K-DRAMA NEWS - NOV. 2024
K-Drama News-Nov. 2024
By Sharon Stern
Premiering K-dramas this month range from cute and silly fluff to revenge, action, mystery with some crime and law thrown in. The rom-com, dram-com, melodramas and crime/mystery will most likely offer what one would expect from those genres. There are a couple of stand outs for their oddities and quirks. Face Me offers a very strange pairing for crime-solving dramas and Mr. Plankton looks downright quirky, but fun. With interesting story twists and star-studded casts, there is something here for everyone.
Brewing Love - 취하는 로맨스
Viki – Starring: Kim Se Jeong, Lee Jong Won, Shin Do Hyun, Baek Sung Chul
Genre: Rom-com/dram-com
A former special forces operative turned top-selling alcohol salesperson (!) (Kim Se Jeong) is doing anything to keep her company open. She hires a genius beer brewmaster and brewery owner (Lee Jong Won), but he is a rural loner who is ultra-sensitive to the emotions of others. Can they work together? Will bubbles brew? It’s a K-drama – you know what’s going to happen. But there’s both com and dram to keep us interested as the story is revealed.
Gangnam B-Side - 강남 비-사이드
Disney+ - Starring: Ji Chang Wook, Jo Woo Jin, Ha Yun Kyung, BIBI
Genre: Crime noir, thriller
In this Disney original, a rejected police corruption-prober who ends up out in the countryside (Jo Woo Jin) is drawn back to Seoul when his daughter’s friend goes missing. He teams up with a prosecutor (Ha Yun Kyung) and a mysterious, dark broker who knows the ugly underside of Gangnam (Ji Change Wook), each with their own leads and motives to solve the mystery and try to find the missing club star (BIBI). Described as fast paced, gritty and intense, this drama should keep us on the edge of our seats!
Face Me - 페이스미
Viki – Starring: Lee Min Ki, Han Ji Hyun, Lee Yi Kyung, Jeon Bae Soo
Genre: Medical drama, melodrama, mystery, thriller
Lee Min Ki stars as a plastic surgeon with the bedside manner of ice served on ice in an ice hotel (and he we know he does cold and detached soooo well), but, of course, there is a backstory as to why. He’s a brilliant surgeon, but trying to improve his reputation, he starts working with victims of violent crimes doing facial reconstruction. He ends up meeting a zesty homicide detective (Han Ji Hyun) and they team up to solve one crime and then another and another. The beginning of the drama has to leap through some pretty thinly tied pieces of story lines to get these two together and the pairing outcome is a pretty odd couple. It also takes an initially gruesome look at the vanity that leads some people to plastic surgery. This is a serious drama that deals with sexual violence and hate crimes. Those could be triggering issues for some.
Mr. Plankton - Mr. 플랑크톤
Netflix – Starring: Woo Do Hwan, Lee Yoo Mi, Oh Jung Se, Kim Hae Sook
Genre: Dark rom-com
Written by the author of It’s Okay to Not Be Okay, this quirky, darker rom-com follows a man (Woo Do Hwan) is born via a mistaken artificial insemination, not knowing where he comes from, who does odd jobs for hire and finds out he has a rare genetic disease that will drastically shorten his life (as in he could die any day). Lee Yoo Mi plays a pregnant woman with a wedding in three days…except she finds out that not only is she not pregnant, it is unlikely she can get pregnant. She is supposed to be bearing the son of a chaebol family that must have an heir. It turns out our mistakenly-born lead is her ex-boyfriend and they end up escaping together, taking a road trip to try to find his real father, which, because he is terminally ill, will be his last trip. It sounds like doom and gloom, but it is a comedy full of oddities and realities.
The Fiery Priest 2 - 열혈사제 2
Hulu - Starring: Kim Nam Gil, Lee Ha Nee, Kim Sung Kyun, Sung Joon, Seo Hyun Woo, BIBI
Genre: Comedy, crime action
This is a sequel to the super popular 2019 drama about an ex-NIS-agent-turned-priest-but-still-crime-solver (Kim Nam Gil) who has some nasty anger issues and his cowardly detective sidekick (Kim Sung Kyun). With most of the same cast, the second series will provide the same action-filled comedy as the first did, as the team head to Busan to catch and unravel a drug gang. If you missed the first series, you can still catch it on Hulu, Viki and Kocowa
Marry YOU - 결혼해YOU
Kocowa – Starring: Lee Yi Kyung, Jo Soo Min, Junhoe, Ji Yi Soo
Genre: Family comedy
Marry You tells the story of an island (read “hick”) bachelor (Lee Yi Kyung) who takes care of his twin niece and nephew (child actors Ahn Tae Rin and Seo Woo Jin) and whose life goal is to get married, plus a level 7 civil servant (Joo Soo Min) who does not want to get married no matter what. The niece and nephew do their best to play matchmakers. This one screams silly and cute, if you need a little fluff in your lives.
Desperate Mrs. Seon Ju - 친절한 선주씨
Viki – Starring: Shim Yi Young, Song Chang Eui, Choi Jung Yoon, Joung Young Seop
Genre: Revenge romance, melodrama
This drama tells the interwoven story of two people (Shim Yi Young and Song Chang Eui) who are both betrayed by their spouses, break away from broken relationships and attempt to find a new love, while making the betrayers pay. The story line is interwoven and complex.
Parole Examiner Lee - 가석방 심사관 이한신
Viki – Starring: Go Soo, Kwon Yu Ri, Baek Ji Won, Lee Hak Joo
Genre: Legal drama, thriller
This legal drama tells the story of a lawyer (Go Soo) who becomes a parole officer and has the final say as to whether someone gets parole or not. He doesn’t want to give parole to criminals who show no remorse for the crimes they’ve committed and wants to identify and help people wrongly accused. Accompanied by a tough detective (Kwon Yu Ri) and an unusual ally who is a loan shark (Baek Ji Won) they collaborate to take down a corrupt chaebol (Lee Hak Joo). The actors describe the tone of the series as light and fresh with a blend of intriguing and interesting characters.
When the Phone Rings - 지금 거신 전화는
Netflix - Starring Yoo Yeaon Seok, Chae Soo Bin, Heo Nam Jun, Jang Gyuri
Genre: Romance, melodrama, mystery, thriller
A former presidential press secretary and a mute newspaper heiress, in an arranged marriage, haven’t spoken in three years. She is kidnapped and he receives a threatening call from the kidnapper. How will they negotiate this crisis? Adopted from a web novel, the series combines romance and a mystery/thriller story in equal measures with a few twists of comedy to break up the tension..
Love Your Enemy - 사랑은 외나무다리에서
Viki – Starring: Ju Ji Hoon, Jung Yu Mi
Genre: Rom-com
Seok Ji Won (Ju Ji Hoon) and Yoon Ji Won (Jung Yu Mi) were born on the same day and have the same name, but their families have been feuding for generations. In high school, they fall in love, but the families oppose and Seok Ji Won moves away and the relationship ends. Years later, they end up in the same town and work at the same school and they have to face their history, years of pent-up anger and resentment and their old emotions. The series plays with references to Romeo and Juliet (star-crossed lovers), but morphs into the reality of star-crossed enemies.
The Trunk - 트렁크
Netflix – Starring: Seo Hyun Jin, Gong Yoo
Genre: Mystery, melodrama
Based on a novel by Kim Ryeo Ryeong, this series follows two people in a one-year contract marriage. Noh In Ji (Seo Hyun Jin) is an employee at a secretive contract marriage arranging business and lives in one-year contract marriages herself. Han Jeong Won (Gong Yoo) enters into the contract marriage with her in an ironic attempt to save his previous marriage. Hidden truths about the contract marriage business are revealed when a trunk shows up on a lakeshore. Added tension and mystery come from Han Jeong Won and Noh In Ji’s exes. It appears that mysterious clues will be dropped each episode, but it will take the entire series for the pieces to get lined up and put together.
