Familiar Wife

 

I recently finished up the KDrama "Familiar Wife" on Netflix. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and that was in sharp contrast to the previous one I watched, "My ID Is Gangnam Beauty" which frustrated me (And I don't recommend). That type of movie usually chooses protagonists that I cannot identify with, or are just not personable. 

Anyway, I was looking for a good romance, at least better than that previous attempt. I poked around my Netflix list looking for something non-netflix. This is not anything against Netflix. They produce some good things. I was looking for something that might disappear if I didn't watch it. I found "Familiar Wife" with its slightly science-fiction premise, that of time travel.

You enter the story with a man in a bad marriage. It starts sympathetic toward him. He's the protagonist as you spend the most time with him. It started with the couple with two young children. It was a false path as I thought this was moving towards a comedy about this couple trying to cope. Nope. You soon saw some behaviours that were disturbing. The man was lying. The woman was raging (for reasons) most of the time. In a particular slapstick moment, she threw a crab leg at the husband for one of his inconsiderate decisions. I was playing this in my mind trying to see how, if real, the man could make this situation better. 

The end of this phase was of the wife destroying a game console, the man's only "escape" from this reality. Holy crud, these people are horrible to each other.

Years ago, the man helped out this girl in a assault situation, later to become her tutor. As the story moved on, because of this act, he didn't get to go out with the pretty, rich girl and he wondered what life would have been like if he had dated her instead. So, and just suspend your belief here, he finds a way to go back in time to do just that.

So he's back in time. He dates the pretty, rich girl and ignores his previous wife. He is happy.
But fate brings back his former wife and she is soon invading his space, his dreams and thoughts. 

Some introspection here, as that is part of my interest in these shows. I'm not sure if I ever contemplated personal changes like what this person did. There are some points in my life that I wish I didn't go through. I do realize that they defined me. I wouldn't be the person that I am without going through those times. Still, it wasn't pleasant. 

The man comes to the realization that his life isn't what he really wanted. He finds he is still attracted to his former wife. His present wife holds her wealth over him, she is self-centered and demands his attention by virtue of her being rich and pretty. While working with his former wife, he comes to the realization that he was the cause of her transformation into the horrible person she was in that former life. He eventually decides that he is a horrible person and he doesn't want to hurt his former wife with his presence and increasing attraction to her. While he is having his dreams and thoughts invaded by his previous life, his former wife is having the same. He eventually tells her that they were once married and the thoughts that she's been having are his fault and how sorry he is. She accepts his apology on the condition he does penance by her side. 

And another time travel happens. Just accept it.

So we now have her trying to start a romance with him and he is a firm bachelor. He feels he is poison to whatever relationship he would enter, let alone with her. So a LOT of psychological stuff happens. At least, from my point of view, she has to overcome his own knowledge of what he is like. He knows what he is like and it is demonstrable that he is bad for the women in his life.

They do get together and it is adorable. I find the characters very likable. The last episode is fan service with the man coming to terms with who he is and becoming a devoted father and husband, respecting his wife's (Yeah, he gets married again.) decisions and space. They communicate and make the marriage work. They even open the door to an argument in one scene where they both get a bit hysterical with each other and they take a breath, and just make it work. 

I enjoyed show because it made me think. I want to be a better person and I like seeing the trials of other men trying to be better people. And yes, this is written for the women in mind, clearly. But, because of the things that are brought up in this type of show, I don't think I'm doing too bad. It isn't that I'm all that great, but I've learned how to change. A lot of people never learn that. And there is an unnerving amount of empathy I had with the main character. I've come to the realization that at points in my life, I've been the a****le. I've had a point in my life when I wanted to run away from people because I felt that I was toxic, that a healthy relationship seems to be out of my grasp, that I didn't deserve to be in a relationship. I also had a wife that clawed me back and we have a better life. 

It's a good show. There are some corny things in the show. Suspend belief and just let it through. 

There is one thing that I haven't found yet. At one point, there's someone that also used the time-travel thing, but it wasn't obvious who it was. At least, it wasn't obvious to me. There are other characters that are shown in transformation, so I have my guesses. Anyway, it wasn't the best Kdrama that I've watched, but the previous one I viewed was pretty bad, so this was exceptional in contrast.