[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Family Outing" Episode 18

Whereas the last episode dealt with the more tangible questions of the future, like how the characters plan to live professionally once all the drama is over with, this one deals more sharply with personal issues. The heart to heart discussion between Jong-tae and Kkeut-soon is really sweet. While Kkeut-soon herself has always been really recalcitrant about candidly considering her own needs, there are multiple sequences here which establish why that's important too, and why that's the real meaning of family.

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There's a strong element of forgiveness running throughout "Family Outing" that until lately has been difficult to notice. Two of the mothers here quite literally abandoned their families. Kkeut-soon herself probably has felt guilty enough about this that she only bothered to come back when there was enough money at stake that cooperation could be bribed. But it's only through continued interaction with the other failed mother that Kkeut-soon's able to appreciate that her family's really just revealed to see their matriarch is still alive.

Most of the other subplots deal with similar long-term considerations- without really taking into consideration that it's the separation that's painful, not the motivation. One character attempts to do the noble thing and assures her love interest that given time, this decision will seem like it was made for the best. And I like how he refuses to accept this. One-sided sacrifice isn't noble- it's insulting. What's the point of having little victories in life if there's no one to share them with?

It's this small scale element that's really done a lot to make a marked, welcome shift in tone for the final episodes of "Family Outing". Even as certain dramatic events regarding the ultimate fate of the inheritance fall in constant limbo, for the most part the characters are instead motivated by more serious emotional concerns. The question of what to do with Joon-hee and Joon-ha, for example, as yet remains blocked by the way the family feels justifiably betrayed by the wayward siblings.

I do have to emphasize- I'm not really sure how the drama actually got to this point. The plotlines have been so random up to now that I can barely even remember what most of them were about, let alone how they relate to the current character arc and journey. All the same "Family Outing" is showing exactly the right way to close off a drama that has the ostensible focus of emotional reconciliation with checkered pasts- with kindness, understanding, and just enough hesitance about whether there really has been character development and redemption.

Review by William Schwartz

"Family Outing" is directed by Joo Dong-min, written by Kim Sin-hye and features Lee Jung-hyun, Jin Yi-han, Oh Sang-jin, Park Won-sook, Jung Han-hun and Park Jun-gyu.

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