The Good Bad Mother (2023)

Actors did a tremendous job portraying such complex characters. (Did not like the romance)

Ep 1: It was a rollercoaster of emotions. I started out liking Young Soon, she was such a strong woman not just physically but at the time mentally as well. It was nice to watch Young Soon & Hae Shik's romance progress into marriage. They were good to each other and Hae Shik was so damn nice. One of the reason it saddens me to see how Young Soon treated Kang Ho. She isn't wrong though, being nice did get Hae Shik killed. That doesn't excuse the trauma she inflicted on her son. Even knowing her reasons doesn't make her a good mother. As if that wasn't enough, she has to blame her son for his father getting killed? Shitty parenting, right there. That's the kind of twisted mothers that we don't need. Her mental strength in the beginning was clearly a facade that shattered with the death of her husband. I read a comment somewhere from a twisted woman that she wouldn't forgive the FL for ruining ML's exam like that. How are people so emotionally stunted? Are you going to leave your partner who has just had an accident to fend for themselves to just attend an exam that can be repeated? That's right. Exams' can be repeated, you can't treat your people like shit. People who treat you well are precious. They need to be treated the same. Overall, such a good story with depth. The FL is an interesting but silly character, but that's exactly what the poor guy needs after being treated the way he was by his mother.

Ep 2: Since the drama was highly recommended by numerous Instagram accounts, I am sure that the ML isn't a bad guy but is plotting something. The mother and child are alive somewhere, no need to be fooled by only parts of what they are showing us. Even though, I detest Young Soon, it did seem like Kang Ho was harsh on her. But you could see that even with what he was doing, he was conflicted. I'm not sure that woman ever apologized for the harm that she caused to her child. I liked that he iced her out. He is giving her everything she gave him, except for the warmth she failed to give. Mi Joo's life seems to be going in a different direction. With the way, things were left hanging about their relationship in previous episode, it was natural to assume that Kang Ho broke up with her so that he could not be swayed by things and focus on his exams. I thought she was the aunt to the children but she is actually their mother. It would have been better had the father of her children been anyone other than Kang Ho, because once he broke up with her he didn't look back.

Ep 3: Did not think that Ha Young would be like that. I didn't like her for her interaction with Mi Joo, when she acted bratty. But she seemed to liked Kang Ho, so I figured everyone has a right to move on in their life. Right now, I'm wondering why she took the decision she did. Did she figure out the reason Kang Ho was hell-bent on marrying her? Coming to the Mom, she finally behaved in a manner of that a Mom should. She finally cared for him in the right way when he was paralyzed. So much for having a new father, who didn't look into what was happening with Kang Ho once he was paralyzed. I'm sure Kang Ho was disgusted to even interact with that guy, but he probably did so seeking revenge. I'm a bit divided on how to feel about her withholding food from him to motivate him. It worked, so I'm happy that she is aiding his recovery. But there could have been other ways. She is just someone who isn't equipped to find those ways and would instead stick to her character. At least, she knows that she is a bad mom. But not all of her accepts it, because she did say that she treated him that way when he was a child was for his own good. That was a cop out.

Ep 4: Although I don't like her for how she treated her child, I'm slowly growing to respect Ha Young for who she is now. It is good to see Kang Ho play with the kids, something he rarely got to do when he was a kid. In a way, this is like a second chance for him. I though Kang Ho had broken up with Mi Jo after he missed his exam. It was surprising to see that they picked up again, especially Mi Joo being so forgiving when he left without a word. This time around, he might have broken up with her because he wanted to pursue his revenge. Mi Joo life is going downhill now, her partner stole all the money and ran away. Now, she has to climb out of that hole and also find another way to make money for her kids. The only thing I didn't like about Mi Joo was that she kept her being pregnant from him. I imagine their lives would have been better had she told him about it. But you never know, he still might have gone down the revenge path.

Ep 5: With the way their past relationship was developing, I had a feeling that Kang Ho would abandon Mi Joo in the way he did. What a cruel way to dump someone who was there for you. It would have bee better for Mi Joo to end up with Sam-Sik. He is chaotic as hell but he would have been a better choice. Kang Ho really lucked out with his accident. He's going to be forgiven by her because she feels pity for him. I do not like it, especially since he made such a selfish decision and tried to buy off her love. This is the kind of romance I avoid watching. Let's see if he does anything to make up for the hurt he is caused once he regains his memory. If not, then I'm gonna feel more sad for Mi Joo and her children.

Ep 6 & 7: I have come to realize that the Drama's name is very apt. The Good Bad Mother, although so far a lot of it was bad with some rays of Good shining through. I was pretty shocked with her decision to give up on her life. Instead, I thought she was going to get some treatment so she could live at least a while longer. But I guess she felt pushed into a corner so its hard not to feel bad for her as well. Poor Kang Ho had to see her at that moment. He must have been so scared. I feel bad for Mi Joo as well. From the way things are going, it looks like she has more empathy than the past Kang Ho deserved. She is going to soften and probably look after him when his mother dies.

Ep 8 to 10: It must have hurt Mi Joo so much to have seen Kang Ho with another woman while she was there with their children. She will forgive him, but will she ever forget the pain? I want Mi Joo and her twins to be happy. I want Kang Ho to be happy as well, but not before he makes amends. Even when he dumped her like that, she still waited for him, only to be dumped again. I hope Mi Joo gets the closure she deserves. I didn't much like Kang Ho's explanation about how he loved her too much, when the idiot never even knew that it was to fight battles together and not leaving people in the dust after you have used them.

Ep 11 to 14: What bothers me the most about this drama is that it gives out the message that its okay to treat people poorly as long as you have a reason to do it. Young Soon had a reason for being an abusive mother. Kang Ho had a reason for abandoning Mi Joo then he got together with Ha Young. Mi Joo & her mother's reason for loving men who didn't love them enough. Well they all got what they wanted so a happy ending for them.

Kudos to the cast for pulling off such a great feat. I'm off to watch "Welcome To Samdalri" because some parts of this drama reminded me of my fav's Cho Young Pil & Sam Dal. My heart needs healing from all the stress this drama put me through.

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