It only just occurred to me that there’s such a thing as a “palate cleanser” drama — and if you don’t have one already or know what I mean, you need to get one right away. Because sometimes, a drama will leave such a bitter (or perhaps overly saccharine) taste in your mouth, and you’ll need to set things to rights again.
You need a drama that reminds you about the K-drama magic you first fell in love with. You need a drama that reminds you what makes the genre so special that it has a fleet of devoted fans that are willing to spends hours of their time watching, dissecting, deconstructing, and discussing. Yes, I mean us.
For me, I think it’s the 2018 mini drama You Drive Me Crazy. With a super short run-time (just four 30-minute episodes) and a great cast (Kim Sun-ho before he exploded, and the ever-captivating Lee Yoo-young), this drama is great to return to from time to time. But that’s not only because it’s fun and short and easy to watch. It’s because it reminds me of what I love about dramaland: the silliness, the ~romance~, and the automatic tropification of storytelling beats.
So, what’s the drama you return to as a palate cleanser?