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When I started watching Typhoon Family, I was initially hooked by its premise. I am a big fan of media that cover real events and ever since I got into kdramas, I've been interested to learn more about Korean society. As someone who comes from a country (Greece) that had experienced a big crisis a decade ago, I was immediately pulled by Typhoon Family's plot, which centered around the IMF crisis in the 1990s.

The first episodes were engaging and gave me everything I needed in order to keep watching. We got introduced to Typhoon Trading, its employees and Kang Tae Poong, the main character who's the son of Typhoon Trading's CEO, Kang Ji Yeong. As tragedy hits the Kang family after Ji Yeong's death and the declaration of the IMF crisis, Tae Poong must learn to navigate through life and provide for his family. In order to do so, he becomes the CEO of his father's company. And this, his journey begins.

Tae Poong was an interesting character, one who won me over from the moment he got introduced. From very early on, the writers had established his contrasting personality: although he appeared to be a playboy and reckless person, he was very sensitive and he cared about his family. He had inherited a passion for flowers from his father and he owned his own greenhouse of flowers, which he wanted to share with his father. But death came soon and Tae Poong had to move quickly.

I liked how the drama showed him taking action immediately after his father's death. Tae Poong might have appeared to be hot-aired but the moment the circumstances required it, he took responsibility and acknowledged his duties as a son and as the future Typhoon Trading's CEO. He wasn't the cliche main character who starts off as a jerk and warms up later. He was always kind hearted and he always cared about his closed ones.

Throughout the whole series, Tae Poong undergoes lots of trouble. While trying to find his footing in the company, his plans weren't very successful and he suffered great loses. But his loss made his determination stronger. He didn't give up and he always found a way to save the day with one way or another. His resilience and optimism were inspiring and made me root for him to succeed.

Mi Seon made for an equally interesting female lead. Her quiet yet determined nature made me love her from the beginning. She was clever, competent and she was always there to help Tae Poong and the company. Her loyalty towards Tae Poong's father and Typhoon Trading in general was so compelling, I could feel her desperation to save the company and how seriously she treated her duties. It was touching to see her care so much for those around her but at the same time, watching her neglecting her own dreams and bury her feelings broke my heart. She was a giver and a protector who provided for everyone except herself. Her development was so pivotal because she needed to learn not only to stand up for herself but be more open about her own wants to.

Alongside Tae Poong and Mi Seon, the rest of the characters shined as well. I love character driven stories and for the most part, Typhoon Family did not disappoint in that aspect. Although the main plot revolved around Tae Poong and Mi Seon, the secondary characters quickly became the heart of the show and I always looked forward to their scenes. Their relationships and heartfelt moments made my heart melt and I became very attached to my found family.

One of my most favourite secondary characters was Tae Poong's mom. I am so happy that she wasn't portrayed as a stereotypical strict and abusive mom, the type we usually see in kdramas. She might not have had a business-like mind like her husband or son but she was equally strong. Her development was so good to see. She saw her life crumble before her eyes and she needed to say goodbye to her old lifestyle. She had to work for the first time in order to survive and she had to share a house with strangers, once she and Tae Poong went to live with Mi Seon's family. But despite all that, she remained strong and kind.

I adored her interactions with Mi Seon's family. Her bond with Beom and Mi Ho made me feel so warm, she became the mother figure they needed and she accepted them without a second thought. As for Tae Poong, I loved how she always supported him and cherished him. Tae Poong needed this type of support and love and she gave it to him.

Speaking of Mi Seon's family, they were one of my most favourite parts in the drama. The siblings relationship between Mi Seon, Be Om and Mi Ho was so realistic. I appreciate that the writers did not depict Mi Ho as the typical bratty younger sister. The two sisters couldn't have been more different and yet they cared about each other so much. Mi Ho did not want Mi Seon to sacrifice her own needs in order to help her and she wanted to contribute to the family instead of relying to others. Their teasing and playful bantering felt like a breath of fresh air and their moments added a more domestic tone to the story.

There were other characters that I enjoyed seeing, such as Nam Mi, Tae Poong's best friend and Typhoon Trading's employees. All of them had to fight their own demons amid the crisis and I couldn't help but root for them. Not everyone was perfect and I understand that not all viewers would be able to sympathize with everyone.

The most prominent example is Ma Jin, who was misogynistic and diminishing towards Mi Seon during the Thailand episodes. A product of his time, Ma Jin felt insecure seeing Mi Seon handling all these trades and he projected his insecurities in his words and behavior. And yet, the series showed him learning from his mistakes and becoming a better person.

Through the characters' lives, we viewers got exposed to the hardships during this era. We see them getting deceived, beaten down, feeling desperate and lost. Everyone had their own demons to fight. But despite everything, there was always a small light of hope. With each loss, came a small win. Dealing with the hardships together, the characters came closer together and became something more than a simple team - they became a family. The drama highlighted the importance of human companionship and it showed that when we stick together, we are bound to overcame most of our problems.

Although I am not a huge fan of romance oriented stories, I found the romance in Typhoon Family to be well-crafted. Tae Poong and Mi Seon's development was nice and it felt natural thanks to the actors. Both of them complimented each other and played a fundamental role in each other's growth. While Mi Seon guided Tae Poong during his first steps as a CEO and helped his with the trades, Tae Poong brought a light into Mi Seon's life with his playful jokes and his acts of service. Watching him acting like a puppy around her was so funny and charming. They were different and yet they fit together perfectly. In other words: they became each one's cosmos.

The secondary couple, Mi Ho and Nam Mi, managed to steal my heart. Their relationship progressed faster compared to Tae Poong and Mi Seon and yet even with their brief scenes, they made me care so much about them. They cared about each other in their own way and although they started as a typical, young couple, they matured and grew alongside their love.

Of course the characters would have never been able to come to life without the performances from the actors. This was my first time watching a Lee Jun Ho and Kim Min Ha drama and it certainly won't be my last. Jun Ho was very charismatic, he embodied all Tae Poong's traits effortlessly and he delivered a very good performance. He showcased a variety of emotions and he perfectly encapsulated Tae Poong's kindness and determination.

Kim Min Ha on the other hand was equally great, I loved the way she used her eyes to convey Mi Seon's emotions and how she carried herself. She was very good in some emotionally heavy scenes too. The scene where Mi Seon finally broke down brought tears to my eyes, Kim Min Ha delivered a moving performance, one that certified my interest to her.

I appreciated the ode to the '90s and how accurate the whole setting was. The songs, the clothes, the buildings, everything was so accurate to this period. I loved the usage of Korean songs from this decade, needless to say my playlist got updated with many new songs (I'm still jamming out Black Cat Nero). You could tell that the budget was high in order to bring us back to the times of the crisis and the effort they put was clear enough.

I also liked the colour grading, it was mundane and vibrant at the same time, perfectly capturing the contrasting vibes and emotions throughout the series. The cinematography was equally well-made and there were many beautiful shots in every episode.

The soundtrack was another good aspect. It was cheerful, nostalgic and hopeful. It perfectly captured the emotions of the drama. Lee Jun Ho did an excellent job delivering it, he was the perfect choice and his voice was really pleasant to listen to in the background.

As I mentioned at the beginning, I was initially very excited for this series. The first episodes delivered everything I was expecting and some more which motivated me to keep watching. I had very high hopes and I started preparing myself for declaring Typhoon Family one of the best kdramas I would have watched this year.

Alas, my hopes crashed just like Typhoon Trading.

The first half of the series, especially the first episodes were very good. The series focused on Tae Poong and his journey as a CEO but at the same time, it brought light to the events that happened during the crisis and how they'd affect Koreans. The drama combined optimism and reality and it gave us many emotional moments that reflected the state of South Korea during IMF crisis.

Unfortunately, the second half felt like a totally different drama. The more the story progressed, the more I felt it started to lose its humane touch. The plot became too repetitive and formulaic to the point I was less engaged to it. I continued watching the drama but without the enthusiasm of the first episodes.

One of the biggest issues I had with the writing was the way the plot was handled. It started following the same pattern over and over again: Tae Poong would land a trading deal, Pyo family would create a scheme or something random would happen and the business wouldn't go smooth and Tae Poong would find a solution, even if it wouldn't be enough. It's understandable that the writer would create all of these problems. South Korea was under a crisis, therefore it was expected that the drama would highlight the hardships the heroes had to face. My issue wasn't that. However, if you want to create problems in order to establish the ground for further development, you ought to do it better.

The drama was about the crisis, therefore there was no need to rely on the villains' schemings in order to make the characters' lives more difficult. The problems should have been related to the crisis, not two boring villains and random exterior forces. By doing so, the story lost its dramatic tone. I no longer felt anxiety, instead I started becoming fed up and wish to be done with it once and for all. The escalation of the events became too over dramatic, instead of watching a well rounded story, it was as if I was watching a soap opera. The plot became boring and it dragged for so long, although I didn't heavily dislike Typhoon Family, it became a chore to resume watching it.

I want to address the elephant in the room and clarify that the problems themselves weren't bad. The problem was the villains who caused these problems. As many people have already said, the Pyos were one of the weakest links in the series. Instead of making them intimidating and engaging, they were like caricatures, whose sole purpose was to make Tae Poong's life miserable.

Pyo Hyun Jun is by far one of the worst villains I've encountered so far in terms of writing. There were barely any remarkable qualities about his character. He cameacross as a mere brat who antagonized Tae Poong and who was obsessed with bringing him down. It's such a pity that his character got to waste because the writer's intentions in making him more complex were promising.

Hyun Jun could have made for an interesting complex villain. Throughout his whole, it was implied that he lived under Tae Poong's shadow. Tae Poong had everything: loving parents, money, admirers, friends. Hyun Jun was jealous of that and his jealousy shaped up his insecurities. On top of that, he constantly tried to prove his worth to his father, Pyo Bak Ho and earn his approval. His father's dismissal was a catalyst for Hyun Jin's downfall but in the end, he was very underwhelming simply because the writer didn't invest in his character.

Pyo Bak Ho was equally bland and uninteresting to watch. The secrecy between his connection to Tae Poong's father and the source for his motive to get Typhoon Trading became too tiring and dragged the plot. His character could have also been written better but just like his son, he came across as too one-dimensional.

When it came to the writing, another issue was the inability to establish a proper tone. There were some shifts among the scenes that ruined their emotional impact. An example I can think of is the moment when Tae Poong's mom decides to donate her wedding ring. It was an emotional scene, one that almost brought tears to my eyes but the impact was quickly lost because not long after, a comedic scene followed. The writer seemed to struggle with this aspect and thus, I failed to feel moved during some scenes.

Another complaint of mine was the writing of the secondary characters - or actually, its lack thereof. During the first half, although Tae Poong and Mi Seon were mostly the center of attention, the drama gave other opportunities to the rest of characters to shine and showcase their interactions. After the first half, we were getting fewer and fewer scenes of them. At one point, we stopped getting scenes between Tae Poong and his mom or Mi Seon and her family, which robbed us of some quality moments between the families.

I am aware of the difficulty that comes with tackling so many different characters simultaneously. Since this was the writer's first major project, I'm willing to cut her some slack. Even though I respect the ambiguous attempt, the result remained underwhelming. It would have been much better if we had seen more of the development of the secondary characters and if we had more balance between them and the main pair. Some of their scenes in the later half felt like fillers instead of vital moments to push the story further and it pains me so much to write this.

There were so many missed opportunities regarding the personal growth of the characters. I loved Tae Poong's mom and her kind and loving personality but it was as if that was her whole personality. The first episodes had done an excellent job portraying her struggling with adapting to a new lifestyle and having a job to provide for her family. I wish we had gotten to see more of that aspect, it would have been nice to see her balancing her new life as a caretaker and an employed woman.

Despite its flaws, Typhoon Family remained an intriguing drama. It deals with a heavy topic but it reminds us that after dark times, we will always be able to see the rainbow. Typhoon Family wasn't a story about the growth of a business. It was about human relationships, community and love. It's about not giving up and trying to survive even when life beats you down. It's about finding the beauty among those whom we cherish and (most importantly) inside ourselves.

All our flowers are here.