What to say about this lovely, naturalistic show? It feels more like an indie film set in upper-middle-class New York than a Kdrama, for one. Its characters are real human beings, not drama bots. And it reflects life as people actually live it—full of disappointment, envy, and failed connections, but also moments of companionship, contentment, and even happiness. This is a drama for grown-ups. No flower boys, no k-pop OST, no camera tricks, body-swapping or time-travelling. Now, I love that kind of stuff as much as the next addict, and that definitely has its place in dramaland. But this is a textbook example that all you need for a great drama is simply great acting, and a great story told well. Set in a midwinter Seoul that’s as drab and dormant as its heroine’s life, this drama explores the fragile marriage between a driven reporter and his free-spirited wife, the combatants in an ongoing battle over their son’s education. In a world where a child attending the right middle school confers esteem and bragging rights, he wants professional tutors and round-the-clock studying, while she wants learning for the sake of meaning and insight, not showmanship. And caught in the middle is their poor, sweet-tempered son, a boy who spent most of his childhood too sickly for anyone to worry about his academic achievements. A Wife’s Credentials thinks so outside the box and from this angle and with this script and idea I've never seen a drama like this one. Funny, humane, and ultimately optimistic, this drama’s universe is broader than what we normally see on Korean television. Instead of focusing on a small group of leads who seem to be the only living creatures in a bell jar, its cadre of (over)privileged wives, gambling mother-in-laws, random parents, and eavesdropping maids are all finely drawn and fully present in every scene that they appear in. This is entirely a character driven drama, which means the acting must be top-notch. Everything depends on the viewer believing that Yoon Seo-rae lives and breaths and hurts and desires. Kim Hee-ae makes it look effortless — she disappears and Yoon Seo-rae is all that is left. A quiet and unassuming woman, but with something pure about her Seo-rae– a sense of curiosity and humor and a childlike exhilaration for life — that refuses to fit into the sophisticated and cynical and unscrupulous world around her. Kim Hee-ae portrayed the role of a woman who wants to be a good mother and wife and at the same a woman with her own needs, thoughts, space and feelings simply admirable, she captured me with her acting and I fell so hard for her character. Kim Tae-oh is the catalyst character — the man who enters Yoon Seo-rae’s life and shakes it up completely — and Lee Sung-jae plays him as understated and sweet and rather delightfully awkward. But there is a core to him. He knows what life is and what he wants from it. And society’s definitions will not shape him and society’s expectations will not drive him. It’s not that Kim Tae-oh is perfect — he’s not. But that deep and grounded sense of self-awareness is incredibly soothing and strong in such a surface-focused world. And their relationship is one of the best I've seen in my entire life, their journey throughout the whole drama is one of the sweetest, most realistic, natural and mature illustrations of dealing with the prickly and sensitive topic of adultery. A Wife’s Credentials is close to perfect. Its few shortcomings include male characters that are treated much less charitably than their female counterparts and a finale that leaves some regrettable loose ends—Whatever happened to the kids? Did the second leads stay married? But even with these failings, this series is one of the most well-made, transporting dramas I’ve seen.Of course it isn’t totally unexpected or cliche-free. But it’s devoid of cheap histrionics, and it’s told with an unflinching but compassionate eye for finely-drawn naturalistic details. It’s a world that feels real and lived-in by people with desires, needs, thoughts and feelings. I was fully immersed. By the time the inevitable betrayal happens my nails were bitten clean off and my heart had fallen to the floor. It’s pointless to elaborate on the acting when one word would do: superb. Not to mention that it's blessed with one of the most wonderful soundtracks, musical leitmotifs are used to brutal effect—“Daydream Believer” by the Monkees and “Turn, Turn, Turn” as recorded by the Byrds. The first is all about waking up to the realities of adult life and realizing that it might be possible to find happiness even without fairytales, and the second details the natural cycle of beginnings and endings we all experience. They’re both simple and delicate, like hymns or lullabies, but when you really listen to their lyrics they’re also clear-eyed and poignant. A Wife’s Credentials is drama that takes a hard look at society. It looks at marriage, parenting, schooling, sexism, and the hypocrisy behind modern measures of success with unflinching directness. And yet, the story is simple and heartwarmingly personal. There is meat and marrow to chew over for days and days and days if you wish. But Seo-rae’s struggle to be a good mother and to not lose herself in the doing is deeply relatable. This is a drama that stays with you and one I highly recommend.