. The Duna.
Font is very like oh. What is is this a thriller?
Is this like a psychological thriller?
Like, I literally thought that and like all of these like, you
know, little things that they would they would hint at, like,
you know, her little hanging photo card.
I'm like I I was waiting for blood to splatter on it.
Like, I literally, when I first saw the ads for this, I was 100%
convinced it was a horror show. You know what?
I wouldn't put it past a Korean drama to do that.
It makes a lot of sense. You know what?
It would have been way more interesting as it would have
idle horror. Yeah, that would have been cool.
Like like there's a, you know she left the industry because
there was some sort of a murder or something around that would.
Have. Yeah.
And she, like, had to stay safe from that stalker person.
That would have been a good reason for like her, yeah.
And it's another idol that's committing the murders, which is
why the exactly. Look at this guys.
We're writing our own. Look, just hire us already,
yeah? We're available, oh.
My God. All right, so that was our pitch
for what Duna should have been. Do Season 2.
Do a Season 2 and do it right. So we're going to get out of
here. Thank you guys so much for
coming on the show. Where can we find you guys
online? For those who haven't heard the
other episodes with you guys on them.
So you can find me at T and Soju pod all one word over on
Instagram and X Twitter, whatever and TikTok.
And if you would love more Chinese, I tend to focus on
Chinese dramas but you know reviews.
And also we have Jess on every month now.
So exactly You can search up the T and Soju C drama podcast on
Spotify, Apple Podcasts and all all of those places.
And I have Korean from Context. You can find me on Instagram,
TikTok with Korean from Context and X, which I don't really use,
so don't waste your time. And then I actually do host a
podcast with one of my best friends called the BL Buddies
Podcast. You can find us on Instagram,
YouTube, Spotify, all that stuff under BL Buddies a podcast.
And we've both guessed it on your podcast and you.
Did you? Did.
Maybe. We'll have to have a quadruple,
Yeah. Oh my God.
What? Is the spring?
Is that a quartet? Quartet.
Yeah. There you go.
Let's do this. We'll do a I'm.
Down. I'm down Give.
Me. Another BL.
I'll eat that deal, but OK. Thank you so much for coming on
this Duna journey with us. And if you have anything you'd
like to say to us, we are more than happy to talk to you in our
DMS on all the socials. You know where to find us and
that's it. That's been our show.
I'm Jessica and this is the Teba K Rambles podcast.
I will take time. More.
Steps towards you. When you move back, there's no
reason it's needed for. Me, even though it's too far.
It doesn't matter where you are, my thoughts always go back to
you because it's you.