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Pierce Conran

This article contains mild spoilers.
3/5 stars
Lead cast: Ji Jin-hee, Kim Ji-soo, Son Na-eun, Choi Min-ho
Latest Nielsen rating: 4.23 per cent
Like the majority of K-dramas this year, Romance in the House features a corporate heir, in this case Nam Tae-pyeong (played by Choi Min-ho), who turns out to be the son/brother (more on that later) of the chief executive of the company where he works as a lowly security guard.
Tae-pyeong, however, is a secondary character, and while his secret pedigree doesn’t come as a huge surprise, what is surprising is the source of the sudden wealth of Byeon Moo-jin (Ji Jin-hee, Move to Heaven), who waltzes back into his family’s life years after having been presumed dead.


The secret behind his windfall has been a point of great debate among Moo-jin’s family, and especially their gossipy neighbours, all season long. In a refreshing turn of events, the explanation for his riches turns out to be pure dumb luck.
Why should this be refreshing? Moo-jin was once a wannabe entrepreneur, and poured his efforts and meagre finances into one idea after another while his neglected family suffered on the sidelines. Ultimately, this is what tore them apart.
After seeing Moo-jin sweep back into his family’s life by buying the building they live in and struggle to pay rent for, it would have been reasonable to expect that he was able to do so after finally succeeding at one of his business ventures.
In fact, what happened is that, after being swindled in an investment, Moo-jin goes to Thailand to track down the person who conned him. When he succeeds in doing so, another, far wealthier person who was pursuing the same man lets Moo-jin keep the money taken from her as a thank you.

Moo-jin now has the money he never had before to provide for his family. Not only that, his family is about to be united with one that owns the J-Plus chaebol (family-run corporation), since Moo-jin’s daughter Mi-rae (Son Na-eun, Ghost Doctor) and Tae-pyeong are dating.
While Moo-jin has grown as a person, he still doesn’t have a head for business. He strikes a bad deal with his daughter early in the series – seduce his ex-wife or forfeit the entire building to them – and works with a tax specialist who swindles him out of his money.
With its romances – that of the younger Mi-rae and Tae-pyeong, and the rekindling of attraction between the middle-aged Moo-jin and Geum Ae-yeong (Kim Ji-soo, High Class) – Romance in the House appeals to a multi-generational audience.
One pleasing throwback is the frequent appearance of batting cages, a staple of Korean films and dramas earlier in the millennium but seldom seen on screen these days. The batter is Mi-rae, who hits the cages to vent her frustrations several times during the series.

This stress-relieving hobby is connected to Moo-jin’s past – he was a promising baseball player until he was sidelined by an injury early in his career.
It also pays off later in the series, first when Mi-rae bats at her shoe with a pipe to take down a fleeing aggressor, and then when Moo-jin performs a similar trick on his swindler in Thailand during a triumphant flashback.
Moments like these enliven a story that is often generic but which, at 12 episodes, does not go on too long. Its main storyline is told smoothly and with enough spirit that viewers can forgive its makers a couple of points in the narrative where the wheels spin.

The secondary storylines and characters are treated less evenly, however.
Tae-pyeong’s chaebol family connection doesn’t get much airtime, but his relationship with buttoned-up dad Nam Chi-yeol (Jung Woong-in) gets an entertaining little shake when it is revealed that Tae-pyeong is the illegitimate son of Chi-yeol’s father.
This makes the pair half-brothers and thus adds a curious layer of complication to their relationship.
Far less intriguing is Mi-rae’s wastrel brother Byeon Hyeon-jae (Yoon San-ha).
The show makes a few jokes about him being ignored by his sister and mother early on, only for the show itself to do the same thing to the character, who is little more than an afterthought and who pops up here and there grimacing while adding little value to the proceedings.

Overall, however, Romance in the House largely delivers on the promise of its title, delivering warm and fuzzy romance and family dynamics with a cocktail of comic high jinks and relatable drama on the side.
Romance in the House is streaming on Netflix.


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Netflix K-drama Romance in the House review: relatable cocktail of comedy and family drama

Ji Jin-hee (left) as Moo-jin and Kim Ji-soo as the ex-wife he is challenged to woo again in a still from Netflix Korean drama series Romance in the House.

Choi Min-ho as unwitting corporate heir Nam Tae-pyeong in a still from Romance in the House.

Kim Ji-soo as Moo-jin’s ex-wife, Geum Ae-yeong, in a still from Romance in the House.

Son Na-eun as Moo-jin’s daughter Mi-rae in a still from Romance in the House.

Ji Jin-hee (left) as Moo-jin and Yoon San-ha as his wastrel son Byeon Hyeon-jae in a still from Romance in the House.

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A loser dad reappears, suddenly wealthy, then loses his money again. Not to worry – his daughter is dating a chaebol family’s unwitting heir


A loser dad reappears, suddenly wealthy, then loses his money again. Not to worry – his daughter is dating a chaebol family’s unwitting heir.


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.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}A loser dad reappears, suddenly wealthy, then loses his money again. Not to worry – his daughter is dating a chaebol family’s unwitting heir

A loser dad reappears, suddenly wealthy, then loses his money again. Not to worry – his daughter is dating a chaebol family’s unwitting heir