Our fairytale turns the page to its final chapter, circling back to how it all began. With significant character growth and satisfying villain takedowns, the story remains imbued with magic to the very end, as our leads take their final steps towards a happily ever after.
EPISODES 15-16
After Min-hwan’s attempted strangulation and his well-deserved pummeling by Ji-hyuk, they wind up in a holding cell, where Ji-hyuk’s swiftly released and Min-hwan has to wheedle Yoo-ra into bailing him out. “You cry for fairness in a disadvantageous situation, but revel in your strength when you have the upper hand,” Ji-hyuk accurately points out, to the oblivious Min-hwan’s protests. In the aftermath, a deeply retraumatized Ji-won can barely stave off her panic, but the unwavering support of Joo-ran and Ji-hyuk eventually enable her to pull through.
Since Min-hwan has demonstrated his utter lack of remorse, it’s time for Ji-hyuk to pile on the pressure. The very next day, Min-hwan finds out that he’s been fired, and he needs to repay his company loans pronto. The clincher comes when Min-hyuk receives a copy of his company insurance policy, which allows him to claim 500 million won in the event of his spouse’s accidental death.
Driven to desperation by his debt, Min-hwan pays Yoo-ra a visit at her hotel suite, requesting for her to provide the means with which to take Soo-min out. That works out perfectly for Yoo-ra, since Soo-min is holding an incriminating voice recording over her head. With a little assistance, Min-hwan will take Soo-min out and go down for murder, allowing Yoo-ra to wash her hands of these pesky shrimps.
As for Soo-min, the wheels are also being set in motion. When Ji-hyuk asks to meet up, Soo-min preens at the perceived attention, but Ji-hyuk cuts to the chase. Pretending to sympathize with her plight, he suggests that they charge Min-hwan and Ji-won for adultery. She’ll get compensation, and he’ll get Ji-won back.
Soo-min smiles sweetly, before her gaze grows hard. She can’t understand why he dislikes her, to which Ji-hyuk delivers another astute observation. Soo-min is someone who only cares about herself, at the expense of everyone around her. “You aren’t trustworthy, so you don’t trust anyone, because you assume everyone is like you,” Ji-hyuk remarks, leaving Soo-min seething.
Soo-min may not trust Ji-hyuk, but above all, she can’t stand the thought that Ji-won is still more sought-after than her. Confronting Ji-won in the company building, Soo-min sneers at her for seducing her husband, but the self-assured Ji-won doesn’t back down in the slightest. “Why would I sleep with someone else’s man? It’s not like I’m you,” Ji-won retorts.
To rub salt into the wound, Ji-won “mistakenly” sends Soo-min texts addressed to Min-hwan, laughing over how no one takes Soo-min seriously anymore. Infuriated, Soo-min immediately calls Ji-hyuk to take him up on his offer, playing right into our leads’ hands.
Lured to the hotel by Ji-won, Soo-min barges into the suite room, believing she’s going to catch Min-hwan and Ji-won in the act. Instead, she finds herself living through Ji-won’s experience — Min-hwan and Yoo-ra are canoodling in bed, gloating over claiming Soo-min’s life insurance. Furious, Soo-min snaps photos of the cheating couple, but Yoo-ra’s secretary knocks her out cold.
Soo-min awakens out in the middle of nowhere, bound by rope in an unfamiliar house. It’s the final step of Min-hwan’s insurance fraud, and she’s the only obstacle between him and a fresh start. To him, Soo-min no longer amounts to anything other than a pawn. When he heads outside to cut the gas pipes, however, he returns to an empty room and unraveled rope on the floor.
Min-hwan’s hubris proves to be his undoing, because Soo-min swiftly incapacitates him with a kick to his sterile family jewels. Slamming a whiskey glass over his head when he attempts to yank her back, Soo-min shoves him away. Min-hwan falls back, flailing through the air — and then he crashes onto a glass table, bleeding out just as Ji-won had. Karma’s hit the bullseye with a side helping of poetic justice; Min-hwan reaped exactly what he sowed.
The next morning, the malfunctioning black box footage of Joo-ran’s cheating husband is miraculously restored to normal, since Fate has already claimed its victim and has no further need to trap Joo-ran in a tragic marriage. As Fate continues on its crusade, Yoo-ra’s villain arc grinds to an abrupt halt when her rage-filled rampage through the road ends in a fatal car accident.
It isn’t exactly clear how Ji-hyuk’s destiny was transferred to Yoo-ra, but perhaps the parallel lies in how Yoo-ra wrought her own downfall through her manipulation of Min-hwan, just as Ji-hyuk’s emotional spiral was brought about by his grief for Ji-won. In any case, the heart mark on Ji-hyuk’s collarbone disappears with Yoo-ra’s demise, symbolizing the completion of the fated path and his liberation from his mournful end.
Just as a leopard never changes its spots, Soo-min shirks responsibility once again by fleeing the scene of the crime and evading the police. Hell-bent on dragging Ji-won down with her, Soo-min tricks her into opening her apartment door in order to bind her and commit arson. Predictably, she repeats the lines she’d uttered on Ji-won’s original death day, gloating smugly that she’s won.
“No, I’ve won,” Ji-won counters. Snapping the cable tie on her thigh and disarming Soo-min with a judo flip, Ji-won reveals that Soo-min’s walked straight into her trap. When Seok-joon found out that Soo-min had purchased paint thinner, Ji-won decided to play into her plan and turn the tables. Now that the home CCTV has recorded Soo-min’s arrogant admission of her crimes, she’s going down for good. No longer will Ji-won run away or be subjected to Soo-min’s whims — she’s faced Soo-min head-on, and emerged victorious.
Elsewhere, another triumph is on the horizon. Not only does Seok-joon physically defend Joo-ran from her scum of a spouse, but he also represents her in court and wins her case. Joo-ran’s divorce suit ends in her favor, and she promises to treat Seok-joon to a meal as thanks, then heads out to celebrate with Ji-won and Hee-yeon at Eun-ho’s newly-opened restaurant.
Good things come in pairs, which means Joo-ran also pulls through her surgery without any complications. The squad — by which I mean our three lovely OTPs — share a celebratory dinner at Ji-won’s apartment, in which Seok-joon denies that he’s there for Joo-ran, then promptly cracks open a beer bottle, cracks a joke, and cracks up laughing. Omg, the stoic man smiles! And Joo-ran takes the initiative in asking Seok-joon for a ride home! I’m squeeing so loud you can probably hear it on the moon.
As for our main couple, now that all the conniving complications are out of the way, they’re free to enjoy days of domestic bliss. Ji-won takes Ji-hyuk back to the pond from their first meeting, where she proposes amidst the meaningful scenery. To her surprise, he abruptly walks away, then returns with a bouquet of flowers and a beautiful diamond ring. Getting down on one knee, Ji-hyuk proposes to her, and they share a tearful, tender kiss.
In this timeline, Ji-won finally gets the stunning wedding she deserves. Clad in a regal gown and shimmering tiara, she’s every bit the fairytale princess. Come 2016, Ji-won’s progressed from an office worker to the director of a charitable foundation, providing second chances to those in need just like how she was granted a do-over. By 2017, our leads are the tired parents of twin sons, and with 2024 comes an adorable newborn that Hee-yeon and Gramps can’t help but coo over.
Before long, our time-traveling couple arrive at Ji-won’s original death day. To commemorate the magic of their new beginning, they visit an art gallery of cherry blossom paintings. As Ji-hyuk expresses his gratitude to Ji-won for imbuing the day with new meaning, she thanks him for giving her a reason to look forward to tomorrow. “I’m happy,” Ji-won says, cherishing what brought her here, and ready to step forward into a brighter future.
With that, we’ve arrived at the end of our journey, with its many plot threads tied up into a satisfying bow. At its heart, this story was always about Ji-won rediscovering herself and flourishing for the better, but it also took it one step further by showcasing Ji-won’s positive influence on those around her when she allows herself to shine — from her encouragement of Joo-ran, to her accidental matchmaking of Eun-ho and Hee-yeon, and even the way she helps Ji-hyuk open up. She sees past his untouchable chaebol exterior to all the little idiosyncrasies that she loves, and it’s exactly that earnest sincerity and steadfast resilience that convinces Grandpa to approve of their romance.
Perhaps there’s something to be said about the moral ambiguity of their actions, but the drama has taken pains to establish that its villains are people who would stop at nothing to achieve their goals. Within the rules of this universe, Ji-won was caught between a rock and a hard place — eliminate her aggressors, or be a bystander as an innocent friend takes the fall — and while she and Ji-hyuk took no joy in orchestrating the terrible trifecta’s deaths and downfall, they also knew it had to be done.
While Ji-won and Ji-hyuk may have set the stage, the villains’ conscious decisions were the linchpin that cemented their own destruction. It’s exactly as Ji-won said; they were given several chances to stop, but they actively chose not to. That’s what makes their comeuppance so satisfying, because they dug their own grave, and now they have to lie in it.
Of course, Soo-min and Min-hwan’s characters were elevated by phenomenal performances, ranging from Lee Yi-kyung’s nuanced portrayal and physical comedy to Song Ha-yoon’s sheer range of facial expressions and tonal shifts. That scene where Soo-min drops to banmal and threatens Yoo-ra was a testament to her position as the unrivaled superior villain, and her final scene was doubly gratifying. Beyond Soo-min’s incarceration, she’s trapped in the prison of her own mind, haunted by nightmares and ensnared by the delusions she feeds her bruised ego with.
The show’s storytelling may have faltered on occasional beats, but it knew the tale it wanted to tell, and it saw it through to the end. The consistency of its characters, as well as its thoughtful callbacks and careful attention to detail, made the world feel immersive and lived-in. I do wish we got post-timeskip scenes of our side couples, but I’m still glad for the sweet snippets we were given — Eun-ho sitting at the Yoo family table, Hee-yeon getting a dedicated bouquet toss and excitedly presenting the flowers to Eun-ho, as well as Joo-ran firmly cutting off her ex-husband and teasing the start of something new with Seok-joon.
It may all feel a little pat, but ultimately, Marry My Husband was a feel-good show with lots of unexpected depth that grounded its fantasy in reality, and its central message — of treasuring yourself — is one I think we could all stand to learn from.