Remarriage and Desires

Sublime Sensuality, Exciting Paced Drama but Mediocre Revenge Arc!

This Drama is for YOU - If You LIKE:
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♥ Sublime Sensuality:
I love when romance is built up without excessive acts of service, nudity/sex scenes. To me this drama also was about second chance at love. The main characters are distrustful of being hurt again; hence their romance is built with less words, but rather care, understanding. The sensuality/sexual tension is palpable but not in your face. The leads did not even have a single kissing scene but their moments together were charming. Areumdaun/Beautiful (아름다운) to the core!

♥ Acting par Excellence:
As expected of actors in their caliber - all the characters irrespective of the script, played their characters to perfection.
Kim Hee Sun needs no words, she is flawless. Cha Ji Yeon, Park Hoon, Lee Hyun Wook - I have literally seen them in just one other drama respectively where even their minor roles they had left quite an impression. This drama was even better as they had more screentime to show their talent. I personally will now look up their other works & watch especially for - Lee Hyun Wook! Jung Eugene - I have seen her in many dramas, but she was not memorable until this antagonist role. She brings life to the character that is truly despicable. You'll want to pull her hair, bitch-slap her & hope karma hits her hard - which is only the result of her embodying the character to perfection. Kudos!

♥ Beautiful Cinematography, Screenplay & OST:
Costumes, locations, make-up - everything was minimalist but luxurious & the music is hauntingly beautiful & hypnotic. Both interweave with the scenes & characters perfectly enhancing the viewing experience. The screenplay/pace of drama - is not neck-breaking, but you cannot help but end up watching just one more episode. Inconspicuously, all these factors aid in making this makjang drama keeping it thrilling & (almost)-unpredictable.

What MIGHT BOTHER You:
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✘ The Revenge Served is Very Cold. Almost Frozen.
Given the initial build-up & despicable antagonist(s), I thought the revenge was average. Not unsatisfactory, but neither leaving me with a triumphant feeling as a viewer. I blame the script for weakening it, even though I appreciate that it was not draggy & the 8-episode format is a satisfactory timeframe for this story to conclude.

P.S. I do not want to detail the ending, cause that will spoil it - but it came quite unannounced with no preamble to the twist they gave. Again it is satisfactory cause everyone is hoping for it but an explanation would have been nicer, even if it had been in form of a flashback between the characters.

✘ Some Support Characters felt unfinished
Not sure if there will be a Season 2, but there were some characters like the SML & the owner of Rex whose stories felt rather unfinished. I say rather, cause you can be contend with their ending, but personally I had questions on what will happen to them now that the main plot is resolved.

OVERALL: almost Perfect, succinct thrilling makjang! 8/10
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✦ The above negatives are not deal breakers, but it would have made it a perfect 10/10 drama had they been there.
✦ I am slowly getting into makjang dramas, this being my 3rd after Penthouse & Perfect Marriage Revenge. I did not know I would enjoy this genre as much as I do, but if the quality/story is anything like this one- I cannot help but keep binging!
✦ Remarriage & Desires is special cause it is short & beautifully executed. I even rewatched some episodes, as soon as I finished the drama for pleasure viewing (Scenes like the masquerade, yacht, initial tension between the main leads)
✦ For those who enjoy this genre, or want to explore it (like I did) you should not miss this one.
✦ Will recommend watching the drama first to like the OST more, but here is YT link. Memorable piece as is the drama!
Seori - Wicked: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcKMeqRej1g

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Forgettable

I watched this because of Kim Hee Seon, because she's one of my favourite Korean actors, and unfortunately, her acting was quite possibly the only thing I could like in this show. And even her acting wasn't enough for me to connect in any real way with her character, let alone any other character there. Everyone felt so flat and two-dimensional, which leaves me wondering why all of these extremely talented actors read the script and decided that it would be a role worth taking up. It's not even that the plot was bad - maybe it was the length, but neither the revenge nor the romance plot really made sense. They were both so horribly rushed that it felt forced, and I couldn't see any depth to either. I couldn't connect with either, just as I couldn't connect with the characters or their motives - in any other drama I would have had a horrible case of Second Lead Syndrome, but with this I couldn't even bring myself to care the least bit. Held my attention enough to binge it though, so I'm not rating it as low as I might have otherwise.

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"Remarriage and Desires" is a drama about Hye Seung, a woman who discovers that her husband is cheating on her with Yoo Hui. The problem is that the story is not that simple. Yoo Hui seduced Hye Seung's husband on purpose, to use him and discard him whenever she wanted, and she does exactly that, blaming him for all the crimes she committed. Hye Seung's husband ends up killing himself and she decides to punish those who destroyed her family.

The idea behind the drama is very good, Hye Seung wants revenge against Yoo Hui, she finds out that Yoo Hui is interested in Hyung Ju, so Hye Seung decides to get closer to him, to ruin Yoo Hui's plans, but that's the problem, Hye Seung kept saying that she had her own character, that she had no ulterior motives when getting closer to Hyung Ju, but that's partly a lie, because her purpose wasn't to seduce him, it was to tell the truth about Yoo Hui, but technically she used Hyung Ju in this process.

The problem with the drama is the development, there are only 8 episodes so everything is done very quickly, there wasn't enough time to shape the story properly. It was supposed to be about new weddings and desires, right?! Honestly, I don't know where the desires went, since everyone was super apathetic, there's no strength, impact in the story, there's no energy of revenge... it's all very boring. Not even the "romance" manages to captivate attention, especially because I didn't see anything romantic.

The relationship between Hye Seung and Hyung Ju is weird, they only saw each other a few times and it was clear that they created a connection because of their children and the traumas they suffered in their marriages because of betrayals, but the story didn't give them enough time to develop a relationship between them. That wedding at the end?! It was ridiculous.

This drama a complete disappointment, I don't even know how it was possible to make a story like this, with such a magnificent cast. Kim Hee Sun was wasted in this production.

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There are better revenge dramas out there.

In summary I thought the plot was clumsy and ill conceived.

I feel like 80% of it is taken up by people traveling to other destinations to threaten another person, and then all of those people have to travel to another destination to talk about it and repeat.

Also they keep styling her like an elderly teacher from the '80s. She has some of the most ugly outfits that I've seen on a K-drama. The frumpiness is unrelenting.

For the most part the actress has a worried furrowed brow expression, and it becomes so repetitive. The dynamic becomes repetitive. The fact that she continually makes things worse for herself she never plays it smart not harder. She always plays it harder and not smart, it becomes agonizingly frustrating to watch.

They provide a little backstory on some of the antagonists, but not enough for some of their motives. What is the matchmaker ultimately trying to accomplish as she runs her business into the ground, for what? What is the attorney using all her embezzled money on? Why is she so upset with Kang Nam-Sik for mentioning marriage when she's the one who bought him a ring? And it is unforgivable that Seo Hye-Seung had that phone the whole entire time and only got it fixed at the end.

I felt like the kids delivered really solid performances though. But that's not enough to make the whole thing palatable.

There are better revenge dramas out there, this one is just not fulfilling.

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Meh

Fell flat. The word that I connected with most on other reviews was "underwhelming". That sums it up perfectly. Didn't feel like FL really won considering all she went through to get there. Even though the villain was jailed at the end, she murders the guy who got out of jail, almost murders the daughter and the FL. Felt like she dealt way more damage than she received. Not much revenge. The "revenge" seemed for the most part about the FL threatening to out her and reveal what she had done. That's it. Not much there.
Also the romance between the leads was practically non-existent. There was nothing written to really explain or show developing feelings between the two. He showed vague interest in her at the party but then goes out with villain and sleeps with her. He also goes out with another woman and accuses FL of deliberately getting close to him VIA tutoring his son. And while he later apologizes for it there is no real show of feelings for her. It's after the boat ride where he is, I guess, fallen in love with her, but there wasn't really anything to show that there. The only thing that happened on the boat was her falling into him when the boat rocked and her taking care of the son's cut. But no real chemistry was shown there. The two leads never even kiss for the whole drama despite how it ends. Weird.

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Fight till the end!!!!

I randomly stumbled upon this short 8 episodes drama and have nothing to watch at the moment I give it a try. It was good, and I enjoy the thrill of the FL going after the second FL and giving her a taste of her own medicine.

All the characters did well and it was astonishing to watch how every character's life is full of riches, but behind those walls---there's deception, insecurities, disloyalty; and miscommunications.

I feel sorry for the FL that her husband of a cheater died but also proud of the FL to reveal the second FL her garbage to the world at the end. Justice was served in the end, and that is all that matters.

In the end, when you think about it the marriage agency can do more damage than good; especially if the people going there are not seeking a genuine proposal.

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why so many low ratings?

I don’t know why this drama has a low rating to be honest I loved everything about this drama it screams wealthy rich from the cars, the fashion, and houses.

Every character played their role very well, especially yoo hui and CEO yoo sun and it was very entertaining to watch them both on scream.

You’ll like it if you liked penthouse, the world of the married, this drama had a lot of new faces for me and I am happy to have discovered new actors and actresses.

The ending had a huge twist and the way the producers left off the show I think there will be another season because so much that needs to be explained and more that needs to be shown, it was cut short and felt rushed after episode 6 and I would like it if they made it 16 ep or at least 12 but overall I would recommend watching this drama

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Amazing

This drama doesn't have boring or unnecessary scenes as if they were there just to fill the time. The story doesn't get boring, it's exciting from beginning to end. It was amazing the ending was amazing. The original sound track from this drama was amazing and was perfect for it.


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Felt promising but under-delivered

Maybe they went for crisp story telling and edited a lot to fit it all into 8 episodes. Maybe they didn't have the budget. Whatever the reason, although it felt like no cost was spared to show a sophisticated, high class world and a highly emotional drama, it somehow failed to evoke any strong connect to the leads. Even though they gave enough back story for the FL and ML, their interactions and connection didn't feel so genuine

Some thoughts and cribs..
1) There were some scenes where the ML feels attracted to the FL, and his son wishing she could be his mother. But there was no scene where the FL is shown as falling for the ML at any point. She seemed completely distracted by her ruined life and a determination to get revenge by exposing the female villian with zero plans on how. She even tells the MLs mom that she never had plans for remarriage and yet we find her getting married in the last episode.

2) There is not enough explanation on what happened between the Rex owner and SML, how the SML chose to hand the bride over to the CEO at the end, or whether he managed to get his father's assets.

3) Although they managed to expose the adulteress in the party and get her dragged to jail for embezzlement with solid evidence, she got out so easily with no explanation as to how the politician influenced her freedom. It felt like poor rushed story telling and frustrating to watch her show up again and again with no damage whatsoever. There is no explanation why she targets the FL's daughter except that she is evil, and this seems out of character as she doesn't take any risk without some big reward in line.

4) Not enough closure on the creepy lecturer who wanted to sleep with the FL after the first date, or the manipulative professor lady who wanted to marry the CEO and how he replied to her proposal.

5) This show had several make out scenes for the ones having affairs and yet didn't show a single kiss between the main leads until the very end! There was absolutely zero chemistry between the FL and either of the leads. The MLs played their part but the FL just alternated between a gloomy self absorbed look or a bewildered damsel in distress look most of the time. If it was a pure revenge drama they should not have tried to include a romance angle to it without making it believable.

6) The SML had much more back story and history with the FL and would have even been a better fit for her at the end. Just because the CEO also had a kid and it was convenient for them to become a family, did they need to get married? Atleast the CEO is shown to have feelings for the FL, but the FL seems to be only making calculative decisions until the end. She seems vaguely pleased and pleasantly shocked at the end, but there is no genuine love or gratitude in getting married to him.

7) The CEOs mother didn't want her for a DIL until the end, yet we find her smiling at the wedding.

The ending felt flat, rushed, unfair on SML and just sad and bewildering in a way. Happy for the ML but neutral towards the FL and very sad for the SML who was really supportive all through the series. All in all, it felt unsatisfactory and definitely not worth a rewatch. I doubt if i will see season 2 if there is one, as I didn't feel connected enough to these characters until the end.

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Expectations too high

The production value was quite good as to be expected from a Netflix original series. The acting, particularly the 2 MLs and the female antagonist was also strong. The music was good but not outstanding.

Unfortunately the story was not well executed. The first couple of episodes started strong to set things up. The issue in my opinion was there were too many sub-plots and characters that could not sufficiently be detailed out and developed better into the main story. Perhaps there was too much to get to in only 8 episodes. Maybe it could have been better with a full 16 episodes but I was struggling to maintain interest at Episode 5. At that point onwards the story unfortunately plays out predictably with very few twists.

The ending of episode 6 was quite good and satisfying however from that point onwards I felt 7 & 8 was really more of the same as we already saw but quickly tieing a few loose ends. The oustanding ending to 6 basically had no consequence to the rest of the story.

Hard to recommend this one. From a similar genre The World of the Married and Eve are vastly superior.

Overall disappointed as Netflix has produced some fantastic original series but this is not one of them.

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