To me, watching Bride of the Century was like watching two completely different shows. One show was a typical K-drama romance, which I enjoyed, and the other was a revenge ghost mystery, which I hated.
I'll start with the romance, which is what stopped me from dropping the show. It's another basic arrogant chaebol meets quirky girl cinderella story. If you're a fan of this type of drama, you know exactly what to expect (jealous 2nd leads, family feuds, evil moms, hilariously cute fights, love triangles/squares/pentagons...), but what makes this drama different is that the main love triangle is between two girls pretending to be the same person. This part of the story only works, and works well, because of the lead actress Yang Jin Sung. She plays both characters so distinctively well, that I could tell who was who just based on their expression. Not many actors could pull this kind of role off, and she definitely does.
Then of course there's the leading man, Lee Hong Ki, who made me cry in "You're Beautiful", this time cast in a more mature role. I think he was great, and looked completely different without the bleached hair. He's strong in emotional scenes, as well and likable in lighthearted funny scenes, and together they made a perfect match. I loved their chemistry, and although predictable, I liked their story. If this was strictly a romance, my overall score would be higher.
What I didn't like about this drama was the ghost story. To be blunt, I thought it was poorly written, dragged out way too long, and then was rushed at the end. I was initially intrigued by the mystery, but I soon grew bored with it. Then, out of nowhere, in the last few episodes, they rush through explaining everything in the story with epic flashbacks. I honestly wasn't interested in the backstory at all, which seemed thrown together. They did their best to explain everything by the end, but a lot of the explanations were uninteresting, and even silly, to me. There are also a lot of 'time filler' scenes at the end. Again, it was the great cast that stopped me from skipping through these scenes. I thought the story was bad, but the actors who played the characters made me want to care more than I did.
Another issue I had with the writing was how some characters seem to have complete changes in personality without reason, or explanation. I loved Na Doo Rim's fighting spirit, that allowed her to even fight grown men, but all of a sudden she couldn't even take on a middle aged woman, or run without tripping. She made some choices toward the end that made absolutely no sense to me, and became a weaker, less interesting character as the show progressed.
Speaking of badly written characters, I see that I am not alone in thinking that Jang Yi Hyun's feelings for Doo Rim were a little creepy. I also had a huge problem believing that so many women were so desperate for love that they would sacrifice their life for it. Really? That idea seemed a little too one-sided, and sexist, but maybe that's just me. Giving up your lifestyle, sure, but actually giving up your life? That just seems a little too over-dramatic, even for K-Drama.
Overall, I am torn between the good acting, and bad writing. If this was Kang Joo & Doo Rim's love story, and about 4 or 5 episodes shorter, I would recommend it. If you are a vengeful ghost mystery fan, which I am, I think you will be very disappointed. I liked a lot of moments in this drama, but I couldn't see myself watching the entire thing again. There were times I couldn't wait for the next episode, but by the end I was forcing myself to complete it, because each hour felt like a century.
I guess, if you're between dramas, and lower your expectations, there is enough in Bride of the Century to probably keep you entertained.
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