Netflix this week...

Black Books, Disc 1: This is a British TV series created by the writer who also brought us "The IT Crowd" ("Black Books" precedes "The IT Crowd"). I had high hopes for this show since I love "The IT Crowd" so much, but I found it wasn't as funny. It is amusing but I think the lead actor was not meant to be a comedic actor. Had a different person played the role, I think the show would've been much funnier.

If I had to compare this show to another, I'd say it's "The Young Ones" for the 30-something generation. It's like the writer had these funny bits he wanted to do so he built a storyline around it, and the story line is incidental. And while the funny bits are, indeed, humorous - the show lacks an overall cohesiveness. Below is part of the first episode I got from YouTube so you can check it out for yourself:


Clip from "THE YOUNG ONES" referenced above:

Stained Glass, Disc 6: Yuichi confronts Ji-Soo once he figures out that his adoptive father is also Ji-Soo's birth father. Ji-Soo said that she resents her father and Yuichi's mother because her mother died of sadness as a result of what her father did and his mother caused it. She said she couldn't be with the person who was part of that. He insists he is going to stay in Korea until she changes her mind.

The sh*t hits the fan with regard to discovering who ordered the hit on Gi-Tae's half brother. The fiance of the dead half-brother tells Gi-Tae's father that Gi-Tae ordered the hit - knowing full well it was Gi-Tae's mother who did it. She decided to do it this way because it would be the most hurtful to Gi-Tae's mother because the rejection from his father would ruin Gi-Tae which would, in turn, hurt Gi-Tae's mother the most. And once Gi-Tae's father disowned him and Gi-Tae ran off to go into hiding (because he was so hurt, not because he thought he was in trouble), the fiance told the father that it was actually Gi-Tae's mother and not Gi-Tae. She only did it this way so she could hurt the father by causing him to ruin his relatinship with Gi-Tae. She also blames Gi-Tae's father because he treated Gi-Tae and his mother so badly that it drove the mother to this kind of desperation.

Yuichi heads an all out search for Gi-Tae - he wants to be there for his friend because he know what a blow his father's rejection would have on him. It was a month or so before they finally found him in this small town, sleeping in a shed. He was very sick. Yuichi got Ji-Soo to rush to the small village to help him to convince Gi-Tae to return. It is revealed that Gi-Tae is having problems with is kidney, which is ironic since he donated one of his kidneys to Yuichi when they were boys. But Yuichi and Ji-Soo are unaware of the seriousness of his condition. Gi-Tae said he'd only return home if the 2 of them got married as he was a witness. With a little convincing, they decide to get married and Ji-Soo finally admits she still wants to be with Yuichi.

The day of the wedding Gi-Tae is doing worse and starts coughing up blood, unbeknownst to Yuichi and Ji-Soo. Yuichi and Ji-Soo are waiting at the chapel for Gi-Tae to arrive but he never does. So they return to the hotel to find him - as the get to the lobby the see Gi-Tae's father and sister there looking for him. Then this gentleman who was at the reception counter was pointed in the direction of Gi-Tae's family with a wet coat and wallet in hand. They ask them if the know the person on the ID and it's Gi-Tae. Ji-Soo and Yuichi rund to the beach crying because they think Gi-Tae drowned himself.

Gi-Tae had told Ji-Soo about this story from the movie "Cinema Paradiso" about this story of a guy who wanted to marry this princess. She said she would if he would wait outside her window for 100 days - and he waits up until the 99th day and then left. He asks her if she knows why he'd leave when he only had one day to go. But she didn't know. So after Gi-Tae's death she watches the movie and finds out the answer, the answer being - to find out the princess won't keep her promise is more devastating then just walking away never knowing. And now she knows why Gi-Tae killed himself.

In the end you see Yuichi and Ji-Soo at the airport - you know Yuichi is going back to Japan so you assume Ji-Soo is there to go with him. But then it turns out that Ji-Soo is going to Europe to pursue her photography career and Yuichi goes to Japan alone. Then it flashes back to the location of the time capsule they burried as kids with Gi-Tae. They promise to meet again in that spot in 12 years as they originally set out to do as kids. And maybe Gi-Tae isn't really dead (as they never found a body) but lost the way Yuichi was when he got washed down stream as a kid and was presumed dead.

Princess Hourse, Disc 3: Will write this up later today...