What Should I Watch?

This is THE special episode of What Should I Watch?

We have a special guest from Korea who is an expert on Korean food and drama.

In the episode 5 and 6 of the Korean drama, Mine, things are getting more interesting and the characters slowly start to show their true colors.

Some characters may say "I'm doing it" or "Let's do this" but how is it related to Hyundai or Honda? Check out this episode and find out!

The endless mysteries continue in the 3rd and 4th episode of the Korean drama, Mine.

The exquisite house, ultra-rich lifestyle, and complex relationships between the family members. Who is actually in control and who thinks he/she is in control?

Peal away the layers of Mine... (what has layers besides cakes?)

And what is the tedious but important task when making Kimchi? If you want to know why Kimchi is suddenly being mentioned, check out this 21st episode with added bonus ASMR.

What Should I Watch? has been running for 20 weeks!

To celebrate this special episode, something new, something different will be featured for the next 8 weeks: preview and recap of a Korean drama Mine (2021).

There are a lot of Korean dramas that talk about rich families but what about the ultra rich family? And how about the drama that is unofficially loosely based on the real ultra rich?

Here's how they live, socialize, and commit, (and maybe) get away with murder.

TV Shows Mentioned in This Episode:

Secret Affair (2014)

Sky Castle (2018)

When the Camellia Blooms (2019)

Strangers from Hell aka. Hell is Other People (2019)

The Uncanny Counter (2020)

A Korean Netflix show, The Squid Game, shocked the world like Psy's Gangnam Style did 10 years ago.

But what do the games mean? Why was each participant selected? And why music played with recorder? Want to understand more?

In this week's episode, Grant and I decode The Squid Game with an explanation using insight from Korean culture.

TV shows and Movies mentioned in this episode:

Old Boy (2003)

Guardian: The Lonely and Great God (aka. Goblin) (2016)

Train to Busan (2016)

Mr. Sunshine (2018)

Kim Ji-young: Born 1982 (2019)

Chief of Staff (2019)

Hyenas are bullying Simba. They are a rough, sketch bunch. Innocent and poor Simba falls for their lie and ... Hyenas take the world!

It's not exactly what happened in Lion King but it did in this Korean drama, Hyena.

The frenemy lawyer duo is not the typical legal show lawyers. They're not fired up to send the bad guys away. Their morals can be conveniently altered at times to win cases and those cases bring them tons of scraps to eat off of because they're cleaning up after the rich and powerful. But don't point fingers at them. There are reasons why they became the hyenas of Korean legal industry.

Watch this stylish drama and find out the behind story.

Story, editing, and music combine to create this Soderbergh-esque drama. But most importantly, the chemistry between Joo Ji-Hoon and Kim Hye-Soo is definitely something you should not miss!

TV Shows mentioned in this episode:

Princess Hours (2006)

The Queen of Office (2013)

Misaeng (2014)

"Reply" Anthology (2012, 2013, 2015)

Misty (2018)

Sky Castle (2018)

Diary of a Prosecutor (2019)

Kingdom (2019)

One Spring Night (2019)

Hospital Playlist (2020)

Under the Queen's Umbrella (2022)

Happy Seol Nahl! (Lunar New Year in Korean)

New year, new goal, maybe new job or new place?

My bi-weekly guest Mary is planning to get a place of her own so I had to pick this Korean drama as a precaution for her.

How well do you know your neighbors? Just because someone looks like a tough guy, it doesn't mean he is bad. And because someone always dresses nice with a suit, you shouldn't assume they are good.

Janus is an ancient Roman god whose image is often depicted with two faces symbolizing duality. But don't we all possess this nature? Good and Bad?

So the question is, how well do we know ourselves?

Hell is Other People (or Strangers from Hell on some platforms) is psychological and gory thriller that dives deep to the bottom of human nature.

TV Show mentioned in this episode:

Misaeng: Incomplete Life (2014)

What do these have in common: North Korea, Grocery Store, Terror Attack, Celebrity Sighting?

Listen to this episode of What Should I Watch? to find out and Laugh Out Loud.

But the drama is not a comedy.

South Korea's national assembly building is bombed one morning and pretty much all of the important politicians die including the president.

According to the law, a minister on the lowest succession in order is forced to become an acting president of Republic of Korea (South Korea) for 60 days. But he is an environmental science professor with very little political experience.

Whether you watched the American version(Designated Survivor), whether you like political shows, this Korean remake will make you binge-watch through 16 episodes.

Is your New Year's resolution related to exercise?

Are you doing weight training?

If so, this week's Korean drama can be a big motivation.

But even if you're not interested in working out, you can still enjoy this drama packed with comedy and inspiring life lessons.

How do we love ourselves when we are not where or what we want ourselves to be?

Loosely based on the story of female weight lifter, Jang Mi-ran, who is an Olympic gold medalist and world record holder, this is a romantic comedy that shows you a road to self-discovery and self-love.

TV Shows mentioned in this episode:

-High School King of Savvy

-Oh My Ghost

-Familiar Wife

Happy New Year!

As we celebrate holidays, it is a perfect time to study the meaning of family and reflect on our own lives.

In this episode, Grant and I continue our conversation about My Unfamiliar Family and dive deeper into each character as they resolve the individual and collective issues.

Thanks for listening and don't forget to subscribe for another year of great podcasts about Korean TV shows.

We can't talk about holidays without mentioning the word family whether you love them or not,

They could be your absolute favorite people or the people you want to spent the least amount of time with.

What is this thing called Family?

And why do we love them or hate them more than others?

They say that you can't pick your own family so all we can do is to learn to love them...at least that's what these characters did in this Korean drama, My Unfamiliar Family.

TV Shows and Movies mentioned in this episode:

-When the Camellia Blooms (2019)

-Minari (2020)