Set in a world where women outnumber men, Ready, Set, Love follows Day, a commoner who gets the chance to compete for a husband in a game show. The series is streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary
Ready, Set, Love takes place in a world where the male population was greatly affected after a pandemic in 1974; the male birth rate fell to 1%.
Now, it is even less than that. The current male population stands at 314. Men are an invaluable resource in this world, so they are raised in a secure facility called The Farm.
Although they live luxurious lives, they are almost like prisoners, as they are not allowed to leave The Farm.
Once they reach a suitable age, they are married off through a top-rated reality show called Ready, Set, Love, where they are referred to as The Gentlemen.
After the show, they, along with their partners, enjoy a life of privilege among the other families still adhering to a traditional family system, collectively known as The Family.
This year, a woman named Jenny will be producing the show, and to instill hope among the masses that everyone has an equal chance to win the game show, she randomly selects five contestants through a lottery.
May, a fan of The Gentlemen, registers on her sister Day’s behalf, wins, and convinces Day, who has no interest in the show, to become a participant.
Day, a commoner, will compete against contestants like Chanel and Bovy, known as the Organic Gang for being raised within The Family with actual fathers, which is a significant privilege.
Except for the five girls chosen through the lottery, all the other contestants are either from famous families or extremely talented and smart.
Before the games even start, Day finds out that May, who has cancer, is taken to the emergency room.
As a result, Day, who had only agreed to participate to get May the autograph of her favorite Gentleman, Son, informs Jenny that she wants to withdraw.
However, when Jenny tells her that the show’s winners are welcomed into The Family and that their families receive the best care, Day decides to give it her all to win for May’s sake.
Once the games begin, several girls get eliminated. Out of all the lottery winners, Day is the only one who makes it to the end of the first round.
When she faces the risk of elimination, she needs one of The Gentlemen — Almond, Son, Max, Jin, and Paper — to save her.
Initially, Son, who believes that Day is a stalker due to a misunderstanding, refuses to save her. However, he changes his mind when he sees her necklace.
It turns out that when Son was young, his father tried to run away from The Farm with him. His father was apprehended, but Son managed to flee.
That was when he met Day for the first time. She befriended him and gave him a place to stay.
Day also gave him the other half of her two-piece necklace before Son was found and taken back to The Farm.
Son still has his half, and when he sees Day’s, he recognizes her. Due to that, he saves Day, who will now be living on The Farm with all the other twenty contestants who made it.
This season, Day’s friend, Valentine, also gets hired to work on the set of Ready, Set, Love, but her true motive is to find her brother, who was taken from her mother at birth.
Valentine suspects that the show is rigged. Jenny, the producer, intends to keep Day on the show solely to boost ratings and give the common people false hope.
All the power lies in the hands of Chanel’s mother, Mrs. Kwan, who plans to get her daughter married to the most sought-after Gentleman, Son.
Day comes to be known as the “Lotto Girl,” and she is an audience favorite. With her hard work and the audience’s votes, she consistently manages to keep her place in the top five.
After every round, the top five contestants get to go on a date with the Gentleman of their choice. For her first date, Day gets to choose first, and she chooses Son, forcing Chanel to choose Max.
Day’s efforts to appear classy fail to impress Son, who gives her a very low score. Meanwhile, Max is impressed with Chanel.
Day confronts Son, reminding him that not everyone enjoys the privileges he does. A guilty Son later apologizes to Day, and they resolve their differences.
Eventually, Almond starts liking Day, and Chanel realizes that Day is not as bad as she initially thought. Despite this, Chanel and Day find themselves still competing for Son.
Chanel is driven by her desire for her mother’s approval, which leads her to prioritize marrying Son, regardless of her own desires.
Valentine investigates and finds out that Almond is her brother. Meanwhile, Day comes to know that Son is her childhood friend.
Once Day recognizes Son, they rekindle their friendship. Upon learning about Son’s life, Day decides to sneak out of The Farm with him to show him the world outside.
On their way out, they run into Paper, who is also sneaking out to meet a singer named Chun. The three of them succeed, and Paper goes to see Chun on his own.
Jenny finds out that Valentine has an ulterior motive, and Valentine confesses the truth to her. This once, Jenny lets her go with a warning.
Valentine also gets the opportunity to talk to Almond, who tells her that he does not want his family to contact him. He has accepted his life, and his family should not be breaking the law for him.
When Paper meets Chun, he realizes that he likes him. Chun is a man, but he does not live on The Farm because he is a member of a resistance group, City Ground.
After a failed rebellion, the group was purged, and the surviving members went underground; Chun is one of them.
At the same time, Son informs Day that the show is rigged. Mrs. Kwan intends to ensure that Chanel wins and marries Son.
He explains how the game show is merely propaganda, designed to create the illusion of equal opportunity for all contestants.
He feels that his feelings do not matter and that he is just a piece of property that the rich can acquire. Now that he has fallen in love with Day, he can no longer accept things as they are.
Day and Son kiss. When they, along with Paper, return to The Farm, they join hands with Valentine, who is also a member of the City Ground, to expose the truth.
Later, Almond also joins the group, which makes Son suspicious, considering the fact that Almond never breaks the rules.
Chanel has been falling in love with Max, but whenever she wins, she chooses to go on a date with Son, even when Bovy advises her to listen to her heart and be happy.
When Chanel takes Son to meet her parents, Son records Mrs. Kwan admitting to him that the game show is fixed and Chanel will win.
However, before Valentine can upload the clip to the internet, Jenny catches them and has Valentine arrested.
On the other hand, she gives Almond, Paper, Day, and Son a way out; they will not suffer the consequences as long as they comply with her orders.
While parting ways with Valentine, Son discreetly passes her the passcode to a facility. Valentine manages to escape and infiltrates a secret facility using this passcode.
This facility turns out to be where women who refuse to send their sons to The Farm are confined. These women are drugged to render them defenseless.
While recording a video of the facility, Valentine is spotted by the guards. When she runs from them, she gets shot and falls off a bridge.
Ending explained:
Under Mrs. Kwan’s thumb
Jenny knows Day wishes to win the competition for her sister, and she tells Mrs. Kwan about May’s illness.
Day is then told that Eve Capital, which is owned by Chanel’s parents, is taking care of May’s medical expenses, leaving Day no choice but to comply with Mrs. Kwan’s wishes.
Now, there is no way that Son and Day can be together. Chanel keeps winning and choosing Son as her date, and Day is forced to choose Almond.
Five contestants make it to the final round, and Day is one of them. As these girls will get to marry the five Gentlemen, they are brought to live with The Family.
Apart from Son and Day, Max is also not happy with the current pairing. He meets Chanel one last time to confess his love to her.
Although Chanel finally earns her mother’s approval by agreeing to marry Son, she confides in Max that she still feels empty. Nevertheless, all hope is not lost.
It is revealed that Valentine survived. She meets May and contacts Almond, Paper, Day, and Son to tell them about her plan, which she is going to execute in the finale.
Valentine also makes Day see that the hopes of so many common people are riding on her. Additionally, May advises Day to choose the life that she wants instead of worrying about her.
Day then resolves to stop complying and do everything in her power to win. She is now going to fight for the man she loves.
Exposing the truth
On the day of the finale, Son, along with Paper and Almond’s help, manages to install a program on the game show’s system, allowing Valentine to hack into it.
However, Jenny finds out about Valentine’s plans once again. She knows all about it because of Almond, who has been betraying his group.
Unlike before, Jenny decides to assist Valentine in executing her plan, as she has discovered that she is pregnant with a boy.
She is determined not to part with her son after he is born. This motivates her to expose the truth about The Farm.
Despite Day’s best efforts, Chanel wins the game, which means she will get to choose her husband first. However, Chanel chooses Max, much to everyone’s surprise.
It is then Day’s turn to choose her partner, and she chooses Son instead of following her instructions and picking Almond.
When the spotlight is on her, Day makes a speech. She exposes The Farm’s secrets while Valentine plays the videos she recorded on the central screen.
Outraged, the public starts protesting. Son, Day, Paper, and Almond take advantage of the chaos and flee.
When the time comes to leave with Valentine and Chun, Almond refuses to go with them. Valentine is then forced to reveal that Almond has been betraying them.
Despite that, Valentine insists that he join them. She tells him that she is his sister and that their mother has been looking for him for years.
Valentine fails to convince Almond, who refuses to leave The Farm. Valentine has no choice but to leave without him.
Freedom and danger
Almond is not going to betray his friends again. He refuses to disclose their whereabouts when he is later questioned by the authorities.
Chanel stands up to her mother. From now on, she will only do what she wants. This decision of hers makes her father proud.
Apart from Son, Day, and Paper, Jenny and her partner also escape to the City Ground’s hideout. They plan to raise their son there.
Now that Paper is not being forced to marry a woman, he is free to choose his partner, and he chooses to be with Chun.
Four years later, Son and Day are seen living a peaceful life with their son. However, this peace may not last forever, as Mrs. Kwan’s henchmen eventually track them down.
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