Noctis

Surprisingly okay, good enough for what it is.. Nothing fancy, nothing new.. A solid cast and strong performances are let down by inconsistent direction and an uncreative script.. The end result is a drama that feels as though the production team’s main goal was simply to finish the whole thing and say goodbye.. I couldn’t help but feel that it could have benefited greatly from a director willing to interpret rather than just record.. A missed opportunity..

While this drama is neither horribly bad nor average, it is a dull mix of stale stereotypes and recycled plot devices.. I am okay with these mid tier, cliche tropes as long as they are used in a way that drives the narrative without overwhelming it, but that balance isn’t here.. If not for the solid cast carrying this poorly written script, this could have been a much worse drama.. That said, it does manage to get pretty good in a lot of parts..

We are all exhausted with the constant reuse of childhood connection tropes, fake marriages, contract marriages and the whole lot.. We keep craving something different.. But, but, but.. Even with all that, I don’t want to be too harsh on this drama.. I guess this whole review is going to sound contradictory.. Because even though I want to join the rest of the voices out there, I honestly don’t hate the drama the way a lot of people did..

Halfway through the drama, it’s pretty easy to guess how the rest of the story will unfold.. Who the antagonist is, how everything connects to his parents death and all of that.. You don’t even have to be smart to predict it, we have seen this exact setup way too many times in way too many dramas.. But then they went and trivialized everything.. The business takeover, the financial fraud, all of it was treated like child’s play.. Everything was resolved far too easily and way too quickly.. There was no cleverness, nothing that made me go, 'Wow, look how they handled that' These were serious crimes.. Hell, the man murdered so many people.. They had a perfectly strong story right there to build toward a solid ending.. Instead of writing a proper conclusion around that, they chose to focus on the stupid fake marriage angle.. I started getting worried when the murder plot and the uncle’s involvement were being unraveled a bit too fast, which obviously meant they were going to waste the last two episodes tackling the ex-bf and those subplots.. And honestly, that was never going to help the drama end on a high note..

In short, the drama was directionless.. Some moments felt like a calm walk through a quiet park, but the rest felt like being lost in the woods without a map.. Things were moving, but there was no goal, they just moved.. Can I absolutely write this drama off as bad?? No, but that’s precisely the problem.. It’s not that there is nothing redeemable here, it’s that the drama never does anything with its redeemable parts.. It has so much potential, yet it simply never delivers on it..

I think a lot of people will agree with me on this, the second couple felt more appealing.. Their story was raw.. There wasn’t really any romance to speak of but the subtle emotions and small, honest moments between them worked so well.. I guess there was more to their story that we could have dug into.. And special appreciation to Bae Na Ra, I want to see him in more projects, hopefully as a lead sometime soon..

Overall, Would You Marry Me is a drama you watch solely for the cast.. While the story is disappointingly uninnovative, it still has moments you can enjoy.. You won’t be shocked by who the villain is, you won’t be shocked by the conclusion, the drama does nothing you haven’t already seen before and done better.. I had quite a lot more to say here about the FL’s ex, her ex-inlaws and her mother, but this has already turned into a rant of conflicting thoughts..

So, this whole monologue was to say that while I have objectively given this drama an 8, whether it deserves that really depends on your emotional response.. I recognize its script and structural flaws and I might find it average if I were to rewatch it on another day.. But ratings are a mix of instinct and emotion and I am comfortable sticking with my 8..