We have officially passed the halfway point in Homemade Love Story, as it will be 50 episodes on Viki. If you had heard that it is a 100 episode show, that’s because each episode is broken into two halves when aired in Korean, so 50 becomes 100. At this point, we’ve come a pretty long way in a number of plot lines, with a few new threads still popping up as well. I’m going to review the show in terms of plot threads this time around, to look at it from a different angle from my primer I released previously. After that I will discuss a few other things such as writing and acting. Oh, and major spoilers ahead, you have been warned.
Main Plot- Chase-Woon’s Parentage
This plot got stalled out for a few weeks, but it has since really started moving, which is nice since we learned extremely early on that Jung-won is her genetic mother. Now she’s moved in with her, but she’s done so partly because she heard a call from her maternal grandmother that made her need to face her, so there is a battle occurring between said grandmother and Chae-woon and her adoptive mother, Soon-jung. Currently this is getting shaken up accidentally by Chae-woon’s step-sister and rival Seo-ah, who is still jealous of Chae-woon and her relationship with Jae-hee, and is making sabotaging choices that may hurt the whole family. This plot is interesting, and the main thread, but honestly, as it seems intended to last for the whole span of the show, it is dragging and dramatic, and results in the side stories being a lot more fun.
Secondary Plot- Jung-Hoo’s Lost and Found Memory
Although this is a debatable point, I think the second biggest plotline weaving through the show is currently Woo Jung-hoo’s memory escapades. After losing his memory halfway to this point and going from an evil and horrible man, father, and husband, to the affable and lovable James, Jung-hoo has regained his memories. But with both sets of memories he is now torn between the two sides of himself and is trying to navigate the world from this new perspective. He clearly prefers being the happy James side of himself, and is slowly working on opening that up, but is still struggling with his old ways. This plot drives a lot of our flashbacks for the older generation characters, and Jung-hoo may be on the brink of getting involved in the war Chae-woon and Soon-jung are fighting against Chae-woon’s grandmother, and with the power he wields, this may be extremely important.
Side Plot- The Schemers, Na-Ro and Pil-Hong
Hwang Na-ro originally was fighting for Chae-woon’s love, hoping to marry her as she learns of her rich parentage and gaining access to all the wealth that comes with it. As Chae-woon and Jae-hee’s love blossomed and grew strong, he realized that path was gone, so he has moved on to Seo-ah, and is doing evil things to Chae-woon to get her out of the picture in an attempt to earn Seo-ah’s love. Meanwhile, Park Pil-hong, Chae-woon’s biological father, has gotten out of jail and is attempting to make himself friends with Jae-hee and soon Chae-woon before revealing who he is, also trying to access the money associated with Chae-woon through her real mother Jung-won. Unlike Na-ro who is a destructive mess, who has some twisted love for the Samgwang Villa people, Pil-hong seems unremorseful, and is currently doing a pretty good job of impressing Jae-hee, although if he gets recognized, that could all come crashing down.
Side Plot- Major Romances
Obviously the biggest romance is between leads Chae-woon and Jae-hee, it’s a good one, they seem supportive and trusting. The show left us on a cliffhanger where Seo-ah tried to bait Chae-woon into being jealous of her hanging out with Jae-hee before getting drunk and carried out. Although Chae-woons is made to look awkward and jealous in the moment, I really doubt much will come of it, I want to believe these protagonists aren’t going to fall into a rocky relationship of distrust because of the meddling of other people because it goes against both of their characters, they are stubborn and fighters, and trusting of one another.
Ra-hoon and Ba-reun have finally officially started dating, and are my favorite pair in the series, feeling both completely absurd, but also the most real, because love is absurd. Ra-hoon has also brought me to tears for the first time in the series, because his talk about being praised and then struggling in academics reminded me a lot of my own past, I almost failed out of college despite having a lot of love and support, it just got extremely real for me in that moment, and these two are now easily my two favorite characters.
Hae-deun is also seeming to strike up a relationship with Seo-ah’s brother, Jung-woo, which Seo-ah will certainly hate. The romance here is slow-building but feels obvious for the plot, it is teasing that Hae-deun may leave to Europe for idol training, but she is starting to realize she’ll just be staff there, whereas Jung-woo has now given her the opportunity to model for his store, and has asked her to join his business as the second employee, and offering a lofty title, so she’ll stay without a doubt. Lastly, Hawk-se and Man-jung have started dating and on day one started referring to each other with “my” before their names like crazy people, but the romance is cute, so whatever. Soon-jung and Jung-hoo will at some point also admit they always liked each other, and Min-jae may be finding new love in a teacher of Jae-hee’s who is also named Jung-hoo, guess she has a type.
The Writing
The plots feel so much more coherent than they did in the early episodes, and the show has really found its footing. While the main story is good, the secondary and side plots are absolutely where it shines. The writers have a talent for sweet and charming moments, and making the viewer really enjoy spending their time with the well written and enjoyable side characters. Everybody in the main plot is a little less fun and interesting, they're made to do some over-dramatic, and absolutely foolish things with way too little reasonable motivation. Seo-ah is the biggest victim here, she started to show that she was clever and dynamic, but instead reverted to being more obsessive and less logical than ever, to the point where her actions make no sense, and are actively harming her family’s standing, and she doesn’t seem particularly as bothered by this as she should, because she keeps going deeper, even though she must realize everybody hates each move more than the last. She was gearing up to be one of the best characters and is now probably the worst, so hopefully they can pick up those pieces, but I think she’s just a tool to stir up drama at this point, more than a fully-formed character. The writers also seem to have stopped falling back on joke repetition, like mentioning Ra-hoon’s stinky feet, and are working to move every plot forward, with most of the characters knowing most of the relevant information in most scenarios not involving the schemers and a few secrets from the older generation.
The Acting
Seo-ah’s actress is still doing one of the better jobs in the show despite her writing, so props to her. The biggest highlight is one I’ve mentioned previously, Woo Jung-hoo is easily the best acted character in the show, I want to say the writers really fumbled the character, giving him amnesia, giving the memories back, and having him just torn between both sets of memories. But his acting is so charming and engaging as James, and so annoying and cruel as old Jung-hoo, that the character is the best acted both ways, and is maybe better than ever in his current mixed state. Jung-hoo alone is reason to watch the show. The main plot actors, as I said, are by far the least exciting to me, burdened by the way that plotline is written. Meanwhile Ba-reun’s character is still my second favorite, and the actress is starting to get time being more than just crazy, although she is still a little intense, and is doing great work with her short time on screen. Ra-hoon’s character has also stepped up, showing fantastic range in recent episodes. The other highlight to me is Bona, who I think has had to play her character through a bevy of dumb and vapid decisions and has still done a good job and, in my opinion, managed to keep her character likable, and has some of my favorite little moments of happiness and sadness and some fantastic lines littered throughout. It’s also notable that her new love interest seems pretty entertaining and likable, as well as Jae-hee, who is easily the best part of the main plot, although he benefits heavily from being a part of the secondary plot as well.
The Future
The show is looking bright, outside of some really bad writing choices with the logic and choices made by characters in the main plot, everything else has improved substantially, and the side plots and actors keep everything from getting too heavy and boring, always bringing fresh new antics to the table. I am pretty happy with the show as my first ever K-drama so far, and look forward to see how the back half starts to wrap it all up, as we slowly build to our climax, and most excitingly, the resolution of where all the characters end up.