Wonderful Mama ~ Have a Happy Mother’s Day!
“Wonderful Mama” is a 2013 Korean drama series, with 48 episodes, categorized as Romance, Comedy, and Family; streaming on KOCOWA+ and Viki.
SUMMARY: A mother finds out that she has Alzheimer’s, but does not want to tell her children. Instead, she wants them to become responsible adults who can take care of themselves, without her. Even though they are already adults, they’ve been depending on their wonderful mama to do everything for them.
♦ It’s Raining Money!
“Wonderful Mama” begins with Yoon Bok-Hee on the roof of a building. Anybody looking at her would think that she’s contemplating suicide and plans to jump. Instead, she takes money out of a box and starts throwing it down for anybody who happens to be walking by to pick up. It’s raining money, and everybody is scrambling to grab as many bills as they can. Is she insane? Well! Let’s see how she got to this point.
Yoon Bok-Hee is very rich NOW. But she didn’t always have a lot of money. There was a time when life was hard for her. She was a woman alone struggling to care for three children: Ko Young-Chae, her daughter, and her two sons, Ko Young-Soo and Ko Young-Joon. Yoon Bok-Hee became a successful moneylender, and people nicknamed her the Dragon Lady. What people said about her and the names they called her did not matter. She was a single mother raising three (3) kids with no help from anyone and she poured everything she had into her loan shark business and making sure her children never wanted anything.
The problem is that Yoon Bok-Hee did not raise her kids to be independent. They’re spoiled. Now that they are adults, she describes them as being possessed by spirits.
The daughter, Ko Young-Chae, is possessed by a luxury-item-loving spirit. All she does is shop for luxury merchandise. It’s not unusual to see with 10 shopping bags in her hands any day of the week!
Ko Young-Soo is possessed by a pushover spirit. He is clueless, and people are always taking advantage of him and taking his money, or rather, his mother’s money. They convince him to invest in a project that has no chance of success, and he loses all of the money. Does he learn from his mistakes? NO!
Ko Young-Joon is possessed by a womanizer spirit. He’s young, handsome, and his mom gave him a credit card, and he spends freely. Women require money!
The doctor diagnosed Yoon Bok-Hee with early-onset Alzheimer’s. This disease is degenerative, and it interferes with every aspect of her daily life – from running her business to looking after her children. She is already showing the signs, but she does not want her children to know about her illness. However, realizing that her adult children will need to grow up and learn how to take care of themselves, she begins to slowly remove the “safety net” she has always provided for them. The kids have grown accustomed to having everything they heart desire. They probably never even imagined life without their wonderful mama.
Main Characters:
- Yoon Bok-Hee (played by Bae Jong-Ok, “Kingmaker”, “The Chase”, “Black Out”, “Dare to Love Me”, “Secret Royal Inspector & Joy”, “Mr. Queen”, “Designated Survivor: 60 Days”, “Elegant Family”, “Longing for You”)
- (Daughter) Ko Young-Chae (played by Jung Yu-Mi, “Queen Woo”, “Celebrity”, “Partners for Justice 1 and 2”, “Rooftop Prince” )
- (Son) Ko Young-Soo (played by Kim Ji-Suk, “The Slave Hunters (Chuno)”)
- (Son) Ko Young-Joon (played by Park Bo-Gum, “Wonderland”, “Seobok”, “Love in the Moonlight”, “Blind”, “When Life Gives You Tangerines”, “Reply 1988”)
Viewership and Rating:
My personal rating is the same as the Viki viewing audience.
Mother’s Day is celebrated every year on the second Sunday in May in the United States.
I picked “Wonderful Mama” to watch because I thought it was fitting. Happy Mother’s Day to all the wonderful moms around the world!
LINKS OF INTEREST:
Another weekend drama ‘Wonderful Mama’ | The Drama Corner
Wonderful Mama 🙂 | theKreviewer
[Kdrama] ‘Wonderful Mama’ episode 1 ~ review/recap/opinion ~ | Four Seasons Dramas!
Wonderful Mama Korean Drama Review 2013 | Asian Movies & Dramas
TRAILER/TEASER:
MNCVisionID. “TRAILER WONDERFUL MAMA One Channel Indovision.” YouTube, 12 Dec. 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-9haPqr5ic.
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