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The Matchmakers: Episodes 3-4
by Unit
Our celibate hero continues to fall for our bubbly heroine — who is none the wiser. But as their matchmaking misadventures officially kick off, the villain camp also kickstarts sinister plans of their own.
EPISODES 3-4
Our matchmaking alliance is sealed under two conditions. For Jung-woo: the Maeng sisters must be wed before June, and he will participate in every step of the process. For Soon-deok: she will lead the team, and Jung-woo has to follow her matchmaking practice, whatever it may be. Jung-woo warns that Soon-deok must return double the down payment for her services if she doesn’t get the sisters married before the stipulated time. But Soon-deok is not fazed. “I am Lady Yeo-ju, the master of matchmaking. I never fail,” she replies, and I gotta say, confidence looks good on her!
And so the matchmaking adventures begin. Neither of them has an inkling that the other party is the king’s son-in-law, and a noblewoman — much less Lord Jo’s daughter-in-law. To each other, they’re just a “royal inspector” and “Lady Yeo-ju.” The unaware identity trope? Inject it into my veins. It’s hilarious whenever Jung-woo scolds Soon-deok for acting like a noblewoman, and I chuckled real hard when she likened him to the famous angry man of Joseon. Yunno, that “pathetic troublemaker” of a son-in-law who wants an annulment. Haha.
The drama also keeps the damsel dude in distress trope going with Soon-deok coming to Jung-woo’s rescue multiple times this week. He is such a princess! But Soon-deok finds him cute — just like her son. Lol. Poor Jung-woo has already been son-zoned.
Back to the Maeng sisters, the youngest, MAENG SAM-SOON (Jung Bo-min), comes clean to Jung-woo that she is Hwa-rok. And he almost has a heart attack because an unmarried woman is writing an erotic novel and disguised as a man no less. Tsk. Blame the people who won’t pay a fair price for a book written by a woman. Anyway, to hasten the matchmaking scheme, Sam-soon agrees to put on an act where Jung-woo “threatens” to report her to the authorities unless her sisters get married.
The stage is set, and Sam-soon comes running into the house… but screw the plan. Real life scenarios are even more dramatic! Right now, Sam-soon is being chased for real by JUNG SOON-GU (Heo Nam-joon), the government official investigating Hwa-rok. Earlier on, he pretended to be a fan to get an autograph, after which, he attempted to arrest her. But she struggled, they fell, and… bam! It’s the accidental kiss trope. Looks like one of the Maeng sisters has found her groom. Heh. Sam-soon managed to escape with Soon-gu hot on her heels. And now that she’s home, it’s Soon-deok’s turn to attempt an escape because… Soon-gu is her older brother. Ha!
Soon-gu doesn’t recognize Soon-deok with her Lady Yeo-ju makeup; neither does he recognize Sam-soon — who has changed into women’s clothing. Thankfully, his presence lends credence to the initial plan, and Sam-soon’s sisters, MAENG HA-NA (Jung Shin-hye) and MAENG DU-RI (Park Ji-won) reluctantly agree to be match-made. (Fun side note, the sisters are named by their position in the family. “Hana, Dul” – 1 and 2, in the native Korean numbering system. And “Sam” – 3, in the Sino Korean numbering system.)
Now that the sisters have agreed to be wed, trouble rears its ugly head in the form of Lord Jo’s brother-in-law and the Minister of Defense, PARK BOK-KI (Lee Soon-won). Minister Park has long had his lecherous eyes on the 24-year-old Ha-na, and he proposes to make her his concubine. Their mother flat-out rejects the proposal, and she is arrested because according to the law, a parent must take responsibility for any unmarried daughter above 24 years old.
For fear that their mother will be punished, the Maeng sisters turn to Soon-deok who turns to her brother for assistance. Soon-gu facilitates the opening of the Shinmungo (a drum beaten outside the palace for special petition), and the injustice is reported to the king. The king orders the Investigation Bureau to look into the case, and Mrs. Maeng is released. Lord Jo’s wife, PARK SO-HYUN (Park Ji-young), instructs her brother to stay put while the investigation is ongoing, but Lord Jo dismisses the advice and sends Minister Park to the smartest person in their faction: Jung-woo — who always assists them with legal troubles. For a price, of course.
Jung-woo helps Minister Park write a petition for leniency, but Park is too lazy to memorize or at least read the contents. Hence he has the royal secretary read out the sob story for him during the court summons. Alas, the petition also contains a pledge to not take Ha-na in as a concubine, to only accept the principal on the private loans he gives out, and to use his personal funds to pay back the interest on the government loans issued to the citizens. LMAO! The king is very impressed with Minister Park, while Park stews at his sudden misfortune. Heh. Read the fine print before agreeing to anything, people!
As it turns out, Jung-woo went through all this trouble because Soon-deok thought he was behind Minister Park’s proposal in his haste to marry off the sisters. “I must make this clear,” Jung-woo says to her. “I am not the type of man who will disappoint you.” Awww. Get you a man who’ll go against his faction to prove his commitment to your partnership. And to Soon-deok’s plea for him to take care of the matter, Jung-woo puffs out his chest with a “Whatever you imagine, I can go above and beyond that.” All hail the king of rizz!
Thereafter, Jung-woo got the king — who had been looking for a way to punish Minister Park for a pending usury case — involved in his petition scheme. And honestly, it serves Minister Park right. His sister told him not to do anything, but no, he had to listen to Lord Jo and start a petition. “What does a woman know about politics?” Pssh. In your face, sirs!
The Maeng sisters are grateful to Jung-woo for helping them out with the Minister Park business, and they become more agreeable to the matchmaking. But first, they have to learn how to capture a man’s attention at first sight. The skill of first sight is demonstrated by Soon-deok, with Jung-woo to aid the lesson. But Jung-woo flails in the background after being captivated by Soon-deok’s demonstration, and he makes history as the first catalyst to completely break down after a chemical reaction. My man is gone, gone!
The Lantern Festival finally arrives, and it’s time for the Maeng sisters to put what they have learned to practice. But we’ll only get to see the results next week. In the meantime, Soon-deok attends the festival with her family. Midway through the procession, she scrambles off looking for a place to change into her Lady Yeo-ju disguise, but she bumps into Jung-woo. Yikes! He queries her noblewoman outfit, and she’s shocked that he recognizes her without the lady Yeo-ju makeup. Truly, the power of love can conquer any disguise.
Unfortunately, as the Light of Love shines down on the Lantern Festival, the Darkness of Death also waits in the wings. As Jung-woo suspected, the princess didn’t die from unknown causes eight years ago: she was poisoned. And from the look of things, the poison was meant for the crown prince. Why? Lord Jo wants to replace the crown prince with Prince Jin-sung, his wife’s nephew.
Apart from Lord Jo and his wife, other conspirators behind the princess’s death include: Prince Jin-sung’s mother, CONCUBINE PARK (Park Hyun-jung), and Minister Park — who procured the poison. The real Lady Yeo-ju (a.k.a YEOJU DAEK, Park Hwan-hee) — who allows Soon-deok to use her identity for matchmaking — also seems to be involved somehow. But she is on the run from Lord Jo — who thinks she also died eight years ago.
As much as Lord Jo likes to think he’s in charge of the crown prince replacement plan, it’s really his wife, Lady Park, who calls the shots. And to support the plan, Lady Park is willing to marry their daughter, Ye-jin, off to a political opponent’s family because the proposed groom is respected by the scholars, and he’s expected to be of great help to Prince Jin-sung. But Ye-jin appears to have feelings for a servant. Oops!
Anyway, the replacement plan is back on track after eight years, and one of the crown prince’s maids is poisoned. Out of fear — and a shaman’s warnings — the queen proposes taking the crown prince out of the palace for a while. But the king is not keen on sending the crown prince away based on a shaman’s words — a wise decision, because the shaman is actually on Lady Park’s side.
Since the queen personally prepares the crown prince’s meals, the maid was poisoned in a bid to lure the crown prince outside the security of the palace. It’s a two-for-one deal, because if the faction succeeds in eliminating the crown prince outside the palace, the queen will shoulder all the blame for secretly sending him to a private residence. But despite the king’s reluctance, the queen sneaks the crown prince out during the Lantern Festival. And now the sharks are poised to attack.
So much action, and we’re just in the second week! For now, the drama seems to strike the right balance between the fun and the serious parts — although the fun parts win by a margin. I’m totally invested in the Maeng family’s story, and I love how each of the sisters have their unique charms. I continue to enjoy Jung-woo’s helplessly-in-love interactions with Soon-deok, and I’m so not looking forward to Lord Jo’s inevitable discovery of Jung-woo’s alliance with the king. Lady Park already said that if Jung-woo turns his back on the faction, he could be their biggest enemy. And you know what the faction does to their enemies.
Lady Park has proven to be more than capable of the rumor that she killed her oldest daughter-in-law under the pretext of suicide in order to obtain the Virtuous Woman status, and I’m kinda worried about Soon-deok. It is one thing to be suspected of overhearing the plot to poison the crown prince. But it is another thing to have your brother facilitate the Shinmungo against Minister Park. My dearest Soon-deok, perhaps it’s time to start sleeping with one eye open.
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