Park Shi Yen and the writer did an excellent job balancing the strength and vulnerability of Hyeon Myeong Yi. Bae Su Bin was also good as the strange and unusual Jo Eun Cha. Their characters were the most consistent and had the best growth. The other actors were fine also. Little Dan is just too cute.
Side note: Although I don't find No Min Woo to be that great of an actor, he does strip a few times in this. Worth watching those parts. Keke
The music was appropriate.
I will never rewatch this.
This is a good drama. I recommend it.
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The idea of bringing up single motherhood in Korea into spot light was good. But it's nowhere near as bad in reality (I live in Korea). Like believe me there are no ridiculous ajummas who force their (adult, employed) daughters into abortion or stoning of single mothers for choosing not to marry, like just ...no ... stahp. The show was so ridiculous that it was unbelievable and impossible to relate to which broke the purpose. And because it was so exaggerated it felt like the makers couldn't decide whether they want to make you laugh hysterically ad Jo Eun Cha or next moment throw up with disgust from the attitude towards pregnant Cha Ki Yong like I dunno, I had too many moments when I would just turn episode off cuz I needed a break from it.
I started to watch this drama solely because of No Min Woo and his character was so inconsistent and bad that made me kind of turn away from actor which is totally unfair since it's probably how character was written and is not his fault. Also I must note that acting in general was quite suck'ish especially in the first episodes, it got better when the whole drama thing started but first few episodes the story with pregnancy and everything just felt so rushed and out of place I dunno, son. Jo Eun Cha was probably best played character in the end.
OST.... omg.... very limited. A lot of times there was no music where there probably should've been one (to distract from awkward acting) and not even one song was pretty or memorable.
The general feeling of this drama was like watching old like 2005-2008 kind of dramas which are definitely not my taste (Full House.... ugh...)
Also what's up with the name? How is that related to the plot?
All in all I feel like maybe Just maybe if the same concept was pitched at KBS or MBC this could've turned out well and I read many positive reviews about it so maybe just I'm too critical. But for me not even 6. Hopefully next time I'll watch something starring No Min Woo, I won;t be left with bad after-taste.
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The drama is a feminist approach on motherhood, women's struggle against the patriarchal world, prejudices, injustice, and victimisation. If I was still in my radical feminist phase back in college I would have gone crazy watching this. I'm mad now pretty much as is. I've always thought it's better in South Korea. I've always thought compared to the third world, Korea presents a great example. But it's the same everywhere I guess. Men still rule. Men have power and power rules. No matter how hard the woman struggles, she'll be forever a step behind, because the world determines so; because it's a patriarchal world.
What frustrated me the most about this drama and reality was not men bonding against women, but women bonding with men against other women; their supposed sisters.
Park Si Yeon did a great job here. Her self-confidence, determination, strong-will, love and dedication to whatever she does or cares about and brilliance won over me. I applaud Cha Eun Kyung though I disagree with many of the things she did. I do not care about kids nor understand the amount of sacrifice she put for her kid. I understand and support her decision because she has the right to choose and because her justifications are valid. To stand on her own against the whole world is not an easy matter. I know that I wouldn't be able to stand firm if I were her. She has my respect and admiration.
Now for the reason I watched the drama; Bae Soo Bin. Wow! This is what differentiates cable dramas; the unexpected characters. Here comes one adorable jerk of a main lead. A human male lead? Cho Eun Cha is selfish, childish, meticulous, biased, narrow minded; a cunning fox; but strangely adorable. I do not know if it's only me because I know I AM biased but I found him the cutest thing ever. The one thing about Cho Eun Cha that made his character appeal to me was conscience. His conscience would always pricks him, he feels regret and if he does not stop before committing the folly he'd try to make amends afterwards; in the silliest way I admit. His honesty would always find its way to others' hearts. Though he might have gotten on other people's nevers I got addicted to him. He never gave up on his ambitions but he realised that stepping on his conscience would not be the best way to pave the road. I'm not used to this side of Bae Soo Bin and I have not got used to his character yet. I know, the drama has ended and all! But I completely loved him.
No Min Woo was a complete asshole; a hot and pathetic asshole. He was so absorbed in the role I almose forgot his demonic self . His ost gave the drama another flavour. Park Tae Yeon was the most childish, clueless, self-centred, indecisive, and insecure lead I've ever watched. He aggrevated me so bad I wanted to smash his head against the wall. I understand the terrible family he grew up in. I've been there. I'm still there but that doesn't justify his actions. His sister had it tougher (I LOVED HER) but still made it though with multiple heartbreaks. One of the worst second leads and one of the greatest actors acting the worst roles.
I won't talk about Park Tae Yeon's parents because if I do I'm going to have a mental breakdown. I can't believe there's another family like mine out there. The world is worse that I expected.
The and-they-lived-happily-ever-after ending was too Utopian I didn't completely like it. I prayed they'd end it that way but I know pretty well that we need a long way to reach that ending. The world is only getting worse.
Instead of providing me with the motivation and self-confidence I expected, it gave me much more to ponder about; with sighs.
It was a very good drama, well written and well acted. I loved the music and the osts. It gave me some energy not to give up the fight yet. It's absolutely worth watching; if you don't have heart or nerves problems.
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The promising premise of a struggling single mother defying the social norms to raise her child is something I look forward to see how the drama unfolds. Although Episode 1 is fast paced with romantic moments, it couldn't salvage the rest of the drama from its perdition. Episode 2 onwards showed how Cha Ki Young (Park Shi Yeon) decided to become a single mother - she persevered, albeit Park Tae Yeon (No Min Woo) and Jo Eun Chan (Bae Soo Bin) intefered her decision. However, the drama goes downhill quickly the moment she gave birth to Cha Dan - she's no longer the confident women I hoped she'll be and the drama turned into a makjang drama. With a jealous female second lead Hyeon Myung Yi (Uhm Hyeon Keon), disapproving and traditional Park Tae Yeon's parents, a scheming male news anchor (Jo Eun Cha) and the most logical flaw of Park Tae Yeon WTF rebellious, douchebag and inconsistent behaviors; that's the Best Wedding/ The Greatest Marriage recipe for you. A complete waste of Park Shi Yeon (Cha Ki Young), Bae Soo Bin (Jo Eun Cha) and No Min Woo (Park Tae Yeon) talents.
In the bleakness of this drama, Jo Eun Cha (Bae Soo Bin) portrayed his comedic character excellently - deviate from his usual portrayal of characters in Secret, 49 days and Shining Inheritance. The side stories of other couples like (Na Yeon Hee, Choi Il Jung and Kim Jun Yeong) and (Park Seun Nyeo and Pedro) have gave this drama the break it need from all the craziness that's happening.
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Toxic relationship, abuse.
I was disgruntled for all the length of this drama. Bad development of the story, Bad characters. It's almost impossible to understand their motivations, or why they made some decisions. Bad acting, and worst of all, an ending that forgives all bad actions and evil doings. Not recommended if you are a woman with a little bit of dignity, if so, you will be really annoyed. I do not buy the idea of how this story intention was to denounce the situation of single mothers in Korea. Not one of the characters did nothing to change or help the woman or her son while they were bullied by others.Was this review helpful to you?
Sexless Virgins
Even though there was a potential for diving deep into the complexities of modern relationships and societal pressures in Korea, the drama just ended up falling flat, tumbling into this muddy pit of aimless over-exaggerations and forced plot twists. This turned out to be as trashy as you can ever imagine. Every single character listed in the cast was despicable, no exceptions! This kind of set up would've only worked if the drama was a social commentary or satire but it wasn't and it did a very poor job in attempting to be a one. These character had little to no development by the end, they mostly remained the same since they were introduced. The trial over the kid's custody was one of the worst sights of judicial system to be ever portrayed in a drama. A complete joke through and through from both sides.Was this review helpful to you?
For me , I really loved the journey through out the drama , it contains a lot of feeling I found myself crying for some characters and getting angry upon another . I loved the leads , their acting was so convincing and great . The drama portrayed a lot of real issues , I saw different side of Korean Law .
The music was ammmmmmazing , I loved the opening <3
Bae Soo Bin was just amazing , I hated him at times and laughed at sometimes
So I will not say that the drama was bad cuz the ending was not what I was expecting , but I will recommend because of the story and the great acting , the ending is up to u ( that is what I decided for myself cuz I felt that I was fooled truly )
For me to re-watchI don't think so to be honset
So have a great time watching
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Secret Pregnancy
I really love stories like this! I like how the story unfolded. It is like a slice of real life, something that happens between ordinary couples and families. It makes me so happy finding these kinds of gem. Dramas like these are heart warming and will leave you smiling when you're done. The characters have been so well played and lines have been executed rather well. The suspense is also one to look forward to. i would have loved for this story to have happened to myself, but of course, each has his own stories. I hope that mine's a little better, if not the same. LOLWas this review helpful to you?
Be ready to hate SKorea
What a major f* up was this show. At some points you'd feel extreme pride for the fenale lead who can protect herself, fight for her rights, dominate male oriented workspace, bearing child out of wedlock, freaking drive herself to the hospital after her water breaks and so so much more. But on the very next moment you see a society that fails women again and again. And there comes our romantist kdramas where strong women are happily defeated by the man they love because love is everything you need in your life.Was this review helpful to you?
If a Kdrama wants to focus on marriage they will focus on marriage. Mostly the bad and the ugly it seems, in this drama. Fake marriages, arranged marriages, adultery, marriages of convenience, divorces, what marriage does to a family what marriage doesn’t do to a family, etc.
This is definitely not your stereotypical romance. This is story. And it's unpredictable. And characters' motivations make sense.
The first ¾ of the drama were pretty good but then it really got into ridiculous, drawn-out territory. The last couple of episodes, you just want to die.
But things get interesting between the secondary character couples two episodes from the end, so watch for that to get you through.
This drama is kind of shocking with how relationships form and fall apart and form. It's a real whirlwind. And it makes me feel quite confused at how I view the characters.
The show also shows how motherhood can be all consuming. Cha Ki Young is such a normal person when she doesn't have a child.
The drama also pokes fun at the strangeness of dysfunctional families.
Ki Young – female lead
I really love how straight forward she is. And how honest and vulnerable she allows herself to be without being shy about the way she feels. She owns her personality.
And I have not seen a woman like her so unmoved. She has a great control on her emotions.
It was interesting seeing her not exactly becoming motherly to her co-host, but how she understood him more and didn't look at him with such disdain.
I really loved that the heroine completely owns the show. She makes her decisions, she faces down her adversaries and she solves her own problems. Until the end, then things get a bit finicky.
I feel like Ki Young really is the best when it comes to being unfazed by personal attacks. She is so cool.
Small Rant about Sex in Kdramas
Why can't we get sexy scenes from people we actually care about?
It's like Korean dramas just won't give us that mind blowing stuff when we want to see it.
Tae Yun
“Hey! You crazy pregnant woman! Take the elevator!”
He is not the greatest guy. But he's just kind of ridiculous and you don't always get that kind of Kdrama man who really is good for nothing. He's a guy who doesn't have all the answers. He reacts before he thinks and he makes a ton of mistakes. He doesn't know what he's doing but he tries.
I actually warmed up to Tae Yun by episode 3.
I didn't expect him to man up, not for a long time. I was impressed for a while. But then he went back to his temper tantrums and his cluelessness about life.
Tae Yun's sister's storyline with her fake husband was a lot of fun. I like that she's jumpy when she gets a sudden approach from guys. Pedro's storyline was actually pretty good. I found him and the sister to be so cute.
Eun Cha
As per usual, Kdramas throw us some crazy characters to deal with and Eun Cha is one of the wildest. He's a pervert but he's also kind of funny. I was shocked at how my perspective of him changed and how he himself changed even while keeping his sexism.
Myung Yi
Despite her scheming, she does get a bit of the short end of the stick. Tae Yun is such a brat with her.
It was interesting how she started off as a somewhat innocent kid and then turned into one of those high society women. I also found her relationship with Tae Yun to be a little scary but also fascinating. I kind of liked her poise and how she knew her rights. She'd go through hell for what she wanted.
And she was so heartless with everything, but she had her weaknesses.
In the end, she was the one person Tae Yun could be honest with.
Yun Hee – best friend
“I picked a cool man because you were so patriarchal. But I think a cool man is more difficult.”
I ended up really loving Yun Hee and her husband and their dramas haha.
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Saruman approved!
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