Essays | Lakshmi Iyer

A slick business-and-fashion cdrama with a great cast, undone by a weak premise and a safe ending.

A historical that swaps palace intrigue for family knots, with pacing taut enough to keep forty episodes from sagging.

A wistful fantasy about a second chance at eighteen, and whether one more shot at communication would change anything.

A slow, early-2000s coming-of-age that earns empathy for even its most flawed characters. Not a binge.

An underrated historical about the agency women claim, told through a bandit, a porcelain maker, and an empress.

An older kdrama with a brash, loud, unfeminine lead who is honest and whole, and a show that subverts every trope around her.

A languid study of grief and connection, scored by haunting piano, that makes you fall back in love with ordinary life.

A cinematic cdrama set in Macau where lives drift past each other like bubbles, and the camera is your eyes.

A cold-CEO romance that turns into a study of what a safe home does to a child. The details are flawless.

A women-centered historical that respects the era it lives in. Mu Dan escapes a marriage and builds a life, and a tribe.