Drama: Angry Mom
Synopsis: Without any means of finding justice for her daughter who is being bullied at school, a mom decides to take matters into her own hands by going back to school in disguise as a student.
Seemingly a normal neighborhood ajumma with a bad temper, Jo Kang Ja’s life revolves around her small diner and her family. However, everything in Kang Ja’s life comes to a screeching halt when she finds mysterious wounds and bruises on her daughter – Oh Ah Ran.
A smart girl, Ah Ran is not afraid to stand up for her best friend Yi Gyeong when she is being picked on by the school bullies. Things gets worse for Ah Ran when her mother starts asking questions at the school about the bullying and soon Ah Ran is being threatened to forget everything or else.
Not wanting the news of the school bullying to get out since it wouldn’t be convenient for those in the higher ups, various people from both inside the school and outside starts putting pressure on Ah Ran and her friend Yi Gyeong.
Thanks to the cover ups by those with money and power, Kang Ja hits dead end no matter where she turns for help concerning Ah Ran. With no way of knowing the identities of those who are bullying her daughter thus no evidence to take to the police, Kang Ja sees no other alternative but to do the unthinkable.
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Digging up her old friend- Princess Han, Kang Ja fights her way through a club in order to get an audience with the underground princess. Fortunately, Princess Han is still the loyal friend she always has been to Kang Ja and agrees to help Kang Ja to enter into Ah Ran’s school as a student.
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True to her words, Princess Han not only gives Kang Ja a make over (really just a hair style change) but also “persuaded” the one teacher who has met Kang Ja in person to keep his mouth shut.
Traumatized by the violence she experienced, Ah Ran is quickly emotionally shutting herself in and refusing to tell her mother anything since she was told that her mother would be killed if she talked. After a shocking episode where Kang Ja finds Ah Ran sitting in the bathroom floor with a blade and pieces of her hair all around, Kang Ja decides to put Ah Ran in the hospital for a short time.
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Dressed up in the school uniform, Kang Ja walks into her daughter’s high school as a new transferred student. Kang Ja ended up walking to the classroom with the brand new teacher – Park No Ah who is hired to replace Ah Ran’s home room teacher. I sure hope the hero wise up quickly because right now he sure seems rather naive… and kinda weak.
Chattering nonstop, No Ah doesn’t recognize Kang Ja as the woman who once cussed him out and held him in a choke hold while he was working at a tutoring center. Assigned to her daughter’s seat, Kang Ja is immediately stunned by all the mean words that cover Ah Ran’s desk. Already angry, Kang Ja loses her temper when the class room bullies gather around her to teach her a lesson.
Coolly watching the mean girls of the class shaking like a leaf in front Kang Ja, Ko Bok Dong, the boy who threatened Ah Ran walks up to Kang Ja and tells her “Stop fooling around or I can kill you.” Of course the threat that worked so well on teenage girls had the opposite effect on Kang Ja whose mama bear comes out and she grabs a rather surprised Bok Dong by the neck. When Kang Ja’s fist is about to go flying, No Ah who finally remembers why Kang Ja looked so familiar shows up to grab her hand.
And this is what happens to No Ah.
First Impression
Well… I was thinking this show was a comedy… There is some comedic parts, like when Princess Han was reminiscing about the fight that made Kang Ja a legend.
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As the legend would have it, while Princess Han was about to be forced to crawl under the crotch of the best fighter from another school Kang Ja shows up with her flying kick. The “flying” through the air lasted so long that Kang Ja took a nap, put on some make up, and had an instant noodle while her opponent and Princess Han took a brief nap as well.
The wacky comedic parts were soon overwhelmed by the dark subject matter this show deals with. Right off the top of my head I can think of bullying, home violence, emotional abuse from parents, suicide and the dark world of political world. This show certainly is not set in a world filled with human warmth but at every turn we can sense a hopelessness that comes from the weak being oppress by those who are stronger and void of basic human goodness.
However, while this show is not what I expected at all I found myself already invested in the heroine’s fight to save her daughter. I am a bit surprised that the heroine is a married woman since Ji Hyun Woo’s character is obviously the hero. Don’t tell me there is not going to be a romance?! Oh, well, I would rather see a romance between the two leads but this show probably doesn’t need it to keep my attention. Still, I get the feeling that Kang Ja’s husband might not react positively once she starts showing her true um… fierce side, so my romance hope might have a chance after all.
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