The Best K-dramas of 2014 (And the worst. And all the rest too.)

Another amazing year full of K-drama magic has flown by, so before we dive into 2015, let's take a look at our favorite (and least favorite) 2014 K-drama moments!


Favorite drama of the year


Vivi: Let’s be honest: The dramas that are the “best” aren’t always the ones that end up being our favorites, but this year, I really enjoyed some dramas that seemed to be pretty good overall. For favorite drama, I’m going with Marriage, Not Dating. It was like summery crack, and it was the first romantic comedy I’ve seen in a long time that remembered it was a comedy through the whole show. At the same time, though, the emotions felt real and earned. Most people don't actually face crazy heiress mothers-in-law who throw water on your face, but the passive-aggressive scene in the wedding dress just about had me in tears with how real it felt. Han Groo was an absolute revelation.

Coco: I don’t know what you’re talking about. I have impeccable taste and the ones I love are the best.

V: You are still watching Greatest Marriage. Everything you say is invalid.

C: True, and it is definitely of questionable quality, but I’m not picking it as my favorite! I’m making the claim that It’s Okay, That’s Love was not only my favorite drama of the year, but is also objectively the best drama of the year!





V: How are we judging "best" here? Does it mean that the most people said it was the best? OR does it mean that it was a drama that no one really wanted to watch, but they felt smart watching it, kind of like the Oscars?

C: It just means that I said it was the best.

V: Oh, well then, It’s Okay, That’s Love wins then! Actually, that’s one that’s on my list to watch for later. The whole mental illness plot hit really close to home when it aired, but I still want to see it.

C: You will love it. So stop pretending you are going to watch it and just do it! And I’m not the only one who says it was the best this year. It was very popular all around. And I think it’s saying a lot that the drama debuted without a lot of hype but steadily increased popularity as it aired.

V: I now know what my New Year’s resolution is! New Year’s is all about realistic goals, right? Forget going to the gym; I will feel accomplished as I sit on my couch eating bonbons and watching this show. Where does one find bonbons? Because they are an integral part of my resolution.

C: I don’t know. I just know that’s what housewives eat when they watch soap operas all day, and I want them too.


Biggest Guilty Pleasure

V: So let’s skip to the other end of the quality spectrum. What was your guilty pleasure of the year? The one you were embarrassed to admit you enjoyed? Mine is probably a toss-up between You’re All Surrounded and After School: Lucky or Not Season 2. I'm not saying that I really love After School or anything, but there are so many poop jokes per capita that I feel embarrassed watching at all. Why am I watching? Because it’s short? I don’t know. You Are All Surrounded was okay quality with silly villains and bad writing, but I was obsessed with it to an unreasonable degree. It was the explosions. I’m an easy girl to please, okay?

You had me at hello.

C: And it was also Lee Seung Gi. You LOVE him.

V: I met him! And by "met," I of course mean "snapped photos from far, far away at KCON." We're basically besties.

C: I’ll go ahead and admit here that I do really love The Greatest Marriage. And hate it. Because it makes me laugh at the absurdity of the plot and cry at the over-the-top melodramatic scenes. I’ve never watched a drama so close to what I would consider an outlandish soap opera, and I hated every character, but it redeemed itself by exploring interesting and relevant gender themes.

V: But did they reeeeeeally explore them? Because I watched a couple of episodes, and it just looked like the crazy train.

C: It was the crazy train! But it’s Korea’s culture of suppressing women that makes everyone so crazy.

V: So like Emergency Couple. But with a less cute child than Baby Gook.

C: And a less likable second male lead, or first male lead, or even first female lead. Really there aren’t that many redeeming qualities. That’s why it’s my guilty pleasure!

V: But fewer poop jokes than After School Lucky or Not, so that’s definitely classier than me!


Funniest K-drama

C: Speaking of funny moments (that aren’t poop jokes), what K-drama made you laugh the most this year?

V: There is only one show that literally made me laugh out loud, and that was Mr. Baek. Watching Shin Ha Kyun make old man faces was amazing. Also, for some reason, I feel like if my husband were a 70-year-old man who turned 30, he would make those same faces.

C: I laughed so hard at Fated to Love You. Lee Gun's maniacal laughter is so funny and gets me every time! He really nails comedy with his physical presence.


Also this was a new drama that returned to much of the same old K-drama tropes but managed to make them fresh and enjoyable all over again.

V: Interestingly enough, Jang Na Ra is the female lead in both dramas, but I don't find her particularly funny. Unless you find downtrodden sweetness funny.


Biggest WTF moment

V: The ending scene of Prime Minister and I. Uggggggggggggggggggggh. Do I complain about this drama every chance I get? Yes, yes I do. And I don't feel sorry.

C: I am so on board with the ending of Prime Minister and I! That was the worst.

V: Never before have I felt so cheated over a handshake. I feel personally offended by the writers. I thought we were friends!

C: Also, I’ll add pretty much everything that No Min Woo’s character does in The Greatest Marriage, including his WTF outfits. But they kind of make me love him even more because he can be so cute sometimes.





V: I personally have no idea what you’re talking about. I think that wearing a shirt emblazoned with the word “LONELY” is a perfectly reasonable fashion choice for a date.

C: And the crazy things the second female lead does! Kidnapping your husband’s secret half child so that you can raise it as your own and win your rich in-laws’ love is never a good idea.

V: Speaking of odd dating behaviors in second female leads, I want to add the second female lead from Marriage Not Dating to my WTF list. She might even be at the top. I mean, she tried to blackmail a guy for his sperm. (???!!?!) Please tell me that this is not a real thing that reasonable people do. No, seriously. I need reassurance.

C: One thing I will give the K-dramas this year is that they had the most punch-worthy female second leads ever.


Character you wish you could punch in the face the most

V: Ok, I need to think about this. I only get one punch for the ENTIRE year? I need to use it wisely, or I’ll regret it for all of 2015.

C: Ooo, I know who I pick! The evil mom from Pinocchio. What a *itch! I mean, the lady completely ignores her child for 12 years and then after finally seeing her and having her hug her and tell her that she misses and loves her, she says she hasn’t even thought about her once because she has been too busy and then walks away after tearing all her career dreams down. Not to mention the fact that she’s responsible for destroying the male lead's family with her crazy and dishonest ambition as a news reporter. She’s so evil!

V: Ok, that’s pretty deserving, but I think we should do this by Hammurabi’s code. An eye for an eye. Because I think the person who actually hit other people the most in a drama was the Birkin bag villain in You Are All Surrounded, so getting punched in return seems really fair. Punched with a fake designer bag. Smells like justice.

C: Only as long as you hand the designer bag back to me afterwards so I can fill it with bricks and hit the Pinocchio lady over the head!

V: We might have to invest in a real designer bag in that case. You know, so the handles don’t fall off while we’re delivering high-class justice.

C: I like the sound of that!

V: Let’s move on to the people we don’t want to hit over the head with a bag o’ bricks, shall we?


Favorite couple

C: We all know that this is usually the real reason we stick around for an entire K-drama. Who was your favorite couple of the year, Vivi?


V: Birth of a Beauty. Birth of a Beauty. BIRTH OF A BEAUTY!!!!!!! Best couple ever in the entire universe. Period. Times ten million.

C: Oh wow! Now I must go back to watching it!

V: The plot is absolute nonsense half of the time and the villains might as well be cardboard cutouts, but WOW, the leads make up for it. I just love how they do normal things together, like shopping or cooking or whatever, and it’s the best thing ever. And they’re really supportive of each other and have actual conversations about things and apologize when they fight like normal adults, and I luff them.

C: My favorite couple is It’s Okay, That’s Love all the way! Their chemistry was off the charts and they were just all-around a really believable couple.

It made me kind of obsessively wish they were together in real life and I got really excited when it came out that both of them had recently broken up with their real significant others.

V: Sooooo, what you’re saying is that you’re a homewrecker at heart.

C: Isn’t every K-drama fan? I mean, pretty much every K-drama female lead is a homewrecker. Or at least the male lead. I’m not at the part where he breaks up with the second female lead in Fated to Love You yet, but based on what I’ve seen so far, I think it’s going to be really sad. This doesn’t stop me from wanting him to end up with the female lead, though.

V: Nope, I’m still judging you. Even if you’re right.

C: Fine, then I judge you for liking poop jokes. Moving on!


Best and worst kiss

C: I would consider my pick to be the best and the worst kiss at the same time. The “toast kiss” in Pinocchio looked absolutely ridiculous and seemed like another excuse for Park Shin Hye to never have to actually kiss anyone, but the scene itself was so funny and oddly was kind of sexy.



V: Yeah, the Pinocchio toast kiss was just weird and awkward. SO MANY CORNERS! At least choose a food that isn’t so pointy. But actually the worst kiss for me was in Pride and Prejudice when he was like “Want proof I’m not a murderer?” *KISS* Not sexy. Just terrible.

 The best one was probably Miss Korea just because he was trying to do the whole noble idiocy thing and she was like, “Nice try, buddy!” and then they kissed. I cheered at my screen for that one. Actually, there were a lot of things about Miss Korea that were pleasantly surprising. If I had to nominate the most underrated drama of the year, it would be that one for sure.

My Love from Another Star also had some massively romantic kissing, obviously. That’s part of the reason everyone is so obsessed with it.


Favorite side character

C: My favorite side character has to be Kwang Soo’s character in It’s Okay That’s Love. Kwang Soo is always funny in everything he does, but he’s turned out to also be a really talented actor who brings depth to his characters. In It’s Okay, That’s Love he manages to play someone with turrets syndrome who isn’t just a trope, but is a charming person with realistic responses to life.

Also, I have to mention Baby Gook from Emergency Couple. Let’s be real; he’s actually my favorite character of all time!

V: Well, I was going to say Kim Seul Gi in both Surplus Princess and Discovery of Romance, especially since she made Discovery of Romance watchable, but now that you had to go and bring up Baby Gook, it’s a no-brainer. If I could meet one Korean celebrity, it would be Baby Gook. And I would squish his little cheeks. And I shall call him squishy and he shall be mine.

C: No, he’s mine! I challenge you to a hand bag duel!

V: I was gonna suggest joint custody, but if we’re jumping straight to duels, so be it!


Best Eye Candy

V: I always feel kind of creepy being like “Ooooh, look at this man all alone in his shower!”

C: I don’t! Sorry, not sorry.

V: That being said, I recognize eye candy as a major part of the drama-watching experience. (Can you hear me trying to make this category legit?) My most swoony moment wasn’t even chocolate abs-related. It was Lee Joon Ki’s sweet ninja outfit in Joseon Gunman. I just did a high school girl sigh just thinking about it.

C: Despite My Lovable Girl being the biggest disappointment of the year for me, Rain sure does look good in it!

Sigh…


V: While we’re sighing, can I nominate the best ear candy of the year? Because I could listen to Choi Jin Hyuk or Lee Sun Gyun talk alllllll day.

C: I second that emotion!


Worst Second Lead Syndrome of the year

V: Can you guess who I’m going to say for second lead syndrome?

C: YES! And I agree with you! Poor, poor Chief Gook in Emergency Couple.

V: SIGH. (But not Lee Joon Ki in a ninja outfit sigh. Clutching my heart because I’m sad sigh.)

C: DOUBLE SIGH. Oh the agony of his puppy dog eyes and wistful, heartbroken glances.

V: Let’s stop talking about it. My heart can’t take it! Second place goes to Lee Joon in Mr. Baek. Talk about the surprise of the year! I had no idea he could act like that, and his character ended up being way more nuanced than I thought. But does coming in second place in the second lead contest just make him the saddest loser of the year?

C: Not as sad as the one who gets third place: L’s character in My Lovable Girl. It made it so much worse because it was such an obviously better match. Krystal with Rain, who by the way plays her much older dead sister’s ex-boyfriend. Weird and wrong. And L is also a K-pop boy who is shaping up to be a decent actor.

V: We’re using the term “decent” kind of loosely here, right? But yes, L’s character seemed like a much, much better fit.

C: Yes, by decent I mean entertaining and surprisingly tolerable, but mostly just cute.

V: But what’s worse? Dating your dead sister’s ex, or dating a high school student who your little sister loves (King of High School)? Because if this year taught me anything, it’s that love conquers all kinds of slightly awkward obstacles!

C: Fighting!

Thanks for spending another great year with us! What were your favorite drama moments?

-Coco and Vivi

Expectation and Fulfillment in Dramaland

Yes, I know it's been three weeks since we've blogged. You can blame a combination of hiding out in a cabin in the mountains for a week, having to work extra to make up for hiding out in a cabin for a week, and then just feeling like I wanted to vegetate and watch dramas instead of writing about them. But now I'm back in a writing mood, so look forward to more consistent posts!

In all of my vegetative drama watching, I've developed kind of a bad habit. I used to be a pretty strict one-drama-at-a-time kind of girl. Maaaaaybe two dramas if they were airing simultaneously. Over the last couple of months, however, I keep starting new dramas, getting to the last three to five episodes, and then putting them on the back burner for a new drama.

Part of the problem is that I'm woefully behind on reviews, so I don't want to finish more dramas before I review the old ones, but that's just a big fatty excuse because the truth is that I love drama beginnings. I love the excitement of a new drama. I love the suspense that builds to the moment of romance shared and feelings expressed.

This obsession with beginnings has made me think about what it is that compels viewers to watch (and love) entire dramas. I think a lot of it comes down to the balance between expectation and fulfillment in the drama structure.


The best writers build a sense of expectation at the front end of dramas. They give us little moments of partial fulfillment throughout the first few episodes, pushing us to keep clicking the "next episode" button in hopes of getting more. And more. And more.

The problem with expectation is that you can't put it off forever. If you only give your viewers little breadcrumbs for too many episodes, they will eventually feel bored and move elsewhere. For me, this was one of the big problems with Heirs. I think we all kept hoping that interesting things would happen, but nothing ever did. It was just the same love triangle standoff at the end of nearly every episode, and it eventually got dull.

Similarly, one of the fastest ways to infuriate viewers is to build infinite expectation without an equal payout at the end. If you're going to put off viewer fulfillment for a full twenty episodes, you'd better be a screenwriting genius and give us an entire episode that is twenty episodes worth of satisfaction. If you give us a handshake at the end of it all, we're gonna start throwing things at our televisions and inventing new profanities to express just how cheated we feel.

Not to name names, but....
You know who you are. Now go in a corner and think about what you did.

Sometimes, drama writers want to play with expectations, and that's okay. It's refreshing when the second lead suddenly turns into the first lead or when a clever twist pushes viewers to think. But even if you toss in a twist, it needs to have some hint of expectation. We want the second lead to get the girl, but it has to feel earned. We want to know that she's going to be happy with her choice. That's why the ending of Marry Him If You Dare was so infuriating. The show focused so heavily on building romantic expectations that refusing to fulfill that expectation made the entire series feel somewhat hollow. I would have been okay with a series about her personal journey and individual development if the every episode hadn't shouted "WHICH MAN WILL SHE CHOOSE???"

"No, no, we meant for it to be a searing statement on women and romance! That's why we spent the whole series building a tedious, endless love triangle! We swear!"

At the other end of the spectrum, you have dramas that are great at building tension for the first half of the series, but they fulfill the expectation too early, leaving empty space for the second half of the series. It's pretty typical to have the leads first kiss somewhere between episodes 7 and 12, which is a great gift to keep viewers invested. The problem is that many writers seem genuinely baffled after the big kiss. They spend the rest of the series scrambling to come up with appropriate romantic hurdles, but we all know they're just killing time to the inevitable finale. Does anyone actually get excited when a drama moves into the noble idiocy/birth secret/corporate shenanigans phase of the show?

This is one reason why I'm a pretty strong advocate of the 16-episode series for most shows. Series extensions are one of the biggest enemies to narrative tension. I have seen only a handful of shows where the episode extension was okay (and only because I loved those shows), and I'm not entirely convinced that I have seen any shows where it was a narrative necessity. Even shows that feel rushed in the last five minutes could have avoided trouble with better pacing in the middle sections. Wait, I take that back. The extension for Queen of Reversals allowed it develop a satisfying, if unexpected, ending, so that one is the exception that proves the rule.

Maybe it's just because it was my first drama, but a good example of the balance between expectation and fulfillment has got to be Coffee Prince. As I watched, one of the things that enthralled me was how many heartfelt, meaningful moments it had sprinkled throughout the show. Unlike American romcom movies that ended after the big confession, Coffee Prince kept giving, and that's why I kept watching. It's proof that you don't need seven rounds of amnesia to keep people involved. With smart pacing, characters we can care about, and obstacles based in reality, shows can keep viewers engaged and satisfied.

One of the things that keeps me so engaged with You Are All Surrounded (aside from my love of action comedies) is the way that it builds expectation. With both the central mystery and the romance, the first ten episodes gave us enough hints to string us along. Episodes 11 and 12 get a pass because Lee Seung Gi's eye injury probably altered some of the script plans, but I keep hoping that the show will fulfill my expectations. It's getting to that stage in the series where the romance needs to start moving if it's going to keep my interest, and there's an opportunity for an engaging mystery as well.

In episode 12, we finally get a scene where Soo Sun starts to recognize Dae Gu as more than a little brother or a detective partner, but I have to admit that the reliance on the old rescue hug left me wanting more. Here's hoping episode 13 starts to move towards the fulfillment end of the spectrum!

New Drama Time!

We're testing out the new batch of kdramas.  From the good to the bad to the unsure, here are some very brief initial responses:

1. The Prime Minister and I

Four episodes in, this is hands-down the most pleasant surprise of the bunch so far.  To be honest, ahjussi romances aren't really my thing.  I couldn't get past the age gap in Dating Agency: Cyrano, but it hasn't bothered me so far here.  It might have something to do with the fact that Yoona is relatively tall and Lee Bum Soo is relatively short, so they're always on eye level with each other.  Or maybe it's the fact that Yoona's character is a real adult with a real job, unlike 90% of kdrama females.  Or maybe it's the fact that so far, every time he tries to push her around, she finds a way to turn the tables.

I also think the writers have been very smart with their use of Lee Bum Soo so far.  He's a comedic actor, but sometimes his character was too much to handle in History of a Salaryman.  By using his funny skills in imaginary scenarios, we get to laugh while still taking him seriously as a person.  The one thing I can't take seriously is the reasoning behind the fake relationship.  Off the top of my head, I can think of about 47 better ways to resolve the problem than a contract marriage.  But what else do you expect from a kdrama forced marriage premise?

I'm cautiously optimistic.  If the writers flush this potential, I'm going to be Hulk smash a lot of things.



2. My Love from Another Star

Sorry, guys, but I can't do it.  I have a terrible habit of judging books (and shows) by their covers.  Maybe I'll work on it as a New Year's resolution or something, but until New Year's, I'm going to judge away.  I don't know what it's like to be a 400-year-old alien, but according to this poster, it mostly involves crying.  In Vivi's world, the only person who gets a pass on Poster Crying is Song Joong Ki.  The '90s-tastic "I'm sad! But also ethereal!" mist isn't helping, either.

3. Miss Korea

The first two episodes were much more serious than I expected from the Miss Congeniality-style premise.  The writers raised a lot of social issues in episode 1, and how they handle these issues later has the potential to make or break the show for me.  I'm squarely on the fence for now, but I'm also quite intrigued.  I love the gritty old-school vibe going on.

Happy holidays to all, and very merry drama-ing!