Korean time-travel drama The Atypical Family starts out slow. So if you were turned off by the slow pace of the first two episodes, that is understandable. If you persist, however, this Korean drama gets better. And towards the end, there are some pretty moving moments.
The Atypical Family Plot
The premise of the show is that a family full of people with superpowers can no longer use their powers because of lifestyle-linked diseases. Depression, obesity, insomnia and a crushing shyness seem to make the family not just un-super, but also dysfunctional. An elaborate con to marry into the family, and corner their generational wealth turns into an unexpected love story.
The Atypical Family Cast and Performances
'The Atypical Family' on Netflix is a show about people with superpowers, including the ability to time-travel. The powers are hereditary, but they manifest differently in each member. Bok Gwi-ju (Jang Ki-Yong), for example, can return to happy moments from his past while his sister Bok Dong-hee (Claudia Kim) can fly.
The action revolves around Bok Gwi-ju and Do Da-hae (Chun Woo-hee). Do-hae is stuck with a group of scammers who want to con Gwi-ju into marrying her, to claim part or all of the family's wealth. Gwi-ju and Do-hae, however, are linked by fate. Gwi-ju is destined to go back in time and save Do-hae from a massive fire at her school - some 13 years before they meet in the present.
Chun Woo-hee, who plays the sweet but smart Do Da-Hae, is a seasoned actress. She commands attention here just as did in another recent Netflix series 'The 8 Show' in which she played a performance artist who makes a lot of money on the deadly game show but spends it all on her art.
Claudia Kim's performance as the obese Bok Dong-hee who manages to lose weight as she uncovers issues and emerges from the setbacks that caused her to binge-eat in the first place, is both honest and light.
Oh Man-seok plays Eom Soon-gu, Gwi-ju and Dong-hee's father. There's less for him to do here than as Yoon Jin-ah's (Son Ye-jin) father in 'Something in the Rain' (also on Netflix), but he is competent if not entirely memorable.
Park So-yi as Bok In-a - Gwi-ju's daughter, who has the power to know people's thoughts just by looking into their eyes - is lovely as a shy preteen who is just an uncomfortable in her skin as she is with her power that allows her to pick up on others' negative thoughts without trying.
The Atypical Family trailer
Watch Netflix's trailer for The Atypical Family here:
The Atypical Family ending explained
The Atypical Family episodes 11 and 12 offer multiple suggestions that whatever is fated to happen is not immutable, especially for a family of supers such as they are.
In the finale, Bok Gwi-ju returns to the past and saves Do-hae from the flames. After he throws her out of the window and onto an inflated rescue cushion, there's an explosion and we don't see if he has perished or survived.
The resolution comes in the form of Gwi-ju and Do-hae's son who is born after Gwi-ju's presumed death. Called Bok Nu-ri, the child's superpower is one better than his father's. Not only can he return to the past, but he can also retrieve things - and people - from it!
Et voila! When Do-hae discovers Nu-ri's power, she asks if he can look for his father at a point 18 years ago. Nu-ri looks at his father's photo. The camera pans to focus on Do-hae. A minute later, Nu-ri is back. He is hand-in-hand with a sooty-faced Bok Gwi-ju, presumably from the burning building where he rescued Do-hae.
The Atypical Family was directed by Jo Hyun-taek who also directed Snowdrop and SKY Castle, and written by Joo Hwa-mi.
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