I literally just finished watching the last episode of Father Is Strange today. Even if you're not usually into family dramas, I really do think you might like this one.
It's engaging and well-paced despite its sprawling cast and multiple narrative arcs, and the characters feel like real people, even when things lean a little treacly at times.
I enjoyed almost every character in this show, but my hands-down favorite is Lee Yoo Ri as Hye Young. She is – in a word – Awesome. I think I didn't even know what I wanted in an awesome female character, until Hye Young exploded onto my screen.
In the myriad of romantic relationships in this drama world, the one that stood out to me the most was between Dad and Mum (Kim Young Chul and Kim Hae Sook). Beyond the flush of courtship that their kids went through at various stages of our story, to me, the longstanding affection and care that Dad and Mum had for each other was even more beautiful and moving. I love that in the big and little things, they unfailingly stood by each other, and supported each other, and demonstrated love, care and concern for each other. Even when they disagreed and argued, it was clear that they never stopped caring about each other. If anything, any disagreement they had tended to be rooted in a deep sense of concern for each other. Serious relationship goals, truly. ❤
In this kind of family drama where I know going in, that we're highly likely to get a happy ending all around, it's more important to me how we get to that happy ending, and the nuances around the journey, rather than the happy ending itself. And I have to say, Father Is Strange got us to its happy ending with a boatload of emotional resonance, feeling and heart. Well done, Show. Well done. ❤
