Drama: Full House
Type: Thai drama
Year of broadcast: 2014
Episodes: 20
Episode length: approx. 50 minutes
Total hours if binge-watching: approx. 16.7 hours
PLEASE NOTE: I will be reviewing this work as a standalone (even if it is an adaptation/version of a manga/film/drama or based on a real-life event/person).
I must say that Full House (Thai) is one of my favourite dramas – dramatic, rich plot and character relationships.
Synopsis:
Aom-am is swindled out of her own house (the home she grew up in and is now looking after in place of her deceased parents) by her own sister and brother-in-law who needed to sell the house for money when they found out they were expecting a baby. They send an unknowing Aom-am to Korea for a trip while they sell the house.
It is in Korea that Aom-am meets both Mike, an arrogant superstar, and the second male lead, Guy. Aom-am and Mike get off to a bad start and don’t expect to see each other ever again – they are both proven wrong when Aom-am returns to Thailand and finds that her house has been emptied and sold to none other than Mike. Aom-am’s sister and brother-in-law are uncontactable so Aom-am begs Mike to let her live there, and he lets her stay on the condition that she work as the house maid/cleaner.
Later, due to an impulsive decision made by Mike, Aom-am ends up caught in the crossfire, the subsequent circumstances forcing her and Mike to get married. Mike makes a deal with Aom-am that in return for her staying married to him for a certain period of time, he will let her get the house back from him afterwards.
They also make a side bet that whoever falls in love with the other first will lose (lose just pride, I guess). And so starts an epic love story. Of course, there are love rivals on both sides, and challenges of having to pretend to be married with someone you hate, but love does begin to bloom despite this.
Character:
The main female protagonist, Aom-am, has to put up with a lot of betrayal in this drama – and especially horrible is the one from her own sister. Yet, she continually forgives everyone. And she is a very strong individual yet still sensitive.
The main male protagonist, Mike, seems like a jerk from the get-go and puts the female protagonist in a difficult situation because he is impulsive and childish. However, he seems to grow up a bit, Aom-am inspiring him to be a better person.
The second male lead, Guy, is a really nice guy (haha, pun) and Aom-am meets him quite early on (before she meets Mike, I think), but while he was a much better choice rationally, I didn’t really ship him with her.
Mintra tries to steal Mike away from Aom-am, and is a really annoying character, in my opinion. I think Mintra seriously needs to grow up and stop being selfish.
Aom-am’s sister and brother-in-law are seriously horrible relatives, the way I see it – they appear to be nice and innocent but they take advantage of Aom-am’s kindness in order to achieve their own goals. They don’t think about Aom-am, always expecting her to help them and forgive them.
Mike’s grandma is quite a character. She’s quirky but also quite clever and devious.
The OTP (One True Pairing):
In my opinion, Mike D’Angelo (Mike) and Manaying Sushar (Aom-am) seem to have great chemistry in real life and this made for such an incredibly believable couple in this drama. I seriously wonder whether sometimes they forgot they were acting because it seemed so natural. Or maybe they’re just amazing actors. Probably both.
It was ‘hate at first sight’ for Mike and Aom-am, though. But along with all the drama that comes with…well…a drama, there were hilarious moments between the lead characters as they tried to get along in each others’ company, and some sweet moments as they began to fall for each other – and the whole journey was actually quite believable for a quite unlikely real-life scenario.
Plot:
The first three episodes or so were rather slow, in my opinion. Mostly, apart from setting up the main story, it was scenes of Aom-am sightseeing Korea. While the leading characters do meet in the first or second episode, they really only properly meet and have a real conversation in a couple more episodes after that. For someone like me who pretty much just wants to see the leading couple’s story start as soon as possible (because to me they are the most important part of the drama) it was a bit slow.
But I’m so glad that I stuck with it, because out of it came such a touching, sweet and sad love story. The ending was absolutely perfect and so sweet, in my opinion, and it tied up any loose ends.
Themes and Messages:
There aren’t really any solid ones that stand out in this drama, I think. I suppose the idea of forgiveness is heavily featured throughout, though – poor Aom-am is wronged often, and she does a heck of a lot of forgiving.
My Verdict:
I definitely recommend this Thai drama – this is quite a rich one in terms of plot and character. And the phenomenal acting is truly a beautiful thing to watch.
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