Little Women (2022 TV series review)
As the name suggests, the show is loosely based on classic book by Louisa May Alcott, Little Women. But apart from some superficial similarities, the themes and plot differ a lot. While Alcott’s book is a “coming of age” story, there is no similar narrative in the show. Contrary to that, it is mostly a drama with thriller and crime mystery elements, as many K-Dramas are, and the main narrative revolves around uncovering a dark conspiracy, a theme obviously absent from Alcott’s book, but prevalent in K-Dramas. So, if you expect a Korean adaptation of the book, you will be disappointed, however, if you just want a good K-Drama to watch, Little Women has everything you need. Therefore, the cynic in me would think that the title of the show is just a marketing ploy to attract viewers, although this doesn’t change the fact that the show is pretty good.
As expected, we have a group of sisters as main protagonists (but three not four sisters): Oh In-ju (Kim Go-eun), the oldest one, living with the other sisters in poverty and working for a large company; Oh In-kyung (Nam Ji-hyun), the middle sister, an aspiring reporter working for TV station; and Oh In-hye (Park Ji-hu), the youngest sister, still attending the school and a talented artist. The sisters become involved with the wealthy family of aspiring politician Park Jae-sang (Um Ki-joon) and his wife Won Sang-ah (Uhm Ji-won), who, unbeknownst to the sisters, are involved in decades long conspiracy and numerous crimes. To the chagrin of the sisters, Oh In-hye is quasi-adopted by Park Jae-sang and Won Sang-ah, and becomes friends with their daughter, Park Hyo-rin (Jeon Chae-eun).
Oh In-ju pursues investigation of the mysterious death of her friend and co-worker, Jin Hwa-young (Choo Ja-hyun). She gets an unexpected ally in Choi Do-il (Wi Ha-joon), who is an aide of wealthy Park family, but also has his own agenda. At the same time, Oh In-kyung pursues the secrets of Park Jae-sang and Won Sang-ah from a different angle, with a goal of reporting their secrets on live TV, but she encounters numerous obstacles along the way.
The main theme of the show is the escape from poverty: all three sisters struggle with poverty and poor background, and search for a way of escaping from it, all three in a different way. Oh In-ju is involved in a financial scheme with Choi Do-il and gets into trouble because of that: here the series gets a little on the nose with its moralizing character. Oh In-kyung is very ethical, and she has a dilemma about what she should do about her older sister, but at the same time she accepts an offer from their wealthy great-aunt (Kim Mi-sook as Oh Hye-seok) to accompany her in exchange for money. Oh In-hye virtually abandons her sisters, apparently blaming them or their absentee mother for her poverty. She moves in with wealthy Parks accepting opportunities given to her by them, like the potential studying abroad together with their daughter. Maybe I am missing here some cultural context, but the show doesn’t seem to criticize that, as if her decision to abandon and essentially ignore her family for the sake of Parks is somehow justified.
The antagonists of the story, Park Jae-sang and Won Sang-ah, are nearly comic book villains: especially Won Sang-ah portrayal is barely believable, as her true character and her crimes are slowly revealed throughout the show. That I would count as the biggest weakness of the show: while for the most part the show is grounded and realistic, the villains seem to be rather exaggerated. Among the recent K-Dramas I would point to Anna as much more realistic portrayal of evil and corrupted politician: Choi Ji-hoon there seems to be much more sinister than exaggerated Park Jae-sang in Little Women, who is portrayed very stereotypically.
Oh In-ju seems to be the main character of Little Women, and her portrayal by Kim Go-eun is definitely a highlight. Her character acts as the main spine of the show, and she reconciles and brings all sisters together. Kim Go-eun shows a range of her acting skills here and her performance deserves praise (viewers familiar with her previous roles won’t be surprised by this, obviously).
The show features superb themes and music by a team of composers including Park Sejun, Yoo Heehyun, Kim Dong Hyuk, Na Sang Jin, and others. The music really adds to the suspense and specific atmosphere of the show: certainly, one of the best K-Drama scores in 2022.
Overall, the show is one of the more interesting recent K-Dramas, especially the dynamic between the three sisters and their relationships with their allies and friends form a compelling story here. On the other hand, the conspiracy and the villains are a bit stereotypical in this drama.
A note: While I am writing this, I’ve learned the sad news that an actor portraying Oh In-ju’s lawyer in Little Women, also known from many other K-Dramas, Na Chul, suddenly passed away.
Little Women on Wikipedia and MyDramaList
