Team Dramabeans: What we’re watching (May 3, 2025)
Team Dramabeans: What we’re watching (May 3, 2025)
by DB Staff
So, what are we all watching this week?
What kept you reaching for more (or agonizing when there was no more), and what made you want to throw your remote through the screen? Time to weigh in…
stroopwafel
Streaming: Kang Haneul, I wish I knew how to quit you! On paper, this movie seemed interesting. Kang Haneul plays a famous internet streamer who tops the viewing charts of his fictional platform by playing detective and solving murders (all while wearing some slick suits and crossing a few legal/moral lines). The entire film is even shot as though you’re actually watching a livestream. It was a bold creative decision — and it fell completely flat. Seeing streamer after streamer parade across my screen with little context meant I never got around to caring who any of these people were. There was also a big chunk of the film that was devoted to recreating memes and viral moments that were famous in Korea, and it added nothing to the plot. Why watch a recreation when I could just pull up the actual thing on my phone? Worst of all, I just felt bored by the one-dimensionality of the whole thing.
Kian’s Bizarre B&B: I cannot stress this enough, the title is underselling how bizarre Kian’s B&B actually is, and I want more. Kian84 is one of the stranger personalities in varietyland, so whenever he’s on a show, I know to expect something offbeat. When I saw that Netflix with its nearly limitless budget was going to be building a B&B designed by Kian84, half of the reason I wanted to watch was to see what sort of monstrosity would come to life. Without spoiling anything, the design of the B&B is something a child on a sugar and caffeine high might create. In other words, it’s an utterly weird and amazing place. While it’s nice seeing Kian84 interact with his celebrity B&B hosts, Jin and Ji Ye-eun, I think he shines most when he’s interacting with the unsuspecting guests who’ve signed up to stay at the B&B. He always manages to connect with people regardless of their age or background. While it’s not quite a healing show in the vein of Hyori’s Homestay, it’s super entertaining and touching in its own way.
The Haunted Palace: Yook Sung-jae drew me in, then Bona made me tap out. While I loved her in Twenty Five, Twenty One, her performance here (and in Joseon Attorney) has me convinced she should stick to acting in the 20th century.
missvictrix
Pump Up the Healthy Love: I was so looking forward to this one! And yet… this is not what I was looking forward to. If they went the “zany but sweet” route I could have probably survived, but the weird, desperate, unlikeable and forced story and characters I met in Episode 1? It was a struggle to finish the episode. And more than being mad at the drama, I’m annoyed for Lee Jun-young and Jung Eun-ji who could do much much better.
solstices
Dorian Gray: Since Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray is one of my all-time favorite books, I was anticipating this musical adaptation a fair bit — and while it didn’t quite surpass my expectations, I did enjoy analyzing its unique iteration of a familiar tale. Even if I’m not all that enthused about how far the second act diverged from the original canon, the creative liberties taken did provide some intriguing food for thought. By shifting the focus of the work’s themes from the philosophies of aestheticism and morality, to their influence on the romantic and the subsequent repercussions of guilt, the musical paid homage to the spirit of the uncensored 1890 version published in Lippincott’s while honoring certain key elements of the revised 1891 novel. I do have my complaints, though; the drastic changes made to the Vane family completely undermined the themes they were meant to represent, and though the ensemble performed well, the way they were used often distracted or even detracted from the story. I think the musical would’ve done the book more justice had it been adapted into a smaller-scale production instead, with a tighter focus on the witty repartee that is characteristic of Wilde’s works. Still, the actors elevated the production with their emotional depth. Kim Jun-young brought to life one of my favorite literary characters by embodying the core traits of Basil Hallward, from his unwavering faith in Dorian to the idealistic purity of his heart as both an artist and a lover. It made for a compelling dynamic with Kim Kyung-soo’s take on Henry Wotton, which highlighted his deliberate repression underlying the empty hypocrisy and false cynicism of his incisive epigrams. Though I wish the musical was a more faithful adaptation, the actors’ portrayals reflected my interpretation of the book’s characters, so I walked out of the theater not entirely satisfied but still quite pleased.
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