Finding Your Home, The Return of the MIU & Superpower in the Crime World

Hello world! Welcome back to another blog. In this blog I will be taking you through my thoughts on three shows I’ve recently watched. These include the second series of the American romcom set in Korea, a second series where a new case for the MIU took place, and a new drama that got everyone talking! So without further ado here are my thoughts on these latest shows! 

XO Kitty:

The first show I’m going to review is season 2 of XO Kitty, created by Jenny Han and starting Anna Cathcart. 

Following the brilliant season 1, Kitty makes her way back to KISS in the hope of not causing drama, but ends up on even more crazy adventures, whilst discovering her sexuality and more family secrets. 

Once again, Kitty (Anna Cathcart), made her mark at KISS. Despite saying she would change, it definitely didn’t last long. But if she did change, it wouldn’t make her the person she is today. Throughout the series, we saw her grow. From exploring her sexuality of being bisexual, to discovering more of her family roots (which I’ll mention later on). And we also saw her friendship with Min ho (Sang Heon Lee) grow to the point where she starts to have feelings for him, uttering the same words he said at the end of season 1. Min-ho as well also went on a journey. From his new and later on nightmare with newcomer Stella (who I’ll mention later in this blog), and seeing his dad (Philippe Lee), when he takes over the school arts program. And despite feeling being mad at Kitty for interfering in his relationship, he’s still there for her when she needs it the most. That was mainly thanks to the wonderful Q (Anthony Keyvan), who also developed his dreams of being an athlete whilst forming a new relationship with former bully Jin (who I’ll mention in a moment). We also saw Dae (Choi Min-young), grow in confidence as a person, displaying some incredible vocals in his talent for singing, and forming a relationship with fellow student Eunice (Ryu Han-bi), which despite not working out after making assumptions, they ended up on good terms at the end of the season. And Yuri (Gia Kim), also had her own problems when reuniting with Juliana. With her mum secretly still not approving of their relationship, to Juliana being jealous of her and Kitty. And when the secret of Yuri’s and Kitty’s families was revealed, it definitely put a strain on their relationship. And not only that, at the end of the series she had to deal with not only heartbreak, but also a financial situation which half brother Alex (Peter Thurnwald), reveals. I just hope that season 3 will give her more luck on that scale. And we also got to see Professor Daniel Lee (Michael K. Lee), fulfil his dream of being a rockstar when kitty forms a plan at the end of the series, and despite being the typical strict teacher, we also got to see a more lighter side to him. 

We also saw new characters who impacted Kitty’s journey. These included Praveena (Sasha Bhasin), who I think genuinely liked Kitty (where giving her the nickname “Kitty Cat” was a sign), and then fell into the arms of Juliana by the end of the series, upsetting Yuri. There was also Dae’s and Min ho’s Bully now turned friend Jin (Joshua Lee), who after competing against Q, soon became his boyfriend. And there was an emotional reason as to why he was trying to sabotage Q’s chance of gaining the scholarship she’s been working hard for. And as time went on, we also saw that athletics wasn’t for Jin, and his injury gave him a chance to see life outside of the sport. I can’t wait to see their relationship grow in series 3. We also saw fellow student and Dae's new love interest Eunice (Ryu Han-bi), where among pretending to be rich, I think she genuinely liked Dae. It’s a shame they had to end it so soon, but at least they were on good terms at the end of the series. But the main new character that stood out for me was new student Stella (Audrey Huynh), who previously went under the name Esther, and only summoned a relationship with Min ho mainly to get revenge on his dad for how he treated her during a past audition with him. Which brings me very nicely to Mr Moon (Philippe Lee), a musician where at first he thought that every part of your life will affect every part of your life, as seen with Min ho’s brother Joon ho (Peniel Shin), when in fact he was wrong. 

I don’t think I have any downsides to it, but more on if season 3 will be the last season. And if so will Min ho and Kitty finally confess their feelings for each other? And because this show is also the kind where it would be interesting to see how the autism community is represented in countries like Korea, I wonder if they’ll be a chance for me to put myself forward for that kind of role? I guess also whilst Jin and Q were honest with each other, it didn’t really signify if they’ll still be a couple by season 3. I guess we’ll have to find out. 

Overall I would give the show a 4.95. It was funny and had moments of beautiful warm segments. And with season 3 currently filming, I’m just interested to see if during Joon ho’s tour, if Min ho and Kitty will realise their feelings for each other.

Malpractice:

The second show I’m going to talk about is series 2 of Malpractice, starring Tom Hughes and casted by Daniel Edwards.

This saw the MIU investigate a new case when a patient commits suicide under the watch of psychiatric registrar James ford.

James Ford (Tom Hughes), definitely got himself in a real pickle during this investigation. And I can see how the stress is juggling multiple things at once in the industry he works in caused the case to happen. That and his history at his past workplace. This was then investigated once again by Norma, George and Kathy from the MIU (Helen Bahen, Jordan Kouame and Adei Bundy from The Actors Workshop Nottingham). Let’s just say that at the end of the series when they did all of their research, you don’t want to get on the wrong side of them. But we also got to see their lives outside of the case. These included Norma’s daughter Rubi (Imogen Sanhu), wanting to genuinely quite medical school and also found out about her relationship with tutor Ben Monore (Neil Pendleton, and George’s relationship with Gina (Phoebe Sparrow), coming to an end after discovering something that linked to the case. That along with seeing a family of a child who he couldn’t save also played on his mind, but they managed to be in good terms with him, which is always a bonus.

Other characters in the show included James’ consultant Kate McAllister (Zoe Telford), who also had a secret relationship with him, and after it being discovered by patient Aislene (Amy Marston), it impacted the case massively. But it definitely came to an end after she went behind his back.  There was also obstetrician Sophia Hernandez (Selin Hizil), who at first I thought was the one mainly responsible, but as the series went on, she was a victim in it, and all that anger was just stress and anger getting to her. And after fellow midwife Maria Carter (Katherine Dow Blyton) took her own life after she knew something wasn’t right before, Sophia decided to then say her piece. I’ve also noticed after two series that it’s always people like Eric (Rick Warden) and Arun (Ace Bhatti), who have the most power where they think they can get away with it. In fact, it’s the complete opposite thanks to the work of the MIU. 

I don’t think I have any downsides to the show, as like the first series it did give lots of twists and turns. But I think the medical terms everyone uses was the only thing I needed to get my head around. But all I can see say kudos to the actors for learning what they all mean for this show, as I can imagine it can’t be easy.

Overall I would give the show a 4.95. Like the first series, it had suspense, it had tension and it seemed to have led to the people in power being caught out. And despite not knowing all of the medical dictionary (but that’s me personally), I would definitely recommend this series, and because it’s a new case you don’t need to watch the first series to catch up. 

Code of Silence:

The final show I’m going to talk about is Code of Silence, starring Rose Ayling-Elis, Kieran Moore and Charlotte Ritchie, casted by Andy Pryor and the first 3 episodes directed by Diarmuid Goggins.

This tells the story of deaf canteen worker Alison who becomes a lip reader for a case where they’ve followed the gang for years. But her connection with one gang member Liam Barlow definitely didn’t make it easy. 

Rose Ayling-Elis took on the role of Alison beautifully. She was definitely more stubborn than she made out to be, wanting to prove herself to the case and to also feel like she wanted to be acknowledged. Although let’s just say that her eagerness was unnecessary at times, it's those moments where clues were uncovered to bring the gang that were part of the series down. And we also got to see the world from her perspective as a deaf person, and how she uses her lip reading skills, which is a lot harder than you think. One member, Liam Barlow (Kieron Moore), made an impression on her. Whilst she was getting close to him to help the police, she also developed Romantic feelings for him. And I think at moments it was genuine for him too, and learning BSL for Alison was part of that commitment. We also saw the individuals of the police working on the case, with James (Andrew Buchanan), giving a personal reason as to why he wanted to capture the gang, and Ashleigh Francis (Charlotte Ritchie), who recommended Alison in the first place, but was soon cautious when she gets overly involved.

The other gang members who made it tricky for the police to capture included Braden (Joe Absolom), who let’s just say you don’t want to mess with, and Helen (Beth Goddard), who I felt was on Bradens side, but also felt she could trust Liam as well. And outside of the case, we got a glimpse into Alison’s life, and also saw conversations in BSL with her loved ones. These included her mum (Fifi Garfield), who is just trying to get by for her and Alison, and Alison’s ex Eithan (Rolf Choutan), who clearly still has feelings for her, but was still always there for Alison when she needed it. 

I don’t think I have any downsides to it, but I guess I would want to know if the ending means there will be a series 2. But then again it’s probably my autism not knowing the cues to it, but it would be interesting to see Alison back on a new case but in a difficult location. But I don’t think I got the glimpse of what happened to Helen and Braden and how long they got for their involvement. But I just hope I don’t see them again if there was a series 2. 

Overall I would give the show a full house. It was thrilling, full of surprises and Rose Ayling-Elis did a brilliant job in raising awareness for the deaf community. Fingers crossed for a second series or something similar to this show.

And those were my reviews of the latest tv shows I saw! As this is posting I’ve got 2 shows already prepping to watch but I need one more! So let me know what one show I should watch along with my two other choices!

See you soon for another blog. Until next time…

This is The Autistic Actress signing off :)