A Totally Crazy Adventure, Finding The British Dream & Night time Shenanigans

Hello world! Welcome back to another blog. In this blog I will be taking you through three more shows I’ve been watching. These include a KDrama that was released a few years ago but recently made its Netflix debut, a Netflix romcom where as a hopeless romantic it touched me, and a ITV comedy set in a supermarket during the nighttime. So without further ado, here are the latest shows I’ve been watching! 

Bad and Crazy:

The first show I’m going to talk about is Bad and Crazy, starring Lee Dong-wook and Wi Ha-joon.

This tells the story of a justice seeking identity slip into the life of a cop who would do anything just to get a promotion, even if it meant breaking the rules.

Lee Dong-wook took on the rule of Ryu Su-Yoel (where his birth name was In Jai-hui). For many reasons I loved his performance, from his irritation over the littlest things, to his fun side when things got messy. And I think that was all thanks to his alter ego K (Wi Ha-joon), who revealed to be a key figure in his past and to also help Su-yeol that he needs to trust himself. But there were some situations where K got on his nerves which I thought were hilarious, but I’ll let you watch it on Netflix to see for yourself what they were, but it ultimately led to a friendship that was unbreakable. And amongst K, Su-Yeol also had a helping hand in the cases from his ex Lee Hui-geyom (Han Ji-eun), who I loved her sass and straight talking, and friend/colleague Jae-soon (Cha Si-won) who also formed a unlikely friendship with Officer Oh Geyong-tae (Cha Hak-yeon but better known as N for his stage name) where there were also some humorous situations which I liked. He had became one of my favourite characters to watch, as particularly with the first case of the series, his empathy, innocence and kindness in the first case (which I’ll go onto in a moment), was a crucial asset which others seemed to have brushed aside. But equally you do not want to get on his bad side, and that is what I think makes a crucial member of the police force.

Fraud therapist Yeom Geun Soo (Choi Kwang-je) There were two characters that definitly impacted Su-yeol's life. These were in the form of therapist Yeom Geun-soo (Choi Kwang-je) who may not have had the actual qualifications, but he did help Su-yeol in some ways, and Bong-pil (Sung Ji-ru) who was the chief of the anti-corruption investigation and had high hopes for Su-yeol. Three other characters helped carry the story along and also impacted the show. These were his foster brother Ryu Dong-yeol (Kim Dae-gon) and foster mother Seo Seung-suk (Kang Ae-shim who was also player 149 Jang Geum-ja in Squid Game). Su-yeol's brother may be cheeky at times, but there’s a lot of love and care, especially when he gets into dangerous situations, and his mum Seung-suk gave him the love and care Su-yeol deserved after revealing his abusive childhood. But when she got diagnosed with an incurable disease, it really tested his mental strength. The third character that made an impact during the show was drug cartel leader Ms Boss Yong (Kim Hieo-ra) who let’s just say is a woman not to be messed with. And you know when you’ve got an evil character, when they’re dangerous until the end of the series. The cases throughout the show were somewhat alarming. These included the death of a mother where Geyong Tae was caught in the crossfire by Do In-Boem (Lee Sang-hong), and it all led to the politician Assembylman Do Yu-gon (Lim Ki-hong), a case that was closed before the events of the series that linked to Hui-gyeum's boss Gye-Sik (Lee Hwa-ryong) and the biggest case was in the form of Shin Ju-hyeok (Jun Sung-il) who actually turned out to be a individual called Jeong Yun-ho. This was the most brutal case yet as I had my suspicions about him, and I was right to do so, and he turned out to be one of the most dangerous villains yet. It was also the moment where he was also linked to the birth of K. 

I think I only have a few downsides which are the following. The first one being that because there was no English dubbing (as this was originally broadcasted on a channel specifically for South Korea ), it was harder to process the story, but I learnt a few things in Korean too. And even though it was one series, it felt like I was watching 3 seasons in one setting. I’m not sure if that’s how most KDramas are structured, but at least I’ll know next time I watch one (as there is one featuring another cast member of squid game which I’m keen to watch), at least I can break it down as to what happened in each section of the episode.

Overall I would give the show a 4.90. The title says it all on how I would describe the show… crazy! But in some ways I loved it! 

Too Much:

The next show I’m going to talk about is Too Much, starring Megan Stalter, Will Sharpe and created by Lena Dulnam (who is also in the show) and Luis Felber, which inspired by their own relationship. 

This tells the story of New Yorker Jessica who after breaking up with her boyfriend, goes to London to start a new life find true love. 

Megan Stalter took on the role of Jessica Salmon. I loved her character, her enthusiasm, her lack of understanding on the British language despite being a fan of British romance films, and her confidence. And she really bounced off of the character of Felix Remen (Will Sharpe). Their same sense of humour, but also their openness around each other really solidified that romantic connections Jessica was looking for. The chemistry Megan and Will had also shone through, and Lena did a But let’s just say that their romance has not been plain sailing, one reason being her ex Zev (Michael Zegen), and his toxic behaviour had an impact on who she interacted with. And him getting engaged to influencer Wendy Jones (Emily Ratajkowski) also sparked Jessica into a fit of rage, therefore making videos lashing out as a way of coping. But it was Wendy who made her realise that they have more in common than they thought, and without her, Jessica and Felix wouldn’t have happened. Felix himself also had his own personal demons that were preventing him from falling in love, which we got to see in episode 7, which is understandable as to why he turned to drugs and alcohol to cope, but it was Jessica who helped him see that despite his flaws, he's still capable of love.

Other characters really impacted their romance journey. These included her mum Lois (Rita Wilson) and her grandma Dottie (Rhea Perlman) who encouraged her to go out into the world to find love and also seek a new adventure. Jessica’s sister Nora (Lena Dunham herself) also had her issues following a separation from her partner Jameson (Andrew Rannells) but soon realised they couldn’t stay away from each other. Gaz, played by Dean-Charles Chapman, was the cheeky landlord who we in aid of Jessica when she needed some assistance and at one point even did tell her he liked her. But I didn’t think that much of it, but I’m glad he wasn’t offended when she turned him down, knowing that her feelings for Felix are so strong. And he surprised me as at first I thought he would be abit shady, but Ive actually grown to like him. Jessica’s colleagues also had their own adventures, and I could see they had brilliant chemistry with each other. These included Boss Gibbons (Leo Reich) who like Jessica is obsessed with romance and wants all the gossip, and Kim Keith (Janicza Bravo) who explored her sexuality with fellow colleague Josie (Daisy Bevan) and also gave Jessica advice for her own love life. For Felix, it was the interaction he had with house mate auggie (Prasanna Puwanarajah) and ex Polly (Adèle Exarchopoulos) who made him realise that being with Jessica was the one who could see that he could lead a healthier and happier life. Whilst I didn’t like Polly in particular because of her jealousy of Jessica, like a true friend she supported Felix knowing that if he’s happy, she’s happy. It was also lovely to see an appearance from well known celebrities. These included Rita Ora, who gave Jessica some pearls of wisdom and also gave Jessica the courage to take charge, and Jennifer Saunders as Fiona, an old accquantece Felix’s. Another guest star was Richard E Grant who took on the role of Jonno, the boss of Jessica who had a complicated relationship with his wife Ann, played by Naomi Watts. But I also loved Megan and Naomi’s connection in episode 4 where they each gave advice and humourous stories on their relationships. 

I think my only downside was that there were some moments that were particularly hard to watch. These included Jessica loosing up her two pet dogs, one which she was made to get away by Zev, and the other where Astrid met a fatal end. I know it’ll happen with my dog at some point and I have been through that pain before, but it’s still not the nicest thing to do. I also felt that whilst I didn’t laugh out loud at most of the stuff (although I did find the language barrier of the British and American terms funny), it made up for the heartfelt moments and stuff which I can relate to. 

Overall I would give the show a 4.90. Yes whilst I didn’t laugh out loud, it was adventurous, romantic, heartfelt and it’s made me realise that love is when you accept someone for who they are, not what they think they should be. I don’t know if Lena is planning a series 2, but if she is it’ll be great to see Jessica and Felix get used to married life and planning a family together. 

Transaction:

The final show I’m going to talk about is Transaction, created and starring Jordan Gray, casted by Tracey Gillham and directed by Ollie Parsons.

This tells the story of egomaniac Liv who is hired at a supermarket to avoid a PR crisis, and after realising she’s unsackable, makes the most of her night shifts where every night is a party. 

Through Liv, I really got to see Jordan Gray's personality and how she views herself throughout the sitcom. She is sassy, confident and she really doesn’t care what people think. And you know what? I love that about someone. But we also got to see a caring side to her, especially when it comes to sticking up for her friend Tom (Thomas Gray) who was the one who suggested she’d come to Pellocks, and after getting in some sticky situations Liv manages to back him up if ever he’s in trouble. And after doing some research on Jordan myself and seeing the results of her controversial performance on Friday Night Live, this sitcom definitely I think made people forget about it.

Throughout the series, the other characters do resemble most of the people at my day job. These include workaholic Millie (Francesca Mills), who is a fully dedicated member of staff and does have a crush on Tom but expresses it in her own way, and I do love her quirky personality. Another one is “Beefy” Linda (Kayla Meikle) who I found funny as despite her deadpan personality, she is literally me on every shift where I would rather be anywhere else than my day job (and I do apologise to the staff of my day job if you’re reading this lol ) and manager Simon (Nick Frost) is the literal resemblance of someone at my day job who is may be more focussed on their job rather than their personal life. And that clearly shows with ex wife Freida (Doon Mackichan) who secretly likes the fact he’s breaking down. But it also had an impact on his daughter Denim (Ellie-May Sheridan) who took a fondness for Liv when she decided to revel against her parents.

I think my only downside was that there weren’t a lot of moments that didn’t make me laugh out loud, although I did have a chuckle at some of the scenarios. But the one thing that made me laugh was one episode where temporary employer Mike (Henry Perryment) made a slight error which I could only relate to, and it did tickle my funny bones I can’t lie. But what lacked him laughter for me personally was moments that stole my heart, like Liv standing up to Simon when he initially decided to fire Tom, and also at the end where despite being high on pain killers, she makes a good motivational speaker. 

And that is it for my latest instalment of tv reviews. Let me know if you’ve seen these shows and what you thought of them.

See you soon for another blog. Until next time…

This is The Autistic Actress signing off :)