Angry Mom

Angry Mom

9/10

Angry Mom

Genre:                                   Episodes: 16                                   Year: 2015

School

Melodrama

Family

Synopsis:

Jo Kang Ja was one of the most feared troublemakers when she was in high school. However, now she has settled down and lives with her daughter, husband and mother-in-law. Jo Kang Ja has a strained relationship with her daughter, Oh Ah Ran, and doesn’t understand why her daughter is becoming more withdrawn. When Jo Kang Ja discovers that her daughter’s behaviors are the result of intense bullying, she doesn’t sit back. When the legal system fails to help her, she enters her daughter’s high school under the alias ‘Jo Bang Wool’. However, she soon discovers that the school hides a bigger problem than she could have imagined.

Cast:

Kim Hee Sun (Jo Kang Ja/Jo Bang Wool)

Ji Hyun Woo (Park No Ah)

Kim Yoo Jung (Oh Ah Ran)

Ji Soo (Go Bok Dong)

Baro (Hong Sang Tae)

Kim Hee Won (Ahn Dong Chil)

Kim Tae Hoon (Do Jung Woo)

General Thoughts:

What an amazing, fast-paced drama. This series tackles some very heavy, serious issues- which are illustrated brilliantly by the phenomenal cast, intriguing plot, and steady writing. While it does have its funny moments, and glimpses of light-hearted humor- IT IS NOT A COMEDY! I can understand why people may get confused as ‘Angry Mom’ is definitely marketed as a bit of a comedy (I mean look at that poster), but it borders on mildly gloomy- with many realistic problems, rather than comedic.

That perfect cast

That cast. Oh my goodness, that cast. Brilliant performances from every single actor, with Kim Hee Sun, Kim Yoo Jun and Ji Soo delivering spectacular performances. I’ve never

How emotionally involved I was in this drama

before seen a K-Drama that manages to develop so many different characters the way ‘Angry Mom’ does. Each character has a backstory, flaws, motives, and are highly believable as actual people. No one was inherently bad, no one was inherently good; they all had amazing depth and perspective. I was so emotionally invested in all our characters, and my heart broke so many times.

Even though the whole story was centered around a rather ridiculous event- a mom entering high school- it was executed brilliantly and was used as a gateway to explore much more serious issues. I also enjoyed that Jo Kang Ja’s true identity was gradually discovered by people, and not blown to everyone at the same time. It gave us time to see our characters’ different reactions to this discovery, and was a fantastic method to give insight on their different personalities and motives. This drama is a riveting, emotional roller-coaster. Whenever ‘I Love You, I’m Sorry’ by ALi plays, you’re probably going to cry.

A musical cue that it's time to weep

It truly was a fast-paced drama, there was so much going on, and the sense of danger to our beloved characters was very real- much more intense than I expected from a high school drama. My heart felt like it was going to burst- 3/4 from mass-anxiety for the characters, 1/4 from all the cute.

What Was Great:

Mother-Daughter Relationship:

Being the whole point of the drama, it was crucial that the writers nail this particular dynamic, and they did- hoorah! As the viewers, we are never left in the dark as to why Ah Ran hides things from her mother, and Kang Ja’s reaction when she finds out about her child’s situation is totally believable, without coming across as meddling, obnoxious or hysterical.

Basically the best mom ever

It’s wonderful to see the relationship develop between the two through the shared secret of Kang Ja’s real identity. It’s clear that they both care deeply for each other, but have different ways of expressing their emotions. It’s delightful to see that while Kang Ja/Bang Wool is seen as a strong, incredible girl/woman by the teachers and students, in Ah Ran’s eyes she’s always a lame, uncool mom (except for moments of brief admiration)- as is consistent with the feelings of most adolescent offspring.

Team Princess:

I originally didn’t like Han Gong Joo or her goons. They seemed alarmingly misplaced in this highly serious drama, but they grew on me quickly. Han Gong Joo is so lovable with her constant desire to help and protect, even if she’s not always as capable as she would like. It’s fantastic to see the contrast between the relationships between Han Gong Joo and her ‘little brothers’, and our villains and their underlings. It’s a beautiful demonstration of how respect, compassion and kindness lead to love and loyalty. Team Princess is also quite often a much needed refreshing pause in an emotionally heavy drama.

Beautiful family moment for Team Princess

It was extremely heart-warming to watch Team Princess slowly start to expand with each new addition. It perfectly depicted an intricately woven web of relationships between our characters- a much more realistic view on interactions between people than your typical K-Drama. I absolutely LOVED that it wasn’t purely our fearless fighter Jo Kang Ja that was saving all the kids, but a mixed effort from many adults: namely Park No Ah and Han Gong Joo. It showed that the kids needed more than just one person to rely on, and that our characters had different strengths and capabilities.

Taking a short break from how emotionally distressing this series is

Handsome One-Two Punch:

Cuteness personified

Park No Ah was amazing, I really couldn’t understand how all the female students weren’t crushing on him hard, because I sure was. Go Bok Dong is also amazing, and well worth returning to high school for. And then when they became buddies it was absolute magic.

Again, development of these two characters was done perfectly. It was riveting, yet rather disheartening, to watch Park No Ah’s rosy view of the world crumble before him. However, it was his realization that the world is a tough, hard place, where not all kids are loved enough that enables him to (eventually) step up and make moves to protect his students. It was rewarding to see how he managed to maintain his childlike playfulness and innate goodness, even as his innocence was lost. Alternatively, it was gratifying to see Go Bok Dong learn that the world wasn’t as dark and horrific as he thought. All three of our main adults- Jo Kang Ja, Park No Ah, and Han Gong Joo- each had a different, though equally important influence on our soft-hearted bad boy.

Forcibly taught how to be loved 

All That Development:

What a marshmallow our boy has become 

I seriously cannot get over how stunningly well-developed all these characters are. It’s truly a beautiful thing to behold. It was amazing that so many of the characters didn’t fall into the ‘good’ or ‘evil’ category, and just existed somewhere between. It was such an astoundingly accurate representation of real life. There was enough time devoted to each of the characters that we could develop a solid understanding of who they were and why they acted the way they did, which made it fantastic to see how their relationships shaped them. Hong Sang Tae wins for the quickest developed- doing a complete 180° in about two episodes. Usually this makes for a totally unbelievable turnaround, but the writers were able to execute it brilliantly, and I didn’t question it for a minute. Go Bok Dong wins for most drastically developed. It still amazes me that they could go from high school gangster, to beaten puppy, to giant heart throb in the space of 16 episodes- but they managed it. Ji Soo is a total star in this drama, and definitely steals the show.

Ahn Dong Chil:

Couldn't decide if I hated him or not

Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t like his character. Ahn Dong Chil was a giant asshole. And yet, through clever writing and skillful acting, I had sympathy for him. Although I didn’t agree with his actions at all, it was understandable how he became that way, and his decisions (while mostly horrible), made logical sense. It was a beautiful depiction of how no one is inherently evil, and it is our choices that make us who we are. While Dong Chil was making bad choices, he was detestable and revolting, yet towards the end when he started making better choices, he just seemed pitiful. Right to the end I couldn't figure out if he was a baddie or a victim- which was actually a fantastic grey-area to observe. The relationship between him and Oh Ah Ran was touching and rather heart-wrenching.

What Wasn’t:

Cutest love-line ever

No Romance?!:

Oh, the lack of romance was a little disappointing, though not an actual downside. I know that there was no real romance promised, but I still held a little flame of hope. While Go Bok Dong’s ajumma crush was insanely adorable, it was never going anywhere. Oh Ah Ran and Hong Sang Tae did a good job of bringing in the romance in a sweet, innocent, high school way, but I was holding out for Jo Kang Ja and Park No Ah. I’m aware that if this romance had actually happened, it probably would have ruined the show for a lot of people- but I wanted it so bad! Whenever they had a cute moment I was filled with optimistic excitement- but with the dark views on teacher-student entanglements presented in the drama, in my heart I knew it probably wouldn’t happen. And then all hopes of a Kang Ja romance died with Dad.

I so badly wanted this to happen

Doom and Gloom:

I can understand why so much time was focused on the baddies of our story, but for a while in the middle there, it seemed there was no hope for our courageous heroine. However, the large amount of corruption and injustice did make it that much sweeter when our heroes (sort of) triumphed.

Admittedly, it felt good to see this 

Re-watch?

Absolutely. This drama has some of the best, most realistic relationships between the characters, and I’m in for watching all that beautiful development again. I had so much love for our main group of characters. 

So much love for this drama... you don't even know