Kaseifu no Mita

This drama was about a dysfunctional family that hires an emotionless housekeeper. Apparently the ratings were very high for this show... but I've personally seen better.

The story opens with four children and their father dealing with the death of the mother of the family. It's been a couple of weeks and the father decides to hire a maid to do the housekeeping. What with the mother gone the work around the house wasn't getting done as it used to. When the housekeeper arrives, the family is kind of taken aback by her appearance and presence. Unlike other housekeepers, she has a heavy coat and a baseball cap and she is very curt with the family, speaking without any trace of emotion. Despite this though, she was excellent at what she did, so the family decides to keep her. As the story progresses, the family learns that there is something kind of off about this housekeeper, Mita-san. One of the things is that she will do anything that is commanded of her, anything, and this of course is one of the central plot points of the story. As the plot progresses we learn more about each of the children, and their father, and of course, Mita-san plays a role in fleshing out each of these discoveries. Usually being directed to do something immoral or illegal. We also learn more about the mother's death, was it an accident? and of course about Mita-san and why she is the way she is.

All of the main characters in this story annoyed me. First off, the father and the youngest daughter look kind of weird. The father looks like a snake, literally, and it's sort of unsettling to look at him. Sometimes I find myself looking at him just to find what I don't like about his face. In addition to that his character on the show is a pathetic, spineless loser. Harsh but true. The youngest daughter doesn't look odd at first glance, but there's something weird about her teeth. They're too perfect for a kid her age. Also, she whines constantly. The oldest daughter is sort of weak-willed. There's a funny part of the show where she orders Mita to kill her, and then runs away in fear as Mita pursues her and tells her to stop. Then she orders Mita to kill her again. Its filmed like a horror scene... but it's just ridiculous. The Oldest son has huge anger issues. I can easily see his character in an abusive relationship. Never before in one drama have I been so dissatisfied with the cast.

This drama is watchable, but I was tempted to drop it half way through.