Our criteria for rage inducing dramas are dramas that are absolutely FANTASTIC in the beginning and all of the middle and then – something happens. I’m talking, the shows that you wish you could recommend if it wasn’t for that @$^% ending or that &%#$ twist that ruined it all forever!
I’m talking shows where the opening episodes are masterfully made, they have you gripped by the collar the hour they come on, your emotions are on your sleeve, your attention is rapt on the screen, and you rearrange your schedule to gush about it afterwards. But then, *sniff*, the ending comes….and completely F-A-I-L-S. It fails enough to have burning rage when you think about it even months (years!) later.
Or maybe it starts to kind of fail around episode 11 but you don’t believe that it can happen, it can’t really be going in this direction, right? So you hold on to hope until the God awful ending that makes you wish you had a time machine to tell your former self to never start this drama to begin with. Well, now is the time to pay it forward.
So, without further ado, here are the shows that many people in the drama watching community wish they never started watching. Of course, these shows do remain faves for some people, which is why they are watch at your own risk. If you have any others that we missed (and believe me, we asked the question on twitter and got so many responses, so we know there are others out there), just leave it in the comments to warn any other drama newbies not to start with that Kdrama.
7 RAGE INDUCING KOREAN DRAMAS TO WATCH AT YOUR OWN RISK
1. Misty (Suspense-Drama)
I mean, what the micky ficky fic was that ending? Misty is one of those absolutely riveting, amazing, life changing, dramas that you had to watch because a woman in her late 30s early 40s was killing it in a man run environment.
She wasn’t just grabbing balls, she was ripping them out and using them as her Chanel bag strap. Absolutely amazing, and the one drama that I wish I could recommend for people to watch – if it wasn’t for that ending. Why, ending! Why-y-y-y-y-y-y. I am still upset.
I think the most messed up part about the ending is that they took this fierce heroine, this fierce re-love story and … sigh…just ruined the show. Argh, I loved this show so much, why did they do that to meeeeeeee. Literally the bad endings of every show to come since then are compared to the ending of Misty. We got Misty’d!
Verdict: I wish I could recommend it but, honestly – just avoid. Don’t get your heart ripped out like the rest of us.
Rage you say? Read about it all right here. I feel like my comments don’t really show my true distaste because it was all so sudden. But the readers comments do!
2. The Third Charm (Romance)
Just shoot me now. The ending of this show possibly tops Misty for me in my rage. Or at least equals it.
Why did I get so invested in this show in the opening to only be dragged through the depths of hell in the last 4-6 episodes.
The beginning of this drama is what romantic comedies are made of, y’all. It was all about first love. Being awkward. Liking someone. Growing up. Getting your first break up. Meeting again when you are both cool and capable, and falling in love again….then part 3 came and made you want to bury yourself underground and stay there.
Verdict: Absolutely avoid this show at all cost.
The rage is real, read it here.
3. He is Psychometric (Suspense-Drama)
Speaking of burying yourself. He is Pychometric was so great and charming in a spooky suspenseful way as we watched the story of this apartment complex unfold piece by piece.
Every clue was delivered so nicely and the mystery stayed compelling all the way until what we all thought might be happening was actually happening, and yet we didn’t think it could be happening because the show was so smart, so far, but then it happened and I threw my computer into the ocean and cursed obscenities for days. WHY-Y-Y-Y-Y.
Verdict: Avoid this show unless you enjoy pain.
You can read about all the rage right here.
4. Something in the Rain (Romance)
One of those amazing openings that have a film like quality from days gone by that make you either love it right away or you might think it is a bit slow.
I loved it and was pulled right into this love story. But then the mother from HELL showed up and turned it into a straight up horror movie. You have to sit through several episodes of her scaring the daylights out of our duo and fuming alone.
On top of that, the female lead starts to make dumb decisions that might drive you crazy. If you can get past those things, then you might enjoy this show. In fact, it could be a fave.
Verdict: Watch at your own risk.
Read the reader comments to guage the confusion, right here.
5. Memories of the Alhambra (Fantasy-Romance)
We did a live watch with The Kthree on this show and everyone was absolutely RIVETED by the opening. It was the comeback drama of Hyun Bin to dramaland and opened with a huge bang. Absolutely amazing.
It followed that gripping opening for the next three episodes well and then had a calm episode at episode 5. That is when things started to kind of fall apart…but not really….but maybe….but no….but wait…..why?…..just no…~. Until the ending which was a big fat WTF.
This is one of those shows where if you love the love story then you will continue loving it. If you are here completely for the story of the video game and wish the heroine would either disappear or be more active, then you might be driven to rage.
Also, everything stopped making any kind of inkling of sense in the end.
Verdict: Watch at your own risk
Read the first 6 episode recaps here. I still need to move the rest from patreon over. But this show annoyed me so much so that might not ever happen.
6. W: Two Worlds (Fantasy-Romance)
I did not watch W, but I heard the rage burning through the internet about it, so I will either most likely never watch it, or I might watch to see what caused all the rage. The rage is all related to the ending episode (episodes?).
I heard seriously weird stuff started to happen that made people go, um….what am I watching? Someone did tell me that it was her absolute favorite drama ever and I had to watch it though, so the lovers of this show have their camp also. It is one of those shows that divides the fandom.
Verdict: Watch at your own risk.
7. Cheese in the Trap (Romantic-Comedy)
I did not watch this show but I still hear rage about it which is mostly because the comic book was so good and the drama just messed it up. Especially the last half.
But on twitter someone did say that they hated the show even more after they read the comic and saw how great the comic was. So, it seems like this drama was universally rage inducing for the people who loved the comic and for the people who never even heard of the comic.
Verdict: Stay away
BONUS
Black (Paranormal-Romance)
I have gotten recommends on this show but they all tell me to stop watching at the last episode because nothing makes sense in the end. And I mean like the last ten minutes?
Everyone recommends it with that caveat and wish themselves that they just stopped watching at like episode 14. If you watched this show and have anything to say about it then let us know in the comments!
Verdict: Watch at your own risk
HONORABLE MENTIONS
We kept our list relatively current to new shows and definitely rage swarming, but there are some devastating dramas, both old and new, on this list that ripped people a new one upon seeing the finale episode (I’m looking at you Something Happened in Bali and Lovers in Paris) or were just disappointing in general.
I also went through the twitter post and tried to group all the other shows here that people mentioned drove them to curse while watching. Though in some of these cases it could have happened from episode one. I feel like we need to get another list going of the most disappointing dramas. The kind that don’t make you rage, but they do make you shake your head.
I added comments in parenthesis on only the shows that we watched or know about.
- Big (the ending…seriously?)
- Are You Human, Too (the ending…wtf?)
- Where Stars Land (the ending!)
- Abyss
- School 2015
- The Great Seducer (everything *snort* ha!)
- Something Happened in Bali (the ending! OMG!)
- Lovers in Paris (the very very end!)
- Dr. Stranger
- Hyde, Jekyll, Me
If you want to include any more to this list then add them to the comments because we need to warn people, for real. At least then they will know going in that it is a watch at your own risk.
I didn’t make it through Something in the Rain…was seriously too too slow for me. The new one with the same two actors was the same way…just too slow. LOVED LOVED LOVED LOVED “He is Psychometric”…thought the way they did the twists and stuff was just brilliant and while I understood the shock, didn’t get the rage at all from folks…even after talking with people, I still don’t. It’s simply a masterpiece in my book! W is a great love story, but about the last 3rd of the show is craziness with a splash of insanity coupled with a “what now?” And I totally agree with BLACK. The last episode just ruins the show. It made zero sense and caused all sorts of confusion.
To be honest, about the only thing that’s rage inducing for me is noble idiocy. Especially if they stay broken up. Beyond that I can probably enjoy most things to a point, but noble idiocy is just UGH!!! I can’t even…
Author
Oh, my gosh, noble idiocy…*shakes head*….yes, that is definitely a trope that can go bye bye. I need to make a post on the top tropes that annoy the crap out of me. Noble idiocy and flashbacks to show the couple fatefully meeting as children have to be high on the list. Can’t people just meet as adults?
I loved Something in the rain – and thought most would not understand the last episode. Too deep. It’s true, what she said was correct, he left for USA without her, yet claiming at the time he was doing for her. He was immature and did not fulfil his promise to stand by her when the s**t hit the fan but sit of dumped her to face the wrath of her parents and his sister.
And then he was immature enough to think it was her fault for not following him to USA – she was pragmatic mature and knew that running away was not a solution but an avoidance.
So when they met at her brother’s wedding at the staircase, each thought the other was wrong and did not talk to each other. He thought her refusal to leave for USA was walking out of the relationship and she believed he continued to go to USA without her meant that he didn’t care to walk with her through the crisis the relationship was undergoing (disapprovals from all sides).
Then when the sister gave them a chance to talk, she saw that he didn’t think he did anything wrong by going to USA and intact was blaming her. (Seriously, maybe the issue is that man’s usual way of solving problems is to walk away and women’s usual way is to confront it..)
As he was packing and heard her talk in his phone recording once again, he remembered her character – that she cannot openly express her true feelings and would like to cover up, most times with lies or silence and that recording showed her heart – how much she truly loved him . It knocked sense into him what she meant in her rant to him about him abandoning her. He was unfeeling to reply that he didn’t abandon her and that she deserved it as she wanted to do it by herself.
Now understanding her viewpoint, he then looked for her – found her in Jeju Island. He said “sorry”.
I am happy that there was reconciliation and a happy ending but I think it was not well delivered – needs another episode to truly uncover and unravel these unspoken feelings and thoughts. I still loved their romance – one of the best in K-drama as most times, the couple is so unreal in expressing love – here Son YJ and Jung HI really expressed love realistically. I could identify with all the stages of falling in love. The heart throbbing, the desire to kiss and hug each other etc.
However, the interviews have later made me not particularly like Jung HI
Yes, my biggest complaint is that it needed another hour to really show us their ending. Are they happy and together for the weekend? Or do they straighten things out with their family and are happy for forever? Usually I can just say, “I’ll let my imagination have what it wants”, but SITR doesn’t let my imagination run free. It’s like wait…. we still have big issues to solve. Mainly that crazy mom!
Author
Right! LOL, I am just going to assume that they live happily ever after in Jeju and only go back to see their family during Chuseok and New years 😁.
Jewel Bibimbap – started out fine… my husband and I enjoyed digging into a long 50-episode drama. Halfway through it was as if a new set of writers took over. After their marriage the progressive thinking male lead became whiny and suddenly traditional. Little blips liked that popped up without reason. I’m having trouble remembering it all probably because I’ve blocked it out of my memory! Online comments were similarly confused by the show. We slogged on to the end just to say we did.
Black was amazing the ending was great if liked goblins end the black was not a problem, goblin ending was just (WTF) n left me cold, memories of Alhambr
e was a great show that dropped the ball at the end.
Room no.9 was the absolute worst drama I ever watched. And a Korean odyssey was really good up until the ending, that dragon was so disappointing and super fake looking, and the last episode made little sense to me
Author
That dragon was laughably horrible 😋
I love Cheese in the Trap!! I’m actually rewatching it! I’ve never read the comic though. If you’ve never read the comic, you’ll probably love the movie!
Me too! I loved loved loved this series – watched it twice!
Author
This is good to know!
Author
I heard the movie was great!
Oh but the ending was so frustrating… and abrupt
me too ! I love Cheese in the trap . Although the ending is not what we really want as an audience but as I discovered it was made so to not giveaway the ending of comic.
But I rewatched few of its episodes and actors have done really great job in delivering their character especially the male and female lead
W two worlds was one of the most epic dramas that was actually ahead of its time. It was just a very complex story that could easily go over ones head if they didn’t pay attention that’s most likely why people got frustrated. I would say it’s more anxiety inducing than rage inducing imo but as a thriller/suspense drama, that’s kinda it’s job.
And cheese in the trap gets bad rep for no reason. It’s a great slice of life drama and yes as a person who had caught sls and wanted second lead to get the girl, I was sad at the ending but as a whole, it was a great drama. To be fair people usually don’t like live actions of books/mangas/webtoons so that’s nothing new.
If y’all want a drama to drive you insane, I say watch Fashion King. I don’t know what type of crack the writers were smoking…
So true. W ist one of my All-time-favs. It is something for the heart and the brain what isn’t easy to find since most dramas are either thriller or RomCom.
Cheese in Trap was very good for me too, the last two episodes were a bit flat but not something I would rage about. For me the real deal ended two episodes earlier. Slice of Life Dramas doesn’t need a fluffy HEA, so it works for me.
I even liked Are you Human too? The ending was a bit too sweet for my taste but nothing that would ruin the story after all.
Author
OMG, I tried watching Fashion King and had to drop it! It was cray-cray.
W: Two Worlds is one of my favorites, with two of best actors and actresses. I watched the show on Viki. Knowing the complexity of the story, they made a special to explain what’s going on. That really helps the audience.
Author
This show literally has 2 passionate camps! I have heard from a good amount of people that it is the best thing ever and then I heard the RAGE about the ending from others.
I loved W – I thought it really was something totally different. And I am not quite clear what was bad about the ending… luckily I wasn’t reading reviews at that time!
Oh my god, i watched allnof the shows to avoid and you are absolutely right! I was so mad in Black! Something in the rain was beautifulbut a coupleof episodes…please , lets not even talk about myst. What makes me angry is that kdramas are so addictive that you cant damn stop so you keep watching 🤬 watch i am robot, another mrs Oh, 1% of something, the greatest love, devilish joy, greed
Author
For real! the addicting nature of them is so powerful!
Something in the rain – I gave up on episode 14 because I was so overwhelmed by the behavior of the heroine’s mother. I had to watch the end of the 16th episode in order to briefly review the episodes from 14-16.
However, I think that the cooperating director and screenwriter create an amazing duo and their next drama was very successful.
I’m one of the few who like The Third Charm and how it’s turn out. Avoid it if you watch drama for escapism. But as for me who appreciate the writers intend and do so in the second act, I really like it.
I agree with most, though many I didn’t bother to watch through. To me the most glaring recently was first season of Voice… not to say it was perfect, but the ending totally put a throughly stupid ending for an amazing charismatic villain. BLACK? I loved it up to the last 5 minutes (putting aside, as I always must, my mystification at why Go Ara is a female lead, and coveted live interest), where production standards sank SO LOW, and ending so ridiculous, I just wanted to pluck my eyes out.
Something in the Rain is one of my all time favorites despite the over the top gestapo mother character. I also liked “W” if only because it was weird but featured my “love” Han Hye Joo. I also enjoyed Memories of Alhambra even though I thought it was even stranger than “W”. As far as The Third Charm goes, it was such a total surprise that the drama took such a dark turn when from the title I was expecting a romantic comedy where the third time around for the couple would satisfy their love story. I did not enjoy Cheese in the Trap at all.
I actually have some thoughts about “W”and what was wrong with it. I recently binged watched it and found that on a whole it was very well written and had a very logical path all the way to the end. The problem with the ending is that the writer kind of wrote themselves into a corner and didn’t know how to turn the story around so they continued to progress in the direction they had put themselves in, which resulted in the disappointing ending for viewers. This is something that could have been caused by not being able to have enough time to edit the ending and make the alterations needed to fix the flaws in the last episodes.
I think that is the issue with many dramas, is that the writers take time to truly edit and refine the beginning episodes of the work, as that is what the producers and companies look at to then decide to even make the dramas, but not the latter episodes so they tend to be less refined thoughtful or well crafted as they could be.
Misty had a big jump-the-shark ending, I didn’t care for the romance or affair, I thought the heroine was too good / ambitious for small-rollers like her husband, but to reveal the guy who was revealed as the murderer was like a forced ending, like they ran out of ideas or suspects.
Author
Right, and the worst person to pick. We all were rooting for him!
I am a little late to this article. But. I absolute loved a few of these! (Cheese in the trap, W, Black. Also noticed Abyss in honorable mentions..that one had me hooked!!) The only thing is, the end of Cheese in the Trap had me so mad! I can’t even with that ending! Everything up to that point was good. The characters were cute. I even loved SL’s sister. She was played by one of my all time fave k drama actresses!
I knew Something in the Rain would be on this list! I fell so hard for the ml… and the drama is just too much! Mother from hell is right! Between everyone and everything… I couldn’t eat or sleep for the week that it took me to get through the show. High highs, and low lows! The worst is that you don’t get enough good stuff at the end to make up for all the sad stuff in the middle. I’m a huge rewatcher… and this one has me scared to rewatch. And oh the sound track! Just like the script… low lows and high highs! I’d call it the worst ost ever… except that it also had the best song ever (something in the rain by Rachel Yamagata).
As for Cheese in the Trap… I loved it. Yes, I was a little disappointed in the last few episodes. I’m reading the comic now… and I don’t know if I’m dumb, but I find it a little hard to follow. I love seeing how well they matched the characters to the comic and even recreated some scenes masterfully! Time will tell if finishing the comic makes me more disappointed in the drama. I really really wished they’d make a second season though. Definitely left wanting more.
Author
If you haven’t watched it already, you might like the movie version of Cheese in the Trap! I heard that one was really good and is he reason they did the drama.
This list came out before Chocolate was released. You want to talk about RAGE!?!? I hated that show and resented the time I wasted so bad. I’ll never stop being angry about it. Just awful.
Author
Yep, yep, yep. Chocolate might need to be added to another list! I know some people super loved it, but no one should have loved that ending!
Have anybody watched Prime Minister and I? Ugh.
It started out nicely, have a promising storyline, the male lead couldn’t be better (it’s Lee Beom-soo, for Godsake!), the chemistry was building up cutely…. and then BAM! It is as if everybody went with a cold feet and avoid to do anything altogether. Throw in some noble idiocy to stir up more rage, and there goes our wasted life! I heard that some ultra-conservative people object heavily to a much older [nobble] man in love with a cute young lady, commenting how improper it was especially when he was still in a marriage. What marriage??? His wife is DEAD for all he knew!
Ah…. it was years ago, but I can still feel the rage. Felt so good now that I can write my rants here haha… thanks!