Flawed as it was, Green Mothers' Club will keep you on edge of your chair
Originality and ambition are two words that sum up the experience the drama makes you feel. It is original because it deals with social issues in a very explicit way that you don't see so much in other dramas, and ambitious because, in the end, the drama tries to get at a lot of angles that really don't make much sense.First and foremost, when it comes to this kind of drama, we must make a pact with the show to let ourselves be carried away and not use reason to verify if what happens is realistic or not; at a certain point, the drama only seeks to entertain without taking into account the veracity of what is shown. As viewers, we should not value the degree of plausibility of the facts, but the degree of entertainment it offers. Actually, this is not very different from dramas like Sky Castle, Penthouse, or Avengers Social Club, and all of them share the trait of putting the "wow factor" above everything else.
That being said, from the first moment the drama caught my attention, and from the first chapter, I couldn't stop watching it. The plots are very complex, which makes you get addicted to them at the beginning, although at the end they don't conclude in a clear way which leaves some holes; but, really, who cares? While the script could have been better, the acting was outstanding. From more experienced actresses in such roles as Lee Yo Won to the children, the acting skills of the whole cast definitely made up for the plot holes.
I found the story original in its initial formula. Mothers compete with each other through the education of their children. The mother whose children get more recognition in their education will be the most popular mother. Of course, every parent wants to be above the rest regardless of the mental health of the children, which arises problems between different families, but also inside the same families. Up to this point, the drama presents an original story. However, the plot is surrounded by false friendships, back-stabbing, stalking, drugs and even murder.
Flawed as it was, Green Mothers' Club will keep you on edge of your chair, that is for sure. The story is addictive and the acting is one of a kind. Give it a try!! you can always drop it if you don't like it, but such a good drama deserves a chance.
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Not good, not bad.
Produced by JTBC Studios & Megaphone, "Green Mothers' Club (그린마더스클럽) [2022]" is a mild makjang Kdrama putting particular emphasis on parenting, education of kids and friendship between mothers. Written by Shin Yi Won and directed by Ra Ha Na, the show was also aired on Netflix.This will be a simple review.
The story follows five mothers, residing in the same neighborhood, and the growth in their motherhood in the course of time through thick and thins, learning and unlearning as well as adapting and rejecting, ideas, notions and behaviours, while they strive to deal with the concerning problems about their own. It also depicts the establishment and development of friendship between mothers as they attempt to tackle issues surrounding them and their kids.
# Lee Eun Pyo (Lee Yo Won), a mother to 2 little boys, is a self-confident woman and a loving person, who believes in relaxed education for kids and always puts emphasis on how it's important to help children grow to become good human beings rather than making them academic robots. She's personal flaws though which is irritating.
# Byun Chun Hui (Choo Ja Hyun), a mother to a boy & a girl, is a highly ambitious woman yet under-confident, who has contradictory beliefs to Eunpyo and can go to great extents when it comes to make her kids reach the top of the race.
# Seo Jin Ha (Kim Gyu Ri), a mother to a boy, is an highly esteemed artist, yet struggles to deal with her own mental health and is greatly emotional & expressive.
# Kim Young Mi (Jang Hye Jin), a mother to a girl and a boy, is a propagator of anti-capitalistic & advanced education methods and have the ability of self-control.
# Park Eun Ju (Joo Min Kyung), a mother to a girl, is an easygoing lady who loves her family so much and can be easily manipulated by others.
Provided that the drama revolves around the child actors to a huge extent and the fact that all of them, casted in the show, have done a tremendous job in carrying out their roles, I believe they needs to be mentioned as well...
# Jung Dong Seok (Jung Shi Yool) and Jung Dong Ju (Lee Chae Hyun): Eunpyo
# Kim Yu Bin (Joo Ye Rim) and Kim Young Bin (Kim Seo Jun): Chunhui
# Henry (Shin Seo Woo): Jinha
# Sae Bom (Jeon Yu Na) and Jul Pin (Ahn Seok Hyun): Young Mi
# Lee Su In (Park Ye Rin): Eunju
On that note, I think I should mention the husbands as well, haha....
# Jung Jae Woong (Choi Jae Ram): Eunpyo. He's the best and cleanest character of all.
# Kim Joo Seok (Choi Deok Moon): Chunhui
# Louis Bunuel (Roy): Jinha
# Oh Geon Woo (Im Su Hyung): Youngmi
# Lee Man Su (Yoon Gyung Ho): Eunju
Plot development is quite a goal (for 12 episodes); def something to look forward to. While giving the impression that the writer doesn't really indulges to a single plot element, it throws light upon several things, from family to friendship, child mental health to education system and murder to mystery; it sums up everything in a decent way. Pilot episodes were good enough to expect from the show, and so is the furtherance throughout. At every twist it felt like they're gonna exaggerate the plot, they come up with another interesting element to keep you hooked; never ran outta context. The last 4 episodes did feel a lil dragging in terms of the mystery plot, but I don't think it affects the overall quality much. Coming to my personal thoughts, the show was till 12th, then the plot became a lil choppy in 13th & 14th and finally the 15th and 16th episodes somehow went wary, even so it wasn't obvious. Whatever disappointment actually comes in the 15th ep was from the 2 main ladies of the show, rather than the overall plot; their ways of dealing with the consequences, it was stupid and funny, really. Nevertheless, the 16th episode recovered the damage to a level and the ending sequence of 20 minutes was satisfactory.
Shin Yi Won jakkanim being a debutant have been able to pull off a decent and well composed script with a handful number of flaws. I am in fact happy that the story is not entirely a makjang story, rather a melodrama with both makjang and slice-of-life elements. The plot development is beyond likable and definitely makes you look forward. The pacing is perfect, with momentary rushing/obtuse, here and there, which is manageable. I suggest you look forward to the character arcs and their development, bcs it's both simple and intricate at times and reflect reality, that has been executed by natural means. The only problem with the writing from the writer's pov was the final character assessment, where the writer decides to make the characters do stupid things.
Even though Ra Ha Na PDnim debuts through this drama, seems like they've (they/them/theirs) gathered amazing amount of experience during her previous jobs. Directing a drama special, a webdrama and assisting a full length cable drama, they have taken their fair amount of time to work on their skills. The screenplay management, the scenario establishment, the screen editing tasks, the sound production, the cinematography and the overall execution has been well taken care of. The modern urban setup with both vivid and light hues or variable pallettes were able to serve the demanded essence.
There are 5 OSTs in total which are not noteworthy though addicting. "Happiness" by Nakkyeum is a jolly song which portrays the desire to have good days ahead. "Moonlight Mother" by Jang Pil Soon is an ode to motherhood that shapes in various forms, with the soulful rendition of the artist. "What If" by Jung In is a melancholic reminiscence of alternative possibilities. "Ivory" by Jemma depicts the conflict with your own as well as with others. "A Song For You" by SAya is a track for friendship or soulmates. Other than the tracks, the background music as well the opening theme credit are beautifully composed.
What I liked...
# The plot development is amazing, with each of it's major elements in perfect proportions, that too addressing them at appropriate time. I am happy that it was not a complete makjang which also chose to emphasize on education and friendship to a great deal. I admit the last 4 episodes could have been better but I personally don't think it was ruined or something.
# The natural human instincts, changes in mind, ups & downs in friendships as well as mental health issues including the side-effects of distorted mentality, etc. have been meticulously and explicitly portrayed through variety of human behaviours.
# The particular representation of mental health issues concerning children, is another reason you should be looking forward to. Putting pressure on those blooming minds and making them go beyond their limits by forcing them to overdo can lead to grave situations, and the drama stands out as an alarmist.
# Unveiling of mystery plot isn't really very impressive of sort but it surely takes you to edge during it's peaks, which is more than two dozens in the show. I love how things were still mysterious even for the finale.
# GMC indeed shows you several sides of parenting methods as well as the pros & cons of them. Parents attempting to fulfill their own dreams through their children, leading children along shoddy roads through their actions & reactions and overprotecting, could be creating a path of disaster, no matter the amount of love they pour. You get to witness, the failure of both the protagonists and antagonists as parents and everything boiled down to what the show actually allows you to take home away.
# Friendship in Kdramas aren't new but with each drama, we get to see an unique growth and bonding. So was the case here and the most valuable one was between Eun Pyo & Chun hee, which was based on their thoughts and action as mothers of their children. Look forward to it.
# The distorted education system, the way it shapes parenting and it's effect on the children have been well drawn and felt real.
# The character development on the parts of the main adult and child characters was enjoyable since the respective growths were contributed from various factors that are experienced by us in real, from a close proximity. The last 2 episodes, however, ethically ruins the main characters a bit but thankfully the writer recovered them.
What I didn't like...there isn't much, really...
# The dragging towards the ending, though subtle, was a lil annoying yet bearable. The final delivery from the characters was annoying and disgusting per se.
# I would have loved Jinha to have more screentime for 2 reasons: firstly, Kim Gyu Ri is a fabulous actrees and was able to carry out the role stupendously, exhibiting in herself and evoking in the viewers, the accurate emotions and, secondly the character had so much scope to regulate the story itself; I admit the writer could be correct in drawing the fates in her own accord, it's just I was expecting better.
# Similarly, I was really disappointed with Jang Hye Jin having very limited screentime in comparison to other major characters. Kim Young Mi definitely was the main role in her own world, who also played the most important part in unveiling one of the key facts, but the inconsistencies in her appearance throughout the show is what irked me the most.
Final Remarks... Overally, a good show with well developed storyline, amazingly directed and executed, which had a decent outcome. Would love to recommend others. My initial experiences with the drama would rate it 8.0 but with the progress and finale I would retain at 7.5. Even so I won't really discredit the efforts entirely bcs the overall thing isn't exactly bad. I believe it's absurd to reject something based on the final experiences, so yeah!
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A really mixed bag
Neither the title referring to the green jackets worn when volunteering for the school, nor the poster showing a group of 5 women around age 40, reflect the series, which is more of a thing developing as it goes. Per se that is not bad as life is like that.These are imperfect people, with very few characters emerging from the mess, ... again mimicking life.
We get to see rich people, middle class folks, people with debts in terms of money, earlier experiences and other forms of debt. Again, such is life.
The "sin" of the writer is that she could have done a better job at directing the viewers (e.g., all the stuff about the education of the kids is just abandoned somewhere in the middle of the series), which as per some comments, felt that they had seen different genres, different series all blended. Failure to do so renders the job of the writer redundant. Personally I have a huge problem with the coincidence of having so many people presented as neighbors and sharing a past.
Kudos regarding one detail: the step brother and sister adopted in France came respectively from Korea and China, and that is exactly what happens in the world of adoptions: Korea tended to allow for the foreign adoption of boys, while China tended to allow for the foreign adoption of girls. The French used by both is however really disgusting and cannot reflect the respective adoptions.
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Not for everyone, you might like this if...
A group of mothers from a privileged neighborhood come together around their elementary children's schooling, but each of them have insecurities in their past and present lives. First and foremost, Green Mother's Club is pretty much a soap opera which has all the dramatic tropes, like false friendships, back-stabbing, stalking, drugs and murder. If you are fans of k-drama train wrecks, you would be entertained with this as the set up are quite intriguing right from the get-go. But if you're looking for a logical and realistic story, probably you would not get any emotional attachment to the characters as the series progresses.The highlights of this story is definitely on the mothers instead of the children trying to do their best at school, which sounds similar to SKY Castle. All these mothers are deeply unhappy with themselves, and they have to address their issues in order to heal and be able to do their roles as mothers. The way show is portraying these mother are deeply humane and touching, and gave a lot of hearts to the show. The fathers are not doing much to contribute towards their children’s academic life. They are quite passive in their homes, but they're very kind-hearted. At the end, feel too ambitious to insert too many things too late, which leaves me rolling my eyes. While the script could have been better, the acting was great. From more experienced actresses in such roles as Lee Yo Won to the children, Choi Kwang Rok and his tri-lingual skills (Korean, French, English). The overall directing and editing is fine, it isn't trying to be artistic. It is presenting the characters in the story and in a really crisp way, which is good that it doesn't overpower any of the other aspects of the show.
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Too long and too slow
Where do I begin?1. The story was too long and too slow. This should've been completed in 10 episodes
2. Some of the actors irritated the living daylights out of me.
Never, ever, ever have I DISLIKED A LEAD ACTRESS, the way i did in this drama. Let me count the ways Eun Pyo really grated on my nerves:
1. SHE WAS AN ABSOLUTE DOORMAT! No backbone whatsoever. GOODNESS I wanted to get into the drama and beat the living daylights out of her.
2. She was an obsessive individual with no sense of self worth. Obsessed with her ex boyfriend and then obsessed with taking the guilt of her ex friend's passing, In that she forgot that she was a married woman with two kids. Sure you got dumped, but focus on your family FFS!
3. She was a people pleaser
4. She was disloyal to her husband who loved her
5. A holier than thou individual
6. No sense of right and wrong- expecially in dealing with her husband and Chun Hui
7. The way she spoke in THE ENTIRE DRAMA made me grind my teeth in annoyance. She literally spoke ONE WORD A SECOND. Do you know how slow that it? Excrutiating!!
8. The way she figuratively went on her knees when speaking to her former abusive employer. Like he was a god or something.
9. The way she WAS ALWAYS SUBSERVIENT with those in higher positions
10. The way she never defended herself when accusations were being thrown at her
There're more instances but i don't want to make this about this stupid role. I don't think ill be watching anything else of hers.
Now back to the story. A good storyline, but was too long. The portrayal of women in this drama was so bad. They spend most of their lives either being bullies against other women (it is Korea after all), they spend most of their time gossiping, with no interest in the truth, they're liars, jealous, envious, pushy mothers on their kids just for them to be better than the other mothers, faithless, shallow.
It was too long an dragged out.
5/10
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Sky Castle but with younger kids
If you like Sky castle, you will like this show. Pretty much about the same even each character and kids have the similarity. Heck including the plot!!. The stars of the show is the kids. I think it's worth to watch just to appreciate and support these young talents. Korean child actors/actresses are WAY WAYYY better than the Chinese ones. They can cry, I have yet to see Chinese child stars that manage to shed real tears and weep . The pair of the kids with the parents are good too, They somewhat resemble each other especially the kid that play Henry. They look like they belong in one family.Was this review helpful to you?
Green Mothers
At first sight, you might think this drama was about the mothers and children in this community, but the mystery tag was there for a reason. This drama was kind of a mess; it tried to pack in a lot of themes and tropes you often find in female centered plots but failed to do any of them right and brushed off each one shortly after. The plot was equally disorganized and messy; it started with the ghosts from the past, the community of mothers and the tension with Jin Ha, then shifted to the female lead's prodigy kid, then turned into a murder mystery "whodunit," then moved on to some side stories, and then returned to the murder mystery with crimes and drugs. What even was that? I'm not sure what is the correlation between female centered plots and displaying all men in a negative light; this drama was no exception. If their intent was to give a highlight with social commentary, then it's obviously not a good way to do it.Was this review helpful to you?
Good Enough
Korean Drama "Green Mothers' Club" is a basic drama about the battle between two mothers. It also involves some mystery about one of the mothers and her unfortunate death.The dynamics between the two main leads were smooth and intense and they were just right to have the story moving forward. However, the main mystery, though thrilling at first, was a letdown in the end and got boring quickly. The school politics were just okay, though the story of Eunpyo and her son was well managed.
As for the performances, they were all pretty great, though some characters could have been handled differently.
So, overall, seven out of ten.
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Dense, human and complex
Presenting the ambition of mothers in raising their children, the drama brings reflections that go beyond the theme. Following a cunning but inferiority complex protagonist, the show exposes human nature that is volatile and dense with its emotions. A jumble of complex emotions felt by dense, human characters. Green Mother Club takes the risk of bringing real characters into a recurring theme, although it lacks a somewhat fetched resolution. His great success is the moral dilemmas that are only understood through the viewer's empathy with the character. It is a drama that risks, excites, causes confusion and reflection. A show of motherhood in a superlative state.Was this review helpful to you?
Really looking forward to it at first, but got disappointed middle way because of how the drama unfolded the way I was not expecting it to be.
Still it’s one of the few kdramas that I wait for the release every week. It was more likely like a slow ride that I was surprised with the turn of events up until the ending. Though I had my disappointments, I still think this drama is worth the watch.
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Eh, not that great
Nothing too crazy about this one. It's not great, but also not bad.The acting was top notch as always and the cinematography was pretty decent aswell. The story was rather dramatic and sometimes a bit fuxked, but ultimately nothing to write home about. There are also a few plotholes but nothing too major. I'm sure if I was a mom I would've related more to the story.
So yeah, if you're a bored housewife this'll probably be the best thing you've ever watched, but if not go watch something else.
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