The Matchmakers (2023)

One of the better Josean era dramas, even pokes fun at some of the over used tropes

9.5/10 is my rating. This is a 2023 South Korean Romantic comedy drama with 16, 60 minute episodes

First I provide a unique synopsis then review

Synopsis

Shim Jung-woo (Rowoon) is still salty about being “sold” into marriage into the royal family. To make things worse his new wife, the Princess, died from poison on the eve of their wedding. Which locks him into celibate bachelorhood and makes it so he has way too much time on his hands. He is known as the grouchy Prince (resentful man) as he uses his exceptional intellect to ensure no one else is having fun either (in the guise of upholding strict Josean law). Jung Soon-deok (Cho Yi-hyun) loved her husband but is a young widow locked in the role of little madam as the second daughter-in-law of the Left State Councilor. She prefers to use her skills as a matchmaker to playing lady of the house. Fate lands these two unlikely accomplices in league to get three old maidens married in order to manipulate the politics to allow the young crown prince to marry. Neither should be interested in anyone romantically as social tradition ties them to their deceased spouses. Will the two succeed in their unlikely task of getting all three old maids wed? Will their hearts abide by the dictates of society?

Review

One of the better Josean dramas I have seen. It even pokes fun at some of the tropes such as the “I love You So I am Going To Leave You” trope. Rowoon is always a joy to watch, he can play such a diversity of characters well. Multiple romances in this, as would be expected given the topic, and they all end well. It is entertaining throughout and ends happy. I recommend to fans of either of the main leads, Josean drama fans, those that like a little action, and a little mystery and not an overwhelming amount of politics. If it was on, I would watch it again and I recommend it as an excellent drama.

Spoilers

I liked the “resentful” man angle and was a little disappointed to find he was not coerced into the marriage. It was less appealing to me that he actually loved the Princess. I thought him being forced made his intractable nature more understandable.

The character growth in this was amazing. The King, for example, I did not think I would like him but he turned out to be one of the best characters. The way he saved both Jung-woo and Sein-dook in the end was heart warming. It was clear he grew to love and appreciate Jung-woo as not only a close trusted advisor but like another son. The queen was also an awesome character in the way she lived her son and how kind she was to others. The young Crown Prince was bright, wise and kind. The royal family in this series is one of few royal families, in Josean dramas, I have liked.

Soon-deok’s mother-in-law (MIL) was purely evil and I know it was supposed to be her punishment was being alone but I would have liked to have seen her seriously punished. Or for her to come around, accept her daughter’s choice, and allow her daughter-in-law to have a life. I was disappointed Soon-deok did not see her MIL’s tweet true character sooner. She admired her through most of the series even when many of the things she was doing were underhanded and evil. I got she was being filial but there were points when I wish she had stood up to her or turned away from her more.

It ending with Jung-woo and Soon-deok just having a magical romance, a courtship, prior to marriage was a little unsatisfying. After all they had gone through to be able to be together, ending in their marriage would have felt more “happily ever after” than we are just going to essentially date and marry later.

#KimSeokWoo

#Rowoon

#TheMatchmakers

#ChoYiHyun

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So cute and fun drama

You should definitely watch this if love cute fun or comedy historical dramas. The ml and fl are so cute together. I love ittttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttittttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttittttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttitttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt ittttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttittttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttittttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttitttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt ittttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttittttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttittttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttitttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt

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I am not a fan of period kdramas but i was craving a drama with similar vibe as Mr. Queen. And the matchmakers did not disappoint. Binged watched in 4 days. It’s not on the same level but good enough to watch. It was entertaining enough with equal amounts of funny and cute moments. It was extremely hilarious at times so i will not be pointing out the flaws much.
The1st half of the show was more funny than the 2nd half. The bickering between the main leads was cute and the story of 3 sisters was also hilarious meanwhile 2nd half was bit slow and had more political elements in it.

Rowoon did a good job as Lord shim. Y’all I wasn’t expecting much from him but he was soo hilarious in this drama. I died laughing watching his expressions and gestures. The female characters in the drama are strong and blunt .A special shout out to the mother in law, she was fierce.. The three sisters were progressive and way ahead of time. i absolutely loved the portrayal of strong women in the drama. Female lead was a widow but she did not sacrifice her love for sake of the society and dignity . Bow 🙇🏻‍♀️
I have zero regrets and will definitely rewatch.

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Great props and fresh take on a saguek drama

Love the props and the sceneries. The colours are rich and vibrant for the entire production. Also... Rowoon Rowoon... How could anyone miss his dramas? He is such a great actor. A chameleon who can change his DNA from serious to funny in such a short time. He didn't have time to prepare for this role because he jumped into it right after destined with you. And my my, the guy had me rolling in my seats with his portrayal of Shim JUNG Woo. Totally hilarious. Now that the romance is bidding, I hope we will see butterflies soon. The storyline is intriguing as it is deeper than we assumed with the palace plots. Great acting from all casts. 👌

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A love letter to love in all its forms

This is the first drama I completed in 2024 and what a beautiful way to start the new year. Above all else, this is a story about love, romantic love, yes, but also the love between friends, the love you have for your country, the love you have for your family (the one you're born into, the one you marry into, and the one you make for yourself), and above all else, the love and respect you have for yourself. Cho Yi Hyun and Rowoon absolutely shine as the titular matchmakers who have each known love and loss, who are each seeking their place in the world, and who end up finding solace in each other. Park Ji Young is mesmerizing as one of the best-written antagonists I've ever seen, balancing her character's calm dignity as the firm but fair mother-in-law with her quietly terrifying ferocity as the cunning puppet master pulling all the strings behind the scenes. The secondary characters are just as compelling and memorable, from the sweet but stubborn sister-in-law Ye Jin to the young and noble Crown Prince to the steadfast bookseller to the actually competent King to the real Yeojudaek to the old bachelors, and of course, the unforgettable Maeng sisters, who each got a love story that allowed them to stay true to themselves. It's evident that every aspect of this drama was produced with love and care, from the beautiful cinematography to the excellent writing and character development and I especially enjoyed modern style choices like the giant location headers and the mockumentary format at the beginning of each episode that made the show feel fresh and fun. The last episode became a bit too melodramatic for me but all in all, this was a gem of a drama that I can't wait to rewatch.

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i love this drama

A great drama, funny, witty, but at the same time it has a degree of seriousness (it's about a marriage of convenience, revenge, murder, and control). The historical/modern production reminds a bit of a reality show (a break between the scenes and the actors looking directly at the camera, something more like a drama, "Lovestruck in the City"). A plot that has female empowerment, love, friendship, strict rules that were accepted at that time and you can say unconditional love. The characters develop gradually. Especially the character of Shim Jung Woo who plays rowoom in a wonderful way, rowoon succeeds with his wonderful acting and his facial expressions (mimicry) to transfer the character in a wonderful way, (from a person who reluctantly submits to strict rules to a sensitive, loving and uncompromising person) as well as Cho Yi Hyun who plays Jung Sun Deok and the rest of the actors who did a wonderful job...a drama that I personally recommend.

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Comic relationship adventure with odd editing, conflicting themes

Shim Jung Woo was the highest & youngest scorer civil service exam, highly reluctant prince consort, and naive straight shooter. "Those who marry matchmakers are destined to live short lives" is a saying taken to extremes as SJW's princess bride to be drops dead during the wedding ceremony, foretelling his own unrealized true destiny. Rowoon is very good at comic roles & hilariously portrays SJW as haplessly innocent in spite of his high intelligence & strong sense of justice.

Cho Yi Hyun plays Jung Soon Deok, a widowed noblewoman who moonlights as matchmaker under the pseudonym of Yeo Joo Daek, unafraid of any challenge, & is as free spirited as Jung Woo is rigid. Her talents are so natural it leads SJW to believe she is the incarnation of a matchmaking god.

No period drama is complete without palace intrigue as the Joseon king fights resistance from his own court to appointing the sickly 14 yr old crown prince's marriage and thus, by inference, his ascension. To lift a rumoured curse on the prince's future marriage (and political) prospects, the king orders SJW to marry off 3 "old maidens" whose unmarried status threatens the prosperity of the kingdom. SJW teams up with JSD in a funny and raucous ride to find the perfect bachelors for the maiden sisters. However, the journey gets rather dizzying with sudden flashbacks for mutliple characters, new characters introduced at different times, and complicated backstories with hidden identities. And there's one significant character, the king's second grandson & chief political threat to the crown prince, who's mentioned frequently but never shown during the entire show which is very odd.

Therefore it took me almost a 1/3 of the show to get into the story because of the mish-mash of flashbacks & jumping storyline, but eventually as the matchmaking for the maidens gets going I could just enjoy the comic moments & follow the development of the relationship between the leads. Then their matchmaking efforts fall apart as the politics heat up and past crimes come to light, turning the leads into detectives. There is also the prospect of a child marriage with a 10 yr age gap, presented as a fated true love match, which cannot be portrayed positively or realistically even if it was acceptable centuries ago. It's uncomfortable, actually, to see this in the storyline as no big deal & it conflicted with my enjoyment of the show. Finally comes the age old question of do you follow your heart or your fate? In the end, the good people are happy & the bad people get their due. The romance is light & funny, the politics heavy & perhaps unnecessarily tragic, but an entertaining watch overall.

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If you want to watch a light rom-com don’t hesitate to watch

Ik i am in minority here but i really enjoyed watching the matchmakers. As long as i feel entertained throughout 16 episodes, i’ll keep watching the drama. The show has soo many laugh out loud moments. I almost choked.

What i loved:
Our male lead: lord shim is hilarioussss. He is the funniest character in the show. His expressions are soo freaking funny.

Strong female characters: there are soo many strong and independent ladies in the show. Even the main villain is a women.

The matchmaking operation: the main theme of the show was to wed spinsters with old bachelors and entire process is hilarious.

The music is soo beautiful, gives a refreshing feel.

What I disliked:
The unnecessary murder mystery plot that made the show serious in 2nd half.

Matchmaking a kid with an older women. That was odd pairing and left a bitter taste in my mouth.

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Good Enough

Korean Drama '' The Matchmakers '' is a historical romantic comedy.

The drama has a delightful to watch female lead, who was adorable, sassy, feisty, and nailed her emotional moments. She actually carried the drama when things started getting cheesy and boring.

Also, the couple was enjoyable to watch, as they had interesting banter and their dynamics were spot on. However, the love story was just okay, taking off only toward the ending of the series, and being more or less unoriginal. Still, the drama handled them having a significant other that they missed masterfully.

The performances, finally, were pretty great by everyone in the cast, even the side characters. The final episodes, however, were rushed and boring.

So, overall, five out of ten.

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Overall a fun watch.

The matchmakers is one of those dramas that i am on edge about. I neither loved it nor hated it. But the story was interesting enough for me to continue watching it. The show was hilarious at times.
I enjoyed watching the first 6 and last 3 episodes the most, the mission to marry the three sisters thrilled me and I was excited to see who each one of them will be paired with. Apart from the 3 sister’s marriage mart, the love story between our main leads, a widow and widower was intriguing. As their situation was no ordinary one, the curiosity keeps you going. The interactions between Lord shim and Lady yeoju were fun to watch. Rowoon is such a cuteheart throughout the drama, his expressions and body language was hilarious. I never thought he could play a comic role this good. He brought life to the show.

The drama started out soo well but lost track in the middle of the story. The matchmaking mission slowly turned into a murder mystery mission . And to solve those murder mysteries, new characters were introduced out of nowhere. They felt out of place to me. The homosexual monk and lady jung’s brother in law story didn’t explain how and why real lady yeoju was falsely accused of murder? This story was most out of place in the drama.

I was kinda bummed that none of the 3 sisters ended up with the bachelors they were initially paired up with in the matchmaking process. Considering how lady yeoju was an expert matchmaker and not a single match went according to plan!! I know it was because they weren’t meant to be but still atleast one pair could’ve had an arrange marriage if not all. To set an example that arrange marriages can work too, not everyone falls in love. Suddenly all old bachelors and ladies fell in love in the same episode. It was bit hasty.

Last but not the least a teenager boy and an adult women were paired up to get married. That was uncomfortable to watch. I was soo mad about this pairing it made me forget about other couples.

The drama was a rollercoaster ride with its ups & downs and good & bad moments. But the story was original and different from what I have watched before . Also can’t deny that the show was hilarious.

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