[Spoiler Alert] Grace discusses the show Beef (Netflix, 2023) created by Lee Sung Jin starring Steve Yeun and Ali Wong. While Beef is a Netflix production made in Hollywood, Grace sees a lot of Korean influence on the show like how Danny tries to kill himself using hibachi grills similar to the way Koreans use charcoal briquettes, having a billionaire character, and the jang-nam (eldest Korean son) pressure that Danny puts on himself to buy his parents a house. What makes the show arguably a Korean American drama are the church scenes and an exploration of K-rage exhibited by characters like Danny, Issac (David Choe) and Edwin (Justin H. Min). Grace analyzes Ali Wong’s former marriage to Justin Hakuta whose great uncle was world-renowned Korean artist Paik Nam-june, and how this backdrop creates Amy Lau’s character. The best thing about Beef is that while it explores the lives of Asian American characters, it doesn’t insist on being an Asian American show. It deals with compelling characters and their human complexities. Follow @KDramaSchool on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok. Visit https://www.kdramaschool.com/ to learn more.

Grace is going to be in Anchorage, Alaska for the B4UDie Comedy Festival! On April 8th, she is recording a live episode of K-Drama School podcast at E Street Theater at 1PM. Please stop by! The show is free. [Spoiler Alert] Grace lost $650 because she made some booking mistakes for her trip to Alaska but she talks herself out of grief. Grace discusses a greatly underrated throwback show entitled City Hall (SBS, 2009) starring Kim Sun-ha and Cha Seung-won written by hit-maker Kim Eun-sook. Grace marvels at the heartfelt human story of City Hall and the epic comedic chemistry between Kim Sun-ah and Cha Seung-won. Follow @KDramaSchool on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok. Visit https://www.kdramaschool.com/ to learn more.

[Spoiler Alert] Grace calls season 1 of Big Bet (Disney+, 2022-2023) starring Choi Min-sik, Son Suk-ku and Lee Dong-hwi written and directed by Kang Yoon-sung “the worst K-drama” she’s ever seen in her entire life. Grace goes off about how much she hates Disney+ productions of K-dramas which hog all the good actors but put them in terrible shows made by inexperienced filmmakers who don’t have a sense of TV pacing. Disney+ and Kang Yoon-sung’s greatest offense when creating Big Bet is making a series that lacks heart. It lacks everything that makes a good K-drama like moving storytelling, romance, compelling characters, high emotional stakes, a TV rhythm, and a female K-drama screenwriter whose written at least fifty TV scripts already. Big Bet also lied to Grace by declaring Son Suk-ku a featured actor on the series but only shows up starting the very tail end of episode 5, and she has a few thoughts on that. Grace also discusses the importance of mourning community lives that get lost then buried without any loved ones or kin. Follow @KDramaSchool on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok. Visit https://www.kdramaschool.com/ to learn more.

[Spoiler Alert] Grace discusses part 2 of the show The Glory (2022, Netflix) written by hit-maker Kim Eun-sook in her second collaboration with Song Hye-kyo. Grace starts out by admitting how she cried while watching Ke Huy Quan’s and Michelle Yeoh’s Oscar acceptance speeches telling artists not to give up on their dreams. Grace questions the concept of a public apology, and questions the adults involved in the latest media scandal around director Ahn Gil-ho. Grace critiques The Glory’s backwards representation of addicts and the mentally ill. Grace further critiques the show’s imbalanced portrayal of perpetrators and digs through side characters’ storylines to find logic to the perpetrators’ backstories which might explain why they are so abusive. Follow @KDramaSchool on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok. Visit https://www.kdramaschool.com/ to learn more.

[Spoiler Alert] Grace discusses the show Crash Course in Romance (tvN, 2023) starring Jeon Do-yeon and Jung Kyung-ho. Grace goes into actress Jeon Do-yeon’s impressive entertainment career which she’s been in since the year 1990. Grace is speaks highly of Crash Course in Romance’s noble attempt at raising awareness around mental health, emotional well-being, childhood trauma, and overachievement despite physical incapacitation but is disappointed at the show's failure to address any of them sufficiently by leaving huge gaps on what proper protocol is when a young person has a psychological breakdown. Grace’s guest is LA-based actor and improv comedian Ron Song (@ronssong on Instagram) who recently transitioned into becoming a full-time actor. They discuss condom-wrapped bananas hanging in front of rural Korean houses to ward off pregnancy, 1990s South Korea, the significance of rice among Koreans, the spiritual embeddedness of Japanese colonial influence over the Korean peninsula, the self-induced shame among Korean children and parents, jumping head on into one’s dreams, and being part of a creative Asian American community in LA. Follow @KDramaSchool on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok. Visit https://www.kdramaschool.com/ to learn more.

[Spoiler Alert] Grace discusses the show Summer Strike (GenieTV, 2022) starring Im Si-wan and Kim Seol-hyun. She analyzes the character Bom and her moments of female outrage in light of the tragedies she faces, which are highly in contrast with how Yeo-reum handles herself. Grace also encourages you to quit your job if you hate it so much. Follow @KDramaSchool on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok. Visit https://www.kdramaschool.com/ to learn more.

[Spoiler Alert] Grace discusses the show Save Me (OCN, 2017) starring Seo Yea-ji, Ok Taec-yeon, Jo Sung-ha and Woo Do-hwan. Grace analyzes the show’s illustration of religious fanaticism to critique South Korean cults that take advantage of emotionally vulnerable civilians. She also examines South Korea’s conflicting viewpoint around mental illness—how patients suffering from mental disorder and their families are unwilling to accept a clinical diagnosis from psychologists but willing to seek faith-based healing from shamans, folk medicine, herbal medicine, and religious cults. Grace empathizes with how hard it is for South Koreans to feel safety when seeking psychological counseling in a country that still stigmatizes mental illness. In her opening monologue, Grace celebrates her 36th birthday by indulging in a week-long journey of healing rituals with two reiki sessions, two therapy sessions, dream analyses and more. Grace’s guest is clinical psychologist Dr. Jacob Ham who also serves as the Director of Center for Child Trauma and Resilience at Mount Sinai in New York. Grace and Dr. Ham discuss how to fill a gap by adding healing to the discourse of modern Korean traumas, the show Sky Castle, survival parenting, epigenetics through dreams, how dreams and zodiacs serve us, Indigenous shamanism, Goethe’s light theory, yin and yang, fear of mushrooms and worms, the fascinating ways that our subconscious minds reach for our loved ones, and facing our dark matter with curiosity, presence and loving awareness. Trigger Warning: Grace is especially vulnerable and open in this episode and dives into her trauma history including child abuse, molestation, domestic violence, and more. Follow @KDramaSchool on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok. Visit https://www.kdramaschool.com/ to learn more.

[Spoiler Alert] Grace discusses the show The Interest of Love (JTBC, 2023) starring Yoo Yeon-seok, Moon Ga-young, Keum Sae-rok and Jung Ga-ram. Grace appreciates this “chewy” melodrama that has substance, humanity, heart, and profound breakthroughs for all the characters. Grace is discusses why she was the most heartbroken by Jung Ga-ram’s character Jung Jong-hyun. Follow @KDramaSchool on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok. Visit https://www.kdramaschool.com/ to learn more.

[Spoiler Alert] Grace discusses the show Curtain Call (KBS, 2022) starring Kang Ha-neul and Ha Ji-won. Grace appreciates the potential incest romance the show dangles, as well as Ha Ji-won finally playing a strong female character on TV. Grace breaks down what a classic K-drama melodrama is made of. Follow @KDramaSchool on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok. Visit https://www.kdramaschool.com/ to learn more.