Kdramas that disappointed me
Dramas I had been looking forward to, had high expectations for or that started out good, but that unfortunately ended up being disappointing.
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1. Mouse
Korean Drama - 2021, 20 episodes
Okay to be fair, it wasn't that bad but it clearly wasn't as great as people are making it out to be. It was dragged out, predictable in many aspects and there are just... many flaws. It is entertaining, but it's nowhere near perfect and it's not a masterpiece either.
It's compared with Beyond Evil a lot, but to me they are nothing alike. There's an entire universe that separates them when it comes to quality of writing and strength of the plot
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2. The Uncanny Counter 2: Il contrattacco
Korean Drama - 2023, 12 episodes
Do I even need to explain?
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3. Moving
Korean Drama - 2023, 20 episodes
Ok, I know how much everyone loved this show. And it's not that bad. The first half is honestly pretty lit.
But... I hated the pacing. I hate how they make you invested in characters in the present timeline only for the show to jam on the brakes and become a 5-episode-long flashback. It became a sort of omnibus/anthology thing and the momentum was completely lost.
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4. Una pessima madre ideale
Korean Drama - 2023, 14 episodes
I was really drawn to this show after reading the synopsis. Then I saw that the director was the same as Beyond Evil and my expectations went through the roof. It seemed fresh, new. A drama that talks about bad parenting in a less cartoonish but more humane way? Sign me up.
But then it started airing and it became clear it wasn't what I had been looking forward to.
There were good things, but also a lot of not so good things.
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5. D.P. Season 2
Korean Drama - 2023, 6 episodes
It's a good season regardless but it pales in comparison to the first one, and I think anybody can see that without needing to explain. Season 1, and the show itself, would have been just fine without that sequel.
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6. Prison Playbook
Korean Drama - 2017, 16 episodes
I knew everyone was praising this show, but you know what... I went in without high expectations and was still disappointed. I can see what people liked about it, but for me there were just too many aspects that were off. I'm not gonna write an entire review here, but there are things I appreciate about Prison Playbook. However I still think it's not as good as it could've been.
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7. Somebody
Korean Drama - 2022, 8 episodes
Trying so hard to be weird and edgy but it simply doesn't work. I like art cinema, I like weird conceptual shit, so that's not the issue. The issue is that Somebody tries to be deep when it's just bad.
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8. Oasis
Korean Drama - 2023, 16 episodes
I was expectantly waiting for the next episodes to drop every week even though this show got me pulling my hair out from beginning to ending (am I a masochist?). I was honestly hoping it could get better, hoping it could be salvaged, hoping it would stop wasting its potential.
Spoiler alert: it didn't. Gucci OST tho
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9. High School in Seoul
Korean Drama - 2022, 16 episodes
Same feeling as for Oasis. Couldn't wait to watch the next episodes, wanted it to be good from the bottom of my heart, but it got worse and worse and worse and...
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10. Bad Memory Eraser
Korean Drama - 2024, 16 episodes
This was entertaining enough to watch until the end, but in the way you'd watch a train wreck out of morbid curiosity. At some point I lost all hope it'd get better and I just wanted to see how much worse it would get. Oddly enough it wasn't boring to me, so there's that. But there's this particularly frustrating feeling about watching a show you know could've been good before they decided to ruin it and do the bare minimum.
It's honestly exhausting how the writers of these shows are content with just scratching the surface. There was so much that they could've developed like idk, mental health, toxic family relationships and abusive parents, taking accountability? They had so many flawed characters and those are usually great to analyze... when they're well-written that is. Here everyone is plain dumb. They simply couldn't be assed to go past that surface level. They probably think the viewers are dumb too.
And this is not because of the genre. Comedies can still be deep and serious at times, it's all about balance.The romance and stalker/killer plot lines were unnecessary were a part of what killed the show's potential, among many other things. Focusing on the MC's mental anguish, his relationship with his family, having the two brothers talk and actually acknowledge their parents' abuse, how it affected them, would've been so much better.
This gave me the exact same feeling as The Golden Spoon and considering the same actor is playing in both drama... Is he cursed?
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11. Vigilante
Korean Drama - 2023, 8 episodes
Basic plot, but one that's almost always fun to watch. Keyword being almost.
Unfortunately, I couldn't get into Nam Joo Hyuk's acting in this one: it felt like his face was giving nothing, no emotions. And his character was honestly kinda dumb, making the plot unbelievable and not as enjoyable as it should've been. Not the worst drama I've seen, but definitely not very good.
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12. Although I Am Not a Hero
Korean Drama - 2024, 12 episodes
Honestly, it wasn't that bad of a show. They had a great concept (and I mean, really fucking great, hence the high expectations). I loved the fact that we had an ML that wasn't a "good" person. He's literally an absent alcoholic father who doesn't know how to take care of his daughter, when he cares enough to try.
And then it just got kinda boring? I can't say much more, it's as simple as that. Overall it was fine, but I can't help but think that it could've been something greater.
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13. In cerca di vendetta
Korean Drama - 2022, 12 episodes
I wrote a 2k6 word review about it, I don't think there's anything left to say.
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14. Color Rush 2
Korean Drama - 2022, 8 episodes
Color Rush Season 1 was cringe but fun.
Color Rush season 2 was cringe and painful, an absolute nightmare.
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15. Strong Woman Kang Nam Soon
Korean Drama - 2023, 16 episodes
This show is a bad sequel, but also simply painful to watch even without having expectations as high as for Do Bong Soon.