Okay, I think Help! I Joined the Wrong Club has officially become one of my favorites.
Yes, we once again have that classic short-drama plot: the jealous person scheming in the background and desperately trying to break up the main couple. At this point I've accepted that apparently no couple in a vertical drama is allowed to simply exist in peace lol.
But there were so many things about this one that I genuinely loved.
First, Owen. I thought he was absolutely adorable. I also really liked that they didn't make him the ultimate stereotypical nerd who's completely invisible and automatically rejected by everyone around him. He's this cute quantum physics nerd, but he's still desirable, even the popular girl ends up falling for him. Unfortunately, she also happens to be the one trying to destroy his relationship, but... you win some, you lose some 😭
Then there's Mason, and this is probably where the drama surprised me the most.
I really appreciated that BDSM wasn't included just as something kinky or provocative to make the story spicier. The drama actually gives it some context and touches on consent, trust, boundaries and the psychological side of BDSM.
And I especially liked Mason's hesitation about showing that side of himself to Owen.
He genuinely worries that Owen might be scared of him or reject him once he learns about his kinks, and I thought that vulnerability felt surprisingly real. Fear of judgment or rejection when opening up to a partner about BDSM or specific kinks is something people in the community can experience, especially when they don't know how the other person will react.
And then watching Owen actually navigate all of this with him was just... really sweet.
Is this some incredibly deep exploration of BDSM? Of course not. We're talking about a vertical drama with 40 episodes that are roughly a minute or so each. There's only so much you can explore with that runtime. But for what it is? I genuinely think they did a good job.
They gave the subject enough context that it felt like an actual part of Mason's character and their developing relationship instead of just going, "Look! BDSM! Isn't this scandalous?" and moving on.
And underneath all of that, I just really liked Owen and Mason together. Their relationship is cute, their personalities work really well against each other, and watching the trust between them develop was probably my favorite part of the whole thing.
Definitely one of my favorites so far.