The Good Bad Mother (2023)

A GODDAMN MASTERPIECE!!!

After much contemplation on whether to watch The Good Bad Mother or not, I gave in, and boy I was not disappointed even for the tiniest bit! An absolute gem of a drama! The plot was very promising from the start and the actor's phenomenal acting added more edge to the drama. From the beginning till the end, the plot was so well-written and connected, I just loved it...been a long time since I watched such a beautiful satisfying drama. I don't really have anything to complain about this show, the actors really didn't disappoint with their performances to not let us feel a whole rollercoaster ride of emotions. One minute you would be laughing with your whole heart out and the next minute you would be crying a bucket...you never know which emotion might hit you next...such a good feeling drama :') The main leads definitely outdid themselves but I loved Sam Sik and the twins (Seo Jin and Yeo Jin) characters the most. I think without them it wouldn't have been that awesome, they really are the true stars of the show!

Some may have felt the last two episodes were a bit fast-paced, as we all wanted to have 16 episodes but I guess 14 was a good number too. As the drama was more about the relationship between the mother and his son, I really like how they focused more on showing us the depth of their relationship so that you could sympathize with both characters and understand where they were coming from. Glad unlike other dramas they didn't drag the court scenes for the whole 2-3 last episodes and just got done with it as Kang Ho already had spent half of his years being a prosecutor finding out the evidence...it would have been truly a drag if they focused more on that as the evidence were already right on the table and simply trailing the same plot would have been a waste of such a potential drama.

The drama definitely stuck to its genre for the whole 14 episodes and I believe I'll be remembering the characters and the show for a long long time! Absolutely well done by the whole cast <3

Oh also, the setting and the whole aesthetic of the drama were so wholesome and cute!! such a cute drama <333

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The setup for this show in, I’ll say, the first ten episodes is pretty complex and I kept wondering how on earth the ML would get out of the fishnet of a problem he was in. In my opinion, the writers took the easy way out of the problem. At first this show is pretty dark and complex. It’s very interesting, it keeps you guessing (until the last 2 episodes really). The colours and directing are so lovely. I was hurt the most by the relationship between the ML and Mijoo. Such a huge missed opportunity there. But I digress. What I’m trying to say is that the show started off pretty heavy but started leaning into lighter scenes at the end. The conclusion and solution were almost unrealistic. Almost because I’m not sure it was unrealistic completely but it definitely felt like that. But I was too invested in the characters by then and already loved to story so those faults were easy to gloss over.
The cast was amazing and those twins! I’ll never forget them. Their community is actually fun to watch too.
I’m just really upset now that I didn’t get to see more. It feels like they’ve left me hanging😭 I just need to see more of the cute family I’ve come to love through this show.
It was pretty good. I recommend it for sure.

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The Good Not Great Drama

The Good Bad Mother: How true to its title. The mother in this drama is portrayed as having the best intentions for her son, wanting him to have power so as not to be hurt by others like she was. But while pushing him toward this goal, she indirectly and directly tells her son his life is not his own to live; he is being raised to fulfill a dream she couldn't.

Overall, I found this drama to be a genuinely healing experience. Through emotional gut punch after gut punch, this mother came to realize the full weight her abuse caused her son. When raising him, her intentional and painful choices were a gust of wind that would lead to a hurricane: The Butterfly Effect.

I am all for adults who have experienced abuse having the agency to decide how they move forward. Whether they attempt to heal that relationship with that parent (if it's even possible), keep them at arms-length, or cut them out of their life entirely. In this case, I could understand how Kang Ho found peace in maintaining a close relationship with his mother. For him, she understood what she did, and she had moments, even when he was younger, of her love getting across to him.

What ultimately held me back from rating this higher and embracing the message the drama was trying to convey was that I felt an in-depth, confrontational, and honest sit-down conversation with Kang Ho and his mother was sorely needed. Yes, she did apologize for many of her actions and express her regrets about how she raised her son, but, for me, I needed her to take 100% brutal accountability in person.

If you think humor would have no place in a story such as this, I don't think you'll enjoy watching this. I myself found many jokes out of place. Additionally, if you're not mentally in a place to handle watching scenes with parental abuse (including scenes where it is brushed aside or excused), I wouldn't recommend watching this. If you feel you can handle a topic like this and don't mind the mixing of serious with comedic, I think you'll find value in this.

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"You reap what you sow", The Good Bad Mother

hii this is my first review :) hope you'll find it useful!

notes: I started watching "The good bad mother" while on air and i have to say i felt like every single episode was interesting and well-made. If i could, i would have binge-wacthed the whole show.
The thing that you may probably don't think is that this show doesn't have much romance. In fact, it talks about love but not only the one of a romantic relationship, and if you are searching for a rom-com, this isn't what you are looking for.

I liked this show so much and these are the reasons why i would recommend it to everyone:
1. the show makes you understand what the love of a mother really is: the relationship between kang-ho and his mother is made of happy moments and sad moments, but each of them is useful to the development of their relationship. I feel like the story is realistic in this aspect. in each episode you could feel their bond becoming stronger and stronger.
2. the story has a mystery plot that will make you attached to the screen. every episode gives you a little piece of the final puzzle.
3. the acting in this show is sublime: lee do-hyun portraired the perfect choi kangho. but also other actors did the best job. their acting make you understand their feelings, truly.
4. the setting: a peaceful village in the countrysides of korea.
5. the funny moments: even if the show is sad most of the time, it has a satisfying ending and funny moments. i think these scenes are well-balanced.
9. the message of the show: the way they talk about justice and how everyone is going to pay for what they have done at the end.

my overall rating: 9.5 for the acting, the story, the way the story touches your soul

some advises:
don't watch it if you don't want to cry. this show will make you cry lots.
i recommend it if you like lee do-hyun!

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Emotional and fun drama and a story of a mother's love and of her flaws.

1/ STORY:

I liked the story. It was very emotional as it dealt with mother and son relationship. It tells how sad events, and a life of hardships shape the mentality of a mother who loves her child but gives him a strict tight upbringing which impairs their relationship and create a gap between them. She will have to do the job of taking care of her son again, but her methods do not change, and she does things right but also wrong again.

There is also a subplot where the misery brought on them, mother and son, is not because of coincidence. The son will decide to find out the truth of what happened. This will deepen the ditch between him and his original place. That part of the story was interesting but not the focus. It helped to give depth to the leading characters, and it triggered some thrilling moments and funny action.

Romance: not a typical romance told in an unusual way. It is like a puzzle. Put the pieces do take their right place and unveil a cute romance that ends happily despite the misunderstandings and the time passed.

2/ CHARACTER/CAST:

- The mom: Loving but also authoritarian mother who uses strict and extreme methods thinking it is for the best. She is awful at times but also human as she does not know better and that was the best she could do as a mother. At the end of the journey, she will be able to turn back to see the road made and despite the many mistakes say it is a good journey. The actress Ra Mi Ran did a great job portraying that character.

- The son: Despite adversities, he grows up to be a nice intelligent loving young man, but he takes a decision that will cause his life to totally change. The road back to himself will be long and painful. Lee Do Hyun impeccable.

- Mi Joo: I liked her personality. A young woman who seemingly falls out of love and struggles to provide for her family. But she remains positive to keep it up and earn her happiness. The actress bluffed me.

- Sam Sik: The guy is useless during almost all the drama until he is given some action. He fails to be funny most of the time.

- First bad guy Assemblyman Oh: terrible human being portrayed by the usual Jung Woong In and his best sneering face.

- Second bad guy Chairman Song: murderer who became a grotesque gang boss behind an honorable façade. Underused character.

- The ex-fiancée: Spoiled rich girl got totally manipulated until she decides to save herself.

- The villagers: A collection of farcical characters who are mostly fun to watch.

- The twins: They are not very realistic but absolutely cute to watch.

3/ OST: Nothing special but good enough

4/ REWATCH VALUE: A lot of emotional scenes. A lot of funny scenes too. But it is quite heavy at times. Rewatchable.

5/OVERALL: It is a good and entertaining drama more focused on the people and the relationships between them. The mom and son’s relationship is full of difficulties but in the end it is a beautiful story. I enjoyed watching this drama week in week out. The thriller part was ultimately a bit lacking for my taste. It was resolved in a rushed way using info dropping, clues dropping, Tchekov’s gun, with a final surprise twist. But the most important part was not there. I will still give it a 10/10 as it had me glued at every the ep.

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Another Kdrama masterpiece

Lee do hyun is indeed a gem in kdrama industry. He is really gifted. From humble beginnings he made this far is a reminder that our past will never define who we can be in the future.

The drama is marvelous. To say it's good is an understatment. Would have loved to see this in 16 eps, i cant have enough of the whole cast. For me everyone contributed equally to create a timeless masterpiece.

What i love most in this drama is it hit so many points from love, parenthood, marriage, careers, dreams, failures, money, power, karma and so on. It was conveyed systematically without messing the plot.

You love and hate the mother it does live with the title. But the mother's ultimate love vendicated her. We all go through different process but as mothers we only want what is best only we dont know the exact process of doing so. Id like to throw big thumbs up to the the writer, director and whole production team. Keep good dramas coming. I pray these gifted people will continue producing wonderful masterpiece such as this.

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I don't care what you like... if you like kdramas you should watch this one.

Every episode was extremely special; I never thought "I can't wait for the next one" after finishing an episode. Not because there wasn't any excitement but because each episode was so full that I could wait to live with whatever they gave me. I also had patience whenever an "arc" stayed for too long. Every story and character was so special. You will hate them and you will love them but you will also understand them so dearly. Of course, you'll fall in love with the main lead but that's not the story. The story is all about Ra MiRan's character which couldn't be any better.

All the small details. All the memories. All the connections. They were all beautiful.

I have some regrets about the final episode somehow it felt rushed like a movie ending. The main concerns were resolved way too fast after a long build-up. But like I said they weren't the point. Kang ho's real 30something character & life wasn't the point and his revenge was more so. There wasn't a reason for us to dwell more than necessary over his revenge and adult life. We needed to know what was needed to fulfill the story of his relationship with his mom and what led him back to her.

In a way, my regrets regarding the ending are a little subjective. I wanted to see a different future for him. Living happily managing the farm with Mijoo, who liked painting nails more than anything, and him, who's a prosecutor thorough and thorough, didn't work well with me. I kept imagining a season 2 where (after LDH finishes the military - yes I thought far enough) he goes back as a lawyer (his license gets reinstated) and continues his work. I would also love to see the rest of the characters including the twins live their lives normally with bliss.

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Good drama, some missed opportunity

Overall, I enjoyed the overall drama, but it had some elements that did not sit well with me. Let start with the things I enjoyed, then what I did not.
What I enjoyed:

Kang-Ho and Mi-Joo relationship from start to end. I have come accustomed to kdrama relationships being dragged until the end for the couple to be together and to many unnecessary misunderstandings, but this relationship was different and refreshing. Even when Mi-Joo was upset with him, she understood and sympathized with his recovery time. Their good times together was so precious that you could feel the intimacy between them. Individually they did an amazing job that you couldn’t help but fall in love with the character and root for them

The twins were exceptional. For their age, they mad this show so much fun and necessary comedic relief. They had the perfect timing for the truth and comedy. Every time they were in my screen, I laughed, cried and jump of joy with them. What an amazing casting.

Kim- Sik was also enjoyable character, you couldn’t help but try to love or root for him. I really wish that his character had a better development at the end, instead of just him still being a thief. But his help with the case was vital and that’s why I wanted More for his character.

What I didn’t enjoy much:

Kang-Ho’s mother who stayed the same, even though, she tried to take accountability before her demise. No matter how hard they tried to redeem her character, she still didn’t change for me. This is here where the writers missed the opportunity for me. In my opinion, Before and after the accident, she was still abusive. I thought that after Kang-Ho accident, and he told her why he couldn’t eat, she would change but she did for 2 mins then went back to more abuse. Everything she was doing was self serve and the title should just have stayed bad mother. It was so frustrating to root for her to try to redeem herself

The villagers were extra in every scenes, even though they added some comic relief, but their stories were underdeveloped. Like the washed singer what was his purpose really? The neighbor that always had a facial mask.

Overall, it was a well done drama, it’s mostly the mother character that left me puzzled and unsatisfied. I will definitely rewatch for the twin and some other characters.

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Surprisingly good!

I can't recommend this enough. Within 5 minutes of the show, I've been hooked. Ra Miran and Lee Do Hyun are perfectly casted in their roles as mother and son. As of episode 8, you can understand why Young soon needed to be tough and be perceived to be a bad mother by her son. Yet, there is still a question if Kangho really became cold-hearted as he seemed because of her strictness. As they reconnect again, you can see that she is a mother who just wants the best for her son while he just want to be able to please her. The show is not perfect, there are some scenes that I can do without (yes, I'm taking about you composer man) but if you want a drama that can touch your heart then this one's for you.

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