The Woman Who Still Wants to Marry, ep. 14-16
Tue, Jan. 4th, 2011 08:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
oyceterOkay, this is definitely up there with Coffee Prince and Dal Ja's Spring as one of my favorite trendy dramas, and it may actually surpass them at some points (particularly the ending, since it didn't get an episode extension). It has less "awwwwww so cute" moments than CP and less hilarious-making-fun-of-drama-tropes moments than DJS, but it makes up for it by having situations that feel extremely real. And much like the above two dramas, the main romantic male leads make me want to hug them and call them Bob, and I adore the main romantic female leads.
This is the story of three 34-year-old women and their love lives and careers. There are also two older woman/younger man romances, each with a nearly ten-year age difference. I love how the drama addresses the problems with the age difference—I'm for older woman/younger man, but a 30-some-career woman dating a guy in college is going to interesting generation- and age-based issues. I also love how the second couple provides an excellent foil to the first, and the way the romantic polygon is written is brilliant. As I've noted previously, it's constructed in a way that already has so many issues and awkwardness that the writers don't have to resort to Big Misunderstandings or Big Secrets to create drama; I actually really love this drama because even though some reveals are put off a bit, all the people generally talk to each other.
Usually I hate romantic polygons, but the way the Shin Young/Min Jae/Sang Woo/Sang Mi one works really works for me, largely because it's about situations that would make most people feel awkward without extreme behavior on anyone's part. Particularly the awkwardness of having your ex-boyfriend as your potential father-in-law!
I've also been wondering why Min Jae and Sang Woo's persistence after being dumped multiple times doesn't strike me as stalker-y or too pushy and instead makes me want to cuddle them. I suspect a lot of it is because they keep being dumped with Shin Young or Sang Mi never denying their attraction to them, but rather saying that other things take priority. I am still mulling over how excusable I think that is, but they are so adorable together on screen that I am too overcome by the cute factor to think too rationally. Frex, Min Jae sneaking into Shin Young's apartment to make her food and stuff is kind of creepy when you really think about it! And yet, I went "awwww!"
I also like that even though Da Jung and Ban Seok are usually used for comic effect, Da Jung is going through her own hard times. My sister in particular threatened to throw things at my laptop repeatedly as Ban Seok kept being completely oblivious to how terribly his family was treating Da Jung, and both of us were kind of like, "Uhhhh. Possibly these are things that should have been discussed before getting married."
Also also, why is it that half the trendy dramas I've seen end up with one of the main characters deciding if they're going to spend a significant amount of time overseas, usually in Europe or the US? I guess I get that separation is the ultimate test of attraction or something (or at least, after you've run through all the other plots you've been doing through the other 15 episodes or so), but it's such a boring plot! Especially to end a drama on, because I'm almost never satisfied by the ending and always want to see how the characters have changed in the time they've been apart, how they're getting to know each other again, and etc.
I think this is so far the best version of that I've seen, probably because the drama stuck with 16 episodes instead of dragging it out for longer (and why don't the ones that drag it out leave more room for the conclusion?). I also like that Min Jae is the one who encourages Shin Young to go, and that he's now faced with the exact same thing Sang Woo was all those years ago, again paralleling how members of each couple keep being confronted with things that the other two have faced. Having Shin Young following Min Jae's career from abroad made the attraction later more plausible. Also, I know I complained a lot about Min Jae in the beginning, but I give in! His telling the story of the woman who cut his guitar string and the way he just makes it so obvious that he still loves her that I am just stuck in total "AWWWWW SO CUTE" mode. He is not as flamboyantly adorable as Han Kyul in Coffee Prince (I am not sure anyone could be), but he is pretty damn cute.
And the Sang Woo/Sang Mi angst completely fills my angsty romance needs. I love Sang Mi meeting Sang Woo's mother and having all her own tactics turned back on her, and I also love how she sticks with her principles and instead chooses to break it off with Sang Woo. It makes her objection to Shin Young and Min Jae's relationship much more real. And it's great because it makes Min Jae have to think about his own prejudices and have to talk to his mother to try and convince her to date the guy he hates! Psychological drama, all done handily without too much fakery! That said, Min Jae getting into a car accident made me roll my eyes so much!
I was unsatisfied with Bu Gi's conclusion, since having Shin Young's asshat seonbae stalking her is so not a happy ending! I mean, in my head, she repeatedly beats up his ego until he gives up, ego crushed, but ugh to stalking!
Overall, this is an incredibly funny series that is also very romantic and serious about issues that feel very real for what I assume is the target demographic (middle-class working women in their 30s and 40s), and it touched on a lot of things that either I think about or that people I know think about. Highly recommended.
Very worth watching, and available on Dramafever for Canadians and USians.
This is the story of three 34-year-old women and their love lives and careers. There are also two older woman/younger man romances, each with a nearly ten-year age difference. I love how the drama addresses the problems with the age difference—I'm for older woman/younger man, but a 30-some-career woman dating a guy in college is going to interesting generation- and age-based issues. I also love how the second couple provides an excellent foil to the first, and the way the romantic polygon is written is brilliant. As I've noted previously, it's constructed in a way that already has so many issues and awkwardness that the writers don't have to resort to Big Misunderstandings or Big Secrets to create drama; I actually really love this drama because even though some reveals are put off a bit, all the people generally talk to each other.
Usually I hate romantic polygons, but the way the Shin Young/Min Jae/Sang Woo/Sang Mi one works really works for me, largely because it's about situations that would make most people feel awkward without extreme behavior on anyone's part. Particularly the awkwardness of having your ex-boyfriend as your potential father-in-law!
I've also been wondering why Min Jae and Sang Woo's persistence after being dumped multiple times doesn't strike me as stalker-y or too pushy and instead makes me want to cuddle them. I suspect a lot of it is because they keep being dumped with Shin Young or Sang Mi never denying their attraction to them, but rather saying that other things take priority. I am still mulling over how excusable I think that is, but they are so adorable together on screen that I am too overcome by the cute factor to think too rationally. Frex, Min Jae sneaking into Shin Young's apartment to make her food and stuff is kind of creepy when you really think about it! And yet, I went "awwww!"
I also like that even though Da Jung and Ban Seok are usually used for comic effect, Da Jung is going through her own hard times. My sister in particular threatened to throw things at my laptop repeatedly as Ban Seok kept being completely oblivious to how terribly his family was treating Da Jung, and both of us were kind of like, "Uhhhh. Possibly these are things that should have been discussed before getting married."
Also also, why is it that half the trendy dramas I've seen end up with one of the main characters deciding if they're going to spend a significant amount of time overseas, usually in Europe or the US? I guess I get that separation is the ultimate test of attraction or something (or at least, after you've run through all the other plots you've been doing through the other 15 episodes or so), but it's such a boring plot! Especially to end a drama on, because I'm almost never satisfied by the ending and always want to see how the characters have changed in the time they've been apart, how they're getting to know each other again, and etc.
I think this is so far the best version of that I've seen, probably because the drama stuck with 16 episodes instead of dragging it out for longer (and why don't the ones that drag it out leave more room for the conclusion?). I also like that Min Jae is the one who encourages Shin Young to go, and that he's now faced with the exact same thing Sang Woo was all those years ago, again paralleling how members of each couple keep being confronted with things that the other two have faced. Having Shin Young following Min Jae's career from abroad made the attraction later more plausible. Also, I know I complained a lot about Min Jae in the beginning, but I give in! His telling the story of the woman who cut his guitar string and the way he just makes it so obvious that he still loves her that I am just stuck in total "AWWWWW SO CUTE" mode. He is not as flamboyantly adorable as Han Kyul in Coffee Prince (I am not sure anyone could be), but he is pretty damn cute.
And the Sang Woo/Sang Mi angst completely fills my angsty romance needs. I love Sang Mi meeting Sang Woo's mother and having all her own tactics turned back on her, and I also love how she sticks with her principles and instead chooses to break it off with Sang Woo. It makes her objection to Shin Young and Min Jae's relationship much more real. And it's great because it makes Min Jae have to think about his own prejudices and have to talk to his mother to try and convince her to date the guy he hates! Psychological drama, all done handily without too much fakery! That said, Min Jae getting into a car accident made me roll my eyes so much!
I was unsatisfied with Bu Gi's conclusion, since having Shin Young's asshat seonbae stalking her is so not a happy ending! I mean, in my head, she repeatedly beats up his ego until he gives up, ego crushed, but ugh to stalking!
Overall, this is an incredibly funny series that is also very romantic and serious about issues that feel very real for what I assume is the target demographic (middle-class working women in their 30s and 40s), and it touched on a lot of things that either I think about or that people I know think about. Highly recommended.
Very worth watching, and available on Dramafever for Canadians and USians.
(no subject)
Wed, Jan. 5th, 2011 05:46 am (UTC)(no subject)
Thu, Jan. 6th, 2011 03:04 am (UTC)(no subject)
Wed, Jan. 5th, 2011 08:02 am (UTC)Oh gosh, I love it when people do this - I hate Classic Misunderstandings. This and your other descriptions really make me want to watch this now!
(no subject)
Thu, Jan. 6th, 2011 03:05 am (UTC)