[Drama special review] The True Love of Madam » Dramabeans MGG

[Drama special review] The True Love of Madam

by Dramaddictally

Marital miscommunication abounds in the latest KBS Drama Special, which is historical in setting, but timeless in its married-life foibles. Simple and straight to the point, it’s no mystery — to us — what ails the main couple. But to each other, they’re an enigma, and the fun lies in the ensuing comedy of errors.

 
DRAMA SPECIAL REVIEW

This drama has a pretty distinct tone that reminds me of silent-era movies — you know the ones — where everything looks comical because it’s sped up. It has that slapstick-y, over-the-top feel that relies on a singular joke from start to finish. And to laugh, you either find that one joke funny, or you don’t.

The setup here is that a Joseon-era scholar, LEE JUNG-YEOL (Kim Joo-hun), has been demoted for his anti-corruption principles and sent off to the countryside, where he’s trying to work his way back up to a respectable position. Along with him is his wife, CHOI SEOL-AE (Park Ha-sun), who’s considered a model of humility and good behavior.

Except, just as our hero husband is being told he can’t get involved in any scandals if he wants to advance to head of the academy, we see his wife smiling and staring at a shirtless man in a stream. There’s desire on her face and trouble on the horizon, and our comedy is off and running with what will be a huge misinterpretation.

The backstory here is that this couple has no kids but Seol-ae is raring to get going. She serves her husband beef — for strength and stamina — but he’s quick to refuse it. So, she breaks out the aphrodisiac wine and is again rebuffed. He does everything he can to avoid her advances, scooting her out of his room because he has to work.

But soon after, he spots her feeding beef to their young, strong male servant — the one who was flexing in the stream — and his suspicions get the best of him. He begins to spy and learns that Seol-ae is no longer going to her daytime activities, instead staying home, protecting her preferred servant from the sun with a parasol. This is a particularly painful knife to the heart because when Jung-yeol and Seol-ae first met, it was under a parasol.

After a series of jokes where the punchline is that manual labor and bedroom noises sound the same, Jung-yeol decides to fire the servant. But Seol-ae defends the worker, wondering how her husband has time to notice what’s going on in the household when he can’t seem to manage any time for her at night. This she wonders in front of the whole household staff, who snicker as Jung-yeol stands there mortified.

We’re less than half-way through our one-hour story when we learn what’s really going on from Seol-ae’s side. She’s not interested in the male servant’s body — just his hair, which is long and healthy and perfect for making a wig. The truth is that she’s trying to get her husband’s attention and she can’t afford the fancy hairpieces that all the society ladies around her have. So, she’s protecting the servant so he’ll give up his locks and (she hopes) her husband will take her seriously when he sees how lovely she looks.

Here’s where the real comedy of errors begins because everyone involved has misunderstood the situation. With all the attention he’s getting, the servant believes that Seol-ae is in love with him and he’s got his own plan cooking in the background. He’s going to steal from her at a vulnerable moment and then run off with his girlfriend as well as the riches.

At the same time, our hapless scholar husband thinks his wife is going to run off with the servant. And Seol-ae thinks her husband’s rejections mean that he doesn’t love her and he’s planning to move her out of the house and find someone new. Sheesh. What a mess.

Of course, the kicker to the whole thing is that they love each other. She’s after the servant’s hair to impress her husband and get closer to him. And he’s rebuffing her advances, we come to learn, so he can regain a high position and give her the life she deserves.

But nobody is going to say any of that out loud. Instead, they’re going to throw accusations at each other and let their insecurities determine how to read one another. When he shouts that she’s not being a dutiful wife (meaning, by sleeping with someone else), she thinks he’s hitting low by bringing up her lack of pregnancy. So, she defends herself, reminding him that he played a role in it. But he interprets this to mean it’s his fault she’s having an affair. Ugh. Love.

All of this comes to a head when the three main characters move to carry out their intentions and each gets a separate wake-up call. Our heroine just wants some hair (she’s brought the scissors) and our hero just wants her to be happy. The servant might be the one most surprised when his devious plan to steal away with the lady of the house (and rob her) is met with a blank stare, followed by a revolt.

While K-drama conflict often results from miscommunication, this comedy takes it to the extreme, banking on the absurd truth that the people we’re closest to are also the ones that sometimes understand us the least. The humor relies on us recognizing familiar responses within an outlandish circumstance, and the actors do a good job with the tone, all hammy faces and overly theatrical reactions.

This one requires very little from the audience (only patience if this isn’t your brand of humor), with early reveals and hardly a question about the main couple’s motivations. Instead, the point is jest at a relatable situation, where the very thing you’re trying to save is being ruined by the way you’re trying to save it.

 
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