{Monday Morning Therapy with Dongsaeng} Drama Dads

This is a little late in getting out there this morning.  It has been a wonderful, but crazy busy, weekend for this ahjumma, filled with family fun time in the woods and a Father's Day celebration extravaganza.  We spent three days "up north" as we like to call it in the beautiful pine and aspen with my husband's family.  The kids got a lot of quality cousin time as they fished, built forts in the forest, rode a ski lift to the highest toilet in our state (11,500 ft), and explored dark, cold lava caves and hot sunny lava flow fields.  Slideshow time!  I'm going to throw a few pictures from my trip in to showcase bits and pieces of my state since I'm sure many of you have never been here.  I always like to see pictures from other places, so hopefully you do too.  If not, feel free to skip them ^^

Standing on top of the Mogollon Rim looking down on Oak Creek Canyon

Hanging out among the trees behind the lodge

We returned home from that fun adventure and jumped right into another giant family party as we celebrated the dads in our life on Father's Day over at my uncle and aunt's home.  We got to see my grandparents, parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, and even some 2nd cousins (my cousins' kids).  We ate and talked and laughed long into the night.  When I returned home late last night, I collapsed into bed, skipping the writing of my post for the evening.  There's no way I could have formed a coherent sentence, let alone sculpt a masterpiece (ha!) worthy of your time and attention.  But I am here now in my quiet home while my family sleeps peacefully in what are the wee morning hours for us.  Okay, a little less "wee" and a little more "the husband is going to be late for work if he doesn't get his sleepy head out of bed", but who's keeping track anyway?

I thought long and hard all weekend long about what I was going to write about today.  It's true.  As I sat there in my cabin in the woods I contemplated this very post.  I am always thinking of you, my most favorite readers, and what therapy would be best for you as you begin anew your week.  I came up with nothing.  A big, fat empty blank.  Zero.  Zilch.  Nada.  I did find a funny YouTube video while sitting there in the woods behind my cabin enjoying my spotty-at-best-internet.  You know, enjoying it until is crashed for the bizillionth time.  But hey, I guess I should have been grateful to have any internet up in the woods at all.  I did get about 10 minutes total of some great drama time (ep 6 of I Do I Do if anyone is curious).  What was the YouTube video you ask?  A "Chipmunk version" of Junsu's Tarantallegra.  Seriously.  I just about died laughing.  My father-in-law thought I had lost my mind as I sat there with headphones in and tears streaming down my face as I cackled like a crazy woman.  The Husband, who is used to my random outbursts of emotion during my "Korea time", took it all in stride and said something to the effect of "welcome to my world Dad".  I couldn't really do a whole post about a silly version of a song though, so back to the drawing board I went.  Still nothing.  Panic has started to set in about this time.  Okay, not really "panic", I'm being dramatic, but still, I needed an idea fast and just couldn't grab hold of one.  But then, yesterday morning as I woke to the dawning of a day all about dads, it hit me...a post about memorable Drama Dads!  Duh!

I wracked my brain and tried to come up with some memorable fathers in dramas.  And then I had to ask Unnie, because if you'll remember, her brain is a lot better at remembering things like this.  Something about her being a walking, talking, human form of IMDB?  Once I got a good list gathered, it was time to pare it down to just a few, otherwise we'd be here all day.  So, without further ado (let's face it, the "ado" is my specialty), here are some that came to my mind, which tells me that they are pretty memorable if, you know, I'm remembering them and all.  I don't normally do "Top 5" or whatnot, usually I leave those to Unnie, but today I make an exception (<--- see, ado.  Lots and lots of ado.)

Let's start with the Sweet, Good Fathers, as it is Father's Day (well, the day after, but you know what I mean).  The fathers that make you say "Awww, what a sweet dad she/he has!".  This one had two that I couldn't choose between.  I'm sure there are others and more obvious ones that I am skipping, but two that came to mind were Lie to Me's Gong Ah Jung's dad and The King 2 Hearts' Kim Hang Ah's dad.

In Lie to Me, we first meet Ah Jung's father, Gong Joon Ho, as he is sitting outside clipping his toenails.  She is in a panic because she stayed out all night and her phone was dead.  She was sure her father was worried sick for her.  We get a great glimpse of their relationship right off the bat when he doesn't react at all to her suddenly appearing after being gone all night without a phone call.  She asks him if he was worried.  His response?  "You are 30 years old.  I worry more when you don't stay out all night."  Bwahahaha!  I love their comfortable banter back and forth.  They are obviously a father and daughter who share a close bond.

Kim Hang Ah's father, Kim Nam Il, in The King 2 Hearts captured my heart as well.  He is an upper official in North Korea, yet has an obvious soft spot for his one and only daughter.  He is fiercely protective of her and even threatens the King of South Korea to not break his daughter's heart.  My favorite scene with him is his final one in the drama - when he is video chatting with his grandson.  He jumps up and down excitedly, waving and gleefully greeting him - a proud grandfather for sure.  Adorable!

Our next category is The Ultimate Sports Fan Dad.  The obvious winner here goes to Yoo Eun Jae's father, Yoo Young Kil, in the drama Wild Romance.  The drama starts with a birthday party for Dad being interrupted by the Yoo family taking down top baseball star Park Mu Yul.  Why do they you might ask?  Because they blame him for their beloved baseball team, The Blue Seagulls', loss in game 7 of the championships against their arch rival, the Dreamers (Mu Yul's team).  Did you see their home?  It's fully decked out in Blue Seagull paraphernalia.  And I mean, all decked out.  It is a veritable shrine to their favorite baseball team.  He easily clinches the title of Ultimate Sports Fan dad.

Our next category is The Goofiest/Silliest Dad.  The clear winner here is Cha Chi Soo's dad, Cha Ok Gyun, in Flower Boy Ramyun Shop.  Usually when we see this man he is sitting in his hot tub watching TV.  It's hard to believe that he is the head of a major company and fabulously wealthy because he is just about the silliest thing I have ever seen. He's weak when it comes to his son and just doesn't get him.  No wonder Cha Chi Soo is spoiled and clueless as to things of the real world.  I loved when Dad got jealous of the cartoon penguin, Pororo, because Cha Chi Soo declared that he, Pororo, was his new dad.  This guy is one seriously tuned-out but so fun to watch pop.

Our next category is The Crazed Psycho Father.  When I think of Drama Dads, he's the first to come to mind as the ultimate bad dad.  Granted, he's technically a surrogate father as he kidnapped his friend's son and raised him as his own, but he's the only father this character has known, so for our purposes here, we'll just call him Dad.  That's right.  We're talking about City Hunter's father.  Talk about your daddy issues!  Lee Jin Pyo is so bent on revenge that he crosses lines that should never be crossed.  Like almost running down your son with a bus.  Or fighting him constantly when he won't do it your way.  Or pulling a gun on him and shooting him.  You know, little things like that.  In his defense though, I've read the parenting books.  Never did any of them say that these things were no-nos.  It could just be an honest mistake on his part.  He wasn't all bad.  He did save his son from a land mine.  Even lost his own leg in the process.  See, points for him.  So what if after that he uses his son as a tool to exact his revenge?  Nobody's perfect.  

And our final category for this Father's Day tribute, the "Gone But Not Forgotten" father.  This category honors those fathers who have passed away, but who still play a part in their children's lives.  My top choice here was Gil Ra Im's father in Secret Garden.  This man died a hero.  He was a firefighter who sacrificed himself to save a younger Kim Joo Won.  He is also apparently responsible for the whole body switcharoo between his daughter and this young man with his magical, mystical special wine.  Who didn't sob in his final scene - the flashback of the whole elevator fire scene?  Just grabbing this screenshot had me in tears.  His final thoughts were of his daughter.  He even charged Joo Won with finding her and passing on a message from him that he's not coming home and is sorry and that he loves her, a message Joo Won eventually does deliver, just a little late.  This man gave his life to save the man who would turn out to be his daughter's soul mate.  Firefighter Gil, we salute you, our fallen hero and thank you for saving Joo Won's life so that we could fangirl over Hyun Bin for 20 wonderful episodes.  

And that should about wrap us up for today.  To all of our Drama Dads we give a hearty Father's Day shout out.  They add to and enrich our drama viewing experience.  Whether we love 'em or hate 'em, they help shape and mold our stories.  Now I ask, who are your favorite and/or most memorable Drama Dads?  Who did I miss?  We don't want to leave anyone out.  Tell us your top choices in the comments section!