Rowoon’s graph charting out his growth as an actor is only going up, and (혼례대첩) The Matchmakers Episode 2 reactions by netizens on X (formerly Twitter) map out an overview that testifies to this fact satisfactorily. Alongside the Destined With You actor, the South Korean period romantic comedy series also stars Cho Yi-hyun in the lead role. Directed by Hwang Seung-gi and Kim Soo-jin, the ‘sageuk’ drama series has been written for screen by Ha Soo-jin. It started airing on KBS2 on October 30, with the second episode broadcasted on October 31, 2023 (Tuesday).
The series’s plot revolves around its two main characters – Shim Jung-woo and Jung Soon-deok. The former is the youngest person to have passed the state examination, but when picked to marry the princess, fate serves him a twisted tragedy as his wife-to-be dies untimely before the wedding. Barred from marrying again as per the Joseon era customs, he comes face to face with Jung Soon-deok, a widow and the second daughter-in-law of the second State Councillor, leading a secret life as a matchmaker under the pseudonym Yeo Ju-daek. Eventually joining forces, they work as the best matchmakers to marry men and women.
Watch The Matchmakers Trailer
Opening to positive reviews of all sorts, Rowoon’s (Kim Seok-woo) latest K-drama premiere has already overtaken his last series, JTBC’s Destined With You, in terms of ratings. The former SF9 has barely just settled into his shoes as a full-time actor recently after hanging up his K-pop idol cape, and it is working wonders for him. The Matchmakers Episode 2 broadcast particularly took his fans back to the old days of one of the most memorable K-dramas of the actor – Extraordinary You (2019) – wherein he played the endearing character of Ha-ru beside Kim Hye-yoon’s Eun Dan-oh.
Episode 2 also marked his reunion with one of his old Extraordinary You costars, Kim Hyun-mok, who now plays the role of Kim Oh-bong in the KBS2 series. The two chaotically incited humour and instantly won over the audiences while a squad of matchmaking ladies was out to get Rowoon’s character Shim Jung-woo. Viewers have also joined the dots in the actor’s trajectory from his old Ha-ru days to his present Shim Jung-woo and were more than pleased to see how far he’s come on the ladder to success.
Other X users also noted how his new character lets it loose and even skips along when thinking of Cho Yi-hyun’s Jung Soon-deok, the woman he’s smitten with, which prominently also mirrors his actions as the “love potion-stricken Jang Shin-yu” from Destined With You. It took the Extraordinary You actor a while to ease up in his recently wrapped-up K-drama with Jo Bo-ah. On the contrary, he’s already opened up to emoting the most bombastic and funniest expressions within the first two episodes of his new show this time. A K-drama enthusiast even highlighted, “shim jungwoo got to be the funniest most dramatic rowoon character ever his expressions & reactions be killing me every time” through their tweet.
While early reactions mostly focussed on Rowoon and his new character, other tweets published after some time also emphasised the female-led cast of the show, confirming that viewers had already fallen for all the characters of the K-drama. With the attention of finding ideal matches for the Maeng sisters, the audience especially looked out after Park Ji-won and Son Sang-yeon’s chemistry, with both of them playing Maeng Du-ri, aka the second Maeng sister, and Lee Shi-yeol, aka the eldest grandson of Sungkyungkwan Daesong family.
Additionally, a parallel montage displaying the stark differences between Shim Jung-woo and Jung Soon-deok’s skincare routines has made viewers laugh out loud. Another aspect that drew netizens in during the latest episode broadcast was the drama’s ladies reading the erotic novel titled “Madam’s Private Life”, and then Shim Jung-woo eventually stumbling upon it and stealing it to read it, with all of them sulking in the end after being left on a high on sensations cliffhanger.
Check Out The Matchmakers Episode 2 Reactions
The Matchmakers Kdrama airs every Monday-Tuesday on the South Korean broadcasting channel KBS2 at 9:45 PM KST. It is also available for streaming on Viki for international audiences.
Are you watching the new Korean drama? Let us know your thoughts on the first two episodes in the comments section below.