The Good Bad Mother: How true to its title. The mother in this drama is portrayed as having the best intentions for her son, wanting him to have power so as not to be hurt by others like she was. But while pushing him toward this goal, she indirectly and directly tells her son his life is not his own to live; he is being raised to fulfill a dream she couldn't.

Overall, I found this drama to be a genuinely healing experience. Through emotional gut punch after gut punch, this mother came to realize the full weight her abuse caused her son. When raising him, her intentional and painful choices were a gust of wind that would lead to a hurricane: The Butterfly Effect.

I am all for adults who have experienced abuse having the agency to decide how they move forward. Whether they attempt to heal that relationship with that parent (if it's even possible), keep them at arms-length, or cut them out of their life entirely. In this case, I could understand how Kang Ho found peace in maintaining a close relationship with his mother. For him, she understood what she did, and she had moments, even when he was younger, of her love getting across to him.

What ultimately held me back from rating this higher and embracing the message the drama was trying to convey was that I felt an in-depth, confrontational, and honest sit-down conversation with Kang Ho and his mother was sorely needed. Yes, she did apologize for many of her actions and express her regrets about how she raised her son, but, for me, I needed her to take 100% brutal accountability in person.

If you think humor would have no place in a story such as this, I don't think you'll enjoy watching this. I myself found many jokes out of place. Additionally, if you're not mentally in a place to handle watching scenes with parental abuse (including scenes where it is brushed aside or excused), I wouldn't recommend watching this. If you feel you can handle a topic like this and don't mind the mixing of serious with comedic, I think you'll find value in this.