Premiere Watch: Awaken, Cheat on Me If You Can

62 November 28, 2020November 28, 2020

by missvictrix

We’ve got two new dramas premiering this week, and though they represent different genres, both seem to veer towards the dark and thrilling side of things. It’s an interesting swap, since we’ve just seen a lot of more sweet and rom-commy dramas come to a close, so buckle up! We’ve got everything from possibly cheating spouses, to murder clauses, to mysterious village happenings that merit deep investigation.

Awaken

Time slot: Monday & Tuesday
Broadcaster: tvN
Genre: Crime, mystery, suspense
Episode count: 16

Reasons to watch: Some might come for Namgoong Min or Seolhyun, but me? I’m here for my girl Lee Chung-ah! Okay, and the plot sounds good too. Awaken is tvN’s latest offering, and the police mystery drama is about a case from over twenty years ago that links up to some present-day events. Our three main characters come together to unravel the threads — Namgoong Min plays a legend in the National Police Agency, Seolhyun is a passionate young police officer (yawn), and Lee Chung-ah plays a detective on loan from the FBI (un-yawn). Going on the tone of the promotional material so far, I’m guessing this will be dark, and even slightly eerie, with a side of humor to get us through (that lollipop teaser!). But will this be more procedural, or more character-driven? I’m hoping for the latter, because that makes a much richer story for our band of committed investigators.

Cheat on Me, If You Can

Time slot: Wednesday & Thursday
Broadcaster: KBS
Genre: Comedy, romance, thriller
Episode count: 16

Reasons to watch: Jo Yeo-jung + Go Joon? They had me on board as soon as this casting was confirmed — it could have been a story about a ukulele player and a professional gift wrapper and I would have been interested. Don’t worry, it’s about neither of those things. Instead, it’s a bit more mysterious, exciting, and maybe even sensationalist? Jo Yeo-jung plays a famous crime novelist married to Go Joon, a divorce attorney. The two have an odd contract in their marriage: namely, that if one of them cheats, they die. Let the games begin, eh? I’m expecting this to be cheeky, and to balance the rather murderous side of the story with dark humor… and maybe even some real romance? Either way, I can’t wait to see these two flexing their acting skills here. Make way for chemistry!

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1 Lord Cobol (Kdramas, like water, flow downhill)

November 28, 2020 at 10:57 PM

Make way for chemistry!

Because that's how you make poisons

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2 frabbycrabsis loves KBS Drama Specials

November 29, 2020 at 12:07 AM

I don't know about anyone else, but the story about the ukelele player and the professional gift-wrapper is far more interesting to me - are you planning on doing anything with that premise, @missvictrix, because otherwise it's free real estate!

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FlyingTool

November 29, 2020 at 8:15 AM

Same here. I’d tune in and give it a try!

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CDF

November 29, 2020 at 11:54 AM

My first thought was - How this is not a real thing?

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LT is Irresistibly Indifferent and reminded of the slow march of death

November 29, 2020 at 1:00 PM

That's what I was thinking! Bring on the ukelele/gift wrapper drama. Neither of these interest me at all.

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frabbycrabsis loves KBS Drama Specials

November 29, 2020 at 1:28 PM

I'll write it if MissVictrix gives me the rights! 😂

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missvictrix

November 29, 2020 at 2:14 PM

Take it and run! lol

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LT is Irresistibly Indifferent and reminded of the slow march of death

November 29, 2020 at 4:25 PM

We still need to write my drama about the plumber and the astronomer.

frabbycrabsis loves KBS Drama Specials

November 30, 2020 at 5:47 AM

OH MY GOD, I can see it!

"While he was looking to the ground, she was looking to the stars..."

LT is Irresistibly Indifferent and reminded of the slow march of death

November 30, 2020 at 10:52 AM

OMG frabby, that's exactly it. How did you know?
The earth and the sky, the physical and the metaphysical, the ground and the air. He's looking down and she's looking up (he's the plumber, sorry, there was an actual plumber, it's a whole thing).

frabbycrabsis loves KBS Drama Specials

November 30, 2020 at 11:30 AM

Well then, since I so perfectly understood your vision, I insist on being the first to read it 😆

LT is Irresistibly Indifferent and reminded of the slow march of death

November 30, 2020 at 12:02 PM

Ergh... okay... I'll put it on the list.
I still need to finish my web story, Craving Candy.

FlyingTool

November 30, 2020 at 7:19 PM

@leetennant
Craving Candy? Would that happen to be about a zombie wanting to eat the titular Candy? Or do I have zombies on my brain?

LT is Irresistibly Indifferent and reminded of the slow march of death

November 30, 2020 at 7:35 PM

Actually @hebang it's about a chaebol who loves dramas. She realises her son has become a classic second generation ass and decides to follow the example of dramas and find a Candy to set him straight. It's set in Australia (for obvious reason) and I'm not quite ready to share it widely yet. I'll let people know when it's ready. For now it's just been read by the discord crowd.

egads

December 1, 2020 at 2:32 PM

I can't believe I missed this entire conversation.

Now, of course the meet-cute in Strum into my Heart (or is it Wrap me, Strum me?) will likely be a case of mistaken wrapping where our hero accidentally wraps the wrong yukelele and has to track down the giftee and explain the dreadful mistake. Of course, there will be some entanglement of ribbon which causes a fall into lips.

frabbycrabsis loves KBS Drama Specials

December 1, 2020 at 2:49 PM

I have a slightly different vision in mind, @egads. It will be the anti-Christmas Christmas story, possibly called something generic and vaguely romantic like The Greatest Gift of All (I'll work on it) and have the ukelele-playing hero stumble into a secret and wildly weird world of competitive gift-wrapping when he asks the heroine for help in creating the most perfect(ly wrapped) Christmas present for his tiny sister/niece/godchild/actual child!

FlyingTool

December 1, 2020 at 3:26 PM

@frabbycrabsis

Sport of competitive gift wrapping. Wow, what a call! I can see it in my minds eye - it’s on ESPN 23, late at night, with the crowd of talking heads going on and on about the scoring criteria, the judging performance, slo-mo replays, mention of past greats and controversies...

LT is Irresistibly Indifferent and reminded of the slow march of death

December 1, 2020 at 3:32 PM

You're all wrong. It's called Wrap My Heart With String.

frabbycrabsis loves KBS Drama Specials

December 1, 2020 at 3:44 PM

We have a winner.

egads

December 1, 2020 at 4:20 PM

@leetennant, with that title it could possibly veer either into a murder mystery or something that could not air on network television.

I would totally watch competitive gift wrapping. Maybe it's a drama about a gift wrapping show styled after Great British Bakeoff, and the ukelele player is the comedic host with a tragic past that involves a horrific gift wrap accident, and he ( or she) has to work through some ptsd when they see spools of ribbon and tubes of wrapping paper.

LT is Irresistibly Indifferent and reminded of the slow march of death

December 1, 2020 at 4:30 PM

Trauma flashback:
Christmas morning: the sound of a child's feet down carpeted stairs, close up on their guitar pyjamas and excited face as they sneak downstairs to get their presents early. And then the ominous music swells as they see [flash flash flash] the blood, the torn presents, the christmas wrapping strewn around the floor, the mother's hand still gripping the ribbon they were about to tie around their beloved child's present. Her blood pools around the words "To my beloved daughter/son". The wrapping is torn to reveal the guitar their parents couldn't afford but somehow managed to. Just for them.

They switched to ukelele and could never face wrapping paper again. Until now.

YY Chats with Toast Between Bites

November 30, 2020 at 5:52 AM

I have this recurring dream. I am watching a drama about a husky butcher and an amnesiac cat which has lost its meowmery.

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frabbycrabsis loves KBS Drama Specials

December 1, 2020 at 12:52 AM

I AM the Discord crowd, yet I've somehow missed this.

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OldLawyer

November 30, 2020 at 9:32 AM

Honestly it does sound rather charming.

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3 yongsital 🐧 ❄️

November 29, 2020 at 2:38 AM

I hope we get a lot of Namgoong Min and Lee Chung Ah together tbh. The premise is kind of meh but Namgoong Min tends to pick projects I enjoy so I'm trying to be optimistic.

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Victorian23

November 29, 2020 at 10:35 AM

Supposedly a Romantic subplot Between the FBI gal and him so I would say yes.

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yongsital 🐧 ❄️

November 29, 2020 at 11:03 AM

Really? I'm totally in for this. Where'd you hear about it?

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Victorian23

November 29, 2020 at 3:11 PM

It’s listed as a Romantic Crime drama in most places including VIKI and SOOMPI. The Cop has a crush? But he jokes with FBI about her confessing her feelings in one of the teasers.

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yongsital 🐧 ❄️

November 29, 2020 at 3:38 PM

I hope so!!

OldLawyer

November 30, 2020 at 9:34 AM

I thought Namgoong had stopped doing romance.

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yongsital 🐧 ❄️

November 30, 2020 at 11:56 AM

His romance dramas have been disappointing so I'm not surprised he's avoided them. Maybe it'll be very lowkey.

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4 Kurama

November 29, 2020 at 3:55 AM

I'm very excited for Awaken. I like the trio of actors but all the supporting cast too, there are a lot of knowns faces. They weren't very subtle in the trailer about how the past is connected with the NGM and LCA's characters. I don't think we will escape from the past connection, brother and sister? Childhood friends? :p

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5 Ilovecoffee&rain

November 29, 2020 at 4:44 AM

I am defineitely watching "Cheat on Me, If You Can". It sounds so much interesting than few latest k-dramas (Except Uncanny encounter).

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6 Kairoskat 💐

November 29, 2020 at 5:24 AM

Go Jooooonnnnnnn!!!! I see Go Joooonnnnn 🤩

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mindy

November 29, 2020 at 5:29 AM

Every time I see you react like this to someone who isn't SSR I am taken aback

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🍙 kimbap noona

November 29, 2020 at 9:26 AM

I am wondering what are the clauses in Katak and SSR's contract? 🤔😆😆

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Kairoskat 💐

November 29, 2020 at 2:56 PM

👀

@mindy hahahaha. I do have a list min~ but now only 3 actors remain: Sung Rok, Go Joon and Yoo Teo. So any news about them on DB...I'll most likely be there 😆.

@kimbapnoona~~~ there's no contract 😎

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mindy

November 29, 2020 at 2:57 PM

My list is 1 actor long

Kairoskat 💐

November 29, 2020 at 3:18 PM

Of course @mindy~

My list is dynamic as I'm a supporting actor/2nd male lead supporter. I will support them as they move into lead role territory. Sungrok is fixed though. Whatever happens, he'll stay 😆

7 javinne

November 29, 2020 at 5:28 AM

I am grateful I feel no interest in these dramas, because I still want to watch Lies of lies, Start up, Hospital playlist and My dangerous wife among some others that I have passed, due to lack of time...
😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅

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8 potattoow

November 29, 2020 at 7:20 AM

The yawn and un-yawn are so on point. A g r e e.

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9 bong-soo

November 29, 2020 at 8:23 AM

I am here for Namgoong Min and AWAKEN. The good news is that it will be available on Viki (USA). Episode one is 30 Nov. Given tvN’s episodic length I hope Viki has a top notch team ready.
Namgoong Min, who loves ya, baby?
(In the teaser at a rather tense moment NGM pulls takes out a lollipop and puts it in his mouth. My immediate thought was Theo Kojack.)

Re CHEAT ON ME. Kevin Lee does comedy?

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korfan

November 29, 2020 at 1:12 PM

He'll always be Kevin Lee, right?

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bong-soo

November 29, 2020 at 2:09 PM

For me he will be poor guy.
O/T. I said before that his wife Eun-joo should have take up his suggestion about going to Hawaii on the honeymoon they never had. That way all that unpleasantness in MISTY could have been avoided. Then again there would not have been MISTY.

O/T cont. With all the ranting over DO DO’s ending I seem to recall MISTY’s ending also generated a lot of heat.

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Eazal

November 30, 2020 at 11:04 AM

Me, me!!! I love NGM!!!
Me and the Universe, of course.

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10 Grey

November 29, 2020 at 8:46 AM

Not sure how to phrase this but is it possible for these articles to also mention the legal sites on which we can watch these dramas? I don't know where to watch either drama but I want to see both.

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mindy

November 29, 2020 at 9:03 AM

That would probably be difficult to do because streaming availability is very region-specific. Not all regions have the same streaming site access and not all shows are available in the same regions even on the same streaming sites.

In the US, Awaken will be on Viki and Cheat on Me If You Can will be on Kocowa (probably Viki with Pass Plus as well?).

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bong-soo

November 30, 2020 at 10:23 AM

CHEAT ON ME is now on Viki (USA)'s 'Coming Soon" list.

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Eazal

November 30, 2020 at 11:05 AM

If you live in Southern Europe it's on Viki, but not available. Ommmm.
But Awaken is available, yihaaa.

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Miky

December 1, 2020 at 2:25 PM

U can check sites like mydramalist that always add the platform they will stream and after that u go there and see if it's available in your region...If not u can always DL and get the subs separate as usually are the fastest as many more sites sometimes do a drama...

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11 miss h

November 29, 2020 at 8:54 AM

I don't really like either NGM or Seolhyun, but since Viki has it I might give Awaken a try and hope it is more interesting than it sounds.

I'm definitely going to try Cheat on Me If You Can for Jo Yeo-jung and Go Joon.

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12 Ayan

November 29, 2020 at 11:35 AM

Excited to check out Cheat on me, if you can. Hoping it will be a funny watch!

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13 CDF

November 29, 2020 at 11:59 AM

About Awaken, I had same reaction. A Passionate rookie cop - eye roll, a legendary ML double eye-roll. Now my eyes are crossed and I need them to watch these both dramas.

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14 Kafiyah Bello

November 29, 2020 at 12:22 PM

Will watch both, the first for NGM and LCA and the second for Go Joon!!!!

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Eazal

November 30, 2020 at 11:07 AM

I wanted to watch the Cheat on me... but Viki doesn't make it available in my zone, so I'll stick to my NGM.

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15 korfan

November 29, 2020 at 1:14 PM

Looking forward to both of these shows!

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16 ar_arguably romantic

November 29, 2020 at 1:17 PM

Cheat on me if you can sounds the more interesting of the 2. But Namgoong Min is calling to me... if it's got some fun and humor in it, I'll bite. Not feeling up for a gritty drama.

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17 alasecond

November 29, 2020 at 2:15 PM

ah.. so want to watch Awaken for the other cast..
but that bulley girl seolhyun deserves to own consequences of her action..

:D since my viewership won't count.. i am sure going to make it a point to berate her EVERYWHERE

Grown up adults who can't even show remorse for their wrong doings deserve no praise

**********
You have been warned!

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Moll

November 29, 2020 at 3:04 PM

Have you ever been mean or nasty to anyone in your life? Said things that hurt some one? I know I have! Unless you are perfect light and sweetness and sinless...

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alasecond

November 30, 2020 at 12:30 AM

lol.. if you are equating being nasty to what she did where one person was abused for years at a stretch at all times..

i am shocked at your justification or actually validating these kind of instances

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18 Yuyuu, The Drama Queen

November 29, 2020 at 5:22 PM

Gosh the casts for both these shows! I've been anticipating Cheat on Me If You Can because I love me some juicy adultery drama & also who can resist Jo Yeo-jung and Go Joon as a pairing? Just look at them!

Admittedly, I like the cast of Awaken as well (though I haven't seen Seolhyun in anything... and I'm also yawning at her character description), but the drama sounds just like the other shmegular crime show. However I will check it out for my girl Lee Chung-ah, because she's a badass. And I suspect her and NGM will play off each other well