Romance in the House

This is about a fractured family due to a divorce & a parent's attempt at redemption. Father, mother, daughter & son all have their issues due to their role in the family dynamics. The series explores how these issues, to a certain extent, are not solved but just eased.

There is a focus on 2 couples. The divorced, older couple who were well cast. They had a good chemistry. Ji Jin-hee, as the father, is quite an eyeful for a man in his 50s.

The younger couple - Son Na-eun & Choi Min-ho - also physically fitted together. Their chemistry was a bit slower to develop but then that is K drama.

I liked the fact that there wasn't a rich chaebol father scheming in the background, & that there were ups & downs which seemed to be realistic. But how was the young ML the son/brother of the CEO? There seem to be a lot of illegitimate kids of rich guys out there in Korea! How the father got rich was a bit anti-climatic.

It was interesting that they stressed the development of the individual as something that is important in this ever increasing world of singles. Maybe as someone that has chosen not to be married I appreciated the idea that the females wanted to be independent.

Of the supporting cast, I enjoyed the baby boomer FL boss & the hairdresser. The writer's wife was as usual right over the top. Why did the mother wanted to be friends with her nosey neighbours I did not understand. The grandmother was particularly horrible.

Overall, I enjoyed the development of the different relationships & continued to want to see how the characters were going to behave.

The series had potential to be a good and different romantic drama but they started focusing on the Mom too much when there is So Na-eun in the cast. Her chemistry with Cho Min-ho is very good. There was potential for office romance also. The series felt short but the way it was going I don't think anyone would want to watch it. The dynamic between the daughter and the father is the only thing that is explored other relationships are left vastly unexplored.

It does highlight how tough it is a for a poor or a low-middle class family to get into upper middle class and how much pressure it puts on the family member that is the main source of income in the family. First it was the Father, who kept failing, and then it was the daughter.

After being kicked out of the family for repeatedly losing money, loosing businesses and letting his family down, a divorced father returns to his family after an absence of 11 years. The daughter is deeply resentful and very angry. The son pleased. The mother unsure. The father (ML) is now wealthy and has purchased the Apartment Block where the family live so now he is their new Landlord. He aims to win his wife (and family) back.

The second part is the relationship between his daughter and the young security guard where she works who incidentally is the CEOs son. It's a toss up between the prodigal father and the angry daughter who gets the most air time and attention in this series. Occasionally the daughter was rather tiresome, yet understandable so, with her anger. She has taken over the protector role of the house looking out for her mother and younger neer do well brother. Her fathers' return makes huge changes to her life which her mother eventually acknowledges, recognising that she has to let her daughter be a young woman and not "the man in the house".

This is an interesting and different trope from the usual Kdramas. Yes there are other relationships including the Hair Salon owner and the Tax Accountant. Also the other residents in the other apartments in the Block. Most are middle aged, which is a blessed relief, and different, amongst all the usual hand holding young people. Whats interesting is they all have a past, that they either want to forget and move on from to live better lives. This series tries to show that it is recognised and acknowledged. At 50 yo you think carefully, deeper and acknowledge your own personal errors compared to being 30 yo and still screaming in fury!

The actors are not particularly brilliant or well known, but then again not bad. Only one I recognise is Kim Ji-Soo playing the Security Guard/CEO son and he is (IMO) not a very good actor just eye candy.

Although the Dads neighbours focus on where he got his money from, the writer clearly using this to drive the story along, the final information is a bit of a damp squid when told the truth!

The series end comfortably and quietly, no major melodrama.

I liked it but wouldn't hunt it out to watch again.

Korean audio with English subtitles.

If they focused more on kim jisoo and ji jin-hee, I would have given a higher rating. The supporting characters are all fun to watch as well. But I think we all can agree who the weakest link is here! Too much airtime for the daughter. I had never seen this actress, son na-eun? I was initially shocked at first glance. I know kim jisoo was and still a big name? So they made sure the daughter wouldn't outshine her? Is that the case? Bcus I hate to say this about looks but from the digging I did, this actress did it to herself. The amount of work done to make her look like THIS is bonkers to me. It's very distracting. I do look away and just listen when she's on the screen. And her storyline doesn't help her cause. This could have been a fun caper! Kim jisoo and her neighbors go on a fun adventure to find out what MooJin had been doing for the last 11 years! Ugh what could have been...

The daughter is expressionless, cold, and has no energy in this drama. Mediocre actress. Must be hard for the director to have such a limited actor. If it were a much better actress, this would have been a lot better. She is not suited to be one of the lead roles.

The young couple is boring and dull in acting

The older couple and other experienced actors carry this show. .they shine.

Overall it is a ok show. Family drama. I am not anyone's. Fan. Do not care about these kpop ypung idols. Actually . These young idols do not help this drama. Their acting is below standard level. Hope they cast someone with some acting skill.