DRAMAS I WATCHED IN 2022
What is says on the tin.
-
1. The Silent Sea
Korean Drama - 2021, 8 episodes
- This was... such a huge let-down for me lmao.
- Bae Doona and Gong Yoo staring in a Netflix-produced sci-fi mystery seems like such a no-brainer but the whole thing felt very lifeless to me. All the characters were decent enough; I just couldn't bring myself to truly care about any of them.
- I will admit, some of the jump-scares got to me, which is pretty rare.
- The most exciting thing about this for me was Gong Yoo's next tattoo tbh.
-
2. All of Us Are Dead
Korean Drama - 2022, 12 episodes
- One thing I have learned about myself recently and I can't believe I never noticed this before: I love zombies.
- So, therefore, I absolutely fell in love with this show.
- The zombies and the high school setting were what attracted me to the show, but it was the characters that left such a lasting impression on me. There were a lot of them, and a lot of different story arcs to follow and keep track of, but I was never bored for a single second. There were lots of unlikely groups and trios and duos, pushed together by circumstance and the need to survive, but they all had such wonderful chemistry with each other. There were so many heart-warming moments, too; I definitely cried while watching this.
- So was this anything new or ground-breaking? No. Does it really need a second season? No. But I do believe it deserves all the hype it has gotten, and I will be looking forward to next the chapter of this story :)
-
3. Bad and Crazy
Korean Drama - 2021, 12 episodes
- This was my most anticipated drama of 2021, mainly because of Dongwook and Hajoon and all the wonderful promo that was done for the show. Overall, it was pretty interesting to say the least.
- It started out very strongly, then things started getting weird towards the middle, and I got a little bit too emotional during the ending.
- All four main leads were amazing, but the bromance between Dongwook and Hajoon pretty much stole the show. (I was kind of disappointed to learn that technically their characters were the same person, but oh, well...)
- Another big issue I had was the way they treated topics like mental illness and psychology/psychiatry. I know it's comedy so obviously it's not going to be 100% accurate but at the very least they could have tried to handle it more respectfully, especially since mental illness is usally never portrayed correctly in any form of media.
-
4. Prison Playbook
Korean Drama - 2017, 16 episodes
- Park Haesoo if you read this I'm free Thursday night and would like to hang out. Please respond to this and then hang out with me on Thursday night when I'm free.
-
5. Yumi's Cell
Korean Drama - 2021, 14 episodes
- I don't really have much to say about this but Kim Goeun's acting was wonderful here, she has such great comedic skills.
- This drama was also pretty relaxing to watch for the most part and I loved how realistic it was. Nothing too complicated; I didn't even mind the ending.
- The OST is amazing; I listen to it nearly every day!
- I want Yumi's apartment soooo bad.
-
6. Yumi's Cell 2
Korean Drama - 2022, 14 episodes
- There better be a third season or I will cry.
-
7. A Wonderful Sight
Korean Drama - 2021, 12 episodes
- I have, so, so many thoughts about Inspector Koo, but I think I would need to re-watch it in order to collect all of them.
- For now, I really enjoyed the subversion of certain tropes that you often see in investigative dramas. I loved how female-centered it was and the absolute found family of it all.
- The OST is my all-time favorite. I think I literally listened to it every day for a whole month after I finished watching it.
- Inspector Koo is also wonderfully gay and lots of parts reminded me of Killing Eve.
-
8. Extracurricular
Korean Drama - 2020, 10 episodes
- Morally grey character(s), my beloved(s).
- Park Joohyun's character was by-far my favorite.
- Really great cinematography and soundtrack.
- Reminded me a lot of Strangers from Hell, which is probably why I liked it so much.
-
9. Someday or One Day
Taiwanese Drama - 2019, 13 episodes
- I wanted to like this so bad but soon it became such a chore for me to finish.
- The first few episodes were nice. They really do help to pull you in to the show but unfortunately my interest quickly faded.
- The main trio had nice chemistry. I really liked their friendship, but I found the whole romance/love triangle thing quite bothersome and really painful to watch.
- Actually, a lot of things were quite painful to watch. I think I was really uncomfortable by the whole concept of, like, taking over someone's body and using it like the characters did (I mean, they had good intentions, but I dunno...the thing that happened with the real Li Zi Wei irked me).
- I also really related to Chen Yun Ru. Like, almost too much. It got to the point where I started crying because of how sad her story was and how much it resonated with me. This also made me start to heavily dislike Huang Yu Xuan through almost no fault of her own lmaoo.
- I also didn't like how overly complicated the storyline got. It wasn't like I couldn't follow it or anything, but they were adding too many different things and the set rules for time-traveling weren't concrete at all.
- Overall, the show itself was very pretty and had a nice soundtrack, but it was almost too depressing for me to get invested.
-
10. Inside Criminal Minds
Korean Drama - 2022, 12 episodes
- I'm a huge fan of true crime and I really liked Mindhunters, so I was pretty interested in this drama.
- The acting was great, the OST was great. I found all the cases to be interesting and I liked how dark it got.
- This show was just missing some kind of spark that would have made it perfect in my eyes; I'm just not 100% what. Maybe the lack of chemistry between characters.
-
11. Tracer
Korean Drama - 2022, 8 episodes
- I don't know anything about taxes. I was only here for Siwan.
- Will need to re-watch so I can watch the second season.
-
12. Cat's Cradle
Chinese Drama - 2020, 12 episodes
- A beautifully crafted story told by an unreliable narrator.
- My first C-drama.
- Wonderful cinematography and OST.
- I would recommend this to anyone who liked Strangers from Hell.
- Read the novel but I like the drama better.
-
13. Blueming
Korean Drama - 2022, 11 episodes
- My first BL.
- I still had my iQiyi subscription and I was in the mood for something light and fluffy and this caught my eye.
- Short and sweet. Nothing really special but entertaining enough; I think I finished it in one night.
- I'm assuming they had a low budget, as most BL dramas seem to have, but the cinematography was stunning. I also liked how they included references to film terms.
-
14. Twenty-Five Twenty-One
Korean Drama - 2022, 16 episodes
- Literally am never going to emotionally recover from that ending.
- Fell in love with Kim Taeri and my crush on Nam Joohyuk was only bolstered.
- Loved the 90s setting, the cinematography, the OST, the wardrobe, etc.
- I also really liked the fencing storyline. Sport narratives are my jam, and I loved seeing the rivalry-turned-friendship between Na Heedo and Go Yurim. Reminded me of Kagehina. (Ngl, I might have clowned myself into thinking they would end up together since it was pretty obvious that Na Heedo and Baek Yijin wouldn't but oh, well...)
-
15. Run On
Korean Drama - 2020, 16 episodes
- A drama that literally feels like a hug; a nice slow-burn.
- I loved both of the couples. Everyone was kind of fruity.
- I also really enjoyed all the film references, especially ones about The Merciless (my most favorite movie ever).
- Everything about this drama was just really refreshing to me. Maybe because I don't really watch a lot of rom-coms, but this one just feels very different from any other drama I've watched. Has a few similarities to 2521. Definitely has potential to become a comfort drama for me. I will need to re-watch it.
-
16. Ghost
Korean Drama - 2022, 6 episodes
- Nice and short, though I wish it was longer because the storyline was interesting.
- Even though it was short, I thought all the characters were pretty well-developed and they all have compelling back-stories.
- Loved the production and the overall spooky vibes.
-
17. Imawa no Kuni no Arisu Season 1
Japanese Drama - 2020, 8 episodes
- A nice drama to binge-watch.
- Looking forward to the second season.
-
18. Alice in Borderland Season 2
Japanese Drama - 2022, 8 episodes
- That ending was whack lmaooo.
-
19. King of Pigs
Korean Drama - 2022, 12 episodes
- Dear god, this was depressing.
- The flashbacks were obviously the most compelling part about this drama, but I do wish we could have spent more time in the present because I was really intrigued by the cat-and-mouse game our three leads seemed to be playing at first, but they ended up hardly interacting with each other at all.
-
20. KinnPorsche
Thai Drama - 2022, 14 episodes
- What the heck did I just watch.
- My first Thai BL.
- Totally unhinged. Plot was off the walls. Beyond extravagant.
- Some of the worst bodyguards I have ever seen in my life, though maybe if everyone wasn't so damn horny all the time, they would have been doing a better job.
- Came for KinnPorsche, stayed for VegasPete...sigh.
- Low-key kind of made me want to visit Thailand.
- Despite the shaky plot and subpar writing, I do really appreciate the fact that this show obviously came from a place of love. It is apparent in the beautifully made setting, in the OST and the cinematography, in the wonderful chemistry between characters. Just watch the BTS, watch the cast interviews, watch the freaking musical the cast did even though they absolutely did not have to. Read up on the backstory as to how this show came to be, and then you will really know about how much love and effort was put into this.
-
21. Money Heist
Korean Drama - 2022, 6 episodes
- Mindless, silly action. Fun to watch, though.
- Love, love, love the cast.
-
22. Money Heist: Korea - Joint Economic Area Part 2
Korean Drama - 2022, 6 episodes
- Well, I watched it lmao.
-
23. Pegasus Market
Korean Drama - 2019, 12 episodes
- So many hilarious moments.
- The Baby Shark scene lives in my mind rent-free.
- Had lots of funny references to other K-dramas and Korean movies that I think many people would appreciate if they gave this drama a chance.
-
24. Queen Cheorin
Korean Drama - 2020, 20 episodes
- This was so close to becoming an all-time favorite for me, except for that horrible ending that I really try to not think about because of how depressing it is.
- They really had to pull the 'no-homo card' right at the very end, huh.
- Not that I was really expecting a thoughtful commentary on gender and sexuality from a historical comedy, but...
- THEY WERE IN LOVE WITH EACH OTHER AND YOU CAN"T TELL ME OTHERWISE.
- 20 episodes went by really fast, but I still would have liked to see more development of the secondary characters. More cooking, too.
-
25. Link
Korean Drama - 2022, 16 episodes
- This really does feel like a very weird combination of Beyond Evil and Hotel Del Luna, which is funny since Yeo Jingoo was in both of those as well, but I really can't think of any other way to describe it.
- Had a really strong beginning, but a weak middle and ending.
- I think one of the reasons why I didn't enjoy this drama was because I wasn't totally buying into the romance between the two leads, which is unfortunate since that took up a significant portion of the drama. Literally lost track of how many times they broke up.
- This drama also seemed to really like to drag things: the stalker plot, the general mystery surrounding the ML's missing sister, the development of their relationship, etc.
- The cinematography was really pretty, and I loved seeing all the food that was made.
- I also really liked seeing the relationship between the FL and her mother and her grandmother.
-
26. The Guest
Korean Drama - 2018, 16 episodes
- I originally dropped this drama sometime last year, but I hate dropping things (hence why I don't keep track of what I do drop 'cause I hate being reminded of it) so I decided to give this one another chance.
- I'm glad I did! The plot was more interesting to me this time around, the characters were more likeable, and I was never really bored.
- I wasn't completely blown away, but sometimes a drama can just be an angry lesbian and her two gay best friends fighting demons :)
-
27. Extraordinary Attorney Woo
Korean Drama - 2022, 16 episodes
- I really liked all the court cases! This is definitely one of those kinds of dramas I looked forward to watching every week, and I'm really glad I was able to watch it as it aired!
- All the characters were extremely likeable and unique, except for You Know Who, who, by the way, never, ever got a convincing redemption arc nor did he ever give me any reason to actually like him.
- I didn't particularly mind the ending, but it did feel like a lot of stuff to cram into the last four episodes, and it made a lot of the things that had happened in earlier episodes seem really pointless and futile.
- I don't think EAW needs a second season but I'll watch it regardless.
-
28. Lie Zui Tu Jian
Chinese Drama - 2022, 20 episodes
- Art and criminal investigation (two things I enjoy immensely) combined make for an exciting duo!
- I loved how almost all the cases were centered around women, though at times it was disheartening to see how many of them resulted from violence and abuse against women.
- Also, the number of times that the two police officers leads would flat-out ask a victim of abuse "Why didn't you go to the police?" made me roll my eyes. The copaganda was a bit strong here lol.
- Overall, I did really enjoy the Under the Skin but I wasn't completely blown away either. The artistic production was really nice and I liked seeing the bromance between the two leads, but despite the 20 episodes a lot of side (but still seemingly important) characters felt very undeveloped and I finished the series without even knowing any of their names. There were also so many plot holes and insane leaps of logic that were hard to swallow, and the ending was pretty underwhelming as well.
- I would watch the second season if there is one; this might be the kind of show that's best to watch while it's airing.
-
29. Little Women
Korean Drama - 2022, 12 episodes
- This has the opportunity to become one of my favorite dramas, will need to re-watch it.
- The plot was kinda crazy and weird but I didn't really care that much, I was having too much fun.
- The acting and the cinematography were phenomenal.
- I loved how female-centered this was.
-
30. Glitch
Korean Drama - 2022, 10 episodes
- There is no heterosexual explanation for this.
-
31. Incomplete Life
Korean Drama - 2014, 20 episodes
- Heartwarming and funny.
- I never got bored, and all the characters were likable.
- Yim Siwan was cute in this :)
-
32. 180 Degrees Longitude Between Us
Thai Drama - 2022, 8 episodes
- Stunning and cinematic.
- Somewhat slow but it pulls you in all the same.
- Wonder what could have happened if this had had a bigger budget.
-
33. Weak Hero
Korean Drama - 2022, 8 episodes
- My favorite new drama of 2022. New season when???
-
34. Hospital Playlist
Korean Drama - 2020, 12 episodes
- Much like Prison Playbook and Misaeng, this was really humorous and heart-warming. I love slice-of-life dramas like these.
- Pretty relaxing to watch.
-
35. Hospital Playlist 2
Korean Drama - 2021, 12 episodes
- Enjoyed this as much as the first season but dang, those episodes were long.
-
36. Gaus Electronics
Korean Drama - 2022, 12 episodes
- So funny!!! One of those dramas that makes me wish I would speak Korean because I feel like some of the jokes in here don't translate well into English.
- Am forever going to be thinking about that scene when Kwak Dongyeon's character was tied up in the supply closet lol.
-
37. Connect
Korean Drama - 2022, 6 episodes
- Pretty entertaining and wonderfully creepy.
- The acting was stellar!!!
- Just wish there hadn't been any romance, and maybe a little bit more development of the characters.
-
38. Youngest Son of a Conglomerate
Korean Drama - 2022, 16 episodes
- This drama was doing so well until that ending; I still can't believe that happened.
- The chemistry between the grandson and grandfather was fantastic.
- Didn't really care for the romance but I still found that relationship to be interesting.
-
39. I Don't Want To Do Anything
Korean Drama - 2022, 12 episodes
- Im Siwan if you read this I'm free Thursday night and would like to hang out. Please respond to this and then hang out with me on Thursday night when I'm free.