My Golden Life

This show has everything... laugh out loud moments, cringe moments, spit out your coffee moments and moments where you'll demolish a box of tissues. I have given it a 9/10, the only reason it misses a point is for the fact it's 52+ hours long, and some of the sets are very cheap and nasty (like the supposedly rich peoples' house where the wallpaper pattern is so mismatched you can't unsee it, and they strangely all drive Nissans).

The story really does show the divide between the mega rich and the struggling and just how awful and judgemental people can be without even realising it. It also shows unimaginable hardship and successes and truly is a joy to watch, even for the absurd bits.

If you have almost 2.5 days of your life to spare (when you put it altogether), watch this.

This drama is about two families, one poor, the other rich and how they become entangled in each others lives. At 52, one hour episodes, its a long haul but you get to know each character better which is always a good thing.

The two lead actors Hye-Sun Shin (who plays the sister Seo Ji-an) and Shi-hoo Park (who plays the brother Choi Do-kyeong) really do play their parts to perfection. But for me its the support cast who really knock it out of the park, especially Eun-Su Seo (who plays the other sister Seo Ji-soo) and Ho-jin Chun (who plays the father Seo Tae-soo), they are so good, they will no doubt get more dramas to work on as leads.

At 52 episodes you can expect a few slight appearance changes to the cast but Lee Tae-Hwan (who plays Ji-soo's boyfriend Seon Woo-hyeok) has ginger hair for 43 episodes then suddenly goes black and nobody wonders why.

The story lines are twisty but always interesting and every episode has a juicy cliff-hanger, so you can't wait for the next episode to start.

For me its the two mothers and the final episode that stop this being a 9. The mothers are just not good actors, they occasionally look at the camera, which is a no-no. And the last episode is rushed, to tie all the loose ends together. They should have split it into two seasons and gave all the characters a proper ending.

Even with those two little flaws, its still a must watch, but keep the hankies close, you will definitely get through a box or two.

Deeply profound portrayal of family dynamics, particularly between Parents and children. The story spell bindingly appeals to my heart. My golden life is like SIX FEET UNDER Drama where you get to see amazing character building and in depth insights of family life. You need a mature taste to enjoy this. I am someone who has seen wonderful STILL 17, so I like rom coms. But my beautiful life absorbs you in a whole different feeling. This drama is not as sweet as an ice cream , but as healthy as an apple for your heart, yes it has a nice tangy taste to it as well.

You need to appreciate the unbelievable AMAZING acting by Shin Hye-Sun who plays Jian. In fact she is the main reason I started to watch this, after watching incredibly funny and emotional STILL 17. what an actress.. Wow. She deserves the highest recognition among Korean actresses. The actor who plays Jian's dad is another magical actress who speaks thousands words just by using his eyes.

Watch it. This is a gem.

I've watched many Korean series and I just loved the storyline of this one!! My favourite series so far.

💞 from Australia.

This is a long series of 52 episodes and has more then it's fair share of crazy plots and coincidences that are common in most K dramas. Having said that the acting from all the cast, storyline and direction hold your attention and the excellent pacing means you look forward to where the story is going. The main drama is about a hard done by contract worker from a poor family becoming embroiled with the son of a chaebol, but there are plenty of other sub plots with the other characters that will have cheering, booing or being sad.