The Worst in 2017 (End of the Year Post Part 2)
There was good, and then, there was bad... It is always hard to pick the worst dramas of a year, because if you're a sensible person, you drop those :D
Anyway, here is our pick of the "probably don't watch those".
Now I know what you are thinking. Lots of dramas disappoint. However, I watch dramas that I know aren't good, and I don't expect them to be good and am fine because I'm enjoying the ride. They are like fishsticks. I know I'm not going to get quality fish, but sometimes I just want fishsticks, and I'm fine. No, I'm talking about shows that raise expectations by the beginning or the characters or the premise or the surprise that they are so much better than you thought and then they do things that induce rage. Hmm. Maybe I should call these my Rage Dramas.
Sweet Enemy: daily
This show just sucked me in because they really knew how to do cliffhangers right. Seriously, they should do writers workshops for cliff hangers. They also were able to go with the flow and change the story to make the heroine stay with the second lead because the lead (we all knew who the lead was from the promos and the posters) ended up being the king of the boring parade. Then they got an extension and decided that our favorite character had to get his heart broken again and only about five minutes of screen time to have it heal. Pfft.
Temperature of Love:
I love the couple here, and I love Kim Jae Wook. I could even put up with the mothers (okay maybe). But the fact that they made the heroine get a lobotomy near the end and force fed us the horror that is her friend with the nicest guy in the show makes me wretch. Lots of good people don't have nice things. Ho Rang is not a good person. She definitely didn't deserve nice things.
Because This Life is Your First:
I know I'm going against the tide here because this show will probably be on a lot of the years best lists and OMG Lee Min Ki, please, please, don't stay away from drama land for as long as you did the last time. I did love so much of this show, and if it had ended two episodes earlier, it would have been in my top ten. But no, the needless separation had to happen. I won't say anymore here because the rage comes back, and I didn't take my blood pressure medicine yet.
First, that Peaches show. Sorry, everyone, but I do not see what you see in it. I felt like I'd taken some drug with really woozy side effects that leave a person feeling sick and not high at all when I watched this show. One character, the younger ghost king, was attractive, but he was not enough to counter the general tedium. I had high hopes for this show before it started, but urgh, just no.
Second, Lost Love In Times. I tried to like it, William Chan, I really did. But it was awful and boring and like that same drug that makes you feel sick and not high at all. So I now need you in something much better.
Third, Sweet Enemy. Why did they drag it out one more week? Why did we have Sun Ho blocking Chef? Why did Dal Nim have to take it? Up to that point, I'd felt nothing but sympathy and support for Dal Nim, but after that, I thought, maybe Villain Se Na had a point? That final week was brain abuse.
Missing Nine: Great idea - I was expecting something like Swiss Family Robinson but with idols, and because it's Korea probably a bit of romance. Instead I got The Idol Who Would Not Die, and he turned out to be a serial killer, but oh wait, it was all because he got tricked and he's really not that bad, let's paint the house together. No.
Man to Man: This started out great. Absolutely great. It was spies and intrigue but it was tongue in cheek and man, no one can top Park Hae Jin doing poker face, playing things straight but having them BE hilarious. The bromance was fun. The romance was fine. The acting was fine, everything looked good...but it just sort of fizzled out. They couldn't keep up that initial intensity and - I dunno, I think if the beginning hadn't been so great, I would be okay with this drama, but they spoiled me upfront and I was disappointed.
Because This Life is My First: The title pretty much says it - an excuse for stupid behavior. There was sooooo much to love about this drama. The tone, OMG Lee Min Ki, the look, OMG Lee Min Ki, the secondary couple stories, OMG Lee Min...you get the idea. But the whole bit with Fluffy Puppy - is he a stalker or isn't he - that was just ridiculous. And then Ji Ho's decision to walk away...this was badly timed and really, never explained. It could have made sense, but never did. I could have supported it if handled properly. Instead, it was just a pointless interlude of watching Se Hee in misery. We didn't need that.
Ice Fantasy: Okay, maybe this really doesn't belong on this list because this is more a case of a drama I hated with a few small things I liked. Ugh. Kasuo made my skin crawl, Shi was an overly dramatic brat, and everyone in the Fire Tribe and the Ice Tribe pretty much just sucked as people. Don't even get me started on production values. Dreamer, I did like you, so there's that.
Oh My Grace: Normally I wouldn't even mention a show like this - a quickie little short, I think it was a Viki original or a DF original - I'm not even going to go look because it's so irritating. A girl in the US gets magically transported to Korea and ends up entangled in the lives of two guys in a high-end dress shop. She's a designer, one of them owns it, the other works there. There were some minor moments of humor and cute, and sparks of romance. Just as we get to the point (episode 7) where we're all set to have misunderstandings and a bit of angst before true love reigns, it ends. THAT'S RIGHT. It just...ENDS. No resolution to any of the story lines. Nothing. It's so unfinished that I assumed more episodes would be uploaded and kept coming back to check. Nope. Nothing. It's like the writer fell asleep in the middle and when he woke up he uploaded what he had and said 'fuck it, that's enough.' Wrong.
1. Strong Woman Do Boong Son: The Chemistry was amazing, PBG and PHS are just such sweeties and KWH almost stole the show. However I hated his portrayal of a gay character and I hated PBG and PHS relationship dynamics in the middle of the show. And her bullying of his secretary and her Mom beating her husband! Nope.
2. Missing Nine: The drama went so well and then ended spectacularly badly.
Honorable Mention to Goblin. I don't have anything against huge age gaps either way but I can't get over the fact that she was in High School!
Anyway, here is our pick of the "probably don't watch those".
Trotwood
I feel like I have to say again what I said last year. I drop dramas that I don't like, so I really don't want to talk about dramas that I haven't watched or that I dropped early on. So my post is going to be a subcategory--Dramas that Disappointed Me.Now I know what you are thinking. Lots of dramas disappoint. However, I watch dramas that I know aren't good, and I don't expect them to be good and am fine because I'm enjoying the ride. They are like fishsticks. I know I'm not going to get quality fish, but sometimes I just want fishsticks, and I'm fine. No, I'm talking about shows that raise expectations by the beginning or the characters or the premise or the surprise that they are so much better than you thought and then they do things that induce rage. Hmm. Maybe I should call these my Rage Dramas.
Sweet Enemy: daily
This show just sucked me in because they really knew how to do cliffhangers right. Seriously, they should do writers workshops for cliff hangers. They also were able to go with the flow and change the story to make the heroine stay with the second lead because the lead (we all knew who the lead was from the promos and the posters) ended up being the king of the boring parade. Then they got an extension and decided that our favorite character had to get his heart broken again and only about five minutes of screen time to have it heal. Pfft.
Temperature of Love:
I love the couple here, and I love Kim Jae Wook. I could even put up with the mothers (okay maybe). But the fact that they made the heroine get a lobotomy near the end and force fed us the horror that is her friend with the nicest guy in the show makes me wretch. Lots of good people don't have nice things. Ho Rang is not a good person. She definitely didn't deserve nice things.
Because This Life is Your First:
I know I'm going against the tide here because this show will probably be on a lot of the years best lists and OMG Lee Min Ki, please, please, don't stay away from drama land for as long as you did the last time. I did love so much of this show, and if it had ended two episodes earlier, it would have been in my top ten. But no, the needless separation had to happen. I won't say anymore here because the rage comes back, and I didn't take my blood pressure medicine yet.
SakiVI
I'm like Trot in that I don't think or bother with dramas that I don't like. However, there was a few that really did not live up to expectations, and have been a bit of a pain ever since.First, that Peaches show. Sorry, everyone, but I do not see what you see in it. I felt like I'd taken some drug with really woozy side effects that leave a person feeling sick and not high at all when I watched this show. One character, the younger ghost king, was attractive, but he was not enough to counter the general tedium. I had high hopes for this show before it started, but urgh, just no.
Second, Lost Love In Times. I tried to like it, William Chan, I really did. But it was awful and boring and like that same drug that makes you feel sick and not high at all. So I now need you in something much better.
Third, Sweet Enemy. Why did they drag it out one more week? Why did we have Sun Ho blocking Chef? Why did Dal Nim have to take it? Up to that point, I'd felt nothing but sympathy and support for Dal Nim, but after that, I thought, maybe Villain Se Na had a point? That final week was brain abuse.
JoAnne
A third here who doesn't bother with dramas I don't like. I can't even finish all the dramas I DO like, so why would I waste that time? Besides, if I hated something so much that I dropped it after an episode or two, I'm bound to hear from a dozen who will tell me I should have stuck with it a little longer and I don't feel like hearing that mess...so here are three I watched in full, liked very much for certain things, but hated at least one part that seemed stupid or unnecessary.Missing Nine: Great idea - I was expecting something like Swiss Family Robinson but with idols, and because it's Korea probably a bit of romance. Instead I got The Idol Who Would Not Die, and he turned out to be a serial killer, but oh wait, it was all because he got tricked and he's really not that bad, let's paint the house together. No.
Man to Man: This started out great. Absolutely great. It was spies and intrigue but it was tongue in cheek and man, no one can top Park Hae Jin doing poker face, playing things straight but having them BE hilarious. The bromance was fun. The romance was fine. The acting was fine, everything looked good...but it just sort of fizzled out. They couldn't keep up that initial intensity and - I dunno, I think if the beginning hadn't been so great, I would be okay with this drama, but they spoiled me upfront and I was disappointed.
Because This Life is My First: The title pretty much says it - an excuse for stupid behavior. There was sooooo much to love about this drama. The tone, OMG Lee Min Ki, the look, OMG Lee Min Ki, the secondary couple stories, OMG Lee Min...you get the idea. But the whole bit with Fluffy Puppy - is he a stalker or isn't he - that was just ridiculous. And then Ji Ho's decision to walk away...this was badly timed and really, never explained. It could have made sense, but never did. I could have supported it if handled properly. Instead, it was just a pointless interlude of watching Se Hee in misery. We didn't need that.
Ice Fantasy: Okay, maybe this really doesn't belong on this list because this is more a case of a drama I hated with a few small things I liked. Ugh. Kasuo made my skin crawl, Shi was an overly dramatic brat, and everyone in the Fire Tribe and the Ice Tribe pretty much just sucked as people. Don't even get me started on production values. Dreamer, I did like you, so there's that.
Oh My Grace: Normally I wouldn't even mention a show like this - a quickie little short, I think it was a Viki original or a DF original - I'm not even going to go look because it's so irritating. A girl in the US gets magically transported to Korea and ends up entangled in the lives of two guys in a high-end dress shop. She's a designer, one of them owns it, the other works there. There were some minor moments of humor and cute, and sparks of romance. Just as we get to the point (episode 7) where we're all set to have misunderstandings and a bit of angst before true love reigns, it ends. THAT'S RIGHT. It just...ENDS. No resolution to any of the story lines. Nothing. It's so unfinished that I assumed more episodes would be uploaded and kept coming back to check. Nope. Nothing. It's like the writer fell asleep in the middle and when he woke up he uploaded what he had and said 'fuck it, that's enough.' Wrong.
Panda
I think I dropped almost all the shows that annoyed me this year so my list here is very short.1. Strong Woman Do Boong Son: The Chemistry was amazing, PBG and PHS are just such sweeties and KWH almost stole the show. However I hated his portrayal of a gay character and I hated PBG and PHS relationship dynamics in the middle of the show. And her bullying of his secretary and her Mom beating her husband! Nope.
2. Missing Nine: The drama went so well and then ended spectacularly badly.
Honorable Mention to Goblin. I don't have anything against huge age gaps either way but I can't get over the fact that she was in High School!
kakashi
My fear has become a reality in 2017: I cannot watch KDrama anymore. I tried, but the magic is gone. There are a few I still have on my "try"-list (like Secret Forest, but I look at the episode length and it scares me off so bad) and I will not give up easily, but maybe I have changed too much (or shows have gotten so much worse?). It definitely is a consequence of time management or rather, time spent either recapping (recapping 3310 quasi in real-time was crazy) or writing/editing Fanfiction.
Still, there are three dramas I want to mention as particularly irksome here:
Good Thief, Bad Thief. I tried, Kim Ji-hoon, I really tried. I just couldn't. Stories that are familiar from minute one are an instant NO-NO for me. I am so sorry your career is stalling. It seems unfair, but wow, when was KEnt ever fair...
The Weasel Grave. We are still recapping that one and that's why I'm "forced" to watch. It's is SO BAD. Acting, story, etc. etc., I think I hate everything about it except for the lovely scenery.
Princess Agents. This show was horrendously bad. Honorable mention to the CGI parrot. I can't get over the fact it's one of the most popular CDramas of 2017.
