[HanCinema's Drama Review] "The Woman who Married Three Times" Episode 37

We get to see some of the ways the story of this drama has done long-term damage to Seul-gi's impressionable mind. In the first place, her philosophy on life has gotten horribly cynical for a child. The entire sequence where she gives a full emotional reaction to the news that Eun-soo is pregnant is pretty cringe-worthy. Unfortunately from Seul-gi's point of view this is a perfectly valid response. Even more worrisome, Seul-gi's actually coming from a pretty good position of authority when making this announcement.

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But even more alarming are the more subtle behaviors she's internalized. Note how Seul-gi is rather demanding in the way she speaks to her mother. Like every other character in the drama, Seul-gi gives out orders, not requests. Make a note of how often any character in this drama barks out orders. Yes, Lady Choi is the most obvious example, but the other characters do it too. Even Chae Rin, who's normally extremely passive in her poor social behaviors.

Poor Chae Rin. She'd be laughable if she wasn't so pathetic. And a last minute revelations finally gives us some explanation for her behavior. My first reaction was that she might be lying. That's a horrible thing to think considering the position she's in, but I'll admit it. Chae Rin is not at all likable, so it's easy to jump to the conclusion that she's a liar too. Unfortunately the new storyline discovery makes far too much sense in light of her character to just be ignored.

A lot of the assumptions about the way this drama has been going are turned upside down here. Tae-won's character arc has always been about his willingness to stand up to bullying, and realizing that if he doesn't stop his mother's terrible behavior no one else will. It's been presumed that this would culminate in Eun-soo's return to the household...but now another possibility has arisen that may be a more potent test. Even if it's kind of come out of nowhere.

I mean, really, "The Woman who Married Three Times" was extended to forty episodes from an initial run of thirty-two. Was better foreshadowing really that much to ask? Goodness knows enough of this drama is static- Eun-soo's situation sees very little story movement, for example. We're left with a few interesting comparative threads- Joon-goo's statement about the value of a normal childhood is rather on-point, given the lengths this episode goes to to make clear that he's not a happy child of privilege. At the same time it's only right at the end with Chae Rin that we get a really relevant storyline situation. Lucky for the drama it's a pretty potentially exciting one.

Review by William Schwartz

"The Woman who Married Three Times" is directed by Son Jeong-hyeon and written by Kim Su-hyun and features Lee Ji-ah, Uhm Ji-won, Song Chang-eui and Ha Seok-jin.