[2021 Year in Review] Dramas for ajummas

by Guest Beanie

Man in a Veil

By Nightowl

Maybe it was the pandemic, maybe I am getting older, or maybe I am just going through a bit of a drama slump. Either way, my 2021 drama choices were mostly limited to dramas that target an older audience. They were not necessarily stellar or innovative, but they were engaging, and being in the company of drama watchers and commentators made each of these dramas hilariously entertaining.

Man in a Veil

In KBS’s daily drama Man in a Veil, it was clear the audience was enjoying the antics of the villain — most of the drama was spent on her throwing tea cups. I must say that I enjoyed it a lot, but I did wonder if the restaurant was billing her for all those tea cups that she kept throwing. How exactly did the invisible bill cashier create the invoice?

In addition to the tea-cup-throwing antagonist, there was the second lead who entertained some of the audience with great abs. Unlike most male leads who only show their abs when they are experiencing angst, this one kept showing off his abs when he wanted to eat kimbap (yes, the actual food) and was in love. So you can guess what happened when he was rejected by the female lead: no abs and no kimbap either.

But, the actor is really hardworking – even during his death scene in the middle of winter, the PD made him show his abs for the CPR scene, and the later crying scene from other characters. The poor fella even made an Instagram post to indicate how hard he worked while freezing. Ah, the dedicated work of the actors for their fans.

Miss Monte-Cristo

If you thought that men caught in love triangles have to be interesting or handsome, you are wrong. In KBS’s daily drama Miss Monte-Cristo, viewers could not understand the appeal of the “universal oppa” – the man who inspired love in both the heroine and the villain. Both of these ladies were infinitely more interesting compared to this limpid man who seemed like he was perpetually suffering from constipation. (Yes, that’s him in the middle of the frame wondering “Oh dear, how did I get stuck here?”)

Personally, I much preferred “disco oppa”* – the second lead who did a little dance when presentations went well. We all should dance a little when things are good, no?

*Another fun aspect of the daily drama community is the hilarious nicknames. Most people cannot remember the actual character names. We all have short-term memory loss just like our K-drama characters.

Love (ft. Marriage and Divorce)

No one threw tea cups in this TV Chosun drama! Why, why, why? Yes, that was my primary question while watching a drama about infidelity. While most of the commentators had strong discussions about marriage and relationships, I was more annoyed that the kitchens did not look like they were used and were too sterile. And for a drama that is supposed to have arguments, not a single tea cup was thrown, and no tables were flipped. Tsk, tsk. However, there was plenty of popcorn thrown between commentators, which made it entertaining (as well as alarming) to watch.

To give a little sample of the weirdness of this drama, there was a ghost grandpa in the swimming pool; and for reasons unknown, ghost grandpa changed into swimming shorts.

Red Shoes

Do you know that song “I Hate You but I Love You?” I wonder if the writer of KBS’s Red Shoes was listening to that song while she drafted her scripts. Or maybe the writer had cabin fever after being stuck indoors like many of us, and was inspired.

The drama had a mirror that seemed to magically repair itself. The villain would have conversations with herself and then break the mirror in a fit of rage. However, it seemed to repair itself and was always unbroken in the next scene. Indeed, we all need magic mirrors for when we go cuckoo.

Bossam: Steal the Fate

For a while, I have been convinced that the romantic in me has died. But no, that wasn’t the case. It is just that I am no longer interested in immature romances where the couple doesn’t seem to have any problems other than their romance. After all, there is far more to life than just romance — even if the ads try to convince us otherwise.

So MBN’s sageuk Bossam: Steal the Fate finally gave me a romance I enjoyed – mature people who have faced the weariness and disappointments of life. A romance where less was more, and there was far more at stake than the question of whether they liked each other. In many saeguks, I get lost in the politics, but with this one, I wanted to know how the greed and ambitions of others would impact our leads who just wanted to survive most of all. As Ba Woo the male lead said, “We don’t need a reason to live. We just do.” And finding the small joys of life amidst the dreariness is something we all had to strive for this year.

Be My Dream Family

While KBS’s Be My Dream Family was a daily drama that centered on blending of two families with adult children, it was ultimately a drama about average people with average lives. It captured how difficult being average can be, and what it’s like to face the disappointment of broken dreams. The drama was about learning to enjoy others, liking yourself, and finding the ability to live and laugh. Whether it was exams, education, career goals, or even romance, the drama explored how fears and doubts can freeze us like an athlete scared by the memory of her past injury.

Then, there was the simple advice the drama left us with: do we stop training or getting on the mat before we even know the outcome of the match? Amidst the fears and uncertainties, sometimes we just need to keep on training, and keep on showing up in our everyday lives. A rather apt message for this year.

So that was dramaland 2021 for me: filled with dramas that were made funnier because of the community of viewers. To the drama commentators, viewers, and fans everywhere, thank you!

Be My Dream Family

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