Episode Guide
Episode 1 – | Review Score – 2/5 Episode 2 – | Review Score – 3/5 Episode 3 – | Review Score – 2.5/5 Episode 4 – | Review Score – 3/5 Episode 5 – | Review Score – 1.5/5 Episode 6 – | Review Score – 1/5 Episode 7 – | Review Score – 2/5 Episode 8 – | Review Score – 2/5 Episode 9 – | Review Score – 2/5 Episode 10 – | Review Score – 2.5/5 Episode 11 – | Review Score – 2.5/5 Episode 12 – | Review Score – 1.5/5 Episode 13 – | Review Score – 3.5/5 Episode 14 – | Review Score – 2/5 Episode 15 – | Review Score – 2.5/5 Episode 16 – | Review Score – 2/5 Love (ft Marriage and Divorce) is one of the craziest shows on TV at the moment. And I mean that in the absolute worst way possible. Now, if you’ve been following my reviews then you know I’m no fan of this show. The series has a poor track record when it comes to storytelling, character development and everything else you’d expect in a competent drama. Yet somehow, the show manages to remain incredibly popular… and something very watchable. Despite all my gripes with this show (and trust me, I have a lot) there’s still a desire to find out what happens next and on the odd occasion, the show throws up a moment of genuine brilliance. Season 3 though is by far the strangest of the bunch. The story this time picks up right where we left off, but with several big changes. Three of the main cast have now gone and have been replaced with new actors. Dong-Ma, Yu-Shin and Sa-Hyun have all been replaced, and in doing so the chemistry is way off for most of these guys. The actors do their best to settle into their roles but an already shaky drama falls completely off the rails, with three of the more important characters changed and forced to play catch-up. Almost instantly the vibe of the season is different, including a more prominent role for the ghosts this time. One of the central themes of this series has been the inclusion of ghosts, which one could argue is just custom for Korean culture as a whole. This time around Ki-Jun’s character comes to a natural ending, only to be replaced by more ghosts. The whole story is like a running gag from the writers but what began as an amusing side-gig soon turns into a more prominent and important angle late on in the game. The trouble is, none of this has been properly thought out, nor have any of the rules or ideas about the afterlife been explored in a compelling way. So everything we see here is just so… random. Random is probably the best word to describe this show but season 3 takes it to another level. Honestly, this feels like an AI has made this story up from the beginning. Characters are absolutely butchered, plot lines either trashed or distorted to fit the flavour of the week, while it takes a good 6 or 7 episodes of dilly-dallying around before the series has some clarity. That plot centers around Si-Eun and Seo-Ban’s blossoming romance alongside Dong-Ma and Pi-Young’s love. The latter though meet in… unusual circumstances. Dong-Ma essentially stalks Pi-Young and forces her into submission before rushing through to a potential marriage. The whole time it feels like there’s a hidden agenda here but…there’s not. I know that sounds like a spoiler but it’s worth bearing this in mind because it all feels very questionable – and that’s before mentioning the ending. I won’t go into specifics around how this one closes out (we have an article specifically for that!) but it’s fair to say that the show does not stick its landing. At all. Despite the gripes though, Love (ft. Marriage and Divorce) is undeniably popular. It’s a very easy show to slip into and a difficult one to put down once you start getting invested in the characters. Some of the moments this year are pretty good – a skiing trip along with Seo-Ban and Si-Eun’s romance – while a couple of episodes actually do a really solid job developing the characters. These Moments are few and far between though in what’s otherwise a messy, poorly plotted and completely random season of directionless drama. Sure that may be good for some people, but somehow season 3 is even worse than what’s come before it – and that’s saying something.
