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[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Family Outing" Episode 19

There isn't really much conflict left to speak of at this point. The main remaining article of contention is whether or not Joon-hee and Dong-seok will get together. And for what it's worth, Jeong-sook's opposition to the relationship comes off as pretty well-founded. Joon-hee can't exactly dispute that the way she's acted up until now has at all been appropriate. It's really just a question of whether or not her newfound sincerity is to be believed.

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"Family Outing" doesn't break any expectations in terms of predictability or dynamic plotting. But it does manage to be mostly pleasant mainly by not acting overly dramatic. Usually a storyline involving familial opposition to marriage is milked for all the operatic content that it's worth, with clearly defined long-suffering heroes and jerkish villains. What the drama does a good job portraying is that Dong-seok needs parental approval, not because Korean culture is defined by inscrutable Confucian orientalism, but because family is what he really wants.

To put it another way- it would make little sense for Dong-seok to pursue Joon-hee at the expense of his familial relationships, when his attraction to her is mostly founded on the fact that Joon-hee is very well-adjusted Dong-seok's familial context. One of the sadder parts of Joon-hee's story is that all she's ever really wanted is a home to go back to. It's why Joon-hee was so quick to forgive her mother instead of being angry.

We can also put this in the full context of Kkeut-soon's character arc. To date her development has been fairly limited, but this episode makes it clear that Kkeut-soon too has really just been looking for people she can actually care about. This narrative thrust almost comes off as anti-feminist, come to think of it. We have these strong, independent women who give up on their exciting lives of globetrotting for something more domestic.

Of course, that's the problem with a lot of feminist narratives- they fail to take into account the fact that living independently in many ways actually really sucks. And besides, Joon-hee does still have a job- just, you know, one that's not terrible. And Kkeut-soon was going to retire anyway. "Family Outing" has, as of late, done a good job showing the appeal of settling down. I only wish this had been more clearly telegraphed early on, and also that the other subplots were more relevant. As stands we literally get a cliffhanger here about trigger warnings so...yeah, who knows how this is going to go down in the end.

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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