HALLYU ZOMBIE DRAMA REVIEW: Bride of the Century Episodes 11-12 (2/2)

Tanya: I’m seriously disappointed in ALL of the characters in Bride of the Century this week. I mean, what is this?! Let’s-go-back-to-middle-school-time? How can Doo Rim makes everything her fault and then get angry when Kang Ju blames her? And what is with this childish revenge, Kang Ju? Seriously.

Zombie: I can’t disagree with you there. There’s a whole lot of childishness going on this week but at the same time, there were some kinda cute moments as well. Well, I thought they were cute anyway. Kang Ju’s slight half-smile is just too adorable, I guess. It makes me soften my otherwise disappointed feelings in him, just a bit.

Tanya: Listen, I get that he’s entitled, and that’s part of his charm, but really? I think this week was a little excessive. Even Kang In acts more like an adult than him and, not only is he younger, he’s an idol and has more chances to be crazy.

Zombie: True but when you compare Kang Ju to his mother, he comes off looking like a kitten. He may be hurt and acting like a childish brat (which he is) but he could be doing a lot worse. And hey, he did finally figure out that Doo Rim and Yi Kyung weren’t the same person so, considering where he started, he’s actually come a long way! Plus, you know that underneath all of that childishness, he’s actually pretty happy when he’s around Doo Rim (at least he has moments when he’s happy). If Doo Rim would just stop pretending to feel opposite of what she’s really feeling, they’d progress a lot faster!

Tanya: Not by himself. Only after Roo Mi pretty much told him… And I facepalmed. You are right though. He’s not the only one to blame here. Doo Rim really needs to step up her game here. Maybe we’ll start seeing progress once she gives in like she has a thousand times before. She needs to, otherwise they’ll be stuck forever. I hope she doesn’t let everything that happened to Yi Hyun ruin everything. I also hope Yi Hyun has enough integrity to explain everything to Kang Ju and his family about his mother and sister’s lying ways.

 

Zombie: I can see Yi Hyun being just that noble… Maybe? I hope? I mean I get why Doo Rim is feeling so obligated to be with him right now and really, she should stay with him. He’s got no one else to take care of him and she loves him enough as a brother to stick by him when he’s down and I’m okay with that but I do not want to see her acting like she loves him as more than a brother or friend when she’s still completely in love with Kang Ju. Yi Hyun deserves better than that and to stay by his side when she loves Kang Ju would just be too cruel. And yes, I’m aware that she probably wouldn’t even realize she was being so cruel but that doesn’t change the fact that she would be hurting the sweetest guy on the planet and that’s just not cool.

 

Tanya: I totally get why she’s taking care of him as well. He saved her from major harm, so she should… but that’s it. Once he’s better she needs to walk away, otherwise she’s doing an incredible injustice to everyone involved.

Zombie: Exactly. Of course, to get away from Yi Hyun, Doo Rim’s going to have to let go of all of her feelings of guilt, which I don’t see happening anytime soon. She feels obligated to stay with Yi Hyun but obligation and love are not the same thing. Here’s hoping Yi Hyun realizes this and forces Doo Rim to face her true feelings because I’m pretty sure she’s not going to accept them on her own and Kang Ju is being too much of a putz at the moment to force her to face her feelings either.

 

Tanya: Can I just interject something random right here for a second?

 

Zombie: Go for it!

 

Tanya: I really admire Yang Jin Sung. This is the first drama I’ve seen her in, that I recall… I’ve watched so many I may have forgotten, but her ability to pull this dual-role between Doo Rim and Yi Kyung is so awesome. She’s not just “I’m the same actress in different clothing.” She changes her voice, her facial expressions, her posture…. everything. Honestly, she’s amazing.

Zombie: She has done a really great job though there are times when I just have to laugh a little at her intense “evil” glares. I don’t know why, but they always kinda crack me up. Not to say that she’s doing a bad job, because she’s not at all. I just find that look to be particularly funny and I’m not even sure why.

 

Tanya: A lot of that “evil glare” is the overly exaggerated eyeliner she has when in the Yi Kyung role and that’s horrible. I don’t find it flattering on her at all, but if that’s what they need to distinguish, that’s cool.

 

Zombie: Yi Kyung certainly has a thing for the cat-eyes but hey, to each their own, right? Personally, I like Doo Rim’s less done up, more innocent look but then again, I just like Doo Rim better so I’m biased towards her. Moving on…

 

Tanya: Yes. Okay. I’m having a hard time believing that that corporation would be so rocked by the actions of its mother-in-law, by the way. Sure, maybe a divorce would happen, but it wouldn’t have the dire consequences that these women seem to think it will have.

Zombie: Yeah… I don’t know what these crazy women are thinking but I’m pretty sure the foundations of Taeyang Group are solid enough to handle Kang Ju divorcing his wife, especially after it was revealed Yi Kyung had been replaced by a fake. Pretty sure the only company to suffer there would be Yi Kyung’s and honestly, I wouldn’t be sad about that at all. Someone needs to put those crazies back in their place!

 

Tanya: I actually meant divorce between Kang Ju’s parents. I think the world would be bothered by Kang Ju’s divorce and then (probably) remarriage to someone who looks EXACTLY like his ex-wife, but that’s just me.

 

Zombie: Haha! Silly me. I suppose I could see how people might freak out if Kang Ju marries a girl who looks exactly like Yi Kyung but technically, he married Doo Rim in the first place, not Yi Kyung, so he wouldn’t actually have to divorce her. Maybe just re-do the ceremony using her real name? As for Kang Ju’s parents, I think it would be shocking for people to see them divorce because they’ve been married for so long but again, I don’t think it would be the end of the world and certainly not the end of Taeyang Group. Pretty sure major conglomerates are a lot stronger than the people sitting at the top.

Tanya: Well they haven’t officially announced Yi Kyung to the press, so they could play it off as a business deal that then went bad or something similar. Then Doo Rim could take her place with no one but those involved the wiser. I think a divorce would be justified after learning your mother-in-law killed your first wife. At the same time, Kang Ju’s father seems to be a bigger man than that, so he may just be like, “I bought you a house. Go live where I can’t see you and you can stay part of the family.”

 

Zombie: I could see Kang Ju’s dad doing that. He seems to be a pretty level-headed and warm-hearted individual. But seriously? What’s with these rich mothers, thinking they can just whack off the competition whenever they feel like it?

 

Tanya: But… but… it’s ghosts! GHOSTS I say! Hahaha!

Zombie: Yeah… I’m not buying that. I know that the ghost is real and all but she’s not the one making these crazies go all Psycho (and yes, I mean as in the movie…) We all know that the ghost was only there to weed out the money-grubbers and find the heir’s true love which makes me wonder, did any of these second wives have any visits from the ghost or was she only there to test the first wife?

 

Tanya: I was just going to say she’s a pretty awful guardian because there is no way she visited any of these second wives simply because they wouldn’t have passed. They all have tainted hearts. And if this ghost was all-knowing, she should have known that mom killed the first bride, for example. I call shenanigans on that whole plot.

 

Zombie: And what’s with the ghost getting all disappointed in Doo Rim all of a sudden? Like she passed the test and all but now the ghost is sad because Doo Rim has backed down and let Yi Kyung take her place. I don’t get it. Doesn’t the ghost know that Doo Rim had the crap beat out of her and she’s doing what she’s doing to keep those she loves from getting hurt?

 

Tanya: Moreover, why is Shin Joo in cahoots with this priest or whatever he is. What was that whole scene about, honestly?

Zombie: Seriously! Why have such a useless character mucking about? He’s only making things confusing for us. Up to this point, he hasn’t had much of a purpose, other than to tip-off Yi Kyung’s mom about the curse in the first place. Why keep him around? Shouldn’t he be doing something useful at this point? He’s such a waste of space… Please dorky shaman guy… Have a point!

 

Tanya: Absolutely. Anything else you want to touch on? Or have we got all of our mixed feelings out for today?

 

Zombie: I think we’ve vented our frustrations enough. Here’s hoping this next week’s episodes will see these characters shed their more disappointing traits and make some huge strides towards reconciliation and a great big “make-up/I love you” kiss. (Sorry, my fangirl got loose again.)

So what did you think of this week’s episodes of Bride of the Century? Were you as disappointed in our characters as we were or were you okay with the way things are unfolding? How do you see things unfolding in the future? Will Kang Ju and Doo Rim ever be together or will their surrounding circumstances make it impossible? We’d love to hear your thoughts on this and any other topics you may want to discuss so be sure to leave us your comments below!