Family by Choice Review (Episodes 1-2): A Bond of Love That Becomes a Family

Family by Choice episode 1 begins the journey of a unique family that forms bonds of love rather than those of blood. However, as it progresses into episode 2, we see that it is not always easy to be able to maintain the peace of this family.

Family by Choice tells the story of a family formed by bonds of love rather than those of blood. Two fathers come together to care for their three children who share the bond of love as they grow up together. While life isn’t always smooth for the trio, and feelings of love make their way within them, the family is always ready to face everything together.

-Spoilers Ahead-

Family by Choice Recap (Episodes 1-2)

Episode 1 of the show begins with an introduction to the Yoon family. The young, bubbly girl Yoon Ju-won spreads her smile everywhere despite losing her mother at a young age. Her father, Yoon Jung-jae owns a noodle shop in the neighbourhood and supports the family with warm food and smiles. Meanwhile, a new family moves into the house upstairs with wounds of its own.

Kim Dae-wook moves to the countryside with his wife Kwon Jung-hee and son Kim San-ha after the death of his daughter. However, this move hasn’t been of much use as his wife refuses to move on and often blames their son for not being able to save her daughter. While angry voices begin disturbing the neighborhood, San-ha bears the brunt of his parents’ fights. But the little girl downstairs doesn’t let him stay alone and tries her best to welcome him to her house to have a meal.

One day, Kang Seo-hyun and her son Kang Hae-joon arrive in town after someone sets up a blind date for her with Jung-jae. While the visit begins with her getting splashed with water Jung-jae throws, the day progresses smoothly until Ju-won makes a fuss about not wanting a mother. While the madam who sets up the blind date takes the two kids outside to give the two some time to talk, Seo-hyun is impressed with the home he has created all by himself.

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Meanwhile, the kids are left alone for a while and Ju-won takes this chance to leave while Hae-joon follows behind her. The two come across San-ha and soon get into trouble with other kids who are teasing San-ha. Later, when the kid’s mother complains to Jung-jae he finds out the reason why they fought and stands up for the kids. After this, he takes the three home for lunch along with Seo-hyun.

Later, he leaves Ju-won in San-ha’s care and drops Seo-hyun at the bus stop. Seo-hyun is satisfied with the blind date but suddenly, trouble comes knocking at her door and forces her to leave Hae-joon in the care of her sister. She also has to change her number which leaves Jung-jae confused. However, she suddenly calls one day and asks him to lend her some money.

Jung-jae agrees to her request and leaves to meet Hae-joon. He is soon surprised by the way the child has to live and decides to take him home until his mother returns. Meanwhile, Jung-hee is unhappy seeing San-ha eating downstairs and laughing with Ju-won. Unable to keep in the hatred she has for her son for being the cause of his sister’s death, she finally decides to leave the family.

San-ha pleads for her to stay but she leaves anyway. Soon, years pass and the three children grow up together, forming a unique bond that goes beyond blood ties. On the morning of a new semester, the family of five gathers for breakfast during which Ju-won insists on having the same last names and this is the only way for her to survive.

Having grown up as the youngest among the three, Ju-won has been pampered by the two older boys since a young age. However, this often got her into trouble with girls who had a crush on the two boys. Often being the carrier of love letters and being blamed for having ulterior motives towards the two boys, she has been the target of many love-sick girls who refuse to believe her when she claims to be their younger sister.

Ju-won tries to get them under the same surname but is often brushed off when the topic arises. On the way to school, Hae-joon suggests she stand up to these girls and try acting crazy so that they don’t target her. Ju-won does as he says and when pushed to the ground by one of the girls, she grabs her hand and drags her towards a dirty pond, only to end up tripping and falling into the pond all by herself.

This makes her the center of attention and Hae-joon rushes to help her but without much preparation. Right then, San-ha arrives and drapes her in a jacket while the two scare away the girls who tried to corner Ju-won. They take her inside to get changed while San-ha is angry at the two for going along with this stupid idea. The trio heads home with Ju-won smelling like pond water, but that doesn’t stop the joyful youth the trio enjoys together.

But the people in their neighborhood make sure to open old wounds as they ask Hae-joon about his mother. While the other two protect him, Ju-won emphasizes that theirs is a unique and special family. During dinner, Ju-won once again brings up the topic of adoption when suddenly, San-ha gets a call from his maternal grandmother. When he doesn’t pick up, she calls Dae-wook who is now her ex-son-in-law.

San-ha loses his appetite with this and leaves the table while Ju-won and Hae-joon take him some food later. Meanwhile, Jung-jae nags at Dae-wook to pay more attention to the family and not be so polite to his ex-mother-in-law. Elsewhere, the duo succeeds in lightening up San-ha’s mood who is finally distracted from the chaos his maternal grandmother’s phone call brought to him.

The next day, Ju-won is stunned when she finds out that San-ha has a girlfriend everyone knows about. Later, she complains about how he didn’t tell her about this as they aren’t a real family which angers San-ha. Meanwhile, Hae-joon finds someone photographing him secretly and catches the person, only to let him go when he hears a Seoul accent.

Elsewhere, Hae-joon’s aunt visits Jung-jae who scolds her for getting gifts for everyone. Later, she comes across Hae-joon and lectures him to be grateful to Jung-jae and not be a burden on him. This brings back memories of his childhood when he would help out Jung-jae and be teased by the neighbors that he needed to work harder or else he would be sent back.

This would scare him while Jung-jae would scold the neighbors while assuring him that he would never send him back. Remembering these times, Hae-joon gets slightly tearful during dinner while Ju-won is still angry at San-ha. She soon storms off from the table when Jung-jae asks her what she did wrong and San-ha follows behind to get her back.

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He apologizes to her and tells her that he never had a girlfriend. Instead, his rumored girlfriend is Hae-joon’s ex-girlfriend. This shocks Ju-won but she soon returns to dinner while ignoring Hae-joon. The next day, Hae-joon finds out what happened and is annoyed by San-ha when he is stopped by his ex-girlfriend- Hui-ju.

She asks him to get back together, but he refuses her because she was the one who did not want him and made him keep it a secret from everyone. He can no longer hurt Ju-won’s feelings, and there is no way he will get back together with her. With this, he leaves while Ju-won tells her friend Park Dal that Joon was the one who dated Hui-ju.

While the two talk, Ju-won looks out to find Hui-ju calling her. The two get to talking in private and Ju-won sympathizes with her for being dumped by Hae-joon until she finds out Hui-ju played with Hae-joon. The two then begin arguing about Ju-won’s family which seems pretense to Hui-ju while Ju-won argues back that they are just a little special from other families.

Ju-won then begins to leave from there but Hui-ju is not done; right then, she trips in front of everyone else and blames Ju-won for harming her. Ju-won is stunned and tries to fight back but with a ruined reputation from the lake incident, she is easily mistaken for being the guilty one. Park Dal arrives to help her but she too fails.

Hae-joon arrives to stop Hui-ju but with backup from other girls, he too is unable to do anything. As things begin to go downhill, San-ha arrives and saves the two with his words, also warning Hui-ju to keep her act in check or else he will make sure to report her. Later at home, Ju-won explains the whole matter to them and Hae-joon apologizes to her with cake which earns him forgiveness very quickly.

The next day, Ju-won thanks Park Dal who asks her to take her to the next basketball game. Ju-won quickly picks up her meaning and promises to help her friend with her feelings for Hae-joon. Meanwhile, Hae-joon is wrapped up in the thought that maybe his mother is the one who sent the photographer the last time. He also mistakes another woman for his mother and calls out to her which is seen by Park Dal.

He asks her to stay quiet about what she saw and not tell anything to Ju-won. The next day, a man arrives at the school in a fancy car and he walks up to Hae-joon, claiming to be his father.

Family by Choice Review (Episodes 1-2)

Family by Choice brings a remake of the Chinese drama Go Ahead which has garnered fans of the original to see how the story goes ahead in this new setup. While the story does follow the majority of the original storyline, fitting the show into 16 episodes is surely a task and we can see how it has been cut down in the first two episodes. The storyline has been altered to some extent, even changing some elements of the characters’ personalities as well.

We can also see the focus shifting onto San-ha to quite an extent, making it different from the original. However, this only adds to the unique charm that the remake brings, keeping it interesting for viewers and fans of the show alike. The complex emotions of the two male leads are wonderfully portrayed by the actors who easily bring out the emotions of their characters on screen.

However, a lot more is expected out of Ju-won’s character that already seems to have been toned down to quite an extent. Additionally, I am surely expecting more scenes showing the chemistry between the two fathers as they are the highlight of the show. Altogether, the remake has me excited with the changes that have been brought out and I am already looking forward to what the later episodes hold in store.

Watch Family by Choice on Viki.

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