4 Restaurants to Try This Weekend in Los Angeles: May 16
When late-night cravings hit, Taco Bell is always there with a Crunchwrap Supreme ready to heal all. But now, a Koreatown taqueria is doing its own version of the signature dish that's bigger, beefier, and hits just like the original. Located next to clubstaurant Mama Lion, K Pasa serves tacos, burritos, quesadillas, taquitos, and ice-cold glass Mexican Coke, alongside specials like its Krunchy Wrap. The pliant floor tortilla comes filled with a choice of meat like carne asada, birria, Korean spicy pork belly, or Korean barbecue short ribs. Like the original Crunchwrap, cheese, refried beans, lettuce, tomato, onions, cilantro, and sour cream are added in, plus the signature crispy tostada. The Krunchy Wrap comes out almost double the size of Taco Bell's version, and, of course, toasted on the sides. The carne asada is flavorful and tender, served in hunks, the way it would be in tacos. And while K Pasa isn't open as late as Taco Bell, it is open until midnight for those late-ish night cravings. 3958 W. Sixth Street, Los Angeles, CA 90020. — Rebecca Roland, editor, Eater Southern California/Southwest For an easy Westside coffee-and-burrito brunch: Alfalfa
Alfalfa in Santa Monica didn't initially seem like a place that would become a vital neighborhood hang: It was a transplant from Jersey; its millennial-pink facade felt pandering; and the menu of salads and wraps seemed less like what people wanted in 2021, when pandemic-era comfort food still reigned. Still, it swung in with two Angeleno-friendly breakfast burritos (one chorizo and one ancho-potato); a kaleidoscopic array of gluten-free doughnuts; and a harder-to-find, at the time, chicken Caesar wrap, which has since proliferated around the city. In the three years since it came to town, Alfalfa has expanded to a second location in Los Angeles's Larchmont neighborhood, and it now does a brisk business — people want those salads, salad wraps, and burritos. I get them frequently for easy breakfasts and not-so-sad desk lunches, and it was my breakfast choice this past Mother's Day when I wanted something easy and great to share with my husband and toddler. The potato breakfast burrito, available on a regular flour or pliable gluten-free tortilla, gets crisped on the flat-top and is served with red and green salsas; the Nutella doughnut holes hit the toddler palate just right. 2309 Main Street, Santa Monica, CA 90405. — Nicole Adlman, cities manager For vinyl tunes and fast Wi-Fi: Companion
It's hard to find the ideal daytime working spot. Some cafes discourage weekday laptop warriors, while others just don't have very good coffee or any snacks at all. But Venice's Companion has figured out the formula for a cafe that welcomes remote workers without making the environment feel too office-y. The airy all-day cafe took over the former vegan pizzeria Double Zero, redoing the space with a white interior that feels cozy instead of cold, green tile, and shelves of vinyl records that staff switch out throughout the day. The Wi-Fi here is fast (and free), making it easy to grab a coffee and an excellent pastry and settle in at one of the tables. Unfortunately, Companion is no longer offering sandwiches during the daytime, but there are breakfast burritos on deck for something a little more filling. The only downside is that there are only a few plugs easily accessible throughout the cafe for charging, so make sure to come with a full battery or bring a mobile power bank. At night, Companion flips into a full-on restaurant and wine bar, serving pasta, pizza, salads, and more. 1700 Lincoln Boulevard, Venice, CA 90291. — Rebecca Roland, editor, Eater Southern California/Southwest For a reasonably-priced Thai lunch or dinner for one in Hollywood: Luv2eat Express
There are so many times in a week that I just need a quick meal without too much thought. My mind typically goes to something like Panda Express, an easy lunch or early dinner that satisfies the entire family for less than $10 a person. But recently, I had that feeling at Luv2eat Thai Express, the new outpost of Luv2eat Thai just a few doors down from its Hollywood strip mall restaurant. The bright, spacious dining room offers a bit more in the way of creature comforts compared to the similarly delicious Northern Thai Food Club. Luv2eat Express dishes have a nice balance between familiar (chicken penang and green curry, pad kra pow) and the more obscure (sour fish stew, tamarind eggs). I really like how the food is served on pressed metal plates, like a cafeteria or quick lunch in a Bangkok back alley. Expect everything to have a relatively high level of spiciness from the start, which means those more accustomed to the sweeter, milder Thai flavors will likely find Luv2eat Express too intense. But this is Los Angeles, and everyone here graduates to a master's level of Thai food knowledge in a short time. Consider Luv2eat Express your post-grad Thai experience. 6666 W. Sunset Boulevard, Unit L, Los Angeles, CA 90028. — Matthew Kang, lead editor, Eater Southern California/Southwest
Related The 38 Essential Restaurants in Los Angeles
Sign up for our newsletter.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Los Angeles Times
a day ago
- Los Angeles Times
South Koreans are obsessed with Netflix's ‘K-pop Demon Hunters.' Here's why
SEOUL — When South Koreans start to obsess over a movie or TV series, they abbreviate its name, a distinction given to Netflix's latest hit 'K-pop Demon Hunters.' In media headlines and in every corner of the internet, the American-made film is now universally referred to as 'Keh-deh-hun' — the first three syllables of the title when read aloud in Korean. And audiences are already clamoring for a sequel. The animated film follows a fictional South Korean girl group named 'HUNTR/X' as its three members — Rumi, Mira and Zoey — try to deliver the world from evil through the power of song and K-pop fandom. Since its release in June, it has become the most watched original animated film in Netflix history, with millions of views worldwide, including the U.S. and South Korea, where its soundtrack has topped the charts on local music streaming platform Melon. Fans have also cleaned out the gift shop at the National Museum of Korea, which has run out of a traditional tiger pin that resembles one of the movie's characters. Much of the film's popularity in South Korea is rooted in its keenly observed details and references to Korean folklore, pop culture and even national habits — the result of having a production team filled with K-pop fans, as well as a group research trip to South Korea that co-director Maggie Kang led in order to document details as minute as the appearance of local pavement. There are nods to traditional Korean folk painting, a Korean guide to the afterlife, the progenitors of K-pop and everyday mannerisms. In one scene, at a table in a restaurant where the three girls are eating, viewers might notice how the utensils are laid atop a napkin, an essential ritual for dining out in South Korea — alongside pouring cups of water for everyone at the table. 'The more that I watch 'Keh-deh-hun,' the more that I notice the details,' South Korean music critic Kim Yoon-ha told local media last month. 'It managed to achieve a verisimilitude that would leave any Korean in awe.' :: Despite its subject matter and association with the 'K-wave,' that catch-all term for any and all Korean cultural export, 'K-pop Demon Hunters,' at least in the narrowest sense, doesn't quite fit the bill. Produced by Sony Pictures and directed by Korean Canadian Kang and Chris Appelhans — who has held creative roles on other animated films such as 'Coraline' and 'Fantastic Mr. Fox' — the movie is primarily in English and geared toward non-Korean audiences. But its popularity in South Korea is another sign that the boundaries of the K-wave are increasingly fluid — and that, with more and more diaspora Korean artists entering the mix, it flows in the opposite direction, too. Those barriers have already long since broken down in music: many K-pop artists and songwriters are non-Korean or part of the Korean diaspora, reflecting the genre's history of foreign influences such as Japanese pop or American hip-hop. 'Once a cultural creation acquires a universality, you can't just confine it to the borders of the country of origin, which is where K-pop is today,' said Kim Il-joong, director of the content business division at the Korea Creative Content Agency, a government body whose mission is to promote South Korean content worldwide. 'Despite what the name 'K-pop' suggests, it is really a global product.' In 'K-pop Demon Hunters,' Zoey is a rapper from Burbank. In addition, the soundtrack was written and performed by a team that includes producers, artists and choreographers associated with some of the biggest real-life K-pop groups of the past decade. Streaming productions are increasingly flying multiple flags, too: Apple TV's 'Pachinko' or Netflix's 'XO, Kitty' are both American productions that were filmed in South Korea. But few productions have been able to inspire quite the same level of enthusiasm as 'K-pop Demon Hunters,' whose charm for many South Koreans is how accurately it captures local idiosyncrasies and contemporary life. While flying in their private jet, the three girls are shown sitting on the floor even though there is a sofa right beside them. This tendency to use sofas as little more than backrests is an endless source of humor and self-fascination among South Koreans, most of whom would agree that the centuries-old custom of sitting on the floor dies hard. South Korean fans and media have noted that the characters correctly pronounce 'ramyeon,' or Korean instant noodles. The fact that ramyeon is often conflated with Japanese ramen — which inspired the invention of the former decades ago — has long been a point of exasperation for many South Koreans and local ramyeon companies, which point to the fact that the Korean adaption has since evolved into something distinct. It's a small difference — the Korean version is pronounced 'rah myun' — but one that it pays to get right in South Korea. The girls' cravings for ramyeon during their flight also caught the eye of Ireh, a member of the real-life South Korean girl group Purple Kiss who praised the film's portrayals of life as a K-pop artist. 'I don't normally eat ramyeon but whenever I go on tour, I end up eating it,' she said in a recent interview with local media. 'The scene reminded me of myself.' South Korean fans have also been delighted by a pair of animals, Derpy and Sussy, which borrow from jakhodo, a genre of traditional Korean folk painting in which tigers and magpies are depicted side by side, popularized during the Joseon Dynasty in the 19th century. In the film, Derpy is the fluorescent tiger with goggle eyes that always appears with its sidekick, a three-eyed bird named Sussy. Though they have long since been extinct, tigers were once a feared presence on the Korean peninsula, at times coming down from the mountains to terrorize the populace. They were also revered as talismans that warded off evil spirits. But much like Derpy itself, jakhodo reimagined tigers as friendlier, oftentimes comical beings. Historians have interpreted this as the era's political satire: the magpie, audacious in the presence of a great predator, represented the common man standing up to the nobility. The movie is peppered with homages to Korean artists throughout history who are seen today as the progenitors of contemporary K-pop. There are apparent nods to the 'Jeogori Sisters,' a three-piece outfit that was active from 1939 to 1945 and is often described as Korea's first girl group, followed by the Kim Sisters, another three-piece that found success in the U.S., performing in Las Vegas and appearing on 'The Ed Sullivan Show.' Longtime K-pop fans might recognize the demon hunters from the 1990s as S.E.S., a pioneering girl group formed by S.M. Entertainment, the label behind present-day superstars Aespa and Red Velvet. (Bada, S.E.S.'s main vocalist, recently covered 'Golden,' the film's headline track, on YouTube.) For a long time, South Korean audiences have often complained about outside depictions of the country as inauthentic and out of touch. Not anymore. 'Korea wasn't just shown as an extra add-on as it has been for so long,' Kim said. ''K-pop Demon Hunters' did such a great job depicting Korea in a way that made it instantly recognizable to audiences here.'
Eater
2 days ago
- Eater
4 Restaurants to Try This Weekend in Los Angeles: August 1
Every Friday, our editors compile a trusty list of recommendations to answer the most pressing of questions: 'Where should I eat?' Here now are four places to check out this weekend in Los Angeles. And if you need some ideas on where to drink, here's our list of the hottest places to get cocktails in town. For dinner and cocktails at a museum: Trellis Bar & Lounge at the Getty For dinner and cocktails at a museum: Trellis Bar & Lounge at the Getty. Rebecca Roland The restaurant at the Getty has long been one of the better museum dining options, but it didn't feel like it took full advantage of its settings. The dining room and patio, overlooking the rolling hillsides, are both stunning, but there was just so much untapped potential with the Getty's stone-laden plazas. It seems like the Getty may have been thinking a similar thing, because the latest addition to the museum is an outdoor restaurant and bar right at the top of the colorful entrance steps. Trellis Bar & Lounge serves an easygoing menu of dishes like Thai mango summer rolls, taquitos, and a mezze platter, alongside wine, beer, and cocktails. The no-reservations set up makes it easy to just wander in and settle in for quick drinks between exhibitions, or a full meal at the end of a day. 1200 Getty Center Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90049. — Rebecca Roland, deputy editor, Eater Southern California/Southwest For a quick and affordable lunch: The Kimbap in Koreatown For a quick and affordable lunch: The Kimbap in Koreatown. Rebecca Roland As much as I envy those who can luxuriate over a mid-day chopped salad and glass of wine, lunch, for the most part, is a meal of utility for me. If my refrigerator is running low on leftovers, I'm often looking for something easy and affordable (and can be eaten at my desk). One of my go-to options is gimbap (also spelled as kimbap), preferably with tuna. I've picked up rolls from all across LA, but one of my recent favorites is from the Kimbap in Koreatown. For less than $15, the Kimbap gives you two hearty rolls that can barely be contained by the takeout container. Other filling options include Spam, beef, spicy pork, kimchi, and more. 400 S Western Avenue #102, Los Angeles, CA 90020. — Rebecca Roland, deputy editor, Eater Southern California/Southwest For a luxe Chinese meal in Beverly Hills without paparazzi: 88 Club For a luxe Chinese meal in Beverly Hills without paparazzi: 88 Club. Matthew Kang Mei Lin's sophomore effort in Los Angeles (we'll consider her casual restaurant Daybird more of a 1.5) comes in the form of 88 Club, a striking, moody affair with just a few dozen seats and an almost secret side lounge for cocktails. The entire look and feel are incredibly lovely, well-detailed, and luxurious, like a high-end restaurant hidden away in a Singapore or Bangkok hotel that only the well-heeled know about. Thankfully Lin's restaurant, a partnership with restaurateur Francis Miranda, is easy to access right from Little Santa Monica in Beverly Hills. The service is polite and helpful without being too much. In fact, 'not too much' could be the theme here. All the dishes are balanced and refined to a near razor's edge, meant to delight without pizzazz. Lin herself said the menu was 'no thrills' and 'what you see is what you get,' and I'm perfectly fine with that in an age when we've moved beyond rainbow bagels and Instagram bullshit. Starters are modest and refreshing, like a dressed chrysanthemum salad or mung bean jelly noodles. Singaporean fried noodles don't carry the heady spices of something in a hawker center, but doused with Lin's chile oil they're hard to stop eating. The shrimp toast, gorgeous and hefty in the hand, is a must-order. I pined for more of the tangy sweet and sauce sour beneath the fried sea bream, fresh herbs balancing the fish. Across the board, portions and flavors are modest but reveal layers of pleasant complexity, like the blackened edges of char siu iberico pork. I'll even swoon over the desserts, like the mango sago topped with sweet dollops that resemeble Dippin' Dots ice cream. The pro-tip here is to go with four people to reduce the costs and maximize dishes to order; we paid about $100 before drinks, tax, and tip, but the price could easily balloon to $200 a person with lots of cocktails. I'm excited to return to 88 Club and try the rest of the dishes, like the kung pao scallop, but for now, I'll happily marinate in my first visit knowing that Mei Lin, arguably one of the most talented chefs in Los Angeles right now, is back with a full service restaurant. 9737 S. Santa Monica Boulevard, Beverly Hills, CA 90210. — Matthew Kang, lead editor, Eater Southern California/Southwest For a choice selection of wines and grooves played on LA's best sound system: Zizou in Lincoln Heights For a choice selection of wines and grooves played on LA's best sound system: Zizou in Lincoln Heights. Peter Quinn Since Zizou owners Maati Zoutina and Boris Macquin opened their Lincoln Heights wine bar and restaurant in 2024, it's become an LA hotspot. Head there on a random weekday to hear Chaka Khan, Afrobeat, French hip hop, or Bob Marley. It's fairly common for notable DJs to show up and show out on the restaurant's killer sound system, customized by Macquin, who was formerly a sound engineer. Though plenty hang out on lush patio, others might just create their own personal dance floor while enjoying Zizou's sights, sounds, and French or North African family recipes like the chicken tagine or Moroccan salad. Any member of the staff can make a wine recommendation, but if unsure, just ask for a glass of Champagne. Zoutina or Macquin will smile, depart, and return with something effervescent, celebratory, and delicious. Always check Zizou's Instagram to see what kind of programming is on the calendar. 2425 Daly Street, Lincoln Heights, CA, 90031. — Mona Holmes, editor, Eater Southern California/Southwest Related The 38 Best Restaurants in Los Angeles Eater LA All your essential food and restaurant intel delivered to you Email (required) Sign Up By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Time Magazine
2 days ago
- Time Magazine
The Best K-Dramas That Are Not on Netflix
For better or worse, Netflix is the king of the global K-drama phenomenon. The streamer has invested billions of dollars in South Korean TV—even if the people really driving K-drama's success appear to see little of it—and in return, 80% of subscribers watch Korean content as the streamer garners a bevy of awards for its trouble. Yet, as Netflix rushes productions an focuses on sequels, sometimes prioritizing celebrity over quality, other streamers have swooped in to fight for their piece of the pie. Which might come as a surprise to some fans, with Disney and Prime Video consistently going minimal when it comes to marketing their K-dramas in the West. But if they won't tell you about the surprisingly great K-dramas that aren't on Netflix, by gum, we will. Given the rate at which Disney spews out content, it's no surprise that Hulu and Disney+ dominate this list, though there's a surprising amount of platform diversity as Prime Video and even Tubi capitalize on our continuing enthusiasm for South Korean media. That said, one streamer that doesn't appear is Viki—a platform devoted entirely to Asian content. An argument could be made that it deserves its own list. However, a clutch of issues, including limited versatility regarding devices and a hard-to-justify cost for general viewers in a sea of streamers offering a broader array of content, makes it increasingly hard to recommend. We also excluded shows that, while not Netflix originals, are consistently available to watch on Netflix (most notably, My Mister and Reply 1988, both justifiably regarded as two of the finest K-dramas). Those limitations don't even remotely dent our options though. The titles listed below evoke the K-drama at its best—exploring the depths of human emotion, the power of community, and the importance of truth—and, in many ways, a level of quality that's become harder to find. Moving (Hulu; Disney+ outside the U.S.) You can't discuss the best K-dramas without including Moving. At the height of superhero fatigue in 2023, Kang Full—adapting his 2015 webtoon—fashioned a fresh take by asking: What if super powers sucked? Gone is the tired exceptionalism of American superheroes as Kang places them on the fringes of society. A desperate, frightened group pursued by a government that perceives a threat in their otherness. On a personal level, Moving's allegory of superpowers as disability—cemented by disabled superhero Lee Jae-man (Kim Sung-kyun)—is an overdue approach to the genre. From a broader K-drama perspective, its focus on bringing people together, on empathy, and on dispelling the perceived barriers of our differences—led by literal power couple Bong-seok (Lee Jung-ha) and Jang Hui-soo (Go Young-jang)—elevates it above the stumbling output of the MCU and Netflix's cynical attempt to capitalize on its success with the mostly horrid The Atypical Family. As I wrote in 2023, it's almost unfair to call Moving a superhero show. It's a category of television unto itself. Revenant (Hulu; Disney+ outside the U.S.) 2023 was a big year for Disney and K-drama—and this list, it turns out. Before Moving became a word-of-mouth sensation, Revenant offered a tour through the greatest hits of South Korean folk horror to remind us what we're missing as western horror increasingly shifts to hastily-assembled franchises like the Conjuring universe and relying on jump scares alone. You know you're in good hands when Kim Tae-ri's on-screen. Revenant doubles that surety by casting her in dual roles, as the troubled yet sensitive Gu San-yeong and the demon possessing her. Together with folklore professor Yeom Hae-sang (Oh Jung-se), San-yeong comes to understand both her own grief and the trauma death leaves behind as Revenant embraces the quiet, brooding dread that makes Korean horror genuinely unnerving. Masterly performances and production make Revenant an unnerving gem. The sympathetic eye it casts over lost souls, however, is what truly makes it an unusual joy. Light Shop (Hulu; Disney+ outside the U.S.) Speaking of sympathetic horror, Kang Full continues his reimagining of well-trodden genres as explorations of marginalization in 2024's Light Shop. Ju Ji-hoon and Park Bo-young lead an ensemble cast as Kang proposes that the fear with which we regard the creatures that populate our horror stories is really a manifestation of our own unchallenged biases. It's not as original an approach as Moving, but if that series is a bombastic allegory for the treatment of those who exist outside of perceived norms, then Light Shop is a quieter rejection of the othering of those we don't immediately understand. In a murky, haunted alley through which both the living and dead must travel, Jung Won-young (Ju) and his titular light shop serve as a beacon that literally shines a light on how unremoved we are from the spirits. The only difference between us and these creatures we fear, Kang suggests, is that we get to leave the alley once we exit Jung's sanctuary. Marry My Husband (Prime Video) Amazon has been quietly outstanding with its infrequent Korean originals. No Gain No Love and the recent Good Boy are a measure of that. But it's Prime Video's time-travel revenge-romance that, despite its crummy title, is most notable. In a hackneyed genre in K-drama, Marry My Husband blends a welcome self-awareness of its own goofiness with a rare modern deployment of a She's All That makeover to overcome the usual K-drama cliches where it counts. When Kang Ji-won (Park Min-young) discovers her layabout husband Park Min-hwan (Lee Yu-kyun) in bed with her best friend Jeong Su-min (Song Ha-yoon), plotting what to do when Ji-won finally succumbs to the terminal cancer she's been battling, Min-hwan murders her. At the same moment, she transports into her past self—complete with thick-rimmed glasses and a ponytail so you know she's not secretly a smokeshow—from where she plans to visit her cancer upon Su-min and carve a better life after ruining her and Min-hwan by inciting the stress that made her sick in them. That might sound like a typically sadistic revenge thriller a la The Glory. Marry My Husband, however, is surprisingly subtle in exploring and ultimately challenging Ji-won's twisting morals, making her a far more sympathetic protagonist, and is relatively sensitive around the subject of health. It also has a great cat. The surest sign of Marry My Husband's quality is that it already has a Japanese remake, released on Prime Video in June. Blood Free (Hulu; Disney+ outside the U.S.) Ju Ji-hoon turns up again in Lee Soo-yeon's near-future Korea dominated by AI chatbots and synthetic meat. CEO Yun Ja-yu (Han Hyo-joo) navigates the political and corporate pitfalls of her synthesized flesh empire, protected (and kind of turned on) by superman bodyguard Woo Chae-woon (Ju), a former naval officer with his own mysteries to solve—including the mystery of his cold heart. As the controversy around her cheap, 'blood free' meat threatens corporate and political interests across South Korea and puts Yun's life in constant danger, both are forced closer together with both romantic and tragic consequences. Lee is the mind behind the criminally underrated Stranger (which you can find, yes, on Netflix). Her output since, including Stranger's second season, has been tepid. But in Blood Free, she rediscovers some of the chemistry and fun that made her crime caper so watchable. Whether all that fun is deliberate on Lee's part isn't always clear, but Blood Free is a goofy and surprisingly watchable sci-fi bodyguard thriller. Live (Tubi, CJ ENM Selects—accessible via Prime Video, including a 7-day free trial) K-dramas have a habit of lionizing the police without nuance, but Live presents a more complex picture as it follows young people exiting a punitive job market to train as police officers—led by Bae Sung-woo as their troubled instructor Oh Yang-chon. The first half-hour of Live is genuinely awful, so be warned there is, not unusually for K-dramas, a rough patch to endure before the series hits its stride. Once it does, through a relatively honest look at both the fallibility of authority and the moral ramifications of power, somehow paired with all the usual trappings of K-drama as the show interrupts its procedural with a not always believable romance subplot with the patented K-drama melodrama that goes with it, Live becomes the ne plus ultra of Korean police dramas (that aren't on Netflix) and one of the most underrated K-dramas of the past decade. Rookie Cops (Hulu; Disney+ outside the U.S.) If that all sounds a bit too high-brow, Disney's second Korean original 2022's Rookie Cops eschews all sense of realism for a more typical K-drama approach (including an out-of-nowhere confirmation of the afterlife). In the bright and breezy romance, Ko Eun-kang (Chae Soo-bin) joins Police University—which does not sound like a real thing—to follow her first love, only to discover once she arrives that there is, in fact, more than one boy in the world. If Live's romantic subplot felt tacked on, presumably under the duress of K-drama expectations, here the police plot is simply a vehicle to smush K-drama characters' faces together. That might sound like a knock, but Rookie Cops is a surprisingly spry police procedural even if that aspect is not the main attraction (so to speak). It might not have much to actually say about the police, but it sure is fun. Argon (Tubi, CJ ENM Selects—accessible via Prime Video, including a 7-day free trial) It's a rare K-drama that remains timely beyond its initial run—if at all. But in a post-truth world, and as journalism faces unprecedented challenges under corporate interference and political malfeasance across the globe, Kim Ju-hyeok's final drama before his untimely death in 2017 isn't just a reminder of how transformative good K-drama can feel, but also a peek into what now feels like an idealized rendition of the profession. HBC intern Lee Yeon-hwa (Chun Woo-hee) is re-assigned to Kim Baek-jin (Kim) and his struggling investigative program, Argon. Kim's dedication to the truth has left his career stalled, as he butts heads with his network's corrupt higher-ups and their big-city friends. But when a coveted lead anchor role opens in the network, and as he slowly trains up the idealistic Yeon-hwa as a moral successor, he starts to understand how profoundly sick his city, and his network, has become. If you're getting whiffs of 2015's Spotlight, that's not an accident. In another drama, Yeon-hwa and Baek-jin's relationship would flourish into a problematic workplace romance. Argon, a mostly romance-free series, isn't interested in that, letting Chun and Kim anchor a rare Korean glimpse of journalists as anything other than unscrupulous, which both tragically caps Kim's career and speaks of Chun's to come. Soundtrack #2 (Disney+) We started with the bombastic in Moving; let's end with something quieter. 'Hidden gem' is an overused term when media is more accessible than ever—though streamers' unwillingness to market non-English media in the U.S. does lend a bit more credence to the term. Buried deep in Disney+'s catalogue, and unluckily releasing in the wake of Moving, Soundtrack #2 (2023) is a stand-alone sequel series that improves on its predecessor, 2022's Soundtrack #1, in every way. A sweet, tender story about the rocky road to rekindling romance sees struggling music-lover Do Hyun-seo (Keum Sae-rok) finding her way to doing what she loves—in more ways than one—when she's hired as a piano tutor for a YouTube mogul who happens to be her ex-boyfriend, Ji Su-ho (Noh Sang-hyun). That is, if their history doesn't get in the way. This is a K-drama, so of course their history is going to get in the way. Soundtrack #2 squeezes a lot of heart into its six-episode run and, though it may not be the most original K-drama, it serves as a perfect primer for those discovering more of what K-dramas have to offer.
