The Good Bad Mother (2023) - Kdrama Review

-May contain major spoilers-

Photo source: JTBC

The Good Bad Mother (나쁜엄마 literally: Bad Mother) is a 14-episode JTBC slice-of-life, family dramedy Kdrama starring Ra Mi-Ran, Lee Do-Hyun, Ahn Eun-Jin and Yoo In-Soo. 

Summary

Jin Young-Soon (Ra Mi-Ran), a pig farm owner in a small village, is the single mother of Choi Kang-Ho (Lee Do-Hyun), a cold-hearted prosecutor in Seoul who doesn't seem to be very fond of his mother. 

In 1988, because the Olympic torch relay was going to pass through their village, Song Woo-Byeok (Choi Moo-Sung), the director of Yongra Construction, requested Young-Soon's husband, Choi Hae-Sik (Cho Jin-Woong), to demolish the pig farm owned by him and his then-pregnant wife, but when they refused, the farm was suspiciously burned down.

During the trial, witnesses who were on Hae-Sik's side testified on Woo-Byeok's behalf and accused Hae-Sik of being negligent. Frustrated, he decides to investigate on his own and asks the prosecutor, Oh Tae-Soo (Jung Woong-In), for help. As soon as Hae-Sik leaves, Tae-Soo calls Woo-Byeok to tell him that he is in trouble. At night, while Hae-Sik is driving, he gets trapped on the road by Woo-Byeok and his men, who murder him and make it appear as if he took his own life. Young-Soo notices something strange about her husband's death, so when she goes to talk to the prosecutor Oh Tae-Soo, he dismisses her and tells her how Hae-Sik had come by earlier and talked about ending his life.

Young-Soon moves with the only remaining pig to a small village named Jowoo-Ri. Her new neighbors, village head Son Yong-Rak (Kim Won-Hae) and his wife (Park Bo-Kyung), the mill owners Park Sung-Ae (Seo Yi-Sook) and Mr. Bang (Jang Won-Young) with their baby named Sam-Sik and the also pregnant Jung Gum-Ja (Kang Mal-Geum) with her husband (Lee Do-Yub) and mother-in-law (Lee Joo-Sil) aren't too happy with having a pig farm in their clean town, so they go to protest at her new home. While arguing with her neighbors, she starts to give birth, so they all come together to help her. As soon as Kang-Ho is born, Gum-Ja begins to give birth as well and on the same day, same place and same hour, a girl named Lee Mi-Joo is also born.

In hopes that Kang-Ho becomes a prosecutor in the future to help clarify his father's case and help people who need him, Young-Soon becomes very strict in his upbringing, making him study all day, hitting him if he behaves badly and not letting him finish his food because if he gets too full, he gets too sleepy and can't study. 

While they are growing up, Sam-Sik, who has a crush on Mi-Joo, bullies Kang-Ho while Mi-Joo has a crush on Kang-Ho. 

In the present, Bang Sam-Sik (Yoo In-Soo), who used to be the village troublemaker, became a thief and is in prison and Lee Mi-Joo (Ahn Eun-Jin) gave birth to twins as a single mother and lies to them that she lives with the children's father in the US when in reality she is a nail artist living in Seoul (alone). 

Kang-Ho takes his fiancée Oh Ha-Yeong (Hong Bi-Ra), Oh Tae-Soo's daughter, to visit his mother so he can cut ties with her and on his way back to Seoul, his car gets hit by a truck, leaving him in a coma.

Young-Soon takes care of Kang-Ho and when he wakes up, he has retrograde amnesia that leaves him with the mentality of a 7-year-old (in Korean age).

Now Young-Soon has the opportunity to raise Kang-Ho again...

Thoughts

The Good Bad Mother is miles better than what I initially thought when I read the synopsis. Although this drama has a lot of sad moments, there were more that made me smile or laugh. Every time I finished an episode I ended up craving for more. 

The cinematography is really nice, the setting felt homely and I wish I lived in a village like that (just kidding, I think in real life the neighbors would start to be a bother after a short while).

The acting in this drama is outstanding, every character is very well-written. 

Ra Mi-Ran did fantastic as Young-Soon and I think I would have ended up hating the titular bad mother if had been played by anyone else. Ra Mi-Ran puts a lot of emotion into her performance, like in the scene where SPOILER she gets angry because Kang-Ho refuses to eat, she gets frustrated and starts to shove the food in his face; although her reaction is very mean, it feels like she has really given up. SPOILER ENDS

Lee Do-Hyun as Kang-Ho was also fantastic his child-like behavior was really well done and I have to confess that for some reason my heart fluttered in the scene where SPOILER Kang-Ho sees Mi-Joo and his heart starts to hurt. SPOILER ENDS I loved Kang-Ho and Mi-Joo's story although some parts felt sad. 

The kids that acted as Mi-Joo's twins were really good the scene where Kang-Ho and the kids are being punished for misbehaving and start to fight over Kang-Ho's age was very funny. Also, they really looked like they could be Mi-Joo and (Kang-Ho's) kids.

Sam-Sik's redemption arc was really good, I initially hated his character, but towards the end of this drama, I ended up feeling fond of him. 

The villagers all felt very picturesque and funny, but I have to say that my favorite of the bunch was Yong-Rak's wife or as I call her "the mask lady", she was the funniest, and I loved her character.

On the soundtrack I really loved the lullaby-esque "Good Night" by Kim Pureum, that song somehow makes my heart flutter. The rest of the songs were also really good.

I recommend this Kdrama if you like healing dramas, small-town settings and excellent writing.

Rating 

Acting 10/10

Child Actors - 10/10

Plot - 10/10

Kang-Ho and Mi-Joo's Romance 10/10

Soundtrack 10/10

Cinematography 10/10

Tiger the dog and Lion the pig - 10/10

Overall Rating - 10/10

Extended Drama Info.

Quantity of Episodes: 14.

Run Time: 70-80 min/each.

Release Date: April 26, 2023.

Network: JTBC.

Directed by: Shim Na-Yeon.

Written by: Bae Se-Young.

Music by: Ha Geun-Young.

Starring: Ra Mi-Ran, Lee Do-Hyun, Ahn Eun-Jin and Yoo In-Soo.