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My Father Is Strange - EP 2

*Spoilers ahead*

My favorite thing about this episode had to be the beginning, with Hye Young and the ex that just Won’t. Go. Away. That little scene in the common area after the broadcast, where they were squaring up and growling/acting like animals was hilarious. I think they have really great chemistry, and their animosity and bickering; while seeming genuine, is clearly used to cover up any lingering feelings there might be between the two.

He is persistent in wanting an explanation for their break up, and it clearly left him with some emotional scars. The montage of him standing outside her room in the rain and cold broke my heart a little. He was obviously so in love with her, and didn’t see their break up coming at all. I truly feel bad for him, it seems like he genuinely cared for her, but his mother seems to have succeeded in scaring Hye Young away (if my suspicions of her involvement are correct).

We get a more thorough understanding of Mi Youngs situation in this episode as well, with her history of sports/injury and suffering wither her depression and weight gain. While it seems, she has overcome these things, the remnants still haunt her. Her personality is a little bit fragile, and people’s harsh words seem to stick with her long after they are said. I understand where she’s coming from this episode, not wanting to work with the girl that bullied her and made her school life hell. It’s mental warfare, and most know that he after effects of bullying can last a life time.

While I understand where she’s coming from, not wanting to see her bully again, thus wanting to not accept the job. I understand Hye Young's side of things even more. This is the only job offer Mi Young has had in THREE years, and it’s for a company that seem to be on it’s way to the top. So what if Mi Young doesn’t want to work with this girl? It’s not like she physically assaulted or threatened her, just flew a couple of insults around. This is a once in a life time chance for Mi Young, and she wants to throw it all away over the past? If she passes up on this opportunity, that means that the bully won. It’s admitting defeat. It’s admitting all of those things she said or implied about Mi Young being worthless become the truth. Mi Young needs to rise above this, and move over the past and start taking her future into account.

I think it’s good this ‘wake up’ call came from Hye Young, who is a member of the family, rather than an outsider. It allows Hye Young to say what Mi Young needs to hear, even if she may not like it.

Jong Hee…. Oh, Jong Hee. He is not endearing himself to my heart as of yet. So far we have learned that he hates women, hates marriage, is unsympathetic, selfish, unfeeling, and only cares about thing that directly involve him. Yes, he is working hard and trying to become a better actor, wanting to do well in his career, and that’s admirable, but the rest of his persona/personality is seriously lacking. I hope he has good character growth and can that my opinion of him can be changed or redeemed.

A couple of important developments and questions:

-          Crazy Tiger Arrogant Mom of Hye Youngs EX says she’s going to refuse to renew the Han family’s lease. How will they survive? What will they do?

-          It seems that Han Soo lost his previous business due to his step-brothers failure.

-          It appears that Han Soo has an illegitimate child in Joong Hee. How will he be introduced to the family? How will this affect the family?

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Lee Jong Suk must have a secret personal fountain of youth at his home. He’s forever a school boy. 

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My Father Is Strange - EP 1

Why did I want to start this drama? Well, there’s one good reason: Reply 1988. I typically go for the bubbly romcom’s but decided to give it a go because Park Bo Gum starred in it. And while I feel like he got minimum screen time, I still really enjoyed his character and the series. I didn’t expect the family feels to suck me in, but they did. The warm syrupy bubble of content I felt while watching this drama didn’t leave me for days afterward.

I made it my mission to find more like it. And that lead me to Father is Strange, which is geared around family, and from what I have seen, has great reviews.

*The rest of the posts contains SPOILERS, read at your own risk*

Ep 1:

I feel like it’s off to an okay start. Nothing has blown me away yet, but I can see the appeal they’re trying to make, and as the series progresses I am going to assume this familial pull will become better and stronger. I feel like they did a fairly good job of introducing the family, and by the end of the episode I can say that I’m invested enough and want to find out more about them.

Character Introductions & Initial Impressions:

Father / Han Soo – He seems like a happy-go-lucky beta male. He has a weakness for his children’s antics (giving in when Ra Yeong cries, etc.) and obviously is the more passive parental figure, leaving most of the heavy lifting to his wife. He does support her once she puts her foot down, but so far, you’ll be hard pressed to see him take charge when it comes to family matters.

Mother / Young Sil - She seems feisty, and I like it. The scene where the arrogant building owner’s wife parks in front of their shop illegally, and she proceeds to give her a piece of her mind is hilarious. I loved that she’s the take no crap kind of woman, and obviously doesn’t take stock in people that are careless of others. It’s clear she cares for her children and family a great deal, and pushes them to mature and become good people/adults.

Joon Young – Not much to go on in this episode. He seems forgetful and somewhat on the ‘dim’ side of the intelligence scale, considering he’s failed the civil servant’s exam so many times. He seems to be a happy person though.

Hye Young- So far, she has been the most interesting of the siblings, with her ‘no marriage’ attitude and with the swiftness she shuts down Ra Young’s antics. I can tell she’s the ‘take no prisoners’ type. Can definitely see she’s her mother’s daughter. I’m interested to see her character growth.

Mi Young – The wallflower. She seems like the most redeemable of the siblings at this point, helping her parents out in their shop and trying to keep the peace when all hell breaks loose. Comes off as a little bit boring though. Hopefully she’ll liven up as the series progresses.

Ra Young – Arguably the one I dislike the most, yet find the most entertaining. She’s selfish, materialistic, whiney, and seems a bit catered to by her dad. This could be because she’s the baby of the family, and seems to get away with more. She’s either going to get worse as the story goes on, or become a favorite.

Joong Hee – He seems to cause a lot of excitement wherever he goes (not necessarily the good time) and I love that they’re playing with the ‘idols that can’t act’ aspect. We see it all the time with idols-turned-actors like Suzy, Krystal, etc. He seems to fit the over-the-top, extra af celebrity caricature well. He seems really self-centered and obnoxious right now. I’m anxious to see how he integrates himself into the Han family and I wonder what kind of antics they’ll all get involved in together.

Thoughts & Notable Moments:

I am very interested in the back story between Hye Young and her ex. There seems to be a mysterious reason as to why Hye Young ended things, and the little snippet of her ex standing in the rain, gazing at her window longingly got to me. They seemed happy together, what could have motivated her to break up with him so abruptly, through text and with no explanation at that? We learned that the rude building owner is her ex’s mom. Maybe she said something to Hye Young that caused her to dump him? Earlier in the episode she was seen at a speaking to a match maker, asking for matches that had ‘good’ family backgrounds. I think she definitely would find Hye Young a disappointing choice for her son considering she doesn’t come from money, etc.

The scenes I enjoyed the most were when Ra Young took Hye Young’s purse without permission, and gets caught in the act. Cue cat fight of the century, with Hye Young getting revenge by ruining her sister’s expensive silk dress. They also drag Joon Young and Mi Young into the fray when they try to unsuccessfully separate the dramatic sisters from pulling each other’s hair out.

When mama Young Sil witnesses the scene, she is swift in her punishment, treating her adult children like the baby’s they’re acting like and sending them to ‘time out’ outside in the cold to sit on ‘thinking chairs’ and reflect on their actions. At first, it’s all snark from the trouble makers, but Joon Young and Mi Young know just how to diffuse the tension, joking around and making them all laugh to move past their conflict.

I really enjoyed this scene. It shows how though siblings can fight and treat each other badly sometimes, they still love each other in the end.