Tthe first time we meet the Boks on Netflix The atypical family, they are perched on a literal precipice. Bok Dong-hee (Soo-hyun) stands on the edge of a cliff, wishing to fly. Her brother, Gwi-ju (Jang Ki-young), drinks a strong drink while her mother, Man-heum (Ko Do-shim), simultaneously berates him for no longer being able to travel through time and laments the insomnia that holds her back. dreaming about the future. It’s a none-too-subtle introduction to the series’ titular atypical family, now rendered ordinary by the loss of their superpowers and desperate to regain them. And it’s the lack of subtlety that haunts The atypical family straight to its surprisingly watchable ending.
That ending came this weekend, when the 12th and final episode of the series aired on Netflix. The finale ended with a tense, almost tragic climax that had the potential to save a sterile series that often relied on mean jokes and tried to pack too much into its runtime. Still, as The atypical family undermined its own dark final act with a typical K-drama happy ending, it failed to redeem its many deficiencies.
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If the story of a matriarch concerned about her family’s loss of superpowers draws immediate comparisons to the Disney story, Charm, The similarities continue when it’s up to a young woman without superpowers, Do Da-hae (Chun Woo-hee), to help the Boks rediscover their humanity. Da-hae arrives on the scene after Gwi-ju falls off the cliff and she drags him out of the water, only to disappear again.
In a moment of apparent serendipity, Man-heum finds her working at a spa, seemingly hours later, where she discovers that Da-hae is the only person who can guarantee her the sleep she so desperately needs. Da-hae is immediately led to the Bok family home and quickly thrust into Gwi-ju – who is still mourning the loss of his first wife for drinking and neglecting their daughter, I-na (Park So-yi). However, just as Da-hae pretends to be receptive in promoting what will turn out to be not a fluke but in fact an elaborate fraud, she also begins to discover the Boks’ super-powered secret.
As supernatural thrillers go, it’s an interesting setup. The atypical family founders, however, under the weight of its moving parts. The series is always in a rush as it uses its superhero framework to explore family conflicts, school bullying, the many scams of Da-hae’s guardian Baek Il-hong (Kim Keum-soon), cheating scandals, and grief – to name a few. just some of its themes and stories. Even in the South Korean TV scene, known for mixing genres, it’s a lot to balance. An uncharitable reading might be that the show is simply trying to emulate the success of the 2023 Hulu series Moving. But while that superpowered show offered a compassionate glimpse into the fringes of South Korean society, The atypical family loses its way, more often than not, in a script by writer Joo Hwa-mi that brutally attacks any character who falls outside the strictly airbrushed ideals of the K-drama prototype.
This cruelty, which eventually extends to callousness toward poverty, abuse, and bullying, is exemplified in Dong-hee’s characterization. The decision to put a svelte actress in a fat suit in 2024 is absurd on its face – although The atypical family isn’t the only recent series to do this. Joo, however, takes every opportunity to make Dong-hee as repellent as possible. Never far from a bag of chips, she screams as a snack is snatched from her hands and snatches it up like Garfield attacking lasagna. When an outdoor dinner is ruined by rain, she yells at her father (Oh Man-seok) to put away the food. She even falls in love with someone just based on how they deliver food to her – even though Joo only allows it after she loses weight. This weight loss is achieved through a combination of starvation and excessive exercise. These unhealthy methods are rarely, and only vaguely, challenged and, ultimately, celebrated. It’s a surprisingly cruel depiction, but it’s only part of the cruelty at the heart of The atypical familyroad map.
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The script deals with addiction across several character arcs, though it squanders any potential to do so thoughtfully and sensitively. Gwi-ju is an alcoholic addicted to revisiting the past; Dong-hee is addicted to food; Man-heum is addicted to power to the point of abuse. However, as Joo plays with complex and delicate issues, his writing reveals such a poor understanding of addiction – and such a negative view of addicts – that it reveals itself in cruel and often dangerous depictions. Even as The atypical family exerts compassion – through, for example, momentary understanding of Gwi-ju’s pain or I-na receiving attention from her father (before he neglects her again) – repeatedly these moments are undermined by superficial or insincere narratives.

The script is so invested in excoriating the perceived weaknesses of its characters that it leaves them devoid of development. This isn’t helped by the lack of chemistry between the two leads – and it should be noted how strikingly uncharismatic Jang is as Gwi-ju. So even as the series reaches its emotional climax, we still don’t understand why Gwi-ju and Da-hae would fall in love other than the script – and K-drama tradition – dictating so.
Chun Woo-hee, as Da-hae, gives a determined performance, even if the material she’s working with makes it lackluster. She is responsible for some The atypical familylighter moments, although unintentionally. Gwi-ju turns invisible when she visits the past, forcing Chun to lean in awkwardly while she is ostensibly in his arms or appears to be fighting with herself. The result is an indirect embarrassment for Chun, whose first comebacks The Lament It is Argon show her that she deserves better than these ridiculous scenes.
Which contributes to what is perhaps most shocking The atypical family. Despite its many flaws, The atypical family is surprisingly, even atypically, watchable. Despite your script, The atypical family It’s a terribly well-made series. In production, design, sound, editing – it’s excellent.
And there was certainly potential in its conception. Any of its many plots could be an excellent K-drama. A woman tries to trick a wealthy heir only to have him provide a way out of her dire situation, someone traveling back in time but unable to prevent a disaster (a conspiracy that unfolds very close to this year’s disaster). Marry my husband), a teenager overcoming bullying through dance. The problem is that a show can’t survive on ideas and production alone – it requires solid writing.
Joo seems aware of the show’s exaggerated history when The atypical family cuts most of its subplots to focus on Gwi-ju’s time travel and its consequences in the series’ final hours. But by then it’s too late. Any emotional weight The atypical family What he exerts in these last moments is undeserved, these characters are so ill-prepared, it means nothing when Gwi-ju and Da-hae revel in romantic bliss or when tragic reality seeps in. at the last minute as a tear-jerking cap on an otherwise impotent series.
Though it occasionally strays, The atypical family is a disheartening walk through the worst elements of South Korean TV: lazy stereotypesprefabricated plots and a cruelty that clearly resonates with audiences who kept The atypical family in Netflix’s Top 10 non-English series throughout its run. Although its restrained production sometimes obscures its problematic writing, the series it can’t overcome its mean-spirited script, even in its most engaging moments – invariably, its quietest moments. It’s appropriate, perhaps, as a series with nothing positive to say, that The atypical family it’s more watchable when no one is talking.
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story