The Greatest Marriage (최고의 결혼), Changes after Episodes 7 and 8

Some show wilts and shows a clear sign of suffering a terminal disease around half of their journey before experiencing a slow death. Surprisingly, that’s not the case here.

Besides still loving the Greatest Marriage I’ve contracted the unexpected side effects of its latest episodes.

I’m falling for the craftily wimpy Jo Eun Cha and Bae So Bin (배수빈) the actor.

It’s true that I never find Jo Eun Cha as loathsome as that world class asshole Park Tae Yun – how I want to slap him silly and send him somewhere far away from womankind. Preferably with his mommy and daddy.

It’s true that I’m leaning towards Jo Eun Cha from day one when he was nothing but a horrible guy without even a shred of integrity. It’s true that I want Cha Ki Young to end up with him.

But, I never dream that I’m going to fall in love with him myself. 

What I expect to see happening is for him to fall in love with Cha Ki Young. Then I’m hoping that he is going to change into an awesome guy. Someone who is worthy of her.

It doesn’t necessarily mean that I have to love him though. Having a happy ending is more than enough for me (translation: I get my OTP).

The greatest thing about the Greatest Marriage is that it is smart. And courageous. Just like its heroine Cha Ki Young.

I love how this drama raises the issue of unwedded single mother, religious, moral and cultural issues aside.

Cha Ki Young cried once: is it a crime to have a child without a father?

If you ask me, the one who has committed a crime is Hyun Myung Yi. She deliberately uses her own child to better her life. How is that different from child labour?

If we frown upon child labour we should also abhor fetus labour. Seriously. That unborn babe might have suffered tremendous trauma because of its calculating mother.

Now, back to how smart I find this drama is.

I love how the Greatest Marriage unabashedly thwarts the usual sacred patterns used in other dramas. Firstly with its detestable male leads and then quickly proceeds with executing all the nightmares of its unsuspecting viewers.

I’m sure there are people who root for No Min Noo not just because they love him, but mostly because he is the father of the heroine’s child (we all know what that means in kdrama holy book).

Since they are convinced that he is the male lead, those poor viewers would probably brush off Park Tae Yun’s repugnant behaviours and refuse to see him for what he is.

Just imagine how difficult it is for them to accept the fact that their hero sleeps with the other girl.

Other heroes from other dramas are merely pretending to have a new girlfriend to make the heroine jealous. None of them impregnate the other girl while trying to win the affections of the heroine.

It must have been utterly devastating for those unsuspecting viewers to learn that Hyun Myung Yi is also pregnant with Park Tae Yun’s child. Some might have felt like their world has just ended.

But that’s not the end of it. To add insult to the injury, their hero is marrying the other woman.

I guess that’s when they finally realize that Park Tae Yun is not the male lead. I don’t entirely blame them for being wrong. Most of kdrama’s male leads are assholes. Just not this calibre.

And there’s one more thing that might lead those viewers astray, the fact that Jo Eun Cha is also an asshole.

If my memory serves me right almost every second male lead in kdrama land is a wonderfully perfect gentleman – who is better than the male lead – that only the female lead species in kdrama land could pass.

In real life no sane women would go for the rude, insensitive, jerks that are the common pictures of kdrama’s male leads.

If you’re one of those who are still confuse about who the male lead is, no, No Min Noo is not the male lead.

But, although he is only the second male lead, he is the first second male lead in kdrama history who impregnates the heroines. He is also the first second male lead in kdrama land who isn’t the paragon of manhood.

I don’t think I ever detest a character in a drama as much as I detest Park Tae Yun. And he isn’t even the villain like that evil character in I Hear Your Voice. He is the second male lead!

The only explanation I can think of for this horrible young man is that he must be the younger version of all those horrible fathers that so many heroines seem to have.

I often wonder how could the mothers of our heroines marry a totally useless man and end up destroying the life and happiness of their children and theirs as well.

The answer is, that’s what will happen to Cha Ki Young if she marries Park Tae Yun.

Cha Ki Young might not have a rosy road ahead with her decision to be a single mother. She might also affect the happiness of her child somewhat had she stay single.

 

But, just imagine what would happen to both of them with Park Tae Yun as a father and a husband. I simply can’t. My imagination is too limited to cope with Park Tae Yun’s ability to create hell.

When we make a mistake we don’t correct that mistake by making another one.

Park Tae Yun makes one mistake after another. Not when he is drunk or under the influence. He is completely sober and lucid when he makes all those horrible decisions.

That’s the kind of guy he is.

But what I find most repulsive about him is how he disregards the notion of what’s right and what’s wrong simply to suit his own needs. His decision makings are done without so much a thought about how other people would feel.

Other people being his wife, the woman he loves and his unborn children.

Asking Cha Ki Young who doesn’t even want to be his wife to be his mistress is really something. Just like Hyun Myung Yi he uses his unborn child to control Cha Ki Young. Birds of a feather do flock together.

He manages to surpass my expectation on how low he can go. Every single time.

Good luck to the happy bride and groom. I wish them both a very long married life and not just those five years. They are perfect for each other.

Enough of Park Tae Yun. I want to talk about things that make me happy.

Although I’m loving this drama, I don’t think I'm ever truly happy during the previous episodes. I like my drama to be light, fluffy and full of roses. Thanks God I might get that from the Birth of Beauty.

The first time I really laugh out loud when watching the Greatest Marriage was during the scene of Jo Eun Cha kneeling in front of Cha Ki Young in the elevator when the door opens providing a spectacular view for Park Sun Nyo.

What ensues after that really make my day.

I think that’s when my heart starts to melt for the wimpy Jo Eun Cha.

He is an awful guy, but his awfulness doesn’t make me hate him. Perhaps because he doesn’t do his bad deeds with personal feelings against the other person.

His sleeping with Park Sun Nyo and then dumping her right after he jumps out of bed has nothing to do with her personally. He’ll do exactly the same thing to other women who are crazy enough to go to bed with him.

Too bad Park Sun Nyo takes it personally.

His attempts to bring Cha Ki Young down also has nothing to do with her personally. He’ll do exactly the same thing to whoever he wants to dethrone.

I admire how Cha Ki Young reacts to all the horrible things Jo Eun Cha throws her way. There’s no doubt she hates him but she also understands that’s how things work in the office.

Amongst the Park’s family, Park Sun Nyo is my favourite. But since every single person in that family has a lose screw in their heads, it should come as no surprise if Park Sun Nyo herself is a little bit off.

Nevertheless, I don’t find her malicious or totally without conscience like her little brother Park Tae Yun. Even when she wants to kill and maim Jo Eun Cha.

That woman is not balanced so what do you expect? And it’s not like Jo Eun Cha didn’t deserve a beating or two. Strange as it is I find her craziness rather endearing.

I hope she’ll soon learn to move on and forget Jo Eun Cha completely. Only a blind and stupid woman would pass the kind of ‘husband’ that she has. And she’s on the brink of losing him after ordering Jo Eun Cha demise and maiming.

*anyone knows where I can get myself another Pedro?*

The other woman that I never mention is Na Yon Hee, Cha Ki Young’s best friend. Her situation with her husband works to emphasise Cha Ki Young’s reservation for marriage and increase her anxiety regarding the status of her child.

Na Yon Hee’s predicament makes her realize that she too would lose her child if the Park family ever finds out about her baby existence. Not only because they are extremely wealthy but because in their society she would be judged as unsuitable to raise her own child.

If I were her, I wouldn’t even bother to get a parental waiver right from Park Tae Yun. That will serve only as an evidence that the child is his indeed.

I LOVE it when Cha Ki Young comes up with the idea of making Jo Eun Cha the father of her child. 

I don’t really have to spill the real reason why I love this idea do I? Suffice it to say that I love seeing the table turns and how Cha Ki Young doesn’t hesitate to use her power against Jo Eun Cha.

I also love seeing the subdue Jo Eun Cha commenting on how horrible he was towards Cha Ki Young before but thanking her for helping him out anyway.

I think the moment I fall in love with Jo Eun Cha is when he is screaming for Cha Ki Young to hold his hand when he is about to be wheeled out to the operating room.

I’m swooning when he is screaming that he needs to write a will. He looks so adorable. I feel like cuddling him and whispering sweet nothing to calm him down.

But what I love the most is the tiny smile on Cha Ki Young’s face.

OMO! This drama is really something.

I never thought even for a second that Cha Ki Young is the one who is going to feel something first. I’m convinced that it’s Jo Eun Cha who is going to fall in love with her first.

And I'm rarely wrong.

But I don’t mind if I’m wrong in this one. I love the fact that the show could make me fall in love with Jo Eun Cha even without changing him into an awesome guy.

It’s going to be interesting seeing how Cha Ki Young navigates using Jo Eun Cha and trying to learn more about him at the same time, all purely for personal reasons.

Love this drama.