Draggy Dramas: Does slow and steady really win the race?

Draggy Dramas: Does slow and steady really win the race?

How many times has it happened that you look forward to a drama just as much as an expecting woman looks forward to seeing her kid? Well.. maybe not that intensely but you get the point. How many times has it happened that you’re as excited about a drama as students on their way to a field trip? How many times have you had your hearts broken when that drama is not exactly how you imagined it to be? Producers think the viewers are at fault, viewers think the producers are at fault.

Calm down. After intense research on the topic and taking into account my own experience, I have found out that it really is no one’s fault. I’m pretty sure it does not take a genius to figure that out and you all already knew this but I was just having my moment with all that “research” blabber. Thank you for letting me have it.

There are many Kdramas that begin with a sickening SLOW SLOW SLOW pace. It turns viewers off and in all honesty, this phenomenon is natural.

The consequence? Frustration, fretting over when it’ll get better, more frustration and then BAM. “That’s it I’m dropping it.” The timeline will be different from person to person but this is what happens with me.  In the two years that I have been watching dramas, I have realized that dramas that begin with a near-dead pace need to be given some time and require patience on the part of the viewer. There were dramas that I was almost about to drop. Not just drop, but drop with utter disgust. The adrenaline rush that existed before starting disappears into thin air, views change and I say all but good things about that particular drama. Then there is the relaxing and pondering stage where my thought process becomes sympathetic and compels me to give it another chance. Painstakingly, reluctantly and keeping a stone on my heart I begin where I left off, admire my patience a bit for putting up with the dragging until the drama takes two to three excitingly outrageous turns, and my multiple personality disorder strikes again, and I begin to like the show as I did in the beginning.

Disclaimer for below: 

These are shows that I found relatively slow. Lee Min Ho fans please don't get angry. I'll make it up to you! 

If you ask an outsider what is slower, a snail or Faith, he will not think twice before saying Faith. Let’s put it this way. If I saw stage 1 of something in that show, my grandkids would have seen stage 2. 

“Wake me up when it’s all over, when I’m wiser and I’m older”

That Winter, The Wind Blows is a formidable contender at least for me. Just that it was a lullaby for adults at times.. well, most of the times.

See Song Hye Kyo in the picture. Even she’s under the lullaby influence

Cruel City, though not slow, still made me drop it multiple times. It was all over the place and the vibe I mostly got from it was of confusion. Drug lord A works for drug lord B who is loyal to drug lord C who is not on good terms with drug lord D and then add to it the gazillion undercover officers!

Jung Kyung Ho while casually having a hard time remembering who he actually works for in the show.

But I loved him as Paksa nonetheless! Doctor’s Son is one hell of a classy name. Maybe that’s why?

Time and patience is the answer. One needs to understand that the drama team does what it does and makes what it makes keeping in view the best interest of the viewers. One also needs to think that had the plot of the show been paced and quick to our liking in the beginning itself, it would eventually come to a point where the pace doesn’t make us sit on the edge of our seats anymore.

There is a reason why sprinters and racers start slow and speed up when they’re near the finish line, to win of course. So on the face of logic for a drama to potentially win, it needs to start slow. I know, bad metaphor.

Tell us the dramas you started with excitement, dropped in the beginning and caught on again only to like it more than before in the comments!