Hey, welcome. This is my first entry on this blog about a drama I finished recently. To tell you about the overview, "The Eccentric Daughter-In-Law" (별난 며느리) is a romance comedy drama that revolves around a family setting. In this drama you could spot some of the traditional values and customs in Korean societies.
Being an idol that never reached a popularity years after her group's debut, Oh In Young (Kim Dasom) had to agreed on any deal she got in order to at least make an income for her group, Ruby. She agreed on a reality shows in which she had to deal with the experience of being a daughter-in-law in a traditional family. Her fake mother-in-law, Yang Choon-ja, was a strict, traditional-minded woman that had served the family for more than forty years.
Their different personalities brought conflicts, as they lived together in a household. In addition, In Young found herself fell for her fake husband, a genius Math professor, Cha Myung Suk. Things got tangled with the existence of the other family members.
As an addition, we could see how the side story happened between another family consists of In Young's director, Kang Joon Soo, his wife, Cha Young Ah, and Joon Soo's mom. Apparently Young Ah is a a daughter of In Young's fake mother-in-law.
In this family, you could see the rivalry between a mother and a daughter-in-law for a son's affection. The problem relied on Joonsoo's ways in handling the problems. Joonsoo was a mama boy. He would always went with his mother every time his mother argued with his wife. This action of a "fillial son" left Young Ah felt unhappy, even though she always tried to hold it in.
This drama had some controversies because it scouted Dasom to be its lead female role. Public viewed Dasom would not be able to handle such important role in a national TV station, especially when she had to act with such great actors and actresses such as Ryu Sooyoung and Go Dooshim. However, after two episodes, Dasom started receiving praises, as she was seen fit for comedy drama.
The other casts have some experiences in drama before, and yes, to be honest it looked like that Dasom will made the drama flop. However, it is not Dasom's problem. The fact that the drama was done with limited budget and received almost no promotion, except some articles, had the ratings went down.
Oh In Young's character here was a bubbly girl with a relatively low education background, as she had to focus on training in her early teenage days. She was seen as a bit foolish and ignorant: she often mispronounces words or phrase. Her attitude was also considered childish. However, she was hardworking and genuine. She had a great taste bud and had talent in food-tasting.
On the other hand, Cha Myung Suk is a genius in math. He was mature and had a lot of consideration for other people. However, as he was obsessed with Math, sometimes he forgot everything except the calculation he was doing. And that drove In Young's crazy, as she called him as "number-pervert" for his excessive care towards his calculation.
The mother-in-law, had experience such hardship since he entered the family, became a stubborn and intolerant person. She expected her daughter-in-laws to be perfect, because that was how she was treated. She wanted them to stay at home, taking care of the husbands and the kids. She had a high criteria for her daughter-in-law, yet she always demand that her daughter Ah Young could be freely work outside.
The drama itself was quite unique as it portrayed the life of a family with traditional values. They separated the dining table, so the males would gathered in one table, away from the females. In this family, the males' work is to earn money and work outside, while the women needs to stay at home, dealing with house chores and cooking. Such a traditional way of life? Obviously.
If you are not familiar with Asian culture, you might be asking in few episodes about the existence of Lee Ha Ji, a female that lived with the family even though she had no blood-relation with them. Ha Ji was not a maid that worked there, fellas. Yes, she was from other family, but being raised in Cha family. Why? The explanation is related to the culture.
In Asian culture, there is a condition where a family would give their daughter away to the other family. A son is seen higher in status because they would continue the family's clan. While a daughter, would be seen as a burden until she get married. Later on, the daughter would leave the house and lose her clan's name, as she would accept her husband's clan and become a part of that household. That was why some family give away their daughter to the relatively more prosperous family. It is not rare that the daughter then would be an in-law, as she would be married to the son of the family she stayed with.
In this case, Ha Ji was given to Cha's family. And the mother, Choon Ja, accepted her and trained her as a cook. However, Ha Ji was never been decided as the daughter-in-law of the family. And this would bring a conflict later.
This drama is suitable for those who want to be a passive audience. The drama does not require you to think or to solve the mystery in any way. It is light, easy to understand, and have some humor slipped here and there.
However, if you are a feminist, I suggest you to take this drama with a grain of salt. It does not mean to degrade women in anyways, but it reveals the reality that some family in Korea still treats women and men differently.
Ratings: 3.5/5
Plot
Being an idol that never reached a popularity years after her group's debut, Oh In Young (Kim Dasom) had to agreed on any deal she got in order to at least make an income for her group, Ruby. She agreed on a reality shows in which she had to deal with the experience of being a daughter-in-law in a traditional family. Her fake mother-in-law, Yang Choon-ja, was a strict, traditional-minded woman that had served the family for more than forty years.
Their different personalities brought conflicts, as they lived together in a household. In addition, In Young found herself fell for her fake husband, a genius Math professor, Cha Myung Suk. Things got tangled with the existence of the other family members.
As an addition, we could see how the side story happened between another family consists of In Young's director, Kang Joon Soo, his wife, Cha Young Ah, and Joon Soo's mom. Apparently Young Ah is a a daughter of In Young's fake mother-in-law.
In this family, you could see the rivalry between a mother and a daughter-in-law for a son's affection. The problem relied on Joonsoo's ways in handling the problems. Joonsoo was a mama boy. He would always went with his mother every time his mother argued with his wife. This action of a "fillial son" left Young Ah felt unhappy, even though she always tried to hold it in.
Casts
This drama had some controversies because it scouted Dasom to be its lead female role. Public viewed Dasom would not be able to handle such important role in a national TV station, especially when she had to act with such great actors and actresses such as Ryu Sooyoung and Go Dooshim. However, after two episodes, Dasom started receiving praises, as she was seen fit for comedy drama.
The other casts have some experiences in drama before, and yes, to be honest it looked like that Dasom will made the drama flop. However, it is not Dasom's problem. The fact that the drama was done with limited budget and received almost no promotion, except some articles, had the ratings went down.
Oh In Young's character here was a bubbly girl with a relatively low education background, as she had to focus on training in her early teenage days. She was seen as a bit foolish and ignorant: she often mispronounces words or phrase. Her attitude was also considered childish. However, she was hardworking and genuine. She had a great taste bud and had talent in food-tasting.
On the other hand, Cha Myung Suk is a genius in math. He was mature and had a lot of consideration for other people. However, as he was obsessed with Math, sometimes he forgot everything except the calculation he was doing. And that drove In Young's crazy, as she called him as "number-pervert" for his excessive care towards his calculation.
The mother-in-law, had experience such hardship since he entered the family, became a stubborn and intolerant person. She expected her daughter-in-laws to be perfect, because that was how she was treated. She wanted them to stay at home, taking care of the husbands and the kids. She had a high criteria for her daughter-in-law, yet she always demand that her daughter Ah Young could be freely work outside.
Values
The drama itself was quite unique as it portrayed the life of a family with traditional values. They separated the dining table, so the males would gathered in one table, away from the females. In this family, the males' work is to earn money and work outside, while the women needs to stay at home, dealing with house chores and cooking. Such a traditional way of life? Obviously.
If you are not familiar with Asian culture, you might be asking in few episodes about the existence of Lee Ha Ji, a female that lived with the family even though she had no blood-relation with them. Ha Ji was not a maid that worked there, fellas. Yes, she was from other family, but being raised in Cha family. Why? The explanation is related to the culture.
In Asian culture, there is a condition where a family would give their daughter away to the other family. A son is seen higher in status because they would continue the family's clan. While a daughter, would be seen as a burden until she get married. Later on, the daughter would leave the house and lose her clan's name, as she would accept her husband's clan and become a part of that household. That was why some family give away their daughter to the relatively more prosperous family. It is not rare that the daughter then would be an in-law, as she would be married to the son of the family she stayed with.
In this case, Ha Ji was given to Cha's family. And the mother, Choon Ja, accepted her and trained her as a cook. However, Ha Ji was never been decided as the daughter-in-law of the family. And this would bring a conflict later.
Suggestion
This drama is suitable for those who want to be a passive audience. The drama does not require you to think or to solve the mystery in any way. It is light, easy to understand, and have some humor slipped here and there.
However, if you are a feminist, I suggest you to take this drama with a grain of salt. It does not mean to degrade women in anyways, but it reveals the reality that some family in Korea still treats women and men differently.
My Ratings
I would not say this drama is bad. It is just not suitable for those who wants action or thrill. As me, I find this drama is a light-hearting and a good source of laugh.Ratings: 3.5/5