Filled with addicting energy, The Forbidden Marriage sprinted to a superb opening week with an engrossing story to root for.
Romance and comedy smartly cushion the expected thrilling palace struggles that would inevitably unfold in the story.
abbyinhallyuland watched The Forbidden Marriage on KOCOWA
Opening Week Rating:
Episode Recaps: 01 & 02 | 03| 04| 05 & 06 | 07| 08| 09| 10| 11 | Final Episode + Series Review |
The Forbidden Marriage Opening Week Story
In the land of Joseon, after the tragic death of the Crown Princess, the King declared marriage prohibition. As such no unnecessary interaction between a man and a woman can happen.
Enter maverick Ye So-rang (Park Ju Hyun), the adopted daughter of a marriage compatibility reader, Gwaeng-yi, who secretly makes love happen for emotionally connected people or those really need to be with someone.
Her constant breaking of the marriage ban earned her regular trips to prison but she does not care. Going big for her unique passion, she tells her adopted father they should return to the capital.
At the palace, the head eunuch and head maidservant connive to spike the king’s tea with a potent aphrodisiac. Thinking the trap they schemed will happen, King Lee Heon (Kim Young Dae), unfortunately, woke up easily from the momentary trance. About to punish the eunuch, his best friend Lee Shin-won (Kim Woo Seok) came in time to subdue the king’s rage.
“Even when everyone points at me, please stay by my side.”
Understanding Yi Heon’s pain, Shin-won also can empathize with the clamor of the people on the 7-year running marriage ban. Appreciating his friend’s honesty, Lee Heon pleads with Shin-won who agrees to stay by his side because that’s enough for him.
So-rang reaches Hanyang with Gwaeng-yi and looks for a place to open her business as a “love specialist”. Happily basking on her ambitious project, she eavesdropped on the discussion between Shin-won and an officer about the events of last night with an added story that the palace is haunted by the Crown Princess.
Meeting the government officials, Lee Heon listens to their thoughts about how the marriage ban is not helping the population of the kingdom. They push for the marriage selection of the king and also mention the crazy tyrant impression he has on the public.
When the discussion heats up, Lee Heon asserts not prolonging the marriage ban decree within the year and will proceed with his own marriage selection accordingly.
“You declared withdrawing the ban and going through marriage selection this year. If you have a new queen, you have to forget her.”
A flashback reveals how when the Crown Princess was alive, she had to suppress her emotions and remind the King to be strong and not show any weakness.
That is because of the political struggles going on, strongly supported by Minister Jo Sung-gyun (Yang Dong Geun). She was found dead, presumably of suicide. But her husband strongly believes he was murdered.
In Joseon’s custom, it is a sin to do such. Sadly, it has also carved deep pain in the king’s heart who often wakes up from nightmares of regret of losing his wife.
Fortunately, his trusted friend is there. Shin-won who understands his pain refused to sugarcoat things, enlightening him that he has to move on from the memories of the Crown Princess.
Meanwhile, So-rang and her father’s business is flourishing. Especially at night, the business is thriving as women line up to get their marriage compatibility read.
The ladies vanishing each night reach Shin-won’s knowledge through his sidekick. Unknown to them, Lee Heon heard their conversation and thinks the topic of the women’s gathering does not relate to him.
He decides to see for himself what the Joseon ladies are really talking about with Shin-won and his sidekick.
Eavesdropping, Lee Heon heard it clear that the rumors about him being gay or impotent being discussed in the place is indeed true.
“I must be crazy if I am even missing her ghost.”
Eventually, they catch So-rang as a marriage scammer. To escape her sticky situation, she pretends she has a divine gift. She pretends to be possessed and blurts out that the marriage ban will end within the year.
Her remark earns her an audience to meet Lee Heon. Taking advantage of her chance, she affirms a ghost lurking in his presence based on her impeccable deduction skills.
Saving herself, she goes for another ghost-possessed pretense when Lee Heon asked her to summon the spirit of the princess. The king listens to her plea for him to let her go.
Apparently, the marriage ban is to prevent the killings of innocent ladies vying to be the next queen. In the last six years, since Lee Heon’s cherished princess died, women had suffered the same misfortune on her Memorial Day.
Listening to his trusted adviser, Lee Heon decided to keep So-rang by his side to aid in possibly appeasing the Crown Princess’s soul. He also asks Shin-won to guard her inside and outside the palace.
Alone in his room, Lee Heon gets another epiphany about the princess and heads to the bridge near her quarters. At the same moment, Shin-won escorts So-rang but she momentarily stops her track when she sees the princess’ pavilion.
Lee Heon who sees So-rang like how he saw the wraith of the princess earlier pulls her into his arms, unexpectedly.
“No one in Joseon is better in lying than you.”
In a twist of fate, So-rang is appointed to become a court lady in case the dead crown princess has more to say. Whining about her predicament, her father reminds her that she possesses an uncanny skill to lie, and she can make use of it efficiently.
Seeing another fierce separation from palace officers between a secretly married couple, So-rang made up her mind. En route to the palace, she
Entering the palace, So-rang listens to Court Lady Won about the endless palace rules she has to abide by. She also changes her name to Sun-ah after going through basic training as a maid to Lee Heon.
Her little palace crash course gets used right away because it’s the time for the king’s dinner. When So-rang’s tummy grumbled, King Heon tells the palace maids to leave except for her.
Proceeding to use her topnotch scamming ability, she feigns getting messages from the ghost of the crown princesses and uses it so she can eat the prepared feast, the king spiritlessly munching.
So-rang’s healthy appetite brings out Heon’s competitiveness, and he obediently eats the food thinking it will make the princess happy.
“Ye Hyeon-seon is the name of my bride that vanished. By any chance, do you know that name?”
Picking So-rang after work, Shin-won obliges to a drinking session with her. She inevitably learns that she was his betrothed before the ban was declared. But her evil stepmother hired an assassin to kill her.
Luckily, she escapes and meets Ajussi Ax and has since tagged along with him.
A faint familiarity pushes Shin-won to confront So-rang about her real identity, which she denies firmly. Remembering Ajussi Ax’s words to forego someone who is obviously hiding something, Shin-won watched her walk away.
Tending to Lee Heon’s resting time, So-rang gets summoned because of a noise bothering him. Quick-thinker, she picks exercise to help the king sleep and even uses Shin-won for spontaneous sparring.
She, of course, instigated how his fighting skills can’t even be compared to a military captain like his best friend. In the end, Lee Heon almost slipped but hides the humiliation right away.
“Would I just be like this, a shadow of a woman he can never forget?
Alone with So-rang, he admits slightly being rusty, and his new maid really got her sass in stressing out how Shin-won looked manly wielding a sword. She also worries that the king will be beaten up for real next time. So, he should train hard.
Showing off his ripped body, So-rang knows just what to do and scares Lee Heon when she gladly declares they can go steamy as he prepares again to sleep.
Still unable to doze off, he asks So-rang to tell stories. The wanderlust gladly obliged and lifted stories from popular K-Dramas including Goblin, Hotel Del Luna and SKY Castle.
She also tweaked it emphasizing the need for Yi Heon to lift the marriage ban. Voila! Her storytelling was a success and she puts the insomniac king to sleep. As an extra service, she also watched him sleep so that when he woke to her hideous sleepless sight, he even cutely quipped if she battled ghosts all night.
The next day, So-rang is again summoned by the king. Feeling somber and about to cry, Yi Heon pleads for the presence of the crown princess.
Left with no choice, So-rang made him promise that he won’t ask for the princess flippantly. Conversing with the princess-possessed So-rang, Lee Heon listens to her requests for him to train hard and take care of his body. She also tells him to forget her.
Staring at Lee Heon’s sleeping face, So-rang wonders if she will only be a shadow of the dead princess that the king can’t forget.
The Forbidden Marriage Opening Week Musings
A lot went happy and hooking in the opening week of The Forbidden Marriage. Most impressively, you can feel the attention to the writing and narrative direction.
Seasoned with an adorable amount of humor, Park Ju Hyun did a great job cementing viewers’ attention to how she connected seamlessly to Kim Young Dae and Kim Woo Seok.
Admirably, Park Ju Hyun’s sassiness really brought out the entertaining highs of the opening story.
As we got glimpses of her back story, we expect an engaging friendship she’s bound to create with Lee Heon and her almost-husband Shin-won. At the same time, the looming heartbreak expected for the possible love triangle in the future can’t be ruled out.
Vaunting an engrossing premise and vibrant characters, The Forbidden Marriage assures a weekly treat for its energy. Particularly, the premise of the marriage ban draws the exciting journey of the female lead in being a reliable person for the still-striving king.
Hopefully, he gains enough confidence to claim his royal authority and subsequently musters the strength to really let go of the pain and guilt he feels for his dead ex-wife.
Notably, Kim Young Dae made quite an impression through the wide array of emotions he’s shown in the opening chapters of the series. Also, his bromance line with Kim Woo Seok is surely going to delight the viewers as well.
Can love expert So-rang help King Lee Heon find a new queen that will be spared from death in The Forbidden Marriage? Watch the series on KOCOWA!
Photos: MBC Drama
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Flora
December 17, 2022 at 1:42 amI dearly hope So-rang will end up with Shin-woo.