Iron Family 다리미 패밀리
KBS2 (Sept. 2024 - Jan. 2025) 36 Episodes
Family Melodrama (Mature Audiences)
Grade: A
Korean Drama Review by Jill, USA
~~~~~~~~~~~~
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!
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! :)