2021 Jaybird Awards

2021 Jaybird Awards

As 2022 draws to a close I am increasingly aware that I never did a Jaybird Awards post for the K-Dramas of 2021. I’m sorry 2021. The main reason for this is just that I didn’t really watch that many dramas last year (and even less this year…) so it felt kind of superfluous, and also felt as though I wouldn’t be doing the dramas of 2021 any justice- because I had missed so many of them! So for 2021 and for 2022 when it comes to a close, rather than sticking to my usual structure of Awards, I’ll be giving every single drama I watched in 2021 an award (or at least a runner up). They won’t be the best or the worst out of all 2021 K-Dramas, only of the small handful I’ve managed to watch. Hopefully 2023 is less hectic and I’ll get more time to dedicate to watching K-Dramas and writing reviews.

Best Mystery/Thriller:

Beyond Evil

This was by far one of the best dramas of 2021. I pride myself a fair bit on being able to guess twists and surprises in TV shows and movies, and I have to say, I just had no idea who was behind anything in ‘Beyond Evil’. And not in a confused, what the heck is happening, nothing makes sense way, but in a layered, everyone has something to hide way. The acting in this was PHENOMENAL. I haven’t seen Shin Ha Kyun in anything before but wow, that man can act. He perfectly balanced between being creepy and being desperate. The whole cast was fabulous and the storytelling was tight, well paced and addictive. It was a great mystery, a great thriller, and an all around great show.

Runner Up: The Silent Sea

 

Best RomCom:

Mr. Queen

It was one of the first dramas in 2021 that I watched, and I clearly remember thinking ‘jeez, it’s going to be hard to beat this one’. It was quirky without being ridiculous and low-stakes without being boring. The writers gave themselves plenty of space to bring in plot with palace politics, but thankfully never let the show get bogged down in too much angst or boring politicking which can often happen to romcoms in historical settings. This drama also gave us Shin Hye Sun doing comedy which was something I didn’t realise I needed in my life until ‘Mr Queen’.

Runner Up: Yumi’s Cells

 

Best Melodrama AND Jaybird’s Choice:

Navillera

I don’t usually like melodramas. I find them too slow and either too cringey or too depressing. But I adored ‘Navillera’. It was a beautiful story with wonderful characters and an extremely talented cast to back it up. Good dramas are the ones that make you feel something towards the story and the characters, and ‘Navillera’ did just that. It was a lovely story and I am glad that I took the time to experience this well-crafted show.

 

Cutest Cast:

Racket Boys

I nearly bowed out of this drama after the first episode because it was young, silly and nothing made sense. And then I realised that I had started on episode four which is why nothing made sense. After starting from the first episode the show was still young and silly, but it had a certain heart and warmth to it that made it an enjoyable watch. So much of this came from the group of young actors portraying the main cast. They brought a great energy to the show and did a great job at showcasing their growing talents as actors. ‘Racket Boys’ was a sweet story with a charming young ensemble.

 

Worst Second Male Lead:

Sunbae, Don’t Put On That Lipstick

Second male leads can be a tricky thing to navigate. You don’t want them to be too swoony otherwise they will overshadow the male lead and none of the viewers will be on board with the main romance. But you also don’t want them to be too terrible, because otherwise why is the heroine even considering them? Hitting that sweet spot in the middle where the second lead is fabulous but just not the right fit for the heroine is where every drama love-triangle aims to be. And that’s exactly where ‘Sunbae’ ISN’T. Lee Jae Shin was a long-term cheater, a liar, and all around *sshole. I didn’t want to watch him on my screen any more than was necessary, and I certainly didn’t want to watch that bulls*t redemption arc the show gave him. He’s just gross.

 

Most Popular:

Squid Game

‘Squid Game’ was a massive success. And rightly so- it was a great drama. I wouldn’t say it’s the best drama I’ve ever seen (I wouldn’t even say it’s the best drama I saw in 2021!), but it was by far the most talked about K-Drama I’ve ever seen. It was addictive and unique and massively appealing to both people who watch K-Dramas regularly, and those who don’t.

 

Most Depressing:

D.P

Objectively this was a good show. But did I like it? No. No I did not. I kind of don’t know why people make shows like this. I guess there’s something to be said about a drama showing realism in order to make social commentary, but to be honest I don’t want to watch characters get physically and emotionally abused in my free time. It’s just not fun. Nothing good happened in ‘D.P’- it was a dark show full of selfish and hateful people and an authority body that did nothing to protect the vulnerable from people who would take advantage of them. Low-key regret watching this one to be honest...

Runner Up: One Ordinary Day

 

Most Forgettable:

The Veil

Apparently I watched this? I remember seeing Namgoong Min in a revenge mystery/thriller and this must be it. I do not remember anything that happened. I think there were some good fight scenes though, and I’ also pretty sure I remember thinking that all the hero’s problems would have been solved if he’d just never given himself amnesia in the first place? But yeah, that’s pretty much it. It’s a show. That I did indeed watch.

Runner Up: The Witch’s Diner

 

Least Convincing Couple AND Biggest Disappointment:

Doom At Your Service

I disliked this show. I disliked it quite a bit. There were so many things wrong with it. But there were so many things that should have been right with it- which is why it ended up feeling like such a massive disappointment. My expectations were far too high. It had Park Bo Young and Seo In Guk- the chemistry should have been so intense it was short-circuiting my laptop! Instead we got barely a fizzle. The whole plotline had varying levels of frustration throughout, and the story just didn’t really incorporate the fantasy elements very well. It ended up being quite a struggle to get through all the episodes this drama had as it was so slow moving, and really, I just didn't care after a certain point.

 

Highest Body Count:

Mouse

K-Drama loves a good serial killer storyline. Even romcoms can’t get away from it. I guess nothing heightens the tension in a show quite like the possibility that anyone could die- regardless of if it fits the genre or not. And ‘Mouse’ had not one but TWO serial killers! Such tension! (I mean not really, the whole show felt strangely both too confusing and too predictable at the same time). But boy were there a lot of deaths. And I mean a LOT. People were dying left, right and centre. Strangers, family members, main characters- no one was safe. I think all in all the drama could have come together better than it did, but boy the writers did not care about who they killed off and in a world that is filled to the brim of characters protected by plot armour, it's a pretty refreshing direction for a drama to take.

 

Best Sequel:

Hospital Playlist 2

This is basically a continuation of the first season- you could go through watching the last episode of Season 1 to the first episode of Season 2 and probably not even know you had entered a new season. The show gave viewers everything they loved about the first season, but just changed up the development and the main plot points a bit so we weren’t given an exact replica. The cast and characters remained delightful and the story remained engaging and heartfelt. A win all around.

 

Most Haunted:

Sell Your Haunted House

Was this the only show I watched with ghosts in it in 2021? Maybe. Do I remember much about the ghosts? Not really. Jang Nara gave a wonderful performance and I appreciated her taking on a darker role that her usual chipper, baby faced, loveable heroines. Jung Yong Hwa was passable in his role. There were ghosts and possession and a mystery that centred around the death of our heroine’s Mum, and it was a pretty good ghost show all things considered.

Yumi's Cells 2

Yumi’s Cells 2

6/10

Yumi's Cells 2

Genre:                                      Episodes: 14                          Year: 2022

Romance

Comedy

Synopsis:

After breaking up with her boyfriend, Yumi starts a new relationship with her coworker, Yoo Bobby.

Cast:

Kim Go Eun (Kim Yumi)

Jinyoung (Yoo Bobby)

Ahn Bo Hyun (Goo Woong)

Lee Yoo Bi (Ruby)

P.O (Control Z)

Joon Suk Ho (Ahn Dae Young)

General Thoughts:

This was a bit of an interesting show for me. I liked it, but I don’t love it. And yet I feel like it delivered exactly what it promised to deliver- exactly what it gave you in the first Season of ‘Yumi’s Cells’.

More of the same- take that as you will

Honestly, there’s not a lot of difference- it almost felt like a bit of a copy paste job. That’s not to say it was a bad move- it stuck to the recipe that worked out so well in the first season. The show didn’t take any risks that might upset people who loved Season 1, and just kept going with what people were enjoying. Which is great in it’s own way. Kim Go Eun is fabulous as the slightly awkward but ever endearing Yumi and brought a real sense of relatableness to the character.

Kim Go Eun does a great job with this character

 It’s sort of one of those iconic roles where I think I will now always associate Kim Go Eun with the character of Yumi. She does such a brilliant job at bringing the slightly awkward but easily loveable character to life, and it was fun to watch her reprise her role here. Jinyoung got much more screen time than he did in season one, even though his character didn’t have all that much to do- his role was basically smile cutely, be kind, and act supportive. All of which he did brilliantly. Yoo Bobby was a very swoon worthy character and a great male lead to have, and Jinyoung was appropriately swoon-worthy and charming in his delivery of the character. Jinyoung and Kim Go Eun had okay chemistry (certainly nothing outstanding) and they didn’t seem to have as much energy between them as Kim Go Eun and Ann Bo Hyun had last season. Though I do wonder if that was slightly intentional? Perhaps Bobby was supposed to be the man that looks great on paper and ticks all the boxes, but is just missing that certain spark that someone like Woong had with Yumi. Maybe a part of this lack of chemistry was also due to the fact that this season focused a lot more on Yumi’s work and her chasing her dream of becoming a writer. Her love life was still a prominent part of the story, but while last season felt like the story of Yumi and Woong, this season felt like the story of Yumi and Bobby was kind of a supporting role. At first I didn’t really like the direction the show was going in when Yumi quit her job to pursue writing.

Anyone who quits their job with no new job or backup plan is just...not thinking things through

It felt quite out of character and very risky- she had no income and was just eating through her savings! But putting that aspect of it aside, I did appreciate how it allowed Yumi space to grow. Her confidence and her independence started to increase the more successful her writing became. In a story so focused on one character alone it was totally necessary for Yumi to change and grow as a character and I think this was a great catalyst for the transformation Yumi went through this season.

Stop thinking and just be happy

The pacing of the show was pretty consistent from start to finish- there weren’t really any high stakes conflicts, and yet the story didn’t really feel like it was dragging that much. Some episodes felt slower than others, and I do feel like occasionally the lack of any real issues made it feel a bit like Yumi was going out of her way to create problems for herself- particularly in regards to her relationship with Bobby. This kind of made Yumi a bit of a frustrating character at points as she became a little hard to relate to when she was constantly getting too much inside her own head (even though of course a whole portion of the show takes place in her head) and making issues out of seemingly nothing. Overall the show was enjoyable to watch as it did a lot of things right- it did just sort of feel like all the things the show was doing right were things it had already done before last season. And so the irritating or frustrating parts of the show (which were not done last season) felt a little more prominent than all the other things the drama had going for it.

What Was Great:

Uniqueness of Cells:

Similarly to the first season, what made ‘Yumi’s Cells 2’ so unique was it’s inclusion of the CGI cells that represented Yumi’s thought processes. While these cells are certainly the draw of both seasons and a primary part of how the show functions, I will admit that I found them to be utilised a little too much in Season One. This time around I felt that we hit a far better balance on what was going on in the real world and what was going on inside Yumi’s head.

Was low-key glad when Love got booted out of Prime Cell position

It made the scenes where the cells did appear feel much funnier as they weren’t used in every second scene. We also explored a few more cells and functions than we did in Season One which was fun too. The scene of the cells landing on another planet (ie- Bobby’s butt) is a fabulous example of the well balanced humour the show was able to hit when incorporating the cells.

10/10- Peak comedy

Unlike last season, this time we didn’t get as much insight into the inner workings of the main love interest. We were given a little look at Bobby’s cells, but not in nearly as much detail as when we saw Woong’s. Perhaps a part of this was meant to reflect that Yumi didn’t feel as though she knew Bobby in as much depth? Honestly, I wouldn’t even be able to tell you what Bobby’s primary cell was! But the scenes we got with Bobby’s cells were still able to bring a new dimension to the show. Unlike Yumi’s cells that were predominantly used for comedic effect, Bobby’s cells came into play during the more serious moments of Yumi and Bobby’s relationship- such as showing Bobby’s hesitation when talking about his junior at work with a crush on him. It was a great way to show the difference between Bobby and Yumi’s approach to relationships and problem solving. While talking about the cells, I must of course also make sure to note the cells of Editor Ahn Dae Young. Were they essential to the story? Absolutely not. Where they a fun time? Yes, yes they were.

What Wasn’t:

What’s The Point?:

I think my main frustrations at this drama is that I’m not really sure what to point of it all was. Why is the writer telling this story? What is this story actually about? It felt sort of like a story about Yumi’s growth, but then also a story about a love triangle but also a story about a doomed relationship. It’s like the drama tried so hard to make the show all about Yumi, but then at every turn it defined Yumi by her relationship with Woong or her relationship with Bobby. Even at the end the hint of Yumi’s happiness was tied to a new potential suitor rather than Yumi’s growth or success.

I mean, how many dang seasons of this are they trying to squeeze out?

Season 1 of ‘Yumi’s Cells’ worked really well because Yumi was the heart and soul of the show. Woong was an important part of it, but the whole show centred around how Yumi perceived and reacted to situations. And I just feel like that was missing in the second season. Perhaps if I had been more on board with the love triangle situation I would have enjoyed the show a little more, but after Season 1 so perfectly showed why Yumi and Woong weren’t right for each other, it was hard to even view him as a viable contester for Yumi’s heart. Particularly when Yumi’s main reservation about dating Bobby long-term was that they had already broken up. Like, hello? She has broken up with Woong also? Just because it happened last season doesn’t mean I forgot.

Like, not to be rude to Woong, but I know which one I'd pick

I weirdly kind of liked where the show ended, with Yumi on her own reflecting back on how much she has grown and how much of that growth was due to the love and support she received from Bobby and Woong. I just didn’t like how we got there. It felt so drawn out at the start and then far too rushed at the end with time skips that felt unnecessary. The story just didn’t feel cohesive and it feels a little like the story was sacrificed a bit to leave a hope of a third season. Which I probably wouldn’t watch. 

Bobby As A Plot Device:

Doing some more comparisons to Season 1 here. Woong was a great character in the first season (I honestly quite liked him as a character in this season too but that’s not the point). He was fleshed out and had a detailed history and had both charms and flaws. Then we have Bobby who is just…perfect. And I’m not complaining- I really like Bobby! He’s attractive (duh) and swoony and it’s so easy to root for his relationship with Yumi to work out. 

So sweet, so cute, somewhat bland

And then it doesn’t. For reasons. All of season 1 was Yumi trying to work things through with Woong, find compromises and communicate and work together towards building a strong relationship. With Bobby it just felt like she wasn’t trying. Bobby was depicted as being the perfect boyfriend. His one fault that was expressed in the show was that he felt a little something for Da Hye. Which isn’t ideal, but he recognised what was happening and took steps to make sure he was protecting his relationship with Yumi, put hard boundaries in place with Da Hye, and never cheated on Yumi emotionally or otherwise. But this was just unacceptable for Yumi? It was frustrating because there was no communication on Yumi’s end. Just ‘I’m hurt, you hurt me, we’re over’. It felt like a thousand steps backwards from where she should have been. Then she gets back together with him for a while before dumping him AGAIN. Then in the last episodes Yumi is looking back on her relationships and acknowledging how she couldn’t have gotten to where she is without the support and encouragement of Bobby. Which is a sweet sentiment and I do like the idea, but the execution was just off. Bobby should have been given some real flaws and there should have been some actual conflict and difficulties in his relationship with Yumi. As it stands it just feels like the only reason he was in the show at all was to encourage Yumi to become a writer.

We hardly got any of Bobby's cells doing anything

It didn’t really feel like he had any identity or purpose outside of that- he was just a means to an ends. Which is a really disappointing end for a character that had so much potential and was so well liked. 

Recommend?

Nah, not really. I don’t think I’d really recommend even the first season so it’s hard to recommend the second one. I feel like most people who watched Season 1 will probably watch this season anyway, and I suppose I wouldn’t go out of my way to tell people not to watch it.

The real question is, if a Season 3 comes out will I watch it?

The Silent Sea

 The Silent Sea

8.5/10

The Silent Sea

Genre:                                     Episodes: 8                           Year: 2021

Mystery

Thriller

Synopsis:

In the future, Earth suffers from a sever lack of water. Water is strictly rationed creating tension between the different socio-economic classes. A team of soldiers and scientists are sent to a research station on the moon to receive samples that were left behind when the station was abandoned due to a radiation leak.

Cast:

Bae Doo Na (Song Ji Ahn)

Gong Yoo (Han Yoon Jae)

Kim Sun Young (Hong Ga Young)

Lee Joon (Ryu Tae Suk)

Lee Moo Saeng (Gong Soo Hyuk)

Lee Sung Wook (Kim Sun)

Jung Soon Won (Gong Soo Chan)

Kim Shi Ah (Luna)

Heo Sung Tae (Chief Kim)

Gil Hae Yeon (Director Choi)

General Thoughts:

This was a great show. I really enjoyed every episode and highly enjoyed the creepy atmosphere that was built throughout the show’s run. There’s so much in this drama that was made to grab attention and draw viewers in. Being a Netflix show, its reach was a little further than K-Drama’s that are only shown in Korea and on smaller streaming platforms internationally.

It's SPACE

Netflix gives a lot of people access to international content that they might not otherwise have had access to, and over the last couple of years you can really feel Netflix capitalising on Korean content. As well as being on one of the biggest streaming platforms, ‘The Silent Sea’ also had a handful of cast members that viewers would have seen before- also on Netflix. Bae Doo Na, who is the leading character of ‘The Silent Sea’ got a lot of attention when she starred in ‘Kingdom’ and ‘Kingdom 2’. The tone of both these shows are also similar- ‘Kingdom’ was a tension building zombie series, and ‘The Silent Sea’ was a tension building space mystery.

This is not her first Netflix rodeo

A lot of people who tuned in to ‘Kingdom’ would be the target audience for ‘The Silent Sea’. Gong Yoo, who plays the main male character, and Heo Sung Tae would both be familiar to those who watched ‘Squid Game’. And again, ‘Squid Game’ is a series that has a similar dark, mysterious tone. The casting of the drama was definitely a big draw card, not just for dedicated K-Drama fans, but also for newer viewers whose only experience with Korean content is through Netflix. A large budget and a large audience is a great way to start a show. Obviously I’m late to the party as ‘The Silent Sea’ aired almost a year ago now, but I still think it’s one of the better Netflix K-Dramas I’ve seen. I’ve mentioned before how a platform like Netflix gives K-Dramas certain freedoms that shows aired on Korean networks don’t have, and I think this show really hits that perfect middle ground of not being too conservative, but also not being too dark. ‘D.P’ is another Netflix release that was at its core a great show, but the themes were so dark that it wasn’t actually that enjoyable to watch. ‘Sweet Home’ is a Netflix release that I didn’t even make past the first episode- the horror themes were just too much for me. ‘The Silent Sea’ is great for me because it sort of dances on the edge of being horror, but never actually crosses over. I like being drawn in and I like being nervous for the characters and anticipating what is going to happen next. I don’t like being scared. I especially don’t like still being scared even after I’ve turned the show off.

It's the perfect amount of scary for people who don't like horror

This drama was fabulous because it was so great at drawing you into the moment and holding the viewer in these tense, highly suspenseful moments, but very rarely resorted to things like jump scares or gore to heighten the tension. Instead, there was always this slightly uncomfortable feeling that something wasn’t quite right, but it was hard to pick out exactly what it was. Things like lighting, small character expressions and music were excellent tools that this show used to create suspense and build tension. Another excellent way the show did this was to have scenes linger for slightly longer than they needed to.

A+ for atmosphere

A character would leave a hallway or walk past a door and the camera would stay focused on supposed emptiness for just slightly longer than would be normal, leaving the viewer waiting for something to happen- something has to be there right, or why else would the shot still be ongoing? It was a fabulous way of creating the feeling that something else was in the station with the team and that the team was being watched without actually having to show anything at all. The actual plot of the show was pretty slow moving. Not a lot was really going on in each of these episodes. You couldn’t really build these small moments and create this spooky atmosphere if a hundred other things were going on at the same time. I didn’t mind this payoff at all- there was enough in each episode to keep me hooked and the viewers were spoon-fed small pieces of the mystery in each of the episodes. One thing I will say about the plot, is that while technically not a lot happened each episode, I liked that the characters faced threats from different sources. As the story progressed deeper into the mystery, the threats the characters came in contact with were more varied. This certainly helped to up the tension and keep the interest in the story. The different threats were also hinted at early on so it never felt like they came out of nowhere. Right as the crew arrived at Balhae station they saw a dead mercenary and the dialogue was able to give some exposition on the group and why they may potentially cause issues with the crew. Which of course they did in the form of Gi Soon and Tae Suk.

Of all the ways you could die in this station, getting shot by a human sure seems the least cool

We also had Luna herself attacking the crew in the middle episodes in an effort to prevent them from taking the Luna Water away. And then of course there was the Luna Water itself that could instantly kill any of the crew if they came into contact with it. Having a range of threats and different types of danger kept the show engaging and suspenseful, and I enjoyed how it wasn’t an obvious enemy for the crew to go up against all the time. Much like the atmosphere in each episode built, the story built itself in a similar way, gradually upping the stakes and the tension until we made it to the final episode.

Is she a fish? Is she a human? Nobody knows!

The story itself I thought was good- we knew something had happened on the station and we knew it had something to do with the strange Luna Water, and enjoyed the gradual unravelling of what really happened at Balhae Station. I appreciated the final moral issue that the characters were faced with, and I didn’t feel like the viewers had to make too many assumptions about what happened on their own. I still have no idea what the hell Luna Water is or how Luna came to be the way that she is, but I’m not sure we are supposed to know those things by the end of the show. The lack of answers to the final issue raised by the drama is probably the show’s only weak point. I can see some people potentially being put off by the slow pace, but as I mentioned before, that was a price I was willing to pay for the creepiness in each episode. I also think the lack of explanation at the end may annoy some viewers and the science didn’t seem very science-y. The mystery substance just was and interacted with things we knew, such as people, just because the was what the show needed it to do. No reasoning and no explanation. I found this to be a minor flaw though, and it didn’t really have ay impact of my enjoyment of the drama as a whole. 

What Was Great:

Cinematic Experience:

This show is gorgeous. You can tell it had a high budget. The landscaping of the moon was absolutely beautiful and all the CGI with the space and violence and water was all very realistic. To add to the stunning cinematography, the acting was all top class.

The moon landscape was just absolutely stunning 

While the characters themselves weren’t exactly integral to the story, which was more focused on location and events, it certainly didn’t hurt to have actors of such high caliber filling out the cast. The score as well was done beautifully- the music added to the feel of what we were seeing on screen, both the setting and the characters, and certainly assisted with creating the dark, unsettling mood that the show was building. All the elements that supported the plot and storyline were absolutely top shelf, and gave the drama a clean and polished look that can sometimes be lacking from smaller budget shows. All the scenes and various locations we were shown as the story progressed felt so rich and real, and had great detail focus.

Spooky station with spooky lighting

All the areas inside the Balhae Station were populated with smaller details so that we knew where in the station we were. The smaller details all added up to build the bigger picture and add depth to the show. Each and every aspect of the drama came together to increase the foreboding atmosphere and worked together to build the tension that the plot of the drama was riding on. This show was a great experience all around, but visually it was really a cut above other K-Dramas. 

What Wasn’t:

Inconclusive:

As I've said in many a drama review- I’m not really a fan of open endings. While I understand it can be there to allow the viewer to imagine the story to go in any direction from that point, a big part of me has always felt that this is a slightly lazy way of ending a story. Sometimes I’m on board- such as the ending of ‘Inception’ where it’s unclear if the main character has made it back to his family or if he’s still in a dream.

We just kinda threw science away for that last episode, huh

Because there’s only two options and the story that we’ve sat through isn’t really impacted by which of those scenarios are true. But the ending here in ‘The Silent Sea’ was just too open. It’s unclear who is in the spacecraft that arrives for Ji Ann and Dr Hong. It’s unclear why Luna can live on the moon without the need for a space suit. It’s unclear if Luna is going to taken for more experiments and research. It’s unclear whether the moral quandaries the characters have experienced have any impact on wether the Korean government continues the research into Luna Water and if the cloning experimentation continues. It felt like the show spent all its time on uncovering the mystery of Balhae Station (which it did extremely well), but then did nothing with what was left after our characters had all the information. Is it setting up for a Season 2? I mean, probably but I don’t really like that either. Almost everyone from Season 1 is dead and any ongoing seasons are unlikely to have that same level of unsettling atmosphere and curious underlying mystery that made this series so good. Not a fan of open endings, and not a fan of banking on second seasons, so either way- not a huge fan of the way this drama wrapped up.

Recommend?

I would recommend this drama. Particularly for those that enjoy atmosphere building and the tension that comes from a mystery slowly unraveling. 

I sure hope they don't go back to Earth for a second season