[HanCinema's Drama Review] "The Woman who Married Three Times" Episode 26

Well, we find out this time that apparently Chae Rin's in-laws are aware of the fact that she's incapable of connecting with her stepdaughter. It's just that they're choosing not to do anything about it. I'd be angry but this is so in keeping with the self-centered self-absorbed world of Tae-won and his relatives that it barely even registers as a surprise. I continue to just feel sorry for Chae Rin- it's unclear what possible positive direction this could go for her.

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There's an interesting flashback this time that goes over the moment when Eun-soo and Tae-won first started discussing the prospect of marriage- and the parallels with Chae Rin's situation are too eerie. The same with Eun-soo's current situation, for that matter. The main theme of this drama has been the idea that remarriages can just be the continuance of a repeating cycle, and this episode does good work demonstrating how people are able to lapse into the same mistakes again and again.

Let's take the ending. Several episodes ago Joon-goo was genuinely distraught over the way he'd hurt Eun-soo, remembering that she'd been coming up off a horribly miserably bad relationship with her ex-husband. And yet here we are, him too making the same mistake he knows he will eventually make because Joon-goo simply won't put in the hard effort necessary to prevent the situation from relapsing.

The storyline between Hyeon-soo and Gwang-mo takes on an interesting light in this context. Hyeon-soo is, by and large, immune to peer pressure. She will not get married just because other people think that it would be a good idea. I think inevitably the question comes up why it's so necessary for Hyeon-soo to marry right this minute- it doesn't come up in the drama proper, but this only serves to highlight the fact that Hyeon-soo has to hold out against bad advice and instincts. This is something the other characters have failed to do.

All in all this makes for a fairly solid episode, which by and large avoids the cringeworthy depression this drama sometimes lapses into, and allows for something a bit more introspective. Sometimes the slow pace can be maddening, but that's exactly how these kinds of relationships disintegrate. The big blow-ups have to be built up to. Until that moment arises, it's just an extended spiral of characters trying to convince themselves that they're happy good people who are trying, so that should be good enough.

Review by William Schwartz

"The Woman who Married Three Times" is directed by Son Jeong-hyeon and written by Kim Su-hyun and features Lee Ji-ah, Uhm Ji-won, Song Chang-eui and Ha Seok-jin.