Wow, that’s a quick return to dramaland, especially given that the gap between Lee Bo-young’s last two projects God’s Gift–14 Days and Whisper was 3 years. Not that I’m complaining, because I think her role as the titular Mother in tvN’s upcoming remake of the Japanese drama is perfect for her. I actually thought that this project was dead in the water because we hadn’t heard of any developments since last October when reports first announced that Lee Bo-young was offered the lead role, so I’m happy to hear that tvN is moving forward with the show, and that she has confirmed the project.
In contrast to its pretty benign title, the plot sounds really tragic and heartrending: An elementary school teacher notices that one of her female students is being abused at home, and impulsively kidnaps her in the hopes of giving her a better life. Obviously, I don’t condone kidnapping, but I can’t help but empathize with that impulse, and I guess the emotional dilemma both for the characters and the viewers is the morality of choosing between inaction and action by way of illegal means. Oh dear, I just read a one-sentence plot description and I’m already feeling invested; I’m gonna be a total mess when it actually airs. But in a good way. I’m really looking forward to who they cast as the little girl Lee Bo-young kidnaps, because it’ll be their rapport that gives the show its emotional weight.
No news on the director attached to the remake, but reports last October named film screenwriter Jung Seo-kyung as the main writer for the drama. Her credits include The Handmaiden and Thirst, and while I haven’t seen The Handmaiden, I remember Thirst as being pretty dark, with a dose of even darker humor that made it really eerie and disturbing, so I’ll be interested to see what tone she brings to tvN’s Mother.
Thankfully, there’ll be some time for Lee Bo-young to rest after Whisper. Filming for Mother isn’t due to start until October, tentatively, and from the sounds of it, the show still needs to sign on a director and the rest of the cast. This probably puts the show’s premiere very late in the year or sometime in early 2018. In the meantime, I’m going to pray to the drama gods that this drama won’t pull a repeat of the last time Lee Bo-young played a mother desperate to save her daughter—or at least how it ended.