Watching K-dramas has been my main pastime over the last few years, greatly exacerbated by a global pandemic keeping me and everyone else indoors. With over 130 dramas watched so far, I’ve seen a wide range of classic and modern dramas. But there were a few shows that didn’t quite make the cut for me, either from content, styling, or quite honestly, just not being my thing. Here are three dramas that fell short of my standard of quality or expectations. (Look for a part two with dramas that didn’t appeal to my taste.)
#1 The Devil Judge
Set in a dystopian South Korea, this drama feels a bit like Bladerunner in both visuals and tone. Following the viewpoint of a young judge, we see the world unfold as the government tests out a new judicial concept: live televised court cases with the people as the true judges. I was looking forward to this drama for two reasons: I’m a fan of Ji Sung for his role in Kill Me, Heal Me and I’m also a fan of Jinyoung because of GOT7 and the small parts I’d seen him play. My rule is typically to give any TV show at least three episodes before moving on. With that in mind, I did my best to get through the first few episodes while watching with a friend. What finally had me turn off the TV was that it turned justice into a game and I couldn’t take the show seriously anymore. While I understand that no court system can ever be perfect, having justice be almost entirely in the hands of the people felt like no chance for fair treatment. A fickle audience could be swayed by any emotional outburst, as shown by the drama. Not having finished the show, my guess was that this dystopian society was making a commentary on current social justice in South Korea, with the people’s opinion holding sway in court cases despite being based entirely on what the media purports. Unfortunately, the solid cast and intriguing production design weren’t enough to compete with the main plot point and keep me in my seat.
#2 Sisyphus: The Myth
Despite two exemplary actors headlining this drama, Sisyphus fell short in terms of pacing, character chemistry, and inconsistent action quality. The fighting sequences were typically shot well and engaging to follow, but the reliance on running scenes to fill time bored me. I’m sure the budget was partially to blame, but that could have been reconciled by cutting the amount of episodes down to eight and focusing more on relationship growth and combat sequences. Even the interesting concept of time travel to change past events lost its luster as the show took too long to tell us about the harrowing future. I made it through six episodes before giving up on the little progress made in the plot.
#3 It’s Okay to Not Be Okay
Boy, is this a beautiful drama. The lead actors, costuming, setting, production design, and music all lend themselves to the gorgeous gothic wannabe aesthetic of the main female character, Go Moon-young. At first, the erratic behavior of Moon-young is intriguing and even a bit empowering as we see someone actually stand up to abusive men. But the cracks in the facade eventually reveal someone with a personality disorder and highlight her obsession with a man with his own set of problems. The lead male character, Moon Gang-tae, is the guardian of his older brother, who is on the spectrum and hasn’t found his way to independence yet. After years of neglect from his own mother, Gang-tae is left in charge of his brother as a young teen, forced to fend for himself and ignore his own trauma for the sake of survival. The message of the drama is clear, it IS okay to not be okay. But in my opinion, it’s also important to take the time to heal your own wounds and not focus only on helping others. Getting into a relationship with someone who is also realizing their own trauma can be unwise, as it doesn’t leave much space for introspection. I gave this drama eight episodes of my time before I had to remove it from my watchlist–I couldn’t stand to see another potentially unhealthy relationship portrayed as the role model to follow for many vulnerable viewers.
Drama Queens 