Classic KDrama 101: "The Woman Who Still Wants To Marry"

Odds are you probably missed "The Woman Who Still Wants To Marry" as it didn't win any awards but there are three good reasons for catching up with it.

First, Kim Beom is in it. If this is enough for you, it's okay to stop reading here. Playing Ha Min Jae, the indie rocker, was his second role after "Boys Over Flowers." And while viewers may find it easier to focus on his dimples rather than his acting skills in this drama, his character is so likeable that you can't help but cheer him on. And isn't it a good idea to catch up on everything he appeared in before you see him playing Moon Geun Young's love interest in "Goddess of Fire," right?

Second, the heroine is really likeable and quite different from your standard issue kdrama female lead. Lee Shin Young, played by Park Shin Hee, is not a Candy girl. She's not clumsy, silly or cloyingly sweet. She's a woman who puts career and her friends before dating. Although that does cause her some heartbreak, she stays true to her priorities. While she worries about never getting married, and almost decides to marry an ex-boyfriend, in the end she is smart enough to make a bolder choice.

Third, although this is a comedy, it does have something serious to say. While getting married is the "happily ever after" ending to so many kdrama stories, in real life it doesn't always turn out to be all that happy.

The Woman Who Still Wants To Marry focuses on a journalist, played by Park, a translator, Jung Da Jung, played by Uhm Ji Won, and a restaurateur, Kim Boo Ki, played by Wang Bit Na. All three women have found their romantic relationships negatively affected by their professional lives. Now that they have reached their 30s, they wonder if they will ever marry. Jung does marry and then discovered that married life is not a happy ending but rather a problematic beginning. Kim decides not to marry. And Lee embarks on another kind of relationship with a much younger man.

Park Shin Hee and Kim Beom play the couple mismatched in age but not in interests. Despite the 10-year age difference, they work together, and oddly seem one of the couples more likely to make it in kdrama. Complicating the situation is the fact that his mother opposes their relationship while at the same time dating a younger man.

It's a fun comedy about modern relationships. Have you seen it? If so, let us know what you think.