#2023 Round Up

19. Best used trope / Best subverted trope.

PERFECT MARRIAGE REVENGE

The drama which came out from nowhere and conquered Beaniedom with its trope-filled goodness was none other than Perfect Marriage Revenge, the one and only makjang on speed.

Much like this happy family posing in front of a green screen, which perhaps due to budget constraints they intentionally forgot to replace with an exotic location, PMR was the one drama which made sure to give maximum bang for one’s buck, with one trope piled on top of another, with lightning speed.

The drama followed a trope / reveal-a-week format with hints of the upcoming tropes / reveals seeded in the weekly episodes. Being expert-level trope savvy, our Beanies were able to sniff out the next trope / reveal with the teeny-tiniest of hints.

A list of tropes not used in PMR can perhaps be counted on fingers of one hand with a few fingers left over. Like, we DIDN’T get a childhood connection between the leads, just imagine!!

A list of tropes / hijinks which made PMR what it was, are best read aloud in single breath, in random order:
– placeholder flower as engagement ring and kiss in Episode 1,
– ML who told one and all that he would happily destroy anything and anybody troubling the FL (he even threatened to rip out the tongue of punchable face 2ML taking the name of FL in vain),
– both ML and FL having childhood traumas,
– orphanage, adoption, abandonment,
– water trauma cured by, what else … walking in water,
– eating trauma cured by, what else … eating,
– Truck of Doom, twice over,
– car accidents,
– other and various murderous attempts though fire, drowning, poisoned food, switched medication, etc.,
– past life timeslip by the leads,
– contract marriage,
– birth secrets,
– lost and found parents / grandparents/ children,
– presumably real children and paintings turning out to be fake and vice versa,
– various people doing DNA testing, waving the reports while talking loudly or just eating said reports (!!),
– lying and jealous evil siblings,
– awesome / evil in-laws,
– lost and found family / in-laws,
– evil gang succeeding in one timeline and in the other – not so much,
– unplanned pregnancies,
– great, awesome and wow!! verbal / physical takedowns, some involving hair pulling, splashing water or tea for variety,
– society ladies attending cooking classes as a thinly veiled excuse to indulge in gossiping, matchmaking, pouring water and spilling tea when the gossips get called out,
– burnt brownie brick by FL (Rip),
– ML cooking yummy, delicious food and drinking (new PPL alert) protein coffee,
– holding serious / mildly threatening talks while dressed to the nines in totally fashionable and at times bridal dresses while delicately sipping or spilling tea,
– PPL for massage chairs,
– PPL for heart shaped hair brushes,
– school auditorium filling in as a totally appropriate venue for shareholders meeting,
– ML’s side jam-packed with the most awesome of the female gang,
a. the self-made carpenter Halemoni who set up the construction conglomerate by working hands-on,
b. shiny, sparkly mother with bird’s nest hair, who wore vegetable colored monochromatic dresses and thought nothing of wearing bridal dresses out for tea,
c. mango loving, fast driving, plotting the revenge on behalf of FL (because FL with her 2 brain cells could not) sister,
d. journalist cousin who was also FL’s bestie and recognized the FL to be in her “villain era“,
– ML’s brother-in-law was also fun, putting pink curlers to style his hair, handwriting a resignation cum job application letter to ML stating “I don’t want to work overtime”,
– FL’s evil female gang was the step-mother and step-daughter who gave free lessons on how to throw a fit and irritate people, they also gave the words bitch screaming new context and a certain laissez-faire,
– FL also had an ex-mother-in-law and ex-sister-in-law (who came free with punchable face husband not-to-be 2ML) who provided lessons on how be used as a pawn by the evil gang to trouble FL and hiding in plot holes when inconvenient,
– TBH the father’s of both leads were ninny, idgits and nincompoops who totally failed to control / discipline the evil siblings who traumatized our leads, and were in a way tacit accomplices to the leads traumas,
– FL’s adoptive cum birth father redeemed himself a smidgen by throwing tea on evil step-mother’s white dress and having her thrown out of the house by a minion,
– Said minion deserves a raise and promotion becasuse after throwing evil step-mom out on her ass he bowed towards her (slow claps),
– ML in foreign lands (US – do you need to ask), contemplating life while admiring FL’s painting while sipping iffy colored drink and SPEAKING ENGLISH.
– And last but not the least, WAE … just why!!

Sigh, are you dizzy / exhausted, because the drama is not done … yet.

We have a very well done applause worthy happy ending. It is so nice and heartwarming. 💕

All-in-all a very satisfying journey where the audiences expectations were fulfilled each week with a trope reveal and set-up for next week.

The best used and subverted trope in PMR was of the mystery man aka Sextretary Kim who subverted the expectation of being a random / disposable evil gang lackey by having an actual and engaging storyline complete with his own secrets, lost and found parent, double dealing work ethic (i.e. working for evil step-mom while supporting FL) and (apparent) reaction/s to paintings.