All about my Mum (2015) 拜託了，媽媽
starring Eugene Kim as Lee Jin Ae, Lee Sang Woo as Kang Hoon Jae, Go Doo Shim as Im San Ok (Jin Ae’s mother), Kim Kap Soo as Lee Dong Chul (Jin Ae’s father), Oh Min Suk as Lee Hyung Kyu (Jin Ae’s older brother), Choi Tae Joon as Lee Hyung Soon (Jin Ae’s younger brother), Kim Mi Sook as Hwang Young Sun (Hoon Jae’s Mother), Jo Bo Ah as Jang Chae Ri, Son Yeo Eun as Sun Hye Joo
Slot in to watch this drama when my parents were watching it on Channel U. This drama started out interestingly about a family with three children who have distinct characteristics. The eldest son Hyung Kyu’s first appearance is hilarious, singing in the car in a funny manner. He is an arrogant lawyer and does not like his family background. The second child is a daughter, Jin Ae. She is independent and a career woman who hopes to earn enough money to move out of the house she calls hell. She is hardworking and manages to do well in her career with her quick-wittedness, even though she gave up studying in university for her elder brother (?). The youngest son is quite good-looking which my sister thinks so too haha. He is kind and good-natured but seen as useless as he is unable to earn a living (can’t remember why but he keeps switching jobs).
The mother dotes on the eldest son and is bias towards him, not giving as much attention to her other two children. For a moment, I thought that it is because Hyung Kyu is the adopted son haha as I saw in one drama where they treat the adopted son better than their real children. The father is a troublemaker who cannot find a stable job, and is always cheated by his friends to invest in weird things and lose money. What I like about the father is how he provides emotional support to his other 2 children despite how he often creates trouble for the family. Throughout the drama, I felt the mother could have treated the children more equally, at least in front of them, to prevent misunderstandings and hurting them unnecessarily.
The relationship between Jin Ae and Hoon Jae started out well. Liked their interaction and how Hoon Jae is sure about his love for Jin Ae and “aggressively” makes Jin Ae think twice about being single and follow her heart. However, I disliked how he lies and hides his family background and their relationship for so long that it complicates their relationship and causes poor relationship between his mother and her. If he wants to hide those things, he should have explained properly to his mother and Jin Ae to prevent both of them from being hurt when they find out. It is nice how he is good at repairing and making things which he did a lot in Jin Ae’s family’s house. It is funny how Jin Ae’ s mother calls him Nimble Lad and Jin Ae’s friend/senior calls him “Stuck out butt” haha… Liked how Hoon Jae builds relationships with Jin Ae’s family members one by one when he unexpectedly stays at their house. But too bad, the biggest obstacle is actually his own mother.
It was fun to watch the interaction between Chae Ri and Hyung Soon as their relationship develops. Hyung Soon pretends to be his rich doctor friend to help his friend go for a blind date which leads to trouble as he falls in love with a rich man’s daughter haha. Due to having outstanding siblings and he compares himself to them, he feels inferior and has low confidence of his ability. Because of that, it adds instability to the relationship between him and Chae Ri, and it was quite a drag when he chooses to let go of Chae Ri a few times. However, their interaction is sweet, especially at the start, and adds a light and cheery atmosphere to the drama with their immaturity.
Enjoyed the development of relationship between Hyung Kyu and Hye Joo for the first half of the drama as Hye Joo is able to make Hyung Kyu smile and do things he usually do not do such as acting kind haha. Also liked Hyung Kyu’s interaction with Hye Joo’s child at the start. However, as the drama goes, when Hye Joo becomes what Hyung Kyu only cares about and Hyung Kyu is unable to handle matters sensitively, I felt the relationship didn’t change Hyung Kyu much after all. Also didn’t like it when Hye Joo orders Chae Ri to do things when Chae Ri has to work earlier in the day and she herself does not have to.
It was sad when the three children’s mother found that she has a rare cancer and tries to keep it from her children and her husband. When Hyung Kyu knows, he feels so guilty that he couldn’t talk for a period of time. As he tries to marry a single mum despite opposition and argues with his mother about how her expectation is a burden to him, he caused harm to his mother. Felt that he could have been more grateful and nicer to his siblings throughout the drama. I felt especially sad when Jin Ae knows about it, and Jin Ae and her mother cried together. If her mother had given more love to Jin Ae, Jin Ae wouldn’t have held so much resentment, followed by her grief for the upcoming loss. When Dong Chul finds out, he starts helping out with more housework chores and tries to hide his emotions but to no avail haha. Although he may be a good father, I felt that he is not a good husband until towards the end, giving lots of suffering to his wife despite his ability to sweet-talk. Liked how the drama ended with so much bliss despite the sadness before.
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