KDRAMALOVE KOREAN DRAMA REVIEWS



Iron Family
다리미 패밀리
KBS2 (Sept. 2024 - Jan. 2025) 36 Episodes
Family Melodrama (Mature Audiences)
Grade: A

Korean Drama Review by Jill, USA

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A strange but compelling family melodrama, which had rare high ratings of up to 20% and which won many awards, Iron Family (2024-25) frankly interested me the most because of two main cast members whom I've been particularly fond of for awhile, young leading man Kim Jung Hyun (Crash Landing On You, Bing Goo, Dinner Mate, Jealousy Incarnate), and older actor Shin Hyun Joon, playing his Dad, who had played second male lead in the Korean drama classic Stairway To Heaven, plus had played fascinating characters in Cain And Abel, Bridal Mask, and Road No. 1. I loved this drama especially when they had scenes together. Both won acting awards for their portrayals.


Another aspect of this drama which interested me is that it was written by genius scriptwriter Seo Sook Hyang who wrote several Korean dramas I dearly love, including Rebirth-Next, Pasta, Jealousy Incarnate, and Wok Of Love. She won the Best Screenplay Award at the 2024 KBS Awards Ceremony for this script. As I write this review I am currently watching another one of her dramas, When The Stars Gossip (2025), with Gong Hyo Jin and Lee Min Ho. Also quite intriguing, the majority of it taking place in space!



Each of the 36 episodes for Iron Family lasts an hour long, and it took me five months to watch the whole drama: highly unusual for me, but understandable when one considers the talent involved in the production! So many awards given for this series at the KBS Drama Awards for 2024! Although at times I thought the drama could have been edited down to less than thirty episodes, and still have had the same impact, I never lost interest in watching it. The cliffhangers kept me guessing as to what would happen next. So much better than predictability!
The Story:
Pretty Lee Da Rim (Geum Sae Rok, Youth Of May, Soundtrack 2) is the youngest child of a family who runs a busy laundry shop, Cheongryeom Laundry, in a suburb of Seoul. Da Rim has a strong, domineering widowed Mom named Ko Bong Hee (veteran actress Park Ji Young, Love Next Door, Wok Of Love,The Red Sleeve, Jealousy Incarnate, Lost, Scarlet Heart Ryeo) who does the bulk of the work running the laundry while trying at the same time to watch over Da Rim, who is increasingly having vision problems, plus her two other children, a daughter named Lee Mi Yeon (Wang Ji Hye, Project The Boss, Personal Taste, The Suspicious Housekeeper) and a son named Lee Moo Rim (Kim Hyun Joon, Wok Of Love, Imaginary Cat, Shut Up Flower Boy Band).




Da Rim also has supportive, loving grandparents including a Grandpa named Lee Man Deuk (veteran Park In Hwan, Lost, Lovers, A Love To Kill, Hello My Teacher, First Love), and a wonderful Grandma named An Gil Rye (veteran actress Kim Young Ok, who has been working in films and dramas since the 1950's! Amazing actress! I've lost count of how many dramas and films I've seen her in!). And I will NEVER forget the magnificent performance of a Dad with Alzheimer's that Lee Man Deuk gave in
Lost! Since my own Dad died from that affliction I could tell his performance was spot on. 

As time goes by Da Rim begins to lose her vision more and more. She attempts to do everything she can before she can't see anymore, like reading all the books she's interested in, and watching all the movies she can easily access.

Right before she loses her sight completely she meets a handsome young man on the street named Seo Gang Ju (Kim Jung Hyun), a college graduate and son of a rich conglomerate family, including a loving but easily distracted Dad Ji Seung Don (Shin Hyun Joon) and a busy-body Mom Baek Ji Yeon (Kim Hye Eun, D-Day, Radio Romance, Encounter) who thinks no one is really good enough for her son. The young couple hit it off immediately but fate works against their relationship becoming more permanent, including family problems and her increasing loss of vision.


Years go by. Gang Ju becomes disliked at work due to an unexpected accident. He has to re-evaluate his life and work and is not immediately capable of falling back on his family's money. Da Rim becomes totally blind and grieves privately, not wanting her family to know the depth of her despair.

Both Da Rim's family and Gang Ju's family have different struggles that sometimes overlap in fortuitous but sometimes alarming ways. Both Gang Ju and Da Rim also have others interested in them, including friends Cha Tae Woong (Choi Tae Joon, Sensory Couple, Exit, Padam Padam) and Lee Cha Rim (Yang Hye Ji, I'll Go To You When The Weather Is Nice, Wonderful World).





 
Then one day Da Rim's family learns that she can possibly regain her vision with an expensive new injection / surgery, but it's a medical procedure that they could never afford while running their small, modest laundry business, which has had its ups and downs over the years (mostly downs). The family even starts playing the lottery, hoping that they can win enough money to pay for this new treatment for blindness.



Then the family gets into even more trouble when they come across a large amount of money that they could possibly steal without being caught. Mom would do anything for her blind daughter, even steal if necessary, even if it meant jail time for herself. Around the same time her grandmother Gil Rye finds something interesting in the hills while picking wild herbs. She does research on it. Could this strange ingredient be something that might inexplicably permit Da Rim to see the world again?




Once again Da Rim and Gang Ju meet up -- and on the same cross-street they met on years earlier! Gang Ju is shocked to see her; he has never been able to forget her. Despite everything working against them will they have a second chance at love, and will it ultimately be successful? Will Da Rim ever recover her eyesight? 



Fair warning: I'm leaving a lot of plot details out of my description, mainly because if I were to explain everything that happens in this story, all the incredibly wild twists and turns, I'd be writing a mini-novel and not a one-page review! LOL Besides, I don't like to give out a lot of spoilers. It's much better for you to experience them, discover them for yourselves. Despite all the melodramatic angst involved in this story I still found myself a bit amused by many of the characters at times and that helped keep me watching this.

If you'd like to delve into this fascinating, well acted, but admittedly very long family melodrama you can jump in and watch it on Viki at THIS LINK. Currently it does require a Plus plan but I've been paying that for seventeen years so it feels like a necessary cost to me, truly dedicated Korean Drama Fan that I am. :)

Find a comfy sofa or settle into your bed and start your journey, or as one K-drama fan wrote on Viki, "These Korean dramas are my 'safe spaces' every day!". Enjoy this safe space, just be aware it's decorated with some truly bizarre eclectic furnishings! :)

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