Dynamite Kiss is raring up to be Netflix’s next hit K-drama, but the romance is already off to an unconventional start. The streaming giant first reached Korea in 2016, but from 2018 onward, Korean dramas have become a staple for many subscribers thanks to Netflix’s original K-dramas. By creating new titles and acquiring old favorites, Netflix helped popularize K-dramas worldwide.
The proliferation of the genre has proven to be a double-edged sword, however. Millions of viewers across the globe tune in to new K-dramas under the assumption that they’ll follow the same formulaic beats that remain a constant variable. Nevertheless, the best, must-watch K-dramas go against the grain and turn viewers’ expectations on their head, like Dynamite Kiss already has.
Dynamite Kiss Has Its Main Characters Kiss In Episode 1
Their Kiss Is The Inciting Event Of The Entire Series
Dynamite Kiss starts with a bang when the K-drama’s impressive first episode dropped on November 12. The dramatic hour-long opening sets the stage for a comedy of errors involving protagonist Go Da-rim (Ahn Eun-jin), an unemployed woman with few prospects on the horizon. By chance, she crosses paths with CEO Gong Ji-hyeok (Jang Ki-yong) on a trip to Jeju Island.
The two briefly come up with a fake dating scheme after Da-rim’s ex, Kim Jeong-Gwon (Park Yong-woo), appears with his new girlfriend. Ji-hyeok is hoping to poach Jeong-Gwon for his new company, so he strikes a deal with the financially desperate Da-rim. In order to successfully scout Jeong-Gwon while still protecting her dignity, Da-rim pretends to be Ji-hyeok’s doting fiancée.
After a Cinderella-esque makeover sequence, the fake lovers attend a lavish party together. Throughout the night, Ji-hyeok begins to realize how horribly Jeong-Gwon treated Da-rim, even likening her to a limp piece of spinach. When her ex expresses suspicion, Da-rim makes the split-second decision to kiss Ji-hyeok and preserve their cover. As the pair kiss, literal fireworks go off overhead.
K-Dramas Typically Build Towards A Kiss, Not Start With One
Most K-Drama Couples Are Slow-Burn Romances
The first kiss between Go Da-rim and Gong Ji-hyeok is climactic, but it’s certainly unexpected for longtime K-drama fans. Though not set in stone, there’s usually an unspoken rule that the main couple in a K-drama has a slow-burn romance. To build up tension for the eventual confession scene, K-drama couples normally don’t kiss until halfway through the series.
Netflix K-dramas in particular adhere to this rule relatively strictly. The majority of modern K-dramas are 12–16 episodes; consequently, the majority of first kisses don’t come until episode 8 at the earliest. For comparison, another popular Netflix K-drama, Castaway Diva, didn’t let its main pairing (Park Eun-bin’s Seo Mok-ha and Chae Jong-hyeop’s Jung Ki-ho) kiss until the show’s penultimate episode.
Nevertheless, there are exceptions to the rule that typically indicate something more meaningful about the pairing. Some K-dramas (like Summer Strike) never allow their couple to kiss, while others (like Love to Hate You) kiss early and often. The former is a way to reflect a sweet, wholesome bond, while the latter is meant to convey a realistic, mature relationship.
Dynamite Kiss Going Out Of Order Makes Perfect Sense
From The Start, It’s An Atypical Love Story
Regardless, Dynamite Kiss has an even more compelling reason for its episode 1 kiss. Gong Ji-hyeok doesn’t believe in love due to his parents’ extremely unhealthy relationship. When his father attempts to arrange his marriage to a chaebol heiress, Ji-hyeok doesn’t even want to kiss her. Yet, when Go Da-rim kisses him, he explains it felt like the titular dynamite.
Thus, the uncharacteristically early kiss served to challenge Ji-hyeok’s view of romance; it wasn’t love at first sight with Da-rim, but love at first kiss. Nevertheless, the true conflict has only just begun, as Dynamite Kiss episode 2 ends on the cliffhanger of Go Da-rim posing as a young mother to earn an interview at Gong Ji-hyeok’s family business.
To free his mother from her loveless marriage, Ji-hyeok agrees to run a seemingly doomed mothers-only task force, which will make Dynamite Kiss an ironically family-focused K-drama despite its steamy beginnings. Ji-hyeok and Da-rim’s Jeju fling, however, turns the central love story into a unique second-chance romance, mixed with a forbidden workplace relationship.
What Dynamite Kiss’ Bold Risk Means For Its Future
Netflix Could Keep Turning K-Drama Clichés On Their Head
When taken at face value, Dynamite Kiss has plenty of common K-drama tropes brewing, but if the episode 1 kiss is anything to go by, the new Netflix rom-com won’t be making any obvious moves. Dynamite Kiss has already sped through the fake dating trope and established the male lead’s feelings, but there’s no easy reconciliation for the almost-lovers.
Da-rim disappearing without a trace spurred Ji-hyeok into action, inspiring the aloof CEO to pursue who he already believed to be his lost love. Yet, now that they’re reunited under the worst circumstances possible, it seems like a lose-lose situation: Da-rim can’t admit the truth without losing her potential job, and Ji-hyeok can’t pretend to simply be her superior.
As such, Dynamite Kiss will likely take familiar plot points and clichés and put a fresh, unique spin on them to drive the plot forward. Netflix’s newest K-drama has already demonstrated its willingness to take big risks and go against genre conventions, so there’s no limit to what other tropes Dynamite Kiss will reinvent and breathe new life into.
- Release Date
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November 12, 2025
- Network
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SBS
- Directors
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Kim Jae-hyun
- Writers
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Ha Yoon-ah
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Jang Ki-yong
Gong Ji-hyeok
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This story originally appeared on Screenrant
