The Story of Park’s Marriage Contract: Episodes 11-12 (Last)
by DaebakGrits
As our time-traveler’s days in 2023 come to an finish, she bids a bittersweet farewell to her mates and to the person who’s extraordinarily reluctant to let her go. Certainly with a bit magic — and a whole lot of plot holes — our heroine can discover a means again to the long run and a time the place she feels extra at residence?
EPISODES 11-12
My intestine advised me this time journey romance would finish poorly, and — woo, boy! — this finale had extra holes than a sweater knitted for an octopus. However earlier than I get into why I really feel just like the drama gods did our lovely OTP soiled, let’s velocity run via The Fall of the Home of Kang — as a result of that’s precisely what the drama did. In actual fact, Grandpa’s downfall is so easy and rushed it might be one in every of Hemingway’s six-word novels: Hit on head. Lives in delulu.
You see, throughout the skirmish between Grandpa, Myung-soo, and Tae-ha, Grandpa sustained a extreme head damage making an attempt to guard Tae-ha. Though I’d argue Grandpa deserved to share a jail cell with Myung-soo following his newest kidnapping stunt, Grandpa is cosmically punished to stay the rest of his life in — look ahead to it — euphoric delusion. Yeah, the knock to the noggin’ scrambled his brains, and now he’s eternally pleased with no reminiscence of Tae-ha. When you assume that’s a cruddy punishment for the evil mastermind behind most of our OTP’s conflicts, you then aren’t the one one.
Whereas there are a number of four-letter expletives I’d prefer to string collectively to precise my frustration with how the writers selected to shut off Grandpa’s story arc, I’m contrarily happy with how they dealt with Hye-sook’s self-imposed punishment. From begin to end, she’s at all times been a grey character — as a lot a sufferer as she is a perpetrator — so I recognize that she relinquished her greed and took the initiative to step down from the corporate.
Was there part of me that thought she deserved to be CEO, particularly after being Grandpa’s scapegoat for therefore a few years? Completely, however I additionally really feel placing far between her and the Kang household empire is how she is going to really discover her glad ending and construct a relationship with Tae-min. Unsure they are going to ever have a correct mother-son relationship, however at the least the resentment is gone, and Tae-min can freely love his brother with out feeling responsible that his mom will disapprove.
With the door firmly closed on all of our modern-day villains, Tae-ha begins specializing in his personal glad ending — and if that “ending” is his literal demise in a number of weeks’ time, he’s high-quality with that as long as Yeon-woo is by his facet. The person is deliriously glad regardless of the ticking time bomb in his chest, and regardless that I discover his self-sacrifice a bit idiotic given the large image, I am keen on watching him be in love.
If there was ever a personality that made me really feel precisely what he’s feeling, it’s Tae-ha, so when Yeon-woo lastly confesses that she might be returning to Joseon, I’m crushed when Tae-ha’s dimples disappear. And the next scene when he visits his physician hyung and begs, on his knees and in tears, for him to repair his coronary heart? Ugh, the feels!
Yeon-woo’s unilateral choice to return to Joseon additionally distresses the not too long ago engaged Sa Wol. She’s mentally ready to journey again with Yeon-woo, however the fact is that she doesn’t wish to depart Sung-pyo or hand over the freedoms of the trendy world. Not like Yeon-woo, who’s compelled to return to her authentic timeline with a purpose to save her dad and mom and each variations of Tae-ha, Sa Wol has fewer causes to return to Joseon. As a result of — lest we overlook — she’s a slave.
However is it even attainable for Sa Wol to remain behind? Apparently — though it’s unclear how Yeon-woo is aware of — the reply is: sure. Sa Wol and Yeon-woo can, unbiased of one another, resolve whether or not they wish to keep or return to Joseon — besides Yeon-woo doesn’t actually have a selection as a result of she’s being blackmailed into returning to the previous. Wait a minute… If Yeon-woo’s presence in 2023 is sufficient of a disturbance within the universe that it causes Tae-ha’s coronary heart to magically and quickly deteriorate, then shouldn’t Sa Wol’s existence sooner or later even have detrimental penalties or — on the very least — be tied to Yeon-woo’s destiny? (No? Oh look, a plot gap.)
Ultimately Tae-ha units apart his selfishness and acknowledges that his concern of letting Yeon-woo go is much less necessary than her need to save lots of the individuals she loves — together with him. In sync as soon as once more, they start benefiting from their remaining time collectively, and two weeks cross by in a blur of courting montages till it’s time for Yeon-woo to say goodbye to the individuals she’ll depart behind in 2023. The parting between Yeon-woo and Sa Wol is very bittersweet as a result of Sa Wol someway faked her means via acquiring an identification card, and she or he selected to undertake Yeon-woo’s final title as her personal. Although they’re sisters at coronary heart, Sa Wol choses to name Yeon-woo “her woman” as she brushes Yeon-woo’s hair one final time.
Yeon-woo and Tae-ha spend their remaining night time collectively in home bliss, cooking ramyun, watching tv, and brushing their tooth collectively. Nothing extravagant, however the simplicity of their actions permits them to be utterly within the second with one another. That night time, they lastly consummate their marriage and go to sleep in one another’s arms.
When Yeon-woo awakens the following morning, she’s again in Joseon. It’s ten days earlier than her marriage ceremony. Sa Wol has been (conveniently) erased from everybody’s reminiscence, however Yeon-woo remains to be sporting the butterfly necklace Tae-ha gave her on one in every of their remaining dates.
Yeon-woo instantly units out to undo the wrongs of the previous. She warns Tae-ha that the tonic Hye-sook provides him is poisoned, however when Tae-ha (seemingly) dies regardless of her warning, Yeon-woo ensures her dad and mom and a few armed guards arrive the night time of her kidnapping to arrest Myung-soo and forestall her demise. At Myung-soo and Hye-sook’s trial, a really alive Tae-ha seems — shock! — and divulges that he faked his demise so he may show Hye-sook plotted to homicide him and Yeon-woo. And why would Hye-sook do such a dastardly factor? To reap all the advantages of getting a daughter-in-law die a virtuous lady, Yeon-woo solutions.
Along with her tried murderers punished, Yeon-woo makes it her mission to make sure no different lady is unjustly killed for the sake of a virtuous lady title. She appeals on to the king, asking him to abolish the virtuous lady award, and as she bows earlier than him — with a crowd of ladies pleading behind her — it turns into clear that this was the true motive she wanted to return to the previous. Too dangerous this relatively poignant second felt like an afterthought.
Talking of romance, that is the half the place Yeon-woo lives fortunately ever after with Joseon Tae-ha, proper? Unsuitable. Lest we overlook, each Yeon-woo and Tae-ha have insisted that previous and future Tae-ha are separate people. Below totally different circumstances, I might be high-quality with this logic, however this specific story established expectations that immediately oppose the characters’ emotions on the matter.
As a substitute of exhibiting how totally different life experiences molded Tae-ha’s trendy reincarnation into a completely totally different character, the drama repeatedly highlighted the rising similarities between previous and current Tae-ha. These shared traits, which turned extra profound the longer Tae-ha was round Yeon-woo, had been a big think about why Yeon-woo initially fell in love with him. She couldn’t love the trendy Tae-ha with out first figuring out and loving Joseon Tae-ha.
So when Yeon-woo traveled again to Joseon, I absolutely anticipated her to expertise an adjustment interval whereas she realized to just accept that each males had been two sides of the identical coin. Is that what occurred, although? Nope, she straight up friendzoned Joseon Tae-ha, and he remained (platonically) by her facet till he died naturally from his coronary heart situation. Tae-ha was his personal second male lead — what an unnecessarily merciless destiny.
After Tae-ha passes away, Yeon-woo lives morosely till Myung-soo escapes jail and kidnaps her (as a result of revenge). She is ready to free herself from her constraints, however as she flees Myung-soo she turns into cornered on the sting of a cliff. She appears to be like down on the water beneath, and she or he someway is aware of that the best way again to Tae-ha is by leaping off the cliff. (Cue: dramatic, gradual movement backwards dive into the darkness).
In the meantime, again in 2023, Tae-ha’s coronary heart has magically healed (*jazz arms*), and he’s relinquished management of the household enterprise to an outsider — a person who simply so occurs to be the reincarnation of Yeon-woo’s father. Sung-pyo and Sa Wol get married, and for his or her marriage ceremony current, Tae-ha provides them an entire constructing to allow them to open their very own enterprise. Skip forward a yr, and Sa Wol is expertly and effectively managing a restaurant, the place Sung-pyo occupies one of many tables and composes a romance novel primarily based on Yeon-woo and Tae-ha’s story.
Sung-pyo struggles to discover a strategy to reunite the characters, and when his sister and Sa Wol chime in on whether or not his novel ought to have a contented ending, I can’t assist however think about {that a} comparable dialog went down within the author’s room for The Story of Park’s Marriage Contract. Besides, sooner or later throughout the debate over a contented or unhappy ending, somebody chimed in, “Porque no los dos?” and that’s why poor Joseon Tae-ha was denied romance earlier than he died. He needed to have a tragic ending in order that his trendy counterpart might be reunited with Yeon-woo.
And, positive sufficient, after many, many days of ready by the crepe myrtle tree (which he now owns as a result of he purchased the entire lodge), Yeon-woo seems earlier than Tae-ha and tells him that his prayers modified her destiny and introduced her to him. Reunited, they get married for actual and presumably stay fortunately ever after.
So how do I really feel about this twin sad-happy ending? Effectively, in case it wasn’t already obvious: I’m not a fan. The fact didn’t stay as much as the hype, as a result of the writers backed themselves right into a nook that they may not escape. From the start, the drama emphasised that Yeon-woo should return to the previous. At first, she wished to return to rectify wrongs and save her dad and mom, however after falling in love, the need turned a necessity when Tae-ha’s coronary heart situation magically bought worse — supposedly due to her mere presence sooner or later.
With the stakes using so excessive, we had been led to imagine that Yeon-woo’s return would have a major influence on not solely the previous, however the future as properly — besides it didn’t. In 2023, apart from her grave disappearing, there have been no adjustments made to the long run. The Kang household seemingly retained political energy and affect regardless of the absence of the virtuous lady award (which we had been beforehand led to imagine would save their household’s repute), and a scandalous homicide try. On the very least, Yeon-woo’s actions prior to now ought to have altered the Kang household’s destiny so that every one the gamers weren’t reborn to stay out the identical makjang tragedy.
And so far as Yeon-woo’s destiny in Joseon, it was equally anticlimactic and unnecessarily extended and bleak. What’s the purpose of returning to the previous to save lots of Tae-ha from being poisoned if Yeon-woo’s not going to reciprocate his affection and he’s simply going to die anyway? Why stop her personal homicide and spare her dad and mom the tragedy of shedding their solely baby if she’s going to jumped from a cliff and finish her life once more so she will return to 2023? Arguably, Yeon-woo’s best achievement upon returning to the previous was her attraction to the king, however even that felt like an afterthought that was over overshadowed by her depressingly platonic relationship with Tae-ha.
For my part, if the writers weren’t going to present that means to Yeon-woo’s return to the previous, then they’d have been higher off utilizing the “magic fixes all plot holes” bandaid to remedy Tae-ha’s coronary heart downside and preserve Yeon-woo within the current. If Sa Wol can keep behind in 2023 and have her existence wiped from Joseon historical past, then Yeon-woo ought to have been in a position to do the identical.
RELATED POSTS
