Well, time for the 10 worst K-dramas of 2024 featuring some potential losses and a certain Elite remake! Now, this is not going to be your usual worst shows list which includes a bunch of never-heard, poorly made, poorly written shows. Sure, there will be some. But we also have some surprising and controversial picks.
After all, there is no one show that is loved by every single person. Lovely Runner may come close as it even happens to be in our best 2024 K-dramas list, but we literally know people who hated it. So, there are some personal picks that we know are beloved by many but we just couldn’t seem to get into it.
#10 Queen of Tears
Yes, this one is in our best K-drama list too but hear us out. It’s good and bad. The first half of the show was extremely well done and had all the makings of a masterpiece. But by the end, Queen of Tears downgrades into a sloppy, trope-filled mess, pulling out every K-drama cliche and creating a hodge-podge of melodrama for shock value.
By the finale, many viewers seemed to just give up including us. But the first half was still pretty exceptional which is why it has made its way to many best K-dramas lists including ours.
#9 Gangnam B-Side
Unlike Queen of Tears, this one didn’t have an exceptional beginning to balance out the messy ending. Sure, the initial premise is eye-catching but that’s about it. And with powerhouses such as Ji Chang-wook and Jo Woo-jin making up the cast, and Producer Han Jae-deok who is known for some iconic thrillers like Old Boy and The Worst of Evil, it makes it that much more disappointing to have such a convoluted, nonsensical drama.
What makes it bad is the huge potential of it being one of the best shows overall, and by fumbling it so stupendously, it breaks our hearts. But hey, if you think you’re ever having a bad day, watch Gangnam B-Side because Detective Dong-woo is guaranteed to be having a worse one. Poor guy just can’t catch a break.
#8 Marry My Husband
Another strong start ruined by writers literally forgetting the plot. They lost the plot so bad, we wonder if they even know what was going on with all that time-travelling fate shtick.
The cast, especially, Park Min-young and Lee Yi-kyung, tries its best to sell the revenge drama but the satisfactory ranking goes down with every episode as it digresses with every plot twist to unnecessarily expand the story into a 16-episode run. By the finale of Marry My Husband, we don’t even care what happens to the good guys or the bad.
#7 The Tyrant
Unlike the first 3 picks, this one doesn’t have a strong start or end. Just a dark, dark, literally a dark show where they haven’t heard of lighting so we literally cannot see anything let alone follow the plot. And when we can, it is mediocre at best.
They really should have stuck to the original The Witch movies-style format instead of trying to make a spin-off movie cut into 4 filler episodes for the cash grab. If you were expecting The Tyrant to be a Childe 2.0 from Kim Seon-ho, he’s simply wasted, so just give this one a skip.
#6 Captivating the King
Ambitious sageuks spanning decades and chronicling reigns are quite risky. They need to have the right balance of melodrama, intrigue and action to keep viewers hooked. Take Queen Woo for example, which has the perfect formula. Plus with Jo Jung-suk in the lead, expectations were extremely high for this one.
However, Captivating The King fails to captivate the viewers as it turns into a slow, dull, drudgery of a weak-minded king’s journey with a female lead who cannot act let alone commit to her role.
#5 Hierarchy
Want South Korean Elite with scandals, cheeky teens and shocking twists? Yeah, this is not it. Hierarchy tries its hardest but the elitist culture of the Spanish version is not transferred into this one as its biggest mistake is not moulding the aesthetics into South Korea’s modern elite culture.
On top of that, the stakes and the drama are so absurd and ridiculous that you’ll be scoffing every few minutes. If you want an Elite-esque K-drama, switch to Tempted or even The Heirs.
#4 Bad-Memory Eraser
This one’s truly a shame as it is Kim Jaejoong’s comeback in the K-drama-world. With a toxic, unredeemable female lead, forgotten side plots and side characters, and a super complicated plot that’s way too conveniently resolved, this is a self-destructing rom-com. Even rising actor Lee Jong-won and his bromance with Jaejoong cannot save Bad-Memory Eraser no matter how hard they try with their Oscar-worthy performances.
#3 Frankly Speaking
If you are expecting a Jim-Carrey-Liar-Liar type K-drama, you’ll be sorely disappointed with this one. Poor Go Kyung-pyo does his best to play the straight-faced reporter who speaks without thinking.
But the script fails him as the writers themselves don’t believe in the already fun premise. And to make up for this biased lack, they keep introducing unnecessary subplots and twists and conflicts that take away from the whole ‘Liar Liar’ comedy. Instead, we are left with a shoddy and unfunny drama as we simply wait for Frankly Speaking to end and frankly forget.
#2 Dear Hyeri
Another toxic, unredeemable lead, this time in the form of the boyfriend, Jung Hyeon-o, it’s even worse as it makes slight of the female lead’s mental illness and sends a horrible message.
And did you know, Dear Hyeri was marketed as a healing, slice-of-life melodrama which chronicles the struggles of a woman with DID? On top of that, it is so painfully slow and frustrating that you’re better off forgetting this show even exists for the sake of Shin Hye-sun’s otherwise stellar filmography.
#1 The Impossible Heir
And at first place, we have Lee Jae-wook acting his heart out in this soapy, trashy revenge drama in front of which Escape of the Seven seems like a masterpiece. It’s not like we didn’t give it a chance, we did. But from the poor writing, one-dimensional characters and slow pace, The Impossible Heir was fated to fail.
And if you thought the boring, corrupt, corporate mystery was painful to watch, the female lead is worse making us wonder if screen life draws from reality and whether she has some chaebol connection supporting her acting career.
Of course, here are some honorary mentions in the form of The Atypical Family, a good show that lost steam as the writers lost inspiration and a unanimously agreed-upon bad show, Cinderella at 2 AM. So, there we have it, the 10 worst K-dramas of 2024. We, of course, have our eye on Squid Game 2 and a couple of other December releases in case they leave a mark, good or bad on the K-drama industry.
Read More: Best K-dramas of 2024
Do you agree with our list? What is the worst K-drama of 2024 according to you? Let us know in the comments below!
@Greg, Haha thanks! I knew Marry My Husband was going to be a super controversial pick and had to think twice. I was toying between this one and Love Next Door but guess Marry My Husband won the toss. I did watch it for all the love it got but I just couldn’t get into it (and had to look up some Reddit and X debates to make sure I wasn’t the only one LOL)
Great article, really enjoyed reading this one. However, 13 episodes into Marry My Husband and I’m really enjoying it so far and disagree with its inclusion here. Time travel stuff is definitely a bit wonky but it follows the manhwa quite faithfully I believe. Never thought I’d see someone be a harsher critic than me but there we go haha!
Nice work on this one though Lopa!