Summary
Typhoon Family gets off to a solid start in Episode 1 & 2, balancing ‘90s nostalgia with heartfelt character drama.
Well, we’re in the ‘90s, of that there can be no doubt. The whole aesthetic of Typhoon Family reflects the period in which it’s set, but it’s not all in service of chintzy nostalgia. In fact, the cavalier nature of its opening scenes in Episode 1 are intended to create a whiplash effect when we reach the meat of the drama in Episode 2, which is the 1997 Asian financial crisis. That’s not a laugh-a-minute subject, and by the cruel ending of the premiere, it’s obvious that we’re exploring fairly rich – pun not intended – dramatic territory.
Typhoon Trading is, initially, flourishing. South Korea is one of the so-called “Four Dragons” of Asian economies that rapidly expanded from the 50s to the 90s, propping up small, often family businesses. There’s a brilliant The Office-style introductory video feature for a TV segment showing life in the office, with everyone trying (and failing) to act natural and play up the brilliance of their jobs. This gives way to the protagonist, Tae-poong, competing in a nightclub dance competition and getting into a scrap with his rival, Hyun-joon. It’s all fun and games.
Sort of, anyway. Tae-poong clearly has some unresolved issues with his dad – despite dutifully polishing his shoes – and a passionate gardening hobby that is slightly at odds with how handsome and stylish he is. Luckily, he’s not particularly interested in dating, all the better to pursue the obligatory slow-burning K-Drama romance with Mi-seon, the bookkeeper at his father’s company. And it’s around his father’s company that the bulk of the tension lives. Tae-poong’s dad is on the cusp of a potentially lucrative but also highly risky deal with a textile company that includes a sizeable advance payment.
Despite Mi-seon cautioning against the deal, Jin-young goes ahead with it anyway, putting himself in a precarious financial position. Having lumped everything on the advance, when the shipment is delayed by weather, he’s unable to pay his employees – some of whom, like Mi-seon herself, are exceptionally poor. They take it well enough, thanks to the family environment that has been fostered around the place, but it’s clear that the situation is bleak even before Jin-young has a stress-induced heart attack and collapses.
Thanks to more childish meddling by Hyun-joon, Tae-poong misses his father’s final moments. The Korean economy is in tatters, and it’s inevitably going to be up to Tae-poong to take the reins of the family business and hopefully keep it afloat. Maybe he’ll even find love along the way…
But it’s all easier said than done, as Episode 2 of Typhoon Family attests to. Tae-poong is having to learn the ropes while grappling with the guilt over never having been able to properly communicate with his father; now he’s gone, that opportunity will never arrive, and given the severity of the financial crisis, with the IMF getting involved and livelihoods being ruined left and right, vultures can’t help but circle Jin-young’s still-warm body. Even at his funeral!
Jin-young also seemed to have been hiding something from Mr. Choi. He definitely had some secrets, since in his office, Tae-poong discovers a hidden key that unlocks a cabinet with a secret safe inside. Perhaps everyone would have been better off hiding things away, since most local businesses are shutting shop, everyone’s broke, and Tae-poong’s mother even has to go so far as disconnecting the phone so the creditors can’t get through (see what I mean about vultures?). It’s an extremely bleak situation all around.
But anyway, the safe. Tae-poong ponders what the code might be for quite some time until Mi-seon gives him the answer: 2072, a hypothetical date 100 years on from the company’s original founding, relevant to the idea of planning for the future (meanwhile, Mi-seon’s own family situation kind of reiterates why planning for the future isn’t always feasible in this kind of financial climate). Lo and behold, the code’s correct. The safe contains savings accounts for the employees and Tae-poong, which Jin-young had been regularly depositing into. This discovery allows Tae-poong to finally process his dad’s death and internalise some of his lessons.
Tae-poong immediately has to spring into action and handle the shipment from Daebang Textiles while trying to learn the ropes of the business from Mi-seon. He might not have the details down yet, but Tae-poong does have some business bona fides, since he immediately intuits that something is up with the deal and blocks the trucks – physically, like a climate protestor – from delivering the shipment. I’m not sure this necessarily constitutes proper business acumen, but it at least feels right, and in the present circumstances, maybe that’ll have to be enough.
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