[Drama 2018-2019] Memories of the Alhambra | Recuerdos de la Alhambra, 알함브라 궁전의 추억

[katakwasabi]

Park Hoon..i hope your next drama will be more than just getting killed with so little to say

 

@Kasmic will you be recapping this week? 

[lduc]

(cr : freak_drawer https://www.instagram.com/p/BsxG218HVqH/ )

[katakwasabi]

3 hours ago, imels said:

@kasmic,

I believe if we watched every level that JW has passed, there will be 96 kills to CHS.

 

Lol. Luckily we didnt have to watch that. It would be so exhausting to see. Hua3

 

Anyways. Its so quiet here. Or is everyone so excited for tomorrows ep? 

[Kasmic]

@imels I think its more than that. Doesnt Cha appears like every 5 mins or so?  the plot has yet to be clear about this. 

 

Here is loyal Secretary Seo/ City Hunter HD stills 

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In reality Min Jin Woong looks like this when he was found ... I cant even laugh 

 

Spoiler

 

I knew I saw Seo smile reassuringly at his boss....argh the tears is back. 

 

 

 

More here: https://m.post.naver.com/viewer/postView.nhn?volumeNo=17619741&memberNo=31542741&navigationType=push

 

3 hours ago, katakwasabi said:

Park Hoon..i hope your next drama will be more than just getting killed with so little to say

 

 

@Kasmic will you be recapping this week? 

 

Park Hoon is starring in a new drama - Haechi (SBS)...yep no longer a bloody zombie.

 

Spoiler

Still very little detail on his role 

 

 

 

Read - http://www.dramabeans.com/2019/01/haechi-as-the-judge-of-good-and-evil-in-sbs-fusion-sageuk/

 

As for recapping, Im not sure - I dont think I can enjoy it. I got 0 anticipation for the finale. SJJ interviews has just threw out all my theories of any chances of an OTP happy ending plus making me think that all their time together was "forced" blah!!! I cant believe I said that.  I genuinely believed that it was not so. I still do but those interviews prove otherwise...  Heol! 

I hope this wont affect the ratings as so far there is yet to be any (apart from the OST album news) news to undo what she did.  It is so strange to see that for a big budget drama, all the hype of a finale seems to be gone flat. At times you would hear the casts getting together for the finale, reward vacation or whatever but to date - nothing. Not even spoiler pics for the upcoming eps. ...maybe.  Just critics of I told you so posts and ugh! I feel so burnt and totally disgusted.   I feel so bad for all the casts and crew whom worked so hard for the drama. 

 

Its SATURDAY in my world...those Zombie profile pics can now disappear. No need to haunt Soompi now  Not sure about poll 2 answer - anyone still eager lol!....

[Celi67]

The writer is really is something for a big budget drama and the casts and staffs who worked so hard . She just spoilt everything . She started it well that I thought it will be a masterpiece. Imagine the whole world watch. But I still hope that it’s a good ending . As I said I’m holding to Hyun bin’s interview. May SJJ interview was way before the romance started. So when she saw the amazing chemistry between the two she changed her plot. Coz she also said she was surprised to see that side of PSH. So I have hope that the ending is something magical and all questions will be answered. So let’s keep supporting until the end for all the casts and the staffs. 

[lduc]

 

https://hoy.kr/RevQ 

 

 

 

 

 

[siddy09]

The drama could have been a good three-hour, engaging, fast-paced movie. And I would have left the movie theater with an 'Oh My God..what did I just see' face! I  feel that writer has some issues with detailed scripts. It's a common phenomena'; many people are not good explainers or descriptive as such and expect the listeners to make out the context. Drama/play-writing needs detailing. If the protagonist has blonde hair then the play-wright has to put in a specific detail that, 'she has blonde hair'. That said, I still believe MOA could have been more than just 16 hours drama. The concept was deliberately limited to a perimeter that was just not enough.

The pain of PSH fans. I can feel that. That said, even writer-SJJ was surprised that PSH could give a remarkable performance despite having a tight, male centric script. This was a challenge for her as an actor and I think looking back, she must feel proud of her work. Also, she herself mentioned that the possibility working with Hyun Bin was one of her reasons of signing the drama and she did gain experience by working along side HB; that's an added bonus. 

Another thing that stood out in the interview was that the romance was an after thought. Now it makes sense as to why people were particularly disappointed with the love-angle; because it never was part of the original script. So did the writer budge under channel's/producers/sponsor's pressure..maybe yes! Although, I never found any issues in the romance department, as I have it said many times before. It was more of mature love and I accepted that. Now the funny thing is, the writer herself seems to be unconvinced with the emotional rational of JW and HJ. It's ironic because we the audience here have endorsed it being as a slow-burn development. Maybe because she never intended to include 'love' between HJ and JW in her script and when she was forced to, she couldn't accept it whole-heartedly.

One thing I am not sure about is, why is she being so honest and straight forward? She is probably the first writer in my entire life of Kdrama binging as well as being a Literature student, that I found a story-teller giving explanations of her story-telling. To an author, if he/she has written a red apple as being blue in color, then it is blue. Period. It is for us critics, to call upon the author that no, an apple is always red. There is no need of giving explanations and interviews, you can't make everyone like you.

I still don't have bitter feelings regarding the drama. I was sold to the writer with only the concept of Augmented game reality. She bought me with that. It was something that I had seen in movies but never in a drama. Hence, everything else never bothered me as such. Could she have improved her work? Of course, yes. There is a reason we don't get a full 100 on 100 in creative writing, because there is always room for improvement. If I was being paid for critically analysing the drama, I would have made loads of money(I am a nitpicker) But since I took the drama as it was told to me, I just went with the flow. 

And I still do pray that HB and PSH get re-casted, with a cheesy, lollipop, diabetic romance. I will watch that like a little girl..

[imels]

I choose ti ignore what SJJ said in lats interview. I just want to finish the last 2 episodes, even if she said there is virus or she made the story from male perspective etc etc. I still believe this will end with happy ending.

[Yasaman Asghari]

Honestly I've been quiet  these past few days just reading everyone's comments without stating my opinion. 

I feel like a lot of these being said here are unfair.  I mean PSH knew what kind of drama she was going to play in and so did everyone else.  I am not going to lie..I started watching this drama because of Hyun bin and the writer.  It is not easy for someone to write this genre of drama while using plainly her imagination so I think a lot of criticism the writer has been receiving is unfair.  Sure this drama has a lot of product ads and its consistent but thats because they sponsored for this huge budget film to happen. 

 

I do get why people are upset with the writer's interview and her opinion on her very OWN script.  She should have waited till the end of drama to explain her side of story and her reasoning behind writing it. I get all the upset reaction of people. Me personally did not feel wronged cause I agreed with majority of stuff she said...I understood where she came from. 

I agree JW has to spend time to deal with his guilt and action on what happened to Hyeong-seok.  I really don't think he has the luxury to date and enjoy a new romance in his life.  Hee Ju is that innocence missing puzzle in his life which he never had...people always used him and loved his money or his brain before really caring about himself.  HJ is the only one who ever cared about him and is the last thing he is holding onto but that doesn't mean that should be his main priority. 

I know a lot of you might be mad at my comment right now or come back with maybe somewhat mean comments but I had to say what I felt was right from some peoples perspective and defend the writer somehow.

This is not the first time I am seeing this kind of reaction from viewers and there is nothing wrong with that... I think stars like Hyun Bin who have been in the industry for a long time had a fair share of going through mixed reactions from people, and Shin Hye of course too. 

 

 

 

 

 

[yuhotarubi]

I'm gonna give one final FINAL thought, and then I'm dropping this issue, I followed this drama for awhile to just be left with bitterness even before the end, and I don't want to be bitter, I'll only accept disappointment after the end. 

The way the writer spoke of the romance angle, although it pissed me off, I can't help but wonder why ? if the romance was an afterthought for her, an angle she decided to add only after and doesn't even believe in it, the WHY THE HELL BOTHER ??? Even if PSH was on board, she could've worked on her character better, give more depth to Emma, and if she couldn't then make PSH as a cameo appearance, or don"t cast someone as popular and talented as PSH bring some other rookie then, she could've stuck to her original story, or not even make it a drama if she herself believes it should be a movie. again I ask WHY BOTHER ?? 

 

All in all, eve other parts of the needed some work, and it wasn't just the romance ' although I'm pretty satisfied with it, the director and the OTP made it believable enough) I still like the show ( to an extent ) and I don't regret watching it and following it week by week, it had great potential, the last episodes will show us if it reached at least more than half of that potential, which is why I'm excited for tomorrow and the day after it !!! And with this I promise to never speak of this issue again.

I'll repeat it again, PSH and HB need to work on another drama, directors in korea don't overlook all that chemistry. 

[wenchanteur]

I plan to watch one of the last two episodes under very special conditions.

{Flashback}
With a co-worker, we exchange gifts at Christmas.

I give her a gift card that she can use for her young son.

She is of Asian origin and lives in the Asian district of Paris, which has specialized stores.

She brought me a Korean meal.
{End Flashback}

 

This :

Spoiler

 

 

Absolutely not an expensive or gourmet meal. I asked her just the opposite.

The basic meal you see in all dramas! 

 

Note that soju is very strong: 17.5° of alcohol. The bottle is 375ml.
In "the good doctor" drama, the chief surgeon drinks a whole bottle when he goes on a lunch break, and he starts a second one. Then he goes back to surgery.... Fortunately, he is helped by an autistic and mentally retarded hero. ^^

[lduc]

 

 

[packmule3]

23 hours ago, ecristino_at_ymail.com_stv said:

I'm going to watch this drama till the end because of PSH!Nothing more..nothing less.!

 

Good for you!

 

I think she's doing great. Here's what I think about the fake controversy that she's only an "add-on" to the show. I actually she's the BONUS that made a difference to the story. 

 

http://bitchesoverdramas.com/2019/01/17/memories-of-the-alhambra-much-ado-about-nothing-and-heejoo/

 

As for the love story angle, I'm in. I haven't commented on the romance angle before (although a few asked me to write about it) because I wasn't sold. But as of Episode 14, I'm on board the OTP train.   

 

http://bitchesoverdramas.com/2019/01/17/memories-of-the-alhambra-the-love-story/

 

As for the criticisms about flashback, here's my take on it:

 

http://bitchesoverdramas.com/2019/01/16/memories-of-the-alhambra-on-flashbacks-and-hedges/

 

And if you're watching the kdrama on Netflix and keep seeing this shot in the Opening Credit, THIS isn't a picture of a garden in Alhambra.  

 

 

It's a garden in Blenheim Palace outside Oxford, England.  The hedges actually spell out B-L-E-N-H-E-I-M.  If you read it like a clock, then B is positioned at 1:00, L is at 2:00 and so on. To me, it goes to show you one of the  key messages of the kdrama -- that is, NOT to trust in the appearance of things because what you see may not be real. 

 

Please feel free to read at your leisure. My writing can be hard going at times but I hope these will help give audience another perspective on issues about the kdrama which I'm enjoying very much. 

[hyuuhikari]

Thank you @packmule3 interesting read as usual

[katakwasabi]

@Kasmic 

 

Maybe the most unwise decision i did while watching MotA was clicking the writer's interview articles/trans and reading it.

 

My expectations after each week's eps was already dwindling to non-existence. And the interview just poured water on the embers of my enthusiasm. 

 

cr: DB

 

Anyways...i just realized how nice PSH's hair is while searching for zombie cha pics 

 

 

 

 

 

[packmule3]

33 minutes ago, hyuuhikari said:

Thank you @packmule3 interesting read as usual

 

You know me. I deal with the controversies. 

 

I was trying to answer your old post but I didn't know how to pull up that one and answer this at the same time. Re. Mr. Park. No, he didn't seem like the villain to me but who knows? He and that ex-wife could be having an affair now. pwahahaha. It's funny how evil characters in kdramas can have a carousel for a bed; they switch partners so often, you don't know who they're really sleeping with. 

 

[hyuuhikari]

8 minutes ago, packmule3 said:

 

You know me. I deal with the controversies. 

 

I was trying to answer your old post but I didn't know how to pull up that one and answer this at the same time. Re. Mr. Park. No, he didn't seem like the villain to me but who knows? He and that ex-wife could be having an affair now. pwahahaha. It's funny how evil characters in kdramas can have a carousel for a bed; they switch partners so often, you don't know who they're really sleeping with. 

 

My old post about how Mr. Park was always the loyal friend/secretary/subordinate? If that affair happens, I don't think I'll be disappointed, but it'll really shocked me just because his roles were always the loyal one to main lead LOL

[packmule3]

6 minutes ago, hyuuhikari said:

My old post about how Mr. Park was always the loyal friend/secretary/subordinate? If that affair happens, I don't think I'll be disappointed, but it'll really shocked me just because his roles were always the loyal one to main lead LOL

 

I don't think he has the stomach for an affair. I'm basing this on JW's observation that Park couldn't keep a straight face. Remember? When they went out to lunch?

 

JW said that Park would have a hard time being a CEO because he didn't have a poker face (or words to that effect). JW thought that Park was too honest and his face was such an easy read.  

 

Now, if JW's assessment of his old friend is reliable and correct, then Park won't be able to keep a stoic face too when he's having an affair.

 

But as always, I'm keeping my options open....

  

[vangsweetie637]

@packmule3 beautiful post! I felt so ‘awwww’ at the romance angle you wrote on 

 

***

 

i am waiting to see how all this unfolds before I make any more inputs on anything 

[ned_lee]

I consider my self as lucky to be active on this thread, coz all of you here are super passionate and I must say smart on what you believes in.

 

@packmule3 you got me on your gold fish with 2 dimples. You have a very refreshing take in dissecting drama narratives.

 

@Kasmic I'm cool using my zombie panpan for another wk (if and when my choice is ) 

 

Have a nice weekend to you all and hope to exchange post with you later