Random: To drop or not to drop?

Watching dramas is a challenge. It can be fun or pure torture. Especially for a “complete-ist” like me. Over the years, I’ve come to accept that the FF button is not my enemy and there’s no shame in saying,” That’s’ it. No more.”

If I were to trace back my eureka moment, it would be when I was watching the taiwanese drama La Robe de Mariee des Cieux starring Cindi Wang, Leon Jay Williams and Ming Dao back in 2004. It’s been so long I can’t even pinpoint exactly what put me off the show…perhaps it was Leon’s unbelievably wooden acting and awful dialogue delivery (he’s not fluent in mandarin), perhaps it was the forced “cuteness” of Cyndi’s character or maybe the ridiculous plot... I can’t be sure. All I do know is I stopped watching midway and even though I tried repeatedly to finish it (I swear I did, I borrowed  a friend’s DVD set for months), I couldn’t. That’s the first drama I left unfinished.

There would be more…for various different reasons.

Who could forget Princess Hours which catapulted Yoon Eun Hye and Joo Ji Hoon to stardom. My reason for dropping this? Prince Yul (Kim Jeong Hoon). Yep, I’m one of them who was rooting for Prince Yul instead of the male lead, Prince Lee Shin. My young uncomprehending self could not accept the fact that not only would my favourite prince fail to get the girl, he would also cross over to the dark side. To avoid tarnishing the good prince’s image, I boycotted the drama when Yul began to show signs of turning evil.

Of course if I were to drop dramas every time I heart the second lead, that’ll be a real pain. It doesn’t happen anymore nowadays because I’d like to think I’m much more mature now. LOL. J The most recent example of me shipping the second male lead to death would be SungKyunKwan Scandal. Ah…the adorable Moon Jae Shin (Yoo Ah In). Many a debate has been held over the merits of Micky Yoo Chun’s Lee Soo Joon versus Moon Jae Shin. The mind accepts but the heart is stubborn. I plodded through the last few episodes with somewhat less enthusiasm, bolstered only by my love for Geol-Oh and Yeo Rim.

Sometimes, even the most avid fan (àme) would have trouble watching a previous work by a favourite actor. I love Lee Min Ki so much after watching Dalja’s Spring that I brave 34 episodes of Love Truly aka I Really, Really Like You which co-starred Eugene and Ryo Jin. By mid-drama, I was so grateful for the invention of the FF button which enabled me to finish the drama. The screen time for the OTP was so ridiculously short I’m surprised they end up together at all.

Speaking of a boring drama, there is one that deserves special mention – Manny. It was the first Korean cable drama I attempted to watch and boy was it mind-bogglingly boring. In case I get crucified for forming a hasty opinion, I’d like to clarify that I actually watched up to episode 12 before calling it a day. Not even Suh Ji Han can save it for me. It was that bad. Doesn’t help that I hated all the ladies’ characters in the drama.

There are a few dramas that I had to watch in two sittings. Not because it was boring or bad. I just didn’t like how the story was progressing. It’s a personal thing. In fact, most of these dramas are super successful… Once I got over my gripe, I finished it in no time.

Fated to Love You (2008) - I’m thinking the extension made it draggy towards the end, which was when my interest waned.

Secret Garden (2010) - I couldn’t get over how Ra-Im always gives in to Joo Won no matter how bad he treated her.

Sometimes, I just couldn’t continue….even though I promised myself I’d come back and try again.

Chuno (2010) - I felt detached from all the characters. I was rooting for no one. So at one point, I just stopped watching.

Dong Yi (2010) – I felt bad for Bae Soo Bin for not getting the girl again. More importantly, I got tired of Lee So Yeon’s endless plotting. I stopped at episode 40. Considered that my happy ending. Muahaha.

Athena (2010/2011) – I still can’t get over how the production team can come up with such a lousy story for such a great cast. One fine day, I may FF through the drama, just to catch scenes of Cha Seong Won.

As of today, there are still tons of backlogged dramas rotting in my hard disk patiently waiting for me to pick them up or offer them a second chance. And as always, I promised myself I will, if only to clear up my hard disk for new dramas. Since there’s no hope of recovery for this drama addict, learning to say, “No” to bad dramas may at least spare me hours of agonizing torture.