We've more than reached the half-way mark for this show (episodes 10-12 aired this week), and I think it's time to share some thoughts. The writer change was a good idea; you can tell the new writer is trying to get all the storylines together and trying to turn even the most hated characters (the parents) into real people. JI has become an interesting and real boy! Joon is still. . .a diva, but at least we've gotten a small reason why. And MG/MR? Are awesome and adorable.
The written preview is out at
Ockoala. Ockoala says its a bit makjang, but I saw differently. Why? Well,
( It's based off an online comic and a romantic comedy! )Look, I'm not saying
Mary Stayed Out All Night is the best written show ever. It's clearly not. It has a lot of plot holes (How can MR/MG have been a fake couple for 50+ days when they met in early November, and episode 8 took place on November 30th?) and the original plot doesn't make all that much sense. The Dads and Mom are unlikeable, Joon is underdeveloped (I blame it on her being an original character for the drama, used as a plot deceive by the first writer, and deemed useless by the second writer), and most of the goodness of the drama comes solely from the interactions between MG/MR/JI.
But, the doesn't make it a terrible drama that's lost its mind. It barely had a mind to begin with!
Mary's always been, what it is, a romantic comedy that's just a little bit cracky. At least the new writer has stopped using the same few plots over and over again (Loser Dad tries to break up MG/MR, Creepy Dad tries to force JI/MR together, Joon throws a diva fit, Loser Mom visits MG and then leaves him to go see her boyfriend, MG/MR are cute together, a misunderstanding, its all resolved, JI looks at MR, MG/MR are cute.)
At least this writer is trying to evolve the characters a bit: the past between the parents, Joon, JI as a person, that's all being explored. I like that. The pace has picked up, JI is a real person, and the writer is trying to explain
why Creepy Dad is creepy and
why Loser Mom is always abandoning MG. It may not always make the most sense, but at least she's trying to turn these previously unlikeable or wooden characters into real people.
( More thoughts )In short,
Mary isn't a great series. But, it's a
good romantic comedy. And, just like all romantic comedies (especially those based off mangas or manhwa, a lot of the plot is out there.
Mary doesn't take place in the ground world. It couldn't. It shouldn't. It takes place in manhwa world; where princes marry commoners, movie stars marry internet writers, and no one can tell a girl is a girl when she wears a boy's uniform.
Am I disappointed in the drama? A little bit, yeah. It could have gone a lot of places, but it didn't. Then again, neither does the on-line manhwa. I suppose this drama could have been better if they had stayed closer to the original source materiel, but that would have made a better daily drama. And, I doubt JGS and MGY (who make this drama) would do a daily drama.
I think what makes me sad is that people are starting to say
Mary is "so bad its good" and that it "has no point". Come on, it's not a heavy drama! It hasn't made sense since day one! Two contract marriages. Creepy Dad. (And, why doesn't Creepy Dad just have MG arrested? Legally, he and MR are having an affair, and that's illegal in Korea.) The wackiness. Etc. None of it has ever made sense. But, now you turn your back on it? Just as the pace is moving forward and characters are developing. I just. . .it annoys me when people are drama snobs over a breezy romantic comedy.
I'm not angry at anyone. It just makes me sad when people watch a show for 12 episodes, then decide it's a bad drama. Just as the writer is fixing things and making things slowly start to make
sense.
Or maybe its me. Maybe I love this series, MG/MR, etc, so much that I'm ignoring the bad in favor of the loveliness of MG/MR. I don't know, but I just had to get this out.
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