Netflix's Best K-Drama of 2026 is Officially Over, and It Needs a Second Season

From chilling crime thrillers like The Art of Sarah to heartfelt romances such as Can This Love Be Translated, as far as K-dramas go, Netflix is already off to a great start in 2026. Admittedly, it initially seemed like Disney Plus had a much more impressive K-drama slate for 2026, with highly anticipated hits like The Remarried Empress and Perfect Crown.

However, Netflix has continued to pull up with one unexpected hit after another, with even more big releases like Season 2 of Bloodhounds on the way. That said, one recent Netflix K-drama has especially stood out among its peers as quite a breath of fresh air, and it frankly needs to return with a second season.

Netflix's New Hit K-Drama Truly Has It All

Starring the gorgeous and talented Park Shin-hye, Undercover Miss Hong released on Netflix back in January 2026, and as of March 8, the series dropped its final episode, truly cementing itself as the biggest sleeper hit of the season. Although marked as a comedy, Undercover Miss Hong truly has it all with equal parts intrigue, drama, action, and wholesomeness.

The series essentially follows a Financial Supervisor Service inspector, Hong Keum-bo, as she goes undercover at Hanmin Investment and Securities, one of the biggest, most influential investment firms in the country to track down a whistleblower and expose the company's embezzlement.

However, to do so, 35-year-old Keum-bo has to go undercover as a 20-year-old fresh high school graduate. This she takes on the alias, Hong Jang-mi, or Ms. Hong, as her new superiors come to call her, and moves into a dorm with three other women also employed at Hanmin.

Between trying to track down the elusive whistleblower and the slush fund ledger, Jang-mi makes enemies and allies alike, even reuniting with a past love. Although, this barely even scratches the surface of the series.

Undercover Miss Hong is Serving Pure '90s Nostalgia

Besides the thrill of the protagonist being undercover and having to conceal her identity, with the story taking place in 1997, the show also reels viewers in with nostalgia. From the employee uniforms to the hair, makeup, and especially the soundtrack, Undercover Miss Hong manages to sneak in the nostalgia at every turn.

In fact, Dance Tonight, one of the songs part of Undercover Miss Hong's soundtrack featured heavily across the series, best captures the series' excellent grasp on the '90s, and its ability to make even viewers born long after nostalgic about the era.

In this sense, Undercover Miss Hong is very much reminiscent of hits like Reply 1988, which is also known to have the same effect on viewers. Coincidentally, Undercover Miss Hong also brings back the Reply 1988 star Ko Kyung-pyo as Shin Jung-woo, Keum-bo's aforementioned past lover.

Undercover Miss Hong Might Have Netflix’s Best Female Cast in Years

All that said, the main hook of the series is its protagonist itself, tying the show together with her over-the-top, temperamental, sarcastic, curt, but kind personality. Keum-bo is smart, capable, bold, and not to mention, highly likable, and it's hard not to root for her along with the rest of the series' exceptionally written female cast.

In fact, simply calling them well-written would be a disservice to the series. Undercover Miss Hong does sport well-written characters on the whole, both male and female. However, while male characters such as the chairman of Hanmin, Shin Jung-woo, and Albert Oh are a crucial part of the story, it is the show's female cast that truly pushes the plot forward.

While Keum-bo may be the protagonist, Undercover Miss Hong very much also revolves around her new roommates and the beautiful friendship these women forge along the way. This friendship is also what shapes Keum-bo's decisions down the line, with each of the roommates being actively involved in the story every step of the way.

It's quite rare to see such an intensely and genuinely female-centered K-drama, and it feels almost intentional that the show dropped its final episode on Women's Day.

Undercover Miss Hong Has Already Set the Stage for a Second Season

Overall, Undercover Miss Hong ran for 16 whole episodes, which is quite an unusually long run these days, wherein 8-10 episode K-dramas have become the norm. And yet, the series runs a tight ship for these 16 episodes, never lingering too long, or meandering too far from the main plotline.

For how silly and lighthearted the series can be, Undercover Miss Hong is just as well directed as it is well-written, which should be no surprise, as the series is directed by Park Seon-ho, who also directed Netflix's 2022 sensation, Business Proposal.

Despite its longer run, Undercover Miss Hong simply breezes by. Perhaps the most impressive part about it is that it feels like a series that actually knows what to do with a 16-episode run. However, even with a longer runtime than usual, Undercover Miss Hong has left fans desperately wanting more — more of Hong Keum-bo's undercover adventures, and more of the series' vibrant cast and storytelling.

What's more is, the series' fiinale even perfectly sets up a potential sequel, with Keum-bo going undercover yet again at her superior's request, this time armed with a flamboyant new identity. The finale even takes Keum-bo to a fresh new location, moving things from Seoul to Busan, and with Go Bok-hee also tagging along, Undercover Miss Hong already has everything it needs for the perfect second season.

Granted, Netflix has had mixed success with K-drama sequels. While it worked brilliantly for Alchemy of Souls, Strong Girl Bong-soon's sequel, Strong Girl Nam-soon, was far less fortunate, with Byeon woo-seok being its only saving grace. However, the only way to know if an Undercover Miss Hong sequel will work is to try, and it's pretty clear anyone who's watched the series wants Season 2.