Kwam Song Jum See Jang (2020)

TL;DR - A light-hearted, feel good lakorn. It does have its dark moments, but it makes the good moments even better. A very good story and fleshed-out cast with a nice romance between the leads, although the female lead is kind of passive. Recommend to watch if you want something comfortable. 

I'm probably in the minority when I say that I enjoyed watching this; I didn't have much expectations when I started, and was more in it for Toey (male lead) but this managed to surprisingly knock my socks off in more ways than one. This style of lakorn reminded me of those Korean weekend family dramas (that I used to enjoy watching), but not so makjang and not quite as long. I will start off with what I liked.

Firstly, the story was really strong and the pacing was good. Things didn't drag more than it needed to, and at first glance the story looked simple, but it had a lot of twists that I didn't expect. This drama also got surprisingly dark at times, despite how idealistic it was. It was easy for me to follow and immerse myself, and I never felt the urge to fast forward. Key plot points were revealed in a low-key, mature manner with not much drama; something that I greatly appreciated, but did have some faults with (I'll explain later). I liked how they played with the theme of family, and how it was more than just bloodlines. What helped make the story so good was because it had a great cast of characters that made me care for and want to root for them.

I liked the two main leads quite a lot, but I also equally liked the secondary cast just as much. They felt like real people with their own dreams and motivations, and even with the bad characters you could understand why they did what they did. There was complexity in their characters and the relationships they had with each other that made me feel like they were more than tools for plot. In particular, I really liked the character of Narin and his growth (although I think he got away a bit too easily despite what he did) and the development of the love line between Chom and Pat. I think this is the first time I was invested in the secondary love line, as I usually tend to ignore them in favour of the OTP. They had the kind of relationship where she didn't trust him and he was always trying to convince her she could (which I don't like), but what sold it for me was how he realized soon enough that no matter what he did, she wouldn't trust him and he thought it was better for her to meet someone else. Then it got her to realize she was being too hard on him, and she spends most of the drama trying to get him back. This was not something I expected and it impressed me greatly.

MVP of this drama is Rita's dad haha. Although I wasn't a fan of the actor's line delivery, he was the most compassionate, level-headed and reasonable character of them all, and knew when to cut through the crap. Phu's dad gets an honourable mention. I felt like both their wives didn't deserve them, although the wives do have redemption arcs of their own that made them better. 
I also really liked the romance of our leads, Phu and Pang. The start was a little off, but I have to say this was one of the most mature, healthiest relationships I've seen in a while. They communicate properly with each other (for the most part) and when one has issues, they talk to each other about it and go through it as a team. It helped that Phu is one of the nicest, gentleman-like male leads I've seen, and one of his greatest characteristics is that he always does the right thing even if it may hurt himself or others. I thought the way he dealt with the revelation between him and Pang was really admirable and selfless, and was refreshing compared to the male leads I usually watch. 

Now for some cons; as much as I appreciated how low-key this drama was, I also thought it was to a bit of detriment; there were some key moments where I felt the bells and whistles of dramatic effect could elevate it greatly. Instead of making me feel wowed, I just thought "huh okay this is happening" (very anticlimactic). I also thought things got a bit ridiculous near the end; I hated how they dealt with Grandma Thongbai and Phu around this point. It was too much and caught me off guard. I also think that Phu and Pang were too forgiving to the ones who hurt them, and it kinda sucked to see Pang not fight for herself when she should've (taking the moral high ground is a good thing, but not satisfying as a viewer). I also thought Pang was quite passive in her relationship with Phu; Phu was always the one confronting their problems while Pang chose to run away from them. He fought hard for them but she didn't do as much, which I wasn't a fan of. 

I really like one of the theme songs and have it on my playlist. Overall despite my misgivings, I thought this was a solid lakorn with a great cast and well thought out story. Not sure I'd re-watch since I know all the plot points. This is more of a comfortable and convenient type of drama, so if you are a slap/kiss fan then you probably won't like this. But if you like those light-hearted, feel good dramas then I encourage you to give this one a go. 

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