Marry My Husband is this winter's best romance melodrama

The first 20 minutes of the South Korean drama Marry My Husband contain more plot than most melodrama newbies can handle. Brace yourself: Kang Ji-won (played by rom-com legend Park Min-young) is receiving treatment for stomach cancer. Her stress is further induced by her deadbeat husband Min-hwan (Lee Yi-kyung) and her mother-in-law—their selfishness is shown in mortifying flashbacks. Her only comfort is her lifelong best friend Jeong Su-min (Song Ha-yoon), or so she thought. Ji-won returns home to find her BFF and her husband in bed as they discuss her life insurance policy and joke about killing Ji-won. When she confronts them, her husband pushes her into a glass table and she dies. Except, she wakes up 10 years in the past, and is now terrified of her then-boyfriend and bestie, who, by the way, are both also her co-workers. So, yeah, it’s a doozy.

This is also what makes Marry My Husband tick perfectly. It plays with multiple genres—fantasy, thriller, rom-com, workplace dramedy—in the seamless fashion that’s been perfected in the world of Korean dramas. Still, its essence is tailored for soap opera fans. The 16-episode series (the season finale airs on Prime Video on February 20) follows Ji-won’s pursuit of happiness in her second chance at life, while she also deals with the rule of fate: What happened before will always happen, though not necessarily to her. The show gets an addictive revenge twist, thanks to her mission to transfer her fate and have Su-min marry Min-hwan, and leave the two villains to their miserable lives together. Unknown to Ji-won, she has an ally helping her from the shadows: her wealthy boss and secret admirer Yu Ji-hyuk (Na In-woo).

This complicated premise could easily become too ridiculous to function, but the series (based on the popular Naver webtoon of the same name) is elevated out of cringeworthy spectacle through its world-building as Ji-won manipulates her fate in realistic ways. It’s easy to cheer for her as the relatable, smart, yet overly trusting heroine, and it’s fulfilling to watch her grow from a meek pushover into a badass who can stand up for herself (with a hair and wardrobe glow-up to match).

The initial episodes are led by sequences of Ji-won remembering her past as it happens again, letting viewers relish in the stream of successful second chances. She knows which companies’ stock prices will go up before they do, which upcoming industry trends she can jump on at work, and which characters are hiding major secrets. However, she must also keep from slipping up and referencing events before they happen. (The series’ clever use of BTS references has helped it go semi-viral.) The drama also shows its skill by using subtle aspect changes to help differentiate between Ji-won’s memory and the real-time storyline, so we can see her remix her then-mortifying experiences and turn the humiliation on her so-called loved ones.

Meanwhile, Min-hwan and Su-min are both so much fun to hate. Min-hwan is a narcissistic user and bully, who gets by because he fits into pre #MeToo toxic masculinity. Through Ji-won’s knowing eyes, he’s completely transparent but still a threat. The show balances his switches between comic relief and more menacing scenes. Meanwhile, Su-min stands out as one of the most nuanced villains since The Glory’s Park Yeon-jin. She and Ji-won have been friends since they were 15, but in all that time, Su-min has subtly isolated Ji-won, constantly setting her “best friend” up for public humiliation while also acting as her only support system. Song Ha-yoon excels at the challenging role, easily pulling off the two-faced frenemy as we slowly get to see the true motivations for making Ji-won’s life miserable.

Despite the heavier subject matter, Marry My Husband doesn’t take itself too seriously. Everyone involved with the series knows they’re here to deliver a fun viewing experience, and the light-hearted moments come from the show leaning into countless K-drama and rom-com tropes. Several characters exist just for adorable moments, including Ji-won’s bubbly co-worker Yu Hee-yeon (Choi Gyu-ri) and her childhood first love/hot chef Baek Eun-ho (Lee Gi-kwang). The heart-fluttering feels especially come through in the inevitable romance between Ji-won and Ji-hyuk, who’s secretly the heir to the company where they work. There’s plenty of angst and stolen glances; the premiere includes a classic “take off their glasses and suddenly they’re super hot” moment. And, of course, complications and miscommunications pop up that keep them from getting together for a reasonable amount of episodes.

For non-K-drama fans, Marry My Husband can sound over-the-top in every way. After all, this show includes time travel, workplace battles, adultery, emotional abuse, designer makeovers, college meet-cutes, life-threatening diseases, and succession drama, all in one season of television. Whew. However, it also follows in a long line of beloved dramas that balance all these genres and moods while rarely going over the top (admittedly, once a full-out murder plot is added in for later episodes, it’s a bit too much).

Still, this kind of entertainment has converted millions of worldwide fans to K-drama fandom, and it’s no surprise that the show has found success on streaming. Marry My Husband is Prime Video’s first K-drama hit, and joins Hulu’s Moving and A Shop for Killers on the growing list of dramas that would have gotten more mainstream crossover buzz if they had streamed on a service more known for its Korean selection. If your viewing time has gone through a bit of a lull these past few months, Marry My Husband is the perfect addictive watch to get through the rest of the winter.