"Angry Mom" ended on May 7 and if you haven't caught the last few episodes, there are some spoilers ahead. The drama's premise seemed comic, a mom dressing up as her teenage daughter. And there were some cartoon characters, notably Go Soo Hee as Kim Hee Sun's best friend Han Gong Joo. Yet the script, crafted by the winner of an MBC screenwriting contest, entertained such serious subjects as bullying, corruption and murder.
Kim Hee Sun played Jo Kang Ja, a woman who has spent her life trying to recover from tragedy and injustice. She has pretty much accepted her lot in life until her daughter is bullied at school. When she can find no one to help, she takes a stand. She enrolls in her daughter's school, pretending to be a student. Having been a teenage mom, she's young enough to pull it off.
At first she uses her physical strength to out-bully the school bullies. But then she learns how to organize political clout and take down some of the bullies running big corporations and government. School troublemakers often become successful activists if they feel passionate about a cause.
"Angry Mom" also focused on the loss of idealism in the mad rush for money. Those who run the school that Kim Hee Sun's daughter attends are less concerned with nurturing students than they are with hoarding money. It's a place where cheating culture is nurtured and the truth is often ignored.
Kim Hee Sun fights for not only her child Ah Ran; she winds up fighting for all the children in the school. Ah Ran, played by Kim Yoo Jung, gained new respect for her mother through that fight.
Ji Hyun Woo plays an idealistic teacher. At first he worries that trying to reach his students might be pointless but eventually he becomes a role model for them. He never abandons his principles.
The tragedy that affects the students at the high school mirrored the real life Sewol Ferry Tragedy that broke so many hearts in 2014. So many innocent lives were lost. In 'Angry Mom," students died in a building collapse, caused by indifference, inattention to duty and greed. The courtroom scenes called out the guilty parties for their crimes and note the importance of ideals.
The drama also explored the idea that those who love the most in any relationships are the weakest. But at the end Jo Kang Ja argues that those who love are also the strongest because love motivates them to take action.
In the final episode, the bad guys were punished, the good guys were rewarded, and the kids got a better school. Even Han Gong Ju, who lost her business, found a way to thrive. The only person who did not get retribution was Jo Kang Ja, for the years she unjustly spent in prison. You win some and you lose some. By the end of the drama Jo Kang Ja considered herself a winner.
