15pts

King the Land

(킹더랜드) 2023 JTBC

Gu Won (Lee Joon-Ho) is a son from a chaebol family. His family owns and runs the King Group, and he begins to show interest in running the family's ritzy hotel business. Cheon Sa-Rang (Lim Yoon-A) works at the hotel, and lives with her two best friends, who also work for King Group companies. Slowly but surely, Won and Sa-Rang start to fall in love…

K-Drama Bingo Score

Using the Modern K-Drama set

Running commentary

A long-overdue glamorous romance between the rich young man and the determined and hard-working young woman. Nice suits, tailored uniforms, luxury hotels, and oozing with romantic potential. We K-Drama netizens have needed a top-notch rom-com to ease us through the overheated dog days of summer, and King the Land does not disappoint. Any rom-com whose first episode ends with a cliffhanger of an embarrassing toilet scene is going to be good.

Sa-Rang is the girl who does it all. She excels at her job despite being "undereducated," and she conducts herself with the utmost professionalism under all circumstances, with a lovely Hermès smile. Gu Won is clueless and scared of the dark.

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Cartoony FX
(1 pt)
Notes
Animal or cartoon visual and sound effects to reinforce behavior or mood
Chicken & Beer
(1 pt)
Notes
치맥, anyone?
S01E11
The girls have a Chimek night at home
Finger hearts
(1 pt)
Notes
Any use of finger hearts by a character
Korean Standoff
(1 pt)
Notes
Two principal characters have a serious, sometimes emotionally confrontational, conversation while standing at least 1m apart
Pinky swear
(2 pt)
Notes
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.
Bonus point for: Touching thumbs at the end
Rumble tummy
(2 pt)
Notes
Audible stomach rumbling to indicate hunger
Bonus point for: If the cause is not hunger, but need for a bathroom
S01E01
Sa-Rang not feeling so good
Shamans & Talismans
(1 pt)
Notes
Yellow paper talismans, written in calligraphic red ink; visits to a shaman for fortune-telling or body transfers

S01E03
Sa-Rang and Won take refuge in a spooky inn with talismans and threatening axe-wielding figures in the night
The Playground
(2 pt)
Notes
Any scene taking place in a neighborhood playground
Bonus point for: Eating ice cream at the same time
Thumbs up
(1 pt)
Notes
Two thumbs up for "Good job!"
Wrist grab
(1 pt)
Notes
Dramatically grabbing someone by the wrist as they walk away
내 친구 ("My friend…")
(1 pt)
Notes
A character tells a story about "My friend" that is actually about themselves
한국어학교 (Language lessons)
(1 pt)
Notes
Specifically linguistic wordplay, discussions about spelling, pronunciation, or Chinese root words
S01E13
Sa-Rang teaches good grammar to a child

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
Vehicular tragedy
Someone is/was hit by a car, truck, bus, or motorcycle
Bullying
Be Best, Korea
Cramped quarters
Sleeping in a repurposed closet, or on a balcony, or in insane tiny student housing
Crushing Debt
Characters are motivated by their debt (or a family member's), including the threat of foreclosure
Memorial service
Funerals and memorial services
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
Son Hyeung Min
Mentions of Son Hyeung Min, or staying up to watch Tottenham Hotspur play
강한나 (Kang Han-Na)
The presence of Kang Han-Na makes everything at least 1 point better