Love in Contract

First thing i have to mention is that the 3/4 last dramas of Park Min Young have been literally the same, it feels like I have watched her portraying the same exact characters but with different male leads ( what's wrong with secretary Kim, Forecasting Love and weather, Her Private Life...) she is completely stuck with the roles she picks and that doesn't allow me to see how she actually performs ( if she can)

The concept of the series is somewhat original but feels more like a modern version geisha or gisaeng stories ( like when in the past they would literally kidnap and breed girls to be the perfect submissive male companions. Yet somehow in a modern society it doesn't work well and there's too many things and wholes that makes zero sense.

I am not a fan of love triangles ( usually) but sometimes if its well done and the script is well written, it does work and you end up suffering wanting to know what happens and who will be the triumphant ending couple.

This is not the case in the majority of kdramas unfortunately, including this one.

The love triangle here is just causing underdeveloped characters, and storylines left halfway. There's not enough time in the show to deepen into the layers of the main characters and you can't even get invested enough with the secondary lead either for the same reason.

If you ignore everything around the main story and just focus on the development of the main couple you will be able to enjoy their chemistry, its good enough to keep you entertained for a few hours, just don't try to think of it as a smart story that makes sense.

I got hooked early with this one based on the main characters personalities, backgrounds and stories. So much potential. However, sloppy story telling, inconsistent dialogue (some touching and some cringe-worthy) and situations that are not realistic (e.g. How does she constantly show up to the guys place without disguise and not be discovered by paparazzi?) lessened my enjoyment. Drags a bit in the last few episodes (it probably could have been 2 less episodes to create a tighter story with a faster pace). We finished it but felt the potential of the story wasn't realized. I can't fully recommend you take the time when there are so many other good Korea series out there.

Tbh m,I started this series for PMY, known fact that her chosen drama's are always rom-com. But, I hardly find it romantic and comedy. Watching ji-ho and sang-eun is not at all appealing, I don't feel connected with their chemistry or story. Feels like "let's just watch since I started this". Their is no proper dialogue, connection or any part that feels touching. Everything is revealed in flashback but no one talks in real about their past.... It's already episode 10 and lead's don't know each other flashbacks and their actual reality. On what matter's they actual feel something towards each other?? Only character's that feel connected in this drama are hae-jin and jung-han and little bit of ji-ho staff but not actual main leads . I expected much more than this, it's just going not actually entertaining. Hae-jin character should've been first male lead. I'm much more interested in how he will solve his family conflicts then how ji-ho and sang-eun will end up together.... This would've been great if the story is not so slow, more communication from leads. You just can't avoid all these drawbacks of your past and can just focus on present , that feels so distant even if they're beside each other all the time. Why ji-ho married and got divorced? And out of nowhere after 5 years of contract now he feel something? His character is improving that's great but their isn't anything felt like he is in love. Hae-jin feels like he is in love. So messy and not so meaningful character's , ji-ho faced many things and he is so cold I understand but wasn't ji-eun was his first comfort place what actual happened with them?? Jae-mi was played since childhood but was her occupation was only way that can pay of her debt ?? I guess since she was mold into a good wife material, she took that as her occupation ?? Hae-jin character has a meaning he was inspired by his first love where he doesn't know that is not her actual identity but still got inspired, loved her and did what he wanted to do and made his own name. Character's are from rich background but have no standard's whie living in the present. I guess hae-jin character as an actor life show much better. A judge has no standard and social living ?? How's that possible? I just want sang-eun work to come out , it would make much sense , how can a person won't face the same person living the same city? How her previous customer's are not encountered atleast once , she even did wedding's , how come their are no mutual people from all the 12 wedding's. She don't have rich background to cover-up, hae-jin can't do it since he doesn't take help from his family and ji-ho is a name sake judge with no connections and power.

I have to agree with someone else here who wanted to give it a five but gave it a one to balance out inflated ratings. Started out somewhat promising, the actors definitely got my attention initially. Park Min Young is as usual quite perky and perfectly made up for the camera. Her partner Go Kyung Pyo is pretty good but so quiet that it gets tiring (I know this is the story but..) the only other characters that I found engaging were his work pals. The story starts to drag on after a few episodes, we experience the typical cliché love triangle. There are many unnecessary extraneous characters. It started out well but in my opinion does not deliver a fully engaging, interesting and coherent story. It also does feel predictable though not coherent not necessarily in a good way.

I wanted this woman to end up with anybody BUT that guy. I would've been content with her riding off into the sunset with Gwang-nam. I loved these two together so, so much, that would've been just perfect.

Squeal-worthy in the first half, way too dramatic and inconsistent in the second half.

I took to this immediately, it's so funny that I binged the first episodes right away. It's your regular setup, a beautiful and otherwise perfect woman caught between two men, only I became very frustrated with the choice for her. Like with many other k-dramas, the second lead made so much more sense and could match her EQ. And indeed knew her much better than the other guy. I mean Go Kyung-pyo does an excellent job, but his character is used for comedic effect more than anything else, and in that sense their whole dance works, at least in the beginning. His blank stares are hilarious, but I grew tired of his bug eyes. Meaning a particular expression he keeps making. Another point that the drama fails to address completely is that this guy is clearly on the spectrum, but apparently he can be taught to become more reactive and aware of others, which, come on... As such, I failed to see the attraction she feels towards him, it makes absolutely no sense. Add to that the fact that she starts to act like a complete idiot after she supposedly falls in love, which again bugs me to no end. But that's k-drama for you, they won't let go of that one. It's meant to be cute, but it's really not. Not for a strong woman who has supposedly been through helluva lot.

Anyway, I liked Hae-jin a lot more for her, but it wasn't meant to be. Is it ever with these things? I know of only one k-drama that flipped this scenario and deceived expectations at the very end.

It gets way to dramatic with the corporate backstabbing and scheming and Kang Hae-jin makes a completely unnecessary sacrifice, only for things to magically return to normal in the last episode. That was a pointless episode and rendered a lot of the things happening before that completely meaningless.

Yu Madam has plenty of issues and mood changes that are never addressed. She is suicidal in one of the earlier episodes for god's sakes, but that is entirely forgotten afterwards. Essentially, some things are used for comedy, only for the characters to start behaving completely different when the drama hits. Anyway... One thing for which I can also commend this drama is the treatment of the gay best friend, but only to a point. He is written as a very lovable, empathetic, caring character, an all-around perfect best friend, and his sexuality is never exploited or put down or made fun of. However, that is all he is afforded, he is the female lead's sidekick and there to serve and complement her, nothing more. He has a few scenes of his own with his family, colleagues, where his story is further explored, but there's no development for him personally. He wraps his life around his female friend and changes his goals for her or to match hers. He is at the same time idealized and given no agency. But in any case, big step forward for South Korea just the same. Like I said, I would've been glad for her to leave all these men and go to Canada and be free with her bestie. It was not meant to be though.