428. Stranger (Secret Forest) 2 비밀의 숲 2 (2020) Korean

Cho Seung Woo, Bae Doo Na, Choi Moo Sung, Jeon Hye Jin, Kim Young Jae, Lee Joon Hyuk, Park Sung Geun

Drama Rating: 9/10     Neck Score: A

Stranger, or Secret Forest, is one of the best dramas I have ever watched. So there was no way I wasn't going to watch the second season, albeit with some trepidation that it wouldn't live up to the first season. And while I didn't like it as much as the first season, it was still really good and of a similar quality. The biggest difference between the two shows was the focus, which actually flavored this season a lot. The overarching situation in this season was the battle between the police and prosecution for investigation rights. So it was even more political than normal, and it also made it so my two best friends didn't get to spend as much time being the power partners, since they were representing two different sides of a fight. This tainted the flavor of the show for me, because my favorite part of the show has always been the incredible and respectful partnership of Si Mok and Yeo Jin. I just wanted more of them teaming up and less of them being awkward around each other because they couldn't be on the same side. However, there was still enough of that to make me happy, and confident that they still had that partnership/friendship chemistry.

345. WWW: Search 검색어를 입력하세요: WWW (2019) Korean

Lim Soo Jung, Lee Da Hee, Jeon Hye Jin, Chang Ki Yong, Lee Jae Wook, Ji Seung Hyun


Drama Rating: 8/10     Neck Score: A+

I both loved this drama and got bored with it at the same time. I loved the three powerhouse women and their complicated and awesome relationship. I loved seeing them at work and together. For the most part I loved seeing their relationships, but I feel like there could have been less of some of them. In particular, I think they wasted too much time on the Ta Mi and Park Morgan couple, especially since it was a lot of the same things and was the main cause of the show being draggy. I'll be honest, I paid the least amount of attention to all of their scenes. On the other hand, I could have watched much more Hyun-Ji Hwan scenes, and ate up every second of Ga Gyung and her husband. I wouldn't have minded slightly more of them. But, ultimately, I just wanted more of the women being awesome.

This really was the show that we needed, focused on three women in the internet industry because it not only showed women in strong positions and highlighted some of the struggles women in the workforce face, but it also highlighted a newly powerful industry that hasn't really had as much focus: the internet search engines. Showing how much political and social power search engines have today was super fascinating, from the real time search trends, to social media and vlogging. Showing how it could destroy lives, cover scandals, or shoot someone to sudden fame was really interesting. I especially loved the constant discussion of ethics on the internet and how search engines need to be non-biased and impartial, fighting even the government to protect the privacy of the users.