First Take: Can We Get Married?

See? I told you I'll do it. This will be my First Take on jTBC drama Can We Get Married? starring an ensemble cast, including Lee Mi-sook, Jung So-min, and Sung Joon among others. A story about four couples and their struggles in their relationships, let's see how the first episode pulls off.

I've talked a bit about the couples here but I think since the show has started, more about the relations of each character has been revealed. Plus, I think it should be nice to call them by character and not something like Jung So-min's character. So think of this also as character intro.

Hye-yoon (Jung So-min) and Jung-hoon (Sung Joon), a couple of three years, are getting engaged. But there's a slight problem. Hye-yoon's mom, Deul-ja (Lee Mi-sook), has an exaggerated standard for her son-in-law. No less than a doctor or a lawyer. Her daughter Hye-jin (Jung Ae-yeon) did marry a doctor, a divorced plastic surgeon to be exact named Do-hyun (Kim Sung-min). Jung-hoon who is only an ordinary salary man is far below Deul-ja's standards and is adamantly against him marrying her youngest daughter. Although it seems his parents, Eun-gyung (Seon Woo Eun-hyuk) and Dong-gun (Kang Seok-woo), is a bit too excited to finally have the house to themselves. Meanwhile Dong-bi (Han Groo), Hye-yoon's best friend, is in a long term relationship with Jung-hoon's cousin and forever bachelor, Ki-joong (Kim Young-kwang) and it isn't going anywhere. Finally Hye-yoon's aunt, the 50-something-year-old single lady Deul-rae (Choi Hwa-jung) is in an ambiguous relationship with Min-ho (Kim Jin-soo).

There's quite a bit of things I want to talk about so let's get crackin'. I just want to say that if you do want to watch this, be prepared for light speed tongue action. When Hye-yoon is going against Deul-ja, my head hurts. They were spitting words like a hundred per second and the subs were flashing by fast. It wasn't pretty. But it was quite entertaining though. They weren't talking about anything serious in particular so it shouldn't be that much of a problem.

I really like the fact that they didn't really getting the audience into the story. There wasn't any unnecessary background check of the characters. We learn along the way. And we dive straight into their conflicts, no jibber jabber. I don't know about you, but sometimes I'm not too appreciative of dramas that start out 10 years ago and spends its time there for the first couple of episodes. I guess some dramas need that, but I'd like to know about the characters in the present time. The past can wait for that. It's not like this drama needs a time jump anyways but getting things done quickly is good.

Maybe because this is a cable show, but seeing how this drama doesn't shy away from adult themes like sex is good. They're not talking about it all day everyday nor is there an actual scene in bed, but it's nice that they're not treating it as if it's a taboo. All the characters are of mature age and it's not uncommon for couples to do it. Might as well just say it like it is. Also, may I say the kissing in here is fantastic? It's not wimpy childish glue-on-lips type of kisses, but passionate ones. Again cable, you're killing me on this.

Since this is more of an ensemble cast gravitating around our to-be-weds, it'll be interesting how the later episodes will flesh out each character. I don't think there'll be any particular problems with it. This drama is pretty straightforward. But I'm curious how the writer will continue writing it, especially since there isn't a core conflict. Which is pretty uncommon for a mini-series (I think this is a mini series, will update later if it turns out not to be).

I have to say though that at times the vibe gets kind of awkward and I'm sad to say that this mostly comes from Sung Joon. He isn't bad per se, but perhaps it's his lack of experience or because his character is older than he actually is. He seems out of place sometimes, especially when it comes to showing his affections with Jung So-min. I'm not going to be overly worried though, since he did pull it off really well with Jo Bo-ah on Shut Up! Flower Boy Band. Chemistry will come, I hope. And I heard Jung So-min is great at chemistry too so hopefully the two can bounce off each other nicely.

The main pull for this drama to seems like it's going to be from Lee Mi-sook and Jung So-min. When they're on screen together, screaming their faces off, it's just fun. If I'm going to watch it for anyone, it's definitely going to be for them.

It's a good start for this drama. I wasn't complaining of boredom and the hour passed by well. So far the pacing has been well done. I like the way the characters and conflicts were introduced. Overall it's a pretty good first episode. Having Sung Joon take off his shirt was also not that bad. Will I continue watching the series? I'll probably watch the second episode and see where that goes. It's not a superb series, as of yet anyways, but it isn't half bad. If you like your dramas light, fluffy, and fun, then this will do the job.

If you have a suggestion on which drama I should do a First Take on next, please tell me your suggestions!