This article contains spoilers.
Lead cast: Park Min-young, Na In-woo, Lee Yi-kyung, Song Ha-yoon
Latest Nielsen rating: 10.7 per cent
In the hit Park Min-young vehicle Marry My Husband, her character Kang Ji-won’s transformation from mousy punching bag to empowered woman is now complete.
While the 16-episode drama is far from over, this week’s instalment rewarded us with a double whammy – the comeuppances of her treacherous boyfriend Park Min-hwan (Lee Yi-kyung) and bestie Jung Soo-min (Song Ha-yoon), and Kang finally locking lips with her dashing protector Yoo Ji-hyuk (Na In-woo).
After magically being transported back 10 years following her death at the hands of Min-hwan and Soo-min, Ji-won was given a chance at a do-over. She quickly learned there are some strings attached to her good fortune – she cannot escape her fate unless she can pass it on to someone else.
Marry My Husband: breezy time-travel workplace romcom K-drama
Marry My Husband: breezy time-travel workplace romcom K-drama
Therefore, to avoid her untimely death, she has to make sure that Soo-min takes her place as Min-hwan’s betrothed.
It is not the most robust of premises, but it has made for hugely entertaining viewing these past few weeks as Ji-won pretends to still be Min-hwan’s partner and Soo-min’s friend, all the while pushing them to begin their affair ahead of schedule.
At first it was a journey she had to embark on alone, until she discovers that her handsome colleague Ji-hyuk, who seems to be around to bail her out of trouble, has also been transported back from the future. Not only does he know what will happen to Ji-won, he even attended her funeral.
The pair accidentally reveal themselves to one another during a break on the office rooftop, where they ask each other what their favourite BTS songs are, and answer with “Dynamite” and “Spring Day” – hit tunes that are still years away from hitting the charts.
Ji-won is an easy-to-root-for character and Ji-hyuk is a compelling romantic foil, but what makes Marry My Husband so much fun to watch are its villains. Not because of how evil they are – although they are truly despicable – but because of how normal they seem. They are merely products of their environments.
Min-hwan is a thin-skinned man who has been spoiled by a mother who openly states that men should never spend a moment in the kitchen. He has always been treated like a prince but, out in the real world, his mediocrity wounds his male pride.
Min-hwan takes his frustrations out on Ji-won, and entering into an affair with Soo-min is an all-too-familiar Band-Aid for his bruised masculine ego.
Meanwhile, Soo-min is the kind of character that viewers are likely to hate the most, as she has been using and betraying her best friend Ji-won ever since her school days. But the show does not portray her in an entirely unsympathetic light.
Although Soo-min succeeds in seducing Min-hwan, she is blindsided when he aggressively laughs off the idea of them being a real item. Given her lack of a prestigious education or stable finances, she is not marriage material, he explains. She is merely a pretty plaything for him, to be used and discarded.
5 of the best new Korean drama series to watch in February 2024
5 of the best new Korean drama series to watch in February 2024
Soo-min is also obsessed with status because society teaches people that they are worthless unless they have good jobs and nice handbags. She is jealous of Ji-won’s stability and smarts. Ji-won thinks she needs the support of her attractive friend, but in truth, it was always the other way around.
While everything is now going very well for Ji-won, that just means that she has more to lose. Min-hwan and Soo-min are down but certainly not out. Min-hwan’s financial woes and wounded masculinity make him a very real and present threat, while Soo-min’s neediness and fake pregnancy are bound to have consequences.
The bigger ball still hanging in the air is Ji-hyuk’s fate. Just like Ji-won, he had to die to be magically transported back to the past, a fact that he has so far hidden from Ji-won.
Ji-won may or may not have prevented her future death by transferring her fate to Soo-min – who now appears to be on track to marry Min-hwan – but no such destiny switch has occurred for Ji-hyuk. He has been focused on saving Ji-won but seems resigned to his own fate.
Let us see what fate has in store for this dynamic K-drama quartet in the show’s final three weeks.
Marry My Husband is streaming on Amazon Prime.
