Jang Na-ra and Jang Hyuk, the fall of the B-grade comedy 'Family'

《Taeyuna’s Listening Bodbo》
Reporter Tae Yu-na and Ten Asia will properly cover all aspects of the drama based on what she heard and saw on the spot. We will be the eyes and ears of readers in an era where dramas are flooding in on numerous channels.

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A red light has been turned on for actress Jang Na-ra's successive box office hits. Despite the expected elements of being the first work after marriage and the fourth meeting with Jang Hyuk, it was lost from the beginning due to the addition of a clumsy B-grade comedy, heavy-handed plot development, and boring directing. The shoulders of Jang Na-ra and Jang Hyuk, the leads of tvN's Monday-Tuesday drama 'Family', are becoming heavy.

'Family' was a highly anticipated work that attracted attention just by the names of Jang Hyuk and Jang Nara. Since this is their fourth work together in 9 years after ‘A Cheerful Girl’s Success Story’, ‘I Love You Like Fate’, and ‘2014 Drama Festival – Old Goodbye’, the chemistry between the two has already been perfected.

In addition, Jang Na-ra chose 'Family' as her first work after marrying a cinematographer who is six years younger than her last year, and it was also noted that she was returning to the small screen after 10 months. Jang Na-ra, who played a charismatic exorcist in the previous work 'Daebak Real Estate', announced a new acting transformation in this work as Kang Yu-ra, a mother raising a daughter and a housewife ranked first in the family.

But maybe it was because expectations were too high? 'Family', which was unveiled, broke the immersion with a heavy plot that mixed several stories rather than the raw fun of a B-grade comedy. Also, as if watching a sitcom, there is a large episode sequence in each episode, which acts as an element that interrupts the flow.

The story depicts a fight and suspicion of infidelity between Manager Oh Cheon-ryeon (played by Chae Jeong-an), the boss of her husband Kwon Do-hoon, and Kang Yu-ra (Jang Na-ra). As major events occurred in each episode, such as the family's conflict over whether Kwon Do-hoon's father, Kwon Woong-soo (played by Lee Soon-jae), should remarry and his late mother's will, the story of Kwon Do-hoon and Kang Yu-ra was pushed to the background.

The method continues without any progress and only presents a ‘shocking’ twist at the ending. In the first episode, it was revealed that Director Oh was a 'woman' and not a man, the scene where Kang Yu-ra witnesses Kwon Do-hoon and Oh Cheon-ryeon in the hotel suite, and in the 4th episode, it was revealed that Jang Na-ra's identity was a killer.

In the situation that lasted until episode 4, there was no progress at all other than the fact that Jang Hyuk was an agent of the National Intelligence Service who hid his identity and Jang Na-ra was a killer, not a housewife. Although it is driven by simple character play, the characters are also closer to the level of a 'nuisance' rather than attractive.

Kwon Do-hoon's younger brother Kwon Ji-hoon, who is not only unemployed without any intention of getting a job and is dependent on his family by marrying illegally, and Kwon Ji-hoon's wife Lee Mi-rim (played by Yoon Sang-jeong), who is willing to cancel the place her brother gave her in her greed to enter a top-class postnatal care center, is played by Kang Yoo-ra. From his perspective, his brother-in-law and sister-in-law are literally clueless. It is also questionable whether Kwon Do-hoon should have been shown focusing only on relationships, saying that he must go to bed to have a second child whenever he ovulates.

Accordingly, the viewership rating started at 4.9% in the first episode and then declined to 4.2% and 3.7%, and fell to 3.0% in the fourth episode. This is why I am worried about the future of ‘Family’ as it is on a downward slope without any recovery.

From episode 5, while Jang Na-ra's identity is revealed, a mysterious man, Kim Nam-hee (played by Jo Tae-gu), appears and a new story is set. Attention is being paid to whether the initial sluggish momentum can be broken and the upward curve can be achieved.

Taeyuna, Ten Asia Reporter youyou@tenasia.co.kr