The thread is open.
This is why I watch kdramas.
This!
Because I feel like I’m living in a Jane Austen world where every direct eye contact set hearts ablaze and every moment of fingers grazing fingers screams intimacy.
If it weren’t kdramas, I would have to settle for corny, unimaginative, (not to mention, unhygienic) ice cream salutes in my romcoms.
Let’s enjoy the show.
@packmule3, this is so well cast and the actors have great roles to play as well. I don’t find a single one unbelievable. Cho Yi-hyun, who plays Soon Deok, has a particular glow. I don’t think I’ve seen her before.
Jung Woo is figuring out by himself that seeing couples in love ignites his heart problems. The youngest Maeng daughter, Lady Sam Soon, laughs that it’s because of his frustration. But you were correct about his ability to tell the correct matches.
I’m laughing a bit because Jung Woo is so inexperienced compared to Soon Deok, who was married. She thinks nothing of adjusting his gat, but it’s a near-overwhelming sensory experience for him. There is a funny moment when Jung Woo thinks that Soon Deok has written him a very romantic letter, but it’s only that she wrote a note on the back of a page of the latest of Sam Soon’s novels.
The story opens with the young prince saying to the camera that it will be difficult for him to marry because he has 4 older sisters. Who would want to marry into a family with 4 sister-in-laws.
Next, the eldest of the unmarried sisters, Hae-na, lists the attributes of the man she is willing to marry. She has a string of them, but the most important is that he must be someone she can respect. When she later rescues the young prince from an attempted kidnapping, her intelligence, perception and demeanour get the attention of the queen.
There are two things that struck me – the king asked Jung Woo if the Left State Minister Jo is aware of Jung Woo’s work to marry off the old bachelors and maidens? Jung Woo says that no, but that his wife, Lady So Hyun is suspicious, so he is working as a tutor to her grandson. The King says, “I got it for now.” The King must be aware that Jo’s wife is more dangerous than Jo and more perceptive. He seems unperturbed, but I think he’s more strategic than we know.
The notes that Jung Woo wrote Soon Deok re-read at home then burnt. In contrast, the note that Soon Deok wrote on the back of a page from the novel Jung Woo also re-read, but then carefully placed in a box to save. JW is romantic, but perhaps foolish. SD isn’t unromantic, but she is very cautious. I wonder if this is a huge mistake on his part?
@packmule3, if people are still watching this, please could you open a post for episodes 9 and 10 for The Matchmakers?
I love this show – esp in the aftermath and withdrawal from Destined with You (another Rowoon series).
Great storyline, themes, cinematography, set design, and hilarious piece-to-camera intros that function as satirical social commentary. Wishing more will watch it!
By the end of episode 8, we had heard 2 internal confessions of love: Jung Woo’s at the end of episode 7 and Soon Deok’s near the end of episode 8. These are somewhat pathetic since Jung Woo can’t do anything until his marriage is annulled and Soon Deok may never be able to re-marry because as the widow of the only son in the family, she would be leaving her mother-in-law without support.
The mother-in-law Park So Hyun is grooming her to be the Head Mistress of the Jo family when she becomes unable in the future. The scene when the MIL meets with SD after being presented with evidence of what she has been doing outside of the house was very potent.
49.29 The MIL looks stern and sighs when SD appears opposite her. She brings out, not the incriminating evidence, but an elaborate disk and a book. It is the key to the shed and the list of names of the tenant farmers. She gives SD the new job of handling the tenant farmer families and the grain supply in the house. “Do you not feel suffocated from only sewing at home?” she asks SD. “…If the owner does not personally manage things and leave it to someone else, it will not be run well.”
I have the feeling that the ML is speaking from personal experience. She was bored with standard women’s work, she started doing the tenant farmer management as soon as she married. I think she understands SD very well.
Of course, this is to keep SD out of trouble, too. The MIL produces the 3rd volume of The Madame’s Private Life. Rather than scolding SD, the MIL says, “You need to work to get people on your side from now. People typically do not know to be grateful and are whimsical. They try to avoid danger but cannot give up on their own profit. So if people think you are scary and provide benefits to them, they will always take your side. Keep that in mind.”
These words are not only about the servants, but about the relationship between the MIL and SD. The MIL had overheard SD reading to her ill husband about a wife who sat still for 20 years. The husband wondered why the fictitious wife could sit still for so long? He apologised and said he was impatient and curious. SD continued the story: “That moment, the bride turned into ashes and broke into pieces…” I think the MIL is trying to avert a living death for SD.
Yes, Soon Deok looks at the key and tenant farmer book with dread, but I think the MIL has her best interests at heart, trying to keep her interested in life, in the family, in the estate, and preparing SD mentally and in experience for the day when SD will take over.