Mother
Time slot: Wednesday & Thursday
Broadcaster: tvN
Genre: Melodrama
Episode count: 16
Reasons to watch: This has well-made drama written all over it. Lee Bo-young is starring, PD Kim Chul-kyu of the sharply directed Chicago Typewriter and On the Way to the Airport (also My Beautiful Bride and Hwang Jin-yi among his older works) is at the helm, and screenwriter Jung Seo-kyung of The Handmaiden, The Truth Beneath, and Thirst is making her drama debut with this project. That sets the bar pretty high, so the only question is whether I’ll be in the right mood to watch it.
Mother is a remake of the 2010 Japanese drama of the same name, about a teacher who discovers that a young girl is being abused by her mother at home. On an impulse, she decides to kidnap the child and run away, and they form a beautiful mother-daughter bond—an unusual premise, but a fascinating one. The drama explores blood ties, found families, the problematic morality of the teacher’s choice, and mother-daughter relationships of all kinds. It certainly doesn’t sound like a breezy watch, but I expect to be moved by the human drama, and brought to tears by Lee Bo-young. And probably get my heart ripped out by the little girl. Gah, can I handle this?