Buam Dong Revenge Club

Buam Dong Revenge Club

6.5/10

Buam Dong Revenge Club

Genre:                                                Episodes: 12                                 Year: 2017

Comedy

Synopsis:

Three women from completely different backgrounds join together to seek revenge on those who have wronged them.

Cast:

Lee Yo Won (Kim Jung Hye)

Ra Mi Ran (Hong Do Hee)

Myung Se Bin (Lee Mi Suk)

Jun (Lee Soo Gyeom)

Choi Byung Mo (Lee Byung Soo)

Jung Suk Yong (Baek Young Pyo)

Choi Kyu Jin (Kim Hee Soo)

Yoon Jin Sol (Kim Hee Kyung)

Kim Hyung Il (Hong Sang Man)

Kim Bo Ra (Baek Seo Yeon)

General Thoughts:

It’s a sweet little drama that has a great friendship at its core. The revenge itself certainly took a backseat to the growing relationships between our three ajummas and their adorable adopted teenager.

I love that K-Dramaland is expanding its roles for older actresses

The show never took itself too seriously, which was a relief. The three men who antagonised our ladies were shown to be just annoying and arrogant enough that they warranted some revenge, but they never actually did anything too disgusting (except maybe domestic violence).

Their original revenge was hilariously low-key

The men were all shown to be highly obnoxious and arrogant, and nothing gave me greater pleasure than seeing these three ladies break up their boy’s club. Even though the three men did some slimy tricks, they still managed to be used effectively for comic relief. The Revenge Club’s original petty revenges also helped set a nice, light mood. That being said, the show did build towards the end to a final, proper revenge after Byung Soo and Young Pyo pulled out their dirtiest moves. The plot moved along with a pretty breezy momentum, but did have a mild stall around the halfway point before the real revenge started taking off. The four participants in the Club were just delightful, and I particularly loved the character of Jung Hye. I’ve only seen Lee Yo Won in one other drama (and she was kinda bad in it), so I was shocked to realise that she was the same actress here. Lee Yo Won gave Jung Hye a frosty sort of haughtiness, yet was able to make the character very approachable at times without it seeming like a break in character.

Her childishness and pettiness is exactly my style

She gave Jung Hye a fantastic innocence to her and did a brilliant job at expressing Jung Hye’s more childlike tendencies. Her longing for a family was plain to see, and was particularly evident in how she let her more immature side show around her two loving unnies. The premise of the show is kind of whacky,

Ra Mi Ran, manse!

yet the writers and Lee Yo Won did such a brilliant job at crafting Jung Hye into the type of realistic and believable character who would suggest something like forming a revenge club to two virtual strangers. Ra Mi Ran was of course fantastic, as she is in anything where she gets to be a loving mother. She brought the emotions on strong and Do Hee’s love for her family was the root of many bonding moments. Ra Mi Ran is perfect at playing the everyday woman, as she has a wonderful talent for finding the warm, tender moments in mundane situations. Myung Se Bin was probably the weakest of the three, but was far from a weak link. I think for some people (like me) her character could be a little hard to like at times due to her submissive behaviours. Mi Sook was still an understandable character even though I would never have acted similarly, and that was enough to make the character a success. In her own round about way, Mi Sook thought that she was doing the best she could for her daughter, even if we as viewers saw an alternative option (telling the truth and walking out) that would have more helpful to Seo Yeon. And completing our club we had U-KISS’s Jun who was just a complete delight.

What an absolute darling

From the second he appeared on screen he gave of such a loveable vibe. Despite how much younger he was than the rest of the Revenge Club, he had great chemistry with the ladies. The four seemed to have a lot of fun together, and Soo Gyeom felt like a natural part of the Club despite his age and gender differences. Jun was so cute and so sweet, but he also had a strong presence in scenes that required it.

Funny, yet dislikable

He was brilliant at expressing all the different sides of his character- his playfulness, anger, and protectiveness, and he made Soo Gyeom a truly loveable character. The three main antagonists were acted well too. Choi Byung Mo was the standout, as he was able to make his character funny as well as antagonising without there being tonal inconsistencies. He made Byung Soo into a character that was fun to dislike without being too annoying. Because the revenge on him came so late, it was a clever move to make him so tolerable, as we had to put up with him for so long. Byung Soo was a bit of a bumbling fool, who didn’t pose a huge threat- he just massively under-appreciated and undervalued his wife and son. Towards the end he also picked up some low-level cunning which made him just enough of a villain to warrant a good smackdown. Young Pyo (aka- wifebeater) was significantly less fun to watch on screen.

Total greaseball

His character didn’t seem as well constructed as Byung Soo’s (like, his wife beating activities were kinda random and just thrown in so he warranted being an antagonist), and he was just too slimy to have any redeeming qualities. It also didn’t help that I found Mi Sook a wee bit too pathetic and so I wasn’t as invested in this revenge as I was with the others.

I feel like there's an obvious solution here...

Yes, I wanted to see him get what was coming, but I kind of didn’t care about seeing how the revenge played out- I just wanted it to happen already. Particularly when it has such as obvious solution- reveal his lies. Principal Sang Man was again more greasy than downright evil, and so he was able to take part in a few humorous scenes, such as Soo Gym’s initial petty revenge with laxatives and superglue. Ra Mi Ran as Do Hee basically drove her whole storyline herself, so everyone else in her arc just became complete side characters in the Ra Mi Ran show. For actual side characters, Choi Kyu Jin and Yoon Jin Sol were just adorable and complimented Ra Mi Ran well. They both sparkled enough on their own without overtaking the leads- I didn’t want to spend more or less time with them than exactly what we were given. Kim Bo Ra was significantly less adorable. There was nothing wrong with her acting, but she didn’t really give any warmth to her character. It didn’t help that Seo Yeon just didn’t have a friendly relationship with anyone in this drama. No one.

Would it really be that hard to just not be a jerkface?

She was snotty and rude to both her parents, and was snotty and rude to both Soo Gyeom and Hee Soo. I could understand her situation and her struggle, but I don’t quite think it warranted being a complete ass to absolutely everyone she encountered.

What Was Great:

Growth and Bonding:

The selling point of this show is obviously the relationships between everyone in the Revenge Club- particularly the three women. Jung Hye was the driving force behind a lot of the development. She had no real family so she made her own sisters in Do Hee and Mi Sook and her own son (sort of) in Soo Gyeom.

This is why we're here

What was most interesting was to see how the relationships grew and differed. The three ladies weren’t just close friends, but took on aspects attributed to their age which we just don’t get in western media. Jung Hye was finally able to be a younger sister and that allowed a lot of her innocence and childishness to show through.

#squadgoals

Having Do Hee and Mi Sook looking out for her left her open to expressing herself and showing her vulnerabilities. However, having Soo Gyeom in the Club also allowed Jung Hye to stand up as a protective figure. She often became a wall between Soo Gyeom and her husband and prevented Soo Gyeom from being completely sucked in and overwhelmed by the chaebol world the way she had been as a child. Do Hee was always the oldest and the mother hen, but she opened up and expressed herself to her new friends in a way she never did with her children. Even though she was the oldest, she could have moments of weakness or insecurity with her friends that she didn’t want showing in front of her kids. Despite being in the situation with the least power (she had no money and no influence), it was her confidence and unwavering support that motivated the others to action. Because Do Hee was such a caring, motherly presence, the other ladies were just as offended at how poorly she was treated, which encouraged them to act.

First target locked in

The revenges after that were just building on momentum they gained from Do Hee’s initial revenge. A big part of the relationship development was obviously Mi Sook standing up to her husband. Alone it was an inconceivable notion,

Still mildly bummed she didn't adopt him

but as she learned to trust and rely on her friends, she became less afraid of the aftereffects of speaking out. Perhaps the most rewarding was seeing how Soo Gyeom was able to form such a deep friendship with these older women. Despite them initially not wanting him to be a part of the Club, he had soon carved out a place that was uniquely his own. He had insights into the high school and also some degree of influence with the chaebols, but it was his role as a friend to Jung Hye that was his most pivotal. Even though she was the founder of the club, Jung Hye still remained hesitant to act out too much. It was only once she met Soo Gyeom and the two developed and understanding, affection and desire to protect one another that Jung Hye was really able to break away from her husband and her family. Admittedly though, I do wish the show had played a bit more on the mother-son front rather than just friendship. 

What Wasn’t:

Redemptions for All:

Despite the antagonists not being outright villains, I still wanted them to stay far, far away from our characters after the revenge was complete. I was a bit let down when in the final hour the show started handing out redemption arcs to nearly everyone.

It's Revenge Club, not Forgiveness Club

Soo Gyeom’s mother got hers by assisting in the final revenge, but I do wish she’d stayed out of the picture after that. I felt that having her continue to be in the story was what was really preventing Jung Hye and Soo Gyeom from developing the mother-son relationship I was so wanting for them. Not to mention I found her sudden interest in working in a sauna completely unbelievable. I understood Byung Soo’s redemption arc a little better even if I wasn’t totally glad to see it.

He's not the worst father ever...but he's far from good

Soo Gyeom went into his house ready for revenge and never really gave Byung Soo a chance at being a father (even though we all knew he would have been terrible), so it kind of made a little sense that Soo Gyeom would pick his father up from prison as a peace offering and a request to try again (even though we all know Byung Soo will still be a terrible father). The redemption arc I was mildly horrified to see was Young Pyo’s. All series long he has been the worst antagonist with the lowest morals. He used his son’s death to curry favour with the public, and of course he habitually hit his wife. He even attempted to hit his daughter. He’s a disgusting, slimy man, and I was happy and proud when Mi Sook and Seo Yeon walked out of his life. Only to have Seo Yeon walk back into it. It’s not to say that Young Pyo didn’t deserve a relationship with his daughter, but glossing his actions over with reasoning that he was sad his son died just didn’t really cut it. Especially when you consider that he didn’t really apologise properly to either his wife or daughter.

Recommend?

If girl friendships are your thing, you’ll definitely love this drama. The plot may not always move at a cracking pace, but the three ajummas and their friendships are always delightful.

Came for revenge, stayed for the friends