Iron Family (2024)

When a plot device becomes unbearable.

Most of you are watching the show or have watched the show because of that little clip of the male and female lead having a one-night stand. A blind woman looks at a kind stranger who had been good to her throughout school and finally "sees" a man for the first time. It's a weird clip to show without knowing the full context, but for what it's worth, it is extremely emotional and cute. That being said, I decided to watch the whole show. I'm only one episode away from finishing. Do I regret it? Yes and no.

The glaring issue of this show is the plot device. A lower-class family struggles to get by. Barely making ends meet and raising kids on a dry cleaning ownership salary. Some may have it worse, but there is some terrible luck in this particular family. The father never amounted to anything. He was supposed to become a lawyer, but never passed the bar. Rather than getting a normal job, he continued to retake the exam and continuously study. But he never passed. Instead, he drowned in debt and depression, dying at a rather young age and leaving his wife to fend for herself and their kids. Not to mention his parents. So as you can tell, money becomes a huge issue. Ten episodes in, without spoiling too much, they manage to solve most of their problems by unknowingly finding and "stealing" ten million. All of this sounds like your normal "unusual" K-drama. But the problem with Iron Family is that this becomes the center plot that transforms into multiple subplots. Towards the end of the show, EVERYONE becomes involved in the money scheme.

The problem with this particular plot is that everything else takes a back seat. Character growth? Let's see how they handle and become cautious around money. Love development? For some reason, the male lead falls for the female lead and desires to help them with other money issues. Every single development involves money in some fashion. After 4 episodes of seeing the grandparents become frustrated and even escalate their problems by being overly worried and tensed, I became fed up with the plot entirely. I started watching late, so I decided to take a peek and see how far this situation holds. And of course, the money issue isn't resolved even by the 35th episode. That means that all 36 episodes revolve around a frustrating loop that never ends. Even when you desperately want the money situation to be resolved, over, or even just ignored for an episode; you never get your wish. Just around the corner comes another circumstance involving it. Only one episode, being the finale, will put money aside and allow the characters to breathe. By then... it's already too late.

Everything started great. The mother and her personal struggle to choose honesty or lying to defend her daughter. Her perseverance in remaining strong and helping her blind daughter is brilliant. The female lead's mother is one of the most talented actresses I've ever seen. She was wonderful in Love Next Door. Here, we truly get to see her shine and witness her emotional journey. She gets the most character growth despite her attachment to the money plot. The female and male lead are incredibly cute, but because of the plot issue, they rarely get their time to truly shine in their own right. Everything just seems rushed while the money plot just drags on and on. The harm in this is apparent in every other character. The brother is absolutely insufferable. I'm bewildered that he even gets married. I'm not going to waste another word on how badly wirtten his character is. Insufferable is perfect enough.

I wish I could talk more about how cute the ML and FL are when they finally get some breathing room. But it happens so little, that I just seriously can't recommend this drama. However, if you're like me and are a big fan of the leads, I would recommend finishing it. You might want to speed through it, but it's still worth it if you're a fan. Otherwise, I don't think it's a great show to recommend.

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Definitely recommend

So far I'm enjoying it very much. I actually had no idea whats the drama about and i just randomly started watching it. It really kept me hooked and now im jusy binge watching it!! I really like the story line. It's a bit different from the usual rom-coms. It has a bit of everything. I like how it has alot of episodes as well, it keeps me busy..
I believe it should be rated much higher. I love the casting. Choi Tae-joon has always been my favourite! Kim Jung-hyun played the role soo good. I love him since his he played his role in welcome to waikiki. I would definitely recommend for watching!!👌🏻👌🏻 It's a very good show.

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