5 Of The Worst K-Dramas Of 2024 So Far

2024 has given K-Drama junkies plenty of new content, but unfortunately, not every show was a hit. From low ratings to lackluster storylines, these 5 series fell flat with viewers and critics alike.

1. Queen Woo

A promising historical K-Drama about a widowed queen’s most chilling 24 hours to protect her reign turned some viewers off with its explicit content. According to a TENASIA review, the first part of Queen Woo was “all sex and boobs.”

Explicit sex scenes, lesbians, and boobs: Four terms that describe Queen Woo. TVING’s first-ever historical K-Drama has been unveiled, but it has fallen short of expectations. Was the pressure too much, given the star-studded cast, including Jeon Jong Seo, Ji Chang Wook, Kim Mu Yeol, and Jeong Yu Mi? Ever since its premiere on August 29, Queen Woo has faced harsh criticism, and ultimately, only the R-rated sex scenes have drawn attention.

— Reporter Ryu Ye Ji for TENASIA

TENASIA criticized the series for featuring many sex scenes that were irrelevant to the plot, and stated that the series should have focused on telling the story of a powerful woman.

But Queen Woo, at least in the episodes released so far, takes the spotlight away from the queen. With the exception of Episode 3, each episode features nudity and sex scenes.

— Reporter Ryu Ye Ji for TENASIA

Some viewers also expressed the disappointment they felt after watching this “Game of Thrones-coded” series.

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2. Serendipity Embrace

Serendipty Embrace, a story about love and fate, features Chae Jong Hyeop as the male lead and Kim So Hyun as the female lead. Unfortunately, stellar casting wasn’t enough to save this K-Drama from dismal ratings.

According to Nielsen Korea, the show began with a 3.88% viewership rating. That rating plummeted with each new episode. Both critics and viewers criticized the series for being bland and full of cliches. Some pointed out, however, that the low ratings could have been due to the show airing during the Olympics.

Love Next Door stars Jung So Min and Jung Hae In as childhood friends who are reunited as neighbors. Some viewers who had been enjoying the show’s light, comedic tone were turned off the series by a plot twist that hit too close to home.

It was revealed that Jung So Min’s character had stomach cancer. At the time, some viewers slammed the plot twist and declared that they would not continue watching the series.

4. Marry My Husband

TVN‘s hit K-Drama Marry My Husband faced plenty of criticism, both for its on-screen content and off-screen controversies. Some viewers criticized the series for straying away from the original source material, BoA‘s acting, an Islamophobic storyline, inappropriate styling, and more.

5. Hierarchy

The highly anticipated Netflix K-Drama Hierarchy promised high stakes and The Glory-style vengeance. Although many viewers loved the plot idea, some felt that the execution fell flat.

The show was criticized for one-dimensional characters, bland and predictable plot lines, and more.

#Hierarchy was boring as hell 😭 generic plot: high school bullying, social class, revenge. no shocking twist to make the drama exceptional. everything was underwhelming. they wasted budget, talent, and chemistry 😬 hope it gets better if there’s season 2! pic.twitter.com/MVuhdo8Kfi

— seul (@wavedaeys) June 9, 2024

nah the first ep got me excited but then it became so boring. it completely lacked suspense and excitement #hierarchypic.twitter.com/WBuwSZfsTT

— rue (@writtenbysartre) June 7, 2024

Read more about viewers least-favorite series here:

5 “Disappointing” K-Drama Series That Viewers Stopped Watching In October