Currently Watching: My Royal Nemesis, Double Helix, Teach You a Lesson, and The Other Bennet Sister

My Royal Nemesis (멋진 신세계 – meosjin sinsegye – Brave New World)

I was reluctant to start this one. I’m at a loss as to why because I’m such a sucker for the concept of being sucked into the past or present. I mean Scarlet Heart, Splash Splash Love, Bon Appetite, Your Majesty are some top tier dramas. What finally got me to press play was seeing the scene of Cha Se-gye (played by Heo Nam-jun) kissing the wrist of Shin Seo-ri / Kang Dan-shim (played by Lim Ji-yeon). (She has two names because of her past self and present self.) That moment had me squealing and kicking my feet and I needed to know the full context. That was all the push I needed. They aren’t even totally enemies to lovers. While they clash their first meeting, Cha Se-gye playing the moments over in his head made it evident that he is feeling something that isn’t disdain. He fell first and fell so much HARDER, and I’m so freaking here for it. I just finished the episode after that wrist kiss that brought me into the show and now Shin Seo-ri / Kang Dan-shim is admitting her feelings for him, going full throttle. Which I know is going to cause a LOT of problems. And this is only a bit past halfway so I know shiz is gonna go down.

It has been such a fun ride so far. I know my soul is bound to get crushed before being put back together again (hopefully…I don’t need a repeat of Scarlet Heart) but I’m excited for the whole journey. I am giving it a 4 아아’s (ah ah – acronym for Iced Americano) out of 5, simply because I’m not done yet and dramas lately have been having the “Last 2 episode curse”.

Double Helix
Heavenly.tv reached out to me about playing around with their new globally launched site and app to help them test it out, as well as talk about some of the shows they are launching globally. Their platform is only BL and GL movies and series which I LOVE! I can find all the good BLs to binge in one place! Double Helix was one that they asked for me to watch first as it just released on their platform. I was excited for this show. I had seen it being talked about from other BL creators I enjoy. TRIGGER WARNING FOR THE REST OF MY DISCUSSION OF THIS SHOW!!!

… yeah…umm…I don’t know about this one. I’m 6 episodes in and have too many thoughts, most not being positive.  The biggest issue is Lu Feng (played by Ayden Sng) and his lack of understanding boundaries. Like, my guy, geez. Yi Chen (played by Lu Si Tong) said NO. No means no. The fact this is supposed to be someone we’re rooting for just rubs me the wrong way. He rapes Yi Chen because he wants to resign from the company that Lu Feng runs. They may try and portray it as something else but the fact of the matter is that is what happens. Even their first time together when in college Lu Feng keeps pushing and pushing for them to have sex. Yi Chen leaves afterwards because he is angry that Lu Feng didn’t stop when he asked him to. And then Lu Feng had the fucking audacity to gaslight Yi Chen by saying something along the lines of “Do you not love me? DO you not want to be with me?” BOI be so for real right now!

I’m gonna be honest the only reason I have made it to the sixth episode of this show is because I was introduced to Yi Chen’s brother…Yi Chen… yeah, they have the same name. Not sure if that’s common in China, like it’s a family thing, but it made things confusing at first. I’ll call him Baby Yi Chen (played by He Jia Shu) to give them different “names”. We meet Baby Yi Chen in the second episode and I was hooked and wanted to know his story. We met his love interest, Qin Lang (played by Fa Xuan Ge), at the very end of the second episode and I knew then they would be why I continued.

Their story has been next to nothing of the story and I’m salty about it. We saw their story for maybe half of episode three and then they’re happily together episode six. Then they have this weird miscommunication that I didn’t think was necessary, HOWEVER, they were able to be more mature than the other two. And he’s the YOUNGER brother! I want to see so much MORE of them than the main couple.

Right now this show is at a 1 아아 out of 5 and that’s being generous. That one start is for the couple of Baby Yi Chen and Qin Lang but even they can’t get me to move this to 2 아아’s. I don’t know if I can continue this show much longer but I’m going to try.

Teach You A Lesson (참교육 – chamgyoyug – get schooled)
There are few dramas I can convince my husband to watch with me. Taxi Driver (모범택시 – mobum takshi – premium taxi), Study Group (스터디그룹 – seuteodigeulub – study group), and now Teach You A Lesson. Safe to say he likes action where the bad guys get exactly what they deserve. We have only just begun this series but from the jump I could tell it was going to be a roller coaster of emotions. From anger to total devastation but also happiness this show is going to keep both of us interested.

I was sucked in by seeing a young actor (Lee Seung Gyu) I had been following since he was in the BL, Our Dating Sim (우리 연애 시뮬레이션 – uli yeon-ae simyulleisyeon – Our Dating Simulation) being in the show. While I thought he would be in more than one episode, I’m happy he got me to start watching. The show follows a team called the ERPB (Educational Rights Protection Bureau) and how they protect teachers as well as bullied students in problem schools. They can teach without limits, meaning they can slap the bad students around. They find the injustice and resolve the problem using “unique” methods. 

Being that we only just started the show and we LOVED the first episode I’m giving it 4 아아’s out of 5! We will see how more episodes play out.

The Other Bennet Sister
This one is clearly not an Asian drama but if you know me, you know I love Jane Austen, and any kind of adaptation of her works will have me intrigued. Mary Bennet (played by Ella Bruccoleri) is the forgotten sister of Pride and Prejudice and as a reader you accepted that. Nearly every tv and movie adaptation left her in that same state as well.

As someone who relates to her feeling like an outsider, like the least attractive of the group, watching everyone else around her figure themselves out while she feels stuck still trying to get a grasp on her life, I was intrigued by the idea of telling Mary’s story.

The first two episodes were a slow start, mostly telling the story of Pride and Prejudice from the eyes of Mary, which was needed, but could’ve been one episode if I’m being honest. But in the third episode, when Mr. Tom Hayward (played by Dónal Finn) stepped on the screen I was sat. Watching him fall for the girl who thought herself hopeless in love, and thinking himself not worth her love made me believe Mary’s love story would be one of the best of the Bennet sisters. And I was right! Him apologizing on behalf of all those who ever made her feel like a disappointment was when I knew he was the man. When they are on the boat in the middle of a lake and he asks what she’s reading…his tone had my knees weak. But when he followed it up with asking her to read it to him?!?! Knees QUAKING!

And while the romance portion was delicious and I yearned for more of it, I also loved watching Mary embrace the strong, smart, beautifully bespectacled woman she was always told to hide. Her mother, who I never liked in any version of Pride and Prejudice, was the literal WORST in this story.  I never wanted someone to get run over by a horse and buggy more. The way she made Mary feel had me trying to jump through the screen to strangle her with my bare hands. They tried to redeem her in the last episode and I didn’t feel one ounce of sympathy for her. I was glad Mary stood up for herself and stood up to her mother.

This show gets a full 5 아아’s out of 5! Such a great show and they just announced there will a Christmas special with three episodes!!!! So freaking excited!

And that is what I’m currently watching! If you want to binge along with me, you can watch My Royal Nemesis and Teach You A Lesson on Netflix, Double Helix on Heavenly.tv, and The Other Bennet Sister on Brit Box.