Favorite Shows With My Least Favorite Tropes

Romance is filled with tropes; enemies to lovers, forced proximity, marriage of convenience, the list goes on. It’s our shorthand to figure out what kind of story we are walking into, that way you can pick and choose more easily based on your preference. Everyone has their favorites - I certainly do - as well as tropes they just cannot stand. On this list I have gathered four of my least favorite tropes, and shows that did them so well I ended up liking them anyway. 

Trope Number One: A closted person and an ‘out’ person fall in love.

Oh boy was this trope everywhere in the 2010s, it was always miserable to see someone hiding their relationship. It seemed that every queer character on TV had to go through this, and the constant lying and misery always put me off. I especially remember it in ‘Pretty Little Liars’ with Emily and Paige, it made me want to scream at my screen. For the love of all that is holy could we not just have one queer story that didn’t feature this trope?

With all of this in mind it makes no sense that I then rated ‘Like in the Movies’/’Gaya Sa Palikula’ (2020) a 10/10, I truly fell in love with a show based on my least favorite premise.

The plot is quite simple with 19-year-old Karl who moves out on his own for the first time, and when he is on the verge of going broke, a neighbor, Vlad, ends up moving in with him. At first the two don’t get along, but as the show goes on things between them start to change. It is only 8 episodes of 30 minutes each, all free on Youtube so I highly recommend watching it.

The reason why I ended up loving it as much as I did, was due to the sheer amount of empathy both of the characters are treated with. Vlad is out, Karl is closeted. Yet the show does not judge either of the characters, nor shame them for their choices. 

!SPOILER!

In episode 7, there are duel conversations happening between Vlad and Karl’s uncle (Santi), and Karl and Vlad’s sister (Judit). 

Outside Santi is trying to make Vlad understand where Karl is coming from. 

“I love that kid, but let’s not pull him out.”

We cut to inside with Judit talking to Karl:

“Karl, don’t let him go back in to protect you, because he will do that. Okay? My brother is really loud with his love. He is done hiding. He hopes that this time, he can be someone to be proud of.”

We cut back to Santi speaking about Karl:

“He deserves to bide his time.”

That’s where the show shines, when showing how both perspectives are valid, and both of these young men deserve to choose the type of relationship and life that they lead. 

(gif found on tumblr by gabrielokun)

Trope Number Two: Miscommunication

Whenever people speak of their least favorite tropes, this one is sure to get a mention. There is nothing worse than seeing chaos erupt just because two characters could not have one simple conversation. If communication is the key to a successful relationship, why do so many of these characters just straight up suck at it? This show falls under the ‘one conversation could have resolved this entire thing’ category. It is of course: ‘The Secret of Us’ from 2024.

Dr. Fahlada is a doctor who still carries the scar of a break up which happened years ago, when suddenly her ex, Earn, ends up working as the hospital spokesperson, bringing her back into Fahlada’s life. 

The show is only 8 episodes each spanning around 50 minutes to an hour, which in my opinion works to its benefit. If the show had waited - for example - 16 episodes without having its main leads solve their conflict it would have been grating to watch. But with only 8 episodes it manages to hook you in with the question as to why Earn left Fahlada, and if she is able to win her back. "Ling Ling" Sirilak Kwong playing Fahlada and "Orm" Kornnaphat Sethratanapong playing Earn both do a great job at bringing these characters to life, and have more than enough chemistry for us to root for the relationship.

If you decide to watch (which I hope you do) be prepared for lots of drama, a mother-in-law you would like to fight and sizzling chemistry. A solid 8/10 from me.   

(gif found on tumblr by phiwilliam)

Trope Number Three: Forbidden love

This might be an unpopular choice, as I know many people love shows about forbidden love, but it’s a firm ‘no thank you’ from me. This causes me the same frustration as the ‘a closted person and an ‘out’ person fall in love’ trope. I want loud love stories, every time something has to be hidden I just get frustrated and sad. I don’t want to see love hidden away, even if it ends up prevailing at the end. Due to this I very, very, rarely watch historical dramas, as in almost if not every one of these shows you are met with this trope. Which of course makes sense when you look at queer love and how it has been hidden/forbidden through the ages and still is to this day. I am looking for escapism! Not to be confronted with how unfair and cruel the world is. 

So which show managed to make me fall in love despite having this trope? That is of course ‘The Loyal Pin’ (2024), starring "Becky" Rebecca Patricia Armstrong and "Freen" Sarocha Chankimha, the casting being the only reason for me even watching it in the first place.

The show centers around two royals: Pin and Princess Anin, two girls who grew up in the palace together and the show follows them into adulthood in the 1950’s. It’s 16 episodes long each lasting around 45 minutes, and is a beautiful show.

MAJOR SPOILER!

The reason why I still fell for this show despite my reservations, is due to the fact that it has a happy ending, simple as that. I’ll go through the angst and the heartbreak as long as I can see our girls live their happily-ever-after in the end. A majority of the show focuses on them falling in love and their relationship in secret, it is only towards the end that they are confronted with the reality that they might not end up together. As I mentioned in my post about shows that make you cry, this is definitely one of them. But you can rest assured that you will also laugh, fall in love with these two, and have a happy ending. 

(gif found on tumblr by transimailisa)

Trope Number Four: Age gap

A controversial trope to be sure, and certainly one that I carry a heavy dislike for. This is mainly due to the amount of shows with teenagers falling for adults, and we are for some reason supposed to be not only okay with that, but also actively cheer it on. What is even more annoying is how these shows could work just as well if you aged the teenager up to be a university student in their twenties. Why am I supposed to be okay with a teenager hooking up with an adult? Even if the teenager was the “instigator” of the relationship, the adult should be responsible enough to say 'no' instead of screwing a 17/18-year-old (I am looking at you ‘HIStory3: Make Our Days Count’ (2019)). 

The age gap trope is so often used with problematic age gaps i.e. teenager and adult, that we can miss the shows with adults, falling for other adults who are older. If both parties have their frontal lobe developed and are established in their adult life, I don’t see why they wouldn’t be able to fall in love and have an equal relationship.

So my recommendation of a show with an age gap that I enjoyed is: ‘Old Fashioned Cupcake’ (2022). The story follows 39-year-old Nozue, he is a reliable worker who is in the routine of: wake up, go to work, go home and sleep. Nozue and his subordinate at work, 29-year-old Togawa, end up going to a pancake shop, and they begin to go and try different desserts together. It is only five episodes long, and you get to see someone escape their comfort zone and fall in love at the same time. Here we see a 10-year age gap, but no one had to be in high school for it to work (side eyeing you ‘Minato’s Laundromat’ (2022-2023)). I give ‘Old Fashioned Cupcake’ a good 8/10.

(gif found on tumblr by khunkinn)

I will probably never seek out these tropes, but I am happy that I have been pleasantly surprised enough times that it was easy to make this list. I hope that you could at least be a little inspired to check out either one of these shows, or maybe try a trope that you have otherwise avoided, who knows you might find something that you enjoy.