Catherine's Year In Dramas! (Patreon)

Getting this list in juuuust before the deadline, but I’ve enjoyed everyone else’s so much I wanted to contribute.

Quick introductions. I’m Catherine, I’ve been watching dramas since late 2019, and have been reading The Fangirl Verdict for almost as long. My gateway drama was Her Private Life, which I loved, even if much of the cultural context flew right past me. I next tried Romance is a Bonus Book and never looked back. Kfangurl’s reviews have been an incredible resource, helping me find new dramas to watch and offering thoughtful perspectives on the ones I did. We don’t always agree (I love Extraordinary You and have not been able to make it through Goong), but we usually do, and I always enjoy reading her reviews.

A few caveats on my list. 1) I have not watched a number of the shows which have been showing up on many “best of 2021” lists - the absence of Navillera, Move to Heaven, and DP isn’t a reflection on them, just the length of my to watch list; 2) I love nothing more than musicals, so dramas about idols are over-represented here; and 3) I am somewhat free with spoilers in the below, particularly around OTPs or the lack thereof, so reader beware.

TOP 8 SHOWS RANKED IN ORDER

I didn’t watch 10 shows aired in 2021 that I felt were worthy of a “best of’ list, so I’m sharing my top four 2021 dramas, as well as my top four dramas that I watched in 2021, but that aired earlier.

#1 2021 Drama - Vincenzo

I hadn’t planned to watch Vincenzo because, to be honest, I thought the premise sounded so dumb. Have I learned nothing from two years of watching dramas? The premise almost never ends up having any bearing on my enjoyment of a show. Anyhow, I started to see a positive reaction to the first couple episodes online and FOMO prompted me to check it out.

Vincenzo is what I’d call an all-arounder drama - it gets high marks in almost every department: writing, acting, directing, and soundtrack. It felt thought out. It was comfortable being extremely weird. And while the end of the show went a little dark for my taste, it was a hilarious romp with incredible characters.

Aside from its overall consistency, what made this show great for me was the attention to detail. Three of my favorite moments were visual gags: 1) When Taecyeon’s character is taking notes during a meeting and his screen is shown afterwards to just be bleeped English curse words; 2) Mr. Nam’s INCREDIBLE powerpoint presentation; and 3) Taecyeon’s equally amazing Star Wars themed presentation. And there were so many others - the references to other dramas with “Park Saeroyi wannabe” and the dancers who moved just like Kingdom zombies.

I also really appreciated the number and eccentricity of the side characters. In some dramas, side characters feel pretty rote - they’re there to serve the needs of the main character and hit plot points. In Vincenzo, there is universal obsession with Vincenzo and whatever he’s up to, but you also have zero doubt that each character sees themselves as a main character in their own story. And that includes the true hero of the show: Inzaghi.

I do have one caveat with Vincenzo and that was my disappointment with Kim Sung-Cheol’s storyline that perpetuated dated stereotypes. The rest of the show was so good and so smart that it made the parts where it wasn’t even more noticable.

#2 2021 Drama - The Day of Becoming You

I have a pretty mixed track record with Cdramas. Before 2021, I hadn’t found one that I’d really loved, despite trying well-regarded shows like A Love So Beautiful. But this year, I have two in my top 4 and a number, including this community’s favorite “The Bond”, on my to watch list.

Anyhow, The Day of Becoming You. This adorable drama ended up taking me by surprise with its charm and warmth. The premise is a basic drama body swap: an idol and an upstart entertainment reporter switch bodies in an elevator accident. Hijinks ensue as they attempt to keep each other’s lives from imploding while they figure out how to switch back.

The two leads, Zhang Xincheng (aka Steven Zhang) and Liang Jie, carried the show with their incredible performances and strong chemistry. The show does the comic beats really well, but what stuck with me was the way it portrayed the leads’ growing closeness, trust, and interest in each other. My favorite romantic comedy of the year by a long shot.

There’s a bit of a weird prologue and epilogue, which, as I understand it, is to get around restrictions on body swap storylines. I watched them, but honestly would recommend just skipping those parts.

#3 2021 Drama - The Imperial Coroner

The Imperial Coroner is a forensic detective show set in Tang Dynasty China. A minor prince who runs a justice department crosses paths with a woman who wants to be a coroner and they work together to solve mysteries.

This show was not groundbreaking, just straightforwardly good. It’s well-plotted and paced. The characters take their jobs and each other seriously. The majority of the side characters were charming, rather than annoying. One of my particular faves was the male lead’s brother, a general, who simply thinks his younger brother is the best and supports him without question in all sorts of dicey situations. I don’t know why I found that so delightful, but I did. There are so many awful siblings in dramaland (unfortunately including the female lead’s brother here), it’s always fun to see some who are loving, supportive, and competent.

I’d recommend watching this show when you’re stressed - it’s smart enough to keep your brain engaged, and the characters act in such logical and kind ways that I never got anxious or concerned.

#4 2021 Drama - Imitation

2021 was a year of dramas about idols with Imitation, So I Married an Anti-Fan, Idol: The Coup, and Let Me Be Your Knight (still airing). As I mentioned above, I love shows that incorporate singing and dancing, so I watched and enjoyed all of them to varying degrees. Imitation was the standout idol drama for me (except for one performance in another, which I’ll mention later on.)

Imitation started as the story of a struggling girls group, Tea Party, and the growing connection between one of its members and a member of a very popular group, SHAX. But while the romance was adorable, particularly in the beginning, the larger story arc ended up being a critique of the idol system itself which puts so much of the risk on young and vulnerable people and funnels so much of the reward away from those who do manage to succeed. It wasn’t the most even drama, but it had a huge amount of heart, and I loved it.

I saw a fair amount of criticism online about the female lead, played by the one non-idol in the cast, Parasite’s Jung Ji-so. I thought she was pretty good overall, and was pleasantly surprised by her singing and dancing, but she was incredibly ill-served by the wig and wardrobe department. Each week I hoped that they’d do something to fix her tragic hair situation and each week it somehow managed to get worse.

And here are my four top dramas that aired before 2021, but were new to me this year.

#1 Non-2021 Drama - My Father is Strange

I’d never watched a family drama before My Father is Strange, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. The episode count really intimidated me and I wasn’t sure how the premise would hold up for that long without ridiculous plot contortions. I’m so glad I took the plunge (and thank you to Kfangurl whose review helped push me over the edge.)

My Father is Strange is just a delight of a show. The short synopsis of one day a semi-famous celebrity (primarily known for his bad acting) shows up on the doorstep of a working-class family and says he’s a long-lost son, just scratches the surface of all of the various plot threads and complex relationships.

The show centers around two parents and their four children: the sheepish oldest son who has been trying to pass the civil service exam for some time, the dynamic eldest sister who works as a lawyer, the middle sister who hasn’t found a job or her place in the world quite yet, and the self-absorbed and dramatic maknae who teaches yoga. Each has their own story arc and each is so good! The action feels totally character driven. Even when a particular decision drives you crazy, you understand exactly why that specific character made that choice, which to me is a mark of good writing.

The entire cast is great, including Jung So-min and a baby Ahn Hyo-seop, but the two absolute standouts for me were Lee Joon, as the self-absorbed actor whose entrance kicks off most of the plot action, and Lee Yu-Ri, as the eldest sister who just dominates any room she is in because she’s so kickass.

Highly recommended as an entry point to family dramas and to Lee Joon fandom!

#2 Non-2021 Drama - Stranger

This show has been very well-covered on this site with the recent group watch, so I won’t say much other than, if you start it and aren’t loving it from the beginning, keep going. I wasn’t totally on board for the first couple episodes, but I stuck with it and this show is fantastic.

Bae Doona as a hardworking detective and Cho Seung-Woo as a hard-to-read prosecutor are such a compelling duo. I appreciate that they didn’t immediately buddy up, because watching their growing rapport is one of the joys of the show. The side characters are very well-drawn, with a murderer’s row of strong supporting actors who portray endless shades of gray. As a viewer, I kept trying to slot characters into boxes of “good” or “bad”  and they kept jumping right out and confounding me. One of the best crime/justice dramas I’ve ever seen.

#3 Non-2021 Drama - 365: Repeat the Year

While 365: Repeat the Year is technically a fantasy drama, it reminds me most of a mystery from the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, with our group of travelers standing in for the guests at a murderous country house party.

Tightly plotted at 12 episodes, it’s anchored by strong performances from Lee Joon-hyuk (who is unrecognizable from his flamboyant Stranger character) and Nam Ji-hyun as two of the group of ten people selected by a mysterious woman and offered an opportunity to change their past.

I think it’s best to go into the show not knowing much about the premise because watching it unfold is part of the drama’s strength, but if you’re looking for something twisty and interesting, give this a try.

#4 Non-2021 Drama - Failing in Love

This little web drama just landed perfectly with me. It’s 10 episodes, 25 minutes each, set at an average high school and focused on a small group of friends, who have known each other since childhood. It begins with the story of Pa-rang, who has unsuccessfully confessed to almost every girl in his class, but expands to include his best friend, who has been in love with him for years, and their mutual friend, who they both seem sure is a psychopath.

It’s simple, but funny, wry and heart-felt - a good watch if you don’t have a lot of time, but want something that lands on the less fluffy side of the web drama scale.

BEST FEMALE LEAD

Han Hyo-joo in Happiness. Before Happiness, I’d only seen Han Hyo-joo in two dramas: Shining Inheritance and W: Two Worlds. I liked her in both, particularly Shining Inheritance, but found her role in Happiness to be such a fun and unexpected turn from her. I loved how she chose to portray Yoon Sae-bom, with laid-back confidence. In her action scenes she just came across as calm and competent, which is an approach I didn’t know I needed to see. She underplayed a number of highly emotional moments, which really made the show land better with me. It was just such a nice change from emotions dialed up to 11 and from actors struggling to emote. I never felt like she was unexpressive, just responding differently than one might expect. I also loved her quiet chemistry with Park Hyung-sik - they were so believable as old friends who were supremely comfortable with each other and who consistently demonstrated their mutual high levels of trust.

BEST MALE LEAD

Kwak Si-yang in Idol: The Coup. Idol: The Coup itself is uneven. It began with lots of promise and at one point I thought it was going to rank higher than Imitation for me. Unfortunately it lost focus in the second half with a bunch of random plotlines and SO.MUCH.CRYING. However, throughout - and in the face of all that crying - Kwak Si-yang was a revelation as the uptight and beleaguered CEO Cha. His micro-expressions and reaction shots were layered and hilarious, and he made being irritated SO CHARMING, I can’t explain it. He had chemistry to spare with all of his co-stars, particularly Hani, but also Kim Min-kyu and An Se-ha. In the past, Kwak Si-yang has been hit or miss for me - I really liked him in a small role in Oh My Ghost, but found him completely charmless in Chicago Typewriter. I hope Idol: The Coup is not an outlier, but the beginning of a strong run for him. Someone cast this man as the lead in a romcom!

BEST OTP

This was the year of subtle OTPs for me. When I looked back, my favorite OTPs were not even officially acknowledged (although they were official in my heart!). I tried to narrow it down to one, but in the end, wanted to highlight two:

• Law School: Kim Beom’s Joon-Hwi and Ryoo Hye-young’s Kang Sol A. I like both actors individually, but I was surprised at how much I loved them together. Their relationship felt so real - helping each other out of tight spots (whether it’s being falsely accused of a crime or a tough assignment), teasing each other, and always having the other’s back. Kim Beom did such an amazing job of showing in many small ways how much Joon-hwi cared for Sol A. One tiny standout scene - when drunk Sol A is handing out chips to her classmates and Joon-hwi takes his in the most adorable way. I was disappointed viewers didn’t get any confirmation of their relationship at the end (even just a heart next to a name in a text, come on now show!), but it wasn’t explicitly ruled out, so in my head they’re happy and lawyering their way through life together.

• Idol: The Coup: Kwak Si-yang’s CEO Cha and Hani’s Kim Jenna. I understand, and even appreciate, why the show didn’t make their relationship explicitly romantic given the power imbalance between them. But what a waste of chemistry! Their scenes together crackled with energy and intent. These two were the masters of the elevator scene - they had several encounters there that made my heart skip a beat. Kwak Si-yang did an incredible job of portraying how much he admired Jenna and at the same time how insane she drove him. Hani spent a lot of their scenes yelling at him, which, as the show progressed, she somehow managed to play as “I know you, you’re better than this, I trust you” rather than the frustration, fear, and anger from the beginning.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR - FEMALE

• My Roomate is a Gumiho: Kang Ha-na. Kang Ha-na honestly bumped My Roomate is Gumiho up a whole letter grade for me, she was so charming as Jang Ki-yong’s former gumiho frenemy. She was both ditzy and wise, brutal and kind. Her sweet and funny loveline with Kim Do-wan helped leaven the second half of the show, when the main plot arc turned more angsty (and to me less interesting). I hope this leads to more varied lead roles for her, rather than where she’s been previously slotted as an aloof and stylish second lead.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR - MALE

• Kim Young-dae in Cheat On Me If You Can. Overall this show was pretty odd with a lot of interesting, but not super likable characters. Kim Young-dae was an exception, as an uptight secret agent who finds himself admiring and then falling for the woman he’s investigating. He’s so charmingly baffled but fascinated by her. I think the reason his performance stuck with me, when the rest of the show did not, was his portrayal of emotional honesty in the midst of a sea of characters who are fooling either the world or themselves. Add him and Cho Yeo-Jeong to the list of 2021 OTPs I wished had happened.

• Special shout out to Choi Young-Joon who I loved as both Mr. Cho in Vincenzo and Dr. Bong in Hospital Playlist 2.

RAZZIE AWARD

Rather than shows I thought were actually awful and didn’t finish (namely Oh! Master, Doom at Your Service), I’m listing two shows I completed, but found most personally disappointing this year:

• Hospital Playlist 2. I can’t believe I’m typing these words. I loved Season 1 so much and was so excited about the show’s return and then…it just never gelled for me. I still loved the characters and found individual scenes really powerful, but overall this season never felt like it found its feet. And to be painfully honest, I found all of the lovelines annoying! I know! I am mad at myself.

• Monthly Magazine Home. There was the germ of a good show in here, but what we got was not it. I love both the leads and was really excited for this show, but it couldn’t decide if it was a thoughtful examination of how economic pressure impacts living situations, a broad office comedy, or a sweet romcom. So it failed at all three - and that was before the ending which instead of pulling everything together was TERRIBLE in so many ways (not just the lack of resolution for the OTP, but the whole plotline with Young-won’s father.)

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

I’m not including a pick for best soundtrack because I am not actually very good at noticing soundtracks, but I do have two songs that stood out to me:

• My favorite original song was Crush On from The Day of Becoming You, which is good because they used it A LOT throughout the show.
• It’s a cover not an original song, but I also really loved Kim Dae-myeung’s performance of In Front of the Post Office in Autumn from Hospital Playlist 2. I liked the ballad version they released, but also wish they would have released the simpler version he sang in the show.

BEST DRAMA

I don’t have a pick for best drama this year - I watched and liked a lot of shows, but there wasn’t one 2021 drama that stood above the rest for me.

HIDDEN GEM

• So I Married an Anti-Fan. To be clear, this show is not actually a gem. It’s not even very good. I spent the first episodes scratching my head at the casting - the male lead is not a convincing idol and his omnipresent song “I Wonder What Is Love” is an annoying earworm. And yet, somehow, I watched the whole thing and ended up enjoying it. If you are in the mood for a beyond light romcom and are willing to fast forward through the truly toxic second leads, I’d recommend it. I think? :)

• Blue Birthday. I hadn’t seen or heard much buzz about this web drama, so wanted to mention it here. It’s a well-done fantasy drama that focuses on a woman who realizes she has limited opportunities to go back in time. She decides to try to save the life of her high school best friend who died during their school years. The time travel concept is novel and, though the execution/logic gets a little fuzzy as the show goes on, I decided to just go with it. The performances are warm and heart-felt, if a little green. Sometimes web dramas feel like candy, quick hits of pure sugar, and sometimes they feel like small bites from a good meal. This one definitely fell into the latter category for me.

DEFINITE REWATCH

The Day of Becoming You. This is just the type of show I love to rewatch: sweet, funny, and smart. I accidentally watched the video of highlights that accompanies the version of Crush On that I linked to above, and it made me want to sit down and rewatch the show right now. The only thing that’s stopping me is that I do not have another show I’m currently watching on iQiyi, so I’ll probably hold out on re-subscribing until I do. Something to look forward to!

BEST ENSEMBLE

Happiness. The show itself didn’t quite make my “best of” list because of some plot logic that I just couldn’t get over, but the acting in this show was top notch. The two leads were superb and played off each other perfectly, Joo Woo-jin as Lt. Colonel Han was intriguing, and the various denizens of Seyang Forest Le Ciel were all so well-drawn (even if I wanted to never hear or see a lot of them again!) Particular shout outs to Baek Hyun-jin (murderous doctor) as the biggest jerk of 2021, Bae Hae-sun (election obsessed building rep)  as his close competition, and Park Hee-von and Na Chul as very believable siblings.

~Catherine