50FiftillidideeBrain
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☪Enchanting, Entrancing, Some Dancing & Romancing ⚜️ °8.4° °Excellent°
[Spoilers are contained in a separate section at the end]
⚜️What A Delectable Diversion. HDL is a magical little fantasy about a hotel where the dead can rest prior to heading to the afterlife. You Can Check Out Anytime You Like 🌃 But /She/ Can't Leave…
While the hotel is magical & regular slubs like us can't see it (or its guests), it still exists in the real world. It's registered with the province & a human manager is required to handle all human affairs. Enter Mr. Koo. When Koo is young, his father, in a fateful encounter with Ms Jang, promises Koo's future to Jang. Dad is pressured into this promise in exchange for his life; otherwise, Koo would grow up parentless. The good news is that HDL will now fund Koo's upbringing. So Pop takes him to 🇺🇸 where Koo, in time, "pulls a Harvard" in Hotel Mgmt. Even so, like all humans putting on blinders, neither dad nor child took the obligation seriously.
Koo comes to realize, 25 years later, that he cannot shirk this obligation. Just when he has his dream job bagged, Jang runs interference. What plays out is a peek into this amazing world within our world. As all of Koo's training is OTJ, every episode is a treat to something new & imaginative.
HDL is a visual extravaganza, from the hotel to the fashion-porn. Filmed on location at the Hotel Seine Café, which is staggeringly beautiful (it's now on my bucket list), 'dainties' & 'fancies' are 360 degrees around. Some of those delights are revealed in my spoiler section. The filming bolsters the gorgeous spectacle. Jang's got an outfit to go with every occasion, even one to wear when dining on rice cake soup. But don't expect spontaneity. If you suddenly want to go somewhere & she's not dressed 'correctly', just fuhgettaboudit.
While there's plenty of side stories in which to become engrossed, the main protagonists are Ms Jang (owner of HDL), & Mr. Koo, her very reluctant 99th human manager. Jang looks like a porcelain doll & is as feisty as a Tasmanian Devil. She's also sealed herself off. We see her dismiss the former Manager of 40 years with perfunctory efficiency, devoid of all emotion. She's taken on petulance as a primary personality trait. She displays no feelings at all, & is particularly devoid of compassion. Consistency long ago abandoned, she will say anything in the moment to satiate her emptiness.
Jang's truly b@d@$$, but, Ms Snark - Ms Sourpus - Ms Oppositional - Ms Ill-Tempered Ice Queen - is about to get a change of perspective, not just a change of clothes. Koo might appear to be a feckless wimp (which is how Jang's been treating him) but he is, as it turns out, tremendously courageous & a problem solver of the highest intellect. He knows when to be reserved & when to step up. When he steps up, it's with every bit of panache that Jang displays.
There are visual cues to the romance. Jang & Koo gradually match each other more & more. At first it's just her nail polish that matches his outfit & it grows from there. Flowers are popping up everywhere. They are beautiful… & perishable.
There's plenty of laughs. Mr. Koo is lurched far off-balance by the rush of new experiences, & he frequently jumps behind Jang out of fear until he gets accustomed to dealing with ghosts. She looks like she might reach 5'2" in spiked Jimmy Choos, so it's absurd - and bang-on funny.
When Koo was still running away from the job, Jang went out to retrieve him. He passed out after a nasty ghost encounter. K- "How did you get me back to the hotel" ? J- "Well, I got something similar to a handcart. All you need to know is that I got you back safely." The way she actually got him back, however, is not analogous to a handcart! Not one little bit!
Once in awhile, live people insist on checking in. They are placed in Room 404, the error number we've seen on countless computer screens. In EP10 there's a deft little scene: Koo & Jang are at a restaurant where people died from eating (she can't get enough of that). She's ticked off at him, but she can't resist taking pictures of her food. Snapping away, she never diverts her fuming stare from Koo. She moves the camera around & clicks it but only looks at him. It's hilarious. Koo is gifted a big cat print suit. Will the fastidious Harvard grad be able to even get one arm into the jacket without a meltdown? It's worth watching to see.
There's some head-scratchers, unfortunately, & there's some glaring omissions, too. The ending is not my favorite part of HDL. Things went downward a tinge in the last couple eps. Ep16 was too slow, sappy, & drawn out. It's always sad when the wrap up of a great story is the worst part of it.
We watch them & all the staff develop individually & as a unit. To avoid any jolts to the system pay attention. The show creators will tell you where they are headed: Believe them. We don't see much of what happens going forward, which is a little letdown. That is why viewers are clamoring for a S2.
Things are mostly looking way up at HDL, though. This is appropriate to watch with kids that are around the ages of 12& up. The feel is almost Disneyesque. There's some elements (evil ghosts, murders) that are too scary for children of single-digit age, who would struggle with the subtitles anyway. HDL offers valuable lessons, such as forgiveness, & Koo is a walking ethics handbook.
While you may not get 100% customer satisfaction, make sure to check-in anyway. This is a hotel, & a show, like no other. I'm a little sad, but also very bedazzled.
⛔️SPOILER SECTION⛔️
From tidbits to broad strokes, here's some additional insights into HDL.
In the way of laughs and delight〰️>
The pool is actually a yacht-worthy ocean with sunlight-levels to order. HDL even has an amusement park. Who wants to go! Uh, hang on... I can wait a while for that, I guess. The entrance fee is steep.
After Koo starts putting his whole heart into the job, Koo finds out that he was the /3rd/ choice for manager. Having been 'committed' to the job for 25 years & presuming himself indispensable, he's shocked. The staff calls him 'Mr. 3rd choice' behind his back.
The way she got him back to the hotel when he passed out was by possession. It's best that Koo not know.
How could you say "no" to having a beer with the Grim Reaper!? SANCHEZ!
In the way of romance〰️>
The Romance between these 2 is magnificent. Koo actually pursues Jang. She exposed the tiniest opening & he wedged it wide to occupy all the empty space. It inspires a smidge of awe. Before long they are spending most of their time together. They continue the trend Koo started by conversing in metaphors. For example, when Jang says: "The sea is beautiful tonight. It makes me a little sad." She looks Koo in the eye & says: "I'm sad because it's more beautiful than it was before." They feel for e/o, but they haven't fully acknowledged it to themselves, so they can't express it yet. As their feelings deepen, they both want to protect e/o. Next, they begin matching. It grows from there. Once she gets past wanting to kill him, they match more completely & start to reflect e/o. He closes one episode by declaring: "You are devouring all my nights & all my dreams: Admit it, he just laid down a 🎤drop! Another time, Koo tells Jang: "The view is much better now that I'm with you." Koo's so smooth he could write dating primers. They show us the apex of his masculinity when Jang, in an attempt to coerce him into the cat print suit, threatened to take his clothes off if he didn't wear it. He looked at her & said: "Can you handle it?" She froze for a moment. He ain't weak at all.
In the way of heartbreak 〰️>
We see heavy foreshadowing in the rose he gave her: It's fragile & will wilt eventually. Some things are left oblique, such as the sex of the last Yun family baby, or the non-answer to the "capricious" deities that don't seem to be fair.
It was obvious they would be resolving grudges for the staff. It might have been better if they spread it out a little more. We don't see what happens to anyone going forward, which is another letdown. The ending is not to my liking. At all. Their relationship is priceless. They have so little time together once they settle into it.
I get it: Koo let Jang go. He made the choice. The show creators chose the ground rules they constructed, though, and not only are their constraints somewhat severe, but they don't always make sense. Worse, is that they are inconsistent, at times. Early on, we're told the tree looks dead because time stopped flowing (is dead) for Jang. She didn't die in the series, so why would she have to cross over to the Afterlife? Why would Jang even be sentenced to pay a 1000 year penance? Because she took out the rotten government that abused their power & her people? Does Jang's punishment fit the crime as well as Koo's tiger suit fits him? Jang's horrible circumstances seem worse than she herself is.
I spent most of the series thinking that when Jang's time flows again she'll be able to live her life out with Koo before passing. In fairness, the vibe increasingly felt ill-fated. It's not like they didn't forecast the weather. Nevertheless, I'm going through 5 grief stages over it. Right now I'm angry. YO! It's a fairy tale, for cryin out loud!! Why can't we have a fairy tale ending!? :( looks like I'm sliding into the bargaining phase)...
Mago “straight” asks Koo if she can do him a favor in exchange for the scissors' safe return. Why didn't he ask for more time? Mago used him to work on Jang. She set it all up 25 years ago, perhaps longer. SHE caused his broken heart. She didn't have to be so stingy… so dang capricious. They're making me hate fate.
Don't tell me that meeting in future lives is a happy ending. One happy life now is worth a hundred ‘possible’ lives later. If they do, indeed, meet up as kimchi & chicken noodles, is that happy? Doubtful. It's understandable that aspects of reincarnation are considered to be romantic. The potential downside is that we could look at all the misery in this world as being deserved by the oppressed due to indiscretions in prior lives. Every living thing could be in jeopardy within that philosophical circle, & compassion & empathy will take on damage under such suppositions, also. The worst thing is that if it turns out to not be true, then it is too cruel to the oppressed.
Things go downward a tinge in the last couple eps. Ep16 is too slow, sappy, & drawn out. It's always sad when the wrap up of a great story is the worst part of it. The saddest thing is that I could be experiencing a warm firefly glow today, instead of anger. Finally, for Jang, running the hotel is a punishment, but it seems to be a reward for the next guy. CAPRICIOUS Mago winks at us again.
Enough of that.
I'm still alittle sad, and I'm also alittle angry, but still bedazzled.
Originally 〰️🖊 10/2021
⚜️What A Delectable Diversion. HDL is a magical little fantasy about a hotel where the dead can rest prior to heading to the afterlife. You Can Check Out Anytime You Like 🌃 But /She/ Can't Leave…
While the hotel is magical & regular slubs like us can't see it (or its guests), it still exists in the real world. It's registered with the province & a human manager is required to handle all human affairs. Enter Mr. Koo. When Koo is young, his father, in a fateful encounter with Ms Jang, promises Koo's future to Jang. Dad is pressured into this promise in exchange for his life; otherwise, Koo would grow up parentless. The good news is that HDL will now fund Koo's upbringing. So Pop takes him to 🇺🇸 where Koo, in time, "pulls a Harvard" in Hotel Mgmt. Even so, like all humans putting on blinders, neither dad nor child took the obligation seriously.
Koo comes to realize, 25 years later, that he cannot shirk this obligation. Just when he has his dream job bagged, Jang runs interference. What plays out is a peek into this amazing world within our world. As all of Koo's training is OTJ, every episode is a treat to something new & imaginative.
HDL is a visual extravaganza, from the hotel to the fashion-porn. Filmed on location at the Hotel Seine Café, which is staggeringly beautiful (it's now on my bucket list), 'dainties' & 'fancies' are 360 degrees around. Some of those delights are revealed in my spoiler section. The filming bolsters the gorgeous spectacle. Jang's got an outfit to go with every occasion, even one to wear when dining on rice cake soup. But don't expect spontaneity. If you suddenly want to go somewhere & she's not dressed 'correctly', just fuhgettaboudit.
While there's plenty of side stories in which to become engrossed, the main protagonists are Ms Jang (owner of HDL), & Mr. Koo, her very reluctant 99th human manager. Jang looks like a porcelain doll & is as feisty as a Tasmanian Devil. She's also sealed herself off. We see her dismiss the former Manager of 40 years with perfunctory efficiency, devoid of all emotion. She's taken on petulance as a primary personality trait. She displays no feelings at all, & is particularly devoid of compassion. Consistency long ago abandoned, she will say anything in the moment to satiate her emptiness.
Jang's truly b@d@$$, but, Ms Snark - Ms Sourpus - Ms Oppositional - Ms Ill-Tempered Ice Queen - is about to get a change of perspective, not just a change of clothes. Koo might appear to be a feckless wimp (which is how Jang's been treating him) but he is, as it turns out, tremendously courageous & a problem solver of the highest intellect. He knows when to be reserved & when to step up. When he steps up, it's with every bit of panache that Jang displays.
There are visual cues to the romance. Jang & Koo gradually match each other more & more. At first it's just her nail polish that matches his outfit & it grows from there. Flowers are popping up everywhere. They are beautiful… & perishable.
There's plenty of laughs. Mr. Koo is lurched far off-balance by the rush of new experiences, & he frequently jumps behind Jang out of fear until he gets accustomed to dealing with ghosts. She looks like she might reach 5'2" in spiked Jimmy Choos, so it's absurd - and bang-on funny.
When Koo was still running away from the job, Jang went out to retrieve him. He passed out after a nasty ghost encounter. K- "How did you get me back to the hotel" ? J- "Well, I got something similar to a handcart. All you need to know is that I got you back safely." The way she actually got him back, however, is not analogous to a handcart! Not one little bit!
Once in awhile, live people insist on checking in. They are placed in Room 404, the error number we've seen on countless computer screens. In EP10 there's a deft little scene: Koo & Jang are at a restaurant where people died from eating (she can't get enough of that). She's ticked off at him, but she can't resist taking pictures of her food. Snapping away, she never diverts her fuming stare from Koo. She moves the camera around & clicks it but only looks at him. It's hilarious. Koo is gifted a big cat print suit. Will the fastidious Harvard grad be able to even get one arm into the jacket without a meltdown? It's worth watching to see.
There's some head-scratchers, unfortunately, & there's some glaring omissions, too. The ending is not my favorite part of HDL. Things went downward a tinge in the last couple eps. Ep16 was too slow, sappy, & drawn out. It's always sad when the wrap up of a great story is the worst part of it.
We watch them & all the staff develop individually & as a unit. To avoid any jolts to the system pay attention. The show creators will tell you where they are headed: Believe them. We don't see much of what happens going forward, which is a little letdown. That is why viewers are clamoring for a S2.
Things are mostly looking way up at HDL, though. This is appropriate to watch with kids that are around the ages of 12& up. The feel is almost Disneyesque. There's some elements (evil ghosts, murders) that are too scary for children of single-digit age, who would struggle with the subtitles anyway. HDL offers valuable lessons, such as forgiveness, & Koo is a walking ethics handbook.
While you may not get 100% customer satisfaction, make sure to check-in anyway. This is a hotel, & a show, like no other. I'm a little sad, but also very bedazzled.
⛔️SPOILER SECTION⛔️
From tidbits to broad strokes, here's some additional insights into HDL.
In the way of laughs and delight〰️>
The pool is actually a yacht-worthy ocean with sunlight-levels to order. HDL even has an amusement park. Who wants to go! Uh, hang on... I can wait a while for that, I guess. The entrance fee is steep.
After Koo starts putting his whole heart into the job, Koo finds out that he was the /3rd/ choice for manager. Having been 'committed' to the job for 25 years & presuming himself indispensable, he's shocked. The staff calls him 'Mr. 3rd choice' behind his back.
The way she got him back to the hotel when he passed out was by possession. It's best that Koo not know.
How could you say "no" to having a beer with the Grim Reaper!? SANCHEZ!
In the way of romance〰️>
The Romance between these 2 is magnificent. Koo actually pursues Jang. She exposed the tiniest opening & he wedged it wide to occupy all the empty space. It inspires a smidge of awe. Before long they are spending most of their time together. They continue the trend Koo started by conversing in metaphors. For example, when Jang says: "The sea is beautiful tonight. It makes me a little sad." She looks Koo in the eye & says: "I'm sad because it's more beautiful than it was before." They feel for e/o, but they haven't fully acknowledged it to themselves, so they can't express it yet. As their feelings deepen, they both want to protect e/o. Next, they begin matching. It grows from there. Once she gets past wanting to kill him, they match more completely & start to reflect e/o. He closes one episode by declaring: "You are devouring all my nights & all my dreams: Admit it, he just laid down a 🎤drop! Another time, Koo tells Jang: "The view is much better now that I'm with you." Koo's so smooth he could write dating primers. They show us the apex of his masculinity when Jang, in an attempt to coerce him into the cat print suit, threatened to take his clothes off if he didn't wear it. He looked at her & said: "Can you handle it?" She froze for a moment. He ain't weak at all.
In the way of heartbreak 〰️>
We see heavy foreshadowing in the rose he gave her: It's fragile & will wilt eventually. Some things are left oblique, such as the sex of the last Yun family baby, or the non-answer to the "capricious" deities that don't seem to be fair.
It was obvious they would be resolving grudges for the staff. It might have been better if they spread it out a little more. We don't see what happens to anyone going forward, which is another letdown. The ending is not to my liking. At all. Their relationship is priceless. They have so little time together once they settle into it.
I get it: Koo let Jang go. He made the choice. The show creators chose the ground rules they constructed, though, and not only are their constraints somewhat severe, but they don't always make sense. Worse, is that they are inconsistent, at times. Early on, we're told the tree looks dead because time stopped flowing (is dead) for Jang. She didn't die in the series, so why would she have to cross over to the Afterlife? Why would Jang even be sentenced to pay a 1000 year penance? Because she took out the rotten government that abused their power & her people? Does Jang's punishment fit the crime as well as Koo's tiger suit fits him? Jang's horrible circumstances seem worse than she herself is.
I spent most of the series thinking that when Jang's time flows again she'll be able to live her life out with Koo before passing. In fairness, the vibe increasingly felt ill-fated. It's not like they didn't forecast the weather. Nevertheless, I'm going through 5 grief stages over it. Right now I'm angry. YO! It's a fairy tale, for cryin out loud!! Why can't we have a fairy tale ending!? :( looks like I'm sliding into the bargaining phase)...
Mago “straight” asks Koo if she can do him a favor in exchange for the scissors' safe return. Why didn't he ask for more time? Mago used him to work on Jang. She set it all up 25 years ago, perhaps longer. SHE caused his broken heart. She didn't have to be so stingy… so dang capricious. They're making me hate fate.
Don't tell me that meeting in future lives is a happy ending. One happy life now is worth a hundred ‘possible’ lives later. If they do, indeed, meet up as kimchi & chicken noodles, is that happy? Doubtful. It's understandable that aspects of reincarnation are considered to be romantic. The potential downside is that we could look at all the misery in this world as being deserved by the oppressed due to indiscretions in prior lives. Every living thing could be in jeopardy within that philosophical circle, & compassion & empathy will take on damage under such suppositions, also. The worst thing is that if it turns out to not be true, then it is too cruel to the oppressed.
Things go downward a tinge in the last couple eps. Ep16 is too slow, sappy, & drawn out. It's always sad when the wrap up of a great story is the worst part of it. The saddest thing is that I could be experiencing a warm firefly glow today, instead of anger. Finally, for Jang, running the hotel is a punishment, but it seems to be a reward for the next guy. CAPRICIOUS Mago winks at us again.
Enough of that.
I'm still alittle sad, and I'm also alittle angry, but still bedazzled.
Originally 〰️🖊 10/2021
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