10pts

Dear.M

(디어엠) 2022 KBS2

At Seoyeon University, someone from the Photography & Appreciation class posts an anonymous confession of love to a fellow student. The series revolves around a tangled web of actual and potential relationships between various students in the class while they all wonder who wrote the original confession.

Ma Joo-Ah (Park Hye-Soo) is a Business Administration major. Cha Min-Ho (Jaehyun) is a Computer Science Department, and he and Joo-Ah have been best friends since they were little. Min-Ho is a wicked app developer, and creates an app for finding a dinner partner in the school cafeteria that everyone loves to use.

Seo Ji-Min (Roh Jeong-Eui) is the center for the school's cheer squad. Park Ha-Neul (Bae Hyun-Sung) is her boyfriend, and appears to have the personality of a boring muppet.

Choi Ro-Sa (Hwang Boreumbyeol) is an old friend of Ji-Min's, but she goes all Single White Female and tries to steal Ha-Neul as well as taking over the Cheer squad through relentless manipulation.

K-Drama Bingo Score

Using the Modern K-Drama set

Running commentary

The ending is terrible, and finding out who wrote the confession was anti-climactic. Half the sub-plots go unresolved, and the overdubbed narration waxes philosophic about how "those were the days of our first loves." Whatever.

The most surprising thing about Dear.M (aside from the weird use of punctuation) is hearing that its airing was delayed because the waifish Park Hye-Soo was accused of being a bully in middle school, high school, and university. Lovely.

Toggle descriptions Toggle spoilers

Vehicular tragedy
(2 pt)
Notes
Someone is/was hit by a car, truck, bus, or motorcycle
S01E02
Min-Ho's parents both killed in a car accident
Bullying
(1 pt)
Notes
Be Best, Korea
S01
Everything Ro-Sa does
Crushing Debt
(1 pt)
Notes
Characters are motivated by their debt (or a family member's), including the threat of foreclosure

S01
Joo-Ah aspires to be a sports announcer, but cannot afford any of the courses that would help her train for such a career.
Korean Standoff
(1 pt)
Notes
Two principal characters have a serious, sometimes emotionally confrontational, conversation while standing at least 1m apart
Memorial service
(1 pt)
Notes
Funerals and memorial services
S01E02
For Min-Ho's parents
Thumbs up
(1 pt)
Notes
Two thumbs up for "Good job!"
S01E02
Min-Ho gives it up
Wrist grab
(2 pt)
Notes
Dramatically grabbing someone by the wrist as they walk away
Bonus point for: A woman grabbing a man instead of the more common man grabbing woman
한국어학교 (Language lessons)
(1 pt)
Notes
Specifically linguistic wordplay, discussions about spelling, pronunciation, or Chinese root words
S01E01
A ridiculous amount of discussion of politeness level logistics at the start of the school year, with new friends and roommates. Younger class, but older student!

Unmatched Bingo Spaces

(Dis)possession
Ghosts, spirits inhabiting bodies, or body- or identity-swapping
Childhood friends forgotten
Characters knew, or at least encountered, each other in childhood, but somehow forgot
Cartoony FX
Animal or cartoon visual and sound effects to reinforce behavior or mood
Chicken & Beer
치맥, anyone?
Cramped quarters
Sleeping in a repurposed closet, or on a balcony, or in insane tiny student housing
Finger hearts
Any use of finger hearts by a character
Middle-of-the-Road Soliliquy
Verbal musings on deep existential questions and/or tragicomic situations while in the middle of the street
Piggyback
Someone gives someone else a piggyback ride
Pinky swear
Two characters doing a pinky swear

Touching thumbs at the end is not a thing in America (based on my terrible polling), so that gets an easy bonus point for any wannabe K-drama.
Rumble tummy
Audible stomach rumbling to indicate hunger
Shamans & Talismans
Yellow paper talismans, written in calligraphic red ink; visits to a shaman for fortune-telling or body transfers
Son Hyeung Min
Mentions of Son Hyeung Min, or staying up to watch Tottenham Hotspur play
The Playground
Any scene taking place in a neighborhood playground
강한나 (Kang Han-Na)
The presence of Kang Han-Na makes everything at least 1 point better
내 친구 ("My friend…")
A character tells a story about "My friend" that is actually about themselves