This week’s premiere lineup runs the gamut of different genres: romance, thriller, horror, and satire.
An Empress’s Dignity
Time slot: Wednesday & Thursday
Broadcaster: SBS
Genre: Romance
Episode count: 48 episodes (35 minute episodes, 28 hours total)
Reasons to watch: Imagine a modern-day Korea that still has its imperial family. Throw in romance, political intrigue, murder, and revenge and you have An Empress’s Dignity. Jang Nara stars as a struggling musical actress who sees her life change completely when she marries Korea’s young emperor (played by Shin Sung-rok). But the world inside the palace walls is full of secrets and deceit. When the empress dowager (Shin Eun-kyung) is murdered, the imperial family is shaken to its core and the monarchy’s very existence is thrown into peril. This might suit Choi Jin-hyuk’s character just fine as he plays a royal bodyguard who’s driven by desperate desire for revenge against the Korean royals. While he seeks to destroy the monarchy, Min Yoo-ra (played by Lee Elijah) is hellbent on marrying the emperor — his current marital status be damned. All of these conflicting desires and schemes are sure to collide; who will emerge victorious?
Red Moon, Blue Sun
Time slot: Wednesday & Thursday
Broadcaster: MBC
Genre: Mystery, thriller
Episode count: 32 episodes (35 minute episodes, 18 hours 40 minutes total)
Reasons to watch: A strange child and an accident turn Cha Woo-kyung’s (played by Kim Sun-ah) picture-perfect life upside down. After Kim meets this mysterious child, she sets off on a search for answers, but tragedy might be waiting at the end of that search. Lee Yi-kyung co-stars as a dedicated violent crimes detective named Kang Ji-heon who believes criminals should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. Lee is on his own search — for the culprit behind a serious of strange crimes. Nam Gyuri will play a mysterious woman who hides behind a mask of apathy and Cha Hak-yeon (of the idol group VIXX) will round out the main cast as one of Kim Sun-ah’s work colleagues. If you can handle intense thrillers that are full of foreboding, give Red Moon, Blue Sun a watch!
SKY Castle
Time slot: Friday
Broadcaster: JTBC
Genre: Social satire
Episode count: 16 episodes
Reasons to watch: It feels like every other drama features a chaebol or the superwealthy. Though SKY Castle is about Korea’s 0.1%, this show stands apart in that it’s a social satire. The drama will follow the foibles of the elite who live in the fictional SKY Castle apartment building. A man’s home is his castle and the drama’s characters refer to themselves — only partly in jest — as kings and queens. With outsized egos and ambitions, SKY Castle will be a powder keg about to explode. The cast is sprawling, and the housewives will be played by Yeom Jung-ah (as the group’s queen bee), Lee Tae-ran, Yoon Se-ah, and Oh Na-ra. Their husbands will be played by Choi Won-young, Jung Jun-ho, Jo Jae-yoon, and Kim Byung-chul.
Priest
Time slot: Saturday & Sunday
Broadcaster: OCN
Genre: Horror, thriller
Episode count: 16 episodes
Reasons to watch: Priests are the latest dramaland trend, and OCN is serving up our latest priest-centric drama, aptly and simply titled Priest. Park Yong-woo and Yeon Woo-jin are two exorcist priests who team up with a doctor (played by Jung Yumi) in order to protect a hospital and countless souls from demonic powers. Because Jung Yumi’s character is a rational skeptic, the alliance between the three is uneasy. In the face of demonic evil, can faith and science prevail?