what i’ve been watching recently #6

Hello, friends!

Today’s post is going to be a mixed one. In the past few weeks, I watched some great things, and some very bad ones. I actually wondered if I should post this, as it would be more negative than I typically write my posts, but ultimately decided to do it, as it could potentially help other people out there on what to avoid on NETFLIX.

DRUCK (S1~S4)

I watch way too many SKAM remakes for my own good and I am aware.

I thought I’d never watch DRUCK, because I’d already watched their season 2 at one point and it was really disappointing. But I am really glad I ended up going back and giving it a second chance, because the other seasons are actually really good.

I still stand by the fact S2 is a disappointment because I really disliked Mia as a main, as well as her dynamic with Alexander and Kiki. But I surprisingly adored Hanna as a protagonist in S1, even Matteo who I thought I’d hate in S3 turned out to be a lovely character, and I will never shut up about Amira’s season because it’s literally art.

The side characters are also lovely and this may be the first Eva/Jonas relationship I actually rooted for from the beginning, so yeah, we stan.

LOVE ALARM

I’ve been meaning to get back into Korean dramas, as the last one I watched was in early 2018. I don’t know why I fell out of love with them for a while, but I really wanted to get back, so I decided to watch this one on Netflix because the trailer caught my attention and it was really short, so I felt like it would be the best way to ease myself back.

I was very wrong, lol.

This drama is just a compilation of all the tropes I hate in Korean dramas: inconclusive endings, rich guy/poor girl, bullies, main character with no agency, and dudes that have to save her constantly.

It was also even worse because the motivations are so unclear. I still have no idea why the characters made certain decisions, so I couldn’t buy none of the plot for that reason. I also hated how irresponsibly they dealt with topics such suicide and homophobia.

I am pretty mad about this one and if you’re looking into K-dramas to watch, I’d definitely say run from this one!

THE POLITICIAN (S2)

I was looking forward to this season since the first one ended and I can’t believe how quickly we got it. I like the fact that this season has as much of the extravagance and over-the-top-ness of the first one, while still addressing a bunch of interesting and relevant topics.

The main conflict of this season was the generation conflict, and I liked their approach a lot. Even the voter’s episode, which I didn’t like as much in S1, was so well done in S2 and I think shows well how politicians are so far from the standards we tend to hold them to.

Still, I understand people who found this season disappointing, as there are *definitely not enough gays* and some of the character’s relationships and dynamics were pretty much all over the place. I loved the ending, though, and the acting is still gold.

CONTROL Z

Trigger warnings: transphobia, graphic violence, bullying, public outing, self-harm

Everytime I think NETFLIX has learned something on how to *responsibly* address sensitive issues, they prove me wrong. This was 10x worse than anything they could’ve possibly done in Thirteen Reasons Why.

This show has a very cliché premise, similar to Pretty Little Liars, where an anonymous social media account is threatening the students with their secrets. Our main character is trying to investigate who could be behind the account.

The problem is that they also try to address bullying, transphobia and self-harm, but absolutely irresponsibly. All the discussions are surface-level, they serve literally for no purpose other than to shock the audience and create more drama. I mean, considering that the whole main conflict is triggered by a public outing – an incredibly traumatic event that serves no other purpose in the narrative but to perpetuate the drama -, I shouldn’t have been surprised by the outcome.

This also had some of the most graphically violent scenes I’ve watched in a while, and while it’s not targeted for teenagers necessarily, the fact it’s set in a high school makes me feel like a lot of teenagers will want to watch it and it can be such a harmful content.

Sorry that I ended up ranting so much on this one! If you’ve watched any of these shows, let’s discuss in the comments. And if you have actual good K-DRAMAS to recommend, also please let me know!