You can only pick one, and boy the pressure is on. The DB team will answer a new prompt in each post, and you’re invited to do the same in the comments. Ready to play?
You can only pick one piggyback scene
missvictrix: Not caring how much I get made fun of for loving this drama, my most memorable heart-clutching piggyback scene is between our monstrous hero and the girl he finds himself hating-yet-protecting in Bulgasal: Immortal Souls. I loved this scene because it was drenched in the complexity that Bulgasal was so good at — who are these characters to each other now, who were they in the past, and what will happen between them next? But also, it was just beautifully shot, and captured the comfort of someone’s physical closeness along with the epic vibe of a multi-lifetime saga unfolding.
solstices: I particularly love the piggyback in Today’s Webtoon, in which Ma-eum solves the problem of a drunk and passed out Joon-young by hoisting him up onto her back and carrying him all the way home. Not only is it a rare reversal of the trope, but I also like that it earns Ma-eum the awe of her colleagues instead of being played for laughs. It’s such a cute way to demonstrate her strength and set the stage for the pair’s friendship — one of my favorite things about this piggyback, and this show as a whole, is how the character relationships are allowed to exist simply as they are, in a simple yet sincere way.
Unit: In The Secret Life of My Secretary, it was already funny enough that Gal-hee was warming up to carry Min-ik for the “piggyback ride with your superior” game — even though according to her fellow secretaries, the boss never attended events like that. But then he showed up (shocker!) and presented his back for the ride (shocker, again!), lifting her effortlessly despite her protests, and they ended up winning the race. There was nothing romantic about the scene, but it was very hilarious and memorable.
Dramaddictally: Truth be told, I don’t love piggyback scenes. I think it’s because they sometimes feel jammed in without always fitting the story. So, when it came time to pick just one, I realized the scene had to be natural and feel sincere — and I decided on Just Between Lovers. There’s a scene where Kang-doo carries a depleted Moon-soo through a narrow, lamplit street after she’s had a horrible fight with her mother. The lead-up to this moment gives the piggyback context, but what’s beautiful about it is the conversation that’s happening as he carries her. She feels awful about the fight and wants to just run away and never go home. And no matter what she says, he’s enthusiastically on her side. She doesn’t want to go home? Fine, she can stay with him. She feels hatred toward herself ? Well then, he’ll just have to like her even more. It feels completely natural for these characters (whom I adore) because the piggyback presents itself like an offshoot of their already growing closeness, not a tropey tool to draw them closer.
alathe: Serious spoiler alert here! But truly, the piggyback scene in Mr. Sunshine is in a devastating league of its own. Because oh, could there have been a more gutting send-off for the resistance’s most stylish soldier, Yi Yang-hwa? In one final, glorious roar of defiance, she sets her own hotel ablaze — trapping an entire regiment of Japanese soldiers in wreck. But her death is a quieter affair. Dong-mae, the man who almost could have loved her, but didn’t, walks her on his back across the beach, so she can watch the sunset. I love these two fiercely because they’re the very definition of doomed by the narrative — both jaded, charmismatic anti-heroes, whose deaths are pretty much sealed from the start. Despite hitting every single romantic plot beat you could name, they can never quite find solace in each other. But still, Yang-hwa confesses her love. And still, Dong-mae carries her until she’s gone. Be still my tragedy-loving heart!