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[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Marry Him If You Dare" Episode 10

We start out with a flashback- which is kind of confusing because when future Mi-Rae does a flashback, she's actually looking forward to an alternate version of the future, just with a brown pastel. There's a funny moment when the shading changes from alternate present to real present, as if it were changing from past to present, but no, this is all pretty much present day Korea, so don't get too choked up.

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Finally getting an actual look at the world future Mi-Rae is trying to prevent goes a fair distance to explaining her actions- although it doesn't exactly justify them, especially when she starts having memories of the good times. Future Mi-Rae herself seems to have doubts about the plan at this point. So annoying that these moments of doubt always happen right when victory is just around the corner.

Well, not exactly. Yoo-Kyeong is put off a bit in her search for answers, but for the most part is unperturbed and determined to find out more about the world future Mi-Rae is trying to prevent. She actually makes pretty decent progress, but coming from this limited position Yoo-Kyeong lacks credibility, and even has trouble convincing herself that her snooping is really necessary. I especially liked that moment when Se-Joo straight up asks what she thinks future Mi-Rae is lying about- and the answer just sounds goofy. It would seem that some things sound too utterly absurd without the right emotional context.

Stubbornness is nonetheless the order of the day, and this is especially true with Kim Sin. Like everyone else (except Yoo-Kyeong) he's basically accepted future Mi-Rae's version of future events as credible. Yet out of sheer mean spite, he refuses to just knuckle under and accept everything. I doubt he even knows why he's doing it- this is just another manifestation of his basic personality.

So, lots of stuff happens this episode. There's even a bit of action here, as a chase sequence erupts between two rather unlikely characters. The script is moving along nicely- but somehow the performances just don't seem to have a whole lot of energy. This might be deliberate, given that the emphasis this time around is on people just accepting the current situation and not trying to fight fate. It's still difficult to get too excited about the show, though. It feels like there should be a more interesting way to spin this narrative. Let's bear in mind that by "fight fate" I mean fight future Mi-Rae's ideal sequence of events. That's a weird context in which to have a defeatist attitude, and I'd like it if the drama could do more with that.

Review by William Schwartz

"Marry Him If You Dare" is directed by Kwon Kye-hong with Yoo Jong-seon and written by Hong Jin-ah and features Lee Dong-gun, Yoon Eun-hye, Jung Yong-hwa and Choi Myung-gil.

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