Tropes are completely fine. They serve a purpose in storytelling. However, once every single writer starts abusing them, most especially in live-action productions, they eventually become the exact reason why audiences slowly look for something else and give shows a bad rating. When a trope is terribly overused, that is what we call a cliché.

Can you believe it is already August 2026? 2027 is just right around the corner! Yet, we can definitely bet that we will be seeing the exact same, overused K-drama tropes all over again this coming season and the next and the next after it. I really think it is high time for Korean writers to think outside the box and show us something unique. But the big question is, which specific clichés should we finally lay to rest?

Here are two tropes that I personally think must end right now because so many fans are already sick and tired of them.

The white truck of doom

The "white truck of doom" trope has been so abused and overused that some fans have actually developed a bit of a phobia whenever a character is about to do simple things like:

• crossing the street; or

• drive through an intersection.

You already expect it to happen, even in stories where it does not make any sense at all. It does not even matter if it is already the finale; there are quite a few K-drama shows that love pulling last-minute twists, and the quickest tool they use is often the white truck of doom.

It is really time to stop using this cliché. Maybe make it a green SUV next time? Okay, I am just kidding! But seriously, please think of something else. Maybe a runaway zebra suddenly appears out of nowhere and plows into the character? Time to be unique, please.

Girl falls, boy catches her

Yeah, we have honestly had enough of this one. It is just so overused and cliché. The moment a female lead trips, we can predict exactly what happens next. When a scene becomes that predictable, the thrill is completely gone, and it totally distracts us from being immersed in the story. Is it really that difficult to think of other "boy-meets-girl" scenarios besides having the guy catch the female character?

Sometimes, it makes me wonder if Korean women just trip a lot in real life, and then some handsome guy magically catches them so they can live happily ever after. Because it is used so frequently, it might as well be part of actual Korean culture just to justify its constant appearance.

Can we try something different for a change? What if the girl flings her arms wide open and accidentally hits the handsome face of a guy? Or what if the girl trips a thief and the handsome guy chasing thanks her? How about a woman who randomly punches a guy on the face out of shock, and then they live happily ever after? Now that would be memorable!

Final comment

These two K-drama tropes are so incredibly overused that their emotional impact is completely gone. This is quite different from the classic "rich guy, poor girl" setup. That one is a foundational trope, not necessarily a cliché (which is a term we reserve for heavily abused, often misused, tropes).

Let us always remember:

• A trope is a narrative device used to push a certain plot development or twist.

• A cliché is an overused, and often completely unnecessary, trope.

If a writer is going to use a cliché, they should at least make sure it is absolutely necessary for the plot. If you can delete a cliché without affecting the flow of the story, then it was probably used very poorly. Let us hope our favorite showrunners surprise us with better writing in 2027!

Special mentions

Aside from the top two, here are a few more K-drama tropes that are starting to become a bit annoying but still tolerable.

Women who do not know how to cook

This trope is slowly bordering on becoming a cliché, but thankfully, not just yet. At least in recent shows, writers rarely insert it into stories where it does not make any sense at all. For me, this trope is really better left where it truly belongs, in romcoms and family dramas.

Loan sharks everywhere

While loan sharks have obviously existed in various forms across many different cultures, it is only in the K-drama land where you can expect a loan shark to pop up at least once in almost every single series! It is definitely a cliché, but I must admit while it is becoming annoying it is still a tolerable one, even when it is used in the wrong type of drama or just thrown in as a plot filler.

I would even say that this is probably the most flexible K-drama trope. Loan sharks can be written as deeply terrifying figures, like the Japanese Yakuza, the Russian Mafia, the Chinese Triad, the Mexican Cartel, or some regular gang, or they can be written as ridiculously funny that you will literally laugh your heart out.

So, yeah, I think this one definitely gets a pass!

Poor characters wearing designer clothes and owning the latest phone

Now, this heavily used trope is actually very similar to those frequent and very annoying Subway and KitKat scenes. The only difference? It does not technically fall under the strict PPL (Product Placement) laws of South Korea. Instead, it falls under corporate sponsorships, most especially if the lead actor or actress is currently under contract as a global brand ambassador, hence, it is always present.

Does this one get a pass? Surprisingly, yes! Why? Because it is honestly quite funny to see characters who are supposedly struggling financially, yet they are casually wearing expensive luxury clothing and using the most premium phone models. Besides, at the end of the day, we all just want to dream a little bit, right?

Cover image: 〈White truck of doom still〉 from 《About Time》, used under the Fair Use doctrine.

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〈Two K-drama Cliché That Must End Now〉 © 2026 Yohan Yukiya Sese Cuneta.
License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC-BY-SA-4.0), except where noted.