Park's Contract Marriage Story (2023)

Not a fan

When I began this kdrama I was a bit skeptical. The first episode started out ok but I did notice that there were many draggy and unnecessary parts included, I guess to make the episodes long. I don't like that so much since I get bored pretty easily. Anyways, I continued watching and I just skipped the parts that I found boring. As for the plot, I didn't find it very good: It's confusing and there are some questions that remain unresolved till the end. It also is the kind of story where there are inheritance issus and stuff like that, I think that can be quite stressful to watch. However the plot overall is not a bad idea, it's just the way it was executed into this knot of storylines- it's a bit shabby and cheap. Logic, for instance, is not in this kdrama. The ending was really strage, did not like it at all. The female lead was quite cruel to say the least. I would not recommend watching, in my opinion.

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Concept unclear

She ventured to New Joseon to safeguard him and unravel the mystery surrounding her husband's death. Upon fulfilling her purpose, she returned to Old Joseon, but her maid didn't go back ? Why , this is unclear matter. However, upon her return, she discovered she was unmarried and embarked on a mission to save her husband, ultimately succeeding. Yet, tragedy struck as he met his demise shortly after, leaving her efforts in vain. Disheartened, she returned to New Joseon and at last she came back to her love. However, the rationale behind her journey to the future and back to her present solely to uncover her husband's death secret seems questionable. Surely, she could have investigated the matter in her own time with the aid of the mystical lady. While I appreciated the storyline and commendable performances from the cast, the underlying concept of the story left much to be desired.

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Um começo promissor com um final um pouco decepcionante

Achei que ia gostar mais deste drama, até porque o começo dele foi bem legal, os primeiros episódios me deixaram atenta e entretida. Mas pouco tempo depois, senti que alguma coisa não estava certa, não sei se foi a escrita, o roteiro... eu assistia com a sensação de que algo estava faltando.
Tudo parecia fazer sentido, mas acho que faltou um pouco mais de profundidade em certas coisas e 12 episódios foram poucos para isso, acho que esse drama poderia ter 16 episódios tranquilamente. Na vida passada, duas coisas me incomodaram. Primeiro, a forma exagerada e muito triste como o protagonista sofreu, fiquei com o coração pesado vendo ele implorando por atenção da moçinha enquanto ela o tratava com frieza. Ele morreu em seus braços novamente e nem um abraço ela o deu, isso foi cruel, ele não merecia isso, sem contar que era a mesma alma do futuro, do homem que ela se apaixonou, era exatamente ele ali, só que em uma época diferente, então não entendi o porquê fizeram o final dele daquele jeito. Segundo, o avô dele que foi o real cupado por todas as coisas ruins que aconteceram na sua família foi esquecido, a sua madrasta teve um final melancólico, mas e o avô? O que aconteceu com ele depois? Na segunda vida ele perdeu a memória e o Tae Ha perdoou muito rapidamente, o que me deixou chateada e sem entender, afinal, ele foi o grande responsável pela morte da sua mãe, o acontecimento mais traumático da sua vida e o que fez ele desenvolver um grave problema cardíaco, e é aí onde vi outro problema na história. Ele foi curado desse problema cardíaco de uma forma totalmente mal executada, deixando a situação boba demais, muito irrealista e apressada, como se fosse só para dar satisfação aos espectadores, parecia que não souberam como resolver e só jogaram na nossa cara que o amor dele pela Yeon Woo o curou, a explicação foi essa.
E quando a Yeon Woo voltou para a Coreia atual, eu não senti toda a emoção que achava que fosse sentir, muito pela forma como ela tratou o Tae Ha da era Joseon e também pelo fato de não terem mostrado em detalhes essa volta dela, por exemplo, a sua amiga tão leal que sentiu bastante a ida dela, poderia ter aparecido nas cenas finais se reencontrando a Yeon Woo, eles deveriam ter mostrado isso, já que elas eram praticamente irmãs e tinham uma conexão tão bonita. Outra coisa, a Yeon Woo desenvolveu mais a fundo o seu sonho de ser uma modista renomada na Coreia atual, ela fez um trabalho muito bonito, suas roupas eram simplesmente maravilhosas, mas isso também foi mal explorado justamente por causa dos poucos episódios que tinham, eu queria ter visto um pouco mais desse lado artístico dela, uma pena que durou pouco.
E no mais, a química dos protagonistas foi notável, eles formaram um casal lindo. Os personagens secundários foram bons também, gostei da maioria deles. Fiquei confusa com a personalidade do avô do Tae Ha na Coreia atual e as motivações e atitudes dele não fizeram muito sentido pra mim, então o personagem dele foi o que menos gostei.
Não sei se indicaria esse drama, gostei de acompanhá-lo mas não acho que seja bom o suficiente.

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Mostly fun with a lot of plot holes

The drama starts out strong but mid-way falls flat. Park Yun Woo travels to the 21st century where she meets Kang Tae Ha who looks exactly like her dead husband. Then, hilarity ensues. The drama is light-hearted and funny. The main couple has cute interactions and really good chemistry. The show is engaging with good pacing until mid-way there are plot holes everywhere.

The writers attempt to draw a connection between the past and the present. They try to utilize the reincarnation trope but keep changing their minds. Tae Ha is very similar to Yun Woo's dead husband. The writers drop hints of reincarnation but build him up as a different person. Towards the end, his heart condition is pretty much abandoned, even though Tae Ha is on a brink of death. And, a warm-hearted grandpa is inexplicably turned into the evil mastermind while the nasty step mom changes her mind about being evil. Instead of moving the plot towards a logical resolution, the writers turn it into a confusing mess.

Although the drama is short with only 12 episodes, the last two episodes are boring and draggy. Barely anything is happening as the characters just move through the motions. But, I enjoyed watching Yun Woo traveling back to Joseon to right the wrongs and give all the wrong-doers their comeuppance. The rest felt like filler.

Overall, the drama has a really good first half, but completely falls flat in the second half with unexplained plot holes, abandoned story lines, and very draggy last two episodes.

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Good balance of romance, comedy and mystery with a logical explanation for the time slip

For me the show was very well done and well paced, first 4 episodes focused on female lead’s journey and how she adapts to the modern world, next 4 episodes which I’d call the 2nd act focused on the leads falling in love and what the male lead was up against, because this provides the basis for the female lead time traveling to save him, and in the 3rd act - last 4 episodes, we get to see the back stories of the individual characters including the villains - both their Joseon and Modern day versions, and how that forms the premise of the overall story.

I particularly liked that some of the villains, particularly the female ones weren’t plain vanilla, but grey, and were mostly victims of circumstance. However, the show did not try to justify their actions, but had them make restitutions that were consistent with their characters.

I’m a sucker for bittersweet endings, and with all time travel shows, there’s always that element of loss when the time traveler goes back into their world. It was nice to see Yeonwoo going back in time to change Joseon Taeha’s fate and ending things nicely with him, I felt sad for him, but knowing he reincarnates in the future took away that sadness, even though he doesn’t have his past memories.

Unlike most time travel shows where we do not know the basis for the time traveler traveling, I’m glad this one provided a logical explanation for Yeonwoo traveling. It was also nice to see how they explored female empowerment, with Yeonwoo acquiring skills which she used to work and earn a living in new Joseon and using her noble woman status and money earned to help vulnerable women in Old Joseon.

It was great to see that the leads were very good at communicating their feelings and the concerns they had. Even where noble idiocy was employed, it didn't last more than 20 minutes, and it was all in a single episode.

The chemistry between the leads and entire cast was amazing, great acting from everyone, the comedic timing was awesome and the comedy wasn’t cringe, the music scoring was great, as well as the cinematography and the style of directing in certain scenes was exceptional, there were also some notable dialogues.

Overall, for a time slip drama, I think this was well executed and one of the best ones in recent times, it’s no surprise it had the highest rating of all the time slip dramas done last year.

If you’re still considering watching this, I’ll suggest you dive right in and make a decision after the first two episodes. The first episode is fully sageuk, while the second takes place in modern day. Only the first and last episodes take place in Joseon, and the flashbacks wasn’t overly done.

Some people might think some aspects of the show was rushed, but given that it’s only 12 episodes, I think they tried to make it as concise as possible. It’s one of those shows where you really have to pay attention because they do a lot of “show then tell (explain),” which is the mystery element of the show and the main driver of the story.

PS: This has a good balance of mystery, romance and comedy, however the comedy is utilised more in the first half and the second half is heavier on the mystery and romance. If you are expecting a simple, cheesy romcom, then this is not the show for you.

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It doesn't make sense

Wishful thinking shouldn't bring back your loved ones even in a fantasy story. This is a time travelling story which has absolutely no rules to the time travelling and breaks the very few ones it has when they find it convenient. The maid being left in the future is ok, while changing any other aspect affects the course of history? Such a proficient maid, with so much action in the story, would certainly affect the course of the story.
You never truly know the device or the set of factors that make them travel through time. At times, it seems like it's the watch, or the magical lady, or the water, or the tree. In the end, it was his wishful thinking. It doesn't make sense.
It also doesn't make sense that everyone has their corresponding person in the future, except for the FL and the maid. And the only person important to the action who isn't in Joseon is the ML's secretary.
They also couldn't decide if the ML was a completely different person or a reincarnation of her Joseon husband. If he truly was a reincarnation of her husband, like it's suggested several times, her not loving her original husband once she got back doesn't make any sense, since she loved him from the start.

I don't mind the evil grandpa, it was a good twist, but, again, it lacks consistency. If the stepmother wasn't evil and was trying to protect the ML in the present, that should have been mirrored in the past, since they repeated countless times that the past was repeating itself.

It could have been a better drama if they had dealt with the inconsistencies.

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I don't know how to describe the entirety of this drama because I watch this one ongoing. I really like this drama and the storyline of arrange marriages is one of my favorite theme in drama land so that's an added point. The process of watching the drama was enjoyable for me as a watcher. I find the leads having the chemistry, the side characters with their cute side stories as well as the family life of the leads. The acting was great for me, but I could really see that the others need more improvement but I'm not complaining cause it's tolerable.
I guess I was just not that excited with watching the last 2 episodes, because I lost my interest in it, which I don't know the reason behind. The ending felt like a rush but honestly I like the ending. I thought it was appropriate for the drama. I would recommend this for sure.

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Decent drama but too many variables!

The drama was really good in the beginning but it started becoming confusing with all the different variables in the characters . I started fast forward it toward the end because I really wanted her to get back to Josean to save her past husband life . However , though she did save him she couldn’t love him due to her love with future ML. I thought that was dumb . the past reincarnation of the ML loved her so much and died knowing she loved someone else and the someone else is his future self which really made me mad . Then because of the longing of future ML , she somehow appears in front of him at the end ,no reincarnation !!! 🙄🙄🙄. I was surprised to see who the true villain was in the drama. But, I felt it couldn’t been a GREAT drama if they had left some of the content simple . I woulda liked if they kept the same format like the drama “ To all the guys that loved me “ and had both the future ML and FL remember all thier past lives in current time .

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Un bon drama qui aurait pu être meilleur

Voici un bon drama fantastique dans l'ensemble, dans lequel Lee Se Young est, comme d'habitude, rayonnante. Joo Hyun Young y est pétillante et Bae In Hyuk y est attachant. Ce drama aurait peut-être mérité 16 plutôt que 12 épisodes en développant plus les histoires secondaires ? Car au final ce drama me laisse, malgré tout, un petit sentiment d'inachevé. Le derniers tiers m'a semblé bâclé, parfois inconsistant, à l'instar du dernier épisode qui m'a assez déçu. J'ai trouvé celui-ci assez superficiel et la toute fin m'a paru un peu trop facile, comme un cheveu sur la soupe.

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I wish there was more to this time-travelling love story

The Story of Park's Marriage Contract is a light love story involving time travelling. I was drawn to this series because I love marriage of convenience trope. I'd say I wasn't satisfied with the series.

What I liked:
1) Feminist theme - It's great that writers could weave feminist theme in this series. Park Yeon-Woo is talented at embroidery work but in her original timeline, she couldn't operate a business openly due to her status. However this changed when she's transported to 21st century modern time. Same with Sa-Wol, her lady in waiting. In modern times, she was able to earn money through hairstyling services.
2) Fashion - Beautiful embroidery work by Park Yeon-Woo. I love when she applied it to modern dresses.
3) Comedic relief by Sa-wol & Seong pyo. Joo Hyun-Young & Jo Bok-Rae have great chemistry!
4) Kang Tae min - His scenes are fascinating to watch despite not having much screentime. I like how his character grew from a spoilt brat to a driven employer.
5) The first scene between Yeon-Woo and Mi-Dam was touching. She missed her mother so much!

What I disliked:
1) Kang Tae-ha characterisation - Somehow I feel like his character is least interesting.
2) The ending especially the rejection of 19th century Kang Tae Ha by Yeon-Woo. Wow, never thought she could be so cold. By the way, where is Kang grandpa in the last episode?
3) Villain arc is predictable
4) I feel it's odd that Yeon-Woo adapted to modern times very quickly. During her wedding to Tae-ha, she could wear off should wedding dress and high heels. Wedding was just a few days after she transported from 19th century.
5) Main leads' romance - I don't feel much chemistry between Bae In-Hyuk and Lee Se-young. As a result, I didn't root much for them. I do, however, like that Yeon-Woo was able to distinguish modern Tae-Ha from Tae-Ha from 19th century.

Favourite scene
Sa-wol providing hairstyling service to girls to earn money. Just shows that she is quick-thinker.

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fabulous Drama

This is a wonderful Drama. Great story, Fabulous Actors. Lovely leads and Support Cast.
To be honest I much prefer short Dramas. 12 Episodes is perfect. Perfect Marriage Revenge was also 12 Episdes and it was very satisfying. Long Dramas can be very tiring.
The Female lead in this is excelent. She makes the character fun to watch. Her assistant is also a treat to behold. The male lead is lovely too. There seems little point in going over the story ine as it is spelled out really well. The joy is in seeing it become alive. Shifting time is a wonderful idea Most K and C Dramas that I have watched excell in expanded thinking. Always full of surpries. The script writers are wonderfully creative. This is a gem. I have only watched 6 episodes so far and cannot wait until the next episodes.

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