A bittersweet, spiritual love story, with an intriguing, attractive cast, A Week's Grace (2021) is yet another nice shorter drama to watch while waiting a week for the new episodes of your currently-running, longer episode Korean dramas to be uploaded online. I've really gotten into the habit of doing this in the last year or so, to fill up the tedious week wait with something just as enjoyable, only shorter. ;) Cinematography was especially pretty on this one, and sometimes I would freeze frame an image to stare at it closer. They could be paintings! I've only ever done that on a few K-dramas, like Shark and Faith and IRIS and Goblin.

The Story:

Engaged to be married, an attractive young professional couple Park Garam (Kwon Yuri, Bossam: Steal The Fate) who owns a cosmetic company, and Kim Seon Jae (Hyun Woo, Taste Of Curry - cue Harry Belafonte!) who is CEO for a popular coffee shop franchise, experience some typical pre-wedding jitters and begin to quarrel a bit about silly things before their marriage ceremony can take place.

Garam briefly considers breaking up with Seon Jae and even runs away from him after an argument in public, but then a car accident occurs as they cross a street (here comes that proverbial white truck cliche -- it's ALWAYS a white truck that hits people in a K-drama!) and both of them are knocked down to the ground. The young man Seon Jae is seriously injured and goes into a coma at the hospital, but tragically the young lady Garam doesn't survive.

Here Comes Another One!
Beware Of White Trucks In Seoul!

However, Garam's spirit is strangely met in a kind of dead quiet office purgatory inhabited by a strange grim reaper type of fellow called X (Yun Ji On, Memorist). He mysteriously offers her a chance to save Seon Jae's life, but only on one condition: she can return to life in her body in the hospital for only one week but during this time she must break up with Seon Jae for good. Garam is shocked, but willing to do anything she can to save Seon Jae's life. (All during this drama I wanted to poke that grim reaper's eyes out, he was so cold and mean, unlike the sweet and funny grim reaper character in Goblin). 

Eventually agreeing to the terms of the contract, Garam returns to Seon Jae but soon realizes that breaking things off with him for good is going to be much more difficult than she thought: being separated from him so violently made her realize just how profoundly she loved him after all. She watches over him in the hospital until he awakes from his coma.

After his recovery various challenges arise that cause Garam to cling to Seon Jae even more vehemently than before their accident, including parental - family challenges and an old girlfriend (Han Ga Rim) showing up trying to take him away from Garam. (One of the parents was played by the actress who played the nosy neighbor in The Suspicious Housekeeper, and I grinned from ear to ear when I recognized her). Her brush with the afterlife gives Garam a new appreciation for everyone's feelings and she even ends up befriending the woman who yearns to have Seon Jae for herself. (We sure aren't used to seeing that in Korean dramas! I must say the actress Kwon Yuri did an OUTSTANDING job in her role here, I was quite impressed; acting since 2007 gave her an edge up on some of the younger actors in the cast).

Each time Garam considers ways she can break that demonic contract she signed and cause both of them to live, of course the scary grim reaper shows up to haunt her and threaten her. The end of the contract week is fast approaching. Then Seon Jae has his own scary encounter with this grim reaper, and he even considers dying so that Garam can be the one to live! Will there be any way to double-cross that horrible grim reaper and cause him to break that contract so that both Garam and Seon Jae can live, and finally, happily, take their marriage vows together?

You can watch this sweet drama on several sites like Viki and Viu. Check it out if you like the actors, or like fantasy-based Korean dramas. Enjoy!

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