Finally my rom-com drought is over with the premiere of Fated To Love You this week and I’m glad that it’s total fun and a joy to watch. Unless you were hiding under a rock, everyone knows that it’s a remake of a very popular Taiwanese drama of the same name. I haven’t seen the original, so I don’t have that extra baggage of expectations and comparisons. The show is full of slapstick comedy with over-the-top effect used to elevate the humour in certain scenes. But it’s great that on the other hand, we also get some cute and warm moments that give the show its heart. A nice balance between humour and heart.

First a brief summary. The first two episodes set up more than half of the main plot and I’m sure we’ll be covering the initial synopsis next week, which means all the romantic and funny shenanigans of convenient marriage will arrive very soon! We meet our leads — Lee Gun (Jang Hyuk) is a rich chaebol heir who is waiting to propose his long time girlfriend Se Ra (Wang Ji Won), who is a ballerina. Mi Young (Jang Nara) is a girl who works (I’m not sure what her job is though) in a firm but is very timid, helpful, always doing errands for everyone in her workplace to the limit that she can’t say no to anyone asking for favour even when she knows she should not be too nice (I like that at least she acknowledges this). Both our leads meet coincidentally at a mall where he is buying a ring for Se Ra. They don’t have a very pleasant first encounter. Later we also meet Daniel (Choi Jin Hyuk) who is a DJ and is in search of his long-lost sister. Events happen such that both Lee Gun and Mi Young reach Macau — he goes for his grand proposal for marriage while she gets a trip because of a lucky draw at her workplace. Some unbelievable circumstances lead them to end up on the same bed and they have a one night stand — she thinks he is her new boyfriend with whom she went to Macau, and he thinks she is his love Se Ra. Meanwhile, Se Ra gets a call from US that she got some role in a ballet and she leaves with an apology message. Misunderstandings between Lee Gun and Mi Young get cleared and finally they agree to forget what happened. And yes, her so-called boyfriend turns out to be one of the biggest douchebags. We also meet Lee Gun’s grandma who is worried about his marriage as he is of royal family lineage and hence the conservative belief.

At first, Lee Gun seemed so full of himself, a bit crazy (his weird laugh — LOL), arrogant and quick-tempered. But I loved that he is also a considerate and caring person — the way he brought her shoes when she was barefoot or the way he continuously tells Mi Young to have confidence and not to be so good, also giving her some makeover so that she could feel better after her heartbreak. I also loved that last scene where our leads share a warm conversation and they don’t actually bicker, which was a thing I expected all along. As of now, they are on good terms. Jang Hyuk is nailing it with his great comic timing and gravitas. I admit I’m not too fond of his hairdo (short hair on guys is my favorite) but he perfectly makes his character very eccentric as well as pleasant as we move forward in the series. Mi Young’s role is definitely of a typical nice heroine who everyone loves to push. She is lacking courage and feels that she doesn’t have any special qualities. She even thinks that her name is common. But I like her, Jang Nara adding her charm to make her likeable and also that she knows that she should learn the ways of world but still can’t help it when it comes to her good nature. A show not necessarily needs to have strong females but they should be written strongly. The chemistry between the two is great, easily and brilliantly matching each other.

I can’t say much about our second leads yet but Choi Jin Hyuk is looking so handsome! (excuse me for a fangirl moment here 😉 ) Another add-on is the relationship between Mi Young and her best friend Ji Yun — the latter cares for Mi Young a lot and tries to talk some sense into her when she sees everyone using her without any gratefulness. I also liked how Lee Gun and Mi young’s feelings of sadness due to their love mirrored and he could relate to it.

I did find that casino scene a bit long and wanted to just fast forward, but the overall pace is okay and I like the zany, light-hearted classic drama execution because I didn’t know I missed it so much untill I saw Fated To Love You. So looking forward to the upcoming episodes.