Second serving of love has never been this lively until these adorable families connected through marriages and made their family even bigger, wackier and happier.
Five Enough is the first family weekend drama I finished and it was a feat I’m so proud of because it was 54 episodes.
Main Cast: Ahn Jae Wook, So Yoo Jin, Shim Hyung Tak, Shim Yi Young, Im Soo Hyang, Shin Hye Sun, Sung Hoon and Ahn Woo Yeon
Network & Episode Count: KBS2 | 54 Episodes
Official Website: Five Children KBS2
Quick Review
- Plot Trajectory: Consistently engrossing with minor hiccups along the way
- Plot Pace: Nicely-done
- Character Portrayal: Great main leads and supporting cast
- Writing: Full Marks on balanced execution of themes
- Watch on a binge or intervals?: Intervals
- Crowning Moments: Equally beautiful side stories | Great watch to share with family
- Overall Rating:
Quick Plot Summary
Meet the Families First…
We have the Lee Family – where Lee Sang Tae, a widow and a father of two children, Bin and Soo, belongs. His parents run a small restaurant and is the eldest brother of Kim Ho Tae, a striving film director and Kim Yeon Tae, a primary school teacher. He is affiliated to Jang Jin Joo, who is his deceased wife’s sister and Yeon Tae’s close friend.
Yeon Tae is also friends with Kim Tae Min, who is the brother of his boyfriend Kim Sang Min and boyfriend of Jin Joo. We also have three elder couples the Lee aboji and omoni, Jin Joo’s parents and Sang Tae’s parents-in-law through his deceased wife and Kim Brothers’ parents – Kim aboji and omoni.
Lee Sang Tae married Ahn Mi Jung, a divorcee with three children, Woo Young, Woo Ri, and Woo Joo. Their father Yoon In Chul had an affair with Kang So Young who used to be Ahn Mi Jung’s friend.
Now, here’s the story…
There are a lot of characters in this drama, but once you break it down by families, it’s easy to track. The story begins with Ahn Mi Jung working with Lee Sang Tae in the same company and they grow feelings over time. Wounded from her first failed marriage, Mi Jung single-handedly raised her children and made them believe that their father is working abroad when they are already divorced and he was living with another woman who used to be Mi Jung’s friend.
Sang Tae, on the other hand, is torn between his own parents and his parents-in-law in raising his two children. He falls in love with Mi Jung’s countenance in sustaining her career alongside being a mother to three children. They eventually succumb to romance, and when they were confronted with an opportunity to try a second marriage, they had to consider five children and five elders who might not feel comfortable with the choice they are bound to make.
Through honest conversations, the marriage pushed through which joined the families together. The new father and mother had to adjust in breaking the walls of the new children they got through the second marriage. Mi Jung has to communicate also with Bin and Soo’s grandparents, who moved in to the same building they rented. In the course of time, they see Mi Jung’s sincere motherly heart to their grandchildren and she wins over their hearts and lives harmoniously with them.
Peak Points & Series Afterthoughts
So how did I manage to endure this long running drama? The majority of the credit, I would give to Sang Min and Yeon Tae’s love line because it was a refreshing romantic progression that made use of that we-were-not-expecting-to-fall-inlove premise in a delightful kind of way. I’m not saying that the main couple’s romance was not that striking, but because I’m still single I was able to relate more to Sang Min and Yeon Tae’s.
Five Enough presents lessons about filial love, parenting, friendship, failed relationship, romantic love, life uncertainties and personal worth. It covered almost all the facets of the common struggles adults face in daily lives and in the long run. I like how the dynamics of an extended family get highlighted in the series. It is messy, rowdy and crazy, but at the end of the day, the people communicate, listen and accept decisions that are beyond their control and that they should not worry about.
There are three secondary love lines linked to the four families and those supporting love parts are equally spirited adding sweets and spices to an already amusing narrative.
Ho Tae who struggled in his film directing career battled through his slump and eventually married his first love who was working in his parents’ restaurant. Through his dream of becoming a better man to his supportive wife, he got a happy ending on his marriage life and career.
Jin Joo, born from a rich household fell in love with a man whose parents value personality than money. She was not accepted by Tae Min’s mother initially because of her bleak future having not finished a college degree. She accepted the challenge and showed his parents that she can still achieve her personal dreams no matter how late she starts working on it.
Yeon Tae, who harbored feelings with her friend Tae Min ends up being together with her first love’s brother – Sang Min. He was at first caught off guard when cupid’s bow hit him with YeonDoo virus. But he gave in to the idea that he was really truly, madly deeply in love with the girl that was never in his dreams – but deconstructed his heart to unimaginable addiction that made him even more a better person.
In its entirety, Five Enough paraded a peek on an everyday Korean family life. It teaches a thing or two about the generation gaps when joining a new family. The story is clear with its most important lesson on how communication plays a vital role in empathizing and understanding the situation you have with someone in any kind of relationship.
It leaves a positive encouragement to pursue romance regardless of how many times you might have failed in the past and how much pain you might go through until you finally get it.
It might overwhelm your drama addiction spare time so pace yourself if in case you would want to enter Mi Jung and Sang Tae’s family. For its feel good approach and fetching family and love moments, I am happy having been able to sprint my way to see all of the characters smiling through the happy endings they achieved.
Photos/Videos: KBS2
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