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Profound, idiosyncratic mixture of different genres, coherently combined to form a new whole
The story is surprisingly exciting and complex, with an inscrutable main character and her mysterious past. Basically it's a thriller. At the same time, however, the story also offers plenty of food for thought and/or empathy about modern educational concepts. In any case, the story falls outside the scope of the usual KDrama stuff. On the side, one also gains some impressions of life in the middle class, of the difficulties of single parents (although men have it a bit better than women), of bullying at schools or of abusive parents-in-law.A central storyline revolves around the now: the employment of Park Bok-nyeo in a family with a single father and 4 children who are dealing with their traumatic recent past - the suicide of the mother/wife. The second central plot line works in the background and deals with Bok-Nyeo's own traumatizing past, which shapes her behavior to this day. It is inevitable that both strands eventually become entangled.
Choi Ji-woo marvelously represents the housekeeper Park Bok-neyo. She fulfills her tasks calmly, patiently and disciplined. Always clearly demarcated without ever pulling a face (in 20 episodes)! (Ok, maybe once...) However she can hide well behind her role as a housekeeper and like that escape her own inner emptiness, as she herself is emotionally broken and limited in her ability to relate. Her own traumatic past is now catching up with her and threatens to turn her current life upside down again. But she is older by now, more mature and thus she tries to face her fate emotionally strengthened and resolutely and prepared to get over it to some extent. In the process eventually she offers a variety of psychologically and pedagogically valuable interventions in the everyday life of all family members. It's not all cliché, but offers touching, funny and very serious moments.
So this is not a love story. "Suspicious Housekeeper" offers an idiosyncratic mixture of different genres that are coherently combined to form a new whole with a surprisingly profound entertainment value. All actors, up to the 4 kids, contribute to the living impression of the overall work of art.
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Story: Having seen the Japanese version, it was nice to see this version change things up slightly. I really enjoyed these changes and really liked the ending!Acting: 10/10!! I number of times I cried watching this. The Kids were amazing!! The chemistry between the maknae and the housekeeper just make me emotional, they were the best! All of the actors were fit for role! I have no faults! If you must, just watch it for the maknae :')
Music: Beautiful/emotional songs like Lim Kim-I'm Asking You with the emotional/tense scenes just turned me into an emotional mess. It was perfect! Gah
Overall: I would highly recommend this. It is a bit long and I asked myself at episode 9 "What are they going to do for the rest of the episodes?'! It could have easily ended at episode 18 but I'm glad for the last two episodes, as we got a clear ending which wasn't rushed.
Gah I can't get over how well the kids acted. I loved watching them so much!
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Story- It was pretty much similar to the original, however they were changes made to the story (some which I enjoyed, and some I disliked). This drama's biggest flaw was possibly the length of the drama, it was a little too long for my taste. It was exciting for the first half, but then sizzled out towards the end.
Acting/Cast - No complaints for the acting. Everyone acted well given the script these actors were given.
Music - Honestly I don't remember any of the sound tracks, aside from the instrumental where problems arise.
Rewatch Value - Would I watch it again? Having watched both versions, No.
Overall it's a decent drama, you'll love it if having not watched the original.
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This drama , this drama, this drama...i really do not know where to start without giving away spoilers. I laughed, cried, got angry, laughed some more and had a good ending with this one. It was a fun ride. I was expecting it to follow the Japanese version which would have pissed me off but the twist in this Korean version worked out perfectly. The revenge part was so deliciously good.
Have you ever had one of those dramas where you feel like the writers are in your head and the characters are doing what you want them to do and better?? Well this was it for me. 20 eps i throughly enjoyed.
The actors did and awesome job especially the kids talk about cuteness overload. I don't remember the last review i wrote praising a drama, very rare occurrence. This one definitely was a great run. Hope you have as much fun as i did watching it. The OST is one for the playlist too.
I will rewatch this again. Probably use it to get a friend hooked on dramas.
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My important viewpoints in sequence1.Acting/Cast
KIDS: Excellence,my main reason why I had to WATCH this drama till the end. They made themselves really lovable. Their situation made you care for them. The maknae was the best,she made me laugh,smile,cry,worry...etc.
FATHER: According to the story he's emotional intelligence is really low, which somehow fitted the actor nicely.
HOUSEKEEPER: Had a really weird and interesting nature,though her emotions were well-expressed in her eyes.(you have to watch this drama to understand it:)
2ND LEADS: also fitted their own roles. Except Seo Kang Joon who looked too old for his role or maybe it was Park Ji Bin who looked too young,(spoiler) they were the same age.
2.Story
Veryveryvery melodramatic storyline from their past.
1st half:nice tempo, interesting
middle:shock
almost the end:tense,action movie-like
ending:weird
Bloomer-The story behind the mothers death was unacceptable!!!!!! I wouldn't have a mother if it worked like that in real life(sorry to put in some personal issues here,but that just got me REALY annoyed).
3.Rewatch value
I'm not in favor of melodrama dramas. But the 1st half had a lot of cute and funny scenes.
4.Music
It was well-fitted, there weren't any out-of-mood songs.
Outstanding songs: Lim Kim-I'm Asking You, Kim So Hyun-First Love
BTW:1st review EVER,so I hope it was helpful.
For already-seen-this-drama-readers,feel free to comment on my review:)
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The story is mysterious and things that you wouldn't imagine happen, even though things become more and more clear in the middle of the drama. The revenge part is really interesting and all these twists made this drama perfect. If I could pick on ONE thing in the story, it would be the father. He was just..he did a lot of things he shouldn't have done and even though we can now see him differently, he was really the one character I couldn't connect with. Same goes for Song Hwa, but with her it was different - she actually changed so much that I started liking her towards the end.
Park Bok-Nyeo, the suspicious housekeeper, has become one of my favourite drama characters ever. And all the credit for this goes to the amazing actress, Choi Jiwoo. Seriously, this is my first time watching her act and she blew me away. Bok-Nyeo is a very strict and hurt character and the way Choi displayed this was extremely admirable. Despite her promise of not laughing, you could tell by her eyes; when she was happy and when she wasn't. The last episode had a part that had me laughing so much. She's a character I will never forget.
The younger cast was very well chosen! There was a lot of chemistry between the siblings, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Talking about chemistry, there wasn't much between the father and Bok-Nyeo, but it got better. I also loved Soo Hyuk sunbae. In the beginning I was extremely against him and leaned towards Woo Jae, but in the end I was all about Soo Hyuk ;u;
The relationship between the children's aunt and Lee Dong-shik was also extremely cute and added a sweeter touch to the drama.
Oh, and the music!! I realised after listening that Kim Yerim was behind one of the OSTs. The soundtrack, I'm Asking You (I'm requesting you) was my favourite soundtrack along with the ending score.
The Suspicious Housekeeper has become one of my favourite dramas and I would really recommend it to everyone!
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The lead actress is excellent, and the best part of the drama was seeing her and the the supporting characters develop. It shows how people make life-threatening mistakes and how this affects others. To see the characters grow from strength to strength was the most satisfying thing for me. Such a roller-coaster of emotions!
The dry humour was excellent during the times of the lead females creepy and robotic moments.
I recommend this drama to anyone looking for a change to the usual cliche sappy romance that you would find with Kdramas. Happy watching!
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The main plot is good but I feel like it could've been explored a lot more yet I really love the approach of current events instead. Acting? Everyone did an outstanding terrific job! The kids are magnificent and all the chemistry - if I can put it like that - between Bok Nyeo and the little Hye Gyul is heartmelting. I've never swooned this badly over any couple in any given romance but those two had me weeping.
I like the way the main character is portrayed to be an awkward robot-like woman. The exaggeration makes us curious and her all the more interesting and Jiwoo exploded my talent meter thanks to her expressive eyes. Ever since the beginning I was able to tell how her character felt about everything depending on the tiny hints in her facade or how long her pauses would last. XD The power of an actress playing a seemingly expressionless/emotionless character and still managing to pass on her true side, her human side, without so much as sighing, blinking, frowning or any other obvious things. Her feelings were there, her smile, her pain, everything, slightly hinted by her eyes, extraordinary work right there!
I'm a fan of family dramas and I believe the low grade is due to people who aren't mature enough to understand all that's going on. Sadly - or not - our perceptions change with time, as we experiment different things and only people who have lived through such things can enjoy this drama properly and appreciate what a fine work of art this is. So if you're an young adult in their twenties or older, I'd say grab some napkins and go for it. If you're a teen or younger, just put this on hold for now.
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Finally Found It Again After All These Years!
Watched this years ago and finally remembered the name of it only recently. I still remember how many emotions this series stirred up inside of me. I felt so deeply for this woman who lost her child, even though at the time I had never experienced that level of loss before. But I could identify with the loneliness and becoming a shell of a person.I think this might have been the first drama themed k-drama I ever watched. Prior to this I had only viewed the teen and YA Korean rom-coms. I went to watch it again after finding it on MDL and I think the production value still holds up. The acting is really strong and the story is still impactful.
I remember the year I watched this was the year after my youngest sister was born and I was obsessed with saying, “Bok Nyeo-nim shiro” and “Krom”. My younger sister would follow me around the house saying, “NimNim”. She’s ten years old now and whenever I turn to her and say “Krom”, to excuse myself; she puts her hands together like a robot and says, “Krom” back to me like she’s saying, “permission granted”. I love it because it’s one of the things that we bonded over. This and using other tv/movie references in our daily lives.
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