The Second Lead Gets the Girl.. Ever..
Second Lead Syndrome is something that’s been around in kdrama for a long time, but I’ve noticed it becoming almost epidemic recently.
Since seeing She Was Pretty late last year (Siwon possibly one of the best second leads ever), I’ve seen more dramas where the second lead sometimes even eclipses the lead in terms of likeability and I often hope that just once, we’d get one kdrama that subverts convention and has the lead choose the second lead.
Of course, you need to be careful how it’s done. We all remember how the dreadful shift in focus ruined Cheese in the Trap, and the very popular second lead Baek In Ho became largely despised because of it.
Article: 5 dramas where the second lead gets the girl
But look – just as some very recent examples, in this order – Woo Jin in Goodbye Mr. Black, Ha Neul in Entertainer, Jung Won in Jealousy Incarnate, Gong Myung in Drinking Solo.
All of these characters are great second leads, and in that order become more and more recent as we go along. And to me at least, they become even better as second leads to the point where as far as we are into Jealousy Incarnate and Drinking Solo, I am now actively hoping that those shows might shake things up a bit in terms of who our leads choose.
And those examples are just across this year. Would you like to see a second lead get the girl if written well? And can you think of any shows that have had this twist? A drama where the second lead actually gets chosen in the end?
And let’s be honest, as great as the Song-Song couple were in Descendants of the Sun, who didn’t think that scene between Dae Young and Myung Joo in the finale was far better..