HALLYU ZOMBIE DRAMA REVIEW: Bride of the Century Episodes 13-14 (2/2)

Zombie: Can you believe this drama is ending next week? How’d the end sneak up on us so quickly?

Shai: It still feels like it started last week. I just realized it’s about the end. Noooo! *sobs*

Zombie: I feel the same way! I don’t want to say goodbye to this one yet! I’ve loved every minute of it and this week was no exception! Can you believe the way things are working out? I have to say, I wasn’t expecting everything that happened this week. I thought for sure, Kang Ju and his mom would be stuck under Jae Ran’s thumb a while longer. Who knew Kang Ju was capable of solving his own problems? Hooray for characters with intelligence and gumption!

 

Shai: I did not predict anything that has happened so far. I didn’t think we’d get such a smart and capable male lead in Kang Ju. Once he figured things out and came out of his-woe-is-me pity party, he stayed one step ahead of Jae Ran and Yi Kyung.

Zombie: And I cheered the entire time because of that! It’s so nice to have a male lead with a good head on his shoulders and a heart big enough to forgive past wrongs. It’s not everyday you come across such a hero in Dramaland. I’m so glad we’ve found on in Kang Ju! He’s quickly solidifying his place as one of the best leads in Dramaland history… Well at least in my opinion. He’s certainly one of my favorites… Ever!

 

Shai: I agree! He’s become one of my favorite leads, they made him so unlike the others. He doesn’t sit around whining for too long and gets stuff done. He didn’t stay away from Doo Rim too long and finally went after what he wanted. I’m glad the writers made Roo Mi and Yi Hyun such awesome characters. I was waiting for them to be the typical second leads who didn’t get their partner, but they’ve proved to be so much more than that.

 

Zombie: I am truly impressed by their maturity. I would have never, in a million years, expected Roo Mi to go from spoiled, selfish brat to actual friend and helper. She’s not only helping Kang Ju but she’s even gone so far as to reach out to Doo Rim and befriend her as well, in her own strange way. As for Yi Hyun, I’m glad he hasn’t become an obstacle for Doo Rim and Kang Ju. The writers could have very easily made him a force to be reckoned with, especially with all of Doo Rim’s feelings of guilt and obligation towards him but they didn’t and for that I’m glad. I’m even more glad that he’s gone beyond his pitiful puppy stage into someone who can genuinely appreciate Doo Rim and Kang Ju’s feelings and I believe he’ll be able to sincerely wish them a “happily ever after” in the end.

Shai: I thought that’s what was going to happen after Yi Hyun saved Doo Rim from those thugs. I was willing to bet money that she’d be guilted into staying with him and accepting his heart, like what happens in other dramas. I’m glad they made him aware of her feelings and had him become cupid in his own way. He loves Doo Rim, but he can’t stand to see her miserable and her being with Kang Ju is what makes her happy.

 

Zombie: Again, I’m truly impressed by how much so many of these characters have grown in the past fourteen episodes. It’s amazing and refreshing! Yes, they’ve all had their moments of childish stupidity but they’ve never lasted too long and the growth that has come from them has been so much fun to watch!

 

Shai: That’s one thing I enjoy about this show. Misunderstandings don’t last very long and are resolved fairly quick and then we’re on to the next problem. Even Doo Rim isn’t the average kdrama lead, she’s proven herself to be much more than what we’d expect from her. She’s easily one of my favorites alongside Noh Min Young from All About My Romance and Go Min Young from Dating Agency: Cyrano. I can appreciate a female lead that isn’t a complete doormat. Speaking of things that are unpredictable and totally coming out of left field. That ending to episode 14! Did you expect to see that kind of back story?

Zombie: Not at all! I was shocked and extremely happy all at the same time! I’ve been dying to know the story behind that first bride for what feels like ages! I’m dying, waiting for next week’s elaboration and there had better be a good one because I want to know it all!

 

Shai: I didn’t know Ghost Lady was actually out for revenge. My question is how she actually became the family ghost? She died and just lingered around so they acknowledged her existence? That’s the part that confuses me since she said someone asked her to test the future wives. Now we know it’s probably Doo Rim’s past life that saved her child, so where does Yi Kyung fit in?

 

Zombie: I have no idea, which is why I want to see what the rest of that story is. We’ve spent the entire run of this drama wondering just what exactly is up with Ghost Lady, I think it’s high time we found out! Augh! I’m so excited for next week’s finale!!! I hope this ending satisfies more than My Love From Another Star’s. I want a complete wrap-up to the Ghost’s story and a “happily ever after” for Kang Ju and Doo Rim and all of their friends and family. That’s not too much to ask, is it?

Shai: I think we’ll get a complete story to Ghost Lady, it looked like that in the preview at least. I actually liked the ending to You Who Came From Another Star lol I was satisfied and that’s enough for me. I did hear BOTC’s story is from a Japanese writer which can explain why the common tropes aren’t actually here or are twisted in some way. I want Ghost Lady to finally rest in peace. I wonder what really happened to her son…

 

Zombie: I suppose we’ll find out next week! In the meantime, can you believe Yi Kyung this week? This was another one of those times I was just like, “What?” I so did not see that coming at all! For a second, I thought she was going to try to poison Kang Ju but as soon as he took a sip, I realized she was the one who drank the tainted wine. What the heck? Suicide? Really? Because life was really all that terrible? She had just been given a whole new life in Australia, why give it up? It’s not like she loved Kang Ju in the first place. And no, I don’t think that even if she had loved Kang Ju, suicide was an appropriate reaction, I’m just saying, she had even less of a reason to take such drastic measures. What was she trying to prove? What was the point? I just don’t get it.

Shai: That part really had me confused. At first I was thinking what the point was? Even if she did love Kang Ju like that, she didn’t work to keep him. Ghost Lady was right, she’s just a shadow and if she keeps on the same path then she won’t even be that. She’s weak and expected people to just treat her nicely and she was thrown for a loop when someone like Choi Kang Ju fell in love with someone as “poor” as Na Doo Rim. But I do have a theory on why she attempted suicide. I’m judging from episode 15’s preview with this one though. She said she didn’t want Kang Ju and Doo Rim to be happy since she believes they stole her happiness, what her actual happiness was is still in question. So what better way to separate them and make her look like the poor victim in all of this by attempting suicide to make her look “heartbroken” her fiance left her for someone else. She wants pity and she wants both to be miserable. Misery loves company. Then she no longer has a frenemy in Roo Mi, who has deflected to Doo Rim’s side. Even Kang Ju’s father likes Doo Rim and supports them. Yi Kyung literally has no one supporting her except for her mother, who even seemed to give up.

 

Zombie: Here’s the deal though… Yi Kyung and her mom both spent a ridiculous amount of time this week blaming other people for their own misery when the simple fact is, they brought it all on themselves. Jae Ran and Yi Kyung plotted this whole substitute bride thing from the beginning and when it didn’t go the way they wanted, they tried to find other, even more devious ways to make all their greedy dreams come true. When all of their plots and schemes failed, it was no one’s fault but their own because they were the ones who set themselves up for failure in the first place. Had they chosen to do things differently, things would have worked out differently. (and I really want to say “duh” here) If you can accept the results of your actions, you need to seriously grow up. Every action these two have taken, from the very beginning, has led them to where they are now and they just need to accept that and move on. Every action has a consequence and they’re having to deal with that now. Too bad they chose to react in such awful ways… *smh*

Shai: Yep. Both of them fail to acknowledge everything that is happening is their own fault. Yi Hyun tried to tell them, but they’re so caught up in their own issues that they don’t want to see that. Both are so busy pointing fingers at Doo Rim, Kang Ju, and Myung Hee that they don’t understand it’s their fault. Had Yi Kyung actually had feelings for Kang Ju, she would have stayed around and showed she truly cares about him even if he didn’t feel the same way. She left on her own accord and doesn’t have the right to become upset when the person she paid to play her makes the guy fall for her (which Doo Rim never actually tried to do anyways). This suicide attempt is just another one of her plots to make others miserable because she messed up. Poor Yi Hyun he does love them, but he can’t get through to them. Oh! Aren’t you happy Kang Ju’s father FINALLY knows the truth? How did it take them 14 episodes to have him know the truth?

 

Zombie: I’m just happy Kang Ju and his mom finally stopped trying to hide everything from Choi Il Do! Apparently he’s known the truth about his first wife for a long time (who knew?) and he seems to have just been waiting for the time when Myung Hee would learn the truth herself. Now that she’s confessed her mother’s sins and Il Do knows the truth about Yi Kyung/Doo Rim, the entire Choi family can start to heal and move on with their lives and I’m super happy about that. Even if Myung Hee was a scheming, plotting terror, she’s learned enough from her mistakes I think she could become a much better person in the future and since Kang Ju and Il Do both seem to love her, despite her flaws (which is exactly what a healthy family relationship should be like). I’d really like to see them all live “happily ever after.” I think the Choi family deserves a little happiness now and I’d like to think that they’ll find it together with Doo Rim. She really is the ray of sunshine Joo Shin (aka Ghost Lady) was talking about.

 

Shai: I knew Il Do had knowledge about what happened to his first wife, but I truly admire how he never said anything after he came to know what happened. I know was upset that he didn’t seem to love her in the beginning, but he does love Myung Hee very much. I’m very happy that the secrets within that family are all out in the open so they can begin to heal and be a happier, more united family.

 

Zombie: I love that what Jae Ran planned to use to bring down the Choi family has actually made them stronger. Talk about irony! It’s great!

Shai: Jae Ran didn’t have anything major to bring them down, her ambitions were way too high on that one. Though I do think it’s awesome how Kang Ju told the media himself about that then she had nothing left. She was really counting her chickens before they hatched. She kinda sucks at these type of plans.

 

Zombie: No kidding! I think she was a victim of her own self-importance. She thought she was untouchable and indestructible when in reality, she was nothing. She had everything to lose and rather than work hard and keep what she had, she gambled it all on a plan that failed spectacularly. Of course she now has nothing but her name and even that has been sullied by her recent arrest. In short, she reached for too much and lost everything in the process.

 

Shai: She was too greedy and in turn she had way more to lose than the Choi family did. Their company has been around for years, did she really think she’d bring them down with such a secret? Plus that wasn’t even the Choi family, it was Myung Hee’s side. She did gamble it all on something so little. Next time, listen to your stepson.

 

Zombie: Sometimes Dramaland villains just aren’t that smart… Anyway, I’m happy to see the way things are turning out and I can’t wait for next week’s episodes. I don’t want to end our chats but I’m dying to find out how this drama ends!

 

And now it’s your turn to join our discussion. What did you think of this week’s episodes? We love talking dramas so be sure to leave your comments below and come back next week for our wrap-up of this amazing drama!