THE SHORT VERDICT:

Show starts out strong, with a winsome heroine, the sweet beginnings of a potentially charming, dorky love story, as well as a compelling narrative conflict. I was immediately hooked, honestly.

Unfortunately, Show doesn’t quite return to these initial levels of awesome, once it takes its story to the present day.

The OTP Cute is serviceable enough, but, in my opinion, this OTP loveline isn’t sufficiently built up, for the kind of epic fated love that Show ultimately wants it to be.

Lee Se Young is great though, and is the heart and soul of this drama, from start to finish.

Your mileage may vary, of course, but I was, unfortunately, rather underwhelmed by this one, in the end. 😅

THE LONG VERDICT:

Let me try to convey how I feel towards Show with this analogy.

If I were Show’s teacher and writing Show’s report card, I would say something like:

“Show has a lot of potential, but s/he gets easily distracted, and is sometimes over-ambitious, at the same time. Show would do much better, if s/he would focus first, on building their strengths.”

That’s.. basically how I feel about this drama. I will explain more about what I mean, in the rest of this review.

PS: If you loved this show unequivocally, and would feel hurt to read anything to the contrary, then maybe you should look away now. I won’t mind. Promise. ❤️

OST ALBUM: FOR YOUR LISTENING PLEASURE

Here’s the OST album, in case you’d like to listen to it while reading the review.

Overall, I found the music in this show very pleasant, and suitably applied to score our story world, though I can’t say that any single track managed to get under my skin.

If I had to pick one song that stands out more to me compared to the rest, that would be Track 2, The Reason, because I’m drawn to the sprinklings of minor chords in there, which nicely bring out lashings of poignance, in the song.

Here it is as well, in case you’d prefer to listen to it on repeat. Just right-click on the video and select “Loop.”

HOW I’M APPROACHING THIS REVIEW

First I’ll talk about how to manage your expectations going into this one, and what viewing lens would be most helpful.

After that, I talk about what I liked and liked less, covering both the more macro aspects of Show, as well as selected characters and relationships. Unlike many of my other reviews, I won’t be doing a separate section on characters and relationships, for this review.

Of course, I also spend some time talking about my thoughts on the ending.

If you’re interested in my blow-by-blow reactions, &/or in all the various Patreon members’ comments during the course of our watch, you might like to check out my episode notes on Patreon here.

MANAGING EXPECTATIONS / THE VIEWING LENS

Here are a few things that I think would helpful to keep in mind, to maximize your enjoyment of your watch:

1. Keep your logic lens blurry

Suspension of disbelief is a given, since this is a fantasy story after all, but beyond that, I’m saying that Show doesn’t seem to prioritize having its internal logic line up, so approaching this show with a loose grip on your need for logic, would probably be helpful.

2. Be ready to close one eye

What I mean is, sometimes Show’s sense of humor isn’t very delicate or sensitive.

For example, when our heroine Yeon Woo (Lee Se Young) finds herself zapped from Joseon to modern Seoul, her behavior causes other people to view her as very likely crazy.

That’s not the issue.

The issue is how said people then respond to her, while thinking that she’s crazy.

Coming off the back of watching Daily Dose of Sunshine (review here), which is a thoughtful compassionate take on mental health struggles, this felt jarring to me.

But if you’re able to close one eye to this kind of indelicacy, and just roll with it, it’d probably make this show more enjoyable for you.

3. Don’t expect amazing writing

Despite Show’s strong start, I would suggest keeping your expectations on the low side, when it comes to the writing.

The writing is, unfortunately, more paint-by-numbers and tropey than you might first expect, particularly in Show’s second half.

Adjusting your expectations to accommodate this, helps.

STUFF I LIKED

As you’ve probably already gathered by now, I was overall rather underwhelmed by this show. However, that doesn’t mean that I disliked everything about it.

Here’s a quick spotlight on the things that I liked, before I get to the things that were just ok, and then finally, to the things I didn’t like so much.

The initial Joseon part of our story

Without exaggeration, my favorite episode in Show’s entire run, is episode 1, where we spend a chunk of time exploring the Joseon part of our story, before our heroine Yeon Woo eventually finds herself in modern Seoul.

I thought Show did a nice job of showing us the kind of personality Yeon Woo is, while also creating enough opportunity for her to develop sufficient feelings about her husband Tae Ha (Bae In Hyuk), before taking her – and us! – to modern Seoul.

I feel that this is important, because we need to understand the kind of person Yeon Woo is, in order to feel like her actions in modern Seoul make sense, and also, we need to feel that Yeon Woo has enough of an attachment to her husband, to want to cling to him, when she finds him upon arriving in modern Seoul.

I thought this foundation was nicely laid.

The tone of the initial Joseon portion hit the sweet spot for me, of serving up a compelling story, threaded through with bits of levity, without ever letting those bits of levity get too big, or too loud, such that I never felt like they were too much.

I liked this assured, restrained tone very much.

The fish-out-of-water hijinks

I have mixed feelings towards Show’s sense of humor (more on that later), but I wanted to highlight the fish-out-water hijinks specifically, in this section, because I genuinely enjoyed them very much.

A big source of entertainment, for me, is all of Yeon Woo’s fish-out-of-water hijinks, which Lee Se Young pulls off with perfect comic timing.

I just love how much thought went into sifting out all of the little things that Yeon Woo wouldn’t know, as a Joseon woman in a modern world.

I love how some of these gags surprised me, and felt like they came out of nowhere, because I hadn’t thought of that aspect of things – and yet, make total sense, in the context of Yeon Woo being a Joseon woman.

[SPOILER ALERT]

Like the way she has no idea how to open a car door, and tries to climb in through the window, heh. And also, the way she treats a normal door like a sliding door, because all room doors in Joseon times were sliding doors. 😁

I do find it very entertaining, even though I normally don’t prefer OTT styles of humor.

Very nicely done, I thought.

[END SPOILER]

Lee Se Young as Yeon Woo

I thought Lee Se Young was pretty fantastic, as Yeon Woo.

She just inhabits Yeon Woo as a character, so fully, that even when there were things that perplexed me about the execution of this drama world, which I found posed, awkward or unnatural, Lee Se Young anchored everything, for me, by making Yeon Woo’s emotions feel real and true.

I found myself rooting for Yeon Woo so naturally, not only in the area of finding her One True Love, but just as importantly, in her personal journey in search of purpose and agency.

[SPOILER ALERT]

E1-2. I love that right away in episode 1, we learn that Yeon Woo is a talented woman who values passion and independence. Like, wow, I like her already.

It’s honestly really daring of her to jump through all the various hoops that she has, in order to make her clothing designs available to people.

I mean, she skips classes, dresses up like a mysterious top-tier gisaeng, and secretly takes customers in the backroom of a dress shop, where she’s managed to make a deal with the owner, even though it’s basically unheard of for women to get into business, during this time.

And then, she has to change back into her noble woman’s attire, before sneaking back home without getting caught – and she’s apparently been doing this regularly, for some time now.

I kinda love this boldly audacious quality about her.

And I love even more, that this is driven by passion for her craft, and a hope to travel to see the world, one day, even though this is wildly impractical thinking, for a Joseon noble lady.

Also, it’s incredible to me, that Yeon Woo’s figured out from a young age, that you shouldn’t allow other people to put you in a cage, and that you can be happy without worrying about what other people think, which is essentially the message that she tells Tae Ha, in that childhood flashback that we see.

Plus, how about the way she goes out of her way to fend off potential marriages, by being the exact opposite of what would be considered a desirable Joseon noble daughter-in-law?

I just love this chutzpah about her. 🤩

E1-2. I did feel sorry for Yeon Woo after the fake wedding, because it really hadn’t been explained clearly to her, what this was, and she really did seem to think that she was marrying Tae Ha again, in this new world.

Her genuine distress at how Tae Ha tries to cut her off right after the wedding, really got to me.

Which leads me to an important point: I do think that Yeon Woo’s very genuine emotional reactions are grounding all these OTT hijinks for me, in a very important way.

The shock and hurt that she feels, being cast aside by Tae Ha; the wistful longing that she feels, as she sings that lullaby to herself, at the park, while thinking about her parents and the life that she’d left behind. All so affecting, I thought.

I feel like without her believable emotions grounding this for me, I would find the hijinks cheap, and feel less strongly connected to our story and characters.

It’s her emotions that are keeping me engaged, and in a pretty solid manner, which is impressive, given that we’re only 2 episodes into our story.

I do love that when Tae Ha goes to find Yeon Woo in a panic because he needs her to be his fake wife for longer than he’d anticipated, Yeon Woo reacts with immediate, instinctive disdain, and flatly refuses, even though she has no idea how to survive in this world, and doesn’t have a place to stay.

I love how our girl’s got a strong backbone, and isn’t afraid to show it.

At the same time, I kinda love how we see that Yeon Woo can be a bit shameless in her shrewdness too, like the way she secures a place to stay, by telling Chairman Gramps that she won’t be leaving for Italy so soon after all, heh. 😁

E5-6. I love the idea of Yeon Woo being attached to the project in the capacity of guest designer for Midam, because this allows her to be seen for herself, rather than as Tae Ha’s wife.

I love all the little beats that show us that Yeon Woo’s reveling in discovering her personal agency, and basking in having an identity.

[END SPOILER]

Joo Hyun Young as Sa Wol

I really enjoyed Joo Hyun Young as Yeon Woo’s sassy maid, Sa Wol.

Joo Hyun Young makes Sa Wol pop so well, as a character, thanks to her screen presence, her excellent comic timing, as well as her great reaction faces.

Even though I mention her comic timing, and even though Sal Wol does delivery a good amount of Show’s comedy, I didn’t see her as a convenient stock comic character.

Show gives her some layers, and Joo Hyun Young makes those layers pop, with her very natural, winsome delivery.

[SPOILER ALERT]

E3-4. I love that we get to see more of Sa Wol, this pair of episodes, and I love that she’s clearly so much more street-smart than Yeon Woo.

While Yeon Woo’s still figuring out things like money, Sa Wol’s already making fast money braiding hair for little girls, AND she’s also learned how to spend that money, on bread and milk.

Gosh, I luff her. 😁

E3-4. I’m so glad that we find out how Sa Wol had time traveled through the well, and how she’d met Lady Macheon’s doppelgänger in modern Seoul, and latched onto her, with the belief that this way, she’d eventually get to meet Yeon Woo – which is exactly what happened.

She’s so smart! 🤩

[END SPOILER]

The Joseon OTP loveline

For reasons [SPOILER] (Because Show confusingly treats Modern Day Tae Ha and Joseon Tae Ha as two separate people, even though Show also makes it glaringly clear, that Modern Day Tae Ha is, in fact, a reincarnation of Joseon Tae He) [END SPOILER], I’m treating the Joseon loveline as separate from the modern-day loveline.

Overall, I have to say that my soft spot is for the Joseon loveline, with Joseon Tae Ha, which I’ll talk more about, in the spoiler section.

I found the Joseon loveline more immediately engaging, and I also found that I really grew a huge soft spot for Joseon Tae Ha, who gently and resolutely wore his heart on his sleeve. 🥲

[SPOILER ALERT]

E1-2. The rumor mill is just as cruel during Joseon times as it is now, with everyone gossiping about her being a crazy old maid – and about Tae Ha being the Ugly Man of Jinsa Village; so ugly that he can’t get himself a wife, even at the ripe old age of 28.

As cruel as those rumors are, it does allow Yeon Woo to interact with Tae Ha quite a few times, without ever considering the possibility that he might be the Ugly Man that she’s been looking to help marry off – to prove her abilities as a designer of beautiful clothes, heh.

As much as I love that she has no idea who he is, I love just as much, the fact that he recognizes her right away, and is pleased to see her again.

It’s not hard to see that he’s felt that she’s special, for a long time. Aw.

It’s in his gaze, which is gentle around her, and it’s also in the way that he smiles at the thought of her. And, it’s also in the way he always seems pleasantly surprised by her exploits, rather than shocked or scandalized.

All of these things make me like him already.

And, I realize it’s really helpful anchoring of his character, because Tae Ha in modern Seoul is a lot less forthcoming, and quite a lot colder than Ugly Man Tae Ha.

Because I’ve seen what Tae Ha’s real heart is like, I find that it’s much easier to take his less-than-gentle treatment of Yeon Woo, when we get to episode 2.

In my head, I’m just categorizing this as pre-enlightened Tae Ha, if you will, and I’m convinced that once he becomes properly smitten with our Yeon Woo, that we’ll get more of that gentle caring aspect of him back.

I actually really like the idea of Yeon Woo and Tae Ha getting married, even though it is a very difficult decision for Yeon Woo to make.

And I do agree that it is a pity that she gives in to the idea that she must give up her dream, in order to honor her family.

That said, it is very true that her bold fashion designs, having offended the King, would put her family in serious danger. I can see why her father would get so strongly upset, and why Yeon Woo would make this choice, in order to keep her family safe.

Honestly, I would love it too, if this were a short story of, say, 2-3 episodes, where our two “old” singletons find themselves in an arranged marriage that, to their surprise, they actually really like the idea of, and once married, find their own way to be happy together, never mind what the rest of the world thinks of them.

I think I would eat that up, and then rewatch it, I like the sound of it that much.

But of course, in this story world, that is not to be, given Tae Ha’s heart condition, ack.

It’s honestly very noble and considerate of him, to tell Yeon Woo his secret, and cut their ribbons like that, in order to sever their matrimonial relationship – in order to set her free from the likelihood of becoming a widow.

Again, this kind of sweet, thoughtful behavior from Tae Ha, while we can see his heart  on his sleeve, beating for Yeon Woo in spite of himself, is just the thing to make me unreservedly want to camp out in his corner, rooting for him to have a happy ending.

It’s honestly quite hilarious that Yeon Woo’s response to his big confession, is to say that she’s committed to this marriage even if it’s short-lived, and can she have her wedding night right now, thank you. Hahahaha. 😁

Beyond the silly hijinks of the moment, I’m quite taken with that moment when Yeon Woo tells Tae Ha, with gentle seriousness, that she will beat the god of the underworld, and so not to worry.

This really feels like a proper husband-wife bonding sort of moment, which I feel is very important, given that we need to believe that Yeon Woo is bonded enough to Tae Ha, to have strong feelings for him even after arriving in modern Seoul.

I’m really quite impressed with Yeon Woo’s quiet determination to do right by Tae Ha as his widow, even after he dies abruptly on their wedding night.

That really shows her loyalty and devotion, as well as her determination.

[END SPOILER]

The relationship between Yeon Woo and Sa Wol

In the non-romantic space, the relationship between Yeon Woo and Sa Wol was a big highlight for me, personally.

I love that the bond between them is like that between best friends and sisters, rather than that between a mistress and her servant.

And, I love that Sa Wol is game to be part of Yeon Woo’s exploits; she’s got as much chutzpah as Yeon Woo does (if not more!), and that’s part of the reason they make such a great pair. 🤩

These two genuinely care about and love each other, and I loved when Show allowed that to play out on our screens.

Special shout-out:

Yeon Woo and Madam Midam [SPOILER]

Even though this relationship doesn’t get a lot of story or screen time, I wanted to give it a quick spotlight, because I found the bond between Yeon Woo and Madam Midam (Kim Yeo Jin) touching and sweet.

In particular, I loved the scene in episode 5, where Yeon Woo runs to Mdm Midam and clings to her, sobbing and calling her “Mother.”

That is such a poignant scene, and it made my heart pinch, to see Yeon Woo’s longing for her mother expressed like this, with such emotional release.

And I feel it says a lot about Mdm Midam, that she would allow Yeon Woo to cry in her arms, even though she has no idea at this point, who Yeon Woo is, and why Yeon Woo would be crying like this.

I like Mdm Midam already, based on this one thing alone.

And then, I was so, SO happy, when Mdm Midam is so taken with Yeon Woo’s embroidery and design skills, that she asks that Yeon Woo’s presence on the project, be THE condition of her acceptance of Tae Ha’s proposal.

Just, so perfect. 🥰

STUFF THAT WAS OK

Bae In Hyuk as Tae Ha

I have a soft spot for Bae In Hyuk, after seeing him in various dramas, like Kiss Goblin, Under The Queen’s Umbrella, and My Roommate is a Gumiho.

However, I have to concede that his acting range is on the more limited side of the spectrum, and that he doesn’t (yet?) have the kind of strong screen presence and charisma, that I tend to associate with male leads.

I thought Bae In Hyuk did a decent job overall, but I also felt that his acting weaknesses showed, during the more demanding portions of our story.

I’ll talk more about him in the next section, but I just wanted to put it out there upfront, that I found his outing as Tae Ha just ok, overall.

The modern-day OTP loveline

In a show like this, the OTP relationship is THE main draw for me, as a viewer, and I do think that that’s Show’s intention, as well.

Overall, I realize that while I was able to really get into the burgeoning OTP connection in the first half of our story, this started to fizzle for me, once we got to the second half of our story.

You’ll see, in the spoiler section, that it was exactly at around the episode 7-8 point, that I started to feel a loss in the OTP sparkle, which I’d been enjoying quite nicely, prior.

I do think that there are two main reasons for this.

One is, there is an awkwardness that shows up, once our OTP starts to get closer, and therefore have more skinshippy moments.

To be brutally honest, I feel that Bae In Hyuk’s personal shyness and awkwardness around Lee Se Young, keeps those closer OTP scenes from feeling natural and organic.

Before the OTP gets closer, that personal shyness and awkwardness works with the story quite well, and I think that’s why I only started to feel a disconnect, at the halfway point of our show.

The other part of it, I think, is in the writing.

I will talk more about this later, but, in a nutshell, it feels like Show couldn’t figure out how to make this OTP loveline as epic as it wanted.

What we get as a result, in Show’s second half, is a perplexing hodge-podge collection of romantic tropes, shuffled in between spots of OTP Cute, that honestly feel out of place, to my eyes, since we’re at a point in our story where the love is supposed to be epic.

So, taking the effective Early Cute into account, this all evens out to “pretty ok” for me, which is why the modern-day OTP relationship is in this section.

[SPOILER ALERT]

E1-2. Right away, we can see that Tae Ha is affected by Yeon Woo, whether it’s that moment in the water when he’s momentarily entranced by her, or whether it’s when she comes across all crazy, and he loses his patience.

Whatever it is, he can’t seem to remain calm and cool in front of Yeon Woo, and it’s surely Very Significant, since Show wastes no time in informing us, very helpfully, in that kdrama way, that Tae Ha’s so logical and unruffled all the time, that he’s like an android.

E1-2. As we close out episode 2, I’m relieved that Tae Ha shows up to protect Yeon Woo, because even though it’s not clear what Hye Suk (Jin Kyung) might do, it is clear that Hye Suk’s not to be trusted, so I just feel better that Yeon Woo doesn’t have to fend for herself in front of Hye Suk.

E3-4. I love that Yeon Woo’s very real emotions are continuing to ground the funny for me, like when she tries to return to Joseon by jumping in the pool, and then looks so wistfully at the crape myrtle tree, and then starts to sob as she tells Tae Ha that she doesn’t know how to get home.

It’s great that her very real emotions are getting to Tae Ha, and he’s showing that he’s very much affected by her, in spite of himself.

Tae Ha getting all worked up while his thoughts are filled with Yeon Woo all day, is a pretty cute concept, even though I would have preferred if it hadn’t been played in a rather OTT sort of way, with Tae Ha having a big reaction and shouting, in the middle of a meeting.

I found that jarring, personally.

E3-4. I like that when Tae Ha proposes the marriage contract to Yeon Woo and lays out his conditions, our girl shoots right back, when she feels certain conditions aren’t reasonable, and not only that, has conditions of her own, to put down.

I do love that she’s no pushover, and is able to match Tae Ha, wit for wit, like in this situation.

And, I love that she doesn’t let her lack of knowledge of “New Joseon” affect her self-confidence and her sense of self-worth.

Like, yes, she’ll get all flustered over a robot vacuum and get herself locked out of the house and get all excited over a box of tissues, but she will not let Tae Ha look down on her, or talk down to her.

I love that very much.

I also like that Yeon Woo doesn’t hold onto bad feelings.

Even though there are times when Tae Ha doesn’t talk to her super nicely, or times when she embarrasses herself in front of him, to his bemusement, she seems to get over any bad feelings pretty fast, and talks to him nicely quite soon after.

I like her very pleasant tone, as she rambles on, in her heartfelt manner, about her family background, and how her father had been Minister of Personnel.

Of course, I also like that Tae Ha turns out to be actually paying attention, when she says all these things, even though he doesn’t actually believe her, at this point.

I mean, a man who listens? Brownie point, right away. 🤩

I enjoyed the concept of hyperawareness born of Yeon Woo walking in on a shirtless Tae Ha, because of course that’s part of marriage contract territory, but I wasn’t so hot on the execution, because I didn’t find it very funny, the way Tae Ha clutched his chest and then fell on the floor in his anxiety to shut the door after Yeon Woo.

I do enjoy the growing bond between Tae Ha and Yeon Woo, which feels like the result of a rather nice stacking of various smaller interactions, among the bigger shared experiences.

In particular, I love that it’s Yeon Woo who saves the day for Tae Ha, when she is able to help him find the real painting by Yoon Am, for the exhibition.

Our Joseon girl being the MVP of the day, because of her very Joseon-ness, is a great dynamic that I don’t think I’ll get tired of. 😁

I had to giggle at the whole way the falling kiss trope is executed in this show, with Yeon Woo drunkenly sticking metal chopsticks into the power socket, which then lands her on top of Tae Ha, after his bid to get her out of danger’s way has them rolling on the floor.

And how great, that our girl still feels the same about her wedding night, with her telling Tae Ha that he mustn’t run away this time. Tee hee hee. 🤭

I also get the sense that Yeon Woo is starting to care for Tae Ha for himself, rather than because he looks like her late husband.

When he collapses from his panic attack, the way she assures herself, that he only looks like her late husband, and therefore, he’ll be ok, says a lot, I think.

(Although, for the record, I do think that Show is inconsistent in terms of how it treats the connection between Joseon Tae Ha and Modern Day Tae Ha. Just sayin’.)

E3-4. I love how Yeon Woo remembers that Tae Ha’s told her to be very wary of Hye Suk, and applies it right away, when Hye Suk shows up pretending to show concern for Tae Ha, because she’d heard that he was ill.

The way Yeon Woo refuses Hye Suk entry to the house, while remaining oh so calm and polite, is the epitome of a strong but refined Joseon lady, I feel. 🤩

And, I’m glad that Tae Ha gets to hear about it, from none other than Hye Suk herself, and therefore realizes that Yeon Woo’s got his back, even when he’s not aware of it.

E5-6. It feels like Show is nudging our OTP relationship along, with the use of very recognizable tropes that I somehow don’t even mind, and yet, managing to make the pacing of the OTP bond feel believable.

As in, the OTP bond doesn’t feel rushed, even though we’ve got all the various tropes in play to nudge our two leads together.

This is very important to me, I realize, because this way, I feel like their burgeoning feelings for each other are more believable. They’re not just suddenly falling in love because it’s the right moment in our storyboard, for them to do so.

They’re slowly coming around to their feelings for each other, nudge by narrative nudge, and I find that this really works for me.

I unabashedly love watching the little indications of growing attachment, particularly on Tae Ha’s side, since he’s been the colder, more distant one, ever since Yeon Woo arrived in modern Seoul.

Like when Yeon Woo’s unconscious from the fall, it gave me a sense of gratification to see Tae Ha get worried about her.

And then there’s how he dresses her wound – and how she then notices the cut on his face, and then insists on dressing his wound.

What a lovely moment, when she looks him in the eye, and thanks him; there’s just something about that moment that feels real and vulnerable to me.

I also love that Tae Ha comes to terms with the idea that Yeon Woo is from Joseon times, and tells her so.

It’s so great to see that this acknowledgment gives Yeon Woo so much gratification and happiness.

I do feel that it’s kind of out of character for Yeon Woo to hug Tae Ha like that (coz, Joseon decorum should be flowing in her veins, no?), but I’m so pleased with this stronger, more personal note of connection, that I’m fine to just roll with it.

The falling almost-kiss is as tropey as they come, but it’s completely unobjectionable to me, because, I mean, how cutely happy and carefree do they look, sitting in the grass and playing in the “rain” from the sprinklers? 😍

I also love the fact that Tae Ha feels comfortable enough to later tell Yeon Woo that he’d seen her in Joseon times, in a hallucination.

It’s a pity that neither of them seems to make the leap to the thought that this could possibly indicate that what Tae Ha saw could have been a glimpse of his past life, but.. I suppose we’ll get to that, at some later point in our story?

I do dig the growing protective vibe from Tae Ha, though, like when he sees that random guy approach Yeon Woo outside the convenience store, and gets into defensive protector mode.

It gives me a stab of satisfaction, because this shows that he’s starting to care more about Yeon Woo, in spite of himself and his logic. 😁

I also love the fact that when Yeon Woo embroiders Tae Ha’s otherwise ruined shirt for him, he actually wears it – and to the office – right away.

I freaking love that he doesn’t hesitate to embrace her talent, and doesn’t seem to care what others might say, if they saw President Kang wearing an embroidered shirt under his suit. 🥲

E5-6. I thought it was very uncool for Tae Ha to tell Yeon Woo that there is no rabbit on the moon, because that’s essentially taking away a source of constancy and comfort from her. No likey.

Thankfully, Show quickly turns the focus to the both of them remembering the kiss that Yeon Woo had planted on Tae Ha while she’d been drunk, so we don’t linger on the moment for too long.

But it’s still uncool in my eyes, for the record, and I hope that Tae Ha will make it up to Yeon Woo soon.

E7-8. I felt like the OTP interactions didn’t really sparkle, this pair of episodes.

Instead, it all felt a little paint by numbers, to my eyes, where our OTP goes through the requisite steps prescribed by writer-nim – inclusive of a healthy number of required tropes.

While I have no beef with tropes existing in our story, as a general rule, these tropes felt.. like they were being thrown in there like writer-nim was blindly following a recipe, without really understanding why these ingredients or steps were being prescribed in the first place – and therefore getting it a little bit wrong, somehow, in the execution.

This is all very subjective, of course, and you might have zero issue with any of this, but I personally felt like there was something missing – and that that something, was the kind of organic realness, that would, I think, help these tropes to come alive, and become something actually meaningful to our OTP, versus a step in a formula that they’re being prescribed, if that makes sense.

Another facet to this, for me, is that, to my eyes, there’s an awkwardness between our OTP that doesn’t land as organic.

Like when Tae Ha gives Yeon Woo that backhug, the way he holds her has a posed, manner-hands kind of quality to it, such that I feel like I’m seeing Bae In Hyuk keep a polite distance from his co-star, rather than Tae Ha reach for the love of his life.

This isn’t consistent across the board, thankfully, and so, even though there are times when I feel the OTP vibe is posey and unnatural, there are moments when it feels more real, relatively speaking, like the second half of the kiss scene at the end of episode 7.

E7-8. I did like the part where Tae Ha gives Yeon Woo back her Jade Rabbit, and tells her that she can wish upon this rabbit, and that all her wishes will come true.

This was cute, and sweet.

(But like I said, this kind of cute and sweet just isn’t solid enough to anchor an epic fate-cycle sort of love, so the balance is still off for me, even when the cute moments work for me. Do you see my struggle? 🙈😅)

E7-8. I’m honestly disappointed that Tae Ha opts for noble idiocy and breaks off the marriage contract with Yeon Woo, right when Yeon Woo takes the (pretty adorable) step to take their relationship real.

I mean, I do understand that Tae Ha’s intention is pure; that he doesn’t want to put Yeon Woo at risk of losing him, the way she’d lost Joseon Tae Ha.

But it’s still hurting Yeon Woo, so it feels kind of like he’s just making the decision for her, to trade one misery for another, and one loss for another, which is perplexing for sure.

I’m glad that Tae Ha comes to his senses, when he misses Yeon Woo acutely, and then is faced with the possibility of her going overseas with Mdm Midam on an extended basis.

Which, ok, short-lived noble idiocy is better than long-term noble idiocy, for sure. 😅

[END SPOILER]

Yoo Sun Ho as Tae Min

Honestly, Tae Min is pretty much a stock secondary character, on paper.

He’s the spoilt, entitled half-sibling that’s on hand to make things complicated for Tae Ha, when the narrative need arises.

However, I did want to give Yoo Sun Ho a shout-out, because he plays such a different character here, compared to his outing as Grand Prince Gye Sung, in Under The Queen’s Umbrella (review here).

And yet, I completely believe that he’s this unhinged, unstable, unpredictable wild card sort of character.

Beyond that, I like how he plays Tae Min, because in his micro-expressions, where his eyes often have the subtlest sheen of tears, we can see that there are lashings of vulnerability and fragility that he’s hiding, underneath the brash persona.

That added a nice touch of dimension to Tae Min as a character, I felt.

[SPOILER ALERT]

E3-4. Of course, Tae Min’s mostly unpleasant and unlikable at this point, but that glimpse of vulnerability, as well as the way he tells Hye Suk that he hasn’t decided whose side to be on, makes me wonder at the possibility of a turnaround, for him.

And so, when Yeon Woo shows him a bit of kindness, I feel like this might all result in growing some loyalty in Tae Min, who doesn’t get a fraction of the same kindness from Hye Suk.

Like when Yeon Woo binds up the wounds on his hand, when she realizes that he’s injured, for example.

Maybe that’s why he chooses to save Tae Ha by claiming that Kim Ha Young is his girlfriend, when Hye Suk tries to complicate matters for Tae Ha by bringing her to Chairman Gramps’s birthday party.

E5-6. I’m also taking to the fact that Tae Min’s been planted in the Marketing Team, because it’s becoming clear that he’s got a soft spot for Yeon Woo, and will not hesitate to take action to protect her.

Somehow, the fact that Tae Min, who’s otherwise so unpredictable and unhinged, particularly around his mother, is borderline normal around Yeon Woo, and is willing to take risks to help her and stand up for her, is very gratifying to me.

And the fact that Tae Ha gets jealous over it all, is just bonus. 😁

[END SPOILER]

The secondary loveline 

I have to admit that I wasn’t really into the idea of this loveline, when Show first hints at it at around the episode 3 mark.

The reason for this, is that Secretary Hong (Jo Bok Rae) wasn’t really popping for me as a character; I felt he was being written and delivered too loud and OTT.

It almost felt like she was too good for him, in a character sense? Like, she really popped for me, and I wanted her to be paired with a character who really popped for me too – which Secretary Hong wasn’t. 😅

However, I did eventually come around to this pairing.

Mainly, I liked the idea that Sa Wol is the one calling the shots, and Secretary Hong is smitten with her, and is essentially helpless in the face of her artless bossiness. And, the more artlessly bossy she is, the more Secretary Hong seems to be smitten.

Hahaha. The concept tickled me, and Joo Hyun Young’s sassy delivery of Sa Wol made this work for me, so much so that I didn’t even mind the OTT comedic vibe (so much) from Secretary Hong.

Show’s sense of humor [BROAD MINOR SPOILERS]

As I’ve alluded to earlier in this review, Show’s sense of humor was a mixed bag, for me.

Sometimes I found it funny, like with the fish-out-of-water hijinks, but at many other points, I found the humor too try-hard.

Like the way they make Secretary Hong so shouty and theatrical; it feels quite forced, to me, and I don’t find it funny, unfortunately.

And I say that with a good amount of affection for Jo Bok Rae, who plays Secretary Hong.

This style of funny doesn’t sit well on him, and I’m perplexed as to why Secretary Hong was written this way, &/or why Jo Bok Rae was directed this way.

Or maybe it’s just me, and everyone else is chuckling happily at the goings-on, while I’m the only one wincing..? 🙈😅

It’s just this style of comedy that’s landing as pretty try-hard and forced, to my eyes, and I like Show much better when it doesn’t appear to be trying so hard.

The OTT-shouty on Tae Ha

Also, I’d like to state for the record that this style of funny isn’t limited to Secretary Hong; heck, we even have Tae Ha giving us OTT reactions sometimes, (I didn’t find that funny either 🙈).

Like when he starts shouting during a meeting, because he’s flustered that his thoughts are centered on Yeon Woo.

Or when Tae Hae gets all jealous, because he can’t stand the thought of Yeon Woo spending time with Director Do (Park Yeon Woo – John Jang from Love is for Suckers!), and suddenly raises his voice at the dinner gathering to end the evening prematurely.

There’s also how he also shouts very randomly, when he later catches sight of Designer Do saying goodbye to Yeon Woo, near their home.

While the shouty being connected to Tae Ha’s growing jealousy over Yeon Woo helps it to smooth landing for me, I would have much preferred if his discomfort could have been communicated to us, without any shouty at all, y’know? 😅

STUFF I DIDN’T LIKE SO MUCH

Here’s a quickish rundown of the things that I didn’t like so much, in this drama.

Unfortunately, some of these counted for quite a lot, in my books, to the point that I came pretty darn close to dropping out of my watch, because of some of these things.

Show’s general pitching

This is definitely a personal preference sort of thing, so this might not have bothered you at all.

Personally, I found that Show’s pitching was rather.. juvenile, sometimes, and that didn’t work so well for me, especially since (as I’ll talk about later), Show actually wants to be an epic love story, at its heart.

Not that a young, breezy sort of tone can’t co-exist with the idea of an epic love story (see Someday Or One Day and Shining For One Thing, for examples of when that combination actually worked).

What I am saying, though, is that that combination is really hard to get right, and unfortunately, Show didn’t manage to get it right, in my opinion.

Here’s just a quick example of what I mean, about Show pitching itself in a rather juvenile sort of space.

[SPOILER ALERT]

E7-8. Show is employing Sa Wol as a Matchmaker Fairy of sorts, having her be the one to orchestrate opportunities for Tae Ha and Yeon Woo to get more up close and personal, and while that’s all fine and good, I guess, I find myself wanting something a little different.

I think I would have preferred for our OTP to either find themselves spending quality time together because of actual coincidence (ie, not because of Sa Wol’s planning), or actually taking some initiative, and being bold to seek each other out.

I feel like that would give a more mature flavor to the kind of feelings at play, because them being nudged together by Sa Wol smacks of.. childish pranks..? For very young lovers who’re maybe in high school, or even middle school? 😅

But I suppose that’s the vibe Show’s going for, given the way we see Tae Ha asking Secretary Hong for dating advice, for “a friend.”

I know, I know. This is all in the spirit of Show serving up Funny, and I suppose it’s just that Show’s idea of Funny just isn’t hitting the spot so well, for me.

[END SPOILER]

The business scheming and political stuff

This was true for me from the start; I just had very little interest in the whole business / political angle, where Hye Suk’s determined to take over the company, at all costs.

Also, the scheming and politicking does get more screen time in Show’s second half, and that definitely caused my interest levels to dip.

The way Show handles its mystery arc

I’d been low-key aware of this while watching, but it was MC (thanks MC!) who helped crystalize it for me, by pointing out that the way Show tends to deal with its various plot points.

And that way is, to spend almost the entire episode on OTP stuff, and then squeeze in a sprinkle of mystery-related plot points (with regard to things like time-travel and past lives), to tickle our appetites, before the credits rolled.

At first (like, the first time Show did it, at the end of episode 4), I found this effective and intriguing.

It admittedly made me sit up with interest, at the new narrative possibilities that these tidbits had just opened up.

The thing is, though, Show mostly keeps up the same exact pattern, until it gets to the last handful of episodes, when it then shifts the focus to a lot more mystery-related stuff, and altogether, I didn’t think that worked out very well.

It felt like the mystery stuff was half-baked, from having so little screen time through most of Show’s run.

Also, some of the stuff just didn’t feel very organic, from having so little context-building on our screens, like [SPOILER] the way Chairman Gramps suddenly starts wearing such dark, sinister looks, after being all smiley and affable. [END SPOILER]

Not my favorite thing that Show did, for sure.

Show’s balance feels off [BROAD VAGUE SPOILERS]

At around the halfway point of this show, I started to feel like there was something.. off, or missing, from our story.

If I had to put a finger on a single thing, I’d say that my feel is that, while the various elements of our story are all there, and in play, the balance is somehow not quite right, from where I’m sitting, and that’s why these episodes aren’t quite hitting the spot, for me.

And, if I had to pinpoint what exactly is off about the balance, I think it’s that we are spending a lot of time on the corporate scheming, and not enough time on building on the OTP connection.

I really think we need a stronger OTP connection, to anchor this supernatural, fate-cycle mystery that Show is serving up.

I need to really feel like the love between Yeon Woo and Tae Ha is so palpable and robust, that it could be at the center of a cycle of fate that spans centuries.

As it is, it feels like we’re just getting the initial cute stuff that comes with burgeoning feelings (which is cute, I’ll admit) – and before we even have a strong love established between our OTP, Show’s throwing fate stuff at it, and expecting it to be strong enough to weather it.

Unfortunately, my sense that our OTP relationship just wasn’t convincingly epic enough to live up to the grand fate-cycle of love that Show had set up for it over multiple lifetimes, only grew stronger, as I watched this show to the end.

I feel that Show should have spent more time growing the OTP relationship, so that it could have anchored this big fated love story more convincingly.

Unfortunately, I do think that this is Show’s biggest misstep.

SPOTLIGHT ON THE PENULTIMATE EPISODES [SPOILERS]

I had pretty strong feelings about the penultimate stretch (specifically episodes 9 & 10), so I thought I’d share a spotlight on these episodes. These are my notes exactly as they appeared on Patreon.

Warning: some strong feelings ahead. 😅

E9-10. Well. I finally managed to watch this pair of episodes, my friends, and I hafta be honest: I am extremely underwhelmed.

Brace yourselves, coz I’m about to be brutally honest. 😅

In a nutshell, it feels like everything is kinda clumsy and half-baked?

And somehow, everything – seriously, every single thing – in our story, currently feels like an afterthought, to me.

It feels to me like no one managed to put careful thought into any of these narrative threads, and now, everything’s coming together in a way that manages to showcase every flaw, in every thread.

Eep. I know. These are strong words. But.. unfortunately, that’s how these episodes landed, for me. 🙈

It felt like a real slog to watch this pair of episodes, and I zoned out multiple times, because I was so bored. 😅

I found everything very uninteresting, from the corporate stuff, to the revenge stuff; from the past stuff, to the present stuff; from our OTP, to our secondary OTP, to Tae Ha’s relationship with Chairman Gramps.

None of it felt organically interesting to me, unfortunately.

Almost everything felt heavy-handedly dark and angsty and revengey, and all the OTP moments felt shoehorned in to give us a sprinkle of lightness and cuteness – which already feels kind of whiplashey and uneven.

To make matters worse, the OTP cute feels very staged, and is not working for me.

By this point, Tae Ha and Yeon Woo have shared some proper kisses (see the end of episode 7, for evidence; ok sure the chemistry is not really as amazing as I’d have liked, but those are proper kisses, yes? Which means they are past that initial stage of distance and awkwardness?).

And yet, Show is making them look surprised and bashful because of little pecks, like they’re middle schoolers getting kissed for the first time.

Does. Not. Feel. Organic.

It feels like their relationship has regressed, and that’s just weird, especially since Show is ramping up this idea that their love is so great, that it’s worthy of an angsty fate cycle.

I don’t know why Show doesn’t seem to know this, but.. I’m quite sure you can’t be at the bashful, awkward initial stages of a relationship, AND at the same time, be fatefully, deeply in love, such that you’d be literally willing to die for the other person.

That.. just doesn’t make sense to me.

But.. maybe it’s a magic, fateful sort of thing, and that’s why they’re willing to die for each other, despite Show making it seem like they’re at the initial awkward phase of their relationship? (I’m grasping at straws here 😅)

Speaking of which, the mythology isn’t really making sense to me.

I’m probably not meant to question it, but, why do Yeon Woo’s and Tae Ha’s actions suddenly cause stuff to change in the magic journal?

(Also, this whole thing feels pretty conveniently shoehorned in, because it’s only being introduced now, at the last minute.)

And, why will Tae Ha die, if Yeon Woo remains in this timeline?

It feels like Show has spent very little time really fleshing out how the two timelines are connected, and while I hadn’t minded that while our attention was on the burgeoning of our OTP connection, now that it’s front-and-center of our story, and our attention is focused there, suddenly it’s becoming clearer to me, that a lot of things don’t seem to be rooted in answers.

It feels like they just.. are, which maybe wouldn’t be so perplexing, if I felt more sucked into this story and more invested in our central relationship, because perhaps then I could be persuaded not to care. 😅

..Speaking of not caring, I really, truly, do not care about the revenge angle that Show’s suddenly serving up, with Hwang Myung Soo, Hye Suk’s henchman, turning out to have a blood feud against Chairman Gramps. 🙄

If we didn’t have just two more episodes to go, I’d be dropping this one, honestly.

(In fact, I’m legit toying with the idea of dropping out now, but my completist streak is saying, you’ve only got two episodes left! And so.. I’m still in, for now? Unless episode 11 is so terrible, that I tap out right away. 😅)

The fact that I’m actually feeling relief, that we only have two episodes left, says a lot, I think, about how I feel about this show. 😅

THOUGHTS ON THE ENDING [SPOILERS]

It’s been a full day now since I watched Show’s finale episodes, and I have to confess, I don’t find this ending to be very satisfying, after all is said and done.

I’ve been mulling things over, to try to figure out the why, and this is what I’ve got.

First, to get the more obvious thing out of the way, is the way Show wraps up all the revenge stuff and political angst stuff that it amped up so unceremoniously, in the penultimate stretch.

Show dives right back into it, in this finale stretch, and then wraps it up right quick, putting stuff and people away as quickly as they were yanked out of the shadows, and I found this very whiplashy and boring, not gonna lie.

In fact, I briefly considered tapping out of Show, just 5 minutes into my watch of episode 11; I was feeling that disengaged. 😅

I even wondered how you all would feel, if I dropped this show with just less than 2 episodes to go; I was thatclose to actually hitting “stop” and calling it a day.

But, curiosity got the better of me, and I stayed, because I wanted to find out how Show resolves the time-traveling conundrum, where Yeon Woo has to return to Joseon, or else Tae Ha will die.

Before I get into that proper, I just wanted to say that, personally, I think that Show tries to be more epic than it’s actually got the chops for.

And because of that, all of the drama that Show works to serve up, in order to serve up that epic flavor for this story, falls pretty flat for me.

Of course, this is very subjective and personal, and you might be in the camp that feels that Show’s perfectly fine as it is, and you might genuinely love the way Show handles its story.

That’s perfectly ok. I’m just sharing how I personally responded to Show, and, who knows – I might be the only person in the entire world who feels this way. 😅

So.. because I haven’t really been feeling the loveline for a while, I didn’t really feel engaged with our OTP getting ready to say goodbye, and I also didn’t feel the pain of their separation as acutely as I’m sure Show would have liked.

In fact, I found myself feeling sorry for Joseon Tae Ha, in the midst of it all.

This surprised me, but.. after I thought about it, I realize that it’s not that surprising, after all.

I like the idea that Yeon Woo manages to save Joseon Tae Ha from being poisoned to death, but after that, it kinda goes downhill for me.

I felt sorry for Joseon Tae Ha, because his love for Yeon Woo had been genuine, and he’d built a genuine connection with her, which we’d witnessed, as an audience, in episode 1.

And, as you may recall, I loved episode 1 a great deal, so much so that I would have been perfectly content to have had our story stay in Joseon, so that we could have explored the growing relationship between Joseon Tae Ha and Yeon Woo, as they found themselves married to each other.

And now, all of that seems to be invalidated, with Yeon Woo reserving her heart for Modern Day Tae Ha.

The thing that niggles at me, is that Show has established that Modern Day Tae Ha actually IS Joseon Tae Ha, just in another lifetime.

Because of this, it somehow feels rather wrong to me, that Joseon Tae Ha loses his burgeoning romantic connection with Yeon Woo, because of Modern Day Tae Ha.

After all, isn’t it because of Joseon Tae Ha, that Modern Day Tae Ha even has a connection with Yeon Woo, when she time travels to the present?

If Show has proven to us that Joseon Tae Ha and Modern Day Tae Ha are the same person, sharing the same soul, just in different lifetimes, then isn’t Show being hugely unfair to Joseon Tae Ha?

Who dies of his heart condition anyway, without getting to marry the love of his life, and whose dying wish, is to one day be reborn as Modern Day Tae Ha?

I just.. can’t help feeling sorry for Joseon Tae Ha. He deserved better, y’know? 💔

AND. We also need to talk about Yeon Woo managing to go back to 2023, despite the fact that Cheon Myung’s stated that the passage through which Yeon Woo time traveled, would only open once more, and that, for her return to Joseon.

With my drama lens firmly on, I can buy the idea that Tae Ha’s longing somehow opened up the passage again, for Yeon Woo to time travel to 2023 again, to be reunited with him.

But I can’t help thinking of the fact that Yeon Woo’s death in Joseon, is a result of being hunted down by Murderous Myung Soo.

Remember how heartbroken Yeon Woo’s mother had been, at her death when she’d been thrown down the well, so much so that she’d died of heartbreak?

How is this any better, is what I find myself thinking.

Wouldn’t Mom also be just as heartbroken, knowing that she’d gone to take Yeon Woo home, for fear that Murderous Myung Soo would come after her – and because she’d failed to persuade Yeon Woo to go home with her, Yeon Woo had died??

How could Mom ever recover from the guilt and pain of losing Yeon Woo this way, if she couldn’t recover from the pain of losing Yeon Woo to an apparent suicide, in our first timeline?

And so, because these thoughts were on my mind, I couldn’t fully enjoy the reunion that we finally get, when Yeon Woo magically reappears in front of Tae Ha, and they finally get married for real.

All in all, I was glad that they got a happy ending, but I just.. struggle a bit, with how we get there. 😅

THE FINAL VERDICT:

Doesn’t live up to its full potential; could’ve been so much better.

FINAL GRADE: B-

TRAILER:

MV:

PATREON UPDATE!

The next drama I’ll be covering on Patreon, in place of The Story of Park’s Marriage Contract, is Knight Flower [Korea]. I’ve taken an initial look at Knight Flower and I’m happy to say that I’m enjoying it quite a bit more than I’d expected to.

You can check out my E1-2 notes on Knight Flower on Patreon here.

Here’s an overview of what I’m covering on Patreon right now (Tier benefits are cumulative)!

Foundation Tier (US$1): Entertainment tidbits + the first set notes of all shows covered on Patreon (that’s 2 episodes for kdramas and 4 episodes for cdramas)

+ Bonus show: +I Know I Love You [China]

Early Access (US$5): +Knight Flower [Korea]

Early Access Plus (US$10): +Perfect Marriage Revenge [Korea]

VIP (US$15): +Marry My Husband [Korea]