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Undying Promise
Marriage Contract is a romance melodrama about an unlikely pair — a rich chaebol heir and a single mom — who enter a contractual marriage for mutual benefits, only to eventually fall in love with each other. On the surface, it may seem like the drama is putting the romantic relationship at its center, but upon a deeper look, it actually reflects the effects of familial relationships of various sorts at its core. Marriage Contract gives us unique angles regarding the importance of family, as told from the perspectives of a son, a step-dad, a brother, a single mom, a mother-in-law, a child. It teaches us a lesson that the definition of “family” is not by blood, but rather, how much you support and care about each other even if you’re not related biologically.
The drama gives us unique angles regarding the importance of family.
Beyond the meaningful theme, Marriage Contract has many other aspects worth noting. From the excellent acting performances from the leading cast, to the memorable range of quirky supporting characters, from the masterful mix of comedic scenes to sentimental ones, to the closing message about hope, everything works together to make a heartwarming story come to life. If it weren’t for the superfluous love triangles and a slightly dragged out ending, Marriage Contract would have been a top-rated drama in my books.
Episodes 1-2 Review
Our story begins with getting to know the main cast of characters and discovering the ways in which their paths inevitably cross. In what seemed like an unusually lighthearted opening for a melodrama, we meet rich restaurant owner and playboy Han Ji Hoon (Lee Seo Jin). He nearly runs over single mom Kang Hye Soo (Uee) chasing after her daughter Cha Eun Sung and rushes the unconscious Hye Soo to the hospital. From there, the two have an unpleasant exchange of dialogue where Hye Soo’s attempt of dodging her gangster debt collectors misleads Ji Hoon into thinking that she’s trying to con him for money. So, they agree to settle the case when her test results are out.
Marriage Contract then delves a bit deeper into the backstories of our protagonists and supporting characters surrounding them. Ji Hoon turns out to be the illegitimate son of his chaebol father’s estranged mistress, but is favored because he’s an intrepid entrepreneur. He also seems to have a complicated past with his brother’s arranged fiancee Seo Na Yoon (Kim Yoo Ri). But what’s been on Ji Hoon’s mind is his mother’s liver deterioration; he needs to find her a donor soon to save her life, and time is running out.
On the other hand, Hye Soo lives alone with the adorable and sharp Eun Sung, who’s very mature for a 7-year-old as she tries to take care of her mom’s birthday. They barely manage by as Hye Soo struggles to pay off the debts that her belated husband left her with. Hye Soo finally gets a break when she became a kitchen assistant at Ji Hoon’s restaurant, leading her to inadvertently hear about his illegal plans to enter a fake marriage so he can exchange money for a liver donation.
As if life’s not harsh enough to her already, Hye Soo finds out from her test results that she has a brain tumor and her chance of survival isn’t looking good. In order to pay off debts and secure a bright future for her daughter, Hye Soo decides to enter a fake marriage with equally desperate Ji Hoon. Their contract is — her liver for a lot of his money.
In a short two episodes, the drama does a fantastic job of setting up all relevant characters and their situations, all the while maintaining a perfect balance of comedy and melodrama, so that it doesn’t feel too heavy too fast. The drama leaves just enough tease at the end of this section to keep me guessing what obstacles the fake marriages would encounter and how our lead couple’s relationship will evolve.
Episodes 3-5 Review
I would call this section of the drama “the calm before the storm”, where things seem to gradually work out for our fake couple and gives them both a sliver of hope. At the same time, the more time they spend together, the more emotionally invested they become, resulting in glimpses of new flames burning in their hearts.
A series of funny scenes lifts the general mood of the drama.
Ji Hoon and Hye Soo proceed to fabricate all the necessary evidence of their supposedly two-year-long marriage, including marriage license, wedding photos, and memorizing all facts about each other’s profiles. They hit their first roadblock with the social worker requesting to interview Eun Sung as part of the process. Unfortunately for Ji Hoon, that means he must put aside his childish rivalries with Eun Sung and plead, coax, and bribe to be on her good side. But Eun Sung’s no easy child. After a series of non-cooperative funny scenes to lift the general mood of the drama, Ji Hoon is left in distress. Luckily, Hye Soo patiently convinces Eun Sung, so not only did they manage to pass the interview and schedule the surgery, Eun Sung also starts to warm up to Ji Hoon.
Meanwhile on the romance front, Hye Soo’s kindness in genuinely wanting to save Ji Hoon’s mother and her lack of ability to fend for herself hit a cord in Ji Hoon’s heart. He gets upset at seeing Hye Soo being mistreated and is deeply taken aback when Eun Sung tells him not to suddenly leave Hye Soo like her dad. It’s evident that Ji Hoon is starting to be affected emotionally by Hye Soo and wants to protect her.
But just when everything seems to be moving towards the right direction, signs of trouble approach our heroes. Ji Hoon’s father unexpectedly shows up at the hospital and becomes suspicious of Hye Soo’s involvement with Ji Hoon. At this point, we know a storm is about to come, and I’m curious to find out exactly how it’ll be carried out.
Episodes 6-9 Review
These episodes of Marriage Contract focuses on the leading couple’s relationship development through various obstacles and emotional uncertainties. Their growing bond temporarily overpowers their worries and escalates the romance to a climax.
As Ji Hoon and Hye Soo spend more time together in close proximity, they along with Eun Sung begins to share intimate, close-knit moments like a real family would. They eat ramen together, raise kittens together, and take care of each other like when Hye Soo falls sick. Refreshingly, the drama doesn’t follow the usual troupe of the leads not realizing their own feelings. Instead, Ji Hoon and Hye Soo are well aware of why their hearts are fluttering, which seem much more believable for characters like them, who are a bit older and have previous experiences with love.
Nonetheless, both sides have their own reasons for hesitation — Ji Hoon’s financial dependence on his elitist father and Hye Soo’s bleak survival outlook. While our leads attempts to suppress their feelings for each other, things become even more complicated when Ji Hoon’s father discovers the truth behind his plans and his relations with Hye Soo. Ji Hoon’s father blackmails Ji Hoon with his mother’s surgery, leaving him no choice but to distance Hye Soo and resume things with Na Yoon under his father’s directions.
As a parting gift, Ji Hoon takes Hye Soo and Eun Sung to see his mother and fulfill her dying wish for a family picture. This whole sequence is heart-wrenching to watch as our amazing cast portrays the grief-stricken mother and son saying goodbye to each other. It is also here that our leads attempted to terminate their marriage contract, only to find themselves entangled even more emotionally.
Episodes 10-12 Review
Following the romantic climax, reality quickly makes itself known again and a constant theme of “to be or not to be together” begins. As our lead couple begins their emotional tug-of-war, the storyline moves at a slower pace and becomes more predictable, less exciting. Though our cast’s fantastic performances at channeling their character’s deepest feelings keep me engaged with Marriage Contract.
Hye Soo begins to avoid Ji Hoon at all costs so she doesn’t have to face her own feelings towards him and his request to start dating for real. She even go as far as rejecting his sweet proposal and his tear-inducing plead out of not wanting to give him false hope given her health situation. Needless to say, Ji Hoon is deeply hurt.
As if rejection by his love is not enough, the stereotypical chaebol parents’ intervention with their children’s relationships is in full swing as well. Every cliche Korean drama troupe you could think of — cutting Ji Hoon off financially, throwing money at Hye Soo, threatening Hye Soo, asking Na Yoon to interfere — is used here. This is the most boring part of the drama for me, as these types of scenarios are a dime a dozen among Kdramas and I’ve become insensitive towards them over the years.
Every cliche Korean drama troupe you could think of is used here.
Finally, just when Ji Hoon has lost all hope and finally agreed to divorce Hye Soo, he discovers her secret and the real reasons behind her sudden change of attitude towards him. Ji Hoon is heartbroken but rejuvenated at the same time. He confronts Hye Soo about her sickness and firmly assures her that he will be by her side and save her. As we approach the finale of the drama, I hope that Marriage Contract will give both Hye Soo’s sickness and our lead couple’s relationship a sound resolution.
Episodes 13-16 Review
Marriage Contract concludes with a heartwarming and believable ending amidst a set of rather boring filler episodes. From a story development perspective, once Hye Soo’s sickness is out in the open and Ji Hoon rushes in to take care of her, nothing else really mattered. Of course Ji Hoon’s chaebol father and jealous brother continue to meddle in his business, but to no avail. Ultimately, Hye Soo and Ji Hoon embrace each other and try to treasure every day spent together not knowing how the future will pan out.
There were a number of flaws with this section. In retrospect, Ji Hoon’s brother and Na Yoon were quite useless characters. They didn’t contribute much to the drama’s overall plot progression and could have easily been done without. In particular, Ji Hoon’s brother’s silly plots of Ji Hoon’s downfall with the gangster is completely unnecessary time fillers here. By the same token, the drama drags on the conflict with Ji Hoon’s father in various predictable ways, making me increasingly impatient with the drama.
Marriage Contract sends a meaningful message about appreciating life and being ever resilient even when all odds are stacked against you. I like that it was a heartfelt drama with realistic developments and hopeful ending, I like it even more for the deep connections and loyalties portrayed between friends and family members that aren’t even blood related. Besides a rather slow closure and some unnecessary parts, Marriage Contract is an emotional journey worth partaking in.
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