6 K-Dramas I Never Finished – and Why

Over the past few years, I have become heavily immersed in K-content and K-dramas on a personal and professional level. Many hours have been spent watching the same perfectly executed tropes in various genres, from crime thrillers to romance K-dramas. Some dramas have won my heart and become favorites, like the teen romance True Beauty. But there is no denying that not all K-dramas were spectacular. K-dramas like Inspector Koo and a few others did not hold my interest and were unfinished.

‘Inspector Koo’ lacked the riveting edge of a murder mystery

It is not often that a crime K-drama has a female character as the heinous killer. The 2021 Netflix K-drama Inspector Koo made me excited as two female actors would lead the storyline. The storyline had a fun quirkiness that seemed like a good investment. Koo Kyung-yi (Lee Young-ae) is an intelligent detective who spends every waking hour in her home playing video games and drinking.

She leaves her nest when investigating a series of bizarre murders. Unlike other crime dramas, fans know who the killer is. K (Kim Hye-jun) is an unassuming college student with a chilling aura. The two begin a cat-and-mouse chase against each other. The storyline of Inspector Koo sounds promising, but I found myself growing bored.

Out of the 12 episodes, I only made it to the fifth. As someone who loves a good murder mystery and crime, the K-drama was lackluster. While K is a formidable antagonist and creepy, there is no overwhelming sense of fear like Beyond Evil or Mouse.

‘Love in Contract’ K-drama went unfinished due to the main romance

2022 was a good year for K-dramas, especially in the romance genre. The tvN drama Love in Contract caught my interest because of the female leads story. Park Min-young starred as Choi Sang-eun, a woman whose primary business is with unmarried men. She offers her services to pose as their wife or girlfriend to impress their friends, get an inheritance, appease dying grandparents, and more. But she has never fallen in love until her long-standing client ends their contract.

Love in Contract has every trope from unsuspecting romance to a love triangle. There is also drama about the characters’ pasts and even a stalker. The K-drama sounds splendid and had me hooked until it did not. The most accurate reason the K-drama went unfinished was that I felt satisfied by the tenth episode.

While tropes are common, I felt overly confident in where the storyline was headed and felt no need to continue watching. The main relationship between Sang-eun and Jung Ji-ho (Go Kyung-yo) had run its course for me.

‘Love is for Suckers’ was a hit or miss before it even started

When watching K-dramas, I try to give all genres and actors a chance before making a concrete decision. Choi Si-wan is extraordinary as a K-Pop idol for Super Junior, but he is not my favorite when it comes to his on-screen work as an actor. When reading the storyline for Love is for Suckers, I decided to give Choi the benefit of the doubt.

Love is for Suckers has Island actor Lee Da-hee as Goo Yeo-reum. She is a TV producer out of luck until taking on a dating reality series. Her best friend and plastic surgeon, Jae-hoon (Choi), has been secretly in love with her for years. He comes to her aid when the series needs a replacement contestant.

The romance K-drama sounds good between the drama of the dating series and the behind-the-scenes real-life drama between the characters. But sadly, I only made it to the tenth episode before calling it quits. While giving Choi a chance, he did not convince me as a male lead as I had hoped. My criticism is solely based on personal preference.

I also found myself getting too lost in the various connecting storyline between what was happening in the dating series, Si-wan’s other love interest, Jae-hoon’s feelings, and everything in between. While the romantic tension was there, it came together too messy for my liking.

‘Bad and Crazy’ K-drama went unfinished despite its great cast

Actors Wi Ha-joon and Lee Dong-wook have done fantastic work in K-dramas. Lee is well known for his roles in Tale of the Nine-Tailed and Hell is Other People. Besides Squid Game, Wi grew on me thanks to 18 Again and the movie Midnight. When learning they would star in the crime K-drama Bad and Crazy, it seemed like a must-watch.

Lee plays a corrupt detective who would do what is possible to raise his rank comfortably. But while involved in a murder case, he meets a mysterious rider named K (Wi). Bad and Crazy had promise between the murder case and the unique tension between K and Lee’s character. But without realizing it, the K-drama went unfinished as I found interest in a new drama.

What went wrong? It is hard to pinpoint exactly as the banter between the main characters was fun and charming, as well as the central romance. Bad and Crazy had a sizzling kiss scene. But the problem might have been the overall murder/corruption investigation that was lackluster. I found myself not as interested as I had hoped despite being intrigued by the characters individually.

‘Forecasting Love and Weather’ was the biggest let-down of 2022

Park Min-young is the Queen of office romance, while Song Kang has become a personal favorite since Love Alarm. The two actors starred opposite each other in the Netflix romance K-drama Forecasting Love and Weather. There were immense expectations as Jin Ha-kyung (Park) works for the national forecasting station and discovered the truth about her boyfriend. She also meets newcomer Lee Shi-woo (Song Kang).

As a romance enthusiast, I was intrigued as Shi-woo developed feelings for his work superior, and they began a somewhat forbidden romance. But Forecasting Love and Weather became the biggest let-down of them all, and the K-drama went unfinished. The drama had its peak and impressive moments like Ka-kyung’s speech against her cheating boyfriend at work.

But I was not energized by the two lead characters’ romance. I also grew somewhat bored of the in-between scenes and slightly annoyed at some characters. For example, the new girlfriend of Ha-kyung’s ex. She grows annoyed at his interactions with her at work while dismissing the fact that they all work in the same company and she is the “other woman.” She is also Shi-woo’s ex.

Forecasting Love and Weather is available on Netflix.