Underrated

I have been watching a lot of series on Netflix lately as a way to destress and I kind of noticed that there are so many underrated series that viewers nowadays must start binge-watching asap whilst it’s still on Netflix.

Every time I look for something to binge-watch I often check first whether or not the series lasted more than one season because, commonly, people have this notion that the life of every TV series is not just solely based on viewership alone. Other factors may contribute to it such as the effectiveness of the actors for their roles, strong plot and when I mean strong, it’s addicting enough to make you want to look forward to the next epi over and over again. So, to add to my list here’s a couple more series I’ve seen recently which I will definitely recommend if you feel like having one of those Netflix-marathon nights or you just have nothing to do err feel like de-stressing after work or school.

Alias Grace

1 Season; 6 episodes
Runtime/episode: 60 minutes

I was bored when I saw that Alias Grace was set during the 1800s with the petticoated dresses and all but as each episodes went along I was drawn more and more to it. Alias Grace is based on the 1996 Margaret Atwood novel about a young girl named Grace Marks, an impoverished Irish immigrant and domestic servant in Upper Canada who was accused and convicted of the murder of her employer and his housekeeper. Grace allegedly connived with stablehand James McDermott although the latter was hanged whilst Grace just got a life imprisonment sentence. However, this led Grace to become one of the most notorious convict/women of the period in Canada. What made it more interesting is that the story was based on actual events.

Grace’s mother died aboard a ship and thereafter was left with her many siblings and an abusive father who once almost sexually abused her at one point then sent her to work as a servant. Grace became really attached and close to her co-servant named Mary Whitney in her first job however, the latter bled to death after having an abortion because she was impregnated by the house master’s maniac son. One day, a housekeeper named Nancy Montgomery recruited Grace to work for her master Thomas Kinnear, an opportunity she grabbed right away since she’s afraid the same guy who got her friend Mary Whitney pregnant will make sexual advances towards her as well. However, Grace was appalled after knowing that Nancy Montgomery is having an affair with his master Thomas Kinnear and is been acting as if she’s Mr. Kinnear’s wife which means every helper in the house is compelled to serve. Nancy’s unpleasant attitude towards the servants eventually led to her murder. According to Grace, it was stablehand James McDermott who plotted the murder of Nancy and Thomas but it was the other way around according to McDermott. Unfortunately, McDermott wasn’t believable enough that’s why he was sentenced to die. 

Dr. Simon Jordan, a psychiatrist, was sent to interview Grace with an intent to find her a hysteric, and not a murderer so she’ll get acquitted. Dr. Jordan found Grace to have very vivid memories believable enough to end up in jail what more a notorious criminal. Fast forward, after a "Neuro-Hypnotist" session with Dr. DuPont in front of all the psychiatrists, Dr. Jordan led into a conclusion that Grace has a ‘dual personality’ but he did not send the report and joined the army instead. To make the long story short, Dr. Simon Jordan fell in love with Grace and it appeared to be mutual but they did not end together unfortunately. 

Overall, Alias Grace had a very poignant ending because I was rooting for Dr. Jordan and Grace from the very beginning and hoped all will be well in the end and it turned out that it wasn’t as predictable as I have imagined. But, nevertheless, the plot was really good and interesting. 

Oh My Ghost

1 Season; 16 episodes
Runtime/episode: roughly 1 hour

I have not seen any Korean series in ages and I already forgot what was the last Korean soap I watched until my sister stumbled upon Oh My Ghost on Netflix which is about a ghost of young woman who died abruptly after she was murdered by a policeman possessed by evil spirit. 

Characters:

• Bong-sun = the young girl who sees ghosts since childhood
• Chef Kang Sun-woo = Bong-sun’s love interest
• Shin Soon-ae = a ghost who possess Bong-sun’s body
• Choi Sung-jae = policeman possessed by an evil spirit; murdered Shin Soon-ae

Bong-sun is a meager young girl who dreams of becoming a a good cook/chef and is secretly infatuated with celebrity chef Kang Sun-woo, a very self-obsessed and arrogant restaurant owner. Bong-sun is also a young woman with a very low self-esteem (bullied as a child for being kind of the odd one out possibly because of her very strong ‘third eye’ or supernatural ability) and always apologizes for everything, a trait which Chef Kang Sun-woo despised the most since she started working in his restaurant as a dish washer. Shin Soon-ae on the other hand is being chased by a Shaman to help her spirit cross over because she assumes she died a virgin that’s why she couldn’t cross over. I know it’s a weird mindset but what the heck I guess that’s part of their spiritual belief or something. Anyhow, Shin Soon-ae started possessing Bong-sun’s body so she could fulfill her mission/cross over although it wasn’t an easy task because the moment she’s in Bong-sun’s body, she’s changed completely thus the latter was diagnosed with bi-polar disorder. 

Fast forward, Bong-sun and Chef Kang Sun-woo became a couple and he couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that Bong-sun could see ghosts. On the other hand, goody-to-shoes policeman Choi Sung-jae (possessed by evil spirit) happened to be Shin Soon-ae’s murderer because she witnessed when the policeman hit and ran Chef Kang Sun-woo’s sister which left her paralyzed from waist down which disrupted her dream of becoming a ballet dancer. I don’t want to spill everything aside from it’s very lengthy to shrink in one blog. All I can say is that Shin Soon-ae eventually crossed over and all went well including Bong-sun and Chef Kang Sun-woo love story. 

Overall, Oh My Ghost has a very rich plot, a fusion of romantic comedy, suspense thriller and a little bit of horror/supernatural from time to time which made it very entertaining and interesting to watch episode after episode. It’s also a wonder why it wasn’t well-received that much considering it has a very good story. I really admire how South Korea put so much effort on their TV series nowadays, so at par with ones produced by American TV networks (no wonder why Train To Busan was such a hit). They always have this old world meets new thing going on in their movies and tv shows, they always showcase a part of their culture and beliefs. My only complain was how overacting some of their comedic actors were to the point their acting was ridiculously annoying, I wish they tone that down a bit. I kind of also noticed that Oh My Ghost was very lenghty for one season (16 episodes) they could’ve divided it into at least couple of seasons. Nevertheless, it was not boring to watch and a must see on Netflix.