I’ve heard the current buzz in dramaland has been with recently ended tvN drama Secret Forest (Stranger), which got high cable ratings starting over 3% and going up steadily to end with 6.5% for the final episode. I’ve yet to catch up with the darker dramas as summer time I’m in the mood for lighter fare, even light poorly plotted fluff like Bride of the Water God, so I did notice chatter around Secret Forest I didn’t hear much over on the jTBC side with it’s ladies centric drama Woman of Dignity with Kim Hee Sun and Kim Sun Ah. Turns out South Korea is raving and obsessed with this drama as female lead Kim Hee Sun has been the number 1 advertising star in the weekly rankings for three weeks in a row now while Kim Sun Ah is so amazing as the antagonist even her friends and family are all calling to yell at her for being so awful in the drama. Even more amazing is that Woman of Dignity has just surpassed earlier this year’s Strong Woman Do Bong Soon as the highest rated jTBC drama episode of all time. Strong Woman’s final episode got 9.668% and Woman of Dignity’s most recent episode 16 brought in 9.986% ratings. And it’s not even the last episode for Woman which has four more episodes to air so audiences are excited to see if it can break the 10% drama ratings mark.
Congrats! I’m watching Woman of Dignity and it’s really good. At least for now. SWDBS was good in the beginning but became painfully boring with its unnecessary side plots. Also, we can all say that Secret Garden types of dramas with jerk male lead won’t do too well anymore. It’s the dramas with realistic and layered female characters rather than dependent helpless Cinderella characters that we viewers want.
Does it get better from the first few episodes? Anyway, I’m happy for both the leads and everyone involved.
it gets better if you give it a try, I quite like this drama, although for me the most interesting drama at the moment in Criminal Minds (because Lee Jun Ki)
Where have you been watching it? I haven’t been able to find it anywhere.
Strong Woman started great but really became painful. I got through by just watching the leads together but it didn’t come close to fulfilling its potential. I watched Perfect Wife which also had two female leads and was looking forward to WOD but neither Viki or DF picked it up. Even Dramabeans stopped recapping it as there seemed to be so little interest among international fans. I love the lead actresses so am glad to seeing this do well and maybe one of the sites will pick it up.
I’ve only seen clips of this drama and the dialogue seems fun. Both actresses are just brilliant at acting and from reviews I’ve heard it’s KHS’s best role to date.
Thanks for those cute little pieces of gossip about the reaction to the two lead actresses. It’s Kim Sun-ah who made me stay with the drama, though I’ve never liked her much before. I do wish they’d stop showing the spoiler ending — they seem to think they have to keep reminding us to keep us interested.
Hey ! producers, pd’s … take note ! Yes a centric female drama can successed . No need to cast only Alpha males with very Young actresses to make a hit. Amazing ! actresses in their forties did it. So happy for Kim Sun Ah ( her lastest dramas were flops), and Kim hee sun too.
Its a bit makjang and the dark tone is really intriguing. I tuned it because I found the show to be really different than what have been offered out there recently. SWDBS slumped to boredom passed episode 10 and only relying on Min-Min and Bong-Bong cutesy. This show on the contrary getting more interesting. Anyway, jTbc is on the roll this year whereas TvN has not been doing so well. I am happy for jTbc.
Yes strong woman is just mediocre nice. The female lead turns on heaps of tears for just a small incident.
Well I like the drama but it’s not the one that I would repeatedly watch.
Woman of dignity: I haven’t watched becos I prefer to watch when the drama ends. So glad to hear of raving views of this and esp about my two favorite female leads, Kim hee sun and Kim sun ah
I’ll look forward to watching it soon
If you want to see a genuinely great, strong female role then watch Bae Doo Na in Forest of Secrets. It’s also a terrific show, probably the best of the year. Women of Dignity, on the other hand, is derivative and reaaalllyyy makjang but somehow also dull. I had to drop it after episode 10. The female lead roles are regressive and stereotypical too – women are portrayed as either desperate or crazy. It was a big disappointment for me (as was Strong Woman DBS. I’m sensing a pattern with this writer.) Again, can’t emphasize enough – Bae Doo Na in FOS >>>>>> any female role in WoD.
Agree , Love Bae Doo Na in Forest Secrets ! Her acting is so natural ! Wish to see more female roles like this ! Great drama too!
I agree Forest of Secrets captured unique empowered woman as i lead…I am happy about the rating success of this drama…but at the end of the day the women are the backdrop stories…a revision of the Other Cinderella….how many times have we seen that played out…poor vs rich female…I would not say that FOS is dark…it is an exceptional drama…Best drama of 2016-17.
Secret Forest aka Stranger was a great surprise. Such a great show till the very end!
So worth to watch it!! Even my hubby loved it! Lol.
I yet to watch Woman of Dignity , I am so happy that many good asian shows are available on Netflix.
Unfortunately ,only Netflix Asia has the Secret of Forest. In my region was not on. I do not know for Women of Dignity because never looked but probably will be the same.