[2022 Year in Review] Disappointments, wins, and discovering new actors

by Guest Beanie

What a K-drama year it has been. This is the first K-drama year where I realized that I dropped so many shows I needed to watch more than the ones stored on my to-watch list. It as also the very first year where I consciously watched a drama to the end just for the bean: Green Mother’s Club. And right there the disappointments start. And many more came in the form of Why Her? (the biggest and most painful one this year), Love is for Suckers (I can’t even start), and the others that drama amnesia is denying me remembrance of. Thank you, amnesia.

The disappointments
Green Mother’s Club got the Ctrl+D right after completing the 16th episode. Not because it was mediocre, but because it had so much potential that it felt wasted. Lee Yo-won, Chu Ja-hyun (how did she even get there?), Jang Hye-jin, Kim Gyu-ri. I thought this was a Sky Castle x Penthouse mutant baby drama but what the…?

Other anticipated actress comebacks fell equally flat, with the likes of Artificial City, Sponsor, and Show Window: The Queen’s House. It was a huge disappointment to watch these, and another waste of strong side characters, too.

The wins: Who says they can’t be romantic?

In the face of those drama disappointments, though, 2022 gave me many more joys. The very romantic romances that made me think and feel came from a place I never expected: middle-aged casts. Who says we can’t have a romance story between 40 or 50-year-olds (Love ft Marriage and Divorce 3) where we even decide who gets who — not that that pairing had a choice. The all-out love triangle in Alchemy of Souls also gave me these feels, and if anyone deserves the “dolt” nickname, that person is Park Jin. How many times did I “tsk tsk tsk,” shaking my head alongside Master Heo and the Four Seasons as he kept on tanking his chances, while his contender was playing his cards just right.

Most times, we get these dynamics from the younger generation — and I think we did this year? (Or did we not?) But 2022 gave many mature adults a story where they could fall in love, feel butterflies, take a field trip down their youthful years (Our Blues), suffer heartbreaks right after you found the one to make you rethink a life of chaste tea (Alchemy of Souls), and flap their tongues at each other or squee at seeing each other again (Behind the Stars). This year made me realize it’s exhilarating to see these adults enjoy the moment — and not just the romance, but also adults being silly and petty and childish.

But I can’t neglect to mention the gripping introverted love story doled out by the younger middle-aged actors in My Liberation Notes. Who says the words “Worship me” can’t stand in place of the magic words “Will you be my boyfriend/girlfriend?” — and therefore kickstart a captivating story on its own, or the enchanting male lead in Love in Contract. I’ve always wanted to see a silent love story or an introvert in love, and 2022 granted me both desires. Dramatic chaos isn’t for me most of the time: silent chaos is. And as we’ve seen, the fallout here can be as devastating as the dramatic.

Discovering new actors
Having a bias for good guys, it’s really important that my first time watching a new actor features them as a good guy. But this year has me taking that thought back. Choi Dae-hoon and Seo Hyun-woo had me glaring at the screen in Extraordinary Attorney Woo and Adamas, but then had me smitten in One Dollar Lawyer, Curtain Call, and Behind Every Star, respectively, with their performances. If anyone told me these two actors had a silly or empathetic side – after my first impressions of them — I’d never agree. It’s rare for me to look out for an actor’s future works following a villain performance — especially if it’s the first time I’m watching the actor. Truth is… I didn’t. But I did enjoy the change in perspective these performances gave me.

This year I got the good, the bad, and the ones that made me drool, squee, or curl my toes. And while the disappointments are really a pain to take note of, the dramas I enjoyed did a good job making me forget the arrgh times. Is it safe to call it a successful year?

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[2022 Year in Review] Disappointments, wins, and discovering new actors