Anyway, Let's Eat is one that I noticed has a number of seasons (though interestingly, it looks like one of the male leads is the only one that continues on?) and, at least in Season 1, a female lead in her 30's that's been divorced. Lee Soo-Kyung (played by an actress of the same name) is 33 and fairly fulfilled in life (she works as a manager in a law office) except that she loves food and is often bummed when she can't eat out at a place that only serves large portions...or because it's a bit taboo to be there on your own as a single woman). She's a bit tightly wound sometimes but fairly well-meaning. Mostly, I'd say she doesn't suffer fools gladly.
A 20 something former heiress (her dad is currently under indictment and she's still spending money like she has it--she's very sweetly naive...the kind of girl you'd hate if she wasn't so gosh darn nice) moves in next door. And there's Koo Dae-Young (Yoon Doo-Joon--the actor that continues on in seasons 2 and 3) living on her other side. She finds him annoying and suspicious as he's kind of overly solicitous (and he seems to take a lot of phone calls with a lot of women where he's very obviously lying to them "Oh, sorry, I have to go, babe, I'm about to get on an airplane to Jeju...").
Anyway, I don't feel like recapping the entire thing...let's just say that weirdly there's some kind of bad dude/possible murderer going around in her neighbourhood and the show is very obviously trying to tease that it is Dae-Young (but in such an obvious way that you know it isn't, especially since he's the one that continues on with the series). But the food stuff is good and interesting -- Dae-Young is a foodie and (apparently, though not confirmed yet) runs a food blog that Soo-Kyung really likes. And I like that it's showing the challenges of being a divorced 30-something woman.
There's also the lead lawyer that Soo-Kyung works with (he's the fourth in the picture) who has a bit of an awkward crush on her though she definitely isn't seeing it as yet. Looking forward to when they actually get to creating their foodie club (as teased by the descriptions). I'm just finished with episode 2 so far. Will write more when I'm farther along.
Hmmmm...basically, I feel like this one is more fulfilling the promise that The Cravings had, which is probably why I gave that one up already.
Edit: Oh!! Just saw where I knew Yoon Doo-Joon from! He played the male lead in Splash Splash Love! No wonder I don't want to believe any bad things about him. ha!
And I forgot to mention my one meh about the show -- it's also got Jang Won-Young (who always seems to play a pervert or some kind of idiot or slimeball or something...and always has horrible nasty character quirks like sticking his hand down his trousers or through his hair and then smelling them) as a co-worker and husband of Soo-Kyung's best friend. What is it with the smelling the fingers thing? It's so gross.
Update 7 October 2020: Wah! Didn't realise it had been so long ago since I started this one. I finally started watching it again recently, partly because I felt like I needed to clear off some of the in-progress shows. It's been a weird, weird time, but more about that in another post.
So. I have two more episodes left in this season. To do a VERY quick summation, Soo-Kyung distrusted Dae-Young for a good portion of the show (to the point of reporting him to the police at one point), but then thawed, then figured out he was the Foodie blogger, then started falling for him. Meanwhile, the younger lady has liked him all along and Soo-Kyung knows this (and assumed he liked her too--I mean, why not, she's young, pretty, sweet & he's always so nice to everyone that it's hard to tell what he really feels anyway; consummate salesman) and so has been holding herself back (also, I think, because she's a divorcee and older than him by a few years). Then lawyer dude, after being mostly a raving ass to her for the last ten years while also crushing on her, finally figures out he loves her and does a 180 and asks her out. Which naturally she finds rather confusing. And we're at the point where Dae-Young has actually kinda sorta figured out that he is liking her too (after he thinks she's been kidnapped, when, in fact, she was helping the police catch the guy carrying out the random assaults -- which, hey, show, kudos to you for not making it a damsel in distress thing and giving her some agency). At the end of the 14th episode, Dae-Young kisses her, surprising them both a bit, and it is witnessed by Jin-yi (the younger lady).
There's more, but that's kinda the important bits.
I'm actually a bit confused now because I know that Dae-Young is the only one that goes on to Season 2, when he moves to another city. Because that means the show is probably pushing for Soo-Kyung to wind up with lawyer dude or...? And, while lawyer guy is being sweet now and is a big man-baby and is trying and has liked her for over 10 years...there's literally no reason for her to wind up with him. They don't have anything in common. She's got no feelings for him beyond, oh, hey, my boss that's mostly been a dick for the last ten years but has suddenly confessed to me and oh man oh man this is awkward. She and Dae-Young actually make a reasonably good couple. They both love food. They argue, yeah, but at this point, it's affectionately. They get on. They have stuff in common. They talk like people together. There's no imbalance of power. There's no 10 years of weirdness to get over.
So, eh, what the hell, show? You've actually set them up with a good relationship arc and...what? I guess I'll have to wait and see what they do, but I'm finding this very confusing.
That said, the food bits of the show are always worthwhile. A bit drawn out (sometimes uncomfortably so), but it always makes you hungry.
Edit: I finished it and it ended nicely (though a bit rushed) but...they wind up together. So I dunno what that means for the season 2, since the female lead isn't in it. Sigh.
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