I Am Married...But!

Wow, I didn't expect the show would be so good! I'm not sure if the creator is a woman, but it definitely gives a female view on a relationship. It's really funny and cute, I liked that it's not all fairytales, there's a real view on the marriage limitations such as annoying partners habits like snoring or not closing the door when going to toilet. At times the show was extremely humorous, for example, the way they depicted husbands as plants in pots. I can imagine those silent submissive husbands who cannot stand up against their active energetic Chinese wives.

Male actors are pretty attractive which is another bonus to the show. I wish Netflix had more series like that: smart and hard-working.

I-Ling is the main character female. They show her jilted and jaded point of view of marriage right from the start. Sort of like, are any of us happily married or are we all unified in pure pretense. We do it out of social peer pressure and thoughtlessly go along.

She then falls in love. After 3 years of marriage and living w/her husband's parents, ALL the fun/flavor is super gone. And though the summary/gist of the show is supposed to make you think that she will be tempted by something sweet and magical to take her away from what we can all truly see is her daily misery, the show does not stick to its own premise. Nothing magical ever happens. She goes on, show after show, episode after episode drowning in different awful versions of her bad domestic life.

As an example, if the premise was about the misery of a slave's life (beaten, overworked, under-fed, chained to a tree), and the premise said that something magical would happen, you might watch it expecting that something good would eventually happen. Only it never does. Just more of the horrors of the slave's terrible life. That's how this show is. You're waiting for it to turn and go in her favor, but it never happens. You cannot help but feel frustrated too! Had you known it would never change, only more examples of why it is So bad, you would never have watched it. No magic at all. Just 1 woman's crappy life without any romance or fun.

I admit, I watched this when it appeared on my suggestion list and I noticed Jasper Lui was in it. Not familiar with Thai Drama as am a K-Drama fan and became aware of him in a travel series with a K-Drama star and noticed what a fun lovable authentic guy he was. Been watching a few of his dramas since. I thought he was perfectly cast in this role and was both comical and cute. He was also loyal to his wife and tried hard for her. He was also a mamma's boy which was the catalyst of many of their marriage problems to begin with. He just played it all perfect. Am not sure the FL was the best match for him though. Regardless, the stereotyping of the housewife's clothing (dowdy looking apparel) seems to be the norm for these dramas.

There was just enough tension in the drama to keep each episode interesting without getting stressed out over it. So making it a fun, relaxed, and comical show with romance and everyday doldrums in the real world to make emotions go up and down. I took a few stars off mainly because the twist ending was quite predictable from the beginning.

My stars are for Jasper and his comical scenes.

Nyssa Li has created an observant and almost accurate depiction of modern marriage from a woman's point of view. No matter what culture one is from, you'll be able to relate with the ups and downs, and the madness, of attempting to keep that marital bliss tracking along. All this through standard Taiwanese campy melodrama comedy, and sometimes it goes up a notch, almost to an absurdist surreal style with some laugh-out-loud moments that works a treat in this mini-series. And then there are those touching moments where you are not sure if you should be laughing, but instead just get sucked into the romance of it all. The cast is a bonus, and really play it with a farcical conviction, all thanks to Nyssa's witty and enjoyable screenplay...

This popped up in my discovery feed, and was touted as an anti-rom com, and the trailer really made it look that way. It starts this way, but by the mid point of the season, it had morphed back into a pretty traditional rom com - with frankly less com and more focus on the rom and real life drama. To be clear, it actually wasn't that bad, probably deserved a seven, but lost a point for not really being what I felt was promised. Toward the end, I felt like I was just getting through it to get to the end. Still worth a look if it catches your interest, but don't expect anything earth shattering.