Underrated Kdrama Gems: 2020 Edition

 

 Lately, nothing has been catching my attention, and I see from the timeline I am not the only one suffering through this malady. And there is nothing worse than the feeling that you have seen everything...or it feels that way because everyone was talking about certain dramas ad nauseum. So, you go in search for those little underrated dramas that are hidden gems (as opposed to a big waste of your stinking time.) 

Now, “underrated” for me means no big awards, no great ratings and very little brand promotion (the latter I am a little wishy-washy on, because that usually means "I do not see anything on my timeline!". Of course, some of these dramas miss the mark from this definition, but for the most part, they flew a bit under the radar. There are a lot of dramas I have accumulated over the years that fit into this category, so I thought I would start it out in 2020 and see where we go. I reviewed my hashtags from that year to see what dramas I liked and copied the tweets from there. 

So, from the start of the decade, here are my thoughts on the best underrated kdramas in 2020:

365: Repeat the Year

If I designed a kdrama with stuff I loved, this drama would be it. Psychological thriller, philosophical study, snappy pace, twists all over, + enough humor & heart and near romantic misses to prevent it being totally dark. I wanted a drama that left me a bit dazed, and this drama did just that.

Mystic Pop-Up Bar

This drama is a nice feel-good drama w/lots of story and mystery. And while people tend to have issues with the FL, she isn't so OTT here as she has been in other works.

KAIROS

Finally, a time travel drama that makes sense and is easy to understand: different lighting for each year, clock-changing sound effects to indicate date changes, dates clearly displayed. Excellent directing, writing and acting! Just a great psychological thriller w/a slight time travel concept. It reminded me so much of Signal, one of my top kdramas ever.

 

Birthcare Center

BirthcareCenter is so exquisite. The humor is on point, and it has so much heart. Show got the whole experience of marriage and childbirth so right. The two lead actresses got Baeksang noms, but I am going to squinch up my eyes and still call this “underrated,” given how little people watched it.

Team Bulldog: Off-Duty Investigation

Sometimes you want a crime show that doesn't take itself too seriously.

Run On

This character-driven drama has hip-cracky dialogue that's witty, real & will have you screenshotting throughout. All leads are so very pretty; 2nd leads could have own drama. Progressive topics brought forth honestly w/o cancelling. Different is good. Can we talk about this 2nd couple though? Him with his artist soul and no-holds-barred truth-telling and her a hardened Rapunzel trapped in her familial corporate tower of misogamy and lost dreams. They bring more complexity to a story than most first leads. If you were part of the Run On fandom, you know. 

Tell Me What You Saw

If you like your crime thrillers dark, this drama serves it up in spades with dark creepy goodness. Jang Hyuk's character saying the title over and over again was a bit annoying, ngl.

Zombie Detective

This drama is a noir satire on the old gumshoe detective, where the traditional moody, broken, scarred-by-humanity P.I. is all that, but with #zombieproblems. Add in a bunch of meta references and sly humor, and you have a touching smart dumb show!  Definitely a good not-so-scary Halloween Week watch!

Into the Ring

Nana charms in this political romcom, and Park Sung Hoon plays a loveable bureaucrat loser, a refreshing change from his more recent scumbag roles. 

Dinner Mate

This drama often gets mentioned when people are looking for a rather mature take on older people romance, and I can’t recommend it enough.

My Dangerous Wife

My Dangerous Wife is a dark comedy/thriller about a chef & his mistress who plan to poison his wife, only to come home to find her kidnapped. What follows is a quirky journey into the idea of marriage. How a thriller can be so satisfying, with so many twists & turns that my mouth dropped & stayed that way through the show, then gave an ending perfect for the story it told.  

The Goddess of Revenge

To me, a great revenge drama needs to get revenging in episode 1, and here the entire advertised plot is resolved in that one episode! Solid writing & pacing w/regularly scheduled revenge plots. This little TV Chosun drama snuck under the radar, so I don't think many people watched it. But it's a solid revenge drama. Smokin' hot chemistry between the leads. Seriously smoking.