Leading up to the premiere of “Family by Choice” I kept reading people’s fears that it would never match up to the 2020 Chinese original, “Go Ahead,” but also that so many people were excited to finally have actor Hwang In Youp back on their TV screens after a two year hiatus (I was in this particular camp).
“Family by Choice” revolves the serious Kim San-ha (the aforementioned Hwang In Youp), exuberant Yoon Ju-won (Jung Chae Yeon), and adorable but emotional Kang Hae-jun (Bae Hyun Sung), three people who despite being unrelated by blood, become part of a tight-knit found family during their childhoods. They are raised by Ju-won’s father, Yoon Jeong-jae, and San-ha’s father, Kim Dae-wook, who due to circumstances are friends united by the goal to raise the three children together. During their teen years, San-ha and Hae-jun move away, leaving Ju-won and the two fathers behind. Ten years later the three siblings reunite, and begin to forge ahead with their relationships in both old and new ways.
The cast for this show was fantastic all across the board. Hwang In Youp, who practically created the Second Male Lead Syndrome thanks to his role as Han Seo-jun in 2020’s “True Beauty”, does a great job portraying the serious and stoic San-ha who secretly harbors romantic feelings for Ju-won. Jung Chae Yeon had big shoes to fill in her portrayal of the bright and shiny Ju-won (Tan Songyun was her sunny counterpart in the Chinese version and was perfectly cast). Despite those big shoes, Jung was able to reflect the cheeriness required for the role while also showcasing a bit more maturity than the character in the Chinese original. This was my first exposure to Bae Hyun Sung, and my goodness, was he excellent in this show. While this was airing I also watched the second season of Netflix’s thriller, “Gyeongseong Creature” and it took me more than a few minutes to realize that the villain in that season was the same person!
The rest of the cast was also amazing. Choi Won Young portrayed Ju-won’s father and he has become one of my favorite older Kdrama actors. He has been in such shows as Hwarang (a role for which he won an acting award), “SKY Castle,” and “Twinkling Watermelon” – just to name a few. He is so, so good and when I see him pop up on my screen I smile. Actress Kim Hye Eun portrayed San-ha’s despicably abusive mother so well that at some point I feared this role may effect her ability to be accepted in friendly roles going forward.
But the notable supporting cast member I need to speak about is none other than Oh Eun Seo, the precious young actress who has popped up on several popular dramas over the past few years and is making a name for herself. Despite being only 7 years old, she may be the hardest working actress in kdramas right now, considering her acting profile shows no less than seven projects coming out in 2024, including Love Next Door, Amazon’s Marry My Husband, and Netflix’s “Frankly Speaking.” As the young Ju-won during the early episodes of “Family By Choice” she was radiantly effervescent on screen, and a pleasure to watch. She should have a long, illustrious career ahead of her and I can’t wait to watch it unfold.
But enough about the cast! Let’s talk about the show itself! The show begins by introducing us to all of our characters and their backstories. San-Ha has a tragic past due to the death of his younger sister, for which his mother puts all her blame on him. The result is that her bitterness at losing her daughter causes her to emotionally distance herself from the young son who is desperate to “fix” her sadness by being perfect and dutiful in the extreme. Hae-jun’s mother abandons her son into the care of Ju-won’s father, causing him to fear abandonment and the idea of being left behind and having no real family. In the meantime, Ju-won, whose own mother died, latches onto her newfound “brothers” and her father in an attempt to have the complete family she always craved.
As young adults, San-ha moves to Seoul to live with his cruel mother out of a sense of obligation, Hae-jun moves to America with his real father only to realize his “real” family is back in Korea but feels like he can’t go back. And left behind is Ju-won who grows dissatisfied as her relationship with her brothers grows distant and fragile over time, to the point of near non-existence. And yet as they all near 30 years old they are suddenly brought back together. San-ha returns to proclaim his love for Ju-won, and Hae-jun returns with money he’s earned while in America in an attempt to re-pay the found father who he believes sacrificed so much to raise him, thinking that money is the only way he can make that time feel less burdensome to Ju-won’s father.
And this is when the story excels. When the family comes back together, now all adults, the deep conversations and emotions begin to take over the story. Yes, at the heart of it is the love story between San-ha and Ju-won (which is handled well for the most part but could have benefitted from a couple extra episodes to really showcase their reconnection), but for me the real protagonists of this show were Ju-won’s father, Jung-jae and Hae-jun. Every scene Jung-jae had with his children – especially the sons – was powerfully felt and earnestly delivered. Jung-jae’s expresses sadness (and fear) when Hae-jun hints he may leave with his father for America. He expresses fear (and sadness) when San-ha and Ju-won confess to him about their relationship – fear that if they break up he will lose a son he cherishes.
The sticky wicket in the story comes in the same form: the mothers. San-ha’s mother is a vengeful woman who sows only guilt and fury when around her surviving son, and spends the entire 10 years he’s with her in Seoul hurling misery in his direction. On the other hand, Hae-jun’s mother, who had noble reasons for abandoning her son to Jung-jae’s care, mourns the loss from a distance even as she attempts to covertly watches her son live his life. His devastating discovery that she has been nearby but never made contact was heartbreaking to watch. The show is billed as being mostly about San-ha and Ju-won’s romance, but for me the trajectory of Hae-jun’s story along with Jung-jae’s unending love for his children was what kept me tuning in every week.
In the end, this family drama with a touch of romance is the perfect lesson for finding your place, finding your path, and ultimately finding your family. And the ending scenes in the final episode are perfect.
My rating: 3.7 out of 5.0 stars
