The Fugitive of Joseon - My first introduction to Lee Dong Wook.
Touch Your Heart and,
Life.

Goblin of course, the bromance with Gong Yoo is brilliant and his love arc will bring tears to your eyes. Bad and Crazy is just crazy but such and excellent sort of crazy and also stars Wi Ha Joon. Sea of Hope, a reality show set around the sea, serving meals to a select few on the beach with Dong Wook as head bartender.It's lovely to see him reunite Kim Go Eun as a server and sea diver. Also there are a few big names from the music industry like Onew from SHINee and Sun WooJung Ah who do unplugged versions of songs. Its very organic and healing, highly recommend.

I saw him first in MY GIRL. I was not into him as much as I did with Lee Da-hae and Junki. I'm not sure why I have a hard time warming up to him or his acting.

The two that I've seen him in are Goblin and Touch Your Heart/Reach of Sincerity, and that is the order that I would recommend watching them if both are new to you. I actually watched them in the opposite order, and it's not a dealbreaker by any means, but I think I would have appreciated TYH more if I had seen it second. Lee Dong-wook is quite a tragic figure in Goblin in lots of ways, and the over-the-top sweetness of Touch Your Heart would be a nice antidote to that. Also the OTP in TYH is a reunion of the second pairing in Goblin, so if you don't get the emotional payoff you're needing for them at the end of Goblin, TYH can deliver. It's a true rom-com, with very low stakes but solid heart throughout.

As much as I like him in romcoms, I think he shines in Melos.
I liked him a lot on ‘Scent of a Woman’.

I also enjoyed his role in ‘Bubblegum’.

I have seen most of his filmography, and I believe that he has an acting style that some people find hard to like, and doesn't suit some roles.

MY GIRL was one of those roles imho.

But PARTNER seemed tailormade for him. I love that show.

SCENT OF A WOMAN and WILD ROMANCE are two of my top most favorite shows ever. Back-to-back but very different roles.

FUGITIVE OF JOSEON wasn't anything special for me.

HOTEL KING was a ridiculously meaningless over-the-top show that I enjoyed live shit-texting about it with my friend.

IRONMAN again nothing special.

BUBBLEGUM again one of my favorites. The role suits his style very much.

GOBLIN... dislike that show very much. The only thing that had me finish it was his storyline.

LIFE was a very intelligent show with many interesting characters.

TOUCH YOUR HEART let me down badly. I ff'ed through the second half. Boring and childish.

TALE OF THE NINE-TAILED was fun throughout. But not very memorable.

BAD AND CRAZY was crazy, but as another beanie has mentioned above : an excellent sort of crazy.

All in all, as you see, he has been in a lot of my favorite shows and I always make a point of checking out his choices because he has proved his taste to me, but curiously, I don't get reminded of him when I think of my favorite actors. And I readily believe people who have a hard time warming up to him.

Almost certainly not the type of recommendation you're perhaps looking for, but to branch off from the sea of romances and melodramas: Hell is Other People. I think he's an underrated talent in more horror-related genres. And I say this as someone who actually quite enjoys his more romance-centric work as well.

Life, Scent of a Woman, and Bad and Crazy.

I am probably an outlier in saying that LIFE is a good drama *despite* Lee Dong Wook. He's one of the show's weakest links.

I liked him better in BUBBLEGUM, but I'm not sure that drama has aged well. I watched it well after it aired, and did not like the drama 😂 The FL there - Jung Ryeo Won - is a delight though, as she is in most of her roles!

Goblin, although he’s not top dog. Ironman was weird but I liked it and it was the first time I thought he had something special as an actor.

TANGO SCENE from Scent of a Woman
*fans self just remembering*

Bubblegum : I know this is not an usual choice and the drama itself is so underrated, but really, for me his best chemistry on drama so far is with Jung Ryeo Won in this series. More than his notorious pairing with Yoo In Na in Goblin.

Life : I don’t praise this drama because of LDW alone. All the cast had done a great job and the storytelling is superb. If you’re looking a very good drama with LDW in it, there you go.

My Girl was my first one. I never had a second lead syndrom with this one when everybody loved Lee Jun-Ki :p I just loved the typical chaebol, I guess.

Scent of a Woman was really good and beautiful.

I liked him in Partner, there was no romance.

My Girl, Wild Romance, and Partner are regular rewatches. He has a unique sardonic style. Blade Man was different and interesting.

My recommendation is if he is in it, check it out.

Touch Your Heart. It was so fun to see him melt over Yoo In-Ah.

He was great in Touch Your Heart but I liked him better in Bad and Crazy.