Cover For all their excess, these makjang shows are rigorously engineered, structured to hook, escalate and reward attention (Photo: Netflix)
For all their excess, these makjang shows are rigorously engineered, structured to hook, escalate and reward attention (Photo: Netflix)
1 / 1
Makjang dramas endure because they offer something increasingly rare: emotional extremity without moral homework
In Korean television, makjang is not a genre so much as a contract between storyteller and viewer: plausibility will be sacrificed, emotions will be utilised and restraint will be left at the door. The word itself comes from a term meaning “the end of the rope” or “the final extreme”, and it describes narratives that gleefully pile betrayal upon betrayal. Think secret births, resurrection arcs, switched identities and marriages as revenge tactics.
Here, normal moral logic collapses under the weight of drama. These makjang shows are unapologetically far-removed from reality, yet deeply tethered to emotional truth: envy, ambition, resentment, love warped by power. What makes makjang so enduring—and so bingeable—is that it strips human desire down to its ugliest, loudest impulses, then stages them like opera. You don’t watch makjang to believe it; you watch it to feel everything, quickly, safely and with snacks.
Below, the most guilt-free pleasure-watch makjang K-dramas—shows that know exactly what they are, lean into the chaos and reward viewers for surrendering to the spectacle.
In case you missed it: 10 underrated K-dramas that deserve your attention
1. ‘The Penthouse: War in Life’ (2020–2021)
Above Set inside an ultra-luxury apartment complex, the series follows three elite women whose obsession with wealth and their children’s success spirals into murder, betrayal and escalating cycles of revenge
Set almost entirely within the vertiginous luxury of Hera Palace, The Penthouse: War in Life follows three women—opera diva Cheon Seo-jin (Kim So-yeon), real-estate queen Shim Soo-ryeon (Lee Ji-ah) and survivor-turned-striver Oh Yoon-hee (Eugene)—whose obsession with their children’s success blossoms into murder, blackmail and all-out war.
The plot escalates by design: deaths are temporary, identities are fluid and morality is a suggestion rather than a rule. Each season raises the stakes until the show becomes less about narrative surprise and more about endurance—how far can these people go and how much can the audience take? The classical music conservatory setting adds an ironic polish, framing shrieking confrontations as if they were arias. What connects Penthouse to the makjang tradition is its absolute refusal to apologise: it is loud, repetitive and maximalist on purpose. You may despise every character, but the show’s precision-engineered escalation makes looking away almost impossible.
2. ‘The Last Empress’ (2018–2019)
Above In an alternate modern Korea where the monarchy still reigns, a kind-hearted musical actress marries the Emperor and is swiftly swallowed by palace conspiracies involving corruption, secret affairs and violent power struggles
Set in an alternate modern Korea where the monarchy never fell, The Last Empress begins as a fairytale marriage between musical actress Oh Sunny (Jang Na-ra) and Emperor Lee Hyuk (Shin Sung-rok), before revealing itself as a palace-set horror story. Beneath the gilded surfaces lie secret mistresses, hit-and-runs, political assassinations and a royal family that treats violence as routine housekeeping. The narrative thrives on tonal whiplash, veering from slapstick to cruelty without warning. Shin Sung-rok’s emperor is not redeemed so much as indulged—a charismatic sociopath whose volatility becomes the show’s engine. This is makjang as cartoon monarchy, where excess is not merely allowed but structurally necessary. The pleasure comes from watching decorum disintegrate under the weight of unchecked power.
3. ‘The Escape of the Seven’ (2023–2024)
Above Seven morally bankrupt adults connected to a missing girl are drawn into an island survival game, only to discover they are trapped inside a meticulously engineered revenge scheme
Written by the same architect of The Penthouse, The Escape of the Seven centres on seven adults implicated in the disappearance of a young girl, each more morally compromised than the last. The series strands them—literally and figuratively—inside a sprawling revenge apparatus involving secret islands, false deaths and elaborate psychological traps. Plot developments arrive at breakneck speed, often daring the audience to keep up rather than pause to question plausibility. Characters consume SIM cards, hallucinate monsters and survive injuries that would end lesser shows. What makes it quintessential makjang is not just the extremity, but the relish with which it keeps topping itself. The show operates on pure momentum, rewarding viewers who surrender to its madness rather than interrogate it.
4. ‘The World of the Married’ (2020)
Above A respected doctor’s seemingly perfect life implodes when she uncovers her husband’s affair, triggering an unrelenting psychological war that consumes an entire small town
On the surface, The World of the Married presents itself as a prestige melodrama: polished cinematography, controlled performances and a sober tone. Yet beneath that restraint is a scorched-earth makjang about betrayal and retaliation, following doctor Ji Sun-woo (Kim Hee-ae) as she discovers her husband’s affair with much younger Yeo Da-kyung (Han So-hee). The drama uses social proximity, embedding infidelity within a small town that rewards silence and complicity. Revenge unfolds not in grand gestures but in sustained psychological warfare. Its makjang power lies in escalation without spectacle—each decision tightens the noose rather than explodes it. The series proves that excess is not always loud; sometimes it’s unbearable because it feels too close to home.
5. ‘Durian’s Affair’ (2023)
Above Two women from the Joseon era mysteriously time-travel to the present and infiltrate a chaebol household, where reincarnated past loves and forbidden desires disrupt modern family order
Durian’s Affair opens with an act of historical absurdity: two women from the Joseon era time-travel to present-day Korea during a lunar eclipse and land inside a chaebol family gathering. As they acclimate to modern life, they begin to recognise reincarnations of past lovers and enemies among the family members. Written by Im Sung-han, the queen of left-field television, the drama moves at an unhurried pace that makes its twists even stranger. Incest taboos, spiritual destiny and domestic melodrama coexist without explanation. What marks it as makjang is its utter disregard for tonal consistency—and its confidence that viewers will follow anyway. The pleasure lies in not knowing which rule will be broken next.
6. ‘Temptation of Wife’ (2008)
Above After surviving an attempted murder by her husband and best friend, a betrayed woman reinvents herself and returns under a new identity to systematically destroy the lives of those who wronged her
The blueprint for modern revenge melodrama, Temptation of Wife follows Goo Eun-jae (Jang Seo-hee), a woman betrayed by her husband and best friend and left for dead at sea. She survives, returns with a new identity and dismantles her enemies’ lives piece by piece—armed primarily with a beauty makeover and a drawn-on mole. The plot hinges on willful blindness: no one recognises her despite minimal changes, a trope that has since become genre legend. The storytelling is relentless, episodic and shamelessly emotional. This is makjang in its purest form—simple moral lines, maximal suffering and catharsis delivered without irony. It remains deeply watchable because it never pretends to be anything else.
7. ‘Graceful Family’ (2019)
Above A sharp-tongued chaebol heiress returns to Korea to investigate her mother’s suspicious death, clashing with a secretive corporate task force that exists solely to bury the family’s crimes
In Graceful Family, chaebol heiress Mo Seok-hee (Im Soo-hyang) returns to Korea to investigate her mother’s murder and immediately collides with TOP, the family’s secretive crisis-management unit. The show marries murder mystery with boardroom warfare, framing scandal as something to be curated rather than punished. Mo Seok-hee is a rare makjang protagonist who refuses victimhood, meeting corruption with sarcasm and open hostility. The plot delights in symbolic excess, from lavish funerals to surveillance rooms that feel omnipotent. Its makjang appeal lies in inversion: instead of suffering quietly, the heroine weaponises her privilege. Chaos becomes a strategy rather than a consequence.
8. ‘Remarriage & Desires’ (2022)
Above At an elite matchmaking agency where marriages function like corporate acquisitions, two women locked in vengeance compete to secure the same powerful husband
Set inside Rex, an elite matchmaking agency for Korea’s upper crust, Remarriage & Desires treats marriage as a zero-sum financial transaction. Two women—one seeking justice for her husband’s death, the other determined to climb higher through matrimony—compete for access to the same powerful men. The series unfolds like a corporate thriller, complete with ranking systems, coded invitations and masked galas. What makes it makjang is not volume but compression: betrayal and revenge are distilled into eight sleek episodes. The emotional stakes are heightened by social artifice rather than physical danger. It’s prestige packaging for classic makjang instincts.
9. ‘Marry My Husband’ (2024)
Above Murdered by her cheating husband and best friend, a woman wakes up ten years in the past and calmly orchestrates a future where her betrayers inherit the misery meant for her
In Marry My Husband, terminally ill Kang Ji-won (Park Min-young) catches her husband and best friend having an affair—then is murdered by them, only to wake up ten years in the past. Armed with foreknowledge, she orchestrates a meticulous revenge, engineering circumstances so her betrayers inherit the fate once meant for her. The drama races through tropes with precision: office politics, glow-ups, secret benefactors and karmic reversals arrive on schedule. Its makjang satisfaction comes from control rather than chaos; every payoff is planned. Watching it feels less like spiralling and more like watching dominoes fall, exactly as intended.
Topics
Sasha Lim-Uy Mariposa is a lifestyle journalist who is known for her food writing. Based in Manila, she also covers entertainment and dining, as well as a broad range of topics. She was the former digital editor at Esquire Philippines and was the digital managing editor at Spot.ph, and now writes for the different Tatler Asia markets as a contributing writer for T-Labs.
