Iron Family (2024)

Not Perfect but Desperately Needed

I had to think about the finale a bit, before offering my review.

A 7.7 rating (as of 1/27/25) seems a bit low to me, but higher than what MDL scored the weekend predecessors (It's Beautiful Now, The Real Has Come, 3 Bold Siblings, Beauty & Mr Romantic, etc). I would score this series as an 8....here's why:

First off, as a prototype for the new 36 episode weekend format, this was a huge win. Can you imagine this story stretched out for 50 episodes? Haven't we suffered enough with draggy, filler-laden series? I hope KBS sticks with the 36 episode rule, unless it can find writers from the era when "Once Again", 'My father is strange', etc ruled. But I fear those days are long gone.

Secondly, lets think about what this series DIDN'T have....a ton of cliches. There was:
-No WTOD (although many of us would have cheered it on for a few characters)
-No Amnesia Arc
-No huge cancer scare (instead cancer that stalked the elders was dealt with as a part of life and kept in the background)
-Only ONE DNA test (take THAT, writers of 3 Bold Siblings)
-No Evil Mother-in-Law

So what DID this series have?
- A-list cast (elders, FL/ML, FL mom)
- A very different premise from prior weekend 'family dramas'
- quick pacing
- the ability to be sad, infuriating and funny all in one episode
- seamless time-jumps
- a satisfying ending that could have been better, but I get it...

And the big question is "What was this series about?" To me, it was all about the money. It was the real star of the show, and got in the last word (or wink). This show was about the corrosive effects upon a family that the money caused. Either because it originated as Ill-gotten-gains (a loan shark's endowment to his daughter) or just because it was such a huge amount of cash, everyone the money touched, changed for the worse: we saw this all happen in real-time: first the elders, then their DIL, their own daughter, their oldest granddaughter (who resisted temptation), their grandson who betrayed his police training and lost his career, and finally the 'rightful' owner of the money, the ML's mom. Although "Iron Family" was a cute play on words, the series should have been called 'The Root of all Evil" or something like that, to show how ordinary, law-abiding and moral people became something they were not, all because of 10-million Won.

So I appreciated how different this series was, with the only villains a bunch of incompetent loan sharks who were utilized sparingly. Yes, GangJu was the only likeable character and I'm happy that KJH got such a great role for prime-time. And the only real regret I have is that the main leads chemistry was under-utilized. They made a really great couple, and I would have liked to have seen more romance on their part, but this wasn't a rom-com, so it's OK. But casting directors note: they play off each other REALLY WELL.

Thanks everyone here for your comments, and the lively discussion. I did enjoy this series and will miss it. And that's a good thing for a fan to say about a series. Well-done KBS and production team.

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