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Posted by alim17311 pts Sunday, January 26, 2014

[OP-ED] The drama I found most disappointing in 2013

Park Shin Hye

I did not watch every single drama that aired in Korea in 2013, but out of the ones I had watched, there was one that I was obsessed with that I already wrote about last week and one that I still don't know how I managed to finish.  For this week, I will finally unveil (I know the week-long wait must have been torture) which drama I was most disappointed with in 2013. Keep in mind once again that I did not watch every drama so this is what I consider the worst drama of 2013 out of the ones I've watched (SPOILERS BELOW).


SEE ALSO: [OP-ED] My Favorite Drama of 2013



MOST DISAPPOINTING K-DRAMA

There was a lot of hype for this drama and honestly... I think the only reason I managed to finish SBS's 'Heirs' was because of the eye candy.  The production crew knew what they were doing.  Not only did they attract attention to their production by hiring good-looking people but they also managed to keep the viewers because of the actors--not even the characters, really.  Ah, the characters…


1.  THE CHARACTERS

By characters, I mean Eun Sang.  When I watch a drama, I want a female protagonist with whom I could relate, someone I could respect and root for throughout the drama.  I did not get this with Eun Sang--rather, I was wondering why the heck these boys were chasing after someone who was such a flat and boring character.  To me, this was one of the most detrimental elements of the drama.


Kim Tan I could kind of understand because they had that whole out-of-the-world experience together in California, but Young Do?  He's this badass who does not care an iota what people think about him and he ends up falling for the most lifeless character ever? 



(Yes, Young Do... don't do this...there are better women out there for you.)


I can count with one hand how many times this girl stands up for herself (very disappointing), but I do not have enough hands and feet to count how many times she cries or does her victimized expression.  Of course she is the victim, but rather than feeling sorry for her, I'm frustrated.  I would really like to see Park Shin Hye expand her roles by moving away from the victimized character to a stronger, tougher one some time. She did say she wanted to play a cop some time and that would be awesome!  As for Kim Tan, he could stop with the cheesy, cringe-worthy lines, too.


 

 

 


(She is a very pretty cryer though... I would just be like...)



 

The characters were far from developed.  Did Rachel change?  No, she is still pretty much a bitter, mean loner.  Why is she like that anyway?  Yeah, her mom is kind of manipulative and neglectful, but that does not convince me as to why she is the way she is.  In addition, what are her feelings toward Kim Tan anyway?  We get that she initially liked his older brother, but when and how and why did this switch occur?


While 'Reply 1994' shared the spotlight with the other characters so it was hard not to be emotionally invested with each one of their stories, 'Heirs' had the spotlight stolen by the secondary characters.  I was more concerned about whether Ha Neul's parents would ever understand him and whether Young Do would finally reunite with his mother.  I absolutely adored Bo Na and Chan Young's characters so I watched the drama for their adorable moments, too.  


2.  The Relationships

If 'Reply 1994' was filled with vivid and memorable characters that created a complicated but heartwarming web of relationships and connections, 'Heirs' was filled with the most stinted and questionable relationships that made no sense to me.  


I think the drama would have been much better if it had focused on the friendships within the high school rather than the "passionate high-teen romance" they were so keen on portraying.  I loved the episodes near the end in which the teenagers actually interacted and acted their age!  Like when Eun Sang and Bo Na went to meet up with the cute male high school students but got caught by Kim Tan and Chanyoung with the help of Hyo Shin sunbae.  That was funny and adorable.  I wanted to see more things like that--but in the ending, nothing happens with their relationships.  There's no real progress, which made me wonder why I watched this drama, then.


3. THE STORY

I knew the story was going to be pretty generic when I started the drama, but I still thought it would be cute and enjoyable.  Who doesn't love the whole stereotypical thing once in a while?  They are stereotypes for reasons--no matter how many times they're used, they hit the same chord in people's hearts so I thought it would be a nice watch during my spare time.  Boy was I wrong.  It was cliche in a way that made me face palm to the extreme.  Just pick some cliches--don't just saturate the drama with all of it.  There was a makover near the end and to top it all off, a double wrist grab.


4. THE PROS

Of course, this drama still had some good points; I mean, I did watch all 20 episodes (an amazing feat in my opinion).  I don't want to just bash it without talking about some of the highlights.  Some I already mentioned.  First, it did have a pretty good cast.  Kim Woo Bin was amazing; he is really good at bringing out the angst in his character and his gaze just says everything (honestly, I think 80% of why I watched this drama to the end was because of this guy).  




Lee Min Ho did a great job acting like the sensitive, hopeful younger brother--especially because it made him appear as small as he felt even though he was physically large.  It was a nice dichotomy between how he acted in school (intimidating guy you do not mess with) and how he acted at home (the baby of the house who wants more attention). Second, the OST.  The OST was moving and nice, but rarely do dramas go wrong with OSTs.  Third, the dialogue.  While the writer did use very unoriginal cliches to propel most of the story forward, she creates amazingly witty dialogues among characters.  The tete-a-tetes were all pretty sweet, but a drama can never rely solely on those.  Fourth, Bo Na and Chan Young (so cute and may be the other 20%).  










You all probably watched more dramas or different ones than I did, so which ones would you choose as your favorite and which would you choose as the most disappointing of 2013?

  1. Park Shin Hye
  2. HEIRS
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