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Pierce Conran

Lead cast: Jang Na-ra, Son Ho-jun, So E-hyun, Lee Ki-taek
Latest Nielsen rating: 2.3 per cent
Jang Na-ra, star of 2021’s Sell Your Haunted House, returns to our screens as a successful entrepreneur whose seemingly idyllic world crumbles around her as she begins to suspect that all the men in her life have it in for her.
Jang is Seo Jae-won, who we first meet, as in so many K-dramas, on a dark night as she runs through Seoul for dear life, chased by a masked man in a black cap and hoodie. Despite her desperate dash, he catches up with her on a bridge and throttles her.


After this brief and clichéd cold open, the show brings us back to the halcyon days of “a few days earlier”, as we find Jae-won on a sunny day and in her element as the fashionable, attractive and confident chief executive of a successful furniture brand.
Workaholic Jae-won is on her feet around the clock, busy preparing for the launch of their latest product, which leaves precious little time for her to spend with her picture perfect family.
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Her secretary informs her that her stay-at home husband, Heo Soon-young (Son Ho-hun, The First Responders), has called, quipping that he is about to file a missing person’s report as he and their darling daughter have not seen Jae-won in 60 hours.
The only blemish on Jae-won’s life is a mysterious stalker who has been a thorn in her side for the past seven years. Usually he does innocuous things such as send her unsolicited bouquets, but today things escalate to a dangerous degree when an intruder breaks into her office while she is there alone, burning the midnight oil.
After smashing the trophy cabinet in the lobby, the masked man forces Jae-won to barricade herself in her office. The man attempts to breaks his way in but just as he manages to gain entry a security guard appears in the nick of time and he runs away.

This is one of many close encounters that befall Jae-won and, as her stress levels and fear mount, so does her paranoia. She begins suspecting that her hunky lead designer Yoon Te-o (Lee Ki-taek, Moonshine) may be the stalker.
Her nerves also compel her to go snooping through her husband’s phone, which leads her to a building where she sees Soon-young secretly meeting another woman – none other than Jae-won’s best friend, artist Kwon Yoon-jin (So E-hyun, Red Shoes).
She is also approached by slimy insurance investigator Nam Tae-woo (Park Ho-san), who, curiously, is looking into the death of her mother years earlier.

He suspects the mother may have been poisoned by Jae-won’s kindly stepfather, Seo Chang-seok (Kim Hong-pa). Jae-won scoffs at the idea, but on the heels of the other disturbing events in her life, a germ of suspicion sprouts.
The story returns to the cold open; after her throttling, Jae-won is tossed into the river beneath the bridge. While she does not perish, when she opens her eyes in a hospital bed she finds herself in a different hell, as the three men she is no longer sure she can trust loom over her.
In a country obsessed with branding and propriety, image is everything, but a constructed image seldom tells us the real story. It is no accident that the first time we see Jae-won at work, busying herself with tools, wood and a 3D printer in a carpentry studio, we quickly discover that we are being fooled.

What we have seen is actually an ad for her company. Jae-won used to be a designer, but as a CEO she now only cares about product deadlines and marketing, something Te-o chides her for.
Jae-won soon discovers for herself what it is like to be fooled, after events lead her to suspect the main men in her life, who all appear to be perfect on the surface. This notion of people presenting fake versions of themselves blends well with the fears a women can feel in a world where any man could potentially be a predator.
It is a great concept for a late-night melodrama, and Jang, sharp and charismatic as ever, ably draws us into Jae-won’s nightmare. Unfortunately, her many ordeals are offered up as a patchwork dotted with several holes.

After the initial intrigue drummed up in episode one, the show struggles to hold it together. Beyond Jae-won’s increasing paranoia, there is not much else for us to latch onto – the other characters in the story are all ciphers who we are almost immediately led to suspect may not be who they appear to be.
Hopefully the story will iron out these kinks and establish some clarity in the next few episodes.
My Happy Ending is streaming on Viu.


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K-drama My Happy Ending: Jang Na-ra leads melodrama with intriguing premise but marred by plot holes

Jang Na-ra as Seo Jae-won in a still from “My Happy Ending”.

Jang Na-ra  as Seo Jae-won in a still from “My Happy Ending”. She plays a successful businesswoman who begins to suspect the men around her of stalking her. 

Lee Ki-taek as lead designer Yoon Te-o in a still from “My Happy Ending”.

Son Ho-jun as husband Heo Soon-young in a still from “My Happy Ending”.

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We could see Jeon Do-yeon leading upcoming crime thriller “The Price of Confession”. Also in Korean drama casting news, Yang Se-jong and “Moving” star Ryoo Seung-ryong have been eyed for the leading roles in webtoon adaptation “The Hooligans”. Photo: Netflix

A still from the K-drama “Crash Landing on You”. The series was directed by Lee Jung-hyo, who may also lend his hand to upcoming crime thriller “The Price of Confession”. Photo: tvN

Lee Min-ki (here in a still from “Behind Your Touch”) has been confirmed to star in cop comedy “Crash”. Photo: Netflix

Yang Se-jong (right) and Bae Suzy in a still from “Doona!”. Yang has been offered a leading role in “The Hooligans”. Photo: Netflix

Ryoo Seung-ryong, who looks set to star in “The Hooligans”, in a still from the hit K-drama “Moving”. Photo: Disney+

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Nana as Kim Mo-mi in a still from “Mask Girl”. Photo: Jun Hea-sun/Netflix

Han Hyo-joo in a still from “Moving”, one of  our 15 best Korean drama series of 2023 – is your favourite on the list? Photo: Disney+

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Park Seo-jun (right) as debonair pawnbroker Jang Tae-sang and Han So-hee as scrappy sleuth Yoon Chae-ok, in a still from “Gyeongseong Creature” Part 1.  Photo: Lim Hyo Sun/Netflix

Park Seo-jun (right) as debonair pawnbroker Jang Tae-sang and Han So-hee as scrappy sleuth Yoon Chae-ok, in a still from “Gyeongseong Creature” Part 1. Netflix’s monster drama set in Korea’s colonial era shines where others like it have stumbled. Photo: Lim Hyo Sun/Netflix

Han So-hee (left) as Yoon Chae-ok and Park Seo-jun as Jang Tae-sang in a still from “Gyeongseong Creature” Part 1. Photo: Lim Hyo Sun/Netflix

Cho Han-cheul (left) and Han So-hee as father-daughter sleuth team Yoon Joong-won and Yoon Chae-ok in a still from “Gyeongseong Creature” Part 1. Photo: Lim Hyo Sun/Netflix

Claudia Kim as mysterious noblewoman Yukiko Maeda in a still from “Gyeongseong Creature” Part 1. Photo: Lim Hyo Sun/Netflix

Wi Ha-joon as passionate freedom fighter Kwon Joon-taek in a still from “Gyeongseong Creature” Part 1. Photo: Lim Hyo Sun/Netflix

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Jang Dong-yoon in a still from “Daily Dose of Sunshine”. Photo: Netflix

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Jang Na-ra is Seo Jae-won, a successful entrepreneur whose world crumbles around her as she begins to suspect that all the men in her life have it in for her
It is a good concept for a late-night melodrama, and Jang is sharp and charismatic. But her many ordeals are offered up as a patchwork full of holes


The premise for My Happy Ending is sharp and fun and Jang Na-ra is charismatic in her role, but so far we have seen little from the other characters to justify her character’s growing paranoia.
