Sandbox / Series Perfect Marriage Revenge

What would you do with a second chance?

Perfect Marriage Revenge (완벽한 결혼의 정석, literally "The Standard of a Perfect Marriage") is a 12-episode live-action adaptation of the webnovel and webtoon of the same name.

Han Yi-joo, a talented artist and the eldest daughter of a rich family, strives to earn their love and approval even though they treat her in a cold, apathetic manner, and please her obnoxious, money-hungry in-laws. During an event at her mother Lee Jung-hye's gallery, Yi-joo is framed for said mother's activities defrauding wealthy clients. In the process, she also discovers that her husband Yoo Se-hyuk has always been in love with her younger sister Han Yoo-ra, has quit his job, and filed for divorce.

Yi-joo flees the gallery and is seriously wounded in a car accident. She dies in her hospital bed... and awakens on a 2022 morning, a year before the crash, the day she was supposed to choose her wedding dress. Using this second chance at life, Yi-joo proceeds to enact vengeance on her family and her would-be husband, including seeking out Seo Do-guk, the man Yoo-ra was supposed to marry, and propose to him in a marriage of convenience.

The cast of Perfect Marriage Revenge:

• Jung Yoo-min as Han Yi-joo
• Sung Hoon as Seo Do-guk
• Lee Min-young as Lee Jung-hye
• Jin Ji-hee as Han Yoo-ra
• Kang Shin-hyo as Seo Jong-wook
• Oh Seung-yoon as Yoo Se-hyuk

Perfect Marriage Revenge contains examples of these tropes:

• Adaptation Inspiration: The story retains most of the beats from the webnovel and webtoon, but massive changes have been made. For example, Yi-joo being framed for Jung-hye's crimes, finding out about Se-hyuk and Yoo-ra, and meeting Do-guk at the gallery are all original to the show. In the source material, she finds out about the two on her birthday and never met Do-guk face to face before her death.
• Bait-and-Switch: When Do-guk and Yi-joo return from their honeymoon, Madam Cha approaches them with her arms open. Do-guk does the same, preparing to hug his mother, but it's a surprised Yi-joo that Yeon-hwa goes for.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Han Yoo-ra and Seo Jong-wook. The former pretends to be a sweet, lovable girl, and the latter a kind-hearted older brother who never lets his "slight disability" hamper him. In fact, both are vicious, scheming, selfish, and cold.
• Cool Big Sis: Seo Do-na serves as this to her actual younger brother Do-guk and her sister-in-law Yi-joo: she's spirited, outspoken, and supportive.
• Desk Sweep of Rage: Yoo-ra sweeps the contents of her vanity to the ground in fury at Yi-joo and Do-guk's marriage.
• Don't Call Me "Sir": In episode 5, Tae-ja scolds Yi-joo for calling her "Chairwoman Lee" as she has been doing, and allows her to call the older woman "Grandmother", accepting her as a part of the Seo family.
• Driven to Suicide: Yoo-ra overdoses on sleeping pills after a verbal beatdown from Do-guk. Luckily (for her), she survives.
• Face Your Fears: Throughout the course of the series, Yi-joo and Do-guk overcome her toxiphobia and his thalassophobia.
• Gender-Blender Name: Chairwoman Lee Tae-ja's name meant "the son who will be great" because her parents, after four daughters in a row, had hoped for a son. They gave up when the fifth was a daughter after all, but kept the name. Doubles as a Mythology Gag, because her counterpart in the original webtoon/webnovel was Seo In-gyu, Do-guk's grandfather - who had a relatively minor role compared to the Chairwoman.
• Henpecked Husband: Byun Jae-ho has a hell of a time keeping up with/trying to do damage control for his spirited wife Seo Do-na every time she says something incendiary.
• Heroic BSoD:
  • Attempting to cross running water and board a ship, Do-guk has a PTSD flashback. He sees a vision of his younger self reaching towards him and screaming for help for his brother. The trauma overwhelms him and he faints in Yi-joo's arms.
  • After finding out her adoptive father is actually her biological father, Yi-joo became catatonic. The police found her barefoot and not speaking, upon which Do-guk takes her home, cares for her wounded feet, and tucks her into bed.
• Manly Tears: Run strong in the Seo family.
  • Yi-joo's brother-in-law cries to the point of needing a handkerchief (and getting elbowed by his wife) at Yi-joo and Do-guk's wedding. Do-guk's father likewise dabs at his eyes as the bride and groom pay respect to the groom's parents.
  • As he breaks down from the PTSD flashback caused by trying to cross running water and board a ship, Do-guk audibly and brokenly sobs.
• Meaningful Name: Lee Tae-ja's name means "the son who will be great", or "great person". She is a feminist trailblazer who built a conglomerate from the ground up, during a time when women were expected to Stay in the Kitchen.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Jung-hye tells Yi-joo not to be so good in her next life. Yi-joo follows up by returning to life, trying her best to drop her "Well Done, Son" Guy tendencies, and exacting revenge on Jung-hye, as well as everyone who wronged her.
• Obnoxious In-Laws: Averted. Even though they take some time warming up to her (Yeon-hwa in particular), the Seo family treats Yi-joo better than her adoptive one does.
• Peggy Sue: Yi-joo's death from a car accident enables her to go back and re-do her life, taking revenge on everyone who had wronged her in the past timeline. Do-guk dying in the same car accident enables him to go back and be her supportive husband as she enacts said Roaring Rampage of Revenge.
• Shotgun Wedding: As the Seo family is discussing expediting Do-guk and Yi-joo's wedding, Jong-wook snidely implies that it's possibly because Yi-joo is pregnant.
• There Are No Therapists: Averted. Do-guk receives professional treatment that works for his panic disorder, even though his therapist/friend has questionable ideas about patient confidentiality.
• Thousand-Yard Stare: As part of her Heroic BSoD after finding out she is her father's biological daughter, not just adoptive, Do-guk finds Yi-joo at the police station staring into space.
• Trauma Button: For Do-guk, it's the incident where Jong-wook went overboard. He developed a panic disorder from it, and when Jong-wook pressed on the button in public by saying Do-guk had better push him in and kill him this time, Do-guk snaps and pushes Jong-wook to the ground, then has to be pulled off his stepbrother by the cafe waitstaff.
• The Undead: The shaman perceives Yi-joo as being neither dead nor alive. Chairman Lee thinks it's bunk and regrets bringing Yi-joo to see the shaman, but Yi-joo is shaken by this assessment.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: Pre-death Yi-joo was an inveterate people pleaser, as it was what she needed to survive as an orphan. She sought approval and love from both her adopted family and her in-laws (Se-hyuk's mother and sister) to no avail. In fact, Jung-hye deliberately gamed this: she fanned herself when she arrived at the orphanage, and Yi-joo, desperate to be good to a potential parent, brought her a glass of water.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Yi-joo has a phobia of eating food that's not packaged, or that she didn't cook herself, because she was poisoned as a child. Do-guk hates the sea (and running water + ships) because he accidentally pushed his stepbrother overboard when they were children.
• Wicked Stepmother:
  • Played straight with Lee Jung-hye, Yi-joo's stepmom, who dresses for the part (from her first appearance) and acts like it. She's willing to frame Yi-joo for her crimes, have her murdered, and sabotage everything Yi-joo does.
  • Averted with Cha Yeon-hwa, who is a stepmother (to Jong-wook), and initially acts frosty and rude to Yi-joo (her prospective daughter-in-law), but warms up to her. She also doesn't treat stepson Jong-wook and birth son Do-guk any differently.