Every year someone asks me, so this time I’m actually going to be prepared and craft a thoughtful list of carefully evaluated dramas that…. hahaha, nope, just kidding. These decisions were made by gut instinct and may have no rational explanation beyond “if someone held a gun to my head and ordered me to watch this drama again, I wouldn’t complain.” So here’s a brief glimpse of what I enjoyed this year:
12. Baek Hee Has Returned – this short drama-special was one of only two KBS dramas I completed. (The other was Beautiful Mind and which I seriously considered adding to this list because I remember being riveted while I was watching, but I don’t remember much about it in retrospect.) This fun, quirky, and heart-warming drama-special was delightful and I wish it could have been twice as long so I could spend a little more time with all the characters. Also, when is Kim Sung Oh going to get a leading role? Because I need that, like, yesterday.
11. Neighborhood Hero – I’m hesitant to add this because I know most people will hate it based on the casting, and I don’t blame them. But I suppose every list needs a controversial choice, and this drama has what’s become one of my favorite Lee Soo Hyuk characters (second only to his role in Valid Love) so I would feel remiss if I didn’t mention it. The drama itself had some issues in pacing and plot, and felt like it would be more at home on JTBC than crime-thriller OCN, but that’s probably more due to the sepia-toned visuals, excellent use of soundtrack, and oddball collection of characters that reminded of a poor-man’s take on Yoona’s Street.
10. Night Light – it’s probably unwise to add a show to this list while it’s still airing, but I continue to be all-in with Lee Yo Won and UEE’s romance I mean “mentor-mentee relationship” that is all about the cruel harsh lessons of what it takes to be on top, no matter the costs. I also felt obligated to add something from MBC, and this is the only one that would make the cut.
9. Come Back Ahjussi – this drastically underrated drama was far from perfect, but it gave me such a great array of characters and situations that have still stuck with me, months later, when normally I’m a “watch it and forget it” kind of gal. I may have initially started watching because of Rain, but Oh Yeon Seo was the reason to keep watching, especially when it came to her character’s relationship with Honey Lee. Plus there was the handsome and stoic bodyguard that’s convinced me Lee Tae Hwan is definitely my favorite out of the 5urprise boys.
8. Pied Piper – this wasn’t exactly the drama I’d hoped it would be (why have a negotiation team when you rarely show them negotiating?), but I was so angry when it was passed over for streaming rights and then so justified when someone finally picked up that I feel like I somehow had a personal hand in it. I loved seeing one of my favorite ahjussis back on the small screen, and anyone who kept dismissing Jo Yoon Hee’s character just based on how she looked can fight me (although she’d probably take you down and pin you to a car first, so I’m not too worried about backing up my threat).
7. Fantastic – I’m so glad I was assigned this drama because I probably would have ignored it due to its main conceit of a woman dying of cancer, and that meant I would have missed out on the wonderful characters that stole my heart. It’s so rare for a drama to have me flailing about #friendshipgoals and #relationshipgoals, but here was a drama with epic friendships between women, where the men in their lives were supportive and thoughtful and I didn’t want to set them on fire (well, except for Sul’s husband and in-laws, but who didn’t want to set them on fire?).
6. Legend of the Blue Sea – again, it’s probably stupid to list a drama that hasn’t fully aired, but this drama has made me so happy. It’s the perfect “kick back, enjoy, don’t question plot details too much” drama that reminds me of the days when I first fell in love with dramaland. Jeon Ji Hyun is a divine gift and I think I can honestly say I’m not sure how much I would be loving this if it weren’t for her. I’m not invested in the romance, but knowing this writer, I assumed I wouldn’t anyway. But this writer does have a knack for creating tons of tertiary characters that are both fantastic and hilarious (the moms! I love their upside-down power-structure reincarnation shenanigans!), plus some delightful over-the-top villains that make this the kind of drama I’m sure would have the mermaid glued to her screen, too. Add in some brilliant cameos (Jo Jung Suk! Cha Tae Hyun! Kim Sung Ryung! Hong Jin Kyung!) and I’m a satisfied viewer.
5. Squad 38 – the con artist Scooby gang was my favorite thing about this show, second only to how much I loved teddy bear ahjussi Ma Dong Seok’s portrayal of the dutiful-yet-oppressed public service worker who got swept up into the conman whirlwind (is there anything so hilarious as watching him practice conning people? I’m pretty sure there wasn’t). I made the mistake of picking this show back up in the middle after months of not touching it, so all the momentum in pacing suddenly vanished, but it was still a slick, fun romp that also managed to have a ton of heart.
4. Ms. Temper and Nam Jung Gi – what a lovely surprise this drama turned out to be. I was originally resistant based on the way it was marketed as a rom-com (and let me just say that in general, I don’t think JTBC has a good handle on how to do rom-coms – they just should just leave those to tvN), but actually it was an office drama mixed with a family drama. I was pleased to see the show fearlessly tackle the issue of institutionalized misogyny in the work place, as well as flip the roles stereotypically associated with men and women on their head. “Ms. Temper” acted no different than any man might do in her position, yet she was vilified for it. Nam Jung Gi just happened to have a higher-than-average EQ yet he was seen as less-than for not wanting to ruthlessly pursue his career, and instead desired to keep harmony between everyone. As a fan of low-key slow-burn romance, I loved that in the end, any relationship that might possibly blossom between the leads came from a place of hard-earned mutual respect and trust. The drama was also filled with a wonderful secondary cast that help to populate and make the world these characters lived in feel so real, be it the offices of Lovely Cosmetics or the chaos of the families surrounding the main characters.
3. Signal – I don’t really think there’s anything I can add about this show that hasn’t already been said a million times by everyone else, but I’m so thankful that my love for Kim Eun Hee has been reaffirmed.
2. The Good Wife – this was my most anticipated drama of the year and, thankfully, it didn’t let me down. It was everything I could have wanted, perfectly managing to adapt the US hit show and yet still keep true to the kdrama format. It was slickly produced with a powerhouse acting team (and excellent fashion), and despite my love for Jeon Do Yeon, Yoo Ji Tae (swoon), and Yoon Kye Sang, my only real complaint is that I didn’t get enough of the secondary characters. I never would have guessed from the initial casting reports that I’d be demanding more screen time for idol rookie-actress Nana, but there it is.
1. Dear My Friends – the best drama of the year for me, no question. It packed an emotional wallop but also gave me interesting and varied characters while proving that life doesn’t end just because you’re in your sixties, seventies, or eighties. Love still gives you butterflies, childhood dreams can be fulfilled at any age, and it’s never too late to learn and grow from your mistakes.
If you’re curious about any dramas not listed here, you can always go to the Dramaland Forecasts to see if your fave ever caught my attention. You can also look at previous end-of-year lists and be impressed that this isn’t in the form of an ask for once.
The Obsessive Dilettante 