By Amalia Theocharidou,
The last two years were characterized by amazing shows on the K-drama domain. One of them being The good bad mother. With an overall rating 8.4/10 and receiving one of the highest audiences on the time, the show easily reached a spot at the top ten dramas I have watched. The emotional plot and the lovable characters have managed to make the show even more appealing and resonating with the watchers. But for now, let’s delve into the plot.
Jin Young-Soon has known one thing in her entire life. And this is pigs. Coming from a low-income family, Young-Soon never had it easy. She always had to fight and earn to make a living, which resulted to her becoming a farmer at a small village of South Korea. That’s when she met her husband, Choi Hae-Sik, and for the first time, she felt like she was lucky. Wanting to make a family and support themselves, they both devote themselves in growing their local farm. But when their farmyard gets involved in the plans of a corrupted businessman and the loss of her beloved husband comes, Jin Young-Soon finds herself on her own but with a pleasant surprise… A baby in her womb she has to bring up on her own.
The bringing up of Choi Kang-Ho was never easy. From the start of his life, he had to live up to the expectations of his strict mother, whose dream was to raise a man who’d be a prosecutor, in order to protect the life of the weak people, something Young-Soon never had as a single mother. Therefore, despite the love she holds for her son, she transforms herself into a strict (bad) mother, who pressures her child to study to an extreme amount and doesn’t let him enjoy the simple things of life. Through her son, she’s trying to get revenge for the injustice she’s felt.
Kang-Ho was always first in his studies and manages to become one of the best prosecutors in the country, but he seems unable to sustain a relationship with his mother. Drifting away from her as a reaction to the oppression he’d felt all these years, he transforms into a ruthless prosecutor, who chases money and fame. But life has once again other plans. When he finally decides to meet his mother –something he’s been desperately trying to avoid for all this time—, Kang-Ho gets involved in a car crash, an almost deadly one, leaving him in one critical condition. Bedridden to a wheelchair and with a mind of a seven year-old boy. Once again, Young-Soon has to step up and become a different kind of mother, teaching her son everything from the start and in the process, re-building their damaged bond. Kang-Ho’s journey back to recovery is certainly eventful, as he needs to live his life as a kid, once again, meets his greatest love with whom he parted ways long ago and gets involved in many childish shenanigans and all that, in the process of connecting with his family once again and engage in an identity quest.
Lee Do-Hyun’s (Choi Kang-Ho) performance stands out, marking this drama as one of his best works. The easiness in which he moves between the role of the ruthless prosecutor and the childish son definitely gives his acting talent a chance to stand out. With the casting of Ra Mi-Ran (Jin Young-Soon) by his side, the audience is transfixed into an emotionally heavy journey of discovering the power to forgive, find your identity and re-build a relationship as strong as the mother-son one. The good bad mother definitely leaves you with much food for thought, laughter and maybe a few tears in your eyes…
Reference
- The Good Bad Mother. My Drama List. Available here
