MaryMeKpop

It’s the end of the year which means that it’s time for an (annual?) End-of-the-Year review! Unfortunately, my journey with K-dramas has deteriorated over the years and it certainly hasn’t been the same (hence, why I haven’t been posting as much on this blog). But every year, there are still a few gems that are released into the world that are worthy of celebrating and gushing over.

My review this year will be split into two parts. This first part will consist of dramas that I was disappointed in, that I dropped, or that I thought would have been better but unfortunately weren’t. Then the second part will be about my top favorites from the year. So buckle up because this post will be a wild (and juicy) one!

Just to provide some context, below are the list of dramas that I watched this year:

• Parasyte: The Grey
• Flex x Cop
• Hide
• Doctor Slump
• The Midnight Studio
• Blood Free
• Lovely Runner
• Frankly Speaking
• Nothing Uncovered
• Atypical Family
• Crash
• The Midnight Romance in Hagwon
• The Impossible Heir
• Player 2: Master of Swindlers
• My Sweet Mobster
• Miss Night and Day
• The Auditors
• Serendipity’s Embrace
• Family by Choice
• Hellbound season 2
• Wedding Impossible
• Your Honor
• Love Next Door
• Hierarchy

50/50 (50% yaaaas, 50% …..)

Wedding Impossible

The premise of this drama wasn’t the most interesting and it was rather pretty cliche so the main reason as to why I tuned into it was for Moon Sang-min. ‘Wedding Impossible’ wasn’t the worst drama I had ever seen but there also wasn’t a whole lot going for it. I do have to admit that I did enjoy the yearning and longing that Jeon Jong-seo’s character, Na Ah-jeong, and Moon Sang-min’s character, Lee Ji-han, had for each other. I enjoyed watching the way that they denied their feelings for each other and fought against the temptation to be together. Or watching them struggle to fight against their feelings knowing that they couldn’t act upon them or that they shouldn’t because it would cause complications if they did. The ending to episode six and the separation in episode eleven were good examples of this back-and-forth anguish between the two and their maturity in acknowledging the reality of their situation and relationship. Additionally, I did like certain moments in the show that highlighted the characters. For example, Ah-jeong visiting Ji-han’s deceased mother at the end of episode five was a pretty good part that highlighted her sincerity and showed another side to her character.

But with all the good things, there were also plenty of moments in the show that didn’t make me feel so great. This might just be me but I wasn’t as into the show anymore once the angst died down. When things actually got romantic between Ah-jeong and Ji-han, I became less interested and I even felt a bit icky at times. It was one of those things where you understood what the drama was trying to do but it just didn’t feel right because it felt like the two had crossed this line. And in a way, I guess the show needed to do that to keep things moving and this “line” was what the two main characters were fighting against internally leading up to the romance. But still, regardless, ‘Wedding Impossible’ was a disappointing watch and I wished it was better because Moon Sang-min was pretty good in it (especially in scenes that were a bit more serious such as in episode eight).

Love Next Door

This pick might be a controversial pick and I wished I could have liked this drama a lot more but it just didn’t hit all the right spots for me. The unfortunate part is I enjoyed the director’s last project ‘Crash Course in Romance’ and I find his directing style to be pretty light, cozy, warmy, and fuzzy. So I had high hopes for this drama due to the director and the casting.

At first, things seemed pretty good and the first half was pretty enjoyable. But then, I felt like the drama dragged on and it just didn’t seem as interesting anymore. It felt like there wasn’t a whole lot going on and things seemed redundant. The thing is.. I generally enjoy these types of slice-of-life, familial dramas that follow the daily lives of our main characters, their dynamics with their family members, and with their friends. I was expecting another ‘Crash Course in Romance’ which I loved. But it felt like something was missing with ‘Love Next Door.’

As an angsty person, I did enjoy the angst between Choi Seung-hyo (Jung Hae-in) and Bae Seok-ryu (Jung So-min) and the way the pair navigated this confusing and chaotic phase in their relationship. What type of risk would you be taking when you transition into this next chapter in your friendship? Plus, Seok-ryu’s ex-finance came back into her life so things got chaotic and even more confusing (the farewell at the airport between Seok-ryu and her ex-fiance was one of my favorite scenes in the drama! So so so well-done and such a defining moment in Seok-ryu’s life).

Then as seen with many other dramas, things slowed down between our two main characters once they acknowledged their feelings for each other and became a couple. I had heard good things about ‘Hometown Cha-cha-cha’ (though I had never watched that drama) so I had some high hopes for ‘Love Next Door’ and thought it would do just enough to impress. Though I was initially impressed at first, the drama fell off and unfortunately never got me back into it by the end.

Dropped (because it wasn’t hot)

A Killer Paradox

I really wanted to like this one for the star-studded and talented cast (especially Choi Woo-shik who I love). But unfortunately, the drama fell flat for me and couldn’t quite capture my interest. The writing wasn’t intriguing enough and something about it just wasn’t my cup of tea. Plus, I read comments that the drama focused less on Choi Woo-shik’s character in the second half of the show. So to Choi Woo-shik, I still very much love you and I will be absolutely seated for your upcoming project ‘Melo Movie’ with my most favorite actress, Park Bo-young ❤

Goodbye Earth

What on earth was this drama about??

Perfect Family

I had a bad feeling about this drama when I was 30 minutes into the first episode. There was an odd timing of music (specifically classical music) throughout the first episode that took me out of the scenes. And look, I have absolutely nothing against classical music and I think music can definitely enhance a scene and add to it. But with the way that the drama was using music in the first episode, It just didn’t match the scene that it was playing in and it felt distracting and jarring because of how often it was playing? I don’t remember a whole lot from the first episode other than the music so that’s all I have to say about this drama, lol.

Most disappointing (AKA what was that??)

The Impossible Heir

Lee Jae-wook and Lee Jun-young are great actors but this drama made them NOT look good and that’s when you know something is wrong with the drama. How can you manage to make two talented and charismatic actors look like they’re not good actors when they actually are? They seemed stiff at times, the script and writing was super limited and didn’t make a whole lot of sense, and the drama seemed like it was low-quality/low budget even though it apparently had a high production budget. Directing plays a huge deal and the directing wasn’t all that great in this drama.

I didn’t have a good feeling about this drama starting from the very first scene in the very first episode. There are just certain scenes that give you certain hunches about a drama and my hunch was certainly correct.

Though I didn’t enjoy this drama all that much, I did like Choi Hee-jin (who I’ve liked since ‘Snowdrop’) and Lee Jun-young. Other than that, there wasn’t much to rave about this drama.

Hierarchy

It’s felt like forever since I’ve seen this drama that I don’t even really remember a whole lot on what it was about. What I do remember though was laughing at certain moments or scenes (even though the drama never intended for it to be funny) because of how outlandish and dramatic and cringey they were. It’s such a pity because I want to watch more of Kim Jae-won who’s really made a name for himself through projects like ‘Our Blues’ and ‘King the Land.’ I’ve also seen him in KBS 2022 Drama Special: Like Otters (which was actually one of my favorite “dramas” of 2022) and ‘Stealer: The Treasure Keeper’ but then he goes on to do projects like ‘Hierarchy’ that just makes it so hard for me to watch. Here’s to hoping he has better projects in the future because ‘Hierarchy’ was definitely forgettable.

Your Honor

‘Your Honor’ wasn’t worse than ‘Hierarchy’ or ‘The Impossible Heir’ but it did leave a lot left to be desired. When you have two talented veteran actors as your main characters, you would hope that the drama could put something together that was a bit more complex, intense, suspenseful, and interesting. Although I do think the first half of the show was fun with the cat-and-mouse game, the second half fell a little flat for me. The thing is – the cinematography and directing was pretty cool in the beginning of the drama. I kind of liked the whole gangster sub-plot and thought it was pretty cool even if it carried a completely different tone from Son Hyun-joo’s character’s story. The contrast was noticeable so it did throw me off at times but because it looked so cool and was shot so cool, I didn’t mind this huge difference as much. But then as time went on and worlds collided, things got less interesting and the final episode was so makjang-y that it felt like a completely different drama from the first half. Like I’m still baffled just thinking about what happened in the last episode. Like.. truly.. what was that??

Maybe Later??

The Trunk

Gong Yoo and Seo Hyun-jin are the leads in this drama so it has to be good, right? Right?? And this is the same director whose projects includes successful work like ‘Our Blues’, ‘Live’, and ‘It’s Okay, That’s Love’ so the drama has to look good, right? And even though the screen writer’s only biggest project was ‘Hwarang’ (which I admittedly wasn’t the biggest fan of), the drama can’t be that bad, right? Right?? I started watching this drama but haven’t gotten around to finishing it just yet because.. well.. it wasn’t doing enough for me to want to keep watching it. So maybe.. just maybe.. one of these days, I’ll get around to finishing it. Just not anytime soon.

Seoul Busters

‘Seoul Busters’ was definitely one of those dramas that went under the rug this year and there wasn’t much buzz about it. And after watching a few episodes, I kind of understood why. I’ll tune into any drama that Kim Dong-wook is in and although I still do like him as an actor and I like that this drama was wacky and humorous at first, I did find the comedy a little too redundant after a while. It’s unfortunate because I love dramas that are revolved around a group working together to do their jobs. I think I will eventually get around to finishing this one but for right now, I’m not in a rush.