Dramas I Wouldn't Recommend

Time and time again, you've heard me ramble about well-written, beautifully-acted dramas--shows with lovable characters and addictive storylines that continue to live rent-free in my brain long after the screen has gone dark. Well, now the time has come to address the other end of the spectrum: dramas I absolutely would not recommend you watch (including ones I low-key wish I'd never watched either). 

Apologies in advance if one of these is your favorite dramas of all time--I don't think poorly of you if you enjoy them, I promise. Unless you're like 'ooh yeah I love racism so that part was my fave', because if that's the case, then yes, I do think poorly of you and we're not friends, actually. Now, if you are inspired by my ranting to hate-watch any of these? Go for it. If our tastes differ and you find some of the non-problematic elements that I just didn't enjoy to be enticing? Fine. In the words of RM, "Do what you wanna do, V. Go get it". <3

WARNING: SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS

GG Precinct (2024 Taiwanese drama) - The biggest flaw about this drama is that it’s allegedly a spinoff, but despite having a few of the same characters, it does not meaningfully engage with any of the material or themes that preceded it. It is supposedly a follow-up to Marry My Dead Body (2022), a sometimes heartwrenching, sometimes humorous story of a brash, lugheaded policeman full of internalized masculinity and homophobia who becomes a better person after he accidentally marries a deceased gay man through a ghost marriage. After the wedding, the man’s spirit haunts him into solving his murder. 

In GG Precinct, the main character has completely lost all of his character development from the movie. To bolster a barely-there will they/won’t they romance that never actually materializes with the main female character (who was a plot twist double crosser in the film, but they retconned that for the show?), the series essentially reuses his character from the beginning of the movie (you know, before all the growth happens) but replaces homophobia with misogyny instead—by this I mean he makes many of the same offensive comments or assumes the same stereotypes, but this time about women instead of gay men. That’s not to say the show and the film preceding it are similar in tone, plot, or pacing, however—though the character starts in a similar place in both, the main focus of the series is not his character development. Unfortunately, the “journey” taken in the film is not reflected in the series whatsoever, because the focus of the series is…making as many references to Silence of the Lambs as possible. That is, when it’s not forcefeeding the audience the same idiomatic jokes over and over again. You’d think a mystery where all the clues are based on Chinese idioms would be engaging or even amusing, but because the premise has to compete with the SotL references (and often loses), it never has the time to expand into genuine commentary. As time goes on, the delivery of the same punchline again and again takes all the fun out of what is allegedly a comedy. Talk about beating a dead horse—emphasis on dead, but there’s really too little focus on the actual murders in this to qualify it as a thriller or mystery either. The result is a show with an identity crisis, too busy flip-flopping between belaboring the homage scenes and hammering the audience with tired idioms/wordplay to actually say something of substance. A shame, because while Marry My Dead Body is not in any way similar to Silence of the Lambs, it is a unique, smart, and meaningful movie with an interesting point-of-view…as well as, you know, THE movie on which the show was supposedly based.  

Dr. Cha (2023 Korean drama) - this show was fun for a minute (mostly because the family chaos was jaw-dropping) but the ending was such a disappointment, it made the rest pointless. The cheating husband who juggled two women simutaneously (and had children THE SAME AGE with both of them) who wouldn’t even give his dying wife a quarter of his liver gets to end the series with a promotion, his girlfriend, the house, and an amicable relationship with his ex-wife and children despite ripping all their lives apart??? Yet the main character ends up turning down the hot younger doctor after the slow burn, because suddenly she’s “content” with staying alone forever. Like why push the premise of a wife and mom in her 40’s/50’s choosing to finally chase her career goals after learning her husband is a cheater who doesn’t care if she dies, only for him to get off scott-free? Let her have her hot young boyfriend and a thrilling career!!! Let her have it all!!! 

The Truth Seekers (2020 Singaporean drama) - the first episode gave me such high hopes, but the misogyny in this series destroyed it for me. The one woman on the team has the most miserable storylines (culminating in a game of Bio Dad Musical Chairs) and the tertiary female characters are regulated to being either dutiful wives who give up everything for their unfaithful husbands or cold ice queens subjected to violence and assault. The one man we’re supposed to respect and look up to suffers a massive fall from grace due to his lying and infidelity, yet we’re supposed to withhold judgment from other male characters who participate in cheating because they’re the comedic relief??? The notion that men will just naturally cheat (and how that is incorporated into the personal lives of the characters) is pushed hard in a way that distracts from the serious tone of the investigation plots. Also, I don’t like shows where we’re supposed to wonder if the one girl on the team adores the leader because she’s in love with him OR because he’s secretly her dad—even asking the question “Father or lover?” gives me the ick. 

Refresh Man (2016 Taiwanese drama) - There’s no excuse for blackface in a drama, ever. Also, we never condone reuniting a woman with her abusive ex-husband (because “awwww he only beat her because work was swessfull, it’s not his fault” is by definition abuse apologism). I don’t think this one needs further explanation.