Marriage Contract

Gyeolheun Gyeya / 결혼계약

Writer -  Jung Yoo-Gyung
Network -   MBC
Episodes -   16
Release Date -  Mar - Apr, 2016
Genre -  Melodrama, Romance
Cinderella Plot -  Yes
Ken dolls -  inconsequential

CAST

PLOT

Ji Hoon is the illegitimate son of a rich family. His mother needs a liver transplant, so he needs a family member for the surgery and  as a last resort decides to get one through a contract marriage. Hye Soo is buried under debt left by her dead husband and lives life on the run with her daughter. When she finds out she has a brain tumor, she throws away her reservations and enters the contract with Ji Hoon. ~~DramaWiki (w/edits)

REVIEW

If the synopsis sounds bad to you, trust me, this sixteen-episode melodrama is worse.

The ratings for this were surprisingly high, and I fail to see why, but there you have it.

Still can't believe I actually watched this one, and am kicking myself as a result because I knew going in that it would be bad, and it was.

Perhaps some of you out there still like this kind of thing and don't get embarrassed by all of the "Aw, shucks!" stuff they toss in with the hope of its being labeled a 'tear-jerker' and 'stock up on the tissues' type watch.

Not me.

Selfless Love is the theme, and sentimental hogwash abounds at every turn, too.

lots and LOTS of this

But, the thought behind this story is false, misleading, and so filled with holes it isn't funny.

Regardless of it being Korea or Budapest or Wisconsin, you do not get a GO pass for organ transplant by simply being married.

Does the writer actually believe that when two strangers get married that they now magically share the same blood? Are people really this stupid?

A liver transplant means the donor is already DEAD. One cannot simply offer another their liver and expect to live -- yet, the mom would die without a new liver, and UEEs character would be donating hers -- even though she's alive (for now) and not related to the patient.

A liver transplant is surgery to replace a diseased liver with a healthy liver from another person. A whole liver may be transplanted, or just part of one. In most cases the healthy liver will come from an organ donor who has just died. Sometimes a healthy living person will donate part of their liver. ~~Johns Hopkins

Blood tests. These tests are done to help find a good donor match and assess your priority on the waiting list. They can also help improve the chances that your body won’t reject the donor liver. ~~Johns Hopkins

How magically delicious is it that Hye soo ju-ust  happens to have the right blood type for Ji hoon's omanee?

Speaking of UEE, not sure if she likes this kind of thing or if she's being type-cast, but this is the second time I've watched her in a similar situation and with similar plot and outcome.

Han Ji hoon was cute for all the right reasons, trying to be a hardass work-a-holic with zero tolerance for anything but deep down inside he's really a panda bear with a huge heart who loves his omanee enough to sacrifice himself again and again.

Then, when he meets a woman willing to enter into an illegal marriage with the sole intention of performing an illegal organ donation in order to save his omanee, Ji hoon ends up falling hard and fast for Kang Hye soo.

Only, Hye soo soon discovers she's got an inoperable brain tumor and hasn't much longer to live.

They used Beauty and the Beast in the drama, but this is still as Cinderella Plot as it gets.

The daughter was cute, and I thought that the two leads fit well together, making for a great couple despite UEE's inability to come off as anything other than stiff, unaffected, and robotic.

There were a lot of aside characters and the to-be-expected female nemesis, but none of them really mattered or added much essence to the story line.

Here's the thing . . .

I get that people have problems, and that life sucks, that some people are douchebags, and that a lot of people die early, making it seem unfair.

Trouble is, when you try and fit them all together to create a story that is labeled 'romance', I personally fail to see the romantic aspects even if the guy is over-the-top romantic in deed, gesture, and word.

This is silly, repetitious, predictable nonsense and the last time I watch anything of this caliber, too.

The only good thing about Marriage Contract was the soundtrack, which was actually pretty in some instances, never overpowering, and fit each scene nicely so the drawn out pregnant pauses and recaps and five-minute dwelling scenes weren't overly obnoxious to sit through.

The subs, however, were deplorable at all three viewing sites -- Aznv.tv, Dramanice, and Viki (which I'm presuming to be the culprit).

I'll leave you with a host of the issues in that regard, along with some of the Yeppeun.

STUPID SUBS

The 'a' conundrum

but, I DO like that woman from the 'second' place

and all this time I thought it was a liver

THE YEPPEUN

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Fool's Love - a Review

호구의 사랑 / Hogooeui Sarang
AKA: Ho Gu's Love / Fool's Love / Fool for You
Genre: Romance, comedy
Episodes: 16
Network: tvN
Broadcast: 2015-Feb through Mar

 

Synopsis

A romantic comedy drama that depicts Kang Ho Goo, who never had a girlfriend and has no dating techniques. He meets his first love -- a member of the national swim team -- Do Do Hee and gets involved in a complicated love/friend relationship.

Main Cast

UEE as Do Do Hee (A swimmer, Asian Games silver medalist) Choi Woo Shik as Kang Ho Goo (artist, dreamer, lover)

This was worth the watch AND the wait for episode uploads.

At first, I didn't care for UEE and thought that Ho Goo's twin sister did a better, more believable job portraying the bad-ass, ugly duckling with the opposite attitude.

But as the show progressed, I managed to get past UEE's huge eyes and fat cheeks, and that deadpan, I really don't give a shit vibe she carried throughout and started to enjoy her on-screen time as well.

I loved that Ho goo's parents were hippy-types and as unconventional a Korean parent stereotype as they come.

I liked that the writer's touched on subjects like rape, homosexuality, and appearance without beating it over our heads or concentrating too much on one or the other -- being sure to offer up their opinions and to hell with what anyone else might think or feel about the subject.

I enjoyed the fact that, while parents were involved, that they weren't dominant players and didn't subject us to their nasty, overbearing, and sometimes vindictive behavior.

And, I especially adored the fact that there was no bitch-hag squaring off over some guy.

The two likely heroes in this story ended up looking like fools while the average, work-a-day types shone brightly as they realistically made their way to the top, so to speak.

This was actually about a goofy guy who fell in love with a popular Olympic hopeful on the swim team.

They attended the same high school and didn't quite make it to the friendship stage, but along the way, Ho goo managed to say and do some things that left a lasting impression on Do hee.

Years later, and when she's at an all-time low in her waning career, the two meet again and their relationship grows.

She's pregnant and he's desperate to take care of her and the baby.

She's extremely reluctant to get involved because of the secret behind the pregnancy, and he doesn't really give a damn about anything but her and the baby.

Eventually, of course, things work themselves out.

References to The Little Mermaid weren't in-your-face or as trite as you might expect, either.

They had their rightful place.

 The middle of the last episode, when we finally discover who it is in the grave, was shocking to me and somewhat sad.

The ending was probably thrown together, but not in too hectic or messy a way as to leave me feeling gypped.

Again, it made sense and was cute/funny/exciting, so winner there, too.

The best part player goes to Choi Woo Shik!

He did a fantastic job portraying the milquetoast geek pining away for the hot chick.

Believable, enchanting, and downright lovable through and through.

When a guy who looks like the chess champ ends up making someone as shallow as me fall in love with him, then he must be doing something right. Gotta love them kissy lips!

 

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