The Good Bad Mother

A mother can be a good, and a bad one.

From it’s beginning till the end, this drama never disappoints until the end! I love how this drama is all known to kdrama fans and I never regretted to watch this first other than the ongoing kdramas that has no similarities with the story of the good bad mother. Also, from the name itself I do agree that Kang Ho’s mother, Young Soo might not be that perfect mother the same as my own mother. A mother can be a good and at the same time a bad mother but in different ways and it’s aspects to consider. Including of how for me as a kdrama fan, it was a better way to start this drama and this might be one of my favorite comforting kdramas I’ve watched, including summer strike, TFTW, and others :’). I might take longer to take note with regards to this drama, because I would consider this as one of the greatest masterpieces and so far confirming as one of the best mother-son/daughter relationships. I’ll go with the plot/story and the cast/characters.


STORY/PLOT
The story starts off with A single mother, Jin Young Soon who owns a pig farm in a small village who raised his only son, Choi Kang Ho. After her husband’s death due to fighting for justice with regards to their traumatic past from burning their old piggery farm from an well-known suspect during the 1980’s, her mother lose hope from her husband and disciplined his son Kang Ho while growing up and gaining his power as he graduated as a top student and one of the prosecutors in the court. As he turned a cold-hearted prosecutor, he and his mother discover slowly their past as Kang Ho dive deeper with his connections from his clients that are high positioned leaders in a company and challenged to politics and power. With an unexpected accident came from him, he returns from his hometown. On the other hand, Kang Ho’s childhood friend and schoolmate Mi Joo who was known from a soft hearted, kind a strong sense of justice, also reconnected with Kang Ho from his recent accident, unfolding the secret both has. Kang Ho goes back, slowly recovers until he slowly remembers everything he has been through, including his past relationships from his old village he grew up, with her mother taking care of him and together as both and their friendly neighbors fight and supported one another, making a strong relationship with each and one of them. My tears are worth it actually :’))

Phew, this was so long to type a note from the story to be explained further for the sake of my future self to rewatch this wonderfully made series!! I love the story, the flow of the story was well made, including the great character developments that the writer also added. I also liked the cliffhangs of the few episodes that made me think twice of watching the next series asap! No flaws to begin with, great chemistry from the cast and their friendship-relationships that connects their way of living each and every one of them with many purposes. A good 14-episode kdrama series, with no unnecessary flaws and plot holes, just loved the drama so much with less explanations!!


CAST/CHARACTERS
First and foremost, I really love their casting so much!! It’s that I have less things to say but to summarize their great acting skills, I do believe most of them has great potential to discover and enter different leading roles that can help their careers to be well recognized!! A big thanks to the casts, whether leading and supporting casts who did their best they can and leaving me with tears till the end :’) Not ending my note here, but I’ll thanked the most recognized actors and actresses who shined so much from their roles itself. Also, never forgetti the two gurads even if their mission was leading them to despair, they were on Kang Ho's side :'>

Starting off, Ra Mi ran as Jin Young Soon also known from the title itself, the Good Bad Mother. I love her so much from her role!! My very first kdrama encounter from this drama and her acting feels surreal!! She has potential as well to be part of the different type of roles in her future projects! Less thing to say to her since it’s my first time seeing her. But with her character, she’s kinda disappointing, but at the same time as a hardworking and a single mother, we cannot blame a mother’s love for her only son :’) Rooting for her future endeavors and her future kdrama projects she would be casted soon! Might dive in to her past kdramas!!

With Lee Do Hyun as Choi Kang Ho, the prosecutor. I really love how we was part from the casting. I cannot believe that he also did well with this drama and love the way he acts from his chosen project, which is this including his character. Well known from his big roles from The Glory 1 and 2, Youth of May and 18 again. My very first encounter was from the drama Clean with Passion for Now and Hotel del Luna (I cannot remember which one I saw him from his role but so far, these both are). He was proving himself with so much potential! From supporting roles from both kdramas until becoming his few well known leading roles, he can be anything!! Hoping I could see him more with villain roles. His character is sweet and loving, also Kang Ho never disappoints from the beginning. All In all, he was a promising actor and ever since youth of May, I already added him as one of my favorite actors. Rooting for him!!

Ahn Eun Jin as Lee Mi Joo the soft-hearted childhood friend turned lover of Kang Ho. Ever since my first encounter from a kdrama series The One and Only, from that role itself I already could see so much improvement and knowing that she was a good actress from portraying her character with her emotions. She was also one of my favorite actresses as well. Mi Joo was a loving character that she never disappoints from the beginning until the end of the story :’) But I also felt bad that she had a hard time recovering her deepest pain from Kang Ho :< Rooting for her especially how I wish she could enter different role this time :’)

Last but not the least, the funniest friend and enemy of Kang Ho, Bang Sam Sik portrayed by Yoo In Soo. Ever since my first kdrama from him from at eighteen, all of us are dead as the villain zombie and AOS 1 and 2 from his well-recognized characters from the last 2 kdramas I saw from him, he was really good as well. But I do hope I could see a role like from Lee Do Hyun itself but he was really improving!! His character also was a good but a mean one from Kang Ho until he was protecting and saving them from danger haha. To conclude his short comment from this drama, really love his roles that I have watched including this, and hoping he could show more of his emotions to his future roles. Rooting for him as well! (ESPECIALLY UNCANNY COUNTER 2 AS A LEADING ROLE! 😊 )

Overall, this was a good watch!! Very recommended to beginners who wanted a comforting kdrama to watch, really great for time kill and binge-watching! Also depending of my decision in the future, rewatching can be optional since there are a lot of things happened that surprised me as well. This is the end of the note, one of the greatest masterpiece that everyone should watch a good mother-son relationship!! <33

Rooting for the casts future drama projects to come! One, two, three… Piggy!!!

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We’re All Good Bad People!

One of the biggest things I learnt while watching this drama is we’re all good bad people when it comes to the people we love.

Throughout the drama, I wondered why pigs? And then it finally hit me around episode 10. At the beginning we got a back story of pigs. They were never filthy animals we now know them to be. Pigs are actually quite clean. They do their business in one area and eat in another. It wasn’t until humans began confining them that they had no freedom to do such. Hence the filth. The only way a pig can see the sky is if it falls on its back. This was again repeated by Young Soon after Kang Ho got into his accident and was I rehabilitation mode. The comparison I made was Kang Honwas the pig. He lived a life only seeing what his mom laid out in front of him. Básica having tunnel vision. It wasn’t until his accident that he “fell on his back” like a pig and was able to see the bright blue sky.

Jin Young Soon
A dedicated daughter, wife, mother and friend. She had her shortcomings (don’t we all). At first I hate her character. The way she basically robbed Kang Ho of a childhood and pressured him into a career and life he never wanted pissed me off so bad😅. It wasn’t until later episodes that I was like, “ahhhhhh….that’s why she so twisted and hell bent on certain things.”
From day 1 her life was filled with pain. Witnessing the death of her parents. Then her husband, watching her son get into an accident and then finally dying from stomach cancer😮‍💨
Everything she did for her beloved son was deeply rooted in fear and love.

Fear - because she was scared to loose him the same way she lost everything she held so dear in her life. We see this clearly when Kang Ho never went on school trips. Gimbap are an essential snack on every school child’s trip. With Young Soon gimbap was basically a bad luck charm. She made it the morning of her family’s trip to her dad’s work picnic and they crashed then she made some for her husband and he ended murdered. So naturally a connection formed gimbap = death.

Love - Kang Ho was/is her pride and joy. She sacrificed all she could to make sure he never felt the absence of his dad. Granted she may have held on to him a bit to tightly, but this was only done because the thought of loosing him too would be devastating. Granted some of her ways of showing her love were unorthodox. But we love how we’re thought to right? And also life shapes the way we act and do certain things.

Her being a good bad mother in my interpretation was, she was a good mom because she loved and sacrificed everything to make sure he lol succeed in life. And a bad mother in the sense that she sometimes held on too tight and didn’t allow Kang Ho any chance to experience life in a sense. She wanted to be his shield always. That’s a good thing but also bad.

Kang Ho everything he did he did for his mom. As much as he may have had his dislike for her way of raising him, he always knew why she did it. He knew the driving force behind his mother’s absurd behavior and obsession with him becoming a prosecutor. He knew she didn’t want him to be like his father. Then when he got sick he knew she was making amends for what she cause him to go through as a child. Through it all he could’ve easily hated her but instead he kept loving her and even left clues incase anything should happen to him.

Their dynamic as mother and son was one of the best I’ve seen in dramas. Both Ran Mi Ran and Lee Do Hyun were perfectly casted for this role and pulled it off stupendously.

Now the villagers themselves 😅😅well they sure are something. Their dynamic perfectly portrays a community turned family. At first they were hesitant when Young Soon moved in but later welcomed her with open arms. They were there for each other through the highs and lows. The perfect blend chemistry between each of the cast mates.

I loved how from beginning to end we never saw the village chiefs wife face😂. This woman basically had an endlessly supply of face masks, scarves and hats to cover her face. At one point I wondered if she was getting over hydrated in the face. The finally we got a face reveal and a pregnancy announcement! And the story of her being a yakuza’s daughter actually was real.

The take down of Oh Tae Soo and Chairman Song was perfect. Honestly OTS is a scum of a human and father. The man really was something (also am I the only one who noticed that he never plays a good character in any dramas? He’s always some slim shady snakey dude). The 2 of them deserved what they got and I’m glad his daughter stepped up and exposed her dad even if it meant she also went to jail for being an accessory to his crime.

Episode 14 ended perfectly. Mi Joo and Kang Ho’s scene where he proposes with a pig, was exactly how his mom got proposed to. He even said the exact words and the pig also ran away😅. And Sam Sik and his sticky fingers and heart on his sleeve self remained the same.

The one thing that stood out the most was the song Young Soon always played. Noticed how that was the song her dad had playing before the crash. The she had it as her ringtone. Despite the songs cheery lyrics it was a painful memory for her. Everyrime her phone rings she’s reminded of what she lost. But at her funeral when KH started singing, “I am happy, I am happy, I am happy…. I am very very happy.” In that moment, those words took on a new meaning. From being a constant remind of what she’d lost to becoming a song of hope and new beginning that shift was clear. Yes… it was being sung with tears in their eyes but you could clearly see it wa showing to be a song of all the good times. That was shown as Mr Bang sung that song, and our precious lettuce farms were singing quite jolly and drives the blush pink truck with “Happy Farm” boldly written on it.

We’re all good bad people. We love passionately and sometimes hold on too tightly in fear of what may happen. Omce in a while let’s be like pigs. Fall on your back and appreciate the bright blue sky and warm sun.

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love letter to motherhood

I cried every episode, but the joy I found in watching this show was unparalleled. the acting was next level and the actors really gave their heart to the roles. what a beautiful, multifaceted expression of a mother's love.

Beyond the sentimental value, the story line was captivating from start to finish, incorporating comedy, action and drama. Almost like a book I couldn't put down I watched the episodes back to back right to the very end. Definitely a full-bodied story. The storyline was well paced and though I'm not used to 14 episodes for a kdrama, it fit perfect for this show.

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one of the best kdrama i've seen

an emotional, funny and heart warming show
The good bad mother is an emotional, meaningful and moral show that follows Kang Ho and his 'Bad mother' on their journey to solve their sorrow due to their past wounds.
the story includes lessons about family, friends, love and life, the acting was truly beautiful it showed the love of a mother who only wanted what was best for her child after the death of her husband, not realizing her actions and words affected her son in many ways and how a son would do anything to understand the pain his mother went thru and fix her broken heart.

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MASTERPIECE!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!! DEFINITELY RECOMMEND TO EVERYONE!!!

Everything was perfect in this kdrama! The story, the characters, the direction Everything had a perfect balance!!! I cried a lot but I laughed a lot too. The ending was perfect for all the characters!
Now as for the actors they were all great but my favorites were:
Of course Lee dohyun who is also my favorite male actor and I have to say that after this kdrama he made me admire him even more
He was incredible! He played the "bad guy", the kid, his normal self, he was funny, he was strict, he made me cry and laugh and he was perfect in everything! He has incredible talent! I have no words!
Of course, Ra Miran also did an amazing job. Just wonderful, I don't have much to say. She played her role perfectly!!
Ahn Eun Jin and Yoo insoo were perfect for their roles. I don't think I can imagine anyone else playing the same characters.
The same goes for the villains who were very good in their roles.
Finally the ones I really liked and made me laugh a lot are the actors Choi Sunjin and Park Cheon.. I love them they were very good and I was very happy about their ending!
And of course I have to say that the actors who played Ahn Eun Jin's children were very good, well done!
That's all I had to say about this wonderful series and definitely recommended for everyone to watch!!! Congratulations to everybody!!!

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Toxic relationship....

She wasn't a bad mother, she was a very bad mother, cruel and manipulative. And, no, the end does not justify the means.
She deprived her child of the most precious thing a person has...his childhood and everything that it entails...The company, the friends, the outings, the games, the carefreeness, the pleasant memories...This woman deprived her son of every human emotion.!!! Deprived him of mother's love,affection...Isolated him from friends and even starved him so that he can only focuse on a carrer she chose for him since he was a baby...Growing up, she expected him to be a warm, loving person, which is NOT what she grew up to be !!! Even in the second "chance" that she was given, she made the same mistakes..After the accident,the bad mother shows over and over again that she can be even worse. Are we supposed to think that the means are justified just because she wants hik to recover faster?? She kept repeating her old mistakes and making new ones even worse... If in the past she was very strict and authoritarian with her son's education (and life in general), in the present her methods for his rehabilitation after the accident are very harsh and authoritarian (taking away his food when he can't control his hands, throwing him into the lake when he can't stand). As series about an abusive parent, it lacks a bit of self-awareness..Also, the bad message the series gives about the "treatment" of quadriplegic people...So, she is dying and that makes her good? The main message of the show now reads as "mother is always right" no matter how psychotic or abusive. It would have been more believable, if the son hated his mother more, and would come to realise that along the hate there was also love, only AFTER he found out that she was dying. Better yet after her death. (Death and end of things are good drives for introspection).

In my eyes, mother was too glorified and judged too little for her terrible actions towards her son, because as much as we would like to believe that it's always "the thought that counts" it is actually "our actions that show who we really are"

Her son, a worthy disciple of his psycho mother, in order to achieve his goals, took advantage of the love of his childhood friend (his first love) since she worked and he studied to become a prosecutor, they lived together in the same house, and in the end he abandoned her with the excuse of revenge, after giving her money (how insulting) to clean up and move on. 😑 He destroyed her life in an instant, without remorse, without second thoughts to become the lover of his enemy's daughter, to live with her for years, to sleep, eat, laugh and spend his daily life with her, and he would have married her if the "accident" had not happened..
The victims of the story are his ex-girlfriend who became pregnant with 2 children and for 8 years wandered around and lied about her condition. Her mother who was forced to raise her daughter's grandchildren alone and of course the children whose life for their father was a LIE!! The fact that she forgave him so easily and accepted him back into her life, accepting his ex-fiancée who betrayed her with her 😏, and talking calmly, besides clearly showing that a weak woman cannot be a good mother, makes the script unrealistic..The last episode was nonsense, they didn't show the children's reaction (a significant omission) after the revelation about their real father, their feelings, and the management of their psychology, they didn't show romantic scenes between a "couple in love", we didn't see a wedding as it should have been...Again, mother and son in the same depressing environment, talking about the same things on a bench, and a pig 🐷 being chased by the future groom and bride...

Excellent performances from all the actors who gave high marks to such a bad script !!!!

Ra Mi Ran as Jin Young Soon 👏
Lee Do Hyun as Choi Kang Ho 👏
Ahn Eun Jin as Lee Mi Joo 👏
Yoo In Soo as Bang Sam Sik 👏
Jung Woong In as Oh Tae Soo 👏
Choi Moo Sung as Song Woo Byeok 👏
Hong Bi Ra as Oh Ha Young [Oh Tae Soo's daughter]
and of course the two kids who played impressively..
Gi So Yoo as Lee Ye Jin [Mi Ju's daughter] 👏👏
Park Da On as Lee Seo Jin [Lee Mi Joo's son] 👏👏

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Such a heartwarming and intriguing story full of morals and lessons

After hesitating and postponing watching this drama, I decided to watch it in the end but I NEVER thought I would be glued to it and binge-watch it and finish it quickly, I wish it had had more episodes cause it's a masterpiece. I usually rate dramas that I watch based on how much I've enjoyed them, which isn't strict, BUT for this one, I would've given it 10, even if I took into account other criteria.
While watching the events, the relationship between the characters, and the lessons that they give, I laughed with them, cried with them, and was immersed in every feeling given by them, (This is also a strong point in the storytelling). The acting was pretty good as well.
I know I didn't point out the negative side (of course, there are many since it can't be perfect), but I don't like emphasizing them when I feel like there's no need to cause there are more good sides than the bad ones. the most important thing is that you won't be bored and won't have to skip many scenes like some other dramas.

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A DRAMA TO LIVE IN MY MIND FOR DECADES ❤️

This has been an easy 10/10 from me..I don't know how to start this review because I have alot to applaud but I'll break it down

This drama was like a mixture of different genres done in an amazing and smart way

The story has been an emotional roller coaster, I've cried each and every episode but I absolutely appreciate how it remained consistent and how it got better every episode, every single reveal had perfect timing and it was well explained and ellaborated with absolutely no drags..or fillers just amazing story telling from the first to last episode.

The characters, I admire when K dramas make imperfect and relatable characters, characters you can try to empathise with or root for and all characters in this series felt human, they had flaws and problems and made wrong decisions and also had regrets, they just felt relatable and it made viewers like me connect to them and feel for them easily..that's one aspect I admired about all the good bad mother characters.

The acting was AMAZING or can I have another worf better than amazing..I've seen lee do Hyun act before and I admire how his acting reflects his feelings and longing..iam proud to see him pull off all the challenging characters and I can absolutely say he nailed the KANG HO role..he potrayed over three different characters and each with a unique touch..I absolutely iam going to fight if he doesn't win some award for his role

Ra mi ran as Youngsoon was the right choice, I had never seen her before but she won me over with her acting, I got angry with her and sympathised with her and cried with her..that's the power her acting held throughout the entire series

Both lee do Hyun and Ra mi rans scenes had this impact and so much power and emotion..I was impressed.

The rest of the cast did an amazing job too, Mijoo has to be my best written female lead of all time, natural and absolutely lovable, the twins were the light of the series and Samsik was the comedic relief...the rest of the villagers did an amazing job too so I'd saw overall the acting from everyone was AMAZING.

The cinematography and osts were amazing..and I absolutely loved the ending..it's all I wanted to see after how thrilling hectic and emotional the series was..that kind of happiness was absolutely well deserved

I want to say more seriously I could go the entire night..but one thing is for sure this is one of those really amazing and we'll written MASTERPIECES

I have no complaints except recommend this to all who want a family drama with a splash of revenge and comedy and emotions

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A masterpiece at it's finest.

Okay so I'm writing this like 10 minutes after the last episode and... oh my god... I was flooding with tears. I'm not kidding when I say that most of the episodes of this show or maybe even all, made me tear up or cry like a newborn baby.

Not gonna lie I was really skeptical about this drama at first because seeing a drama having only 14 episodes instead of the normal 16 made me scared for some reason, but episode after episode this drama just ate me whole. This drama got me thinking about it every single day of the week, that's how much I was hooked onto this show.

The story is perfect and filled with both the happy cheerful moments that put a smile on your face and the depressing heart wrenching moments that make you cry like the baby you are. The acting? Don't even get me started on the acting. Everyone on this show and I mean EVERYONE did an amazing job portraying their characters, especially Ra Miran and Lee Dohyun and I am expecting to see them nominated in this year's baeksangs because lord have mercy their acting was amazing throughout the entire show. The cinematography was fantastic, the writing and the dialogue were straight-up genius like man, I have nothing to nitpick on any aspect of this show. Everything was pure perfection at its finest.

To be honest when I reached episode 12, I was worried that they might mess up this ending due to how much episodes were left, but they really didn't. The last episode was filled with every emotion the show has made us feel thus far at that point and cranked it up even more to hit us with one of the most tearjerking endings ever.

As a wise person once said, all good things must come to an end, and as much as I hate that this drama is now done and finished, I loved this drama so much and I'll never forget about it. Thank you to everyone who participated on this show for giving us this masterpiece that I recommend everyone to watch at least once in their life. This drama definitely hit a Homerun.

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one of the more sensitive dramas

Of the hundreds of dramas I've seen (full disclosure - I'm addicted to Korean dramas of all types, action, historical, romance, political, comedy, etc.), this is a quality drama that is wonderfully constructed, it's one of the more sensitive dramas I've seen, it activates a wide spectrum of emotional feelings, there is a saying who says "There is no love in the world like a mother's love" and this, in my opinion, is the essence of the drama along with the question of what parenting/friendship/forgiveness is, a cast of talented actors
...a drama that is definitely worth watching ..warning..you need to equip yourself with a tissue..

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It's okay..... Just okay.

I have no idea why this is so highly rated. I gave it the benefit of the doubt since I was on vacation and downloaded all 14 episodes. I will admit the show at times made me cry because of the mother-son relationship. I understand that the mother in her mind had reasons for what she did when he was growing up but I do not believe it's as black and white as to say she's all bad. Like the title say she is both Good/bad. I was waiting for everyone to know he is the father and the kids too but they didn't give us the reaction just the aftermath, which spoiler it's a good ending and they get married which isn't a bad thing but I stuck it out till the end so I could see the reaction and yet the kids mention it for 5 seconds in the last episode and that's it. The plot with the bad guys was very lackluster and made me skip over so many of the scenes when they were on screen

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