Squee.

Sure, there were a few loose ends--like what was up with Jung-woo's no-good brother??--but I'm only mentioning this so that I don't sound like an obsequious fan who can see nothing wrong with their favorite show of the year.

Because that is what this was to me, the best, most beautiful, most satisfying show of 2023. I will be watching it again, for sure, to catch nuances in how colors were used, how Lady Park was fully machinating, how our love birds interacted throughout...knowing that I'll be caught unawares by things I couldn't possibly have noticed the first time through.

What a joy this drama was!! Beanies from the future? Yes, you. The ones reading the last episode's recap to make sure there's a happy ending before starting The Matchmakers...WATCH THIS DRAMA!!!

What an absolutely lovely culmination of the story, with all threads neatly tied up! I'm in awe of the way the story didn't miss a single beat - one more example is how it made complete sense that SoonDeok's son is happy living with his aunt coz we saw the strong bond between aunt and nephew in the previous episodes.

As expected, HaNa is friend, philosopher, and guide to the CP till he comes of age. The MIL got exactly what she deserved. Wish the kind bookseller had also got together with his monk, but I'm choosing to believe that our Matchmakers will figure it out when they see them together.

I will miss this sweet little show. Hope to see all these actors grow well in their careers ❤️

Oh No.. I managed to binge this show and did catch up with the ending. I have one additional bean but I can not just reward this adorable drama a single bean... I need to readjust every thing again. Why drama gods? Why?

Thank you for the weecap @unit it was fun to read all the weecaps and be part of the beanie The Matchmakers fan club. This really was a consistently good show throughout. Despite the schedule messing up the matching episodes I am glad that it finished on Christmas Day as that is seen as a romantic holiday by many in South Korea.

This is the sageuk that showed that Kings can be human as well as powerful and work with their advisors to solve problems for the people and address corruption. This also made it easy to fast forward through the palace politics if needed and still enjoy the overall story. This is the first and likely to be the last sageuk that I was able to enjoy because all the stories that ran alongside the palace politics were well thought out. It was funny and charming and had characters we wanted to see good outcomes for. The baddies got their rightly deserved consequences and there was a happy ever after for the main couple that made sense in those times.

It was so beautiful to watch. Those in front of the camera and all the behind the scenes people produced a top class drama they can all be proud to have on their résumés.

I was so relieved as soon as the episode started. Having our leads together in the interview portion and having their conversation be so lighthearted made me sure that we weren't headed for tragedy. Then I could watch the rest of the episode with absolute confidence.

I had considered that faking both of their deaths could be a good way to free them up for another marriage, but wasn't sure how that would work when it seemed like the crown prince needed Jung-woo and Geun-seok needed Soon-deok. But I really like how their situations turned out! The crown prince found a mind-mate in Ha-na (and I appreciate the light hand the drama had for this relationship), and Geun-seok is doing just fine with his aunt and uncle and has plenty of visits with his mom. So our OTP is free to travel the country matching people up! Even though I'm against sequels in general, I would watch a few short episodes of their adventures in a heartbeat.

I don't know when I've seen another drama with as many couples I care about and wished happiness for - and then had it actually deliver that for each of them! They were all so charming and adorable, but obviously there is a special place in my heart for Sam-soon-gu. (Side note: they give me strong Brenda and Gerald Jackson vibes! I haven't actually read any of her books, but I heard her adorable love story on a podcast and now get reminded of them whenever there is a female romance novelist.)

And what a perfect ending for everyone's favorite antagonist! I can think of no more fitting punishment than her destroying the family she worked so hard to protect. But in the end, Soon-deok was right (kind of about everything, but especially) when she said that they never should have plotted against the crown prince in the first place.

And finally, I can't not mention how totally beautiful this was start to finish. The silks, the scenery, the weather, the camera angles, everything was just perfect. I'm so excited to watch again when I can focus as much on everything else as what's actually going on. This drama is one of the best of the year for sure.

A great finish for the show of the year. It's so fitting that in the end, Mr. Big Brain can’t think his way out of his predicament alone. He needs people who love him to help save him (including from himself and his delusion that he alone can fix everything) - but it’s all his hard work for justice and on behalf of others’ happiness that has brought allies to his side.

Mean Lady Park, alone in the dark - so satisfying. Having to live with the consequences of her lifetime of evil choices and the fall of her entire house of cards is the best punishment for her.

The CP and his Crown Princess (and doesn’t Ha-na look gorgeous and queenly in her royal robes!) getting ready for another all-night debate is the perfect way to show how this marriage will ultimately be a good one. I know a lot of viewers have issues with the age difference and I agree they should have cast an actor who both is and looks over 12, but such marriages did happen historically and this is a great way for the show to defend one of its theses: there are many different paths to love and fulfillment and an ‘imperfect’ marriage can be one of them.

And - not a callback to the Red Hand showing up in the penultimate scene! I was worried for a minute that they’d have to do another awkward confession with both of her hands in front of his mouth like Destined With You episode 14, but I guess they learned from experience (and have a much better director).

My tiny quibbles: there was no non-drama need to leave JW ignorant that SD had survived - just whispering in his ear “she’s waiting for you, hurry and get better so you can see her” would have cut his recovery time in half. Who IS Prince Jin-sung, and what happened to JW’s corrupt/inept brother? Do the bookseller and the monk get together? As I said - tiny.

Best. King. EVER.

Long live the King! And our OTP Matchmakers! And the former spinsters with their husbands!

This drama really is the outcome of the coming together of great effort from the writing, directing, acting, production. Tight writing - nothing was wasted all the support and side characters were developed, no need for filler episode, all plot threads were pulled to form a satisfying story.

The confrontation between Lady Park and Soon-Duk was a showdown between 2 resolute women: SD's "Love is not proven with death" and LP's "I was not wrong" - karma came for both of them, SD and JW are together and LP alone.

Should we hope that the writer-nim does not become happy like Sam-Soon so that she can write another great script? 😉

I'll miss our Matchmakers but I think they'd be happy taking on new matchmaking projects together.

Probably an unpopular opinion here, but when they teased poison/execution at the end of day 15, it seemed clear to me that it was a fakeout, because:
(a) It had been repeatedly shown that the king was not a jerk (at least not by k-king standards) so he would save the ML somehow. (b) Having a show with this general tone so far end in tragedy would be too much of a twist for even the bravest writer. Peasants have pitchforks, ya know.
(c) It is a matchmaking show after all.
Then day 16 was just tedious waiting for them to reveal the details.

Over on Lee Tennant's site InvisiblePinkDragon she has a wonderful essay comparing 2023 K-dramas to souffles.
https://invisibledragon.home.blog/2023/12/21/my-year-in-kdrama-2023-the-souffle-year/
After reading it maybe you will agree with me that The Matchmakers was a completely successful Savory Sweet Potato Souffle. All the ingredients were in perfect proportions, room temperature eggs whipped to perfection and masterful baking technique displayed (read great acting, wonderful script, solid directing, gorgeous costumes, thoughtful camera work, set design etc. Bravo to the best sage in years!

My favorite couple was happy, everything else was fine.

This is probably the only show this year that had both a happy ending AND followed through consistently on its "serious" theme about romantic love, marriage, and family transcending state politics, so I am not ending this show as I have every other one with a scream of WHYYY?

Still let me make 2 small complaints that slightly dampened my enjoyment of this episode First, I think handling the refusal to commit suicide scene in flashback was something of a narrative mistake. Given that this was the last episode, there was no reason to misdirect the viewers in this way, especially since just after showing the scene, they went to each married couple and showed them really happy,and you were wondering why is even the step son enjoying his lesson so much if his step mother recently committed suicide? In fact, if they played the scene out in real time, then it would have been possible for viewers to completely enjoy the scenes from the marriage-- especially of course my favorite, the writers block scene which showed the inspector brother's deadpan sense of humor.

Anyway, besides this minor story telling glitch, I also was dismayed at the total lack of foresight in the ML's noble idiocy. How would just pretending he raped her help his love at all? It wouldn't--she'd be ostracized for life regardless. Also, the king was obviously sympathetic to the fact it was a trap and was offering him a noble and less idiotic route, which he didn't take, because he was more an idiot than noble.

It seems the ML actually wanted to die, had totally given up to the mother in law's treachery, instead of trying to think his way out of it. Or at the very least, accepting the kings deal and then immediately ensuring that his love would be safe. Again the story would have been the same and its resolution would have been the same, but without the nearly deadly noble idiocy.

In fact, I was half-way hoping that someone would have pointed out to him--you are a total idiot--you nearly died and lost your love because of your stupidity in "self" sacrifice. Now that, a final comment on my hated noble idiocy trope, would have been a totally triumphant ending for me!

I laughed so hard at this part of the recap because it’s so TRUE : “Shout out to the best Joseon king ever! He’s not a figurehead; neither is he a tyrant. He’s simply a jolly good fellow with everyone’s best interests at heart. Mr. King is Santa, y’all.” I love how their relationship is truly like father in law and son in law! Most of their interactions were so funny with great one liners. Like “everyone lives with an emotional wound or two, right? ”, “I feel disrespected looking up at you”. I want to rewatch the whole series for all of their convos!

So many thoughts about this drama!

First, the last episode wasn't my favourite one. I loved the to watch the couples happy :
- Sam-Soon and Soon-Goo : they're always as fun and Soon-Goo learnt fast :p
- Du-Ri and Shi-Yeol : I liked the fact she could marry and still take care of her mother. It was important for her. She has a husband who adores her.
- Hana and the Crown Prince : it never was about love between them but respect. If it's a fusion sageuk, this show always followed a certain reality. The CP needed to be married and because of his young age, it would have been weird even if his wife had the same age than him. In this case, he found a loyal friend who won't hesitate to say when he's wrong.

But for our main couple, they spent way too much time far from each other and half of the time was not a happy moment...

We knew that neither of them would die, so the truth took too much time to get out for me. They have a happy but a little bitter end.
I wasn't surprised that death was the solution for them to be together. But Jung-Woo didn't have to die anymore and accepting death without fighting was sad. It's always Soon-Deok who really fought for them. Jung-Woo was a very lonely character and he helped a lot of characters, so it was nice to see them trying to help him this time. But dying as angry man who raped the woman he loved was not really a nice end, fortunately, Sam-Soon saved his reputation with her book. But I wished he had a plan... Because dying to protect his love, why not, but I'm not sure how his sacrificing was doing anything for her...

Soon-Deok who chose life to love was the best part. I'm sad she lost her son in the process, even if he will be happy with his aunt and he will be able to see his mum, it's just she was his mother, there never were doubts for her.

The King was the best. He really wanted the happiness of everyone and was a fair King.

Lady Park had the best end for her. She fought to give power to her family but she no longer didn't have anyone to give it to. Jung-Woo was right for that. I liked their confrontation in prison.

In general, it's surprising how every character left an impression on me even if their role was small like the Monk, the inn owner, Lady Park's son, the servants O Bong and Gae-Dong, etc. The writer gave them a real identity.

The production of this show was perfect :
- The costumes : the hanbok with the large sleeves, the colors, the special gat, the fans (he didn't need to hide behind them when he met Soon-Deok).
- The interiors : the different houses really looked like home.
- The places : they found beautiful places to film the outside scenes. It gave a simple life vibe to the story.
- The PD did a really great job with his staff with the lights, the scenery, etc.
- The writer did Sell Your Haunted House that I loved and now this one. I'm really excited to watch her next drama! She really chose a theme "Matchmaking" and used...

Thank you for the recap! And "intentional" is exactly how I would describe it. Such a very well-done piece of writing, directing, and acting, along with the multitude of details that were so expertly accomplished by everyone on staff. Really a drama that is worth watching again just to catch any little details that may have been missed. And so satifying to look at (and not because of the good-looking people), but in terms of framing, symmetry, and colors.

Another shoutout to the king - love how much he cares for Jung-woo and how he had sent Soon-deok protection (even though she didn't end up needing it). I loved how the ending not only addressed Jung-woo and Soon-deok's romance, but what they're going to do professionally. And they came up with a whole new royal job - secret royal matchmaker! This works out well since Jung-woo would undoubtedly annoy everyone in court and Soon-deok loves matchmaking.

I did find it a little sad that Geun-seok won't be living with the mom he has known for 8 years and Soon-deok can't be with him every day either, but on the other hand, it seems like Geun-seok was already mentally and emotionally prepared for Fairy Soon-deok to fly away and he gets to be raised in his aunt's house with his favorite uncle (sorry, Jung-woo). I'm glad the writer included that Geun-seok visits quite often. I don't doubt that Soon-deok would be making regular trips home too.

I'm glad we got to see a bit of the various couples' marital lives (I don't see how some afternoon delight will help Samsoon since she's struggling with plot not an erotic scene, but who cares!) and a wedding for the real Yeojudaek. I found it funny how 2 out of the 3 brides from the wedding were on top of their grooms during the wedding night witnessing.

I loved how Hana and Crown Prince's had their conversation about sad vs happy endings, which was totally referencing how his drama was reaching its conclusion and the audience is eagerly awaiting to see if Jung-woo and Soon-deok would reunite.

I'm a fan of parallels and callbacks, particularly when they showed Lady Park being alone in the house that was so bustling with people and orderly activity in the beginning of the series. The drama really thread the needle on Lady Park. Putting her to death as she deserved to be would have hurt the family, but letting her go would be wrong.

Another shoutout to Oh Bong - who was ready to gaslight the other matchmakers. The drama made sure there there were no small parts, only small actors.

As a relative newbie to K drama watching, only my first year, I just found the craftsmanship of this show outstanding. There were plenty of laugh out loud moments and tears shed. The final highlight was in the credits where the Donkey’s had been converted to Rudolph. Go check it out.

I saw others compare this show to a Shakespearean comedy-- a lively ensemble cast juggling interfering parental figures, mistaken identities, and couple mixups and matchings. I love that we got an ending right out of Romeo and Juliet, minus the tragedy!

I just love this cute little show! Watching it was truly one of the highlights of my 2023. Not only was it beautiful to look at, the music scoring for this show deserves praise as well. The acting was great and the script was great. I love that it remained consistent throughout and just love how well it balances the funny and serious side. This show is truly a gem.

Also for a show with a widow and widower as its main protagonist, i just love how sweet and innocent their romance is being portrayed. I mean I love my burning, passionate romances but this kind of sweet, innocent romances are lovely to watch too.

KING SAVES THE DAY!

Ugh.

Wouldn't be nice, to have our Matchmaking gang to save the day?

Or even Prince?

Not quite sure why Prince had to go the noble idiot route not once but twice in the series. I am getting convinced that the writers of Kdrama are using this trop as an easy copout instead of actually thinking of an ending that is BOTH exciting and logical. Is it a cultural issue I keep missing? Like the Korean's society need to subjugate love for other "noble" considerations?

Not that the Western shows don't suffer from their own fair share of writing cop-outs (*dreaded final black screen that supposedly explains everything that happened in the end*) but this "noble idiot" trope has to die.

I found the last episode the most conventional of the series, with a tidy ending you could see coming a mile away. I was disappointed that our three most dynamic characters became passive players in the final resolution. Lady P. was reduced to doing damage control after the wedding switcheroos. Jung-woo was ready to swallow the poison and go down without a fight in order to save Soon-deok. I give Soon-deok credit for standing up to her MIL, but there wasn’t anything she could do to gain her independence or to prevent Jung-woo from playing the martyr. It took outsiders to save our OTP.

There would have been more dramatic tension if these three characters had remained shrewd strategists till the very end. For example: Lady Park could have threatened to harm Soon-deok unless Jung-woo accepted the annulment and took on a powerful government position (and perhaps a strategic marriage) to benefit the Jo clan. Then our OTP could have put their heads together to come up with a clever way to foil her scheme—even if it was just the same fake-death plan.

Overall, I think the show certainly deserves all the lavish praise it’s receiving. But while I could recognize the masterful writing, directing, design, cinematography, et al., I couldn’t make much of an emotional connection. (For one thing, I didn’t feel any romantic spark between the main couple, who felt more like brother and sister.) I give The Matchmakers high artistic marks, even if I’m not likely to watch it again.

Where do I even begin?

1. Let's get the plaudits out of the way first - I have gone on record many times to say MM is my frontrunner for 2023 -- and together with Aos2 -- became the brilliant bookends of 2023 for me. I am glad the finale proved us all right.

2. Shameless plug: I have only ever *once* publicly pledged to defend the honour of the writer for 5 years (IF they give us the happy ending our OTP deserves) - and that's for AoS2 in Jan 2023. For MM, I would do something else it truly deserves too.

Public Service Announcement: All readers of this site, IF you can only collect one last bean for this year, make MM your choice! Your inner life will become richer, your heart will be fuller, your aesthetics and literary sensibilities will be finessed, and your time & effort duly rewarded.

3. NOW, unto the rest of the nitty gritty (diamonds and dishwater moments)!

I love the female characters of the show even Lady Park. I am happy with how the show ended. Everything is just the way it should be.
I especially love Sam Soon and Soon Gu. And od course, our main leads got their HEA.
Jung Woo and Soon Deok out to pair up the rest of Joseon.

What an amazing ending! I was nervous because I've watched too many dramas that let me down a bit at the end but they did such a good job!

I love that Soon Doek had so much agency in her journey, she didn't sacrifice herself for society and she still was in her son's life and wasn't ostracized by anyone. I loved the king plotting to save Jung Woo and even though he spent some time in agony, the ending and reunion was beautiful.

Our adorable secondary couples are all happy and prospering, Sam soon gu are as besotted with each other as always and Soon gu helping her research was hilariously cute. Doo Ri being so content and happy with her devoted husband made me feel so good.

Finally, I kinda love the ending for Lady Park. She didn't really get punished in any official way, but her family is gone, there is no honor left, and she's alone pretending to herself that what she did was right. She's punished anyway.

@unit Thank you for a lovely review that befits this lovely drama. I am sure whoever watches this drama later will also get to enjoy the beanies' wonderful insights in the recaps. Thanks all!

This drama is a (misunderstood and underrated, by some people) gem.
Sometimes it was as if Charlie Kauffman and Shakespeare had written a sageuk hand in hand.

This is a story about second chances after tragedies, about morals and living in rigid world where everything is about appearances and rumours are the main distraction.

I loved the immersive cinematography, the lighting, landscapes, village settings...

Even though I think the side couples and secondaries stole the show, all the actors did great.

The songs were not very memorable imo, but the background music is beautiful and I would like it to be released in its enterity.

I will probably rewatch this drama someday, or at least parts of it.

Thank you for your review above. I enjoyed this series, there was cuteness to the very end.
I have nothing further to add - well - that would be a first!

@unit A whole lot of thanks for those witty and wonderful recaps that increased my enjoyment for the drama.
If I have a gripe with the drama, it is Jung-woo's noble idiocy and how the matchmaking squad didn't play a role in saving him. In the preview when I saw "operation rescue royal son-in-law", I felt glad. I thought this time it was the other couples turn to save our OTP and come up with a plan full of shenanigans. So, I am a bit disappointed with the turn the drama took. I have no problem with the new identities and the matchmaking agency. It fits our leads well. But how we got there isn't to my liking.

I loved this. I needed this to have a happy ending. Yay! ❤️❤️❤️❤️ Everyone else said what I want to say but I’m just adding my happy joyful delight at the show! Strong women, lots of love stories, noble idiocy issues squelched quickly…just yippee for romantics!

The latest scene of last episode is so beautiful with the Joseon scenery as background.

The ending is quite predictable. If we want a happy ending then the only solution is to have a fake death for both of them, I thought they will give other solution but it's not. Well it's not really bad but actually I'm curious if they will give different solution.

I may be alone in not liking how this ended. With all the clever bride and groom swapping to save the weddings of the 'old ladies' and ensure the best couples ended up together, why was a criminalised reputation, public disgrace, execution, and suicide necessary for our leads to be together?

To me that was plain ignorant, undeserved and excessive. The King had promised to release Jung woo from his dead marriage to the Princess so he could take public office, and then after the 'execution' he saved him and had him nursed back to health, so why not strike his supposed crime from the records on the understanding he had been a victim/scapegoat of the Jo and Park families all along? They were already disgraced and destroyed so why couldn't he have been pardoned?

Then to compound it all by allowing everyone to think Soon deok was also disgraced and had taken her own life was just horrible. I don't care if the OTP apparently skipped off into the sunset to start new lives. Let's not forget that he spent 8 years as an obedient widower that couldn't hold public office out of respect to the King and his own position, and she spent however long as a widow living obediently with her husband's family, so reputation and respect did mean something to both of them. To lose that in such a dramatic and unfair way really sticks in my craw. As a solution for them I absolutely hated it.

Hello everyone, I agree that this show was very pleasing to the eye.

I watched it until the end but I think I was enticed to think the story would develop another way.

Below, you may find my opinion a killjoy, so you can skip it : )

At the beginning with the 2 older sisters not wanting to marry, with the youngest sister passing as a man to earn money and do what she enjoys, and with the FL challenging the rules of arranged marriage, I thought the show would have as a main plot or as a subplot some critique of marriage (not only the arranged ones) or would root for women wanting to become independant and not marry.

Instead, the show was for me an overdose of marriages with many cringing moments (i.e. the night following the 3 weddings when the 2nd sister had to spend the night with the husband she discovered she had just married).

In this show there were : very little criticism or questioning of marriage for women; young women getting married (the FL married at 17); important age gap between young women and older men; women marrying men they have just locked eyes with, men they barely know or men they've had a crush on for a short time.
For example, I found the way the bachelors found their matches during the festival was farcical.

It lacked some depth and complexities about what love is (not the same as having a crush) and what marriage implies for women.

In the end, it seems the main message of the show was, in broad terms, "arranged marriages are bad but love marriages are good", with a questionable definition of what a love marriage is.

Kdrama year that appears to be promising.

Loved this drama. I missed a bit of the direness of their situation because I didn't understand Joseon views in widowhood quite well. It's a me problem and the drama gave enough hints to make me understand it was at minimum an ostracized situation. Loved all the cute couples, even the side ones from various numbered bachelors. The one thing, I really have to criticize is the casting of Lady Ha Na and Crown prince, to a lesser extent Yeojudaek's son. News to me he was supposed to be 12, I always guessed 9, which is the actual actor's age. No biggie as is not important in the story.

As for crown prince and Ha Na, I don't have a problem with a ten year gap, even though at 14 and 24 is creepy to us, back then they were adults, so I can overlook it. They will grow out of the gap quickly enough anyway. Problem is child actor was 12 and actress was the oldest of all the leading ladies and looked it at 29. So on our screen we don't have a mature looking 14 yo and fresh faced 24 yo, we have a 17 year gap between a 12 yo and someone who is old enough to be his mother. The biggest issue is the kid being prepubescent. Sorry, but no, ick. Could you not find a decent postpubescent young actor? Just no. Too much, my brain couldn't compute although I saw that match immediately when they met, it made sense (thematically, and they had given us hints she thought no man was good enough for her but maybe the future King would be). Casting fail there on both ends. Everything else was excellent.

I really enjoyed this show!! Happy endings for the characters who deserved one, loose ends tied up nicely, a king and queen I wish would lead every country, lovely cinematography, and a nice balance of romance, humor, intrigue, and lessons learned.

I wish donkey had not disappeared. And that shopkeeper and monk found their happy ever after whether together or separately, but minor wishes here. I'm satisfied with character arcs. And so many fantastic characters!! Wow, not a weakly written one among them.

How adorable our OTP could continue matchmaking together in their new identities gifted by the king! I did wonder about them not marrying right away though - can they travel together unchaperoned?

I am glad MIL did not have a redemption. Smart crafty woman but she only truly cared about other people, including her family, for as long as they did what she wanted. Throughout the show I kept looking at the artwork displayed behind MIL's desk and thinking it looked like splatters of blood. Fitting.