Latest / Daebak K-Rambles Podcast: K-drama Reviews / Sad K-Dramas: The Case for Watching Stories That Hurt / Ep. 105

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Sad K-Dramas: The Case for Watching Stories That Hurt / Ep. 105 · Daebak K-Rambles Podcast: K-drama Reviews

• 0:19
  I'm Jessica and this is Tay about K rambles, where a couple
• 0:22
  of friends review Korean dramas. Except for today.
• 0:25
  Today we're doing something a little different.
• 0:27
  For this episode. I am joined by Lola from Lola
• 0:30
  Pops off about K dramas. Welcome back, Lola.
• 0:33
  How are you? Hi, hi, hi, hi.
• 0:35
  Thank you for having me. And yet again, I always enjoy
• 0:38
  being here. Yeah, we were just here very
• 0:42
  recently for the When Life Gives You Tangerines episode.
• 0:45
  You and Carol were so graciously on that review.
• 0:49
  And yeah, hot on the heels on When Life is Your Tangerines.
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  We are going to talk about sad K dramas and why they kind of
• 0:57
  stick a little better than happy ending K dramas K dramas, but
• 1:01
  maybe have a little more fluff than angst or tragedy.
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  So I am here basically with a self-described crybaby.
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  I am thank you. I was like, how do I?
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  I'm going to introduce myself as such, but thank you for doing.
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  That no, it's just I think it's important that we all know that
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  I am not. I don't describe myself as a cry
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  baby. I do have emotions though, and I
• 1:27
  have cried a lot in K dramas. But you have been watching K
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  dramas for decades, definitely longer than I have.
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  And with all this dedicated watching, I basically would love
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  to hear your thoughts on sad and tragic K dramas.
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  So what have you been watching lately?
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  I know it's been really recent to the When Life Gives You
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  Tangerines episode, but if you have something you'd like to
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  share with the class before we do I.
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  Have something? That's a good point.
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  I am, yes. What is the name of that drama?
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  I actually really started, I was behind.
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  I had started it, watched the first like 2 episodes and kind
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  of forgotten about it. But it's the drama with Pak
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  Shinhei on Netflix where she's like, disguised as.
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  Miss Hong. Miss Hong?
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  Yes, Yeah. Miss something with Hong.
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  Yeah, I'm actually, I started marathoning it to catch up and I
• 2:13
  was like, I really am enjoying this.
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  Surprisingly. I, I know I said I was like, oh,
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  I was unsure when I finished the 1st 2 episodes, but that's
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  actually what I've been watching most recently, just kind of
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  catching up on it and it's actually pretty good.
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  It's pretty, pretty good. Nice, nice.
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  I like to hear it. That's definitely on my list of
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  finished 2026 and I think of that show did pretty well in
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  Korea, so. That's what I was wondering.
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  I didn't, I feel like I didn't hear much about it.
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  So I think that's why I forgot about it.
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  And then I went back to I was like, this is actually quality.
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  Like I don't why are more people talking about it?
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  But maybe like you said, it's in Korea.
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  It did really well. And that's what.
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  I'm not hearing. All right, so before we get into
• 2:53
  this really freestyle of an episode, please go ahead and
• 2:58
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• 3:00
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• 3:02
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• 3:40
  All right, so this is a different thing that we're going
• 3:43
  to do today. We're not going to be reviewing
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  a full K drama or C drama. We're going to talk about sad K
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  dramas and why they build stronger fandoms.
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  So we have watched quite a few sad K dramas in our time and I
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  think we want to kind of pose a few questions and one of them
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  is, if a drama made you miserable, why are you still
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  thinking about it years later? Why are you drawn to being
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  miserable? You know, so on and so forth.
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  I think that the core concept of this episode is sad.
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  K Dramas don't just tell stories, they create shared
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  emotional labor. And I think that comfort shows
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  have their place. Happy endings have their place,
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  but pain also has its place. Pain has its place.
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  I think the a lot of the time if a drama broke you emotionally
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  and made you feel things and especially sad things, you'll
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  kind of always remember it and never leave it.
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  I completely agree with that and I when you approach me of all
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  people to to be on this exact episode, I was like, Are you
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  sure you want me to be here? Just because I genuinely,
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  because I'm such a crybaby. I have a really, really hard
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  time watching sad K dramas. Like if I know beforehand that
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  it's super sad, I will avoid it most of the times.
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  Well, that's in recent years. Like back in the day when I was
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  starting my K drama journey, I watched whatever I could get my
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  hands on. So I was suffering through a lot
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  of dramas in the beginning there.
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  But over time, with all the K dramas that we have access to
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  now, I typically go out of my way to avoid dramas that I know
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  just the premise is sadness, to be honest.
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  But so I usually I think if people listen to me on my
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  podcast, they'll probably think that I dislike sad cave dramas.
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  Like that is one of my like, Nope, I don't like them.
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  But then going through like preparing for this episode, I
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  had a moment of like, you know what, let me really look at
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  this. Like, do I dislike sad cave
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  dramas or is it a type of K sad cave drama that I dislike?
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  And that is what I think a lot of my like notes on talking
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  about sad cave drama dramas today.
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  It kind of helped me realize like there's different types of
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  sad cave dramas and I think I prefer certain types.
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  So I do like sad cave dramas. It just isn't a certain ones.
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  And I think usually it's the ones that have the biggest
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  fandoms, the ones that, like you said, the shared experience of
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  like we suffered through this drama together, guys, you know,
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  let's, you know, hold our hands. We made it through.
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  You know, I don't know if those are my favorite, where I feel
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  like I had to suffer through a drama with people.
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  I'm like, guys, why are we doing this to ourselves?
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  So yeah, I just like, that was one of my kind of takeaways.
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  Preparing for this episode was like, actually, I do like sad K
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  dramas. It just has to be a certain type
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  of sad I think. OK I totally understand you
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  because I'm a mood watcher and so sometimes I don't want to
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  watch a sad K drama. Exactly.
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  I feel like feeling all these big feelings and prefer
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  something a little less involved or something with less heavy
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  lifting emotionally. And that's fine, except I feel
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  like there's a pervasive movement in K drama fandom where
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  let's avoid anything that hurts us.
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  You think so? You think there's a movement in
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  there? I.
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  Well, there are many people out here that only want the fluff,
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  only want the happy endings. Really get upset when they sign
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  up for a show that is too hot. People falling in love under
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  terrible circumstances, and when the circumstances overwhelm the
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  story in very believable ways, they get pissed.
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  Off Too much, it's too much. Yeah, Yeah, that is I, I guess
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  that's more on recent times probably, right.
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  Like I think you're, well, I wouldn't say maybe I think it is
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  sprinkled throughout time, the K drama time, but I do feel like,
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  yeah, I can see now the where it's like people go into K
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  dramas expecting a certain experience.
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  They want that. Escapism.
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  Yes. If I don't have that, then what
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  are you doing? Why would you do this to me?
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  Yeah, I get it. I get it.
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  They want that escapism. They want that, No emotional
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  labor. Yes, like, and I love that.
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  I mean, that's one of my favorite types, and that's just
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  to watch. Bash those shows.
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  No, no, I love. I love those shows too.
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  They have their place. But what I'm saying is these
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  shows, the tragic shows, the sad shows also have their place.
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  Absolutely. And I don't think we should
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  necessarily 365 days a year avoid.
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  These things? No, no.
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  Just because they make us a little uncomfortable, I think a
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  lot of that is the point. It is, yeah.
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  And I think it's, it's fascinating that we're talking
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  about this after doing when like, because I think you're, it
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  was a point in the episode that you said something like this is
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  the point of this. They're trying to, you know,
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  basically you're supposed to feel all of these feelings.
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  And I think when, like I said, when I was thinking about this
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  episode ahead of time, I was just like, you know what?
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  I think I have a hardest time with sad cave dramas, though,
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  when it is this kind of directive to be sad.
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  Like they're from episode 1. They're telling me you need to
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  be sad, this story, you're supposed to be sad.
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  And I feel like you're telling me how to feel and I don't
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  really appreciate that. And so that's when I was like,
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  when I think about the type of sad kids I'm sad, I do not
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  enjoy. Typically they are stories that
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  kind of from the episode 1, they're like, you know what, you
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  get prepared to just be sad the entire time.
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  Like I told you, when life gets you injuries, I cried every
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  episode. There was something in every
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  episode that made me just like, this is sad, you know, so I feel
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  like I was being told you get just be sad and get over it.
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  And I think that experience of like enduring the suffering of
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  the sad drama connects people too.
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  You're like, we all made it through this guy.
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  You know, we every episode you're crying, you're upset,
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  this is and you're like, Oh my gosh, look at what we did
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  together. We made it through this horrible
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  suffering. These we watched these
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  characters suffer through. And I'm like, I don't I don't
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  know. I don't wear that as a badge.
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  Sometimes it's like just sitting through the really, and I'm
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  really thinking about not when life gives you tantrum.
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  Specifically, I'm thinking about, you know, early 2000s and
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  how you wave the melodramas that everybody must die, everyone is
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  sick and everyone needs to die. No one can be happy kind of
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  kids. I think that's the ones I'm
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  thinking about where it's like from episode 1, they're telling
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  you just be sad and get over. It could just be sad.
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  I don't know. I'm not okay with that.
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  I prefer the sadness to kind to kind of like jump out at me and
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  kind of like what I can't believe this happened moment.
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  The ones that kind of breakthrough and you're like, I
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  didn't expect this to be so sad all of a sudden.
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  I really connect with those. You know what's really
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  interesting about what you're saying is that you like sad K
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  dramas when they're not overtly from episode 1 telling you how
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  to feel. Correct, correct.
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  And that's fine, because I I don't like seeing the strings
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  either. I don't.
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  Like seeing the strings the. Puppet master kind of thing in
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  AK drama or any show really, is like, hey, I'm seeing too much
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  of the mechanism. I don't like that.
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  I don't like that I'm put on an emotional leash here and I can
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  only feel one way. Yes, because I'm thinking about
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  when we did. I'm sorry.
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  I love you. Oh, remember, we did that one.
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  Remember. That's a good example of that
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  for me. It's like you get ready, Episode
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  1. Prepare to be sad all the way
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  through. You must be sad.
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  You know, I don't remember feeling much more about that and
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  sadness, that time and frustration and frustration and
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  maybe that. But yeah, heartbreaking sadness
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  was what I was only allowed to feel in that drama.
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  I'm thinking of western shows that have this missive to be sad
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  like that is the K drama melodramatic genre.
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  It's so. Unique.
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  It's unique. It's so unique.
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  Because I'm like, where have I watched a show that is pure pain
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  from start to? Finish.
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  I don't know if they have. In the West and I just don't
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  think there is that type of show.
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  And so it's like, OK, where do you go If you want, if you want
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  like a long form story, not a movie that does that.
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  You have to go overseas. And K dramas are uniquely
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  poised. They, I don't know what they do,
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  what they feed those writers, what they feed those actors.
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  Like I think the melodrama in K drama is amazing and fantastic.
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  And you do have to be in the mood for it.
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  And you do have to be willing to accept the pain, the hurt.
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  I will say I feel like sad dramas invite a lot of
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  conversation like we're having right now.
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  And it's not a lot of consensus. When you get strict happy
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  endings over and over and over again, I feel like that ends the
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  discussion. You know, when you're talking to
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  somebody about like, I don't know, business proposal or.
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  Very. I have very little.
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  I'm sorry I don't know, strong women tobling soon like these
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  are happy generally lighter. Consensus on oh this was fun.
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  This was fun, this was great. You know, it hit the spot.
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  It feels like you're eating something that everybody loves
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  and it's not necessarily challenging you at all.
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  Sad ending. Start debates, I think far none
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  they do. They do absolutely, which is my
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  favorite thing about sad evenings.
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  And I do think, well, again, I'm I'm picking on certain types of
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  dramas where it's like sad from episode 1-2 set to the sad
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  ending. You know, it's like we were just
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  going to be sad the whole way through.
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  I'm even. I think one that really stuck
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  out to me was Autumn in My Heart.
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  Yes, that's what I'm talking about this.
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  Is old. Like that's a 26 year old drama.
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  I believe it is but up there. But and and I don't necessarily
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  feel like it's showing its age other than everyone looks really
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  young. Everyone looks so baby and oh
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  they are just babies, but that is another example of those
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  experiences. Like I can't no one.
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  I feel like there's less debate with those type of dramas
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  because it's like it's sad from .1 to .10.
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  Well, I think the debate is, do you, do you accept it or do you
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  deny it? Do you accept what?
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  Do you accept the chain of events that led to this outcome?
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  And do you accept plot mechanics that feel so Shakespearean and
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  mythic that they just overwhelm these characters?
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  And you always want the best for characters, especially if
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  they're, you know, song Akio crying.
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  Yes. With yes, so much emotion and
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  and beauty, but like this, this isn't going to end well and I
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  don't think people like that things don't end well.
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  I I of course I want the fairy tale, of course, but I feel like
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  the way the autumn of my heart is set up is like, there is no
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  expectation that it's in well. Like I don't expect this gonna
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  in well so. The thing is that I feel.
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  Like we can. See, yes, the ship is going
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  down. You can see the ending and I
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  think that's what I don't enjoy. I don't enjoy the process of
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  watching the countdown. I don't like the countdown.
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  I don't like the countdown to the the bad sad ending.
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  I'd rather it be like, I did not know that was going to be a bad,
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  sad surprise. I like the surprise.
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  I like it to kind of just like, you know, take me for a loop and
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  I feel like a story like Autumn in my heart.
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  Just no, I I knew that was not going to end.
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  Well, what are some shows that really surprised you with their
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  melancholic ending? So I would say, and this is is
• 15:29
  not exactly my main example for this, but I wanted to jump on a
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  story like A to me, a drama that really just like the sadness
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  that is embedded in this story to me is my my cup of tea.
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  And it's going to people are going to like really that is
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  that even a sad drama? But heartless city, no heartless
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  city. I know that I knew that was
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  going to shock everybody, but I was like heartless city to me is
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  like, Nah, may you speak with me and sadness because there's this
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  beginning of the story where you have.
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  This is a noir for those who don't.
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  Know this is noir, yes, yes, and I love a good noir.
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  I'm a I'm a stand of a good noir.
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  I'm a stand of action, you know, romance like that is one of my
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  forte's. So heartless city has my heart
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  for all a lot of other reasons. But when I was thinking about
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  like a sad drama, to me this drama still rings like as like a
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  very sad experience for me because I think and I was
• 16:23
  looking into this when I was doing like my notes for this
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  episode and there was this I I don't know if you've heard of
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  it, but I came across this thought process of narrative
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  theory called rupture, like a rupture theory, where in a story
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  in a narrative, there's this moment where the the story gets
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  kind of blown open Like it just kind of like just like, Oh my
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  gosh, there's a huge hole in this story now that the
• 16:47
  characters have to kind of navigate around and it usually
• 16:50
  happens with like a major sudden death that's like a surprise.
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  So like in Heartland City, the beginning, you know, his, the
• 16:57
  detective, you know his fiance, I think she was the fiance, like
• 17:00
  her getting shot in the head in the opening of that drama, it's
• 17:03
  like, whoa, what is this? And then the rest of the
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  characters then have to go around and like their lives
• 17:11
  completely alter once that big rupture moment happens.
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  And I love that process of like, maybe instead of watching the
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  person die throughout 16 episodes, I like to see the the
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  process of grieving the death that happened already.
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  So like in Heartless City and then going in into like the
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  ending of Heartland City, Oh my gosh.
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  Like when I tell you that ending was just like another rupture
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  moment. And it's like those endings of
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  sadness that's like basically, you know, pure on consequences
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  of like what the characters have done throughout the course of
• 17:42
  that story. Like, yeah, this is what ended
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  up happening because of what you were doing this entire story.
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  Like this is the consequence. And like that sadness hurts me
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  more like because it was like kind of you could have avoided
• 17:55
  that, you know, But like autumn in my heart, like the the sad
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  terminal illness, like they can't avoid that sad ending, you
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  know, like this I can, you know, like the characters could have
• 18:04
  at some point avoided possibly this sad.
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  Ending but The thing is so here's The thing is that that
• 18:09
  terminal illness wasn't from jump that didn't happen from
• 18:12
  episode. One it didn't.
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  But it was like, all of these, you know, big feelings happening
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  throughout the show, and then boom, she gets this terrible
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  diagnosis. So you're like, Oh my God.
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  I know, I know. So it's not.
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  It's not necessarily that we are dealing with this, the rupture
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  of her terminal illness from an early episode.
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  We are dealing with it and hoping for the best, for a
• 18:37
  miracle, right. And I think to your point,
• 18:40
  Heartless City, the way I remember watching Heartless City
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  was this this noir, There's all of these characters who have
• 18:48
  secrets from each other and they're trying to, some of them
• 18:51
  are trying to do the right thing.
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  Some of them are not not villains, right?
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  But they're all throwing into the same gently increasing in
• 18:59
  heat pot, right? They're all on the stove.
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  Together in this boiling right now they're.
• 19:05
  Boiling slowly, and as the drama turns up the heat, you really
• 19:11
  expect some of these little frogs to jump out and save?
• 19:14
  Themselves you expect Exactly. And they don't.
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  And they don't. Yeah, there it is.
• 19:21
  Why not? Why didn't you?
• 19:23
  Yeah, exactly. So the sadness comes sort of
• 19:25
  like, why? Why did and why did that
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  sadness? And in a very similar sense,
• 19:29
  you're waiting for a miracle. True.
• 19:31
  You're hoping. For a miracle, you're hoping for
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  the best. Yeah.
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  But Nope. Nope, it doesn't come.
• 19:36
  But I guess, I guess I wouldn't compare Autumn Heart with that.
• 19:38
  My experience of I wouldn't think of more like.
• 19:40
  I mean, they're different tropes and different genres.
• 19:43
  But but I definitely could see the the idea of watching someone
• 19:48
  like for like said Autumn Heart, like the beginning where her
• 19:51
  being so down on her luck to the fullest extent.
• 19:54
  I mean, it was like this. She's not allowed to be happy.
• 19:57
  Like, you know, she is not allowed.
• 19:59
  Yeah. At no point.
• 20:00
  She must be sad. So we must be sad.
• 20:02
  And then you give her a terminal illness towards the end.
• 20:05
  It was just like, well, there goes that one.
• 20:07
  Like, I can't, I can't really remember a part was like, was
• 20:10
  she ever happy? Was there ever a moment where
• 20:13
  you gave her a situation where it's like she's enjoying her
• 20:15
  life for the first time? You know, it was never that way.
• 20:18
  So the satin, it was just so prescribed like from the very
• 20:21
  beginning all the way to them giving her a disease that kills
• 20:26
  her, you know, and it and I think I talked about this in my.
• 20:29
  Episode because I found a good article about this in K dramas
• 20:32
  from that time period about what happened in Bali.
• 20:35
  I was I was scared to bring it up because I was like yes OK.
• 20:42
  Because there was an article that talks about those types of
• 20:44
  dramas during that time being geared towards fatalism on
• 20:48
  purpose because the times were so dire.
• 20:51
  So it was like people needed to see on screen people doing worse
• 20:55
  off than themselves so that they themselves can kind of manage
• 20:59
  their life. That was not the best, you know?
• 21:02
  So I feel like that's another reason why Sad Kidron was,
• 21:05
  especially during that time, it was meant to make people join
• 21:08
  people in that collective of like, hey, your life may not be
• 21:11
  going the best right now, but look at these characters.
• 21:13
  She was tortured since she was a young girl, and look at her.
• 21:17
  And then she gets a disease and she dies.
• 21:18
  You know what I mean? I was like, your life is better
• 21:20
  compared to that. I think that I love that
• 21:22
  contest. Yeah, that.
• 21:23
  And it was an article about that, specifically about those
• 21:25
  dramas and what happened in Bali.
• 21:27
  It was one of those examples. They, they, I absolutely think
• 21:29
  that's. True.
• 21:30
  It's so true. It's so true.
• 21:31
  And I think there's an article that I saw last night about, I
• 21:35
  think it was, I want to say it was from berkeley.edu, I don't
• 21:38
  know, but it was about sad music.
• 21:39
  Like why do we love sad music? Why do we love torturing,
• 21:41
  torturing ourselves in that way? And one of the concepts it
• 21:45
  brought up was safe sadness. And it's basically an emotional
• 21:50
  gym. They give us, in this context,
• 21:52
  sad songs, but sad anything, right?
• 21:54
  Sad. Songs give us a safe, controlled
• 21:57
  space in which we can explore simulated sadness.
• 21:59
  They are the emotional equivalent of Neo sparring with
• 22:02
  Morpheus in the Matrix movie. And I'm like, OK, OK, let's
• 22:07
  experiment with and learn from this emotion.
• 22:10
  We can enhance our empathy, learn to better see things from
• 22:13
  other people's perspectives, and try out various responses to
• 22:16
  sadness. And it makes us better prepared
• 22:18
  in real life for when real loss strikes.
• 22:22
  So I think that's very true to have this like safe, controlled
• 22:26
  experience of sadness of these big emotions and not have the
• 22:32
  consequences of it, right? Like you can definitely unpack
• 22:36
  this on your own time, on your own terms, but there's nothing,
• 22:41
  you know, there's nothing impacting your life.
• 22:44
  You know there's nothing that's keeping you from going to work
• 22:46
  the next morning. Well, I think about, I mean, I'm
• 22:50
  like when I get really wrecked by a drama or a story like I I
• 22:55
  struggle for days after it. I do struggle to go to work
• 22:58
  soon, I say. Yeah.
• 23:02
  I mean, in this other article that I saw, there were a couple
• 23:06
  of scholars that named the feeling of being moved by a sad,
• 23:10
  poignant or bittersweet story as appreciation and suggests that
• 23:14
  people seek out stories that will elicit this feeling when
• 23:16
  they are hoping to uncover meaning or deeper truths.
• 23:19
  And I think that's definitely wrapped into this concept of
• 23:22
  when times are tough, why do people also seek out tough
• 23:26
  stories? It takes, like you said, it
• 23:29
  allows you to experience well, it also feels like the idea of
• 23:32
  like you get to see, hey, maybe my issues aren't as bad, right?
• 23:38
  Like maybe if you're like, I watch this story and this these
• 23:41
  horrible things happen to these characters and that's not
• 23:43
  happening to me. So the stuff that I am
• 23:46
  experiencing that may be, you know, a little bit uncomfortable
• 23:49
  in my life or things that I'm not enjoying doesn't mean that
• 23:52
  my life is the saddest, most horrible.
• 23:54
  Thing it gives you. Perspective.
• 23:56
  Yes, perspective. Gives you perspective, helps you
• 23:58
  feel grateful because your life isn't that bad.
• 24:01
  Like at least I don't have terminal illness after I found
• 24:03
  the love of my life. You know, that stuff really
• 24:07
  helps you combat those feelings of my life is terrible and it's
• 24:13
  really not. And it's not.
• 24:16
  And I don't see what's wrong with that, right?
• 24:18
  Like, that is also why we watch things.
• 24:20
  That's why we read things. That's why we listen to sad
• 24:22
  music. You know, you, you do need
• 24:24
  spaces to go to, to kind of put give you perspective on where
• 24:28
  you really are in your life. Like, OK, it's not I'm OK, I'm
• 24:31
  OK. It's not that bad.
• 24:32
  I can make it another day. You know, there's this article
• 24:36
  that I have been coming in and out of.
• 24:38
  I think it's from verywellmine.com, written by
• 24:40
  some PhD. And so the way that this article
• 24:44
  starts, I wanted to bring it up. It says throughout history,
• 24:47
  humans have been drawn to fictional sad stories, from
• 24:50
  Shakespeare's tragedies like Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet to
• 24:53
  challenging films like Schindler's List and Titanic.
• 24:55
  Why do we like sad things so much?
• 24:57
  And I was like, OK, let's sit on Titanic for a second.
• 25:00
  Because there's also been a movement in the last few years
• 25:03
  of like, terrorizing the actors that have been in Titanic,
• 25:07
  especially Kate Winslet. Every time they go in on some
• 25:09
  sort of interview, they're like, why couldn't Kate let him onto
• 25:13
  the door, let him onto that mantle or whatever the hell it
• 25:16
  was? Like he, Jack could have fit.
• 25:18
  He could have made it. He could have made it.
• 25:20
  He could have made it, Yep. And it's like, I don't give a
• 25:22
  shit if Jack could have made it. That's not the point.
• 25:25
  That's not the story. The point.
• 25:27
  He had to die. You had to die.
• 25:30
  Exactly. I think that is what we're
• 25:33
  getting at here is that a lot of the times it's not whether or
• 25:36
  not they could have made it. Of course there could have been
• 25:38
  a Hail Mary. If there could have been a
• 25:39
  miracle, of course, of course there could have been.
• 25:42
  Yes, of course there. Could It's a story.
• 25:43
  It's fiction. You can do whatever you want.
• 25:45
  You can do whatever you want. Yeah, exactly.
• 25:47
  I want to kill them, is what they said, he said.
• 25:49
  You know, I want to. I want them to die.
• 25:52
  So we take it. We take it and the the thing
• 25:56
  with Titanic is you would not remember Titanic other than the
• 25:59
  fact that it is based on a true tragedy.
• 26:01
  Yes. The fact that Jack dies in this
• 26:03
  that makes the whole movie. It does.
• 26:05
  I mean, it makes the love story. It makes a love story.
• 26:08
  It makes the love story. It's why she keeps.
• 26:10
  Remembering the rest. Of her life.
• 26:12
  He laughs in her life, this little lady, you know.
• 26:15
  She drops the the the necklace into the water.
• 26:18
  You know it's. Been 84 years and she's still
• 26:22
  thinking of Jack. About him?
• 26:24
  Like he died. For one of the love story,
• 26:25
  that's what he. Saved her ass.
• 26:27
  Exactly. If you didn't not kill him, she
• 26:30
  would have forgotten him. She would have forgotten.
• 26:32
  Him. You think that relationship was
• 26:33
  gonna last on land? On land, it wasn't.
• 26:35
  It wasn't. Come on it.
• 26:37
  Wasn't it? Wasn't the classes.
• 26:40
  Their statuses were different. It couldn't happen, you know.
• 26:43
  So I don't like that, that conversation.
• 26:46
  I think that's like one O 1 level of like, hey, it's fun in
• 26:50
  the moment to terrorize Kate Winslet and be like, why
• 26:52
  couldn't you let Jack on the door?
• 26:54
  But I'm sure Kate feels some type of way about how the plot
• 27:00
  progressed. And he's like, yeah, but that's
• 27:03
  happened. It had to happen.
• 27:05
  There's a lot of stories like that, too, in Kate Drama Land
• 27:07
  where you're like, that just had to happen, sorry to say.
• 27:10
  And some of those stories really bother people, like the endings
• 27:14
  of 2521, The Red Slave, the ending of Moon Lovers Scholar
• 27:21
  How Rio, the ending of Mr. Sunshine, Youth of May.
• 27:26
  All of these stories are a version of Why Couldn't Jack Get
• 27:32
  on the? Door get on the door like did
• 27:34
  this happened 2521? I love that you brought up
• 27:40
  because I was the biggest fan of that ending.
• 27:44
  Like I to this day I think I stood 10 toes on like that was
• 27:48
  lovely. That was beautiful.
• 27:50
  Like it was, it wasn't sad. It felt purposeful.
• 27:53
  It felt meaningful. Like it felt just like a real
• 27:58
  honest ending for those characters, as in like their
• 28:02
  story, their personalities, the way that they were presented on
• 28:05
  screen. Those characters would have
• 28:06
  chosen that decision. Sorry.
• 28:08
  I believe them, you know, And so I love that you said that about
• 28:11
  2521 where people were like up in arms.
• 28:14
  Up and they were like they could have made it they.
• 28:16
  Could have made it, but I but I also I know people heard my
• 28:20
  theory on this. I was like, I do believe them
• 28:23
  that in their old age they would have found each other again.
• 28:25
  Like she would have got, yeah, I definitely have this theory like
• 28:29
  they would, but it would have been the couple that.
• 28:31
  What an epic epilogue. I know I have a beautiful
• 28:34
  epilogue, so maybe that's why I also was so OK with the ending.
• 28:37
  But I was like, you know, she eventually, you know, something
• 28:39
  happens with her husband. She's no longer with him.
• 28:41
  He never marries. And then I mean, they are in
• 28:44
  their old age and they see the, you know, see the end together.
• 28:48
  Like I. I gotta be honest, you can do
• 28:52
  4541. I you can convince me easily.
• 28:56
  I would eat it up with a huge spoon.
• 28:59
  Like if they wanted to do I-55 me 51, tag me in, Tag me in
• 29:04
  5550, tag me in. I I'm ready.
• 29:08
  I am ready. I could help with that one.
• 29:09
  That would be a beauty. I mean, I can see it already.
• 29:12
  I can see it already. It wouldn't be sad, Andy.
• 29:14
  I like how you and that's you bring up a great point.
• 29:17
  Is that like, no matter what the sad ending is, you can find some
• 29:22
  respite from it and you can ease your way out of the the pain,
• 29:28
  whether you imagine these characters in a better scenario
• 29:33
  down the line or what have you. And I think that's the power of
• 29:37
  imagination. A lot of people don't got
• 29:39
  imagination. I got tons of it.
• 29:41
  I got tons. Even for open endings, I'm like,
• 29:44
  oh, that's very open to interpretation, but I interpret
• 29:47
  it this way. You can interpret it the
• 29:49
  positive way, glass half full, or you can interpret it
• 29:51
  negatively and say oh they didn't end up together, they
• 29:53
  died, whatever. Yes.
• 29:55
  And glass half empty. It just depends.
• 29:58
  You can give yourself that comfort if you want.
• 30:01
  To if you want to, I've been. Then Speaking of that, do you
• 30:05
  feel like there are moments? Are there stories for you or
• 30:07
  especially like K dramas where you're like, you cannot soothe
• 30:10
  yourself afterwards? Like it was like this is I
• 30:12
  can't. I don't know how I can picture
• 30:16
  what I can't believe this happened.
• 30:17
  Like I am rocking back and forth in a, you know, white padded
• 30:22
  room. Like this broke me.
• 30:25
  I mean, I have those because I'm a sucker for these type of
• 30:28
  stories. But like I definitely feel like
• 30:29
  there are some I to this family. I can't.
• 30:32
  I don't think I can move on. From I think there's some that
• 30:35
  leave me with a little more shock than others.
• 30:38
  That's what I mean, OK. And not necessarily that like
• 30:41
  they're dragging me away into a padded room like they made it.
• 30:44
  I they were together. I they didn't.
• 30:48
  I would say Move to Heaven is one of those where I was like a
• 30:52
  very close. To Amber watched it and for a
• 30:55
  good reason. It was sad.
• 30:57
  And mind you, move to Heaven is really positive, like it's a
• 31:01
  positive look on grief and healing.
• 31:04
  And I'm still like, this is very, very strong, strong
• 31:07
  espresso on that one, my Mr. a little and that one again ends.
• 31:13
  On a positive it does, but it was a sadness that was to me
• 31:19
  such AI always described as like a palpable.
• 31:21
  I could taste it, I could feel it.
• 31:23
  It was all over me by throughout the entire drama, it's like this
• 31:26
  sadness is I I can't shake it. So even when you get to that
• 31:30
  ending where it's like there's a little bit of a positive note
• 31:32
  here and I still can't shake, that's sadness.
• 31:36
  Yeah, yeah. It's like a way to blanket on.
• 31:38
  Oh wait, hey, hey, we like a good way to blanket.
• 31:41
  But then. You enjoy a good way to blanket.
• 31:44
  This is not that comfortable. OK, I want it off of me
• 31:46
  actually. What's another one?
• 31:48
  Goblin come. On I have Goblin written down.
• 31:52
  For this, I wanted us to talk about Goblin.
• 31:54
  OK, go for it. I definitely feel like Goblin
• 31:57
  for me is a great example of that of this, this idea of, you
• 32:02
  know what, I think this is a category of stories or K dramas
• 32:06
  that really get to me. And it's this mortality like as
• 32:10
  the frame, like it's not about like over, you know, terminal in
• 32:14
  this where someone's gonna die by the end.
• 32:16
  But it's like this idea of like, because you're a human, it's
• 32:20
  sad, you know, like, because, because you are human, because
• 32:23
  you have the capability to die, you know, this is the, the, the
• 32:27
  story because like with Goblin, he's immortal and because he
• 32:30
  can't die, there's sadness in that he sees all these people
• 32:33
  that he cares about over time die.
• 32:35
  So it's like the fact of just being mortal is the sad thing,
• 32:39
  you know what I mean? Right.
• 32:40
  And fate as well. That one's and fate a lot of.
• 32:43
  People on faith but go heavy on faith.
• 32:45
  So yeah, Goblin for me was just like, I it's also a drama.
• 32:49
  I always say like, I wish I could experience it for the
• 32:51
  first time again. Like is that type of drama?
• 32:53
  Because the way it shook me away, it just completely took me
• 32:56
  for a loop. I can't experience that again
• 32:59
  now that I've seen it and now that I've gone through the loop.
• 33:01
  So you know what I mean? So it's such a sad, Oh my God,
• 33:05
  it gets to me just thinking about that ending.
• 33:07
  I'm like, really guys? It gets to me.
• 33:09
  I think it's powerful when we can explore anguish.
• 33:12
  Anguish. Oh, I think anguish is beautiful
• 33:15
  when their story is able to describe anguish and then you
• 33:19
  have a beautiful performance on top because you know that
• 33:22
  everybody can't express anguish the same.
• 33:24
  Like I feel like that's another another experience, like the
• 33:27
  acting. Everyone can't just be a good
• 33:30
  actor in sad drama. Some people don't cry the best,
• 33:32
  Some people cry beautifully. You know exactly that adds to
• 33:35
  it, you know? But anguish and goblin, I mean
• 33:39
  you. Get it like in the vanish,
• 33:41
  you're like, Oh my God, that's. Shit, it, it hurts.
• 33:45
  I mean, yes, I love that and experiencing anguish and it's
• 33:50
  just in a drama. It can really get to you.
• 33:53
  It can. Yeah, I think we're touching on
• 33:55
  the fact that we think anguish, when done well, is beautiful.
• 33:57
  It is beautiful. It's beautiful.
• 33:59
  I don't think a lot of people see it that way too.
• 34:01
  Is that sad things and bad things happening to good people?
• 34:06
  That is its own beauty. It is.
• 34:09
  Unfortunately, it sounds. Weird.
• 34:11
  Yeah, it's. It's weird to say, but it is.
• 34:13
  The article that talks about sad music from Berkeley Edu said
• 34:18
  sadness might just happen to coincide with beauty.
• 34:21
  Indeed, seeing acts of moral virtue or beauty have been
• 34:24
  suggested to provoke feelings of elevation and can touch, move
• 34:26
  and inspire us. This is what much tragic art
• 34:30
  does. It takes the pain and the
• 34:31
  suffering and the sadness of the world and gives it meaning.
• 34:34
  It does because a lot of things about I think the problem with
• 34:38
  the human mind and experiences, the ability that we want to
• 34:42
  always be able to understand and explain and be like this makes
• 34:46
  sense because of XY and Z. And when you sometimes put these
• 34:49
  stories out there where it's like, why did this happen to
• 34:52
  this? This person, you're like, I
• 34:54
  don't have an explanation like why, why, why, why?
• 34:57
  That really can hurt us. So giving us something like a
• 35:00
  drama and some watching a character go through something
• 35:03
  and then having them kind of explain why bad things happen to
• 35:07
  good people sometimes. Or like this is this is what can
• 35:10
  happen when you do this, you know, you're kind of like, OK,
• 35:13
  OK, I kind of understand why sometimes bad things can happen.
• 35:17
  And I and I think it helps. It helps make sense all the bad
• 35:19
  stuff because we like to make sense of things.
• 35:21
  I agree, yeah, we try and process a lot of things and
• 35:25
  there's different ways to do that.
• 35:26
  One of those is to experience it secondhand through these
• 35:30
  stories. I don't.
• 35:32
  I truly don't think there's a reason to avoid it all the time.
• 35:36
  I OK, yes, yes. And like I said, I was coming
• 35:40
  into this thinking like, oh, I'm the person who hates watching
• 35:43
  sad dramas, but I'm not. I like, I realized that like I'm
• 35:45
  not, it's just the type of sadness that I avoid personally,
• 35:49
  but I do not mind watching a drama where there's like a heart
• 35:53
  wrenching, heartbreaking ending. You know, that was like, Oh my
• 35:56
  gosh, I can't believe that happened.
• 35:57
  You know, I do like a good sad drama and I don't avoid them
• 36:00
  always. I promise I don't, but I don't.
• 36:03
  I agree. I don't avoid them all the time.
• 36:06
  I think the way that the ones that I avoid tend to be trauma
• 36:09
  bonding stories where like two people go through the same
• 36:12
  horrific thing. Yeah, and they find solace in
• 36:15
  each other. I don't know why that does not
• 36:18
  work for me. It does not work 90%.
• 36:20
  Of the time. Yeah, 90% and I and I.
• 36:23
  Think for me personally. I I'm also on that train for me
• 36:27
  as well, and I think my other one is, and everyone knows this
• 36:30
  and this is a personal thing like terminal illness.
• 36:32
  That is the one I. You cannot get.
• 36:34
  I cannot do it. I literally like when life gives
• 36:38
  you Tangerine. I was watching that drama a
• 36:41
  little bit after it had aired, like its first part, like so I
• 36:44
  was delayed. And so when I got to episode 6,
• 36:47
  I believe when she lost her son, as horrific as that moment was,
• 36:52
  that wasn't a reason for me to stop watching the drama.
• 36:54
  What made me stop watching the drama a year ago was the fact
• 36:58
  that I got spoiled that our lovely, you know, Mel Lee was
• 37:02
  going to get sick and die. Like I just was like, I'm not
• 37:05
  going to watch that. And that forced me to completely
• 37:08
  stop watching that drama when I was I was enjoying it
• 37:11
  originally. So I feel like I have a really
• 37:14
  hard time. I have a really, really hard
• 37:16
  time. And it's just a personal thing.
• 37:18
  I think it's just something that it's like a personal fear of
• 37:21
  mine. So I feel like I think that's
• 37:23
  why I don't appreciate it. But I will say, and just
• 37:26
  watching some of them at times, when I do force myself through
• 37:29
  these, it does help me personally process that concept
• 37:34
  a little bit better each time. So it's like as much as I do
• 37:37
  avoid those stories that have that in it, the few times that I
• 37:41
  can get one down, I can actually stomach it like autumn in my
• 37:44
  heart, you know, or you know, when life gives you tangerine,
• 37:46
  when I can actually go back and and watched it each time, I feel
• 37:50
  like it helps me process it again.
• 37:52
  So it goes back to what we were just talking about.
• 37:54
  Like it helps me make sense of this thing that is just like,
• 37:58
  for me, it really, really kind of throws me for a loop.
• 38:01
  So yeah, I think that's how it is with most sad dramas.
• 38:04
  I think everybody has like a category and it's like, yeah,
• 38:07
  no, I'm just not going to enjoy that one.
• 38:10
  I already can tell you like you said, like they're trauma
• 38:13
  bonding 1. I mean, what is a good example
• 38:16
  of 1? I personally bring up Just
• 38:18
  Between Lovers AKA Rainer. Trump never watched.
• 38:21
  Never watched? Yeah, that one I watched 15 out
• 38:24
  of 16 episodes and was like, you know what?
• 38:26
  I'm done, you said. I'm done.
• 38:28
  Yeah, after watching 15 out of 16, you said.
• 38:31
  But. I just go back and watch the
• 38:33
  final episode. Yes, you should probably just go
• 38:35
  back, but I have done that before.
• 38:37
  You're just like, I'm not even watching the last episode.
• 38:39
  I just can't. Why?
• 38:40
  Why bother? Why do it?
• 38:42
  So don't go back. Actually, don't.
• 38:44
  Don't. Stick to my guns.
• 38:45
  Stick to it. Stick to it.
• 38:48
  Oh my goodness. We've brought up a few dramas,
• 38:50
  some of them are in this genre of slice of life.
• 38:55
  Would you go out on a limb and say that sadness is the
• 38:58
  lifeblood of slice of life dramas?
• 39:00
  No, no, I don't. I don't think so.
• 39:04
  You think so. You think Sadness is the the
• 39:07
  kind of like Lifeline that keeps those going through?
• 39:09
  Because when I think of I'm a huge fan of slice of life
• 39:12
  dramas, but to me, I feel like the ones.
• 39:16
  I don't think you can have a slice of life drama and have it
• 39:19
  just be happy. No, absolutely not.
• 39:22
  I don't agree with that. Yeah, I completely agree with
• 39:24
  that. You can't be happy all the way
• 39:27
  because I think that's the point of the slice of life drama.
• 39:29
  Is it supposed to have this this realism to it?
• 39:33
  And part of the realistic living life is that sometimes things
• 39:37
  are good, something things are bad.
• 39:39
  You know, sometimes you're happy, sometimes you're sad.
• 39:41
  So I think to me, the fact that slice of dramas do a great job
• 39:45
  or should it to me do a great job of showing, showcasing those
• 39:49
  kind of ups and downs in life, to me, it feels less sad.
• 39:52
  It feels more lived through an experience.
• 39:55
  They're like, just like, oh, these are the experiences.
• 39:57
  And sometimes, like I said, they're happy and sometimes
• 39:59
  they're sad, but I feel like there's other stories.
• 40:02
  Like a melodrama, if it's not sad, it's not a melodrama.
• 40:05
  You know, like we, it's not as it cannot.
• 40:07
  That's not the genre, then it's not, it's not the genre.
• 40:09
  Yeah. So I feel like that is where I
• 40:11
  feel like it's the lifeline of a, of a melodrama.
• 40:13
  It's like you have to just be sad throughout most of it.
• 40:16
  But life I see a lot of like just, you know, sometimes you're
• 40:21
  good, sometimes you're bad. You take the good, you take the
• 40:24
  bad, you take them both. And there you have the facts of
• 40:27
  life. Hey, when you started arriving
• 40:32
  y'all should have seen my face. Lola, it's that song.
• 40:38
  You know, they never know the show The Facts of Life.
• 40:40
  I've never seen Clooney, George Clooney.
• 40:42
  I've never seen the young George Clooney.
• 40:43
  Oh, my gosh, I'm showing my age. Oh, yeah.
• 40:46
  Facts of Life. That was a good one.
• 40:48
  But I I always agreed with that. So that was the theme song.
• 40:51
  You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both.
• 40:53
  And there you have the facts of life that I live by that.
• 40:55
  I was like, yeah, that is life, right?
• 40:57
  Like sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad.
• 40:59
  Sometimes it rains, sometimes it pours.
• 41:01
  Pours. You're so silly.
• 41:05
  Sometimes it rains, sometimes it pours.
• 41:07
  I love the call and response. You're waiting for it.
• 41:10
  You're like and pour. Man, I feel like a preacher.
• 41:15
  I love to say I was giving church completely.
• 41:18
  It's like, all right, everybody come on, fill it in.
• 41:20
  What is it? What is the finish the
• 41:21
  Scripture? You know I love your neighbor.
• 41:26
  Let's talk about sadness that feels earned in K drama,
• 41:30
  storytelling, and maybe some K dramas that don't feel earned in
• 41:35
  their sadness. I would love to hear your
• 41:38
  example of AK drama that does not feel earned and it's
• 41:42
  sadness. Is it?
• 41:43
  Too antagonistic to. Say, when you start like that,
• 41:48
  I'm like, oh, it is, it is. Moon Lovers.
• 41:52
  Scarlet Heart. Rio.
• 41:53
  Completely agree. Completely agree.
• 41:55
  I was wondering, I was going to struggle with this category.
• 41:57
  And so that's why I was like, I need to hear what you say.
• 41:59
  And then you said Boo, say less. That's exactly one of them.
• 42:02
  I mean, that's the drama where I was like, I could stop watching
• 42:05
  this second to last episode. Like I was so over that drama.
• 42:09
  By the end of it, the sadness felt like I didn't feel sadness.
• 42:13
  I'm going to be honest, how do I I did not.
• 42:15
  I want to be as kind as possible because I left it all on the
• 42:17
  dance floor on the deep dive review on the feed.
• 42:21
  So if you want to go back and listen to my true full thoughts
• 42:25
  on Moon lovers, you can, but it just feels like a joke.
• 42:29
  I told you I by the end I didn't want any parts of that drama.
• 42:33
  I was like, you know what, y'all can have this, have it, take it.
• 42:36
  Do you have any other shows that feel earned or unearned?
• 42:40
  I definitely have earned, OK, I definitely have earned, but I'm
• 42:44
  like I'm struggling with unearned, but I do for earned, I
• 42:46
  think, and you got I I know you have said you've you said some
• 42:50
  things to me about this drama before.
• 42:52
  So I was like, this is a perfect one to bring up and have just
• 42:55
  make a face. You're ready, you're ready.
• 42:59
  Oh my ghost. Oh.
• 43:03
  Yes. Oh my gosh, people love that
• 43:06
  show and I just keep quiet. I love it.
• 43:09
  I love it. I know you have a feel, a way.
• 43:12
  I talk to you about it. Just talk to me about this show.
• 43:15
  First of all, this is a show where there's basically two
• 43:19
  female leads. 1 is a ghost, one is alive.
• 43:22
  They're vastly different personalities, ones like
• 43:24
  obsessed with sex and then the other one.
• 43:27
  Nuts. No, no, don't do that to her.
• 43:30
  Don't say she. Is obsessed she's.
• 43:32
  Not. Getting in the male leads pants.
• 43:34
  I don't think I'm wrong in saying that.
• 43:36
  It's because she died of virgin, guys.
• 43:38
  How about that? Come on, guys, give her some
• 43:41
  credit. She's not.
• 43:42
  She's dead. She's dead.
• 43:45
  The male lead falls in love with her as she's possessed this
• 43:49
  other the living other girl. OK, that's the basic premise of
• 43:53
  the show. Talk to me about Oh my Ghost.
• 43:55
  I actually really enjoyed the drama, even though, even though
• 43:59
  I can feel like there's a lot of there, the premise of him
• 44:03
  falling in love with her within this other person's body was
• 44:08
  really hard for me because, and that's what was so sad.
• 44:10
  That's what was so sad about this problem to me.
• 44:12
  You start the story with this ghost after, you know, this girl
• 44:16
  who is young and dies and is murdered horribly, right?
• 44:20
  And the story is this mystery of trying to figure out who killed
• 44:22
  her and whatnot, but also her getting to experience a life
• 44:25
  that she did not get to experience because she died
• 44:27
  young. And so that to me, that premise
• 44:30
  is like completely sad. And then you're watching her be
• 44:35
  in love with this man as a ghost vicariously, not vicariously,
• 44:39
  but by possession, getting to experience this love affair with
• 44:43
  this guy who she does not get to be with because she's dead, you
• 44:47
  know? So I just felt that was so me
• 44:49
  super sad. So I felt like I was sad the the
• 44:52
  entire drama because I was like, this is really, really sad when
• 44:55
  you think about it. Like she is dead and she never
• 44:58
  got the opportunity to live this life.
• 45:00
  And then there's this other girl that she's possessing who does
• 45:03
  get to live this life. I think it's sad.
• 45:08
  I think it don't. Well, The thing is, I did not
• 45:10
  buy into the show at all. I know, I know.
• 45:13
  I was like, I want to hear you talk about how you don't, but.
• 45:16
  I mean, Long story short, anytime a story has this setup
• 45:21
  where a dead person, you know, a ghost or something, falls in
• 45:26
  love with a living person, I'm like, why are we here?
• 45:29
  Why are we here? Why are we here?
• 45:33
  Hey, they don't happen that often.
• 45:36
  They don't, right? I don't think they do.
• 45:39
  I think they're a novelty. Wasn't Hotel de Luna the same
• 45:42
  setup? Maybe.
• 45:44
  And I said. I love how you were like.
• 45:46
  And I and I said I Hotel de Luna, so you know, I might have
• 45:51
  like this might be a taste thing.
• 45:53
  OK, no, I do genuinely think I I enjoy those stories because I am
• 45:56
  a sucker for what's the word. I guess ghost possession is a
• 46:00
  great one of these channels. Like when someone's mistaken
• 46:03
  identity, like the the trope is like they're not who they really
• 46:06
  are kind of thing. I think that's just one of my
• 46:08
  favorite tropes and dramas that. I don't mind.
• 46:11
  Mistaken identity, That one I don't mind.
• 46:13
  I guess it's like offshoot to me.
• 46:16
  It's like this isn't the person. Yeah, sub drama.
• 46:19
  So I think that's why I think I buy into it.
• 46:23
  Okay, I buy into it okay. I think it's earned.
• 46:27
  I think it's a sad premise. I know you don't just, but I was
• 46:30
  like, I generally wanted to bring it up so that.
• 46:33
  You got another one on your list that feels earned.
• 46:36
  Let's see, yes? What about Queen for seven days?
• 46:42
  I've never seen that one. I want to see it so bad.
• 46:46
  I refuse to watch it the year that it aired.
• 46:49
  And it was only like maybe 10 years later that I finally
• 46:52
  watched it because I was like, it's going to be super sad.
• 46:54
  So I avoided it for like a decade.
• 46:57
  Oh my God. And then finally watched it and
• 46:58
  I was like, yeah, this is a lot better than I was expecting.
• 47:02
  And it was to me, the sadness was completely earned because
• 47:05
  it's, you know, it's based off of this historical, real,
• 47:08
  historical people. And so, you know, the ending of
• 47:12
  their story, right? You already know how this ends.
• 47:14
  And so it was this process of, Oh my gosh, this is not going to
• 47:18
  end well kind of thing. And the ending to me still rang
• 47:22
  after, you know, like that feeling of like, once you finish
• 47:25
  the drama and that ending, just kind of like, I can't get it out
• 47:28
  of my head. I can't believe it happened.
• 47:30
  So I highly recommend that that drama.
• 47:33
  It took me years to watch it. And then when I did finally
• 47:36
  watch it, I was not disappointed.
• 47:38
  At all. I definitely want to watch that
• 47:40
  show. It's been on my watch list for
• 47:42
  years and years and years. Love it.
• 47:44
  It seems right up my alley. That was for me, it was like I
• 47:46
  should watch this, but I don't know if I'm prepared and ready
• 47:49
  to watch it. And I wasn't disappointed I
• 47:52
  wasn't. So I think that would be an
• 47:53
  earned one. Another one I would probably put
• 47:55
  on my list. What about the light in your
• 47:58
  eyes? You remember that one?
• 48:00
  The light in your eyes. This one, I don't know, maybe
• 48:03
  you haven't seen it. But this I don't think it's in
• 48:05
  this one. Is this with?
• 48:07
  Nam Jhuyuk yes. And Han Ji Min, I actually, it
• 48:11
  was a short one. It was like the beginning of the
• 48:13
  12 episodes, you know, kind of thing.
• 48:16
  And I avoided it for a little while and then it was like a
• 48:19
  couple years after it already aired.
• 48:20
  I really ended up being like, oh, this is really good.
• 48:23
  But I also thought it was sad because it's like it is older
• 48:26
  woman having this. We get to see this older woman
• 48:30
  experience herself as a young woman again, but it's like a
• 48:33
  fantasy because you don't know she's really, it's not really
• 48:36
  her, you know, it's a whole thing.
• 48:37
  It's kind of complicated. But I thought it was really sad
• 48:40
  because it was this kind of thing about being aging.
• 48:42
  You know what I mean? Like you're getting to this
• 48:44
  point and you and your mental capabilities aren't the same as
• 48:47
  they used to be. I feel like those are really sad
• 48:49
  stories. So I feel like that was our
• 48:51
  earned scenario for me for sure. You know what I was thinking of,
• 48:54
  and it doesn't have anything to do with earned or unearned.
• 48:56
  I was thinking back to one of the earliest melodramas that I
• 48:59
  watched, and it was Spring Waltz.
• 49:05
  Yeah, I did not enjoy Spring Waltz.
• 49:07
  Was I the only one? Like that was the least favorite
• 49:10
  of mine out of the. I ate of Spring Waltz.
• 49:14
  No, you did not. Yes, that's the drama that stars
• 49:19
  Han Kyo Jo. She is in the show from 2006.
• 49:23
  It's the final installment of the season drama series.
• 49:28
  And we've already mentioned Autumn in My Heart, Spring
• 49:31
  Waltz. Man, I really enjoyed that show.
• 49:34
  I have to rewatch it I think to see how it holds up.
• 49:37
  Because this one is another one sick and, you know, sick and
• 49:40
  dying, you know, like I'm sick and dying, man, like forget me.
• 49:45
  I can't. And I think I at that point, I
• 49:47
  think I was over it. I think by spring Waltz I was
• 49:50
  like, OK, guys, I'm done of the I'm done.
• 49:53
  So maybe I'm being harsh on Spring Waltz because it was the
• 49:56
  last of the the the. I did see it in a vacuum, you
• 49:59
  know, I didn't know about the season series.
• 50:02
  I didn't see the other ones yet. So.
• 50:05
  That true, I can see how that one would have been.
• 50:07
  OK, Yeah I can see that. OK, I can steps, but I have not
• 50:10
  seen it since, so I could be like I said, really judging it
• 50:14
  harshly still from just that one time and being like I'm done
• 50:18
  with this, I'm over it guys, stop dying.
• 50:22
  You know, I think that could have been, you know, where I was
• 50:25
  at that point. So we talked about some safe
• 50:28
  sadness, we talked about the beauty in tragic art, and we've
• 50:32
  talked about some of the psychology behind why these
• 50:34
  stories move us and make us remember them long after we
• 50:38
  finished watching them. Are there some recommendations
• 50:42
  that you want to give to people who kind of want to explore this
• 50:46
  side of K drama, who might have been avoiding it, who might want
• 50:50
  to prepare for the pain, all the things?
• 50:55
  All the things, yeah, I definitely do.
• 50:57
  I mean, I've already talked about a few that, you know, one
• 50:59
  just completely ripped to shreds.
• 51:01
  But I will say, and I think you had this on your list too, one
• 51:05
  of the first one I like to think of is 49 days.
• 51:08
  Oh yes. I really enjoyed 49 days when it
• 51:12
  was airing and it was sad. It was definitely sad.
• 51:15
  And this one is, you know, it's a older drama, so I know most
• 51:18
  people don't like to go back too far, but it is a fantasy kind of
• 51:22
  melodrama experience. And it does have to do with the
• 51:25
  loss of some a loved one and then also this idea of
• 51:29
  processing loss. And you know it, to me, it's so
• 51:32
  beautiful and and even the name of the 49 days, you know, this
• 51:36
  idea like in Korean culture, needing 49 days to properly
• 51:40
  mourn, you know, a loss of a loved 1.
• 51:42
  So I think it's a wonderful sad drama because it does a
• 51:45
  beautiful job at showing the process of grieving and grief
• 51:49
  and mourning in this fantastical way.
• 51:52
  So I highly recommend 49 days. Yes, it's an older drama, but
• 51:56
  it's a good one. I also this one, I don't know if
• 51:59
  people have a lot of access to watching but it's me and my kind
• 52:02
  of noir action romance kind of area, but it's called A man's
• 52:08
  story. Does anybody know this one?
• 52:11
  Like this is one of my favorite dramas of all time and I don't
• 52:14
  know if I feel like nobody watched it or they even know it
• 52:18
  existed, but this one is to me a good example of corruption and
• 52:25
  tragedy. You know, like the characters,
• 52:27
  you know, it's dealt to a bad hand, right?
• 52:30
  And then they get to choose, do I do the wrong thing or do I do
• 52:33
  the right thing? Right?
• 52:35
  And in the process of them doing the wrong thing, they try to do
• 52:37
  some right things, but then they do some more wrong thing, you
• 52:39
  know what I mean? So it's like this back and forth
• 52:41
  for the main character and then it ends up leading to that big
• 52:45
  rupture moment. You know, it's like, Oh no, you
• 52:48
  know what I mean? Like this could have been a kind
• 52:50
  of avoided but it but you chose the wrong way.
• 52:53
  So I feel like it's a beautiful and it's revenge book suit story
• 52:57
  as well. So a man story if you can find
• 53:01
  it. It's also, I think, called
• 53:02
  Slingshot. Slingshot, Yes, that's the other
• 53:04
  name. Yes.
• 53:05
  And that's. Show aired in 2009.
• 53:08
  The show you recommended before 49 days is from 2011.
• 53:12
  I'm old guys, I. It's I'm not saying you're old,
• 53:16
  I'm just telling people because sometimes I don't know, it's a.
• 53:19
  Little I don't find these. It is, it is.
• 53:21
  And I feel like a man's story is going to be a hard 1.
• 53:23
  The slingshot is going to be a hard one.
• 53:24
  But it's to me one of the best action kind of noir romance cave
• 53:28
  dramas that came out. And it also has a sad story as
• 53:32
  far as like the lead actor, he ended up killing himself at some
• 53:36
  point, unfortunately. So trigger warning there.
• 53:39
  So it's hard for me to also go back to it, if that makes sense
• 53:42
  because of knowing that what happened to him.
• 53:44
  So it was just like, OK, this is maybe that's why it's such a
• 53:48
  hard drama to find as well. But it's a really good one.
• 53:51
  It was and he did amazing and it's unfortunate for sure.
• 53:55
  Another one I would put on there that you're going to judge me on
• 54:00
  this one. I just now I hit it.
• 54:03
  You know what, now I feel really bad because I'm now hearing you
• 54:07
  remember how you were like, Oh, that's not that rare.
• 54:09
  You know, like they actually have that story is the, you
• 54:12
  know, the ghost story. Like actually if there's a war
• 54:15
  that I thought it was a wrong in the magistrate.
• 54:19
  Oh yeah. I actually really, really love
• 54:22
  that drama and I think it's sad. Like the premise, of course, is
• 54:25
  about this girl who again, same as the I did Oh my ghost.
• 54:30
  You know, she's a ghost at the very start of the story and
• 54:33
  you're trying to kind of unravel that.
• 54:35
  But I love that. I thought it was really good.
• 54:38
  It doesn't do well with CGI. I mean, it looks old.
• 54:41
  It looks it looks his age. I'm going to be 100% honest with
• 54:44
  people. It definitely looks his age.
• 54:45
  But I really enjoyed the story and there's an amazing
• 54:49
  performance throughout it. And I definitely think the
• 54:52
  highlight of that is actually the actor John Woo Jin, one of
• 54:55
  my favorite actors. He kills it in that so and he's
• 54:58
  not even he's like the second male lead completely kills it
• 55:01
  and he makes it really sad for me at times too.
• 55:04
  So definitely another one. I would recommend another oldie.
• 55:07
  I'm trying to think of newer ones now because now I can.
• 55:09
  Jump in. I'll recommend a couple.
• 55:11
  So I'll recommend Light Shop from 2024.
• 55:16
  This one has a really strong cast and a very strong concept
• 55:22
  premise, my Dramala synopsis reads.
• 55:24
  The series follows the story of a group of strangers who are all
• 55:27
  having a hard time processing a horrible experience from their
• 55:29
  past. Each of them is going about
• 55:31
  their normal lives when they are all strangely pulled to a light
• 55:34
  shop located on the end of a dubious alleyway.
• 55:36
  A cautious shopkeeper guards the light shop, which may contain
• 55:39
  the key to the strangers past, present and futures.
• 55:42
  I will not be saying more than that because I think you
• 55:45
  definitely need to experience it's sort of raw and not get
• 55:47
  spoiled on it. But it is very powerful, very
• 55:50
  moving, and very, very sad. Extremely sad.
• 55:54
  Have you watched Light? Shop No, on purpose.
• 55:57
  This is one that was one of my good friends who loves K dramas
• 56:00
  as well. She enjoys sad K dramas.
• 56:03
  Like that's one of her, one of her comforts.
• 56:05
  It's just watching sad K dramas and she loved The Light Shop and
• 56:08
  she was completely blown away by it When I was like, yeah, no,
• 56:11
  then I probably, I'm not going to enjoy.
• 56:13
  It's probably going to be so sad.
• 56:14
  No, but I definitely have that on my list.
• 56:16
  It's the one that she's recommended to me.
• 56:17
  She knows that she's gave me warnings.
• 56:20
  She's like got to be prepared for it, but she highly
• 56:23
  recommends that for me. For someone who doesn't like sad
• 56:26
  dramas, she still thinks it's worth it to get to get through
• 56:29
  the light shop. You know, one that I am pulling
• 56:32
  up basically my completed list on my drama list to see if some
• 56:38
  of these are great for recommending.
• 56:39
  And Mr. Plankton finished this in December of 2024 and it's a
• 56:44
  2024 drama. Have you seen Mr. Plankton?
• 56:46
  I think this one, it's got Wu Dewan in him it.
• 56:50
  Does I know I I heard so much good stuff about it I.
• 56:54
  Heard so Mr. Plankton I felt was a little divisive because it's
• 56:58
  old school. You have a toxic male lead.
• 57:02
  He's got more problems than he has solutions, and he kidnaps
• 57:07
  his basically ex-girlfriend on her wedding day and they go on
• 57:13
  this sort of like. Existential journey venture.
• 57:16
  To find his biological father, there may or may not be some
• 57:21
  terminal illness involved. And it just feels old school in
• 57:25
  a lot of the ways that we were describing some earlier dramas
• 57:29
  in this episode. And I think that hit people a
• 57:31
  little sideways. They were taken aback.
• 57:34
  They were taken aback because they want they thought it would
• 57:37
  have some sort of satisfactory glass half full resolution.
• 57:43
  And it didn't and it didn't. Yeah, I avoided it.
• 57:48
  Terminal terminal illness. I did.
• 57:50
  I did. I did avoid it.
• 57:51
  I did. But I heard a lot of the people
• 57:54
  a lot. I heard more good than I heard
• 57:56
  that. So like even you describing like
• 57:58
  how the old school elements and like how that was like, wait a
• 58:01
  minute, I don't know if I want to enjoy that, you know?
• 58:04
  Yeah, I didn't hear much people complain about that element.
• 58:07
  And so they probably didn't. I don't know if they just didn't
• 58:09
  realize, but I actually heard really good things about it and
• 58:12
  it made me interested in it, but I was like, I don't know if I
• 58:15
  can do it, if I can do it. I think a couple more for me
• 58:20
  that are more recent are our Blues from 2022 and tomorrow
• 58:26
  from 2022. Both of those made me cry.
• 58:29
  Oh, tomorrow. Tomorrow for sure was Yeah, that
• 58:35
  made me cry. Yeah, I, I don't, Yeah, I have a
• 58:38
  hard time with the because tomorrow is the one with where
• 58:41
  they have Rohum, the green rippers.
• 58:44
  Yeah, the green rippers. Yeah.
• 58:45
  So like there's like situations where you like you're watching
• 58:48
  these different sad moments kind of pop up.
• 58:51
  Yes, he's part of basically a Grim Reaper task force that is
• 58:56
  trying to prevent people from committing suicide.
• 58:59
  Suicide yes, I I watched this drama.
• 59:01
  I did. I think I struggled with Rohum
• 59:04
  and this. No, that's yeah, yeah.
• 59:07
  Yeah. Trying to be as kind as
• 59:10
  possible. I know, I know.
• 59:11
  I don't want to go on to my row and rant like yeah.
• 59:15
  Not save that for another. Not the episode today.
• 59:18
  Maybe come and check us out on the Patreon and we'll have a a
• 59:21
  segment where we can let loose a little bit.
• 59:23
  But yeah, the drama is greater than Robone.
• 59:26
  Yes, yes, yes. And I love that premise.
• 59:29
  I think that's a good premise for a drama in general.
• 59:32
  Yeah, well, my liberation notes. Oh, let's not talk about my
• 59:36
  liberation notes. Don't.
• 59:38
  Don't. That's not.
• 59:40
  The way we're like. Like my liberation.
• 59:44
  Oh my. When I tell you that is to me,
• 59:46
  the pinnacle of my preferred sad story, it is That is to me.
• 59:54
  That is to me. I think there's a lot of people
• 59:58
  that would say some of these dramas, especially my Liberation
• 1:00:02
  Notes or even my Mr. feel like wallowing, wallowing in these
• 1:00:07
  emotions and in the sadness. And I think that the way that we
• 1:00:10
  view it is this is catharsis. It is.
• 1:00:13
  It is definitely catharsis. It's a giving.
• 1:00:15
  Like I when I talked about my liberation notes on my podcast
• 1:00:18
  when it was airing to me, I think I did a better job of
• 1:00:21
  talking about it then. But I think one of the takeaways
• 1:00:24
  I remember saying about that drama was that it was a drama
• 1:00:28
  that gave me the opportunity to feel seen as just like being a
• 1:00:36
  person living this life in this world, you know what I mean?
• 1:00:39
  And I feel like that thought process that we were talking
• 1:00:41
  about with slice of life of like these ups and downs in life, and
• 1:00:45
  sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad.
• 1:00:47
  It was a beautiful experience for me to I think process like
• 1:00:52
  my life during that season of me watching that drama.
• 1:00:55
  So to me, I have a very deep rooted connection to the the
• 1:00:58
  wallowing the saddest because of what I was dealing with during
• 1:01:01
  the same time I was watching that drama.
• 1:01:02
  So to me, I can't even I I have a hard time talking about that
• 1:01:07
  drama because I'm like it. It was the pinnacle for me of
• 1:01:10
  like, if I'm going to experience sadness in a drama and like said
• 1:01:14
  wallowing, eving, you know, this is the way I want to do it where
• 1:01:17
  it just feels so I feel so connected.
• 1:01:20
  I feel so seen. I feel like, hey, it on the
• 1:01:23
  screen, even if the things that they are going through aren't
• 1:01:27
  the sad things that I may be going through my life, I feel
• 1:01:30
  like they understand me too. You know what I mean?
• 1:01:32
  Like that's what my liberation notes did for me.
• 1:01:34
  It was like my sadness feels seen because of their sadness
• 1:01:38
  that they're experiencing because it could be different
• 1:01:40
  types of sadness, but the way they're expressing it way that
• 1:01:43
  they're dealing with it makes me feel like, OK, this is how I can
• 1:01:46
  process my sadness too. So it was a such a amazing
• 1:01:49
  drama. I will always talk about that
• 1:01:52
  drama being one of the best dramas I've ever watched and
• 1:01:54
  it's going to be with me for the rest of my life.
• 1:01:56
  Like, Oh my God, hands down, I'm sorry.
• 1:01:59
  My liberation knows is my like I said pinnacle for me.
• 1:02:02
  It did something for me that I like.
• 1:02:03
  Not even my Mr. did for me. And then it was the same writer.
• 1:02:06
  Yeah, but it was just like on another level for me personally.
• 1:02:11
  So I didn't want to talk about it as just a sad K drama either,
• 1:02:13
  because I feel like it is that slice of life that I'm just
• 1:02:16
  like, yeah, this is what I this is what I want.
• 1:02:19
  What I talk about sad and slice of life is my liberation notes.
• 1:02:23
  Oh my gosh, girl, what do you think of Kane and Abel?
• 1:02:29
  I love Kate and Abel. You don't like Kane and Abel?
• 1:02:32
  Do you freaking love Kane and Abel?
• 1:02:33
  Love love Kane and Abel. I mean, I mean this to me I it's
• 1:02:38
  so drama that I want my best friend to watch still to this
• 1:02:40
  day. Like she has never watched this.
• 1:02:42
  She doesn't watch Kane drama at all.
• 1:02:43
  But I was like, if I could pick one for her, I would start with
• 1:02:46
  Kane and Abel, which is such a weird one, but it was like,
• 1:02:49
  because I mean, it's just a great retelling adaptation of
• 1:02:54
  this biblical story. You know what I mean?
• 1:02:56
  It just take and it feels so literary.
• 1:02:59
  Like the actual drama itself feels literary.
• 1:03:02
  Like I think they did an amazing job with Katie Mabel.
• 1:03:06
  That one hurts, It hurts. That one hurts.
• 1:03:08
  It hurts. But it's more like action,
• 1:03:10
  revenge, but also pain. Yeah.
• 1:03:13
  But so much pain, so much hurt. But like, it makes sense, the
• 1:03:17
  pain and hurt. It's the story of Kate and Abel,
• 1:03:19
  you know what I mean? Like, it makes sense.
• 1:03:20
  It's Kate and Abel, you know. You know the first murder.
• 1:03:23
  The first, The first, yeah. The first of its kind, you know,
• 1:03:26
  like it's just so good. I I definitely think Kate of
• 1:03:29
  Abel is amazing. I mean, you took it old school
• 1:03:31
  there. I did.
• 1:03:32
  That's 2000. Nine took it back.
• 1:03:34
  Took it back. So would you serve it, my boy?
• 1:03:36
  I know. So do you serve?
• 1:03:38
  You know what? OK, this is going to be
• 1:03:41
  interesting. I'm going back a little bit
• 1:03:43
  again. What are your thoughts on Did
• 1:03:46
  you watch Padam Padam? Oh I I dropped that one.
• 1:03:51
  I hear that all the time. Everyone always like they
• 1:03:53
  dropped it. I dropped it originally when it
• 1:03:56
  was airing and then went back and watched it after years had
• 1:04:01
  passed and to me. Is that with Hanji men again?
• 1:04:04
  It is. I'm not the biggest fan.
• 1:04:06
  I know well, people cannot. I cannot stand her and I don't
• 1:04:11
  I've had mixed feelings. I definitely I feel like she is
• 1:04:14
  not When I do watch a drama and I end up enjoying one that she's
• 1:04:18
  in, I realized that it wasn't her that I enjoyed in the drama.
• 1:04:22
  You know, like there was usually probably the Mel Lee like
• 1:04:25
  there's something else. I was like this is the story.
• 1:04:27
  Like Congi man, was she in that story?
• 1:04:29
  Like that's how I feel about Padam Padam.
• 1:04:31
  Like she's not to me the the heart of that story at all.
• 1:04:35
  Like it is Wu Song Jung Wu Song is the male lead in that.
• 1:04:39
  And then you have Kim Bom those two and their relationship in
• 1:04:42
  this story was to me, the most beautiful, sad brothers.
• 1:04:46
  No, they're not. They met each other when they're
• 1:04:49
  in jail. So they're like prison buddies
• 1:04:52
  and they get out. Yes, they're they get out of
• 1:04:54
  jail at the same time. And he's like, you know, Kim Bum
• 1:04:57
  plays the internal younger brother beautifully.
• 1:05:00
  So he does a great job in that role.
• 1:05:02
  But then there's like this fantastical element at the end
• 1:05:04
  of Padam and Dom. We're not even at the end
• 1:05:06
  throughout the entire story with the Kim Bum character.
• 1:05:10
  And you don't know if he's even real at some point.
• 1:05:12
  And you're like, wait, is he there?
• 1:05:14
  Is is he real? And I love that.
• 1:05:17
  I mean, it was just so beautiful, like they.
• 1:05:19
  When they do that in shows, I'm always well when they do it and
• 1:05:22
  you're actually caught off guard.
• 1:05:24
  Caught off guard like I wait, that's less.
• 1:05:27
  Yeah, I that. Is the best movement.
• 1:05:28
  It's literally Fight Club. You know, it's like, wait, wait,
• 1:05:31
  this is not real. They're there, you know, So to
• 1:05:35
  this day, I don't know. Nothing for 40 years.
• 1:05:37
  I love it. I mean, turns to a horror film
• 1:05:42
  all of a sudden. Like, wait a minute, I thought
• 1:05:43
  this was a sad story. Yeah.
• 1:05:45
  So I think that was another one for me where it's like he is
• 1:05:49
  dying, you know, there's a terminal illness element to
• 1:05:51
  that. But that wasn't this.
• 1:05:53
  That didn't make it sad for me. It was this relationship, this
• 1:05:56
  connection between these two that made it really sad and and
• 1:05:59
  beautiful at the end for me. So I don't know that would be an
• 1:06:02
  example for me of like I I can stomach that terminal kind of
• 1:06:07
  storyline because I was focused on somewhat something else.
• 1:06:10
  I got you. Yeah.
• 1:06:12
  So there was one show that I was thinking of as you were speaking
• 1:06:17
  because I was drawn to another Ave. for us to talk through is
• 1:06:22
  trauma porn versus earned grief, which we already talked about
• 1:06:25
  earned versus unearned. But there's some sad shows like
• 1:06:28
  Do you remember the show I Miss You, I have it.
• 1:06:30
  On my list to talk about, yes, we have to talk about I miss you
• 1:06:35
  because that is definitely the trauma.
• 1:06:36
  That's a trauma bonding 1 for sure.
• 1:06:38
  That one. That was torturous and I
• 1:06:41
  appreciate it. I don't ever want to see
• 1:06:44
  anything from that drama ever again like that.
• 1:06:46
  Opening the dumb as young, I said.
• 1:06:49
  Why would? You.
• 1:06:50
  That's the worst young childhood sequence I have ever seen that I
• 1:06:56
  have ever seen. And I never want to see it
• 1:06:58
  again. Like I could not believe they
• 1:06:59
  even did it. I think because I watched it
• 1:07:01
  when it was air and I was like, are they?
• 1:07:03
  No, it completely gagged me. I cannot believe they did that.
• 1:07:06
  It was torturous. And then to grow them up.
• 1:07:10
  And then they. Oh.
• 1:07:12
  Jess. No.
• 1:07:13
  Look, you should see us. We just are looking at you like,
• 1:07:15
  are you incredible? I miss you.
• 1:07:17
  I miss you. It's one of the worst.
• 1:07:18
  Like I cannot believe they even let that go all the way through.
• 1:07:21
  Like they should have cut that and like you know it.
• 1:07:23
  Makes Out of My Heart and all of the other melodramas look like a
• 1:07:27
  cakewalk. It's pale comparison in
• 1:07:29
  comparison. It is all trauma.
• 1:07:31
  It is all trauma. And then the the idea that the
• 1:07:34
  grief stretches across these years.
• 1:07:37
  You know what I mean? Like, and it's the worst when
• 1:07:39
  it's when they're young, like when the actual trauma happens
• 1:07:42
  when they're so young. To me that is just like, I
• 1:07:45
  don't, I can't watch this, you know, like.
• 1:07:47
  To give people a little, I don't want to go into too much detail,
• 1:07:51
  but to give a taste of what this scene or series starts with is
• 1:07:57
  these two kids, the male lead and the female lead as children
• 1:08:02
  and they get kidnapped and the male lead has the opportunity to
• 1:08:09
  escape and he escapes without her.
• 1:08:14
  Meanwhile, she gets raped. She gets raped as a young child.
• 1:08:18
  Young girl. And he witnesses it, and he
• 1:08:20
  watches. Not hell, he watches it.
• 1:08:22
  Watches it, yeah. To me, I like I said, I can't
• 1:08:25
  believe they did this. I can't believe beyond.
• 1:08:27
  It was beyond. I can't believe they did it.
• 1:08:29
  I mean, it was horrific. It was horrific.
• 1:08:31
  And like I said, this idea. And they say only Netflix does
• 1:08:34
  dark K dramas. Exactly like please.
• 1:08:37
  And then also think about it. This is a love story.
• 1:08:39
  They're they? Yes, they they were.
• 1:08:41
  They put them together. Loves like childhood
• 1:08:43
  sweethearts. And then they and then they try
• 1:08:45
  to put them back together again, you know, like they try to put
• 1:08:49
  them back together again after that.
• 1:08:50
  It was like really sickening. I could not stomach that.
• 1:08:54
  And I you know what? That's what you.
• 1:08:56
  Know and I think that's a sad show that fails.
• 1:08:58
  It does fail like that does not, is not earned because how dare
• 1:09:02
  you do that to me. Like I can't believe you did
• 1:09:04
  that to me. And it makes me think about why
• 1:09:06
  I was so dramatized by the drama that just aired last year, Queen
• 1:09:10
  Mantis, you know, where it was the murder, the serial killer
• 1:09:14
  story, that was the the ending. And I'm sorry if I'm spoiling
• 1:09:17
  Queen Mantis for anybody, but I don't recommend watching it
• 1:09:19
  like, because I mean, it was well done.
• 1:09:22
  Like, no, don't get me wrong, the drama is actually well done,
• 1:09:24
  beautifully performed. But the ending what revealed
• 1:09:28
  kind of like what led this woman to be the woman that that is a
• 1:09:30
  murderer and killing these people.
• 1:09:32
  It's like when she was a young girl, she was being molested by
• 1:09:35
  her father. Like that reveal at the end was
• 1:09:39
  to me, I completely cancelled the drama for me.
• 1:09:42
  I was like, I can't believe I watched this.
• 1:09:45
  Like I, it, it really shook me to the core.
• 1:09:47
  And so those stories, when you have that as an element to me,
• 1:09:50
  it's like it's not just sadness at that point.
• 1:09:52
  It's just like, I don't know what to do.
• 1:09:55
  Like I don't know what to do. Like I feel like that way I miss
• 1:09:57
  you. Like I didn't know what to do
• 1:10:00
  after that. And there was no language.
• 1:10:02
  There was nothing. No therapizing language that we
• 1:10:05
  could lean on and be like, well, that was traumatizing.
• 1:10:08
  He's just so shocking. It shocks you.
• 1:10:10
  It's completely shocks you. And then like I said, to go on
• 1:10:13
  and progress through the rest of the drama, like.
• 1:10:15
  How they did, I don't know. It just felt disrespectful.
• 1:10:17
  It felt disrespectful. It did It.
• 1:10:20
  Did I? Think that's the word that I
• 1:10:21
  want to lean on, is it just felt disrespectful.
• 1:10:24
  It felt icky. Yeah, it did.
• 1:10:26
  And you know what, I maybe we should have did a trigger
• 1:10:27
  warning for this topic because I'm talking about, you know,
• 1:10:30
  Queen Mantis, which deserves a huge trigger warning.
• 1:10:33
  But it's just like, Oh my gosh, when I think about those
• 1:10:36
  elements in a story, AK drama, to me, those feel like
• 1:10:40
  untouchable, Like I, I almost feel like that I can't really do
• 1:10:43
  those. Like it's not like I said, it's
• 1:10:44
  beyond set. And maybe it's just K dramas the
• 1:10:47
  industry hasn't had. Tons of those.
• 1:10:49
  Successful. Yeah.
• 1:10:51
  I don't know how to tell the story.
• 1:10:52
  Successful. I don't think they can.
• 1:10:54
  I don't think they can because even the story, what was the
• 1:10:56
  one, I'm sorry, I love you. How we had that moment we were
• 1:10:59
  talking about what was it? Was it?
• 1:11:01
  Who was it in that drama where we were both were like, there
• 1:11:04
  was this weird moment where we're like it.
• 1:11:06
  Was the sister sister? Yeah.
• 1:11:08
  Got sexually at least sexually harassed.
• 1:11:12
  Passed in the streets and we couldn't really, you know, like
• 1:11:15
  they didn't go all the way there, but there was like an
• 1:11:17
  undertone of like they were trying to allude yes to that.
• 1:11:20
  And it was like that. It was to me the that's the best
• 1:11:23
  that they can do. Or even allude to how this
• 1:11:26
  mentally disabled woman has a child.
• 1:11:28
  In the 1st place, yes, in the 1st place, yes.
• 1:11:31
  So I feel like that was like the most that they.
• 1:11:34
  That was the most tasteful, tasteful that we mentioned.
• 1:11:38
  It had some sort of sexual violence involved.
• 1:11:41
  Yes, and it was kind of like there was this illusion to it as
• 1:11:44
  opposed to like that I miss you when they spell this.
• 1:11:48
  Out you're like. Whoa, whoa, whoa.
• 1:11:50
  And like I said, to put it in that scenario of the young boy
• 1:11:53
  running away and then turning back and then, yeah, seeing it
• 1:11:57
  like that's just, it's like, come on, guys.
• 1:12:00
  Like just line cross guys. I can't.
• 1:12:04
  And then they try and redeem the whole thing I.
• 1:12:06
  Don't they try to redeem it? They can't.
• 1:12:07
  Clean it up. They cannot clean it up.
• 1:12:08
  They cannot. And I think there's one of the
• 1:12:10
  big complaints that I know back, not just back then but just in
• 1:12:12
  general with K dramas. I feel like they're doing a
• 1:12:14
  little bit better these days, but like how there is no
• 1:12:18
  language, like you were saying, there's no language for these
• 1:12:22
  moments and how to process them. And instead of them, I mean, the
• 1:12:25
  characters, the opportunity to do that, they just jump to the
• 1:12:28
  next plot point and it's like, hey, hey, hey, that's not safe.
• 1:12:33
  That's not safe in real. Like in real life, that's not
• 1:12:35
  safe. You know, someone just growing
• 1:12:37
  up without ever processing or going through some kind of
• 1:12:40
  therapy. Like they don't show that.
• 1:12:41
  But she went overseas. Too, And that's she sort of
• 1:12:44
  would also be more believable if she had.
• 1:12:47
  Some kind of access, some access to that.
• 1:12:49
  They don't show that. So I feel like that is a problem
• 1:12:52
  in general with some of those older K dramas.
• 1:12:54
  It's like they just kind of jump to the next plot moment without
• 1:12:57
  allowing the characters actually to process.
• 1:13:00
  Some sort of respect on what what just happened?
• 1:13:03
  Or what just happened. Yeah, cuz I need it as the
• 1:13:06
  audience, Like I need a moment and you're not giving me a
• 1:13:08
  moment. You're getting to the next
• 1:13:10
  scene. You know, they're like, OK,
• 1:13:11
  we're moving on. She's aged up, you know, like,
• 1:13:13
  OK. Did you see Queen of Tears?
• 1:13:15
  No. OK, never mind.
• 1:13:17
  We won't talk about it cuz. I've never seen it either.
• 1:13:19
  What? You haven't seen it either?
• 1:13:20
  No. And it's just, I'll probably cut
• 1:13:22
  this out later, but basically in Queen of Tears, the husband and
• 1:13:26
  wife, she's a chable heiress and he is not.
• 1:13:30
  And this is my understanding of it because I've been told by
• 1:13:32
  what feels like 50 people the general plot of the show, but in
• 1:13:36
  the beginning they go through a miscarriage.
• 1:13:41
  Oh no. They go through this really, you
• 1:13:44
  know, traumatic emotional experience, Yeah.
• 1:13:47
  And that is the reason why they sort of start drawing apart.
• 1:13:52
  But they never unpacked that. So they just.
• 1:13:56
  Kind of throw K drama machinations at it and like
• 1:14:00
  family drama versus they could have stuck there for all 16
• 1:14:04
  episodes. We need to like work out the
• 1:14:06
  marriage versus like, oh, what Auntie is trying to take over
• 1:14:10
  the company. See, I they don't like that
• 1:14:12
  they. Don't go through that.
• 1:14:14
  Yes, and I feel like that is such a a missing that's a
• 1:14:17
  missing point for K dramas these days.
• 1:14:19
  I feel like if they were to allow them to go there, that
• 1:14:22
  would be refreshing like that would be new that like whoa,
• 1:14:25
  I've never really seen this before.
• 1:14:26
  So he was like that's a missed opportunity.
• 1:14:28
  That's a missed opportunity. But no, I've never seen queen of
• 1:14:31
  tears and probably for a good reason.
• 1:14:32
  So it sounds like. Any other shows that you wanted
• 1:14:37
  to talk? About I mean, I feel like
• 1:14:39
  there's tons and I feel like many, there's so many.
• 1:14:41
  And I feel like again, to some people, some things are sadder
• 1:14:44
  than, you know, like some things are not sad like and other
• 1:14:47
  people's like, well, I cried every episode.
• 1:14:48
  Like what do you mean? And so I do feel like the
• 1:14:51
  experience of watching a sad drama, be it like the drama
• 1:14:54
  itself is sad or there's a really sad element to it.
• 1:14:57
  Because even for example, I just thought about that when I said
• 1:14:59
  sad element, something like the King 2 hearts, that drama is not
• 1:15:03
  sad, right? But then it gets to this
• 1:15:06
  horrific, sad, sudden, the brush moment.
• 1:15:10
  Yeah. Point of no return.
• 1:15:11
  Yeah, like that is the like, Oh my gosh, I do remember that the
• 1:15:15
  most about that drama. So yeah, I do feel like it
• 1:15:19
  depends on what you're watching, what you're you know, how you
• 1:15:21
  take certain things in. But I do like that we have the
• 1:15:24
  option, right to experience sad dramas in these different ways.
• 1:15:28
  And if I can't get through a a story that's about a terminal
• 1:15:32
  illness character, you know, character dealing with terminal
• 1:15:34
  illness. But I and get this other
• 1:15:36
  experience, you know, that's sad, this slice of life sadness,
• 1:15:39
  you know what I mean? Like I still get to have that
• 1:15:42
  same experience like we were trying to describe in the
• 1:15:44
  beginning of like the catharsis, this kind of shared endurance of
• 1:15:48
  like the sad moments and feeling like I get to experience sadness
• 1:15:51
  in a safe space. Everyone gets to have that.
• 1:15:54
  And so we, I think we recommend that even if you can't do a
• 1:15:58
  certain type of sad cave drama, there may be AK drama with
• 1:16:02
  sadness that you can do and you should try it should do it all
• 1:16:07
  fluff all the time. You know, I get it, I get it.
• 1:16:10
  But at the same time, there's some good ones out there.
• 1:16:13
  Absolutely. So in conclusion, we don't just
• 1:16:17
  love sad dramas because we like pain.
• 1:16:20
  We're not complete masochist, but we love them because they
• 1:16:24
  treat emotion as something worth sitting with.
• 1:16:27
  And hopefully after listening to all of the shows that we have
• 1:16:32
  discussed throughout the show, you know, hopefully we offered
• 1:16:35
  some validation, some language that maybe helps you process or,
• 1:16:41
  or figure out why you like these or why you don't like these and
• 1:16:45
  kind of gave you some meaning behind our love for sad dramas
• 1:16:49
  and why they kind of stick a little better than the fluffy
• 1:16:53
  dramas and keep you invested for longer.
• 1:16:58
  Anything else you want to add, Lola?
• 1:16:59
  No, I just think like I said, I agree with the fact that we do
• 1:17:03
  sign off on sad dramas. Even though I may be the
• 1:17:05
  biggest, you know, proponent, people heard me.
• 1:17:08
  But like I don't watch that. I don't like this, but I do
• 1:17:10
  still like sad dramas. It just depends on how they tell
• 1:17:14
  that sadness and how they portray that sadness.
• 1:17:16
  And then they're not, you know, beating me over the head and
• 1:17:19
  telling me to be sad from the very first episode.
• 1:17:23
  I, I think I enjoy sad dramas, but I do feel like it's an
• 1:17:26
  experience one way or the other. And take it as you can.
• 1:17:31
  You know, everybody can't take tons of them all the time, so
• 1:17:34
  throw in your fluff when you can, but definitely still give
• 1:17:38
  some sad dramas the chance and I'll do a better job of going
• 1:17:41
  back and watching. OK, I can be honest, I have
• 1:17:44
  scooped a lot of sad dramas in my day, but I'm doing better.
• 1:17:47
  Like I said, I I do better picking them up and and going
• 1:17:50
  through it. And like I said, it helps me
• 1:17:51
  process sad things when I'm able to watch these sad dramas.
• 1:17:54
  So it helps. All right, I will have a list of
• 1:17:58
  all of the dramas that we brought up on this podcast
• 1:18:01
  episode in the show notes in case you want to check them out
• 1:18:05
  for Rex or if you want to avoid some of these because we feel of
• 1:18:09
  them. But either way, thank you, Lola,
• 1:18:12
  for coming on the show and doing a freestyle episode on sad
• 1:18:16
  dramas. Where can we find you online?
• 1:18:19
  Yes, so you can find me on IG at Lola pops off about K dramas.
• 1:18:23
  You also can listen to my own podcast Lola Pops off about K
• 1:18:26
  dramas anywhere that you listen to podcast.
• 1:18:30
  I do have a website hasn't been updated in a little while, but
• 1:18:33
  it is little pops off about K dramas dot com and I am working
• 1:18:37
  on a YouTube channel. So if you see it, it is me.
• 1:18:40
  I don't want people to think that it's not like somebody made
• 1:18:43
  a fake. You know it's it actually is me
• 1:18:45
  just is under construction as afraid now, but again, that's
• 1:18:48
  Lola at Lola pops off about K topless.
• 1:18:51
  All right. Thank you, Lola.
• 1:18:52
  Thank you soon. And that's been our show.
• 1:18:55
  I'm Jessica and this has been the Taybot K Rambles podcast.