This one is probably not as good as the ones I’ve covered so far, but at least it’s short.
Remarriage and Desires (Netflix, 2022)
Another rather odd translation, since the original title means "Bride of Black", but honestly that would be awkward and confusing - it's about an elite (black as in Amex Black or similar) marriage agency.
Our protagonist (there's really only one) in this 8-episode (shortest yet!) series is Seo Hye-Seung, a Gangnam (as in richest area of Seoul) homemaker whose life is destroyed when her husband kills himself after an affair with a colleague goes very badly wrong. Her mother pays for her to attend a party for Rex, an elite marriage agency which arranges ideal marriages for very rich Korean people, and there she finds the woman who destroyed her life* and plots revenge.
*Didn't her husband have any agency in cheating on her and embezzling money from the company? No, apparently not.
So, Remarriage and Desires does the Sky Castle thing except for Korean hypocrisy around marriage, virginity, divorce, remarriage etc. and honestly it doesn't do it very well (because it doesn't challenge much of any of the rampant sexism and heteronormative assumptions around that whole culture) but it's an interesting watch nonetheless to see how these things might work. Our villainess, Jin Yoo-Hee, is pretty compelling as a total sociopath who nonetheless has understandable motivations.
Remarriage and Desires (Netflix, 2022)
Another rather odd translation, since the original title means "Bride of Black", but honestly that would be awkward and confusing - it's about an elite (black as in Amex Black or similar) marriage agency.
Our protagonist (there's really only one) in this 8-episode (shortest yet!) series is Seo Hye-Seung, a Gangnam (as in richest area of Seoul) homemaker whose life is destroyed when her husband kills himself after an affair with a colleague goes very badly wrong. Her mother pays for her to attend a party for Rex, an elite marriage agency which arranges ideal marriages for very rich Korean people, and there she finds the woman who destroyed her life* and plots revenge.
*Didn't her husband have any agency in cheating on her and embezzling money from the company? No, apparently not.
So, Remarriage and Desires does the Sky Castle thing except for Korean hypocrisy around marriage, virginity, divorce, remarriage etc. and honestly it doesn't do it very well (because it doesn't challenge much of any of the rampant sexism and heteronormative assumptions around that whole culture) but it's an interesting watch nonetheless to see how these things might work. Our villainess, Jin Yoo-Hee, is pretty compelling as a total sociopath who nonetheless has understandable motivations.
