2024 Roundup, Day 1: Your Favorite Drama
First of all, some definitional work needs to preface my choice, as is always the case with the (no-rules) Year-End Roundup. For me, “favorite” means the drama that I anticipated happily every week, proactively arranged a weekly, two-hour time block to watch, and not only experienced deep feelings arising during the time I spent watching, but also couldn’t help but make gifs when it was over, because I was, frankly, inspired to do so. As an additional but crucial factor, I needed the drama to start as it meant to go on, and to finish strong by its own metrics.

Only one drama fits that bill this year. Only ONE.

It’s Bad Memory Eraser.

I thought about many, many other options, but exactly NONE of the other candidates fit my definition. Before you click away (I know you already have), let me assure anyone still reading that I know, I KNOW, that Bad Memory Eraser may be one of the sloppiest, most poorly edited, most frankly amateurish dramas that’s aired recently. But it brought me the absolute most joy this year.

Between Lee Jong-won’s (one allowable) sad (eminently watchable) face, Kim Jae-joong’s omnipresent sourpuss, the FL being an absolute waste of light and sound waves, plus the 2FLs (Sae-yan and Si-on) being shining rockstars whose light was hidden under any number of bushels…this show was not written or directed so that our stars could succeed. The only way it was ever clear what was happening plot-wise was via inference or by checking to see which poop joke we were currently ensconced within.

I didn’t think I was in the camp of “2024 kinda sucked,” and I may still not be. I don’t actually think the dramas this year were “bad.” But here’s what they did tend to do…they tended to fizzle out in the last two hours so spectacularly that one’s entire experience of the previous 10-14 hours ended up damaged in retrospect. Some dramas (that I’ll mention in future days) almost escaped this pattern, but frankly the vast majority did not.

Bad Memory Eraser will be a drama I’ll honestly remember fondly for the rest of my life, I bet. And, if you’ve not heard its soundtrack, you absolutely must run, do not walk, over to your streaming service of choice, not least to listen to Kim Jae-joong’s “It’s OK/ 괜찮아” where his voice resonates like the older singer he is now, and reminds me a bit of Freddie Mercury. There’s also some excellent Vincent Blue and any number of instrumental tracks that will perk up your day (“Crazy Bright Comic” might just be this stupid show utterly encapsulated in 1m44 of stupider sound and voice effects, while “So High” is, uh, a good description of the writers and editors, but is also a song you’ll remember instantly if you’ve watched even an hour of the drama).

I’ll probably add some extra gifs in the comments (some, perhaps, of KJJ getting naked for Cola), but I’ve already scattered a few favorites here. I really, really loved watching this show. I’m sorry that you sort of had to be there.