Peaky

I love this writer too. I've watched seven of her dramas haha. They write really good dialogues and show interesting observations of human nature and relationships. I also love their bizarre sense of humor.

So the creepy, possessed maid will be the way everyone finds out the two ladies are from the past. But I wonder if Chin-gam's wife will pay the creepy maid to send the ladies back to the past?

Also, I wonder if the CEO will become a little villainous when she realizes that her sons and grandson are in love with the two ladies.

@pipper_beggs I was right, I found the episode I was talking about. Life Bar episode 21 at the 31:28 mark.

Seo Ji Hye talks about how her family was in a financially difficult situation, so she went to a vocational high school bc she couldn't afford to go to college and she wanted to work right after graduating and help her family. Luckily, she got street casted in her last year of high school. She helped her parents a lot financially, but her parents still have debt. She said she sometimes thinks, until when do I have to support my parents? But she's also thankful for her family.

So yes, she has a lot of similarities with her character. They are both eldest daughters who feel responsible for taking care of their family. They are both burdened by their parents, but thankful for their parents.

It may have been mentally difficult bc Seo Ji Hye also comes from a poor background. I think she hinted it's hard for her to get married bc she has to support her family in the talk show Life Bar.

Yes, but it's a time skip and re-unite type of ending.

The drama's message is don't hold onto the wrong balloons that will fly away. Instead, hold onto the right balloons. In Eunkang's case, the wrong balloon was Chawon and the right balloons are herself, her family, and Bada. Eunkang wanted to escape poverty by marrying Chawon, but she realized she shouldn't depend on others but herself. Eunkang: "I was foolish to depend on others. I realized I needed to depend on myself and take care of my own future".

This drama's not perfect, but there are many things it does well. In the beginning we were rooting for Eunkang to ditch her pathetic boyfriend and become a teacher. Then we had sparks of illicit chemistry between Eunkang and Chawon ignite. Then we had Eunkang's flip get switched after getting disrespected and mistreated and her dark alter ego came out. Then we had the fallout and atonement.

I love that this drama shows the raw, dark, ugly side of life such as poverty and dysfunctional families. I also loved the complex female characters, Eunkang, Bada and Eunsang, and the phenomenal acting of the actors.

Btw, Namchul and Eunsan will re-unite. Remember Eunsan said "never give up". And Geumah and Daegeun will re-unite. It was hinted that Geumah's son is Daegeun's son. Geumah said "I have something to tell you about what happened 12 years ago".

Hong Soo Hyun (Bada) ATE her scenes ripping apart Eunkang and Chawon. I'm glad she had a chance to shine. I think Bada will appreciate Eunkang after Bada experiences poverty and running her own errands. I'm rooting for their friendship.

I'm dreading the fallout when Chawon finds out about Eunkang's schemes and when Bada finds out Eunkang helped steal her designs.

I'm curious whether Bada and Geumah will end up with new men. Maybe Geumah, but I don't think Eunkang and Chawon can be together bc that would be too stressful for the child. Ahhhh!! you really can't predict anything in this drama bc nothing's black and white!

In Terms of Endearment, another drama by this scriptwriter, the female lead lives with her boyfriend, leaves him bc he cheated, and then meets and marries a perfect man. Then her perfect husband finds out about her past and she leaves him because of obstacles in their relationship. But he forgives her and looks for her and they re-unite. I feel like Red Balloon will be the same. Eun Kang will pay the price for her sins and repent. And Bada and Chawon will forgive her. Hence the title of episode 20 being "Desire, Regret, Reflection, Understanding and Forgiveness".

Btw, Eun Kang's acting when she almost got caught by Bada gave me the chills! Queen. I also appreciate the themes of generational flaws. The sisters' father cheated, and the sisters internalized it and ended up following his footsteps. I love that this drama is about imperfect humans bc in reality, humans aren't perfect.

Is this drama really only 20 episodes? I can't believe it's halfway over, I feel like there's so much to unpack. Jo-eun's house of cards will collapse eventually (predicting Bada's ex will expose Jo-eun), and I wonder if Cha-won's attraction is deep enough to withstand it. It doesn't seem like it. So far Cha-won likes a fake image of her. I think there was a quote in an earlier episode that said "you can try to hold onto a balloon, but it will fly away". I wonder if it was foreshadowing. Anyways, I'm really enjoying this drama, Seo Ji Hye's acting, and the complex, flawed relationships and struggles in the Kang family.

Like I said, I agree with you. Women shouldn't be pushy. But it's scarier when men are pushy bc men are physically stronger and it's much more common for men to react angrily/violently to being rejected.

I agree with you, but when men strongly pursue women, there's a power imbalance. Men can be violent and use fear/force. Men can react angrily to being rejected; you hear on the news of men killing women for rejecting them or breaking up with them.

This screenwriter writes a lot of flawed characters, and that frustrates a lot of people haha. Their dramas can also turn pretty makjang. I personally liked Revolutionary Sisters. Liver or Die started good, but deteriorated. I think a lot of people hate watched Wang's Family. I think Three Brothers and Famous Princesses are more happy dramas, but they're old dramas and might not have subs. Autumn vibe dramas that involve cheating by other writers include I Have a Lover, One Warm Word, and On the Way to the Airport.

That's exactly the drama I thought!

Most of this writer's dramas have happy endings, but Red Balloon does have a more serious tone than her happy dramas, so we might get an open ended ending. This writer has a lot of dramas with ungrateful, cheating boyfriends/husbands. Usually, the female ditches them and ends up with a much better man. But a few times, the ungrateful, cheating boyfriend/husband repents and changes (second eldest sister's husband in Wang's Family, FL's husband in My Rosy Life).

I think we could get a happy ending with the younger sister, bc the scrap metal collector's wife is shown to be a bad wife (the scriptwriter usually shows bad wives losing their good husbands). We might even get a happy ending with the FL, bc the rich guy and the rich friend are shown to be incompatible. Honestly, I can't tell yet.

I've watched like six of this scriptwriter's dramas, and the writer does sometimes put female characters back together with their cheating partners (FL in My Rosy Life, eldest sister in Revolutionary Sisters, etc). But the loser boyfriend here doesn't seem to show any potential yet. But I'm not sure the FL will up with the rich guy bc the rich couple have a child, and the rich female is portrayed sympathetically. Also, this scriptwriter sometimes gets morally, and this show's message might be that you shouldn't "cross the line" just bc you're unsatisfied with life. Idk, I'm hoping for a happy ending where everybody's happy, including the side characters.

I think Oh Soo Jae had better chemistry with the SP Partners CEO dude

Green Mothers' Club goes in my hall of fame. It brings to mind Big Little Lies and Avengers Social Club due to the mysterious death and the friendship of mothers. The realistic portrayal of the art scene and academia also reminds me of Reflection of You. Everyone seems to agree it starts off strong, with the female lead's Salieri complex and the cruelty of mothers and children towards her underdog son and her declaration of war against them. It has a message about the elitism and greed of parents and its toll on children and about what really matters in life above prestige and societal standing. I also find its message about the dark sides of genius and the internal struggles and suffering it brings interesting.

I was highly impressed with the writing and directing, though some people weren't happy with the writing towards the end. Everyone, however, will agree that the acting is top notch (minus the female lead). It was my first time seeing Joon Min Kyung and Choi Jae Rim, but they blew me away and Choo Ja Hyun, Yoon Kyung Ho, Jang Hye Jin, etc hit it out of the ball park as always.

I love that you brought up Reflection of You, bc that's another drama I was obsessed with, along with Green Mothers' Club. They both go in my hall of fame. It's like everything you hated about ROY and GMC I loved haha.

Episode 3, 52:24, rewatching this drama right now

I thought this felt American for some reason and it turns out it's a remake of a BBC show. Kim Hyun Joo and Ji Jin Hee had epic chemistry in I Have a Lover, and when actors have epic chemistry, they get reunited!