ktown konnection #44 | "Gangnam B-Side," "Mr. Plankton" among Global Top 10

IN THIS ISSUE:

• “Gangnam B-Side,” “Mr. Plankton” take spots among Global Top 10

• Disney confirms season 2 for ”Moving”

• Protests call for Pres. Yoon to step down

• A new digital nomad visa is in the works - for this island

PREMIERES

• November 18 “Parole Examiner Lee” (tvN)(Viki)

• November 22 “When The Phone Rings” (MBC)(Netflix)

• November 23 “Love Your Enemy” (tvN)(Viki)

Latest premieres “Marry YOU” has been picked up by Netflix (US). (Lee Yi-kyung doing comedy again? YES.) Go Soo (“Missing: The Other Side 2”) is back in “Parole Examiner Lee.”

Ju Ji-hoon (“Blood Free”) and Jung Yu-mi (“Wonderland”) play hometown rivals in weekend romcom “Love Your Enemy.” Yoo Yeon-seok (“Dr. Romantic 3”) finds out his wife has been kidnapped in thriller “When The Phone Rings.”

What I’m watching ”Gangnam B-Side” is cringingly violent, so I’m skipping thru the moments of carnage (plenty), but I’m here for the swiftly moving plot and extremely flawed characters in this thriller.

A cop (Jo Woo-jin) estranged from his daughter, a pimp (PYT Ji Chang-wook) with a heart of Au, a strait-laced prosecutor (Ha Yoon-kyung). It deals with themes we’ve seen in darker genres before: human trafficking, abusive celebs and their drug- and sex-infused parties (“Taxi Driver,” “Celebrity”), deep-seated corruption.

Characters are interesting and likable enough, a few eps in and I’m invested. What will this show do differently? (Viewer tip: If you have a VPN, set it to South Korea and you’ll be able to stream on Disney+ with English subtitles; it doesn’t seem to be available in the US yet.)

(Sidenote: are most current shows’ plot lines slowing to a crawl, or is it just me?)

Freshly bingeable “A Virtuous Business” (12 eps), “Doubt” (10 eps), “Jeongnyeon: The Star Is Born” (12 eps).

Wednesday-Thursday November 20-21
“Family By Choice” (JTBC)(Viki)
“Face Me” (KBS)(Viki)
“Gangnam B-Side” (Disney+)

Friday-Saturday November 22-23
“When The Phone Rings” (MBC)(Netflix)

Saturday-Sunday November 23-24
“Iron Family” (KBS)(Viki)
“Marry YOU” (Channel A)(Netflix/Kocowa)
“Love Your Enemy” (tvN)(Viki)

Monday-Tuesday November 25-26
“Brewing Love” (ENA/Genie TV)(Viki)
“Parole Examiner Lee” (tvN)(Viki)

(*Streaming platforms shown are for U.S. only; distributors vary by country.)

KDRAMA/FILM/TV/ETC.

Among Top 10 🌎 Global Titles Today (11/21/24) 🌎 “Gangnam B-Side,” “Mr. Plankton,” “Pachinko 2,” “Marry My Husband.” FlixPatrol 

Netflix’s Top 10 Non-English TV (Nov 11-17): “Mr. Plankton”(#5), “A Virtuous Business”(#7).

Korea’s watching: 📺 “Iron Family,” “Jeongnyeon: The Star Is Born,” “The Fiery Priest 2” (Nov 11-17). dramabeans