Enjoyable but weird
A mostly well-conceived, but weird, drama - 8 stars
The first sentence of FAMILIAR WIFE blew my mind. And not in a good way.
We hear a newscaster proclaim the following: “The planet Wolf, 68 light years from Earth, ahead of its extinction, is rapidly becoming a black hole.”
As a science writer, all I can say is, “NO! NO! NO!” Black holes are never, EVER caused by the “extinction of a planet,” imminent or otherwise. To be clear, large stars occasionally collapse into black holes, but never planets.
Nor are exo-planets given names like “Wolf”. (Look up HD 20794d or K2-18b)
The rest of the newscaster‘s report explains that there may be a “change between the Earth’s and Moon’s calendars,”which--excuse me for pointing this out--is absurd gobbledygook.
Hey writers! This kind of thing should have been tweaked.
BUT...to change the focus a bit here--the rest of this series is mostly quite good. I’d even call it a hidden gem--not counting the last four episodes which seem to exist only for the sake of product placement.
The drama focuses on the daily crush of ordinary life and the toll it takes on well-intentioned human beings. How marriages get destroyed. How people forget to be kind and considerate.
As for the acting, the two leads do a fine job, and a number of skillful actors are showcased in minor roles.
In every office there’s someone who marches to a different drummer, and in this office that’s Kim Hwan. Kudos to the writers for imagining him and to Cha Hak Yeon (N) for bringing him to life.
One of my favorites, Lee Jeong-eun, plays the FL’s slightly demented mother. If you want to see what a masterful actor this woman is, watch OUR BLUES, another outstanding K-drama.
I’ll just mention two weird things about the plot--although there are others:
1) How come (except for one scene near the beginning) neither of the main characters seem at all interested in the fate of their two children. These poor kids have been zapped into nothingness due to the ML’s need to change wives. The fact that they’re never mentioned again is downright weird.
2) From episode 9 or 10 onward, everyone suddenly starts wearing stripes–striped shirts, striped blouses, a striped jacket. Why?
The first sentence of FAMILIAR WIFE blew my mind. And not in a good way.
We hear a newscaster proclaim the following: “The planet Wolf, 68 light years from Earth, ahead of its extinction, is rapidly becoming a black hole.”
As a science writer, all I can say is, “NO! NO! NO!” Black holes are never, EVER caused by the “extinction of a planet,” imminent or otherwise. To be clear, large stars occasionally collapse into black holes, but never planets.
Nor are exo-planets given names like “Wolf”. (Look up HD 20794d or K2-18b)
The rest of the newscaster‘s report explains that there may be a “change between the Earth’s and Moon’s calendars,”which--excuse me for pointing this out--is absurd gobbledygook.
Hey writers! This kind of thing should have been tweaked.
BUT...to change the focus a bit here--the rest of this series is mostly quite good. I’d even call it a hidden gem--not counting the last four episodes which seem to exist only for the sake of product placement.
The drama focuses on the daily crush of ordinary life and the toll it takes on well-intentioned human beings. How marriages get destroyed. How people forget to be kind and considerate.
As for the acting, the two leads do a fine job, and a number of skillful actors are showcased in minor roles.
In every office there’s someone who marches to a different drummer, and in this office that’s Kim Hwan. Kudos to the writers for imagining him and to Cha Hak Yeon (N) for bringing him to life.
One of my favorites, Lee Jeong-eun, plays the FL’s slightly demented mother. If you want to see what a masterful actor this woman is, watch OUR BLUES, another outstanding K-drama.
I’ll just mention two weird things about the plot--although there are others:
1) How come (except for one scene near the beginning) neither of the main characters seem at all interested in the fate of their two children. These poor kids have been zapped into nothingness due to the ML’s need to change wives. The fact that they’re never mentioned again is downright weird.
2) From episode 9 or 10 onward, everyone suddenly starts wearing stripes–striped shirts, striped blouses, a striped jacket. Why?
Was this review helpful to you?
