What have I been doing this week? I’m glad you asked! Here’s what’s been on my watchlist this week:

TV

100 Days My Prince (2018)

100 Days at face value seems like it would be a complete cliche, and in a lot of respects it is. But because it doesn’t have any grand illusions about what it wants to accomplish, the show just is and it’s perfectly content in that. 

The shows strength lies in its characters, and the actors really put the nuance into their performances, making the townspeople seem like they’ve been living there all their lives, going in and out of each others houses, exchanging greetings and sharing their lives together.

This isn’t to say that the show doesn’t have flaws, as the story got off to a very slow start and never seemed to find the right pace. But from my perspective, getting to watch the show in one go, it didn’t really bother me as much because I was setting my own viewing pace as well.

The palace stuff was the other thing that never really seemed to find the right balance, at times seeming almost unnecessary to the overall arc of the show. In fact, one could argue that if the palace storyline had been taken out entirely, the show would still have felt complete in its village setting, as a story about a man who loses his memory and a woman who helps him become a kinder person.

This show is more or less exactly what I expected it to be, and I suspect the writers went into it knowing they were going to lean into all the tropes they set up. But I find that I finished the show feeling satisfied, perhaps because I went in not expecting it to be much and just enjoyed going along for the ride.

Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol (2020) – Ep 5-6

While last week’s episodes focused largely on building out the universe and establishing the town of Eunpo and its inhabitants, this week focused much more on our main pair. We got more information about Joon’s past (Lee Jae-wook) and his reasons for being on the run (side note: why are dramas always giving characters dead friends and shitty parents to angst over?) and we also got to see Ra-ra (Go Ara) settling into her current life, as the veneer comes off and a lot the gang start to see that she’s even stranger than she appears on first glance. I’m enjoying watching Go Ara find the physicality of the character and slowly flesh her out each week.

The show also continues to engage my senses (and make me hungry, is it really necessary to film the food this way?) and play with visual elements, making me want to go back to rewatch all the little sparkles they add to the show. With the music coming to the forefront, I’m sure it will continue to do that, and I’m looking forward to seeing how the show ties it in with the emotional threads.