Drama Rating: 8/10 Neck Score: A+
The plot of this was a bit interesting, since it is focused on a family with three strong minded girls who all take after their strong minded mother, and then the one older brother who takes after the easygoing sweet father. However there are, of course, family secrets- practically birth secrets here- when an idol turned actor shows up looking for his father who happens to be the dad of this family. This is potentially bad because the main OTP is clearly this actor (Lee Joon) and his manager, who is the third child in the family (Jung So Min). But they let us slowly unravel the secrets until all the crap hits the fan and it's all dramatic, and all that.
I loved pretty much all the characters. Even the ones I started out hating, like the oldest sister's in-laws who were basically the worst but after growing up they became cute and lovable too. Even the bitca sister-in-law who married Oppa, but was Mi Young's (3rd child) bully in high school. She even learned stuff and became better. I have to admit that Oppa and Bully's storyline was the least compelling, because she was an ambitious jerk for the longest time, not sorry about her bully years, and he was a loser who was still studying for the civil service exams. Then there was the baby fiasco, yeah, least favorite plot. I much preferred the evil/stupid in-laws, but that might have been because I loved the second child unni (Lee Yoo Ri) the most, because she was a power woman lawyer. Well, she has the self-confidence and temper for ten power women, who could not love that? I certainly did. I love how everything that happened made her, her man, and her in-laws grow, so that they became a much better family.
The maknae's story was mostly cute and fun, although I loved how it was more lighthearted, there was also a lot of growing and developing, from the time she thought he was gay to the way she wormed her way into his father's heart though her just being her and her father's daughter, etc. It was a quirky bit of cute while the other couples had to go through their drama.
Obviously the couple I was most invested in was our main OTP, Mi Young and Joong Hee- the actor and his manager romance, tee hee. I also called them the dangerous siblings, because they thought they were related for more than half the show, which became delightfully awkward when they started liking each other, getting therapy because he liked her, all that kind of drama. I though they both did a really great job. Their chemistry was great. They're acting was great. I just got really into their story, and it was awesome! You have to have that one couple who has all the tension, whose store builds the slowest, so you want it the most, so when they finally get together it's not just cute, you are crying with happiness and giggling like an insane person. Yep, that was me. I just loved them so much! (Still tears of joy).
Because all the characters were generally smart and fun, I feel like the drama never got super laggy or lame. I usually had enough interest that I never felt bogged down with too much drama. The beauty of the 50 episode family drama is that when one couple is going through crap, another couple will be cute, so there is more balance. There is usually at least one couple being cute, and since I liked all the couples, I was fine with that. I even liked the parents as a couple, they were cute. I did think that the end was a little too pushy on the resolution and "understanding" the parents, but it must have worked, because I still giggled and grinned at them being cute now that everything was solved and they could do what they always wanted. It was just a great cast of characters that I didn't mind growing with at all, and now I'm sad it's over, but I'm also glad it is, because they got the happy ending. Aw.
