While I initially planned to write a separate review for My Demon vs The Story of Park’s Marriage Contract, the more I thought about it, the more I realized these two series would make for a great head-to-head review.  They are both fantasy, romance dramas containing elements of suspense.  Both shows feature a contract marriage.  One person from the main couple in each drama is from the 200 years in the past. (I wonder if they knew each other?)  The other person is the heir to a large company.  See what I mean?  Head-to-head review made in heaven! 

In My Demon, Song Kang (Sweet Home) stars as a 200-Year-old demon who loses the tattoo that is the source of his power to the heiress of a conglomerate. Kim Yoo-jung (Moon Embracing the Sun) portrays Do Do-hee, CEO of Mirae F&B, and the heiress who suddenly needs a husband.  Gu-won wants his powers back.  Do-hee wants to know who is trying to kill her.  To solve their joint problems, the two enter into a marriage of convenience.  As their fake marriage turns into real love, secrets from the past threaten to destroy their newfound happiness.

• Series Title:  My Demon (Korean: 마이 데몬)
• Starring:  Kim Yoo-jung, Song Kang, Lee Sang-yi and Kim Hae-sook
• Written by:  Choi Ah-il
• Directed by:  Kim Jang-han, Kwon Da-som
• Network:  SBS TV
• Where to watch in the US:  Netflix
• Premier Date: November 24, 2023
• # of episodes: 16
• KafeNook Rating:  4.3 sips

When a Joseon era girl suddenly finds herself 200 years in the future, it makes perfect sense to enter into a contract marriage with a man who looks exactly like her deceased husband.  Lee Se-young (The Red Sleeve) stars as time-traveling, Park Yeon-woo in The Story of Park’s Marriage Contract.  A seamstress in Joseon times, Yeon-woo’s life is turned upside after the death of her husband on their wedding night.  Things go from bad to worse when she is abducted and thrown into a well.

Yeon-won emerges from a hotel swimming pool and into the arms of Kang Tae-ha (Bae In-hyuk of Under the Queen’s Umbrella), deputy CEO of SH Group.  Scheduled to marry that day to appease his grandfather, Tae-ha’s contracted bride is nowhere to be found.  Fish out of water Yeon-woo is his only option to continue with the wedding.  Yeon-woo agrees to take the bride’s place on that condition that this “trickster guy” helps her get home.

• Series Title:  The Story of Park’s Marriage Contract (Korean: 열녀박씨 계약결혼뎐)
• Starring:  Lee Se-young, Bae In-hyuk, Joo Hyun-young, Yoo Seon-ho, Jo Bok-rae 
• Written by:  Go Nam-jeong
• Directed by:  Park Sang-hoon  
• Network:  MCB TV  
• Where to watch in the US:  Viki
• Premier Date: November 24, 2023
• # of episodes: 14
• KafeNook Rating:  4.2 sips

My Demon vs The Story of Park’s Marriage Contract  — !! Spoilers Ahead!!

To be honest, neither My Demon nor The Story of Park’s Marriage Contract cover any groundbreaking territory.  Which is okay.  I enjoy dramas that don’t require a lot of thought just as much as dramas that do.  (I’m talking about you Death’s Game!)  My Demon initially captured my attention due to the casting of Song Kang and Kim Yoo-jung as the main couple.  Then, seeing all the good reviews for The Story of Park’s Marriage Contract, I quickly caught up with it as well.

For this My Demon vs The Story of Park’s Marriage Contract head-to-head review, I’m doing something a little different. This review is like a game of – who would I take with me fill in the blank? For instance – who would I take with me if I were stranded on a deserted island? That one is a little obvious, though.   If I select Gu-won to go with me, he could use his demon powers to get us off the island in a heartbeat.  End of game.  Instead, I’ll go with the question – who would I take with me on a vacation?  The rules are simple – I have to pick one character from each category (male lead, female lead, villain, etc…) between the two shows.  Let the game begin!

A Trip to Vancouver B.C.

Vancouver, British Columbia is a great place to visit. The city and surrounding area have everything – mountains, ocean, buzzing downtown, great food, entertainment, beautiful parks and gardens.   No matter who I select, we will have a great time there.  Who to choose first?

I’m tempted to select modern-day Tae-ha from The Story of Park’s Marriage Contract.  Winner of the Hot Shot for Best Dimples in a Kdrama (KafeNook Kdrama Awards for 2023), Bae In-hyuk portrays both versions of Tae-ha with a touching vulnerability.  How can a Joseon girl from any era resist him?  I could picture riding bikes around Stanley Park with Tae-ha (now that his heart is fixed!) and listen to how he fell in love with Yeon-woo in not one but two eras.

As fun as that would be, I have to select demon Gu-won.  Taking the tram up Grouse Mountain with Gu-won and seeing the sights of Vancouver would be a great way to spend a day. Then, knowing how much he loves cake, we could pop over to Victoria on Vancouver Island to have cake with high tea.  There would never be a dull moment with this humorous demon.  Plus, you never know when a partner is needed for a tango fight.  Vancouver is a relatively safe city but having a bodyguard (and a super-attractive one at that) can come in handy.

Of course, Gu-won failed some of the rules of being a bodyguard to Do Do-hee, like “never fall in love with her”.  I don’t blame him. Not only is Do-hee beautiful and intelligent, but she happens to be the re-incarnation of his first love, Wol-sim.  If Gu-won decides to pop back to South Korea to see Do-hee during our vacation, I would understand.  Even if they argue sometimes, she is the love of his life.

Old Joseon Seamstress vs New Joseon CEO

Given Do Do-hee’s commitment to her work, I don’t think she would make it on our vacation.  Now that the person trying to kill her is behind bars, she is well on her way to recovering from the tragedies of her past.  Plus, Gu-won promised to always come when she calls.

Ok – there was that one time when Gu-won vowed to protect Do-hee, but then overheard her crying in anguish after learning about Gu-won’s ten-year contract with her father.  At that point Gu-won realized he was the one bringing her the most pain. He tells Do-hee to save herself from hell before leaving her side.  Fortunately, he didn’t truly stay away and returned to save her from evil Noh Seok-min (Kim Tae-hoon).  Then brave Do-hee took her own move out of the movie My Bodyguard and sacrificed herself for Gu-won.  He, in turn, used his demon powers to save her. But resurrecting someone who has died is one of the two things a demon is forbidden to do. Gu-won dissolves into ashes (cue identical scene from Guardian: The Lonely and Great God). Good thing he made that final deal with God allowing him to come back.

With Do-hee staying in Korea, that means Park Yeon-woo is on the trip!  Bring the sunscreen! (Don’t worry, I will explain what sunscreen is.)  When Yeon-woo first arrived in the present, she was a bit like Darryl Hanna’s character, Madison, in the movie Splash:  trying to get into the car through the window; opening the door without knowing about door handles; pleading with the people in the historical drama on TV.   Now she is much more worldly, especially after having turned her Joseon era seamstress skills into her a business of her own. 

Yeon-woo may not be much of a cook, but knowing she appreciates food we will venture to Granville Island to check out the market there.  I’m interested to hear about life during the Joseon era and how it compares to the present.  Was it hard loosing Joseon era Tae-ha or did she already know he had been reincarnated into her Tae-ha?  And if Tae-ha wants to crash the trip to see is beautiful wife, who am I to stop him?

The More the Merrier

Of course, it would be great to have a few more friends along on this trip.  Between the two dramas there are so many to choose from.  From My Demon, cute couple Park Bok-gyu (Heo Jeong-do), current director of the Sunwol Foundation and Secretary Shin Da-jeong (Seo Jeong-yeon) could be fun to hang out with now that their secret is out in the open.  Sword dancing Jin Ga-young (Jo Hye-joo) can stay at home.  She is kind of a downer.  Am I the only one who thought she and newly appointed Mirae CEO Joo Seok-hoon (Lee Sang-yi) could be an item? Kind but personality challenged Seok-hoon can also stay at home.  (Lee Sang-yi, on the other hand, is welcome – especially if he promises to sing.)

No – the people I would take are the crew from The Story of Park’s Marriage Revenge:  Secretary Hong Seong-pyo (Jo Bok-rae) and his badass fiancé Sa-wol (Joo Hyun-young), plus Tae-ha’s half-brother Kang Tae-min (Yoo Sun-ho).  Former hand-maiden Sa-wol is a person who comes out on top in any situation.  Suddenly finding herself in new Joseon (i.e. the present), she makes money easily using her considerable skills, then takes care of her best friend who is going through a hard time. Plus, she lands a masculine yet sensitive man as her boyfriend!

I can imagine traversing the streets of Gastown as Sa-wol and Seong-pyo navigate us to the best restaurants and pups.  Tae-ho’s earnest brother Tae-min will point out the architectural sites along the way and break out into laughter when Gu-won shows up wearing the identical purple, fuzzy sweater. (Maybe the two shows shared a wardrobe closet?)

Veteran Actresses Abound

A day trip to Vancouver Island would be a blast with some of the veteran actresses featured in these two series.  While Kim Yeo Jin, who portrays Yeon-woo’s mom is a fabulous actress, I am still a little frightened of her Vincenzo character.  Maybe spending the day together with her The Story of Park’s Marriage Contract character would get me over that.

Mirae Group chairwoman Joo Cheon-sook (Kim Hae-sook of Start Up) would definitely appreciate the beauty of Butchart Gardens. We could then drive down to Victoria to pick up some of the late Queen Elizabeth’s favorite chocolates.  I would ask homeless woman/God (Mr. Queen’s Cha Chung-hwa) to come along, but that would be pointless since God is always around. (Side note: I love the subtle clue of homeless woman’s identity where one of the “o’s” from the word Good on her hat is washed out.)

Evil “ish” Characters

I did promise I would choose a character from each category.  That means selecting one of the villains for the trip.  Short-term CEO and worst father/husband of the year Noh Seok-min from My Demon will have to stay in jail.  Not only do his horrible wounds need healing but he appears to be headed to the psychiatric ward.  I am also still upset with Tae-ha’s grandpa Kang Sang-mo (Chun Ho-jin of City Hunter) for how he treated Tae-ha.  His only saving grace is sacrificing himself for Tae-ha in the end. He is in a better place now (and by that, I mean in a nice nursing home where he does not seem to remember the bad things he did). 

That leaves Tae-min’s mom, Min Hye-suk (Jin Kyung of Extraordinary Attorney Woo). By the end of The Story of Park’s Marriage Contract, she is on her way to redemption and recognizes what a great son she has. We could make the scenic ride up to Whistler to take in the views and fresh mountain air. Then pop back into Vancouver for some mouthwatering gelato at Bella Gelateria.

My Demon vs The Story of Park’s Marriage Contract Endings

During the trip, I’ll need to spend some time reflecting on the ending of the two shows. Like the fact that I’m still heartbroken over the death of Joseon era Tae-ha in The Story of Park’s Marriage Contract. When Yeon-woo returns to the past, she saves Tae-he from dying on their wedding night and he falls in love with her again.  Knowing his time is short due to his frail heart, his greatest wish is to be with her in another life. The fact that he dreams of being her Tae-ha in the future means he does, indeed, get his wish and becomes her Tae-ha.

Modern-day Tae-ha loves Yeon-woo so much that he begs the doctor to fix his heart so that she won’t leave him. Fortunately, Yeon-woo’s return to the past heals his heart physically if not emotionally. It’s not clear exactly how she gets back to the future but falling off the cliff of doom seems to do the trick. (I will just ignore this glaring plot-hole.)  Happily, back in the future Yeon-woo and Tae-ha marry for a second time – this time for real.

In the final episode of My Demon, Gu-won returns!  (Was there ever any doubt?) He and Do-hee are back together as husband and wife, but – Gu-won is still a demon.  This is where I have a lot of questions. Will Gu-won continue to stay young while Do-hee grows old and dies?  Gu-won shows some minor concern about human Do-hee’s health, but otherwise, the two of them frustratingly ignore this issue.  Now that he cares for humans, wouldn’t it make sense for Gu-won to be a human when he comes back?  Or is part of his deal with “God” that he has to continue to do his demon work?

After Gu-won returns, the remainder of the episode feels flat and full of filler. There is closure for a number of characters, but is the storyline of Jin Star finding a little girl just like her vs going off to Europe necessary?  Did we need scenes of Gu-won and Do-hee fighting, then making up?  Maybe I am the only one who doesn’t understand it when Do-hee says Gu-won is the person she most hates and most loves in the world.  Love and marriage aren’t perfect.  Life happens after the happily ever after, but— didn’t Do-hee move past her hate of Gu-won and come to acceptance? A part of me is sad that a show I loved right up until the final episode left me dissatisfied with the ending.

My Demon vs The Story of Park’s Marriage Contract Soundtracks

Let’s say that I could only pick one soundtrack for the trip.  Who knows, maybe Apple music doesn’t carry the other one.  This is an easy choice.  For some reason, Netflix Kdramas have some of the best soundtracks.  The original soundtrack for My Demon is no exception starting with Our Night is More Beautiful than Your Day sung by the Kpop group New Jeans and Yoari singing the opening credits song, True.  Roy Kim lends his amazing vocals to Whenever Wherever and Winter of Aespa sings With You.  There is also Even if We Disappear by Dawn, Say You Love Me sung by Sam Kim, Kang Min Kyung’s Lasting Like the Last Day, and my favorite song from the drama, The Way to Lose by 10CM.

I would try to sneak in a few songs from the soundtrack for The Story of Park’s Marriage Contract though, starting with If the World Separate Us by SEDOo, The Reason sung by Onestar, and Song Ha’s Like a Dream.

My Demon Rating: 4.3 sips

The Story of Park’s Marriage Contract Rating:  4.2 sips

For this My Demon vs The Story of Park’s Marriage Contract head-to-head review, My Demon wins by a nose.  The show rates slightly higher for me due to the chemistry between the main couple, the anticipation of watching each episode and the original soundtrack.  For The Story of Park’s Marriage Contract, I liked the supporting cast better and because I was more satisfied with the ending, I am more likely to watch it again.