Mystic Pop Up Bar · Recaps

Mystic Pop Up Bar Ep 10 Recap (and Weolju knows!)

We start in the past with the Queen berating Weolju for daring to want something she couldn’t have. She tells Weolju she’ll lose everything for her stupidity and banishes Weolju from the palace, as we saw back in episode 1.

Afterwards, she goes to the prince to push a marriage on him. The prince refuses but his bride has been selected for him. The prince pleads saying that his heart belongs to another but the queen tells him to erase Weolju from his heart, or she’ll erase Weolju. As a prince, he needs to amass strength and that’s not something Weolju can give him. The prince bows his head, and thus begins episode 9!

Continue reading “Mystic Pop Up Bar Ep 10 Recap (and Weolju knows!)”

Mystic Pop Up Bar · Recaps

Mystic Pop Up Bar Ep 9 Recap (and a little bit of angst)

Grim Reaper Yeom tries to reason with Wonhyung saying he’s served 500 years in hell and his this close to completing his punishment. Grim Reaper Yeom asks him to go back but Wonhyung refuses, saying he has unfinished business with Weolju and the Crown Prince (who is definitely 100% Manager Gui). As for why?

Ooohhh so the Crown Prince probably found out about Wonhyung’s deceit. Wonhyung’s out for revenge. His goal is to make sure Weolju fails in reaching 100,000 and dies in the Hell of Extinction so that Manager Gui can suffer. Grim Reaper Yeom says Wonhyungs called them so much pain already. Wonhyun cries that it doesn’t even come close to the 500 years he spent in hell. Grim Reaper Yeom strikes Wonhyung saying he disappoints him as usual. Wonhyung cries that he always took the prince’s side, and never once took his side even to the moment of Wonhyung’s death. Grim Reaper Yeom falters at that. Wonhyung cries that he just wanted to be loved by his father and takes Grim Reaper Yeom’s hand (why do I feel like this is a fakeout). We fade to black and thus starts episode 8!

Continue reading “Mystic Pop Up Bar Ep 9 Recap (and a little bit of angst)”

Mystic Pop Up Bar · Recaps

Mystic Pop Up Bar Ep 8 Recap (and Kangbaeo and Weoljuliet)

We start off with a dramatized retelling of Romeo and Juliet featuring Manager Gui, Weolju, Kangbae and Grim Reaper Yeom lol. Kangbae’s Romeo and Weolju’s Juliet. Manager Gui plays Romeo’s father, and Grim Reaper Yeom is Juliet’s. It doesn’t take long for them to veer off-script with Manager Gui yelling that dating younger men may be the norm but they’re a decade apart. The scene ends with Kangbae declaring that he’s a fool taunted by love, and Weolju sighing that she’s a fool who gave everything to love. And thus begins episode 8!

Continue reading “Mystic Pop Up Bar Ep 8 Recap (and Kangbaeo and Weoljuliet)”

Mystic Pop Up Bar · Recaps

Mystic Pop Up Bar Ep 7 Recap (and gambling doesn’t pay)

We start off with Kangbae frantically searching for Weolju and Manager Gui, now that the rent tent bar is gone. He looks distressed, but I’m sure that’ll get sorted out pretty soon because the two are currently attempting to placate Queen Yeomna into letting them set up their bar again. She think she’s been too light on them, and sentences them to community service for the Baby Dream Kidnapping Incident. She won’t take the baby back from the parents but the case won’t count towards Weolju’s quota. Weolju’a about to get pissed but Manager Gui holds her back and agrees to the punishment.

Continue reading “Mystic Pop Up Bar Ep 7 Recap (and gambling doesn’t pay)”

Mystic Pop Up Bar · Recaps

Mystic Pop Up Bar Ep 6 Recap (and Manager Gui’s definitely the prince)

Kangbae’s having quite the dream, imagining that him and Yeorin in a very girly red dress won the couple dance battle. In the dream, the announcer hands Kangbae a green jade ring, near identical to the one the prince meant to give Weolju. Dream-Yeorin preens upon sight of the ring and indicates to Kangbae to put it on for her. He goes on one knee and skips it on looking super excited, only to look at her hand again and find….his manager (MANAGER MA) not Yeorin. Meanwhile the crowd (feat. Jindong) chants for them to kiss. Kangbae’s horrified and starts out of sleep and thus begins episode 6!

Continue reading “Mystic Pop Up Bar Ep 6 Recap (and Manager Gui’s definitely the prince)”

Mystic Pop Up Bar · Recaps

Mystic Pop Up Bar Ep 5 Recap (and who on earth is the prince)

Kangbae wakes up to Weolju chopping away and making him porridge. She’s gotten him medicine and everything, but Kangbae’s too moved to eat it. He says it’s the first time anyone cooked for him. Weolju looks sad for a second but grouses that he has to hurry up and eat so he can hurry up and work. Kangbae wolfs down the porridge at that, complimenting the food. Weolju soaks up the praise and asks Kangbae for his favourite food, to which he says ‘dumplings’. They argue over the merits of dumplings and fresh versus frozen and thus starts episode 5! Continue reading “Mystic Pop Up Bar Ep 5 Recap (and who on earth is the prince)”

Mystic Pop Up Bar · Recaps

Mystic Pop Up Bar Ep 4 Recap (and who is the prince?)

The case of the day gets a little more personal in this episode as we take a look at one of the coworkers Kangbae’s closest to CHOI JINDONG .

We pick up where we left off with Yeorin stopping an irrational customer from slapping Kangbae. She coolly cracks her neck, saying that if he wants to get physical he can do so with her. The customer quickly leaves. Yeorin turns to Kangbae asking him what he’s doing here and tries to take him to security, not believing his pleas that he works at the mart. Continue reading “Mystic Pop Up Bar Ep 4 Recap (and who is the prince?)”

Mystic Pop Up Bar · Review

Mystic Pop Up Bar (and where on earth have I been)

Ah, 2017. I remember when this little blog was growing and I had all the time in the world to do what I love: fangirling and dissecting kdramas. Then, life happened. More specifically, law school happened. Now those who frequented this site despite my 3 year hiatus might go well damn, you’re rich now. Nope. Not even close, I’m even more in student debt than I was before and this pandemic has affected what small prospects I had for a long-term career in a very saturated market. So I’m back to drown my sorrows in Kdramas! Not that I ever stopped watching dramas these past 3 years (okay, only for the first year, I didn’t have time to breathe that year), but I just didn’t have the time to lay out the analyses I was known for.

But law school (aka hell) is now over and life shows signs of resuming, so I’m finally back with a review of Netflix’s latest foray into Kdramas: Mystic Pop-up Bar.

First off, that is a terrible translation of the Korean title 쌍갑포차 (Ssang-kab-po-cha). The last two syllables 포차 (po-cha) refers to the road-side red tent restaurant seen so often in Kdramas. The first two syllables 쌍갑 (Ssang-kang) are a little more complicated. 쌍 means twins or equal and 갑 has a meaning similar to ‘top’ or boss’, hence ssang-kap-po-cha. A red tent restaurant where all customers are equal and everyone’s a boss (no class/hierarchy here!)

But that’s where all the terribleness ends, because this show is a lot of fun. And I mean FUN.  Continue reading “Mystic Pop Up Bar (and where on earth have I been)”

Defendant · Review

Going into Defendant’s final week (and Ji Sung’s utter brilliance)

I seriously don’t know how/why I keep getting hits on this page when I’m such a lazy bum and haven’t updated it in so long. What came so easily during the second and third years of my undergrad gets more and more difficult as I keep losing time in my final year. Thank you so much to those who still frequent this corner of the web! And if you haven’t seen Defendant, please do.

It’s sheer utter magnificent brilliance.
one-hd-innocent-defendant-5
Now I could write an ode, like I did with Romantic Doctor Teacher Kim. But odes are based on the premise that words can capture or do some justice to an experience. I can’t describe this. The acting, writing, directing, music (say goodbye to excessive osts, 99.9% of everything’s instrumental and perfect), everything is so bloody brilliant that my jaw spends a lot of time on the floor.  Continue reading “Going into Defendant’s final week (and Ji Sung’s utter brilliance)”