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

*Note: My reviews usually contain spoilers. You have been warned. Proceed at your own risk.*

TV

SKY Castle (2018) – Ep 1-5

SKY Castle is such a dynamic blend of political intrigue, sageuk hierarchies and makjang twists and turns. At yet, it falls into none of these genres. It is ultimately a drama set in an idyllic suburb – or so it seems. The universe that has been set up is so intricately laid out, and all the players are following their parts, but there is always a sense that something is brewing just below the surface. 

The Kang family started out in the best position when we were introduced to them. The patriarch of the family, Joon-sang (Jung Joon-ho) is a rising star at his hospital, his wife Seo-jin (Yum Jung-ah) is the ideal housewife and mother, and they have two bright children. But with the departure of the Park family, we see them slowly start falling apart, leaving a gaping hole in the community where Seo-jin thought her family should fill, but is now having doubts about.

The other contender for this spot is Cha Min-hyuk (Kim Byung-chul). He is the most involved of all the fathers in his children lives, and his methods leave a lot to be desired. However, he doesn’t seem to catch on that no-one in the community particularly likes him, his own family included, and just seems to charge ahead without any thought of the harm he’s doing. It was great to see his wife finally stand up to him in Episode 5, and I feel like Seung-hye (Yoon Se-ah) is on the path to reclaiming her place in both her children’s lives and her marriage. It was so satisfying seeing Min-hyuk knocked down a few pegs.

This was of course through the gentle prodding of the community’s newest resident, Lee Soo-im (Lee Tae-ran). Her childhood relationship with Seo-jin is still a bit of mystery, but she clearly isn’t as mild-mannered as she appears on the surface. She’s willing to stand up for herself, and it’s great to know that she gets all the support she needs from her family. I’m looking forward to see how her small actions continue to cause waves among the rest of the families.

It’s also due to her that we see the breakdown between Seo-jin and Jin-hee’s (Oh Na-ra) relationship starting. Because Seo-jin can’t reveal her true past to Jin-hee, she’s becoming more and more untrusting of her closest friend, and added to the tense relationship between their husbands, I feel like they’re on the path to becoming rivals more than friends.

The show has an over-the-top-ness that I’m finding very fun to watch, and I’m glad that the acting is supporting the intense storylines of the show. Kim Byung-chul in particular is a favourite of mine, and he’s getting such an interesting arc that I’m so excited for. All the families have so much invested in succeeding, and it seems like they are willing to go to any lengths to achieve it.

Graphic Novels

Paper Girls (Issue #11-15)

The girls go through some life changing events, as the things around them become more and more crazy. These five issues focused particularly on KJ, who was reunited with the other girls in prehistoric times. Not only does she experience a crisis of identity, she also has to now deal with the consequences of having killed someone in order to defend her companion. It seemed like everything was happening to her all at once. In Y: The Last Man, Vaughan usually managed to balance out the topic relating to women over all his female characters. However, in Paper Girls, even though he has a wealth of women to write for, it seems like one is getting the brunt of the social commentary in her story arc. 

We also encountered two new women, one from the time the girls got stranded in, and one who claims she invented time-travel. Wari, our prehistoric mother, seems to only have one thing on her mind: Keep her son safe from the mysterious three men. The other, Qanta, seems to be on a reconnaissance mission in the past, and accidentally gets herself into trouble with these same mystery men. Both end up being put in distress and have to fight their way out, with the help of our paper girls.

The visual style of the comic seems to getting more conventional as the story gets more fantastical; gone is the vibrant colour palette and everything seems to be in much more muted earth colours. The pacing also seems to be much slower, and I miss the action of the earlier issues that don’t seem to have followed the girls into the past. I hope the story returns to that original pacing of the earlier issues going forward.