Now that it's over...what did people think?

[ajk]

I’m very interested to know what people thought of this series, especially people who have watched other daily dramas in the past and can compare this one to them. Never having seen any of these before, I’m curious about where this one fits in.

As much as I got annoyed by some of the sillier storylines and foolish behavior from some of the characters, now that it's over I'm sad that it's gone. In a way it really stinks because at the very end we got to see everyone in a better light and started enjoying them more once they got past most of their foolishness. And now they’re gone. Plus, they gave us tidbits of things that would be very good storylines going forward, as well as leaving some things unaddressed. This just seemed like a lousy time to pull the plug on it.

The series certainly could have been better, not just with some of the story, but also how some of the dialogue and conversations were so stiff and forced, to the point of being uncomfortable to watch. But I thought it had some good actors, and the production quality was certainly excellent--even little things like the opening titles and the theme song were very well done. (Very cool how the characters were shown by age rather than by importance.) And some of the themes were simple things that we don’t hear much on TV, certainly not on American TV anyway. You shouldn't dwell on past miseries; people should cherish their families and not squabble; be grateful for each day. Those are simple ideas and might seem too corny to base a whole TV series on, but it seems to work. There's something very encouraging and comforting about seeing people gradually overcome their pain, immaturity, resentment, all of that, and take those larger ideas to heart and end up happier.

Plus, it certainly is interesting just to see and think about everyday life in another culture. One thing I've never liked about Western society is the tendency for families to fragment and people to drift away from their elders rather than stay close to them and give more respect. It's nice to think that a family can stay close even as children grow up. But you could also see how too much of that is a bad thing, when parents control adult children to the point of telling them who to marry, where to live, or who to visit. I wonder how much of that is really faithful or plausible.

Anyway, like I said I was wondering if the veteran DD watchers had any particularly good or bad reactions to it.

[ginnycat5]

If the parents didn't make trouble over their children's choice of mates, it wouldn't be a Korean drama. Although My Precious Child had parents who (IIRC) didn't object to the marriage, but the boy's mother was very interfering. His mother and her father were very doting and each thought his/her own child could do no wrong. I don't remember how her father affected them though; I was so delighted to see Lee Duk Hwa, he could do no wrong. lol. (The Archfiend)

I've seen so many that I can't keep them straight. There have been 2 mothers in different dramas who were snobs. (ScreechMom and the mother [the same actress as the lady dentist in Who's My Love? {{the father had a desk drawer full of phones, one for each girlfriend!}} whose son liked the girl from Khazakstan, IIRC or am I mixing them up?] At least in The Road Home, snobbery wasn't a problem. (The one I can't remember had another girl, played by Great King Sejong's wife.)

The estranged relationships between generations was unusual, I think. It was rewarding to see them mend it, even if the coldness at the beginning was hard to watch.

[Soju]

I thought it was pretty good, maybe a 7 out of 10. The 'unlikable' characters were not caricatures, and they avoided the 'Mean Mother-in-law' device (although they did use the cliche of some one being hit by a car).

The Parents' opposition to the romantic leads' relationship was way more reasonable than usual, and the two main families were pretty much on the same social level, which I found a refreshing change from the usual "Poor Girl/Rich Boy" setup.

Several of the older charactern were played by some of my favorite actors, so that was a plus, too. The disappearance of Mrs. Guk was a minus though.

I'm curious why the show had to end rather apruptly. Usually, these run maybe two months longer. It's like they HAD to end it early for some reason. That said, I still think this is a good length for a drama.

Note that it's replacement on WOCH, 'Love and Obsession', is not the same type of drama (KBS2 rather than KBS1).

[door60]

I thought it was a bore, and very predictable. I actually fell asleep during 2-3 episodes because the energy level of the show was so low. I thought the characters were one dimensional. The only person that I really thought lit up the screen was Gangster Aunt. I found her to be very realistic, and in general, magnetic.

[zorro]

What surprised me was the whole show (except the last episode) took place over just 6 months… almost like watching in real time.

I would have named the show HyeonSuin… and I would bet Jisu must have been Suin's agent. Out of 120 shows they must have ended 80 of them with a close up of Suin's usual puzzled expression. I'm not sure if anyone can even buy that kind of PR.

If I hadn't known 120 was the last episode it would have taken me totally by surprise. Too many loose ends. I start to wonder what we would think of these shows if they played them backwards. Everyone so sweet in the beginning and then it all unravels as we go.
The Road (From) Home?

But to answer ajk's question: I agree with Soju, about a 7 of 10. Since it's your first daily, it'll probably leave more of an impression on you, just as Bizarre Bunch did for me as my first.

After watching a few, you may start to see how predictable some of the conflicts are, and soon you'll be here complaining like the rest of us as to how, what, when, and why the writers are doing this, that and the other. You Are My Destiny is a good example.

That all said, (written) Love and Obsession looks to be a departure from the first 2 eps I've seen, so I hope we see a more edgy story this time without some of the cliches so prevalent in so many of the others.

[tinkerbell]

Sept 18, 2009 21:16:52 GMT -5 Soju said:

I thought it was pretty good, maybe a 7 out of 10. The 'unlikable' characters were not caricatures, and they avoided the 'Mean Mother-in-law' device (although they did use the cliche of some one being hit by a car).

The Parents' opposition to the romantic leads' relationship was way more reasonable than usual, and the two main families were pretty much on the same social level, which I found a refreshing change from the usual "Poor Girl/Rich Boy" setup.

Several of the older characters were played by some of my favorite actors, so that was a plus, too. The disappearance of Mrs. Guk was a minus though.

The ending was too rushed. Yeongsun (Gangster Aunt) was still being angry, jealous and greedy then suddenly overnight she was so nice and thoughtful to Suin. Everyone became so sweet and kind as if they all took a happy pill. It was surreal.

Sunjeong gave her consent for Jisu and Hiro to be married and seemed ecstatic about it. I can see after months went by and she got to know Hiro.

They gave us a quick scene about Juhu and Shinae. They were a cute couple and more mature than most of the adults. Mrs. Guk disappeared and I was hoping she and Grandpa would have gotten married. Chowon vanished but she served the purpose for the stalking female. Suin's ex bowed out gracefully. They scrapped the story of his boyfriend which was fine with me. Perhaps the writers felt it was pushing the envelope.

To add to Soju's list, they did cover the usual subjects of the daughter-in-law being a slave and doormat living at the in-laws, someone in a coma in the hospital, someone owning a company, the DIL becomming pregnant which instantaneously changes everyone's attitude towards her and an extremely abusive character (GA instead of the usual shrew of a MIL). What Chilnam ever saw in Yeongsun is beyond me. I don't remember if we saw "the vaporizer" when the father was hospitalized. No runaway truck?

The actress playing GA has a role in Queen Seondeok and I keep waiting for her to yell at someone. Fortunately she's a different type of character.

All in all, except for the premature ending, it was pretty good. We didn't have the family portrait at the end though.

[jkn]

Even though I started watching mid way through I thought it was a good drama from what I saw of it. I was a little confused by the end but it's not the first time. It would have been nice to see Hiro and Jisu get married and also I would have liked to have seen what happens to Junho and Shinae when they meet up at college. Over all it was a pretty good show.

[Singer]

It was an ok drama,not one of my favorites...but I did watch it....the best episodes were when Suin's ex-husband came to town.
I missed a few eps..but continued watching anyway.

I didn't like the last few minutes of the ending though.

[ajk]

Thanks for the comments. I’m not going to be making a practice of watching these daily dramas, mainly because the airtimes don’t work out for me. So it’s good to know that the one I saw was pretty typical for this type of series.

I will say, I don’t like it when these characters become part of your daily life for a long time and then suddenly they’re gone. Especially when they gradually turn into better people by the end. You find yourself missing the show and wanting to see more. Some of that is probably just first-one-itis, like Zorro said, but I totally agree with the observations that the show ended too abruptly. Not only because many of the characters changed much for the better, but also because there was still unfinished business--and even some new angles thrown in that would have been interesting to see develop. Nothing we can do about it, of course, but it leaves you with a weird empty feeling.

Anyway, thanks again—I enjoyed reading people’s comments throughout the run of the series.

[kathleen34]

Sept 23, 2009 12:48:34 GMT -5 ajk said:

Thanks for the comments. I’m not going to be making a practice of watching these daily dramas, mainly because the airtimes don’t work out for me. So it’s good to know that the one I saw was pretty typical for this type of series.

I will say, I don’t like it when these characters become part of your daily life for a long time and then suddenly they’re gone. Especially when they gradually turn into better people by the end. You find yourself missing the show and wanting to see more. Some of that is probably just first-one-itis, like Zorro said, but I totally agree with the observations that the show ended too abruptly. Not only because many of the characters changed much for the better, but also because there was still unfinished business--and even some new angles thrown in that would have been interesting to see develop. Nothing we can do about it, of course, but it leaves you with a weird empty feeling.

Anyway, thanks again—I enjoyed reading people’s comments throughout the run of the series.

Years back when I began watching the KDrama I remember how absolutely shocked I was when the story came to an end. :As you stated, these people become a part of your daily life. First of all I never knew of a soap opera to end ... secondly, I really came to like the characters. Thank you for your observations as well.

It's intriguing that some characters who you really REALLY dislike somehow change enough wherein you come to like them.

Mod Note: Kathleen, I fixed your post so it's outside the quote. Hope you don't mind. -Bo

[dramaqueen]

Well, I thought it was sort of okay. Seems to me that most of these dramas end quite abruptly. We watch months and months of the same drawn-out dialogues and then bam, it's over just when everyone regains their senses and it becomes enjoyable to watch.

One thing I didn't get about this drama, perhaps I missed a few episodes in the beginning, but did these folks steal the woman's child and raise it as their own? Forgive me, I can never remember the names. They let this woman think her child had died right? That's criminal if that's how it went down.

And why could not the family of doctors hire themselves a housekeeper? Always amazes me how they turn family members (women) into slaves, even if they are holding down jobs and have families of their own. Strange. Oh, I could go on and on about the silliness I witness watching these Korean dramas -- so different than our lives and customs here in the States. And the aunt constantly butting in and making things worse for everyone - argggggg, I so wanted to just slap her from here to Sunday most times - lol.

Well, I suppose it's on to the next one and some more silly stuff which I somehow am addicted to watching, so figure.

[Soju]

The blame falls on Sunyeong's mother, who didn't want her daughter, as a young widow, to be burdened with a child. She told Sunyeong that the baby had died, and told Yongjun and Sunjeong that Sunyeong had given up the baby, to be raised by the family (apparently a common occurence in Korea). Sunyeong's mother never appeared as a character, only be reference.

As to the aunt being the housekeeper: the doctor family with their private hospital, were doing OK, but were not rich. In the first ep, we saw Minsu taking in an accident victim that should have gone to a better equipped hospital, because they needed the business. The aunt needed some extra money, and she was a good housekeeper (but that MOUTH!), and blood is thicker than water, and all that.

[ajk]

Yeah, and remember the hospital had to pay a fine, too, to settle that whole insurance fraud thing. And then the hospital bought some new equipment so they could treat more patients (I think it was patients with back problems), and family members were loaning money to make it possible. So no they weren’t rich doctors. Which was very puzzling, I agree with dramaqueen on that one. Because it seemed like every time Sunjeong had a patient in her office, the patient had to come back the next day! Cha-ching! I remember toward the end there, she told the patient to come back in two days and I couldn’t believe it. Talk about needing health care reform.

That business about Seonyeong’s mom…I always wondered during the series if that was the reason Seonyeong allowed the other family to heap abuse on her without pushing back. I know people called her wimpy and she obviously wasn’t a raging strong personality, but I wondered if she might not have been burdened with guilt over what her mom did. Yet another angle that it would have been interesting to get more development of. Heck of a flashback opportunity missed.

[puppy]

More a 5 out of 10 for me with some epis a 3 (mostly involving Minsu and Miryeong whose marriage I never could figure out) and others a 7 (Hyeonsu riding in on his white horse and snatching Suin from her shocked family). The abrupt ending bothered me and Lady Doc's pretty quick acceptance of Hiro after what she put Hyeonsu thru over Suin seemed tacked on. Sunjeong always referred to Suin as a "nice, thoughtful girl" so while I could understand the objection (sort of) I couldn't understand the contempt.

Too many loose ends (Mrs. Guk, the loan club or money society or whatever Miryeong's mom wanted to do). I think the whole evil ex thing was overdone and his breakdown and reformation unrealistic. And Sunyeong really irritated me. Even whan she smiled there was a tear in her eye. Ganster Aunt was OK. She lit up the joint when she was on, making trouble, apologizing, making trouble again. Her role was needed to shake up some of the boring bits.

I have a newfound respect for Coma Doc's acting. I've seen him 3 times already and he's always good if a little understated. But in TRH, his switch from drunken meanie to sweet, childlike amnesiac to strong, calm dad, son, brother, FIL, etc. was excellent.

I think in a lot of these multi-family dramas the writers try to do too much, introduce too many sub-plots some of which are weak. It would be just as interesting and more realistic if the focus was on one set of conflicts altho possibly not sustainable over 120+ episodes.

Like all of you, I always miss the previous drama and get into a new one slowly. To TRH's credit, it absorbed me quickly but lost me midway altho I stuck it out to the end.

[bird11]

I didn't get a chance to post earlier-- I liked this drama, but was disappointed with the ending, I liked the story like with Hiro and Jisu. I fell behind watching on Tv, so I was watching online and when I read posts about the Aunt I wasn't too sure of what was meant and then when I saw the episodes with her running her mouth-- I just laughed, it was just like I had thought from reading the comments!