Favourite K Dramas

It's hard to put into words how I feel about this show- I loved it so much and I can't bear to watch it ever again (even more so now, after Lee Sun kyun's tragic passing). One of the most compassionate stories I've watched, it's thesis is that none of us are getting out of this hellscape we live in unless we do it together; unless we do the work of love- of reaching out to another person- of acknowledging our shared humanity and our debt to each other.  “I can’t do this alone”, all of us have thought and felt, if not said aloud and the story reaffirms both the truth of that vulnerable cry and also reminds us that as human beings we want to give people the help they need, because on a deep level we do have the connection of our shared humanity that can and DOES win over whatever our  current late capitalist dystopia has taught us to expect or want. It’s beautiful and radical and just the story we need in these times.

The most impressive thing about Misaeng for me is how immersive the world building in it is- director Kim Won-seok never misses in this regard (My Mister, Signal)- but beyond that, this slice of life "office drama" largely works because of the performances at the heart of it - Lee Sung Min, Im Si wan and Byun Yo-han are all live wires who will make you laugh and cry. The gender politics of the show are realistic , but also a bit depressing- the show is very comfortable depicting female victimhood within the corporate context, but absolutely not interested (or accurate) in how women work through these things. I think this show doesn't age as well as some others on this list, but (for an outsider like me) it's also a great insight into Korean corporate life and culture, and their value systems.

A clever, funny, quirky ensemble drama that delivers both comedy and grief equally well; fans of Jane Austen should look hither for delightful women making their way through life, the power of female friendships and incredibly funny songs.

I have several bones to pick with superstar writer and queen of melo Noh Hee-kyung, but none of them are about this show. Like My Mister, this is a show that will have you incessantly sobbing into your pillow, but what a gift this show is: an Oscar performance in every scene. Watch it if you love women, and recognize that friendships are what save your life.

Breezy medical drama with a GREAT ensemble cast and a killer soundtrack. Season 1 was perfect, season 2 not so much- but like the other Lee/ Shin drama on this list (Reply 88)- a great comfort watch.

Korean national treasure Kim Hye soo gets to shine as the clever, feisty, no holds barred lawyer-with-questionable tactics and a heart of gold,  Jung Geum ja. Bonus: Absolute scorcher of a romance track with Ju Ji-hoon, the only adult romance in kdrama- you'll be chasing the high of this for the rest of your journey through kdrama land and won't find it, sorry.

Very few fusion sageuks match the magic of this one for me- clever, quirky, deeply in love with women and history.

Writer Kwon Do-eun's debut as lead writer- the first of her shows that focuses on "queer platonic" relationships between women; it also does the almost impossible- completely decenters men in every aspect- the show is full of scenes where the number of women, talking, outnumbers men; women are the movers and shakers; the protagonists whose actions don't just have consequences for a family but , literally, for the world. Its "end game"  romance is (spoilers) three women riding off into the sunset, to a place with "no limits". Fever dream? I want to live here. 

A lot has been said and written about this instant classic of modern tv, and I don't think I can add to it. I resisted watching this drama for the longest time- 3 years; I was wrong. It's delightful, start to finish; there's not a single wrong note - well, I didn't care for the Big Mystery at all- but apart from that- just perfect.  There's a formula to  Lee Woo-jung-Shin PD works- but it's a magical one. Whenever I need a pick me up, I go back to scenes from this show- the one where Deok sun and Dong Ryong are getting tutored in English by Sung Bo-ra comes to mind- and I come away feeling comforted and thrilled by the sheer vivacity of the performances and the elelegance of the direction. If you pick only one k drama to watch ever, then this should be it.

This has landed in one of my top shows of all time.   SFD was wonderful- ambitious and expansive- but it also meandered in ways that I didn't always enjoy. While TwDR shares the theatrical exuberance of SFD, it is a much more tightly written and directed affair- I honestly don't believe they wasted a single moment of screen time. Like all Kim-Park outings I've seen so far, the hero of the show is the Power of Story- here, the story of the invention of the Hanggul script. It's a passionate, tender, thoughtful take on the power of language, of ideas, of writing as art and skill and fundamental to liberation, and the creation of political consciousness, because it's fundamental to sharing our humanity over the bridge of time.  And it was just so much FUN. It had me screaming and crying and breathless in anticipation - a real great TV experience, that feels increasingly impossible to find. 

And the actors!I'll admit to being slow to catch on to Han Suk Kyu's brilliance as Sejong, but my GOD, it was like watching a forest catch fire- ember to unquenchable flame. He really gave it all- an indelible and role-defining performance- no other Sejong- not even played by himself, comes close.  Shin Se-kyung is a delight as always; Jang Hyuk is very watchable- though perhaps this isn't the role to which he's most suited. Even my least favourite- Song Joong-ki- showed up in a guest role to deliver the goods. 

Anyway: I challenge you to watch this until the end without sobbing your heart out-storytelling at its most magical. This is why we live.

I had started watching is when it first hit Netflix, before I had much familiarity with kdrama, and I noped out because the aesthetics were so bad. Kdrama bestie Rainhat convinced me to give it another shot, and I am so glad I did. Honestly, after a point, you won't even care about the specific shade of purple blood or the Forever21 discount rack clothing- because the story is just that powerful. Writers nim go for broke in this ambitious epic set in the transition to the Iron Age- tackling the foundations of the idea of the  "civilized nation state" in a tale that's a clever mix of fantasy and history- and of course- contemporary political concerns. I fell hard and fast for almost every individual character in this, not the least for Jang Dong-gun's Tagon- the king who is a calamity (to badly paraphrase one of the show's most memorable lines)- and Kim Ok-vin's equally ruthless and ambitious Taelha. Song Joong-ki plays a double role- I enjoyed him as Saya, the gender-bending schemer who literally grew up in a tower- much more than I enjoyed him as Eunseom- the moral heart of the story. Kim Ji-won was -ok?- as Tanya- who, by the way, is the actual best character and true heroine of the series. 

Anyway- this was another series that had me screaming, crying and dying in the best possible way, and I snorted it like coke over a week in my hurry to get to the then airing Season 2, and I have NO REGRETS about it. WATCH IT!

"Shakespearean" is probably an overused epithet, but that's exactly what this show is. Fabulously ambitious, always entertaining, filled with unforgettable scenes and dialogues; should be mandatory curriculum for theatre, history and literature kids.

While watching, I was often struck by how easily its combination of  quirky, screwball comedy and very heartfelt, politically aware storytelling could fall flat on its face, but miraculously doesn’t.  That’s largely because Nana’s uninhibited performance as Goo Se Ra is infectious in its joy;  her comedic timing is spectacular, and I think she made the most of a script that loved her character a lot. One of my favourite parts of this show is truly how it makes space for its female characters: from Goo Se-ra’s irrepressible mom, to her besties squad, to her rivals, to the antagonists, and the people she helps–and even the two ahjummas that she tries to scam into giving her information while playing detective. I also loved, loved, loved to bits that a running theme in this show is putting political power- actual political power- in the hands of women. Sure, it’s a feel-good show, but it’s a show that allows  both the scheming District Chief Won So-Jung and the idealistic independent candidate Son Eun-Shil, whose incredible choice of voluntarily stepping away from hard-won chance at fulfilling a personal ambition sets Goo Se-ra on her own journey navigating the corridors of power . And when Goo Se-ra returns that torch back to her in the end of the series- that feels earned and correct. Se-ra has a lot to learn and maybe needs some time to figure out if this is what she wants to do, but Son Eun-Shil deserves her own chance. In general, I thought the show was really clever about its political/ social messaging. It’s wrapped in a lot of goofy shenanigans, and I can see how people may feel it’s not “realistic” unlike for eg, Stranger or Life or the other highly rated dramas that deal with systems of power, but I think, at its core, it treats political apathy or a nihilistic helplessness, so fashionable in certain kinds of storytelling, as the enemy - and it does that with wry humour and a great deal of charm.

This is a series which has something to say rather than something to sell, and that makes all the difference.  While the last two episodes of this mini series didn't blow me away like the first four, the cinematic sensibilities of  screenwriter-directors Jeon Go-woon (Microhabitat, Persona) and Im Dae-hyung (Moonlit Winter)  carry the day- a wickedly funny script that's devastatingly tender in many places, and lovely, intimate and expressive cinematography- these are not people who care much for convention or commercial success, one suspects. Instead, they are just there to make cinema they care about- and hope you do too. 

The script requires the actors to be fearless, and that's exactly what Ahn Jae-hong and Esom are, in their portrayals of these deeply flawed humans, struggling with life, love and intimacy in a cruel world. In the wake of celebrity sex scandals and intense public shaming of individuals who cross a socially conservative society's moral lines, this show feels both like a call out of collective hypocrisy as well as a call-in- to be more compassionate to each other, to accept the imperfect. And nothing is more imperfect than sex, in this series;  it takes desire & sex out of the pristine, sanctified bedroom of love and poreless, hairless, gym-perfected bodies and instead lets it be awkward, messy , often uncontrollable and ultimately- ordinary.  Absolutely unmatched in my memory of recent tv offerings. 

I don't know what sorcery allowed TVing to allow something like this in their line up- they had to know it would NOT be a ratings bonanza-but whatever it is, I'm glad it happened, and cross my fingers that it will happen again.