Prior to “Idol: The Coup”, the category of dramas that wanted to feature storylines based around K Pop characters could have been labeled “Irony: The Subgenre”. Why? Because while K Pop has become a global phenomenon with explosive growth and overflowing with powerfully charismatic entertainers, the attempts at capturing it in drama form has been littered with lackluster characters and lukewarm storylines. There’s at least somewhat of a standard-bearer now as “Idol: The Coup” stirs together enough quality drama components to complement the musical background for an above-average production.

The primary narrative is based on the five member girl group Cotton Candy and their attempt to salvage a once promising, now wrecked attempt at success. It begins with them attempting to get their agency to get on board with a comeback attempt which only leads to tragic ends and a smoldering feud between a new agency CEO and the Cotton Candy members. Navigating this conflict with the agency whilst simultaneously bootstrapping themselves back in to the limelight makes up act two.

Je Na, fervently played by Ahn Hee Yeon, spends more time than an Australian cattle dog trying to keep her flock from wandering off. Hyun Ji, passionately portrayed by Sol Bin who previously was an idol trainee in “Backstreet Rookie”, has anger management issues that rival The Hulk. Elle, slyly brought to life by EXY, is more often measuring how likely the girls comeback will be and whether she’d be better off starting a solo attempt immediately. Stella, played by Han So Eun, and Chae Ah, by Green, spend almost the entire run as fourth and fifth wheels who way too belatedly get some individual storylines.

There’s also the successful boy band under the same agency and a bunch of management types and producers who are all male. Of course, no idol is without a fan club and, if it’s a drama, the fan club is all female. Ah, but let’s set aside gender momentarily.

As a production intended for viewing pleasure, “Idol: The Coup” does a respectable job through almost its entire run. Kwak Shi Yang, as the sometime nemesis/other times friendly new CEO Cha Jae Hyuk, has a delightful and complicated relationship with his talent and his aunt, in a sparkling guest spot by Yoon Bak In. CEO Cha is not only the most compelling character, but also has more of a transformation than Cotton Candy’s fortunes.

Ahn Hee Yeon and Sol Bin may not have futures as A list leading ladies, but they’re solid actors and have intriguing characters here. The rest of the Cotton Candy members are not on the same level, but they can sing, dance, cry and check the other boxes needed.

This only goes so far, unfortunately, before some flaws start to sink things.

As with any other show in this subgenre, at some point, idols have to perform. But it’s laughable for any song or choreography in a drama to compare to the real thing because, come on, the pros in the K pop industry are a worldwide phenomenon because they’re insanely talented and work nonstop on their craft.

There’s also a severe case of what could best be identified as Chronic Departure Crisis Syndrome which goes like this - Cotton Candy member decides because of [fill in the blank personal reason] that she’s heading for the hills followed by Je Na interchangeably confronting CEO Cha and lassoing the rogue member back to the group dorm ending with a group hug and a period of about ten seconds before the next cycle of CDCS flares back up.

A more permanent and untreatable condition is that the boy banders, Mars, are a necessary plot device requiring regular appearances by five of the most spiritless performers that could be found. Are they ugly? No. Can they deliver a single line of dialogue with a single instance of inflection? Also no. Would they be able to stand out in a supermarket aisle full of nothing else but rows of plain sandwich bread? Probably not.

The most serious issue is, however, that what should have been a show about female-powered success in the face of a hostile male patriarchal organization whiffs badly. As is uniform in idol dramas, the boy band’s fan club is nothing but a mindless, rage-fueled mob bent on obliterating anything that might breathe sideways at Mars. That’s at least got some real world connection to how things are in real life but it’s still not a great look.

What is most problematic is what turns things around for Cotton Candy. The five members have rehearsed, sung, choreographed, begged producers, recorded online videos, reached out to their fans, fought, kicked, scratched, clawed and crawled for episode after episode. Each time that things start to look positive, some new obstacle stands in their way. And then, suddenly everything changes. They start getting positive press and television interviews. The social media following exponentially grows. A signing event brings in a massive crowd. What triggers this overnight explosion of interest? The boy band’s leader, Seo Ji Han, has a press conference and says nice things about them. That’s why they break out. Cute boy flips the switch for the girls and that’s how they make it. That’s the formula for success: a successful male makes everything possible for the females who had flopped before he came to their rescue.

And when the success is imminent, as the final episode begins to roll, there’s the male CEO, the male boy band leader, two male producers, the male agency director and even a male reporter that all get screen time before the first glimpse of a female cast member at the 6:30 mark of the episode. That’s some serious cringe.

“Idol: The Coup”, despite a long list of missteps, has a solid group of characters and actors and the various misadventures that Je Na navigates with her crew create excitement more often than not. It’s a recommended show but be prepared for peaks and valleys.