That's acting!

Do you know what is the difference between great acting and bad acting? Or the difference between great directing and bad directing? Jo In Sung and this episode of TWTWB just demonstrated it to a T.



The difference in this case is crying. Real people don't want to cry. When they feel tears welling up they try everything they can to stop them from falling. There is a scene early in this ep where Oh Soo (Jo In Sung) is talking to Jung Eun Ji's character about wanting to live. The whole scene there are tears in his eyes, but they don't fall. It's brilliant dialog and brilliant acting and directing too if the PD told him to do it that way.



Contrast that with a melo like I Miss You where the actors are just pouring buckets of tears throughout the whole thing. It's easy to cry; I could make myself cry in a matter of 30 seconds if I wanted to. What's hard to do is not cry when you want to. Now that's acting. That's directing. And that's a great melo! I don't like melos as a rule, but if this ep is a sign of things to come, then sign me up. This is brilliant!

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EPIC

When I finished episode 1 of Cruel City my jaw was basically on the floor. I just cannot believe how good this show is. The directing and cinematography are out of this world. The acting is spot on (especially Jung Kyung Ho who I knew was a good actor, but now I think he might be one of the best in Korea). And the writing and plot are just too awesome for words.



I love when a writer makes you empathize with the antagonist (which is rare in Kdramas) and this writer has done it with aplomb. It's really fresh and fun to spend so much time with the "bad" characters and not just the cops. I think cable channel shows have this tendency towards being much fresher, faster paced, and better at telling a story organically than the networks. I don't need endless flashbacks and character info-dumps to enjoy a good story. Just reveal info about the characters organically as the story progresses. That's great writing.

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ACTING!

I love this drama. I have loved it from day one. Jo In Sung and Gong Hyo Jin have amazing chemistry and they have both been killing it in this drama. I really care about acting quality. I can forgive a lot of other problems if a drama has 2 things: interesting / unique story and great acting. This episode had some truly exceptional acting from the whole cast, but Jo In Sung really knocked it out of the park. I've always loved him, and I feel that he is a pretty good actor, and sometimes his acting has even been really good. But he is so darn pretty that I think sometimes he (and this could be the fault of his directors too) he does too much just pretty posing rather than acting. But in this episode where he was totally torn down and beaten and had to act the part - WOW! He put on one of my favorite Kdrama acting performances of all time in this episode.

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Has Gotten So Much Better

I wasn't so sure about this show in the first two episodes (well, particularly the first one). But this episode is amazing. Park Si Hoo's comedy is a revelation, but what was truly great were the dramatic moments. Somehow the plot, directing and acting all combine to create some very moving moments. This episode hits on the perfection combination of humor and pathos.



I came to this drama for Park Si Hoo, but I am going to stay for the writing and directing. It seemed at first like it would be a warn out plot but this take on it is so fresh and different, and really turns the whole Candy and Cinderella type character on their heads. I hope episode 3 is a sign of things to come because it will be one of the best dramas of the year (and the new year) if it is.

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Finally, the funny!

It took me a while to warm up to this drama. The first couple eps were so melo that I couldn't figure out where it was going. But I had faith in the writer that brought us the glorious History of a Salaryman and in this ep my faith finally paid off. History is one of the funniest Kdramas I've watched, and unique ones too. And I found myself laughing out loud multiple times throughout this ep of Incarnation just like I did with History. So happy!



If you aren't watching Incarnation, you need to start, especially if you are a Kang Ji Hwan fan (and quite frankly, how could you not be?). I'm glad they held off on doing this show until KJH straightened out his legal troubles because no other actor could possibly have pulled this roll off. It is a roll suited uniquely for his talents (of which there are many). I hope this show keeps on this path because if it does, I will definitely be watching!

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WTF?

The ending was pure stupid, but I couldn't even analyze the stupidity of the ending because I'm still stuck on the part where our villain, who just one episode before admitted that chopping off Kang Chi's head would be the only way to kill him for good, decided that just shooting him would be enough to get rid of him. AND THEN compound that epic act of stupidity with the even grander act of stupidity of a mortal woman jumping in front of a bullet to save (?) an IMMORTAL being from, from WHAT?.... a nasty scar and a little ouchy?



You know, I've seen shows defy all logic and reason to save a character's life, but this might be the first time I've ever seen a show go so far out of its way to kill a character totally unnecessarily. What a bunch of crap.



I watched this whole drama because it was kind of fun and pretty and I love Lee Seung Gi, but it was so poorly written that I think a monkey could have done better. What a waste of actors and an interesting set up.

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Why am I watching this????

This is one of the worst shows I've ever watched and yet I continue to watch it. Before the only reasons I kept watching were because I love cross-dressing dramas (even bad ones) because of the fun sexual tension and the other reason was Song Jae Rim. But after this ep I'm still watching just to see how the writers untangle this disgusting mess they've created with the love triangle.



Are they nuts? Don't they know that love triangles have formulas to them? You cannot have happening what happened in this ep. Not cool! At this point I would like to throw the female lead out the nearest high window and then just hope Kay and Alex live happily ever after.

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So Many Feels!

Seriously, I've seen 124 Kdramas and not one has given me warm fuzzies quite like this one. Each character is exactly what I want them to be. The female lead is so far one of my faves of all time: strong, smart, funny, and also flawed with her cockiness and pessimism, but she admits when she is wrong and I love her even when she is being a butt.



Each episode has an arc of its own and this one is a great example of that. The tension and creepiness at the end was great, and I am just drooling for the next episode. The pacing of the plot too just keeps going at such an enjoyable clip with events happening well before I expected them to.



And finally I have to give a shoutout to Mom, who is just the other cutest thing I have ever seen. Her happy dance made me want to jump out of my chair and do one too. Best mother-daughter pairing ever!

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The Cute is Killing Me & So is the Suspense

This drama keeps pushing all my happy buttons. First of all, if Lee Jong Suk gets any cuter, my heart will explode. He's like a sack of kittens wrapped in a box of puppies on a table of baby sloths (seriously, look them up, cutest things ever).



But anyhow, the story moves with a nice brisk pace. The characters are compelling, entertaining and endearing. I am on the edge of my seat to see next week's episode and that is always a good sign. Can't wait to find out more about the adorkable guy that is Yoon Sang Hyun's character.



I also enjoy the minor characters populating this world: the mom is pure awesome sauteed in awesome sauce, the dorky judge is entertaining, and I loved the addition of the ahjumma and her son at the convenience store. I like it when background characters like that get their own quirks and personalities, like it's a real world.



And I forgot to mention with the first ep that this show really knows how to use a flashback properly as entertainment and part of the story rather than only for exposition.

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I have a theory

Great ep as always, but some of the info in this ep (and the last one) prompted me to develop a theory about Dok Mi and I'm curious to see if anyone agrees. I think that the lie that becomes the truth that Dok Mi wrote about makes her an unreliable narrator, such that every time we see one of her flashbacks to high school I don't think we can believe her anymore.



I think the truth is that Dok Mi was one of the bullies, not the one being bullied and that we see her being bullied in her memories because that is her lie to cover up her guilt. I think what really happened is that Dok Mi and Do Hwi and the others bullied a girl until she killed herself ("the incident") and that Dok Mi's guilt has lead her to hide herself away like this. And her lie that she has convinced herself of to hide her guilt is that she was the one that was bullied because that is easier to face than the truth.



What do you all think?

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I AM BLOWN AWAY!!!!

The first thing that struck me about this drama is that it totally does not look like a drama. It looks like a film - an epically gorgeous, mindblowingly beautiful film! The only place I've seen tv that is this stylized and cool is maybe HBO. Oh, wait, there is one other place - White Christmas, which was directed by, surprise, surprise - Kim Yong Soo. The same director behind this glorious visual feast.



I am so sad that the ratings for this in Korea have been poor but I know why. It is just too different. The story is being told almost entirely through the visuals and the dialogue is extremely sparse. But that's what I love. Anyone can tell a story, but it takes a great artist to show it without words. It also takes great acting. And these are great actors at their finest. This directing style would fail utterly without great acting because when the story is not being told by the cinematography it is being told by the actors' expressions.



I just cannot express my appreciation enough of the beauty of this drama. It's like a moving painting created so deftly that words are not needed. I only hope it keeps up this quality & storytelling style because if it does it will be groundbreaking.

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