5 old K-Dramas so loud, extra and intense that you felt everything at once: Secret Garden to My Lovely Sam Soon

You think you’ve seen it all, but have you really? Have you really watched Hyun Bin play body swap in Secret Garden, and go so extra with the tears, that you will need to watch Crash Landing on You to quickly catch your breath? Or…Pinocchio, starring Park Shin-hye and Lee Jong-suk, that was intended to be a man avenging the sensationalist reporter who ruined his life, but….turned into something else altogether. A shrieking match.

But ah, that was the madness of the 2000s K-Dramas. Sometimes bizarre, maddening, and still such a hit.

 What does Ekta Kapoor and Grey’s Anatomy have on this?

So, in that spirit, let’s return to vintage 2000s dramas. That, were just plain…wow.

What did this not have, you ask?

A coherent plot. Apart from that, everything else. Secret Garden, starring Hyun Bin and Ha Ji-won, was a fantastical rom-com series and drama. Gil Ra-im (Ha Ji-won) is a tough, talented stuntwoman just trying to make it in a man's world. Kim Joo-won (Hyun Bin) is your classic arrogant chaebol CEO, and  ridiculously rich. They meet and of course, things get weird.

Suddenly, a magical potion from a mysterious “secret garden” causes them to switch bodies. Yes, full-on Freaky Friday style. Hijinks (and emotional trauma) ensue. While Ra-im navigates life in his uptight, luxurious shoes, Joo-won has to deal with being a woman in a very physical career, and, of course, falling in love with someone very much not on his level.

There’s family disapproval, near-death experiences, unexplained magic, and a lot of brooding in designer coats, and you've got a K-drama that defied logic—but became a total sensation.

Turn back the clock, Hyun Bin lovers.

Kim Sam-soon (Kim Sun-a) is a pastry chef with a big heart, a bigger mouth, and serious feelings about her "old lady" name. Just before turning 30, she gets dumped and fired on Christmas Eve—chefs kiss to rock bottom. Enter Hyun Bin’s Jin-heon, a moody rich boy who owns a fancy French restaurant and catches her mid-breakdown. Naturally, he hires her.

They bicker, but when Sam-soon needs ₩50 million to save her mom’s house, Jin-heon offers a fake-dating deal—with the classic clause: don’t fall in love. Guess what happens?

Just as their fake-love-turned-real romance starts to sizzle, his ex Hee-jin (Jung Ryeo-won) swans back in with a sob story and a hot doctor in tow (hello, Daniel Henney). Cue emotional chaos, cancer reveals, and one noble idiot moment after another.

Sam-soon quits, starts her own dessert biz, and tries to move on—but Jin-heon’s still whipped. After a dramatic US trip and some serious character growth, he’s back for real. Sam-soon almost ditches her name for a shinier one but embraces her true self instead.

Cute little Shin Min-ah, and we’re here for it.

So, what do you do when you accidentally unleash a 500-year-old nine-tailed fox from a painting? If you’re Cha Dae-woong (Lee Seung-gi), a slightly clueless aspiring actor, you scream… and then slowly fall in love. Said fox, Shin Min-ah as the adorably mischievous Mi-ho, just wants to be human, eat beef, and glow under the moonlight. Their chaotic relationship starts with a blood pact and quickly escalates into heart-fluttering moments, identity crises, and a literal ticking clock on love and mortality.

Mi-ho may be mythical, but her heartbreak is very real. And Dae-woong: He has to grow up fast or lose her forever. Myth meets modern romance—with a side of chicken legs and ancient beads.

This had everything.

Broody genius Joon-sang moves to Chuncheon, falls for sweet Yoo-jin, and just when things get romantic—bam! Car crash, amnesia, and a manipulative mom who ships him off to the U.S. with a new identity. Everyone thinks he’s dead. Classic K-drama move.

Ten years later, Yoo-jin spots his doppelgänger (now architect Lee Min-hyung) who doesn’t remember her but is dating her frenemy. Cue emotional chaos, workplace tension, and tangled love triangles.

With snow, secrets, and soul-crushing stares, Winter Sonata is the OG tearjerker that made amnesia hot and gave us a taste for beautifully tragic K-drama love.

Backing up a bit to 2014, to when Lee Jong-suk ruled the screens with revenge dramas. In Pinoccho, he is angst-ridden, furious journalist out to find the reporter who ruined his father’s name and life. The slight…problem? His lover, Park Shin-hye is the daughter of the woman who did so. So, gear up for an entire season of back and forth, fighting, shrieking, loud music.