On the 3rd ep now, and what an amazing cast. So pleased to see DongMi in this, as she's one of my favorite actresses. I'm watching because I'd read of the Hometown Cha Cha Cha vibes, and so far, it's pretty good.
I have to agree with all the posters below...the highschool versions of the leads are so much better than the adult ones. I tried but after 4 eps, I give up, the leads do nothing for me.
My biggest takeaway from the finale was the "Mrs Kim" reference from OkBun.....I was surprised they'd mention a minor character from so many episodes back. And I had no issue with the BS/Seri kiss scene (finally) although it looked like they were at some French vineyard????
Otherwise, I guess this show's hallmark was consistency. It's sat at 7.7 here for what seems forever (I'd give it a 7.5, so pretty close), plus its ratings have been pretty steady at about 19% +/- 2% for quite a while. So they found a loyal domestic audience to follow the show.
As usual the best part of these weekenders are the commenters here in the MDL forum, so we can see how differently (and similarly) we view these shows. Thanks to all for your insightful, interesting and funny comments.
I analyzed a lot and I think now I can summarize in one sentence why the drama flopped and became boring after…
I haven't seen the final episode yet, but I can't disagree with any of your analysis. I found great insight from the actor's comments mentioned below regarding how the direction of the show changed and their chagrin at what happened vis-a-vis the writer's disconnect from the characters.
I kind of liked the original vision that the leads would be separated for a long period only to be eventually rejoined. To ME, that makes a ton of sense: bring them back together in the last 4 episodes, for instance....it would give the FL time to figure out just WHAT she wants from life and to see if she can break free of her feelings for her dead husband and her obligations to his family. to ME, that was the real point of the show: the reluctant bride.
I wouldnt give up on family dramas bc that is about the only place where we watch extended families, kids, elderly,…
3Bold Siblings had only one amnesia arc, but multiple/multiple DNA testing scenes...that was the most memorable & forgettable part of that series.
I honestly think, in retrospect that Iron Family, was a good series, because it was consistent from beginning to end. Of course being a shorter series, there was less chance for the writers to screw things up. Plus they had one of the most solid supporting casts I've ever seen, especially the elders.
The most frustrating thing for me with the weekenders was that 3BS & it's Beautiful Now, with some clever editing could be re-presented as a REALLY GOOD series.
I think the last of the great weekenders was "Once Again" which IIRC was filmed back during the pandemic! So it's been a while, eh?
I've never seen a better case (since The Real has Come) for keeping weekenders to 36 episodes since this mess. I'll admit: Iron Family was much more enjoyable.
As this series limps to its finale, I thought I'd post a few thoughts, sorry for being away for so long, health issues have interfered. As far as the last few weeks go....
THE GOOD - I'm grasping for nice things to say. I think the Dongo Tak storyline has been done well, and the actor is superb (how come he gets better writing and direction than the FL?). He was terrific as the hitman in "Are You Human Too?" and every time I see him I cringe. Anyways, his scenes in the jail cell have been really well done.
THE BAD - I'm not even sure where to start. What made me maddest was that they had the FL spend the night before her wedding in her safe space where she communes with her dead husband and got drunk there. One can only imagine her intentions. I almost shut off the TV at that point, I HATE how her character is written. Second point - the whole OkBun vs. MiSun arc was purposely written to show how without GS there, they house falls apart. So of course the Matron of the House had to come and iron everything out. What is the point....they are trying to show us how indispensable she is to the family? And finally, his driving her to the fertility center without her knowledge was reprehensible. He would KNOW BETTER!!!! Why are they writing his character this way? This is infuriating! I didn't blame the FL (for once) for her storming out on him.
THE UGLY - Can someone explain why OkBun and the dancer are living there when she had a fine apartment and money of her own??? This obsession to have all the brothers living together is nonsensical. I can sort of accept that MiSun (who had a TWO BEDROOM apartment) is staying there because she wanted to live with a big family (but as newlyweds that makes NO sense). This series tries too hard to make a point and it shows.
Finally, weeks ago, when user LUNKERA revealed the series would be extended by 4 episodes I was excited because it seemed the writers must have had a plan to add more to the series. Unfortunately it became obvious that the series was being padded out with unnecessarily filler like the whole MIL's first love arc. And yet they STILL refused to use the opportunity to invest in the KS/Bom story. I firmly believe there was a change in writers at some point, because the character development seems to have been handed off to writer(s) who are not invested in the story.
In prior k-dramas I've seen, the transfer of shares is usually a legal matter attended to by the attorneys for…
Agreed, but I think the better thing to do was to give the shares to SeRi, as her birthright, but whatever. She should have just given cash to the Oh family.
CS and MS are a senior couple in a friend zone for a senior home, there is nothing vibrant romantic erotic about…
I get that they are both accomplished veteran actors so my issues aren't with them.
We hear only the words written for them by the writers and see their actions via the director. For whatever reason, they wrote the FL this way. This is how they want them to act. For me, they just have no chemistry together, which is a shame. Even if they were written as lovey-dovey, for me it would be hard to accept, as they just don't 'click'. (And FWIW, there's little chemistry on this show, except for KS/Bom).
I agree with the poster above: if they wanted the FL to be this way, just have her fated to be the Matriarch of the Brewery and remain single, stirring her pots in privacy, satisfied with having given marriage a shot (albeit for 10 days) and happy in her life meddling in her in-laws affairs and every woebegone soul she encounters in life.
Ok, this episode was ok. I guess the writers want to convince everyone that GS wants to marry DS, so they had…
In prior k-dramas I've seen, the transfer of shares is usually a legal matter attended to by the attorneys for both sides. MA just can't hand them over and say 'here you go'. I would think, given the circumstances, she'd transfer them to ChunSoo, as he was a directly aggrieved party to the embezzlement. I'm not sure of the legality of the transfer to the Vice-Ceo of a portion of the shares of a competitor, it would take some explaining to the Silla Board and they'd probably complain to the Korean equivalent of the SEC.
With all the analysis of GS, I'd like to ask a simple question that hasn't been mentioned: CHEMISTRY.
Which of the couples has the best chemistry? My vote is for the youngest (Bom & KangSoo)...they really seem to be intrigued with each other and it frustrates me that the writers are letting them wither on the vine. Next would be Chunsu & MinSo....the rest...meh, and for me that includes the leads...something just doesn't 'click' for me with them.
The only notable thing from this weekends episodes (other than the dancer/stylist marriage) was that we got an actual and documented time skip (2weeks for the shareholder meeting, which I thought was kind of unnecessary, but whatever.) I mean, they've been playing loose with the timeline all thru the show, why start caring about time NOW?
I can only imagine what the writers must think if they read these comments? I agree with everyone that the series has lost its overall point and is now adrift with excessive characters that distract from whatever the main story line is supposed to be at this point.
Maybe they should change the show's title to "WHO CARES ABOUT THE 5 EAGLE BROS?"
IMO, they took a quirky, funny series (with mild romantic undertones) and makjang-ed it, which may go over big for the domestic audience (all the producers really care about) but leaves the rest of us asking "What happened?"
For me,this all started with a change in 3 characters: 1) Director Seo's exile -this actor lit up every scene he was in and provided a funny counterpoint to the evil Dongo Tak. His removal turned Dongo Tak into a 'Snidley Whiplash" caricature of a villain. 2) Hani's birth mom - do we REALLY need her here? We all know she'll eventually kidnap the baby which will be the act that will reunite SeRi & the Prof....how heavy handed must the writers be? Total Makjang here. 3) JangSoo's ex - what did we gain from the 3-5 episodes she was in? That was just silly filler.
FWIW, as far as GS goes.... Her "reluctant bride" bit is wearing on me fast. Why can't anyone simply bring up that she STILL hasn't accepted that her ex is gone? Her behavior around the chairman is lukewarm at best and she's happiest when doing favors for him, not being affectionate. The chairman is in the Friend Zone and she's fighting to keep him there. Consider this: What does GS do when she's alone? She's in the brewery stirring pots. All by herself. This is her safe space and where she used to to to talk to her dead ex. She still communes with him there, and there is no equivalent location for her to spend time with the Chairman because she has no happy place for him in her heart. Until someone (her mom?) sits down with her and gets her to admit she's not ready to leave her ex, and abandon her duties as 'oldest sister in law' this will continue until something drastic happens (which has to be, I don't think the writers will leave their half-hearted love story be).
I'll say it again: This would have made a much better 36 episode series. KBS should have stuck to thier guns for weekenders going forward from Iron Family
Otherwise, I guess this show's hallmark was consistency. It's sat at 7.7 here for what seems forever (I'd give it a 7.5, so pretty close), plus its ratings have been pretty steady at about 19% +/- 2% for quite a while. So they found a loyal domestic audience to follow the show.
As usual the best part of these weekenders are the commenters here in the MDL forum, so we can see how differently (and similarly) we view these shows. Thanks to all for your insightful, interesting and funny comments.
I kind of liked the original vision that the leads would be separated for a long period only to be eventually rejoined. To ME, that makes a ton of sense: bring them back together in the last 4 episodes, for instance....it would give the FL time to figure out just WHAT she wants from life and to see if she can break free of her feelings for her dead husband and her obligations to his family. to ME, that was the real point of the show: the reluctant bride.
I honestly think, in retrospect that Iron Family, was a good series, because it was consistent from beginning to end. Of course being a shorter series, there was less chance for the writers to screw things up. Plus they had one of the most solid supporting casts I've ever seen, especially the elders.
The most frustrating thing for me with the weekenders was that 3BS & it's Beautiful Now, with some clever editing could be re-presented as a REALLY GOOD series.
I think the last of the great weekenders was "Once Again" which IIRC was filmed back during the pandemic! So it's been a while, eh?
As this series limps to its finale, I thought I'd post a few thoughts, sorry for being away for so long, health issues have interfered. As far as the last few weeks go....
THE GOOD - I'm grasping for nice things to say. I think the Dongo Tak storyline has been done well, and the actor is superb (how come he gets better writing and direction than the FL?). He was terrific as the hitman in "Are You Human Too?" and every time I see him I cringe. Anyways, his scenes in the jail cell have been really well done.
THE BAD - I'm not even sure where to start. What made me maddest was that they had the FL spend the night before her wedding in her safe space where she communes with her dead husband and got drunk there. One can only imagine her intentions. I almost shut off the TV at that point, I HATE how her character is written. Second point - the whole OkBun vs. MiSun arc was purposely written to show how without GS there, they house falls apart. So of course the Matron of the House had to come and iron everything out. What is the point....they are trying to show us how indispensable she is to the family? And finally, his driving her to the fertility center without her knowledge was reprehensible. He would KNOW BETTER!!!! Why are they writing his character this way? This is infuriating! I didn't blame the FL (for once) for her storming out on him.
THE UGLY - Can someone explain why OkBun and the dancer are living there when she had a fine apartment and money of her own??? This obsession to have all the brothers living together is nonsensical. I can sort of accept that MiSun (who had a TWO BEDROOM apartment) is staying there because she wanted to live with a big family (but as newlyweds that makes NO sense). This series tries too hard to make a point and it shows.
Finally, weeks ago, when user LUNKERA revealed the series would be extended by 4 episodes I was excited because it seemed the writers must have had a plan to add more to the series. Unfortunately it became obvious that the series was being padded out with unnecessarily filler like the whole MIL's first love arc. And yet they STILL refused to use the opportunity to invest in the KS/Bom story. I firmly believe there was a change in writers at some point, because the character development seems to have been handed off to writer(s) who are not invested in the story.
We hear only the words written for them by the writers and see their actions via the director. For whatever reason, they wrote the FL this way. This is how they want them to act. For me, they just have no chemistry together, which is a shame. Even if they were written as lovey-dovey, for me it would be hard to accept, as they just don't 'click'. (And FWIW, there's little chemistry on this show, except for KS/Bom).
I agree with the poster above: if they wanted the FL to be this way, just have her fated to be the Matriarch of the Brewery and remain single, stirring her pots in privacy, satisfied with having given marriage a shot (albeit for 10 days) and happy in her life meddling in her in-laws affairs and every woebegone soul she encounters in life.
Which of the couples has the best chemistry? My vote is for the youngest (Bom & KangSoo)...they really seem to be intrigued with each other and it frustrates me that the writers are letting them wither on the vine. Next would be Chunsu & MinSo....the rest...meh, and for me that includes the leads...something just doesn't 'click' for me with them.
Maybe they should change the show's title to "WHO CARES ABOUT THE 5 EAGLE BROS?"
IMO, they took a quirky, funny series (with mild romantic undertones) and makjang-ed it, which may go over big for the domestic audience (all the producers really care about) but leaves the rest of us asking "What happened?"
For me,this all started with a change in 3 characters: 1) Director Seo's exile -this actor lit up every scene he was in and provided a funny counterpoint to the evil Dongo Tak. His removal turned Dongo Tak into a 'Snidley Whiplash" caricature of a villain. 2) Hani's birth mom - do we REALLY need her here? We all know she'll eventually kidnap the baby which will be the act that will reunite SeRi & the Prof....how heavy handed must the writers be? Total Makjang here. 3) JangSoo's ex - what did we gain from the 3-5 episodes she was in? That was just silly filler.
FWIW, as far as GS goes.... Her "reluctant bride" bit is wearing on me fast. Why can't anyone simply bring up that she STILL hasn't accepted that her ex is gone? Her behavior around the chairman is lukewarm at best and she's happiest when doing favors for him, not being affectionate. The chairman is in the Friend Zone and she's fighting to keep him there. Consider this: What does GS do when she's alone? She's in the brewery stirring pots. All by herself. This is her safe space and where she used to to to talk to her dead ex. She still communes with him there, and there is no equivalent location for her to spend time with the Chairman because she has no happy place for him in her heart. Until someone (her mom?) sits down with her and gets her to admit she's not ready to leave her ex, and abandon her duties as 'oldest sister in law' this will continue until something drastic happens (which has to be, I don't think the writers will leave their half-hearted love story be).
I'll say it again: This would have made a much better 36 episode series. KBS should have stuck to thier guns for weekenders going forward from Iron Family