Angelati
Before I had started this series I was giving k-dramas a break since the previous one's plots were too bland and with the same overly repeated cookie-cutter characters and they were all just too predictable.Someone close to me pushed me for a long time and eventually I gave in and decided to see what all the fuss was about.
I am extremely grateful that I was coerced into watching Angry mom as its one of those special series that forces you to reflect and question everything around you and upon finishing it I felt like a different person.What surprised me the most was the wide range of confronting themes from bullying, class inequalities and corruption to violence, murder and loss as well.It deals with these themes in great detail through its diverse range of characters, painting their struggles in vivid colour and not shying away from the harsh reality . The drama’s vast range of characters(who are complex and fully fleshed out with most of them breaking the stereotypes all-together) I believe contributed greatly to the success of Angry Mom and made me feel every emotion possible from laughing till my stomach hurt to feeling a large shiver down my spine to crying till I looked like a red-eyed rabbit.
Jo Kang-Ja's humor,sincerity,fearlessness, and her strength/love as a mother to protect her daughter really hit home with me.She's badass and loving inspite of her own mulitple wounds and its so inspirational . I loved the sweet moments shared with her daughter Oh Ah-ran and the chaste love that Go Bok-Dong had for her whilst she remained true to herself by being and "angry mom".Jo Kang-Ja alongside her mafia-boss best friend(who cosplays as a princess) and her two croonies never failed to make me laugh despite the omnipresent tense atmosphere that builds as the episodes go on.Park No-Ah the novice teacher brings a very necessary air of hope and naivety compared to the other characters who are either instigating or receiving the violence.Go Bok-Dong has introduced me to Ji-soo and I was impressed by his multi-faceted character,as the troubled kid with a side of puppy love, Ji Soo had a powerful screen presence. Even at the beginning of the series when his part wasn't all that big, I often found myself drawn to his character,there's something intriguing and charismatic quality which I think drew many fans to him as would a lantern to flies in the dark.Although suprisingly the best character to me was Do Jung-Woo the seemingly "perfect" teacher.
From the beginning, Do Jung-Woo left me, as a viewer, undecided on his role. At first, he seems like he could be a possible ally to Kang-ja and the students, but at the same time something about him isn’t quite right. Underneath all his layers, we learn, he has been hiding some horrifying secrets. Never have I hated a character more than this one in a drama. His manipulation, abuse r of the people he interacts with make him a character that is hard to forgive. Despite all his discrepancies, every time he is seemingly caught by Kang-ja he would somehow avoid prosecution. As a viewer, I was frustrated to the point that I would’ve been happy with something as simple as seeing his perfect hair messed up for once. Hatred for this character and the other perpetrators was ultimately the force that made the drama incredibly addictive for me while watching.
To me the most important messages in this Kdrama were that corruption must come to an end(and you have to cut all the heads otherwise more will sprout from their place and it will never cease),that monsters create monsters(parents),be strong and be your own person,for every bad time in life there will be a good one if you're strong enough to pull though and of course don't mess with an Angry Mom!
I cannot sing the praises of this drama enough and I have already watched it all over again with the same rollercoaster of emotions.
So much detail and depth was put into it, giving it the ability to make you gasp, laugh, cry and, of course, yell at the screen in anger. Even when tired, your eyes will be glued to the screen.
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For me Wallace did a fantastic job balancing the roles of the adorably infuriating know-it-all, a doofus-in-love, a genius profiler, and mysteriously scary Allen.Sandra Ma came across as over exaggerating in her crying scenes at the beginning but she won be over towards the end with her solid performance.I also enjoyed the fact that her character wasn't the typical plucky energetic heroine which I think definitely added to her charm.
The OTP was great as their romance was strong whilst be subtle and understated which is hard to pull off.Andrew Yin was the comic relief in this and I think that contributed to the success of this drama as well,I'll be looking out for him in the future.And overall all the other characters were solid as well.
Like I mentioned before I had to be patient at the beginning since the first few cases weren't really my cup of tea.I think what got me hooked was when the cases started to focus on Xie Han and that was the moment that we truly entered the suspenseful climax of the story.I won't spoil anything but there were some scenes/actions which happened to hastily for my liking,the twist at the ending didn't make much sense to me...
However if you're a long time kdrama fan wanting to dip your toe into the ocean of cdramas I would definitely recommend Love me if you dare (as long as you don't mind crime thriller moments).The love story between the OTP makes up for some of those first cases as well as the many twists they provide.
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