303. Meet Me @ 1006 1006的房客 (2018) Taiwanese

Lego Lee, Hsieh Nikki, Xie Kun Da

Drama Rating: 9/10     Neck Score: A

This is the highest rating I've ever given a Taiwanese drama, and it 100% deserved it! (Well, my love for Lego Lee might have inflated it a tiny bit.... maybe...). It was a mystery crime fantasy drama that actually surprised me and had me guessing. There were plot twists that I couldn't foresee that were actually good. It was a bit mind boggling, and that was awesome. Plus all the actors were really good and had good chemistry, and there was a wonderfully progression of our OTP. It was a very fun and watchable show. I'm sad it's over, but also glad that it ended so well.


So, it is about a time and space merging that happens in this one apartment every night from 10:06-10:52. The tenant who lives in the apartment 4 months ago, a rookie reporter, and the just suspended lawyer who takes over the apartment 4 months later, suddenly find their two versions of the apartment united making them "roommates" for 46 min every night.

New Drama (and old neck crush) Alert: Love Cheque Charge AKA Happiness Voucher

My baby faced manly man is back, aka George Hu, in a new drama that is coming out soon called Love Cheque Charge... um ok... or Happiness Voucher.  Always excited for a George Hu drama... not that I've watched every drama he's been in yet (there is no way I am going to sit through 13ish episodes of Park Shin Hye dubbed over into Chinese.  No way!) but I've loved him in every drama I've seen him in, and have watched some just for him (like all 72 episodes of Love, Now just for him) so this is exciting.

 

93. Prince William 威廉王子 (2014) Taiwanese

Xie Kun Da, Andrea Chen, Gu Bao Ming, Paul Hsu, An Wei Ling

Drama Rating: 7/10     Neck Score: B

I liked this one a lot.  It wasn't too long (only 14 episodes) and it never got too cray cray for no reason.  I mean, it was about a dude who was a bit cray cray so they had to bring in a doppelganger so he wouldn't lose his CEO position.  The hardest part about watching this was waiting for it to get subbed, but now that it's all completely subbed that is no problem.  I've loved Kun Da since the Inborn Pair days, where he and Puff Guo had a more compelling and rewarding love story line than the main two peeps (who took forever to express their feelings).  However this one was less about love than it was about being a good person and loving and forgiving peeps.  So William has a super tragic past involving being kidnapped by his own mom, etc, and so when he is kidnapped again it triggers his panic disorder and PTSD and all that.  However this is like the real deal, not the random PTSD that they tend to throw into dramas, it's like a major plot point.  His already obsessive personality (probably a coping mechanism for the PTSD) and crippling trust issues really made for a powerful plot.  Then you have enough comedy with a fishmonger pretending to be the CEO and falling in love with the little sister... yeah.  No kissing, and not the best necks, but I really enjoyed this one and liked the drama crap even.  It was very well handled and likable.  You don't just get one Kun Da lead man, you get two!  No love triangles!  Yay!

80. Inborn Pair 真愛找麻煩 (2011-2012) Taiwanese

Chris Wang, Annie Chen, Xie Kun Da, Puff Guo, Chris Wu

Drama Rating: 6/10     Neck Score: A

Another one of those super long (like 84 episode) dramas that make me wonder why I started them but really love in spite of that.  Annie Chen is still studying to pass the bar exam (she has the worst luck) and Chris Wang is the CEO of a zoo resort.  The have a chance encounter that makes him thing she's a home wrecker and she thinks he's a cheater.  Then they run into each other at the temple, where they get the fame fortune.  Then the grandmother (my favorite Taiwanese baby hungry grandmother- the same one as in Love Around) finds out that she is the girl that she promised would marry her grandson because Annie's grandfather saved her family's life when both Chris and Annie were in the womb.  The grandma then does everything she can to force that promise's fulfillment, even pretending she has cancer.  So the couple, even though they started out hating each other, decides to have a secret contract marriage to make the grandmother happy.  Then lots of crap happens.  Annie has a short temper, Chris has a girl who is totes in love with him and not willing to let him go, Annie's first love shows back up, and there is pressure to have a baby, etc.  They are also both really stupid and won't admit they like each other when they clearly do.  Also, there is the other sibling drama.  The older sister is so dumb and controlling that she basically sets herself up to be cheated on by being too willful.  The younger brother is a horrible ladies man, but he meets his match when the girl he picked on in kindergarten comes back for revenge.  So in spite of all the craziness, and long running series, it is actually pretty enjoyable.  I hated the other girl, and his mom, and the cheating husband crap, but the main couple (Annie and Chris) and little brother couple (Kun Da and Puff Guo) are super compelling and I loved it.  I've loved Puff since Just You, and this is further proof that she is a great actress, because her character is so different in this one.  She is a calm, well mannered, yet revenge seeking/man training girl with a cool gangster background.  Yes.  Even though this show was silly, I still liked it.