REVIEW: ‘Marry My Husband’ Episodes 7-8

We’re halfway through Marry My Husband. With the truth revealed that both Kang Ji-Won (Park Min-Young) and General Manager Yoo Ji-Hyeok (Na In-Woo) are on their second chance at life, where will the series go from here? Thankfully, the series doesn’t backpedal once this truth is revealed. Instead, Marry My Husband Episodes 7-8 make great headway in the story. Most importantly, both Ji-Won and Ji-Hyeok reach a point where they have to process the trauma of what ultimately led them to their second chance at life.

Marry My Husband Episode 7 takes place immediately after the events of Episode 6. Ji-Won and Ji-Hyeok spend hours talking and going from the office to Ji-Hyeok’s place. It is there that Ji-Won is reunited with the stray orange cat. It is also where the conversation triggers something in Ji-Hyeok. Ji-Won points out to Ji-Hyeok that she can’t run away from everything. Certain events – no matter how big or small – are meant to happen. To try to avoid them is to try to avoid fate. This statement takes Ji-Hyeok back to the past.

Much of this episode is on the slow side. Ji-Hyeok’s blast to the past provides further context for how he came into his second chance at life. It also inadvertently slows things down. Is that necessarily a bad thing? Not in this instance. As Ji-Hyeok processes his conversation with Ji-Won, he is finally able to start grieving the inevitable. He died suddenly and, in the process, has to reconcile with how he never truly lived while he was alive. Grieving is never pretty. Ji-Hyeok shows this by getting drunk at Baek Eun-Ho’s (Lee Gi-Kwang) restaurant.

His thorny path to love isn’t over yet. Even after his arranged marriage is called off by his father, Ji-Hyeok has to deal with the aftermath of the meal kit scandal. This means the arrival of Lee Suk-Joon (Ha Do-Kwon), Ji-Hyeok’s grandfather’s righthand man. He gets sent in to fix things and spy on Ji-Hyeok. This leads to some reassignments with the meal kit project. Yang Joo-Ran (Gong Min-Jung) is made lead on the project, which disappoints Ji-Won. But, with more focus paid to Suk-Joon and Joo-Ran, we may be getting our secondary couple plot at last.

Ji-Won has other things to worry about besides not taking the lead on the meal kit project. She still has Jung Soo-Min (Song Ha-Yoon) and Park Min-Hwan (Lee Yi-Kyung) to worry about. Min-Hwan continues to try to manipulate Ji-Won, lashing out at her whilst, in the same breath, asking her for money to treat her to a meal. Ji-Won manipulates the situation to bring Min-Hwan and Soo-Min together on the weekend. She takes them out on a picnic, and despite some old memories resurfacing of her time with Min-Hwan, she leaves them there.

This leads Ji-Won back to her office, where Ji-Hyeok witnesses her receiving flowers from Eun-Ho. His jealousy keeps leading him back to the young chef, but let’s face it. Eun-Ho is likely not a threat. Ji-Won spies Ji-Hyeok and they both have a much-needed discussion about the project. Ji-Hyeok’s motivation is twofold. He wants to help out Ji-Won, but he also knows that he needs to keep Suk-Joon by his side. To do this, Ji-Hyeok intends to build a relationship with Suk-Joon rather than push him away.

All things come together in Marry My Husband Episodes 7-8 at the U&K Food work retreat. It is also when the work retreat arc happens that things start to pick up storywise.  The entire division goes camping as a way to bond. Bonds are formed and broken over the course of this retreat. For Ji-Won, in particular, we see her finally inform Soo-Min how she really feels, which ultimately pushes Soo-Min to seduce Min-Hwan to cheat.

Yep, for all of us haters, we finally get to see Soo-Min and Min-Hwan give into temptation. We also see Soo-Min finally take her mask off in front of Ji-Won. A competition to win the chance to sleep in a camper is what causes the two to clash. Ji-Won refuses to do whatever she has to to win because that’s how Soo-Min behaves. A conversation with Ji-Hyeok prior, when he begs Ji-Won to let him help her, showing off the heart on his chest to prove he’s been sent to her by her dad, also reinforces this belief. She cannot be like Soo-Min. Ji-Won also will not let Soo-Min steamroll over her.

It is the fact that Ji-Won keeps fighting back that prompts Soo-Min to lash out at her. Mind you, in the context of the past few episodes, it’s been a couple of months since Ji-Won started to establish boundaries and push back. Soo-Min reveals her true colors, asking Ji-Won why she won’t let her win. The entirety of their relationship is built on Soo-Min’s need to be superior to Ji-Won. Ji-Won sharing that she no longer likes Soo-Min is a big step for the woman but it also is a smack in the face for Soo-Min. We know that Soo-Min has to win. What better way to get a one-up over Ji-Won than sleeping with her boyfriend?

For Ji-Won’s part, witnessing her former best friend and her boyfriend cheat finally enables her to break down. Neither she nor Ji-Hyeok truly had a chance to process what happened before they both died. Seeing how easily it was to set things up, but also how disposable she was, was the push she needed to finally cry. Ji-Hyeok tries to shield her but ultimately is there to comfort her when she’s ready. He is the biggest green flag in her life.

The remainder of Marry My Husband Episode 8 focuses on the aftermath between Soo-Min and Min-Hwan. Min-Hwan wants to have his cake and eat it too. In the process, he slights Soo-Min, who is progressively becoming more psychotic as the season progresses. While all the performers continue to shine, particularly the villains of Marry My Husband, actress Song Ha-Yoon continues to stand out with how far she’s willing to take the incredibly unlikable Soo-Min.

For Min-Hwan, played shamelessly by actor Lee Yi-Kyung, Ji-Won, Ji-Hyeok, and the audience can piece together his motivation for deciding to propose to Ji-Won super quickly. As seen post-retreat, Min-Hwan loses all of his money in the stock market. Penniless, he needs a safety net. That net is Ji-Won and her sound financial decisions. He doesn’t love Ji-Won. He loves what she can offer him. This has been apparent leading up to Marry My Husband Episodes 7-8. If Soo-Min had the finances, who is to say that he wouldn’t jump ship? Depending on how well Soo-Min’s stock does, perhaps that is what the future has in store.

Ji-Won and Ji-Hyeok know what will happen next. Equipped with information from the future, they try to plot out the next steps. In his way, Ji-Hyeok is determined to make the proposal Ji-Won receives this time around better than what she had experienced. Marry My Husband Episode 8 ends with Min-Hwan proposing to Ji-Won in Ji-Hyeok’s backyard. It is also here that we get a glimpse into each character’s motivation moving forward in the series. Soo-Min wants to prevent their marriage. Ji-Won wants Soo-Min to marry Min-Hwan. Min-Hwan only cares about himself. Ji-Hyeok only has eyes for Ji-Won.

Marry My Husband Episodes 7-8 move the chess pieces around to get our characters to where they need to be. Again, the character work continues to excel here. However, Soo-Min and Min-Hwan are becoming more fascinating than our lead couple. This is due in part to their more outlandish personalities and performances. Also, we know people like Soo-Min and Min-Hwan, and there’s a certain vested interest in seeing these kinds of people fail.

Hopefully, Ji-Hyeok and Ji-Won continue to evolve from their passivity to more assertive characters. For Ji-Won’s part, we have been seeing her transform. Ji-Hyeok may require a bit more work to make this happen, but now that he has obstacles to face, that will nurture growth. If Marry My Husband continues to develop them, they may be able to overtake the villainous couple in the interest category.

Marry My Husband Episodes 7-8 set up the stakes for what to expect for the second half of the series. Now that Soo-Min and Min-Hwan have consummated whatever their relationship is, Ji-Won can push further to get them to be together permanently. As long as the series doesn’t lose sight and Ji-Won doesn’t lose her allowance, aka Ji-Hyeok, in the process, the second half of the series should be just as dramatic as the first.

Marry My Husband Episodes 1-8 are now available on Prime Video, with new episodes premiering on Mondays and Tuesdays.