My friends!

It’s that time of year again — when we take a deep breath, look back on our 2025 drama adventures, and realize… wow, we really did have a lot of feelings™. 😂

Welcome to this year’s End-of-Year Patreon Awards! This tradition began years ago with a casual suggestion in our chat corner, and it’s since grown into one of the warmest, most spirited things we do together. 🥲

Each entry is written by a member of our lovely Patreon community, sharing their drama year in their own voice — with heart, humor, honesty, and plenty of feels.

If you missed our earlier posts, you can check them out as follows: Natalia, Kumari, Ele, Diasporic Chick, ABV.

Today, j3ffc is sharing his drama year! 🥳

The more I get to know j3ffc, the more I’m impressed with how talented and creative he is (don’t let his self-deprecating humor fool you! 😁).

I’ve also realized that one of the big reasons he keeps blowing me away with his hidden talents is that he’s a great learner. If he’s curious about something, he pursues it and figures out whatever he needs to know along the way — and we get to benefit from the sidelines. 😁

Thanks for sharing your adventures with us, j3ffc! ❤️

If you like j3ffc’s style and want to know what he thought about dramas last year, you can check out his post here!

ALSO. If you haven’t yet seen j3ffc’s amazing dream drama “Dark,” you can check it out here!

I hope you guys enjoy!

~ KFG ❤️

j3ffc’s YEAR IN DRAMAS 2025

It’s once again time to reflect on a year of drama watching.

I work at a US university and have been watching K-dramas since February 8, 2018, when I happened upon Strong Woman Do Bong Soon (I’ve told the story here). My tastes lean toward romantic comedies and slice-of-life with a streak of melancholy; I also love the musical elements that enrich the drama experience.

Thanks, KFG, for the opportunity to share some thoughts here and for maintaining such a high-quality site for K-drama enthusiasts. I like to think of The Verdict as graduate school for drama criticism, due to KFG’s in-depth critiques and the great community that tolerates my occasional ramblings there.

OVERVIEW

Spoiler Alert: I wouldn’t have expected to say this, but this year turned out to be a wonderful year for drama for me. Let’s start by looking at the raw data:

Shows finished (unless otherwise noted, Korean shows from 2025):

A Calm Sea and Beautiful Days with You (J) | Asura (J) | Bon Appetit, Your Majesty | Fated to Love You (2014) | Glass Heart (J) | Hospital Playlist 2 (2021) | “Jeongnyeon: The Star Is Born” (2024) | Like Flowers in Sand (2023) | Love Scout | Love, Take Two | Melo Movie | Our Unwritten Seoul | Romantics Anonymous (J) | School 2013 (interestingly enough, 2012) | The First Night with the Duke | Tomorrow, With You (2012, informal group watch) | Way Back Love | When Life Gives You “Tangerines” |

Shows on Pause[1]:

Prisoner of Love (C, 7 eps) | Tastefully Yours (1 ep) | Tempest (4 eps) | When the Phone Rings (3.7 eps)

Movies:

Brave Citizen (2023) | K-Pop Demon Hunters (US) | The Soul-Mate (2018)

First, this was a solid year for me in terms of quantity, although I suspect that, by the time this post appears, a lot of folks will have watched this many shows in 2026. As the year began, I started to wonder if I’d fall victim to the dreaded drama block, but as it happened, the overall enjoyment factor really rose in 2025. Even the few shows that disappointed offered a few hours of enjoyable watching before turning south. In a turnaround from past years, I found that I enjoyed the new shows quite a bit more than the few older classics I went back to this year.

Overall…not bad!

So, onto this year’s awards, interspersed with some unwarranted ramblings and a few dubious attempts to turn K-drama fandom into a participation sport.

ACTOR OF THE YEAR: Park Bo-young is a Hallyu Star

It’s about time to give Park Bo-young, who gave such a deep and affecting performance in “Our Unwritten Seoul”, recognition as one of the all-time great Hallyu stars, on a par with people like Gong Yoo, Han So‑hee, Hyun Bin, Jun Ji‑hyun…you get the idea. Although PBY[2] is not often mentioned in that company, “Seoul” should eliminate any doubt that she belongs there.

Career longevity? Check. A variety of roles? Check. Technically demanding roles? Check. Artsy dramas? Check. Popular dramas? Check. Dramas and movies? Check, mate.

You get the idea.

Just consider the trajectory of PBY’s career, beginning with her breakout role in “Scandal Makers” at 18 years old (2008). Subsequent films include star turns in “A Werewolf Boy” and “On Your Wedding Day”, huge successes in Korea. That’s a pretty nice filmography but gets even better when you add her K-dramas, starting with “Oh My Ghost”[3], where she effectively played two roles. Though at its heart a comedy/mystery, there is a level of pathos in these performances that would be missing without an actor of PBY’s abilities.

This year she gave us “Melo Movie” and, of course, “Seoul”. To my mind, the latter solidified PBY’s comeback as a Serious Actress, a process that started with “Daily Dose of Sunshine”. In both, she went from whimsical to heartbreaking drama. Apart from the technical challenge of multiple roles in Seoul (four, counting each twin pretending to be the other twin), the drama wouldn’t have worked if the characters didn’t tug at the viewers’ hearts.

So why isn’t Park Bo-young typically listed in the group of K-drama giants? Here are some reasons, and my rebuttals.

1. She isn’t especially prolific. 

Rebuttal: Well, yeah, neither is Daniel Day-Lewis. I’d argue that the quality of her work is enhanced rather than diminished because she doesn’t seem to be padding her resume.

2. “Not padding her resume?” Oh, come on. She’s done a lot of crap, too.

This would be probably the most compelling argument to keep PBY out of the Hall of Fame. But I think it’s misplaced.

I’d better start with the elephant in the room: “Strong Woman Do Bong Soon”.[4]

One could argue with a lot about SWDBS. It’s filled with cringey stereotypes, off-putting humor, and silly cartoon violence. But it was my gateway drama, and I loved it at the time.[5] PBY totally sells us on this tiny woman being impossibly strong and curiously prone to breaking into tears at the drop of a hat. Plus, PBY × Ahn Min‑hyuk = sparky romantic glamour and screwball comedy gold.

Despite its faults, it’s still an iconic drama.

3. “But what about Melo Movie? Or [name your favorite PBY flop]?

Although MM was a disappointment, it brings to mind the aphorism that “Living writers are judged by their batting averages while dead ones are judged by their home runs.”

Consider Robert De Niro.

RDN has done crap a-plenty. But at the end of the day, we still have Raging Bull, The Godfather, Taxi Driver, The Deer Hunter.

4. PBY is low‑engagement with fans and her early‑2010s hiatus created a lingering perception that she was “difficult”. 

Maybe. But directors describe her as a naturally gifted performer who elevates material simply by showing up. And “difficult” is sometimes a euphemism for “not being a pushover”.

Before I get much further into Liu Yu Ning territory, I’ll rest my case.[6] She was one of the reasons I got into K-kontent in the first place and is still getting better. She’s a bona fide legend. Full stop.

SECONDARY PERFORMANCES OF NOTE 

The best shows benefit from a strong cast top to bottom. This was very much the case for “Tangerines”, which featured wonderful supporting performances throughout (leading to Baeksang Arts Awards for supporting actors Choi Dae-hoon and Yeom Hye-ran^[7]). Shows like “Love, Take Two” work because they depict a community that one would like to be a part of, and this only succeeds because of the individuals who make up that community. And sometimes a supporting actor will add something special and we had a couple of great examples this year.

First up, consider Kim Sun-young. She has been a ubiquitous face of K-drama since I started watching^[8] and was in two excellent shows this year: “My Unwritten Seoul” and “Love, Take Two”. The latter was the kind of performance that KSY can probably do in her sleep: the quirky best friend/moral grounding, with just a hint of potential noona romance on the horizon.

But she scored a career-highlight performance in “My Unwritten Seoul”, playing an adoptive mother with her own measure of past sorrow, paired with another compelling performance by Jang Young Nam as the mother of the twins. Both women were indispensable to the story and continue to linger in memory.

Another standout was Shin Ye-eun as Heo Yeong-seo,[9] the sitting queen of the Changgeuk ensemble and rival of Kim Tae-ri’s character in Jeongyeon: A Star is Born. Shin embodied the tension that arises when ambition and family expectations run up against reality.

One scene that I must have rewatched a dozen times showed Yeung-seo in an acting-within-acting meta turn, transitioning from scowling bluster into a smiling musicality and back within 15 seconds. Stunning.

FAVORITE TROPE OF THE YEAR: THE FAITHFUL YET SCENE-STEALING SIDEKICK

These roles are like drama spice—they heighten flavor and interest. In a few cases, these characters kept me watching when I might otherwise have tuned out. These roles do not always lead to leading actor status, but should be celebrated, nonetheless.

From Left to right: Yoon Seo-ah as Seo Gil-geum (“Bon Appetit, Your Majesty”), Oh Se-eun as Bang-ul (“First Night with the Duke”), and Lee Sang-hee as Yeo Mi-ji (“Tempest”^[10]). Note: all are shown at work.

MY DRAMA OF THE YEAR: “My Unwritten Seoul”

Anchored by Park Bo-young’s amazing performance(s), “Seoul”[11]^,[12] was a compelling study of modern angst. People are not only a product of their own senses of self and personalities but are also formed in the backdrop of other people. The use of twins to depict these was a stroke of genius, as the writers literally allowed the sisters to walk in each other’s shoes. The perspective switch was fascinating and relatable, but it wouldn’t have had much of an impact without the sets of relationships that each FL explored in the course of the story: with their life choices, with their mother (moms were just great in this show, as noted above), their appealing love interests, and, of course, with each other.

Although it touched on hefty topics, including depression, the show never felt ponderous and didn’t forget to cash in on the hijinks inherent in twins posing as one another.[13] PBY’s comedic touch and dramatic range were each used to great effect, and I especially enjoyed Ryu Kyung-soo as the odd tomato farmer.

I’m a sucker for this sort of detailed character exploration.

MY OTHER DRAMA OF THE YEAR: When Life Gives You “Tangerines”

A modest upbringing. Then, school and pretentious goals of artistic achievement. Adulthood brought some accomplishment, but never quite matched the dreams forged in childhood. Eventually, acceptance of limitations and basking in the warmth of family life.

But enough about me.

If this were the Oscars, “Tangerines” would be far and away the favorite for Best Picture: an epic family saga extending over generations, characters one could root for, fully formed adversaries. It even took long-beloved settings and embodied them with a freshness I hadn’t seen in a while. And great performances by some of the top actors in dramaland.

I was totally entranced by this show from beginning to end. I know that some viewers found aspects of the show depressing, and there was certainly an undercurrent of tragedy throughout. Perhaps because melo is my nature, I found the balance between happy and sad to be just about right. And the overall message that even the most ordinary of lives has grandeur and meaning hits solidly home.

Special shout-outs to the writer and director of this amazing piece, Lim Sang-choon (also known for “When the Camellia Blooms”) and Kim Won-seok (“My Ahjussi”).

This is a show that will be watched for years. Bravo.

Honorable Mention/Best “Foreign” Film

A show that deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as “Seoul” and “Tangerines” is the J-dorama “Asura”. Set in the late 1970s, this show traces complicated relationships in an extended family, focusing on four sisters. It’s thoughtful, deep, and stylish.

ORIGINAL SHOW CONCEPTS

I entered a drama slump a couple of years ago and a big part of it was that while the shows were well made, they sometimes felt a bit…alike. For example, while I greatly enjoyed “Love Scout”, it didn’t break any new ground. Despite the undisputable value in relaxing entertainment,[14] it’s a particular pleasure to encounter a show that stretches the boundaries. It doesn’t necessarily take much, either. In fact, the two shows that I found freshest this year did so by tweaking some of the simplest, often overlooked elements in drama. And, perhaps not coincidentally, both were period pieces.

The first was “Calm Seas and a Wonderful Day With You” “A Calm Sea and Beautiful Days with You”.[15] This show depicts a contract marriage followed by the longest slow burn romance in history. I loved the depiction of pre-war Japan and the costume design and settings were beautifully rendered, but it was the structure of the show that stood out. First, the episodes are framed by a narrator, apparently called Benshi (according to Wikipedia – and I’m not sure how they even know). Slightly goofy, Benshi serves double duty as framer and Greek chorus, and I looked forward to having him on screen at any time. The second feature is that the already-short episodes are blocked out into mini-episodes, which we know because we get recaps and previews in the middle of each episode. I appreciate it when Show makes things easy.

But the real winner in this category was “Jeongnyeon: The Star Is Born”.[16] It, too, had fantastic production values—settings, cinematography, and the contemporary costumes reminded me of wonderful 1950s classics like Singin’ In the Rain. This was apropos to the story and setting, since SITR (Singin’, not Something) came out in 1952 and is a great musical, as is JTSIB.

Before this show, I was blissfully unaware of Gukgeuk theatre or pansori singing,[17]  and discovering these unique art forms was a highlight of my drama year. The music, sung by the actors (coming back to that Baeksang for Kim Tae-ri[18]) was wonderful, and the productions-within-the show were gorgeous. I mean, seriously: check out the trailer.

OTP OF THE YEAR:

Gwan-sik and Ae-sun (as portrayed by Park Hae-joon and Moon So-ri)

The love story between Ae-sun and Gwan-sik is the center, the heart, and the soul of “Tangerines”, from its beginning in the 1950’s all the way up to both characters’ old age. One of the triumphs of the show was a compelling depiction of how the couple grew and changed from childhood to adulthood.

So, of the total of 11 actors who played these two roles, why highlight these two? Most would associate these roles with IU and Park Bo-gum,[19] as the young adult versions of the characters. Both gave great performances and are A-list K-drama stars but IU, especially, has moved one step closer to her inevitable star on the Hallyu Walk of Fame[20] with “Tangerines” for her two roles in the drama.

But I wanted to highlight the outstanding work of Park and Moon, who gave us lovely and textured portrayals of the later stages of these characters. Both are veterans who gave memorable performances Without them, the story of Ae-sun and Gwan-sik would be incomplete.

And we have two sets of runners-up.

Yu Eun-ho and Kang Ji-yun, the lead couple in “Love Scout”, played by Lee Jun-hyu and Han Ji-min, respectively. For being competent adults who act like adults and just happen to fall into love. The Show also scores points for doing a decent job of the tricky business of moving its OTP from work colleagues to a couple.[21]

The second leads from that Calm Sea and Wonderful Something show, winningly played by Yuta Koseki and Maika Yamamoto, had similar vibes. But they brought it up a notch with a touch of world-weariness coupled with snappy repartee worthy of Grant and Hepburn.

COMPLAINT OF THE YEAR[22]

If there is one thing, one flaw, one nagging imperfection in dramaland, it is the tendency of dramas to fall apart at the very end—to not “stick the landing”. And I have been as vocal as anyone in whining complaining about this.

Consider, for example, “Bon Appetit, Your Majesty” which I quite enjoyed overall. I didn’t even mind the endless cooking competitions (a product of having watched Iron Chef and related shows for years before I could even find Korea on a map). Here it was not so much a crime of commission as much as of omission.

And I will now commit a crime of commission instead of omission. Feel free to skip.

SPOILER ALERT: ENDING OF BON APPETIT, YOUR MAJESTY

If you’re reading this, you probably know that Bon Appetit ended happily, with our OTP transported, with the help of the magic book, to the present time. And this was fine,[23] but I and numerous others were disappointed that our hero, Yi Heon, basically just showed up without a word of explanation as to how he got there. More importantly, we were deprived of the fun inherent in watching him being acclimated to our times. There is an entire outstanding show about this idea (Queen In-hyun’s Man) but we got squat here.

So, instead of using my time for good (i.e., watching an entire other drama), I decided to create an alternate ending that would provide a different take.

STILL SPOILERY: ALT.ENDING FOR BON APPETIT, YOUR MAJESTY

We take up the story as the Se Jeon, the Big Bad[24] of the show, has succeeded in his coup and has tracked Yi Heon (ML) and Ji-yeong (FL from the future) into the forest. Se Jeon’s men and Yi Heon are battling as the moon begins to darken from the eclipse, and again the two men are left alone to fight as Ji-yeong finds, recognizes, and cradles the Magurok (magic recipe book, which seems to do time transport when there’s an eclipse) in her arms. Se Jeon, seeing that the book represents a strategic advantage (since Ji-yeong wants it so much—he doesn’t know what it does), rips it from Ji-yeong’s hands and runs.

Yi Heon follows, sword still drawn, with Ji-yeong not far behind. YH pulls even with the evil prince and attacks. Se Jeon pulls away and dodges YH’s blows at first, but the heavy book proves a hindrance, and it’s not long before Yi Heon’s—Yeonsangun’s—sword hits its mark. Se Jeon’s blood spatters the front page of the mystical tome. The eclipse is near its maximum, and the book begins to glow. As the unearthly light intensifies, Se Jeon gasps as he, still holding the Mangunrok, levitates into the starlit sky and drops his sword. As Ji-yeong and Yi Heon watch helplessly, Se Jeon is lifted higher and higher until he disappears into nothingness. The scene goes black as all we hear is Ji-yeong’s anguished scream.

We awake to throbbing lights and pulsating disco music—we’re in a modern nightclub. Se Jeon, still holding the Mangunrok, falls from the ceiling into the dance floor, barely missing a couple. At first shocked by Se Jeon’s unexpected appearance, the clubbers begin to chant, “go, go, go!”—clearly expecting him to bust out some moves—while one unseen woman shouts an encouraging “whoo, Oppa!”

The ear-shattering din, intensely colored strobes, and the alien-looking crowd—it’s all too much for Se Jeon. He pushes his way through the crowd to make his escape. He makes it to a door, but it lacks any opening mechanism familiar to someone who was just getting used to the sixteenth century. He coincidentally pushes upon a bar at waist level, which actuates this emergency exit—and deposits Se Jeon right onto a main thoroughfare in Itaewon.

This being Saturday night, the outside scene is nearly as intense as the nightclub interior. Se Jeon instinctively starts running away from the club’s door to find a relatively uncrowded area, where he immediately hears a loud honking sound. He turns to see a 1-1-9 ambulance approaching at high speed—the scene goes black as we hear the impact—and we return to see the pages of the Mangunrok scattered to the wind, focusing on one blood-spattered page alighting to the ground. It’s for gochujang short ribs. Screen once again black—

—to reopen in a dusty market street, circa 1515. A male figure is sauntering through the town, carrying a shopping sack filled with vegetables from one of the stalls. Suddenly a black-clad figure runs into the street, surprising the shopper. The assailant pulls out a small dagger and is about to strike when a man with flowing gray hair intercepts him with some sweet martial arts moves, depriving the man in black of his weapon. Clearly outmatched, the would-be assassin runs away, knocking over a fruit stall in the process.

We now see that the shopper is Yi Heon, hair slightly streaked with gray and developing just a trace of wrinkles around his eyes. He turns to his gray-haired protector – it’s the Ming chef Tang Bailong! — and offers his thanks. “It’s been a while since we’ve been bothered by these slave hunters. I guess they’ll never stop entirely.” As he speaks, we get a good look at YH’s surroundings: the writing on the food stalls is all in the Ming dialect.

Bailong smiles. “No. They will not.”

The chef notices that Yi Heon is looking with interest at his own shopping sack, which is filled with green onions. Noticing this, Bailong pulls one out and hands it to the former king. “For your wife.”

Yi Heon accepts the offering with a slight bow. “Thank you for this. And, glancing around he adds, “and for all of this.”

Bailong offers a traditional Chinese salute and bids Yi Heon goodbye. “Of course. See you again soon.”

Yi Heon heads down the dusty street and out of town, toward the country. Soon, he comes upon a modest but well-kept house and opens the front door. He is immediately assaulted by two young children, a boy and a girl. The girl’s face is smudged with chocolate.

“Mommy’s making….” she begins, but the young girl is interrupted by the arrival of Ji-yeong, smiling and holding a small bowl, which she is stirring. She addresses her daughter. “Now, Gil-geum, don’t you go spoiling my surprise.” She looks at Yi Heon, who has clearly settled nicely into his current title, Husband. “Did you get any carrots?” she asks.

“Of course, I did.” He surprises Ji-yeon with a brief kiss and she heads back into the kitchen. “Dinner will be ready soon.”

“I can’t wait,” says Yi Heon. The expression on his face confirms that this is true, and the scene fades to black, accompanied by the sounds of something delicious cooking on the fire.

END OF SPOILERY ALERT

END OF OTHER SPOILER ALERT

There’s one final nit to pick. A major plot point in all these Joseon-era cooking shows (apparently now a mini-genre) is that people in the past will just go nuts when they taste modern food, because it’s so delicious and all. I think this is patently untrue, given that humans tend to prefer the familiar. Just ask any four-year-old.

OST OF THE YEAR

A good OST is the icing on the cake, the creme de la creme, the secret sauce of a great drama. Even an ordinary drama can be lifted out of the doldrums by the right music, while listening to a soundtrack of a favorite show allows one to revisit the experience without an actual rewatch. Any way you look at it, music is an essential part of the K-drama experience.

There was a lot of great music in drama this year. Examples included “Jeongnyeon: The Star Is Born”, which was cool because it introduced me to an entire genre of singing—pansori—I knew little about. As a rock aficionado and forever ago a former band member, “Glass Hearts” might have been made just for me. The music didn’t quite sing as I’d hoped it might, though.

But this year was all about “Tangerines”.

I’d be hard-pressed to say why I fell in love with this soundtrack except to chalk it up to my admiration of the show and the world it depicted, and the incorporation into the OST a wide range of genres that overlapped strongly with my own tastes. The soundtrack beautifully evoked the time periods depicted in the show. I know that I am not alone in these opinions, judging by many covers of “Tangerine” tunes on the internet.

So, what’s the harm in adding a few more?

I’ve had glorious fun over the past six months in assembling my own versions of some of the music from “Tangerines” and I’d like to share them with you here. It’s a suite of songs from the show and its soundtrack. I am wholly to blame for what I’ve done to these song. Translating lyrics from Korean into English represented an interesting challenge; in so doing, I took a share of artistic license. I did write one entirely original lyric as a tribute to “Tangerines”.

But before I leave, here’s a pictorial tribute to some of the brilliant artists who created the original music behind this project.

Top row: Park Sung Il, Kim Jung Mi, Soyoon Hwang, Isaac Hong

Bottom: Choi Baek Ho, Shin Jung Hyun, Jicheon, Kim Hyun Sik

TANGERINE DREAMS

Here’s the entire suite, for the maximum immersive experience:

And here are the individual tracks for anyone who may prefer them that way:

1. Tangerine/Spring in a Heartbeat

2. Spring

3. To the Land of Hope

4. Hwal Hwal

5. Ae-sun and Gwan-sik

6. My Love By My Side

THANKS

Thanks to anyone who’s read even parts of this, and thanks to KFG for hosting this post and providing the best darned drama site around.

Best wishes to all for a happy 2026—filled with only the best kind of drama.

Music credits: Tangerine (Victor Schertzinger and Johnny Mercer), Spring in a Heartbeat (Park Sung‑il), Spring (Kim Jung‑mi), To the Land of Hope (Choi Baek Ho), Hwal Hwal (Jicheon), Ae-sun and Gwan-sik incorporates motifs from Theme of Ae‑sun and Theme of Gwan-sik (both written by Park Sung‑il), My Love By My Side (Kim Hyun‑sik). Consulting: Anna, Chris, Kim, Mike, and Will.

~j3ffc

[1] This is a new thing for me. I used to be a total drama completist but somehow ended up learning how to drop things. I prefer the word “pause”, as it gives me a little wiggle room in case I change my mind. I find that I pause more often not because a show is awful, but rather because there’s something shinier that I want to get to ASAP.

[2] I sometimes wish PBY’s name was Park Bo-joung just so we could abbreviate her name as PBJ.

[3] I refuse to use the useless word “Ghostess”, which is how this show is usually titled.

[4] Appropriate, because Bong Soon picked up an elephant in that show (off camera, but still).

[5] Haven’t seen it again, although I’ve watched a few clips now and then. It may well land differently now.

[6] I am 100% sure that PBY has an AWESOME legal drama in her.

[7] Like many, I was disappointed in no Baeksangs for Park Bo-gum or, especially IU, for “Tangerines”. But, golly, Kim Tae-ri was fantastic in ”Jeongnyeon: The Star Is Born”, and that role was award-bait as anything I’ve ever seen. And “Tangerines” did get two big ones (Drama and Screenplay).

[8] I swear that this woman is always working. TIL that she features prominently in a reality show called “Actors’ Association” (배우반상회), in which she is the “Association President”. Who’d have thought six years ago that a Korean reality show would end up on my list of things to watch, the lack of English or captions be darned.

[9] Winning this year’s Park “Brahms” Eun-bin Award for Character I Most Identified With.

[10] Yes, I know I didn’t finish this show. But if I do, it’ll be because of this character.

[11] Are you still here?

[12] I will try to shorten this post by referring to some shows by single words. We’ll see if that helps….

[13] I actually know twins who’ve done this. OMG.

[14] Worth remembering that we’re talking about watching TV here.

[15] For some darned reason, I have never been able to remember the name of this show.

[16] I didn’t even try to spell this one by myself.

[17] At the beginning of my watch, it occurred to me that this show might be an actual remake of A Star is Born (the “A”®”The” hubris aside). I was very relieved when I realized that it wasn’t.

[18] With two wins for three television roles nominated, she is now the Adrian Brody of K-drama awards.

[19] Who, I have learned to a mix of bemusement and horror, is known as “Gummy”.

[20] Is there actually such a thing? If not, the K-drama publicity machine ought to get right on it.

[21] I have an issue with this show, though. In E1, the camera follows Yu Eun-ho as he walks though a huge crowd on the streets, and every single female is snapping her head around to gaze at his handsomeness. So, why in the next 11 episodes, does no woman other than the FL even give him a second glance? I mean, continuity, people!!

[22] Actually, this is the complaint of every year.

[23] I’d argue that one thing that the show did extremely well was provide a dramatically compelling explanation of how the king’s historical infamy arose despite him being a relatively decent guy (for a king, that is).

[24] The Big Bad concept was originally coined in connection with Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Just saying.