appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Pierce Conran

This article contains major spoilers.
3.5/5 stars
Lead cast: Jang Ki-yong, Chun Woo-hee, Go Doo-shim, Claudia Kim
Latest Nielsen rating: 4.9 per cent
If The Atypical Family made one thing clear, it is that we cannot change our fates. Man-heum (Go Doo-shim), matriarch of the Bok family – whose members all have superpowers – has had many visions throughout the show’s 12 episodes, and each of them has come to pass.
However, being certain about one piece of the puzzle does not give you a view of the full picture. Man-heum’s dreams may have been accurate, but they were often not clear. She might see a fire, but then mistakes where and when it will take place.


There were also crucial events she did not foresee. Chief among them was a new superpower in a future member of the Bok family, which in the end allowed the show to have its cake and eat it too.
The Atypical Family gave us the happy ending we so desired, but only by betraying its message and opening the door to a host of potential plot holes.
The back half of the series employed its supernatural conceit to create and maintain a tremendous dramatic and romantic tension around its leads Bok Gwi-ju (Jang Ki-yong) and Do Da-hee (Chun Woo-hee) and whether they could both make it alive to the end of the story.
Gwi-ju’s superpower was the ability to return to, but not change, happy moments in his past. He lost this power, but when Da-hee appeared it was restored – with some twists: he could return to happy moments, but only ones shared with her, and he could change the past.
Da-hee was saved from a fire in her high school when she was a teenager after being locked in a room. This was the same fire that claimed the life of Gwi-ju’s firefighter partner, who had taken his place that day since Gwi-ju’s daughter In-a had just been born.

She was saved by a mysterious man with a birthmark on his neck. While Gwi-ju has no such mark, it was plain to see that he must have been her saviour. The problem is that in saving Da-hee from the blaze, the man perished.
Since Gwi-ju can go into the past and interact with Da-hee, and given the fact that she survived the fire, it follows that he will die in the future.
Some scenarios came to mind. Perhaps a far older Gwi-ju goes back into the past to save Da-hee, giving the couple many years together until it is his time to go. There’s also the possibility that Gwi-ju simply saves himself from the fire by returning to the present in the nick of time.
Any hope for either of these scenarios is dashed when Da-hee and the Bok family are swept up in another blaze, this time during a talent show at In-a’s (Park So-yi) school.

Gwi-ju saves Da-hee and In-a by holding up a large plank and giving them a route to escape. But in doing so he has condemned himself to die since he cannot save himself. Thus the only escape for him is to go back to the past, but this time it will be a past from which he cannot return.
This leaves him a clear path to take – go back and save Da-hee from the other fire in the past.
At this point we are given an explanation for the birthmark Da-hee years ago thought she saw on her saviour’s neck. It turns out to have been a temporary mark from a flower that Gwi-ju gets during another trip to the past.
So Gwi-ju perishes in the original blaze and for a moment it seems as though the show has stuck to its guns by giving us a thoroughly tragic conclusion.
Yet aside from a handful of the genre series that Netflix produces (this is a JTBC cable show licensed by the global streaming platform, not one it financed), happy endings are something of a foregone conclusion in Korean dramas.

And so, in a coda to The Atypical Family that takes place a few years later, Da-hee has given birth to a son – her child with Gwi-ju – who is starting to show signs of his superpower: he can bring things back. Da-hee asks if he can bring his father back – and that’s that.
Given that the show had earlier made very clear reference to Christmas in August, a timeless Korean romantic melodrama about terminal illness with an unavoidably tragic conclusion, this coda felt like something of a cop-out.
Yet while its very last note may have been a disappointing one, this series was a symphony of emotional surprises, not least because of its wonderful score.
Whereas most Korean fantasy romance dramas have a flimsy logic and trot out tired supernatural concepts, here we had a richer concept that was fully fleshed out, and a narrative that applied it cleverly to produce a sweeping and emotional story.
The Atypical Family is streaming on Netflix.


Netflix K-drama Teach You a Lesson: corporal punishment for bullies in alarming school show

Disney+ K-drama Doctor on the Edge: Lee Jae-wook, Shin Ye-eun lead island medical romcom

K-drama Reborn Rookie: Lee Jun-young’s corporate body-swap fantasy hums with melodrama

HBO Max K-drama Fifties Professionals: Shin Ha-kyun action comedy revisits hits of old

Korean drama reviews

Netflix K-drama review: The Atypical Family – Jang Ki-yong, Chun Woo-hee in moving finale

Jang Ki-yong as Bok Gwi-ju in a still from The Atypical Family. Chun Woo-hee, Go Doo-shim, and Claudia Kim co-star.

Chun Woo-hee as Do Da-hee in a still from The Atypical Family.

Park So-yi as In-a in a still from The Atypical Family.

Jang Ki-yong as Bok Gwi-ju (left) and Chun Woo-hee as Do Da-hee in a still from The Atypical Family.

6 of the best new K-dramas to watch in June 2024, including, on Netflix, Hierarchy with Lee Chae-min and The Whirlwind

Roh Jeong-eui in a still from Hierarchy, a K-drama series launching in June on Netflix. Photo: Netflix

Roh Jeong-eui in a still from Hierarchy on Netflix. Lee Chae-min and Kim Jae-won co-star. It’s one of the six best K-drama series debuting in June. Look out, too, for political thriller The Whirlwind on Netflix, and The Player 2: Master of Swindlers. Photo: Netflix

Netflix K-drama review: Hierarchy – vacuous high school drama combines revenge and romance

Roh Jeong-eui as heiress Jae-i in a still from Hierarchy, a Netflix K-drama that fails to provide the commentary and social upheaval it promised. Photo: Netflix

Lee Chae-min as new scholarship student Kang Ha in a still from Hierarchy. Photo: Netflix

Ji Hye-won (left) as Yoon He-ra and Lee Won-jung as Lee Woo-jin in a still from Hierarchy. Photo: Netflix

Kim Jae-won as chaebol heir Kim Ri-an in a still from Hierarchy. Photo: Netflix

Lee Chae-min (left) as scholarship student Kang Ha and Roh Jeong-eui as chaebol heiress Jae-i in a still from Hierarchy. Photo: Netflix

Kim Yoo-jung, Kim Young-dae eyed for webtoon adaptation Dear X: K-drama casting latest

Kim Yoo-jung in a still from My Demon. In K-drama casting news, the actress is considering a role in a TV adaptation of the webtoon Dear X.  Photo: SBS

Kim Young-dae in a still from Sh**ting Stars.

Lee Sang-yi (left) and Woo Do-hwan in a still from Bloodhounds. Photo: Netflix

Lee Dong-wook in a still from A Shop for Killers. Photo: Disney+

Cha Seung-won in a still from Our Blues. Photo: tvN

Disney+ K-drama midseason recap: Uncle Samsik – Song Kang-ho excels in political drama

Song Kang-ho as Samsik in a still from Uncle Samsik. Photo: Disney+

Song Kang-ho as Samsik in a still from period political K-drama Uncle Samsik on Disney+. Photo: Disney+

Byun Yo-han as Kim San in a still from Uncle Samsik. Photo: Disney+

Song Kang-ho as Samsik in a still from Uncle Samsik. Photo: Disney+.

K-drama The Player 2: Master of Swindlers – Song Seung-heon back for crime/action sequel

Song Seung-heon as Kang Ha-ri in a still from The Player 2: Master of Swindlers.

Song Seung-heon (front) as Kang Ha-ri in a still from The Player 2: Master of Swindlers. Korean drama series offers plenty of banter and brawls – but will it be enough to keep viewers tuning in?

Lee Si-eon as hacker Im Byung-min in a still from The Player 2: Master of Swindlers.

Oh Yeon-seo as the mysterious Jung Soo-min in a still from The Player 2: Master of Swindlers.

Lifestyle

K-drama

Entertainment

Culture

Film & TV

K-Pop

Do Da-hee was saved from a fire once by a mystery man who died, who can only have been Bok Gwi-ju. We learn how, and see tragedy averted


Do Da-hee (Chun Woo-hee) was saved from a fire in the past by a mystery man who died, who can only have been Bok Gwi-ju (Jang Ki-yong). We learn how he travelled back in time to save her – and there’s a twist.


K-drama news

What's hot in Korea

South Korean celebrities

Fame and celebrity

TV shows and streaming video

Netflix

An assessment or critique of a service, product or creative endeavour.  Film reviews, restaurant reviews, reviews of art exhibitions. (Eg. Crazy Rich Asians: an important film, yes, but a good one?)


Review

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Do Da-hee was saved from a fire once by a mystery man who died, who can only have been Bok Gwi-ju. We learn how, and see tragedy averted

Do Da-hee was saved from a fire once by a mystery man who died, who can only have been Bok Gwi-ju. We learn how, and see tragedy averted