[Drama 2014] Mama 마마

[mudaepo]

@TRAN Haha, you overestimate me. My remark on the name Han Seung Hee has nothing do with the meaning of the name, and everything to do with with a crappy drama that ended recently and had a female lead with the same name.

I feel like I'm saying this for every show I watch, but damn, I hate lying previews! Preview for episode 2 showed Seo Ji Eun's house being confiscated and Moon Tae Joo finding out the truth and blaming her.
Well, technically speaking I guess the preview didn't lie since that happened in episode 2. Except it happened in a dream, so points for messing with the audience, MBC!
Which is why when Han Seung Hee asks Seo Ji Eun to become her son's mother, I can't help but wonder if this is just HSH's imagination and MBC messing with us again.

HSH's plan to entrust her son Keu Roo to SJE and MTJ isn't going so well. She was expecting to have Keu Roo join the perfect family, but she just found out that appearances can be deceiving.
@valsava I think you're judging SJE too harshly. The money she spent wasn't spent on her. She spent it for her daughter's education or her in-laws.  Even living in their expensive neighbourhood is ultimately to make sure that her daughter goes to a great school participate in study groups with other kids from well-off families.
She keeps up the appearances with her "friends" because she has to, but she's not living the good life. She looks like she has been working for a long time as her sister-in-law's maid.
Of course, that doesn't justify trying to hide that debt from her husband and going to loan sharks to solve the problems. But I still feel sympathetic for her predicament.

In this episode, HSH became SJE life-saviour when she paid all of her debts. HSH has a very difficult personality, she doesn't have any friends and doesn't get along with her son. It seems like SJE is a perfect match to become her friend. Only someone as patient and as grateful as SJE can handle HSH.

I find the scenes with the kids very uncomfortable to watch. I know it's a korean drama and all, but can we establish an age limit for incest please?
Relationships between kids experiencing their first love are supposed to be cute, But when you know the kids are half-siblings, it is not cute at all, just creepy.

[valsava]

@mudaepo,  Hello are you gracing us with your presents in this thread also good nice to have my morning drama buddies in some evening threads.. Looking forward to spazzing moms with you and the other commentators here you too andy78.. LOL
On to what your comment you said:   @valsava I think you're judging SJE too harshly. The money she spent wasn't spent on her. She spent it for her daughter's education or her in-laws.  Even living in their expensive neighbourhood is ultimately to make sure that her daughter goes to a great school participate in study groups with other kids from well-off families. 
She keeps up the appearances with her "friends" because she has to, but she's not living the good life. She looks like she has been working for a long time as her sister-in-law's maid.

I don't think this is and excuse she could live in a crappy neighborhood and still send her daughter to those elite schools what poor kids don't have study group some poor kids are smarter then the ones that go to these elite schools and be #1 in the country I see there situation is not helping her daughter but creating a big problem for her because if there financial status even though her child could be the smartest among those rich kids but her being poor will put her at a disadvantage so she not helping in my opinion she harming.. Anyway they all attend elite college if they have the grades.. To me what she's doing is a waste the girl is what in middle school she's not even in highschool and throwing away money like that.. What happens if all this money is spent and the child don't even want to attend college.. It wasn't about her daughters education it was about her wanting to live rich 

[Lunkera]

I missed the broadcasts for this week unfortunely. I will most likely tune in for next weekend, @valsava @mudaepo we will see each other in the Only Love thread on weekdays

[mudaepo]

@valsava @Lunkera Hehe, it's is nice to see familiar faces. :-h

I do agree that this situation is ridiculous. But this is the way the education system works in South Korea.
Some parents don't not really care about their children's education, but some care far too much. People move neighbourhoods so that their kids can attend better schools, others stay in Korea to work while sending the rest of their family in US or Australia, just so the kids can improve their english.
It's a topic that is studied in a few dramas, like A Wife's Credentials.
Education doesn't stop at the school, children go to hagwons (cram schools) in the evenings, or their parents pay very expensive tutors. That's the case with SJE who got in debt by spending her money on tutors for her daughter's study group. For some reason, the volunteer work we saw her do in episode 1 was all in order to give her daughter credits at school. It sounds crazy when you're not korean, but it's a reality there.

You have a better chance to join the best college if you come from the best high school. You have a better chance to join the best high school if you come from the best middle school. You have a better chance to join the best middle school if you come from the best primary school. And what better way to prepare entrance exams than to hire a private tutor who is a professionnal whose only job is preparing students for exams.
The competition starts very young for some korean students.

If SJE appears to be ruined, she won't be able to stay in her social circle, which means her daughter won't be able to stay in her study group and her studies will suffer. She made stupid choices, but if we only look at her daughter's education and chances to go to a good college, she made the best choices.

[badsmuler]

Rating ep. 2 is 9.9 % ( AGB )...up 0.3 % than yesterday... :-bd

[IBELIS]

My first impression is JE grew up the rich princess and couldn't let that image go so she sinks her family into unbelievable debt to keep up appearance's.I felt this way because one of her friends in the group of three is poor and accepts it, yet her daughter still attends the same school and prep school, I have to assume that she also lives in the same neighborhood but not in the luxury apartments. JE is also spending money on her husbands family all to keep the image they originally had of her. It makes her foolish because she leaves her family at risk and they don't even have a clue.
TJ gives the impression of being a good guy yet we know that he dumped SH to marry the rich girl, don't know if he just didn't love SH or he decided to marry for money. I don't think he knew that SH was pregnant. He shows his family a lot of affection but doesn't pay enough attention to know the kind of debt they are in.
I didn't get the feeling that GR was a spoil rotten kid, I felt that his mother always worked and left his care to others, even though he speaks rudely to her I got the impression that they understood each other. He has some anger issues but I don;t think that they are to way out of line.

[maddymappo]

Wow lots of questions.  Even in the US people want to live in certain communities that have excellent schools. More so in So. Korea.  But the mother I think came from wealth and could not accept her humbler circumstances and she really became obsessed with the daughter's education and living in that neighborhood and drove her family into debt. I know there is also a lot of peer pressure in So Korea and keeping up with your "friends" is also a big deal, so I guess admitting to and living by modest means was a bitter pill for her.   If it wasn't for the luck of this other  sick woman's wealth she and her family would be on the street.  I don't know if I would really want her to raise my child so the other wealthy lady must be worried too, but she is desperate and I guess wants the biological father to watch over him.  I think when she saw his father patting him and saying how handsome he is, that finalized her decision to go ahead ask them to raise her son. Also, because even if the Mom is a bit ditzy, she is mothering and a good housekeeper.   I hope she sets up a strict trust fund for the son so that the over spending Mom doesn't go haywire.  I don't know what happened at the time he married the other lady. Seems like her family had money and he worked for the father's business, but that must have gone bankrupt.  I guess we will find out. It may have been that it was one night stand, or they broke up before she realized she was pregnant, or lots of things.  He is apparently so irresistible, his director is sexually harassing him. Feel sorry for the husband.  It is typical for Asian men to hand the purse strings over to the women and let them pay the bills and manage the household, so I will not fault him and the money issue. He trusted his wife was handling everything correctly and she never complained or asked for his advice.  I would have liked to see more of HSH's art work.

[mudaepo]

Yes, HSH is desperate. She even tried to entrust her son to her assistant, that shows how alone she is. She doesn't have any family or friends she can count on. SJE may have financial difficulties, but for now they are gone, and it's not like HSH will leave her son penniless. Besides, SJE is doing a wonderful job raising her daughter and she is already taking care of Geu Roo. Right now, SJE is HSH's only option.

About the financial difficulties of the family, I would say that although SJE is responsible for their current situation, MTJ isn't blameless. It's one thing to let your wife take care of the household, but it's another to have absolutely no idea about what's going on. It's just maths, it shouldn't be too difficult for him to compare his salary (plus the salary his wife gets as a housekeeper) against their living expenses and all of their daughter-related expenses (violin, cram school, tutor...)
Even if he trusts SJE, he is partly responsible for having no interest in the family's financial situation.

The female director is clearly seducing MTJin order to use him to advance her career, just like she did with Director Kim. I feel that she may become a problem later on for HSH and SJE. It's already difficult to accept to raise a child your husband conceived just before your wedding. But if SJE thinks for a second that MTJ is cheating on her with his superior, I don't see how she will be able to accept Geu Roo into the family.

By the way, I think that if SJE finds out by herself that something more than "a woman asking another woman to raise her son' is going on, it will be thanks to the inuiskuit, those little inuit sculptures. She liked the one she received, and there is another in HSH's penthouse. It might SJE's first clue towards the truth.

[TRAN]

For me. I only live with what I can afford. And I've been raised with looking down but not up. So I can't say I feel sympathy toward SJE. But I understand HSH..And I think her son loves her too just a bit of resentment.

Why no one talks about the young man. HSH's love interest? He's not the main lead? Is HSH's sickness is terminal and no cure?

Wonder why HSH is that rich?

I don't know the husband seems weak.

[valsava]

I think differently.. I think Hsh is going to bail him out because clearly this girl and that BIL is setting him up once this project is over it's out the door he goes for good Sje father is also using him.. I  think for those same  sexual harassment charges that is boss is using on him..  I know somebody is taking pictures some were to blackmail him.. some reason he takes over Sje wok so it can be carried on and he won't work for no one but his son because he will inherit everything anyway so he would just guard his son future.. 
I think the deal would be they will get a monthly amount of money for taking care of Hsh son I 'm still wondering if she every tells him he's his son I hope so let'snot drags this out.. I think Hsh should buy a big house in her son name and they all live there because it's seems to me she has stomach cancer and is going to gt a lot sicker and will need help she will get to the point she can't be left alone so Sje may take the role as nurse maid for her also until she passes
The kids are just to cute and the brother is eyeing his half sister..LOL 

[mudaepo]

@TRAN Her wealth only comes from her very succesful career. She worked like crazy for thirteen years, she didn't even have time to pay attention to her son or make some friends. She looks like a fighter to me. If her illness (which isn't named yet) wasn't terminal, I don't think she'd go through all of this trouble to find a new family for her son.

There isn't really anything to say about the young man (KJS) for now. He's here, we saw him and episode 2, he got expelled of the penthouse by HSH, and that's all. I think they may be setting the stage for KJS and HSH to live together in that penthouse, but at this point it's difficult to tell. He is supposed to be HSH's love interest, but that doesn't make him the male lead. The male lead would be MTJ since this is a story about family, not love.

[My Loi]

BTS



DC

[maddymappo]

Still wish we go to see some more of the folk art, just got a tease at the beginning, I love those paintings. I am wondering what the husband is going to do about the sexual harassment, wish he would quit, I know that ain't easy, know how stressful a decision it would be, but I hate to see someone enslaved by an abuse of power of like that.   ~X(

[mudaepo]

@maddymappo I'm actually glad we didn't see more of it at the beginning. It's better that we didn't spend too much time in Canada, it's always awkward watching random white people pretend to be actors, and korean actors pretend to speak english.
"Your son is here. He's been waiting for you." "Oh really, I didn't know that." :-w
I'm waiting for the moment Geu Roo impresses all of us with his mad english skills he got after living in Canada for 13 years... He speaks so well korean, I'm a little worried about his english. :-w

[joojanah]

Watched the first two episodes, I like what I see so far. I wish they toned down the music for the "dramatic" scenes though (like the part when she got a stomachache while driving).I see A Wife's Credentials mentioned, I was just thinking how the setting kinda reminded me of that drama, with the rich ladies and the obseesion for the kids' education. I too hope they clarify the kids are half-siblings soon.I'm not too fond of the femme fatale director, maybe the show will prove me wrong eventually but right now she just seems like a cardboard cutout who is there just to cause conflict.

[TRAN]

Talking about the driving scene...

Shouldn't she signaled to pull over is more sensible?

I'm not good at English myself, but thought YoonAh's pronunciation is pretty good. It's clear.

Could it be she meant to be sarcastic with her son that she didn't know he's been waiting for her that long? If not then 'sorry' or 'thank you' would do right?

It's rare to see a drama where I like all the main cast. And this one is one of them. So I will keep watching.:-D

[panitkanjanapat]

i am happy for ep 1-2

waiting for continue.........

[h3rancho]

Source

[Go Seung Ji]

Deleted

[mudaepo]

And here I was, thinking that MTJ was a pretty decent male lead. There were some doubts on why exactly he broke up with HSH in the past, but now we know for sure that it was because of his greed. He was in a relationship with HSH for several years, and then he broke up with her because they were both poor and he didn't see a future for them. And then he married the rich SJE...
It was a long time ago, and MTJ could be forgiven as long as he treated SJE well during the course of their marriage. But now, the b***ard is having an affair with his superior !!!
It is already going to be difficult for SJE to accept GR into her family, but when she finds out MTJ not only has a past with HSH but also a present with his superior, it will be impossible!

HSH knows that MTJ is cheating on SJE. According to the preview, she is ready to take action against MTJ and his superior (KRY). Coincidentally, MTJ and KRY are trying to scout Stella Han. They want her to be in charge of the design of the brand they're launching, without knowing that Stella Han is HSH's canadian name. I think HSH will accept the job offer, to keep an eye on MTJ and make sure he doesn't cheat on his wife.

HSH and SJE are slowly getting closer, even though HSH's strong personality isn't easy for SJE to handle. I feel like HSH is trying to coach SJE to make sure she will be able to take good care of GR in the future. In my opinion, they have the most important and complex relationship of this drama. You can see that HSH is making sure GR treats SJE like a second mother, and she is trying to have SJE replace her in GR's life. But she can't help but dislike it when SJE suddenly calls GR "Son!". She wants to let go of GR, but at the same time she doesn't want to.

We have some background on KJS, the rich son of MTJ's company president. Like all rich sons in dramaland, he has issues, dislikes his father, and doesn't want to take over the company. I'm curious to see how he'll fit in this drama. Right now, he only has scenes with HSH, but I feel like he might decide to join the company in the future, in order to follow HSH.

MTJ's mother.... Well, we are are 3 episode in and I'm already getting tired of her. Either don't show her on screen, or have her talk about something other than her wanting a grandson.