5 K-Dramas that took dream leads and ruined them with ice-cold chemistry: K2 to Forecasting Love and Weather

Gulf News

02-05-2025

K-Dramas are usually on point with the leads and the chemistry. Not often, does it miss the mark even if the storytelling does. But then there are some that build up the hype: You see actors, who have had stunning chemistry with every other actor before, and you are sure it can't go wrong.
But sigh, when it does, you're left with rather dull, lifeless and soulless chemistry between two otherwise very charismatic leads.
1) Forecasting Love And Weather
*Grumbles*
This one still singes. How do you go wrong with Song Kang and Park Min-young, who have had practically sizzling chemistry with everyone other lead character in their shows? Set in a weather forecasting agency, the story sees their characters fall in love early on, only to spiral into a storm of work stress and emotional baggage. Even the reunion and love confession lacked warmth. What should've been heart-fluttering felt like… a drizzle.
2) Love Next Door
It was almost there. We felt the tension rising slightly between Jung Hae-in and Jung Som-in, till…we didn't. Jung Hae-in's character quickly devolved into a man-child who threw tantrums over So-min's career decisions—including a major one where she considered going abroad. The romance drowned in ego and immaturity.
3) Memories of the Alhambra
If you thought Forecasting was a dull disappointment, you should see what happens to the pairing between Hyun Bin and Park Shin-ye in this fantastical drama. We're talking about two actors who practically reshaped the K-entertainment industry, instead we got a very awkward romance between the two of them, or barely anything at all. Not to mention that the story itself went off the rails by the last episode.
4) The K2
Ji Chang-wook, another lead actor who could have chemistry with a stone, if he wants. And there's the stunning Yoona, in this action-packed thriller, where Ji Chang-wook is just busy flexing muscles, beating up people as he suffers from bullet wounds. Yoona plays a traumatised woman, trapped by her devious stepmother, who ironically seemed to have had more chemistry with Chang-wook.
That's right, we said it. You know what you had to do, K2 writers.
5) Doctor Stranger
So much chaos, so little chemistry. Between political conspiracies, North Korean escape plots, and absurd medical drama, Lee Jong-suk and Jin Se-yeon's love story never found its pulse. The emotional beats felt forced, the reunion lacked spark, and honestly? Jong-suk had much more chemistry with the second lead. But in true K-Drama fashion, the second lead never stood a chance.