Friday, February 8, 2013

Korean Dramas 2012 - The Bad

Kdramas 2012


For every manicure, there is a cracked nail. For every hand disinfectant, there is a paper cut. For every pleasant walk in the rain, there is a car splashing you with raw sewage as the cad whooshes by. And for every great Korean drama, there is a series that should fill the industry with utter shame.

Yep. You guessed it (no you didn't, I told you in the title). This is the list of my most hated dramas of 2012. My feelings for these works range from bitter disappointment to pure loathing. No sugar-coating here. Man/Woman-up or turn back.

Here they are. The Bad dramas of 2012. Click on the titles for more info.

Related Kdrama 2012 Posts: The Good, The Out of Date, The Best of.


Hanbando/Korean Peninsula

Hanbando


I'm opening up the can of woes with this. You see, without external force, this would have been on my Good list. It did a lot of things right. It did. Its action was nice, premise interesting and acting top notch. It had exotic locations, intrigue, the whole deal. However, it suffered from a certain lack of excitement. It was like a political melodrama masking as a suspense thriller. My biggest problem was the ending. I know it was forced on them and they did the best they could, but it was abrupt. I cannot judge "what would be" and the intentions of the creative team. I can only judge what I see, no matter who was to blame for it. This barely makes it here for having its life cut short before it reached its climax.


Rooftop Prince

Rooftop Prince


Do wicked family members turn you off? How about if we add a murderer as a second villain? Not enough? Disapproving grandma? Nope? Let's throw in Fate being the Ultimate Bitch. Is that enough trouble for the main couple? No, you say? How about a lead stuck in love with one of the villains? I could go on and on about why this "rom-com" annoyed the hell out of me from episode 1. It's the typical "girl can't buy a break" melodrama which decided to throw cute silly hotties in-between, hoping we wouldn't notice there is no "comedy" to be found. It's one big angst-fest and sob-fest with occasional breaks. I dropped it a few episodes before the ending and from what I hear, it was a wise choice. Avoid at all cost, if you hate makjang.


Big

Big


Damn Failure. I used to like the Hong sisters. I used to like them because they weren't trying to be poignant, but simply fun. And by being fun and true to their nature, they were actually managing to say some nice things. Ever since 'The Greatest Love', they stopped being fun. Because they try to be "serious" (mostly by drowning things in metaphors and symbolism hoping it makes them seem deep) and fail, miserably. The characters didn't engage me in 'Big', despite the two first episodes being promising. The story grabbed me and then let go. The female lead character was the biggest, most self-centered, most annoying little jerk I've seen in most recent rom-coms. I dropped this about near the middle. It left me dead inside and dead bored. Don't do this to yourselves. Not even for Gong Yoo.


Faith

Faith


Time travel, superpowers, political intrigue! Sounds cool, right? It does, but it wasn't. 'Faith' felt like it suffered a tight budget and lack of vision. I guess all the trouble it went through left the team tired and disappointed. 'Faith' felt "small". Confined. There was nothing epic about it. The superpowers were hardly used and were utterly pointless and "just there". The romance didn't move me and I saw no chemistry between the lead couple whatsoever. I was bored seeing people in small rooms, misunderstanding each other or fighting over who gets to be Noble Idiot of the Year. It was just boring and the characters I did like, I didn't see enough of. I dropped this and don't really recommend it. It would have been better to not make it at all than settle for what they did.


Ooh La La Couple

Ooh La La Spouses


Oh the wailing and the gnashing of teeth! This series started out wonderfully. It looked like a great ajumma empowerment story. Finally, a Korean drama was going to show why divorce is sometimes the only option and how one should appreciate what they have before they end up ruining it. They switch bodies and you'd think they'd start understanding each other. It didn't happen. The male lead remained an a-hole till the end and all that ajumma empowerment was forgotten. Throw in cancer and overly corny melo after the midpoint and you have yourself a sweet treat gone sour. The moral of this story? Accept what life gives you even if you don't have to and you deserve better. No need for learning from our mistakes, since you'll just forgive them anyway. Because this is Korea and you should know your limits, woman. Shame on you, series.


Special ("Special") Mention: Dr.Jin

Dr. Jin
At least someone was happy with it...


This is my favorite worst series of 2012. I actually finished it and I enjoyed it more than a lot of the good ones, even. The ones reviewed above were bad despite their potential. They angered me, bored me, annoyed me. 'Dr. Jin' was just so bad that it was funny. I had a blast making fun of this while watching it with my mother and we ended up laughing to tears. This is one of the best comedies of 2012, even if very unintentionally. Don't get me wrong, it's still godawful from start to finish, but it was the fun kind of awful. You know how you laugh with b-movies like the 'Evil Dead' franchise? The same thing, only there, it was their actual goal to make you laugh. For the laughs alone, I am recommending this, if only for educational purposes. To see just how bad a series can screw up. You have to be in a very good mood and willing to bash though.

 
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