Sunday 27 September 2015

[First Impression] Mom ep 1 & 2

Mom (2015, South Korea)




Title: 엄마/Mom
Genre: family, drama, romance, comedy
Episodes: 50
Broadcast network: MBC
Broadcast period:  Sep 5, 2015 to Feb 21, 2016
After sacrificing her everything to raise her children on her own, a mother takes revenge on the children who will do anything to get their hands on her inheritance. Source: MDL


  • Cha Hwa Yun: Yoon Jeong Ae (the mother)
  • Jang Seo Hee: Kim Yoon Hee (daughter)
  • Kim Suk Hoon: Kim Yeong Jae (son)
  • Lee Tae Sung: Kim Kang Jae (son)
  • Choi Ye Seul: Kim Min Ji (daughter?)
  • Hong Soo Hyun: Lee Se Ryung
  • Lee Moon Shik: Heo Sang Soon (Yoon Hee's husband)
  • Park Young Kyu: Chairman Eom
  • Lee Se Chang: Eom Dong Jun (chairman Eom's son)
  • Jin Hee Kyung: Na Mi (Dong Jun's wife)
  • Doo Hee: Kong Soon
  • Kang Han Na: Kang Yoo Ra
  • Na Jong Chan: Park Dae Ryong



[MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR EPISODES 1 AND 2!] This is a first impression and not the full review of the drama



To be honest, I'm not really a big fan if family dramas, but I think their existence is necessary because sometimes we all need to just chill out from the intense dramas that we watch (for me it's Yong Pal at the moment. I just finished ep 16 and woah...mindblown. I think my adrenaline is still pumping) so I decided to cool my head a bit with something light. The plot sounded quite good and I'm a pretty hardcore (not going to deny it) fangirl of Lee Tae Sung AND Hong Soo Hyun so when I found out that they're basically playing the leads (sadly not each others love interests) I knew I just had to at least give this drama a try. Turns out, this drama is quite enjoyable. A hidden gem to be honest, because I've seen and started to yawn during the first episode of a handful of family dramas. So I decided to make this quick little first impression post and talk a bit about my personal opinions on the first two episodes as well as the plot and the characters. I won't really go into too much detail about each and every one of the characters, mostly because there's just TOO many of them. Therefore, I'll be biased and just talk about the ones I think stood out to me the most. But yeah, let's get started shall we ~ ?

First, let me start of my saying that really don't know how I feel about the plot of this drama. There isn't anything wrong with it per say, but if you compare the synopsis to the first two episodes, it almost feels like two separate stories. The drama starts off introducting the mother, the head of the family who has raised her children on her own (synopsis check list on: check) they all live under the same roof in this "average-sized house in an average part of Seoul" <- quoted by our kind of snobbish main girl Se Ryung. I don't really know much about houses in Seoul so I'll just go with the flow. It's not like they're poor but they're not a very rich family either, which brings me to my next point. So...the mother is supposingly extremely rich, so rich that the children will fight for the inheritance?
The reason why I say this with a questionmark is because, nothing in the first two episodes even hint to the fact that the mom is rich, so unless she'll win on the lottery in the next episode or something..I really don't see where all of this money is coming from. The next thing that kind of raises even more of a questionmark is the fact that one of her sons, Kang Jae is supposingly rich since he is driving around in a luxurious sports car and pays for dinners at fancy restaurants. So, to make an already pretty rich person get all worked up over money...it's gotta be a pretty big stackload of cash. Where are you hiding it mommy? Under the bed? ._. I'm seriously consider the lottery-plottwist you guys. I know, I should expect too much to be revealed in the first two episodes, since this is going to be a 50 episode drama, but I still can't help but feel a bit confused about how they'll pull the sudden "mommy is a millionaire" plottwist, especially when some of her children are already supposingly rich. Unless Kangjae is actually just pretending, and she's just leasing the car...that would be kind of funny. He seems like the type to brag about things he doesn't actually own xD Guess we'll have to wait and see. Aside from the confusing story - related to the synopisis issue I have with it, it's a very enjoyable drama.

The characters are very different from one another, which really adds to the dynamic relationships they end of displaying when they're around each other. We have the primary money-maker and heado of the house, the mom, who is very modest and nice, almost too nice to some people who don't deserve it. She wants to keep the family tight together and wishes for everyone to just get along. She's just so sweet. Makes me want to give her a hug haha xD With that kind of personality, I really wonder how she'll end up a person who'll be able to take revenge on her own kids. Unless it's done in a comedic way, I really can't see her as this "sly" old woman who'll play different tricks on her greedy children and teach them a lesson they'll never forget.

Talking about the characters, it may sound very biased but since the biggest reason why I practically even decided to check out this drama is Lee Tae Sung, it shouldn't come as a surprise that he ended up being one of my favorite characters. I really can't imagine this actor play an average-income man, he has to have his luxurious sports car, his fancy suits and his ladies. That's just the perfect role for him and this drama was no expection. Kang Jae is the ultimate mama's-boy, the spoiled and immature ladies man. I love to hate this guy and I don't know if I should sigh in full jealousy (because it's Lee Tae Sung) or shake my head at the stupid chick (the one in red) who constantly runs after him even after he treats her like a useless doormat. I really hope she'll grow a backbone, or that she has a very good reason why she's so desperately clinging on to him. I kind of want to see this guy suffer a heartbreak because I think that he's the type to deserve and actually need it in order to mature up.


I feel like I'm kind of talking about the characters in the wrong order, since these two are supposingly the main character ->
But since this is a familydrama I can just screw the rules and say that they're all main, therefore the fact that I started out talking about Kang Jae isn't necessarily wrong.
I like the "supposed" main couple too by the way. Hong Soo Hyun plays the two-faced spoiled rich girl Se Ryung, who is dating a guy who she thinks is a rich restaurant owner (she made that assumption all by herself by the way, kind of hilarious). The romance is going quite well until the moment she decides that she wants to meet the boyfriend's family. Her too-sweet-to-be-true boyfriend Yeong Jae, introduces her to the family, thinking that she wants to marry him (because in korean culture, if your asked to be introduced to your girlfriends/boyfriends family it means that you're planning to marry that person) however that is totally not the case and the meeting leads from one disappointment to another. The family meeting was done in such a hilarious way that I bought cried my eyes out and left a huge amount of second-hand embarrassment. However I don't agree with Se Ryung, I think Yeong Jae's family is super cozy. Sadly her resturant-owner-rich-family expectations got smashed to pieces and the couple had no other choice but to break up. I really like how that was handled by the way. I was really worried that Yeong Jae would forever be the blinded-by-love-guy, but he was actually the one to snap and break up with her. I had to applause when he did that because I really didn't think he'd have the backbone to do it. Sure he drank himself drunk in sorrow shortly afterwards but at least he had the courage to end that doomed relationship. For now, they'll probably get together again, judging how episode 2 ended....Se Ryung is sooooo pregant...I'm pretty sure she is. If that's so...lovely! Congratulations Yeong Jae you'll be a dad! xD Poor guy. This will be hilarious xD I'm evil, I know. xD

 Lastly I really want to talk about the two brothers, Kang Jae and Yeong Jae. Are they even siblings? They're the complete opposite of one another xD How could a single-mother raise them to be so different? But that's what makes their interraction even more hilarious. If there's one thing I think family dramas always deiver in the best way possible, it's the funny sibling quarells. It's so funny to see the always-calm and serious Yeong Jae finally snap at his (little brother?) Kang Jae's snarky replies. Overall, they're a very funny duo and I can't wait to see them interract some more in the upcoming episodes.

To be honest, not a lot happened in these two episodes, but I didn't expect much either to be honest. It's a family drama so it's bound to be a bit chill and slow. I think this will definitely be an enjoyable watch and I'm so so happy that Lee Tae Sung is finally back from the army >_< I've missed you baby <3 and I'm very curious to see how they'll play out the actual "plot" as in, the fight over the inheritance's money or whatever, and how the suppoingly rich mom will handle all of this. Mabe I've interpreted the drama in the most wrong way possible, but heck, this is a first impression so I can just judge from what I've seen so far xD Hm...I think that's it for now xP I might do a full review once I finish the entire thing.

Are you guys watching this drama? Family dramas are pretty much a very underrated genre but maybe this first impression post will make some of you want to check it out? xP

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