Before I begin, I want to warn anyone who reads this post that there will be spoilers ahead. If you plan to watch the series I’m going to be talking about and don’t want to be spoiled, you may want to come back after watching it.
First off, I want to talk about the series I mentioned that I was watching some months ago.
Hyper Knife
I’m up to episode 6 of 8, and I gotta say that I’ve kinda lost interest in finishing this series. For the first four episodes of the series, the story was great, as Se Ok navigated through the world of underworld surgeries with an unhinged eye for giving no Fs about the law. From the beginning, she had one clear obsession—performing surgery. The more difficult the surgery, the better, and good grief if anyone got in the way of her obsession. Along the way, she’s been getting constantly harassed by two groups—the police who are investigating a murder that took place at one of sites of an underground surgery (which Se Ok committed), and her former teacher and mentor, who is dying from a brain tumor that only a VERY small percentage of surgeons could operate on successfully (in his eyes namely he and Se Ok). During the first four episodes, while we watched Se Ok literally slice through anyone who got in her way or pissed her off, we got the backstory of how she was kicked out of the medical community by her former mentor, which in many ways drove her off the deep end. To be honest, though, during her residency, Se Ok was already jogging towards the deep end. Deok Hui, her mentor, was just the one to finally push her over by kicking her out of it.
However, once the story brought one of the subplots of the series to the fore, I feel like the series started to lose its way. Until episode five, the story of the series was clear—Deok Hui wanted Se Ok to give him the surgery that would save his life and in return, he would get her license to legally practice medicine back for her, thus allowing her to return to a ‘normal’ life, and as long as she continued to refuse to do the surgery, he would cause problems for her, while she did everything she could to stay one step ahead of the authorities. Simple and clear. Why bring in this subplot of Deok Hui and Se Ok being two sides of the same coin, with the mystery of whether Deok Hui actually killed one of his former friends and colleagues? I get that story-wise. It shows just how similar the two main characters are, but if viewers are paying attention to the first two episodes, it becomes very self-evident that they are basically the same type of person—both are obsessed with performing surgeries and being the best at it. The problem is that this mystery has slowed down the flow of the series as a whole, and frankly, has taken me out of the immersion of the story. Even though I usually love a good mystery, this one is sorely misplaced in a story that really didn’t need it. That’s how I’m feeling about the series so far.
If you want to check it out, you can find it on Hulu.
My Golden Blood
I finished this series. On the whole, it was a good series, with a few tasty twists towards the end, though the reveal of the big bad wasn’t one of them. This is what I wrote on MyDramaList.
After finishing the series, I was right about the main baddie, Thara. She was only protecting Tong so that she could later suck him dry. Also, learning that the reason why Tong was orphaned was because Thara killed his parents (his father being a Golden Blood) was crazy. She’d been lying to Mark and the apothecary unnie from day one. Only Nakan (which was a very nice twist) knew what Thara was really about, because he spied what she did to the last Golden Blood. I actually felt a bit of sadness when Nakan died, though only a bit, because he was a real dbag during the rest of the series, and he was the one who killed Tonkla, Tong’s best friend. Though there was a happy ending for Mark and Tong, the journey along the way in the last few episodes was somewhat ridiculous, to be frank, and ultimately took away from what was a good show for the most part. The gaslighting from Thara to Mark about Tong was just ridiculous. Ultimately, the story on the whole was serviceable, and all the actors did well in what was given to them.
If you want to check this one out, you can find it on IQIYI.com
Top Form
Honestly, I haven’t finished this series, and I don’t know if I will. I’ve put it on hold for now, because after episode five, the series lost my interest. Episode four was one of the…spiciest love scenes I’ve seen in Thai BL to date, but for some reason, even before episode four, I was losing interest in this series, and I don’t know why. The actors are good and are living up to the characters they portray. I loved the manga and the anime, but I don’t know…the live-action series can’t seem to keep my interest.
If you want to watch it, you can check it out on WeTV/Tencent (mobile).
Now on to a few that I’m watching right now…
Harmony Secret
After episode 6: I want to start by saying that I hate both fathers in this series. In fact, I hate all the men in this series so far.
Both fathers use manipulation and pressure on their daughters to get what they want. The only difference is where Ai’s father uses physical abuse, anguish of losing her mom, and the fear of getting cast out like her mom to get what he wants, Mae’s father is very much a ‘kill them with kindness’ type of person, who uses Mental abuse, the wishes of a dead mother, and the fear of losing her last living parent to get the reaction he wants out of her. Both of them can fuck off.
Meanwhile, Rachen (one of the other bidders for the project) is trying to use Mae to garner some semblance of revenge on Ai for not taking the bait on a previous project. He knows that these two are together, and he’s using the project to drive a wedge between them, while trying to win the project himself through dubious means.
Then, there’s G and Yam. G is the assistant of Mae, while Yam is Ai’s assistant. They are both very loyal to their charges for different reasons. G was once a mentor to Mae at university. During this time, she grew unrequited feelings for Mae. On the other hand, Yam was literally saved by Ai from her abusive parents. Yam would give her life for Ai, as would G for Mae. G and Yam’s gradual journey to having a relationship of their own has been fun, and sometimes difficult to watch so far. I hope they end up together, because I get the feeling that G very much wants to feel like the protector in a relationship and Yam VERY MUCH needs saving from her past, and from Ai’s dad in the present.
Lastly, there’s Ai and Mae–former rivals in high school, who have clearly fallen in love with each other in the present. The problem is that because of what’s going on between their two companies, and the competition to win the big project, they can’t truly 100% trust each other. Each knows that many machinations are going on behind the scenes of the competition, and along with the pressure of having to appease their fathers, it leaves their budding relationship on very shaky footing. With the remaining two episodes, it’s going to be interesting to see how they navigate through all the sludge, and if their budding relationship can make it to the other side. I gotta say though–it’s a travesty that this series is only eight episodes. The pacing in the series is good so far, but I really wish this series had ten or twelve episodes.
If you want to check it out, you can find it on IQIYI.com
Only You
As of Episode 7: I’m so glad that Ayla and Tawan finally got together. I thought Tawan was actually going to kill Ayla’s bathroom attacker. She may have, if her team hadn’t stopped her. It sucks that Yam was the mini-boss culprit, but Enjoy did a great job in her role.
I know it’s a part of the culture, but I really think that Ayla’s dad was wrong to take his beef with Tawan’s dad out on her, because he doesn’t know Tawan’s backstory with her family or how she is the Black Sheep. After hearing both sides from the dads, I really think Tawan’s brother is the main baddie of this series. He’s too quick to try to please his dad and be everything for his dad in some way, thereby getting validation for his inferiority complex, when it comes to Tawan. Also, I think he blames Tawan for his parents’ breakup, even though she’s as much of a victim as he is. I think Tawan’s brother would do anything to gain his father’s approval…even trying to kill Ayla or her dad.
This show is so good so far. This series is very much a slow burn, and each episode is like another layer of a flower being peeled back to reveal what’s inside. I’m not kidding when I say that after each episode, I actually have the pull to re-watch all the previous episodes, as soon as the current episode ends. That’s very rare for me and has only happened with a couple of other GLs. I’m really enjoying it so far.
If you want to check it out, you can find it on Ch3Plus.
Somewhere Somehow
As of episode 4: This show is hilarious and sweet. Again in this series, one of the dads is trying to force an arranged marriage on his daughter. Also, we have the double whammy of a father wanting the child to take over the family business, whether they want to or not. Kee and Pheem are the cutest couple, yet they are beset by Poon, the father’s marriage candidate. Thank goodness that Kee has her bestie, Pock, to keep her from overthinking. Didn’t realize Nam (the actress who plays Pock) could sing, but I love her song from the OST. I am definitely liking this series so far.
If you want to check it out, you can find it on YouTube.
Well, that’s pretty much it for now. If you’re watching any of these series, let me know what you think.
