Hi Bye, Mama

Hi Bye, Mama

6.5/10

Hi Bye, Mama

Genre:                                    Episodes: 16                   Year: 2020

Melodrama

Comedy

Synopsis:

Cha Yoo Ri has been living as a ghost since she died 5 years ago, leaving behind her husband, Cho Kang Hwa, and their baby. Yoo Ri is given a chance to become human for 49 days to take back her life, only Kang Hwa has now remarried. 

Cast:

Kim Tae Hee (Cha Yoo Ri)

Lee Kyu Hyung (Cho Kang Hwa)

Go Bo Gyul (Oh Min Jung)

Seo Woo Jin (Cho Seo Woo)

Shin Dong Mi (Ko Hyun Jung)

Oh Eui Shik (Gye Geun Sang)

Kim Mi Kyung (Jeon Eun Suk)

Yoon Sa Bong (Ms Mi Dong)

General Thoughts:

I had pretty high expectations for this show, as I found out before starting that it was written by the same writer as ‘Go Back Spouses’ which I thoroughly enjoyed. I was a little bit disappointed when this show wasn’t quite as good as ‘Go Back Spouses’, but it was enjoyable in its own way.

Was nice to watch a show that wasn't super focused on romance

I always enjoy a good fantasy/supernatural twist, and the plot for this show sounded really interesting. There is a lot you could do with this type of set up, and I was curious to see what direction the show would end up going in. While I feel there were a few missed opportunities elsewhere that could have been explored, the drama really doubled down on the emotional aspect of the story, which gave us some really nice character moments.

Man, poor Kang Hwa really got given a rough hand

The first episode gave us a quick run through of Yoo Ri and Kang Hwa’s relationship, so right from the start the viewers felt like they knew Yoo Ri well. She was a bright and happy character, and was easy to like, and she quickly became our narrator and guide for this new ghost world. Through Yoo Ri we learned what the ghosts could and couldn’t do, and were introduced to a few of the ghosts we would be seeing on a regular basis. Following Yoo Ri through her ghost life also allowed us to see her longing for her daughter, Seo Woo, and her desperation to be in Seo Woo’s life somehow. The mechanics of Yoo Ri’s transition to life again was left unexplained for the most part, and quickly explained away towards the end with it being due to Yoo Ri’s Mum’s wish- I kind of wish that this concept had been introduced sooner, as it did feel a little weird that the gods had given Yoo Ri this random chance when no one else had. The pacing of the show wasn’t great, and there was a huge drag in the middle of the show. Because this was such an emotions based story, there wasn’t a lot that was actually changing in the circumstances themselves.

Ah yes, much sadness

Seo Woo was able to interact with Yoo Ri, while Yoo Ri reconnected with her family and even started up a friendship with Min Jung. But nothing was really happening. The idea that Yoo Ri was going to help the other ghosts she knew with one favour was an interesting one, but it was introduced too late in the show for it to really be able to make up for the drag, and then it was mostly ignored anyway.

This ghost family was an unexpected highlight

The Jang family were able to get their living son’s apartment cleaned and a home cooked meal prepared for him and that was all Yoo Ri really did. It’s a shame, as having Yoo Ri going about on these side quests would have been a fabulous way to pad out what was happening in the main story, and would have prevented the drama from feeling as slow moving as it ended up being. The ghosts were colourful and well thought through characters, so it was a bummer for them to not actually have much to do, and because they weren’t really contributing to the story in any way, the scenes with them actually ended up becoming rather redundant. Yeah, it was a nice break from the cry-fest in the main plot, but ultimately the ghosts had no bearing on the show. It was a similar thing with the exorcist who was brought in really late. He was poorly explained so we couldn’t be quite sure why he was there, or exactly what sort of threat he held over Seo Woo, and again, he didn’t really do anything.

Take your poorly explained character motivations and p*ss off

It was almost as if he was brought in as a last minute measure to get all the ghosts to ascend, as Yoo Ri certainly wasn’t helping with any favours, so they weren’t going up that way. The acting was pretty good all round. Lee Kyu Hyung seriously impressed me in his role in ‘Smart Prison Living’ where he played a mostly comedic, but at times heavily emotional character. I think he did a great job here with Kang Hwa’s character- he balanced the emotions well, never coming across as too much or too little.

Some more sadness

Honestly though, I wish the show had given him a bit more to do. Kang Hwa was stuck between a rock and a hard place all drama long, and all he really had to do was wander around with a mildly agonised look in his eyes. His grief was believable, and his struggle was heartfelt, but I wish the drama had given Lee Kyu Hyung a chance to really push through and deliver some great character moments and scenes.

Still a pretty face tho

The best scene was probably the scene where Yoo Ri and Kang Hwa came to a head (towards the end of the show), and all their emotions boiled over. Both Lee Kyu Hyung and Kim Tae Hee were able to scream and cry and say selfish things, but they never came across awful, only hurt and confused. It would have been nice if the drama had given us a few more scenes like that rather than quiet suffering and solitary sobs. Kim Tae Hee impressed me- I haven’t seen her in anything but I had heard people on the internet say she was nothing but a pretty face. Well, turns out you can’t always trust people on the internet (who knew!), and Kim Tae Hee delivered a strong and convincing performance as Yoo Ri. She had a bright and charismatic energy which filled Yoo Ri up, and it was easy to see why Yoo Ri’s death left such a large hole in so many lives. Kim Tae Hee gave Yoo Ri a bubbly sassiness that was fun to watch and made her an easy character to root for. On the other side of Kim Tae Hee was Go Bo Gyul as our second female lead.

This was a super cute friendship too

Go Bo Gyul has been catching my attention in the last few projects she’s been in- she has this amazing skill where she takes these quiet, wallflower type characters and somehow just injects a sense of life and depth into them, without having to actually say or do to much. Her characters feel real and lived in, even if they are not the loudest or most noticeable characters on screen. Similarly to Lee Kyu Hyung, I think Go Bo Gyul is an amazing emotional actor, and i just don’t think this show used that enough to their advantage. She was brilliant, and I loved seeing her on screen, but I was left wishing she had been given more to do.

More ghost shenanigans I say, more!

The side characters were all acted well, with standouts being Oh Eui Shik and his flawless comedic timing, and Lee Shi Woo (in his debut!) as the endearing if slightly haphazard orphan pilot. The chemistry was pretty good all round also- Kim Tae Hee and Lee Kyu Hyung had great sparkle in their lovey-dovey scenes, but were almost a little too awkward as reunited spouses. Go Bo Gyul and Kim Tae Hee had an absolutely adorable dynamic, and watching them sort of co-parent Seo Woo was really fun.

I cannot believe he did my girl dirty like that

The only chemistry downer was Lee Kyu Hyung and Go Bo Gyul- I felt like the show was trying to keep the ‘will they get divorced’ train going, but I think that backfired and sabotaged the relationship between the two characters. Kang Hwa and Min Jung just always felt awkward around each other, and we weren’t given much insight into how they fell for each other and what made them want to get married, which was pretty disappointing. Seeing as Min Jung was the end game for Kang Hwa, I really wanted to see him love her and fight for her properly- especially as I really loved Min Jung as a character. At the end when Kang Hwa basically told her he was leaving her for his now-not-dead-wife, I was shattered. It felt like the drama had been building up to their big heart to heart where Kang Hwa told her he would always love Yoo Ri, but Min Jung was now his number one and that just…did not happen. At all. I still can’t believe the writers thought it was a good idea to have Kang Hwa basically break up with Min Jung for Yoo Ri, for Yoo Ri to not take him back (because duh), and then have him end up back with Min Jung. Talk about letting your wife know she is second choice.

For a while there I was kinda hoping they'd both leave Kang Hwa and raise Seo Woo themselves 

I was massively disappointed in that wrap up for the main relationship- I knew that this was our destination, but man by the end I was kinda hoping Min Jung would go off and find a different man who was worthy of her love and treated her with respect. 

What Was Great:

No Villainization:

I always appreciate a drama that can have an engaging and compelling plot, but doesn’t need to use a villain to push the plot along. With the way ‘Hi Bye, Mama’ was set up, I was a little worried that the second wife was going to end up being villainized as someone who had taken Yoo Ri’s place.

I love Min Jung, and I loved that she loved Yoo Ri

I’m glad the the show didn’t go down that road, and instead made Min Jung an endearing and loveable character in her own right. The situation itself is what made the conflict in this story, and the emotional responses towards the situation were unwrapped in each episode. We didn’t need an evil step-mother to force tension, because there was already enough tension in the story. This way the story actually had far more emotional tension, because we weren’t just concerned with how things turned out for Yoo Ri and Kang Hwa. If Min Jung had been a nasty woman, it would have been an easy solution for Kang Hwa to divorce her and give Yoo Ri her place back. Easy, quick fix. But because Min Jung was in love with Kang Hwa and loved by Kang Hwa (apparently) and Seo Woo, the situation was much more complex, and there was no easy way out. Someone was going to get their feelings hurt. The development of Min Jung’s character was done really well and she slowly became someone that we viewers didn’t want getting hurt. While I got used to seeing Kang Hwa and Yoo Ri upset and crying, Min Jung was kept in the dark about the situation for most of the show’s run, so when she found out and had a huge cry, my heart really broke for her- which it wouldn’t have done if she hadn’t been developed so well. 

What Wasn’t:

Tear Immunity:

Ohhhhh my goodness. This drama was an absolute weepathon. And not for me. For the characters. And the actors. Don’t get me wrong- the actors did a great job, and they were all very convincing cryers.

SO much crying. Like...SO much.

But the thing is, if you see something over and over and over and over again you do become kind of accustomed to it. You Ri broke down crying every few scenes, and while yes it was justified and she was in a difficult and emotional position, after a while my heart just stopped aching for her when she wept.

New drinking game- every time someone cries take a shot

It just became yet another scene of Yoo Ri crying. It was a similar thing for poor Kang Hwa. He was in such a tight spot with so many thoughts and feelings running wild, but eventually I got bored and tired of watching him cry and cry. I wanted to see these two characters do something and talk and communicate about their feelings and how to move forward with this strange new situation. Instead I got countless scenes of Yoo Ri and Kang Hwa weeping (and not together mind you), while they internalised all their thought processes and feelings. By having these character breakdowns so often in the show, it actually made these moments lose their emotional punch. Important and heartbreaking events stopped seeming so simply because Yoo Ri (and to an extent Kang Hwa) had the same reactions to everything- cry. I wish the show had saved up some of its emotional moments so that the few heavy emotional beats could really pack a punch, rather than having character breakdowns every episode. 

Draggy Development:

This drama absolutely padded out all it had to offer. I appreciated that we didn’t go down the route of Yoo Ri pretending she was someone else when Kang Hwa saw her, so that we could cut right to the chase and really get into the meat of the story.

While the relationships were nice, they weren't really developing- everyone already knew everyone!

Only the drama then spent 12 or more episodes dancing around the meatier content of the story that I was wanting them to unravel. It was fun and sad seeing Kang Hwa panic for a while, and it was heart warming to Yoo Ri finally being able to hold her daughter. But what I was wanting from this show was for Kang Hwa to be able to heal his wounds, and get past the trauma of what had happened to Yoo Ri. Because the show took so long to sit Yoo Ri and Kang Hwa down together to get them to have a proper talk,

I felt simultaneously bad for him and mad at him

it still felt like they had unresolved issues by the time the end of this drama came around. Similarly, I was really wanting Kang Hwa to come to the conclusion that he really loved Min Jung and needed to work hard to rebuild his relationship with her, as he had let it fall apart. I wanted him to realise that he had left Min Jung holding all the pieces of their relationship, and that if he didn’t step into help that she wouldn’t be able to keep their relationship together on her own any more. Because Yoo Ri and Kang Hwa didn’t hash out their issues until episode 15, there wasn’t really enough time for Kang Hwa to then go and sort things through with Min Jung. When this drama ended it felt very much like Kang Hwa had chosen Yoo Ri over Min Jung, and then didn’t resolve how he would then make his relationship with Min Jung salvageable again when Yoo Ri died…again. It very much seemed as though Kang Hwa threw in the towel in his new marriage and he certainly didn’t fight for Min Jung. Over the course of the show I really loved Min Jung and her compassion and patience, and I really wanted her to be able to experience the kind of selfless, limitless love that she showed towards Kang Hwa. And that just never happened. Kang Hwa ditched her for Yoo Ri, and then came back when Yoo Ri was no longer an option.

You f*ckin' tell him, babe

It’s not even that this writer couldn’t have done it either. I know that this writer can deliver the goods, and turn a seemingly disastrous situation into one that was filled with love, but also miscommunication. That certainly didn’t happen with Min Jung and Kang Hwa’s relationship, and I mainly blame that we ran out of time. Or that the writers just paced themselves terribly. The middle sections were filled with so much back and forth and angst that was dragged out for episodes, that we actually got very little development of any of our characters. 

Recommend?

Mm, probably not. It’s not a bad drama, but it’s not as wonderful as it could have been. 

Lesson learned- dead people should probs just stay dead