Bullet Point Review: The World of the Married

Upon getting a divorce, the universe sends the protagonists in Go Back Couple back in time as a means to help them fix their marriage. As wonderful as it sounds, it is after all a fantastical premise; a chance to play out your what-if scenarios in real-time. The ground reality isn’t so simple and straightforward. Staying married or getting divorced is a complicated choice followed by a complicated process and The World of the Married highlights these choices and their implications, in this gripping, thrilling, and ceaselessly entertaining adaptation of BBC’s Dr. Foster.

The drama recorded the highest ratings for a cable TV drama ever and it isn’t hard to understand why. Though rooted amongst realistic characters and scenarios, in a manner similar to Go Back Couple, it tends to our fantasy of watching the scorned wife take revenge on her cheating husband and his mistress. God forbid that any of us ever ends up in a situation like this, but it is thrilling (inspiring even) to watch a woman beaten down, rise up and avenge those who wronged her. As I wrote in my review for The Last Empress, this is a genre dominated by women, as it gives them a chance to ditch their moral compass, their male counterparts, and to fully display and use their intellect to achieve whatever they set their minds to. (In other words, setting themselves free of every societal constraint, and doing whatever the fuck they want. It is definitely a fantasy then).

But to describe this show as just a wife avenging her cheating spouse is an extreme understatement (that is just one-third of the drama). There is so much more to that description, that it actually became hard for me to articulate it into a structured review. Plus, I honestly didn’t find anything wrong with the show! I loved and enjoyed every minute of it and so, just like my A Girl & Three Sweethearts post, this won’t be a review per se, but a list of things I loved about this show.

Spoilers Ahead…

The Plot:

• A strand of hair — that’s all it takes to plant a seed of suspicion in Ji Sun Woo (a flawless Kim Hee Ae) that her husband, Lee Tae Oh (a fascinating Park Hae Joon) could be having an affair. Later, while waiting for her son outside his school, she scans every woman out there with long brown hair. This scene plays out like a shampoo commercial, with the hair of the women flying around in slow motion, but it highlights the underlying uneasiness that Sun Woo is feeling, that any one of these women could be Tae Oh’s mistress. What makes this revelation shocking to Sun Woo is that her married life, in her own words, has been perfect. The couple even after twelve years of marriage, is described to be all lovey-dovey. They share a visibly healthy sex life. They share a cute, smart son, Lee Joon Young (an excellent Jeon Jin Seo). They both have jobs that they are largely passionate about. Yet there seem to be a few cracks, largely owing to Tae Oh’s insecurity from living under the shadow of a successful wife. Sun Woo is the one with a stable job, holding the position of associate director at the city hospital and her income is largely what runs the household. So, unlike most stories in this genre, upon the discovery of the affair, it isn’t the woman at loss here, but the cheating husband itself. Therefore, Sun Woo choosing to divorce Tae Oh is in itself akin to revenge.
• The drama does resemble a makjang (I am totally basing this statement on the one makjang that I have watched), in regards to its rapidly-paced plotline (by the end of the first episode, Sun Woo finds out about the affair and by the sixth, the divorce is finalized), that just races forward without any urge to look back, and the temperament to end every episode with a massive cliffhanger. But it never feels like one because the drama is just so classy and thoughtful. It isn’t just the cool tones of Sun Woo’s massive house or her sophisticated wardrobe, or the fancy cars, or the umpteen number of wine bottles consumed, but also the conflicts, which felt very real. The pull and push a single mother feels between managing her career and her teenage son. The effect of divorce on a child’s life. The ripple effect of seeking vengeance. The discrimination single women face at the workplace. These are very real problems, which when acted upon can have very real consequences and they are continuously built-up on (whether in the background or foreground), with regards to the characters' motivations. Nothing occurs at random but is always a result of what the characters choose to do. Also, no new characters are introduced after the initial introductions, which keeps the twists to the minimum, yet plausible and effective.

The Screenplay:

• Each episode is a good 80–90 minutes, but it is so well structured that I never once felt it being too long-drawn-out.
• Loosely based on the Greek Tragedy Medea, the screenplay also seemed to follow that of a play — ACT I is getting the divorce; ACT II is the life after the divorce and Tae Oh’s marriage to Yeo Da Kyung (Han So Hee, humanising the other woman) and ACT III is Sun Woo and Tae Oh co-parenting Joon Young.
• As the title suggests, it is after all the world of the married and in this microscopic look at Gosan and its inhabitants, the drama explores the many facets of marriage, adultery, divorce without clubbing each couple (or character) and their problems into a predetermined box. Son Je Hyuk (Kim Young Min) and Ko Ye Rim (Park Sun Young) have an arranged marriage and he cheats on her multiple times, citing the lack of passion in their marriage as the reason for adultery. Sun Woo and Tae Oh date each other before getting married, yet he also cheats on her. But while Sun Woo sees this as an act of ultimate betrayal, Ye Rim, just like many other women, is ok to look past the affair in order to maintain a semblance of a happy marriage. I neither have a job, nor a child, what good will divorce do for me? asks Ye Rim. On a similar note, Chairman Choi’s wife (the ever wonderful Seo Yi Sook), equates sex (for men) to excretion. According to her, adultery is something unavoidable for the opposite sex and after working as hard as her husband to build this wealth, isn’t it, her right too, to enjoy the fruits of her labour?
  Dr. Sul Myung Sook’s (Chae Gook Hee) experiences as a child of a divorced mother, is vital for Sun Woo to understand what Joon Young is going through, as well as sort her initial confusions on whether to get a divorce or not; while Min Hyun Seo (Sim Eun Woo) and her relationship with her abusive boyfriend, Park In Kyu (Lee Hak Joo) teaches Sun Woo about the need to finally let go of Tae Oh and to stop pitying him even after all the pain he has put her through. Such parallels constantly compare, contrast and juxtapose different relationships, showing us how distinct yet indistinguishable each marriage/romantic relationship is from one another, pushing us to continuously think if there is any correct way to go about all this.
• What I liked a lot about this drama is that it doesn’t preach, it shows. It shows the difficulties of being a single mother, a divorcee. It shows the mental toll a divorce procedure takes on someone. It shows the heartache of staying with someone who is constantly lying to you. It shows the confusion felt by a child after his parents' divorce.
• K-dramas tend to explain everything and tie up all the loose ends by the end of the show and while that has its own satisfaction in a finite runtime, here, the lack of information concerning our characters past puts forth an air of mystery (we only hear about it — like Tae Oh taking care of Joon Young as a baby, while Sun Woo finished her training — we never witness it). Has Tae Oh cheated on Sun Woo before? Probably. Did he date Da Kyung just to get her father’s investment? Probably. Does Je Hyuk genuinely like Sun Woo, or did he take advantage of the situation to sleep with her? Probably. Does Ye Rim genuinely consider Sun Woo her friend? Probably. We don’t get answers to any of these questions, but they are pointers for us to assume, discuss and decide why the characters do the things they do. The showrunners don’t treat us as idiots who need to be spoonfed every piece of information. That’s why there are rarely any flashbacks, and even after a sudden cutaway, the story doesn’t go back to that point to show us scene by scene of what happened.
• The scene where Sun Woo consults a divorce lawyer for the first time, reminded me of Charlie’s first meeting with the divorce lawyers in Noah Baumbach’s A Marriage Story. In a similar manner, the lawyer here too, addresses the issue of divorce and adultery in a rather matter of fact tone, talking primarily about collecting evidence (photographs which shows Tae Oh in bed with Da Kyung would work the best, he utters) without any heed to Sun Woo’s feelings. But in contrast to all the wishy-washy advice that she has been getting from others, the lawyer's stern and practical tone towards the divorce desensationalizes the issue and presents it as the right thing to do, no matter how difficult or tiresome.

The Cultural Adaptations: When adapting a show from the western part of the globe to the eastern part, changes are bound to be made in regard to the cultural and geographical setting. As I haven’t watched the BBC original, I, therefore, cannot talk about changes made regarding the plot, but these are just some cultural inserts that caught my eye.

• While we see how most women tend to choose to sideline the fact that their husband has cheated on them — even Sun Woo’s mother-in-law is impervious to the fact that her forty-something son has a girlfriend and even on her deathbed tells her daughter-in-law to forgive and forget — we don’t see the contrary of this; when a woman cheats on her husband. How would the husbands, mothers-in-law, and society react then?
  But what I did like is that the drama doesn’t once pin the blame for Tae Oh’s actions, on Sun Woo. (Though Joon Young does talk about it, which I will get to later). Never once does it consider that Sun Woo’s passion for her career might have been the trigger point for Tae Oh to look for love from elsewhere. In fact, it clearly conveys that men who cheat are in the wrong because whether you have a successful wife like Sun Woo or an obedient housewife like Ye Rim, or an equal partner like Chairman Choi’s wife, these men still choose to cheat, thereby the fault lying in them.
• This also brings forth into question the gender dynamics. As Dr. Sul says, divorce changes nothing for the man. He will just remarry a younger woman and continue living his life, while it’s the single woman who has to bear the brunt of the society. We see this in how Tae Oh marries Da Kyung immediately after his divorce and later, when Je Hyuk remarries after his separation from Ye Rim, while she remains single.
• Another dynamic questioned is that while daughters don’t need a father around to bring them up, a son does. Joon Young’s friend No Eul (Shin Soo Yeon) seems to have no issue living with a single mother and an absentee father, but even Sun Woo thinks that her son needs a father. Tae Oh constantly hovers over Sun Woo after their divorce to let him continue to be a part of Joon Young’s life, but we don’t see that kind of fixation in him after his divorce from Da Kyung, to be a part of his daughter’s life.
• Once Dr. Sul, Ye Rim, and Sun Woo are done pleasing the crowd and trying to fit into the box that society had made for them, we see how friendly and empathetic they are towards each other. Sun Woo even extends that empathy to Da Kyung (in certain situations) in helping her understand Tae Oh’s true nature.
  But even as characters finally get to live their lives on their own terms, they also need to face (some) consequences of upsetting the apple cart of living in a collectivistic society. We cheer Sun Woo on when she immediately confronts Cha Hae Gang’s mom (Yoon In Jo) about spreading rumours about her, but later when Sun Woo is at fault and needs to apologise to her, it becomes a rather difficult task to convince her to accept the apology.

The Cast, The Characters: I couldn’t shake off the feeling that every actor on this show has landed a jackpot! Along with playing morally loose characters, each character has something to contribute to the story. They aren’t there to just adore the background and you look forward to their side of the story as much as the protagonists.

• The continuous flow of occurrences (in the drama) is propped up by the existence of flawed characters. In one instance you might hate them, but in the next, you might empathize with them and pity them. There is no telling whom you will be rooting for in the upcoming situations. For example, take Sun Woo. You sympathize with her in the initial episodes and admire her resilience for choosing to stand up for herself and fight. But soon this resilience turns into an obsession, fueled by anxiety and stress, that forces you to question her methods to get revenge. Her victory over Tae Oh is so deranged, that you don’t know whether to feel elated for her or just plain bad for Tae Oh and Joon Young.
• In the second episode, we catch some snatches of a conversation on monogamy and polygamy at Tae Oh’s birthday party. While this topic is never visited again, the aspect that most men in Gosan occasionally cheat on their wives seems to suggest that men are somehow not built for a monogamous life. This somewhat strikes true in Tae Oh’s case. There is no discord between him and Sun Woo that could justify his adultery, and yet he claims he loves Da Kyung. But when asked to leave Sun Woo, he claims he loves her too. (In a saguek, we wouldn’t really question this sort of behaviour, but in the modern world...).
  Park Hae Joon really needs to be credited for leaving no stone unturned in portraying Tae Oh as an A-grade asshole. While there are moments you feel for him, ultimately this whole plotline is the result of his adultery and his reluctance to own up to it and apologize. Even until the very end, he maintains this delusion when he assures Sun Woo that he will forgive her so that they can start afresh.
• It is admirable that writer Joo Hyun took the time to show us the effect of the divorce (and all the getting back at each other business) on a child. A divorce means that Sun Woo and Tae Oh are no longer partners, but they are still Joon Young’s parents and need to bring him up together. Joon Young verbalizes many of his confusing feelings, which again puts forth another facet of discussion. While as a viewer, you would root for him to go to Sun Woo, he also can’t suddenly just start hating his dad. Tae Oh might have been a horrible husband but he has been a good father to Joon Young and knows him better than Sun Woo does. At the same time, it is natural for Sun Woo to feel a bit possessive over Joon Young (another reason which stifles Joon Young after divorce) as she lives in the fear that Joon Young might also leave her and go.
• Though the story revolves around all well-to-do people — doctors, politicians, businessmen, film producers; you never once feel that they are exaggerating their problems. When Sun Woo and Joon Young take a break from work and school to sort out their future plans, you are aware that for someone from lower economic strata like No Eul’s mother or Hyun Seo, such a thing is not even plausible, yet, the break feels earned, and instead of mocking it as a privilege, you see why it was prescribed for both the characters. Even Chairman Yeo’s compassionate response to his daughter’s pregnancy is in part due to his wealth and position.