I can’t count how many times I’ve watched a good show only to be disappointed in the ending. Maybe it’s a romance that ends with the couple breaking up – or worse, one of them dying. There are mystery dramas with all too predictable endings, and science fiction series that go too far out there. So, I like it when a show’s ending makes me happy and – surprises me at the same time. I enjoyed watching The Atypical Family on Netflix. How could I not since it features superpowers and time travel? But as I watched it, I wondered if it was possible for the show to have a happy ending. What I didn’t see coming is the surprising ending of The Atypical Family.
- Series Title: The Atypical Family (Korean: 히어로는 아닙니다만)
- Starring: Jang Ki-yong, Chun Woo-hee, Go Doo-shim and Claudia Kim
- Written by: Joo Hwa-mi
- Directed by: Jo Hyun-taek
- Network: JTBC
- Where to watch in the US: Netflix
- Premier Date: May 4, 2024
- # of episodes: 12
- KafeNook Rating: 4.3 sips
The Atypical Family — !! Spoilers Ahead!!
In the The Atypical Family, the Bok family has a secret. Matriarch Bok Man-heum (Go Doo-shim) sees visions of the future when she sleeps. Daughter Bok Dong-hee (Claudia Kim) can fly and her younger brother Bok Gwi-ju (Jang Ki-young) travels back in time to happy moments in his life. Or at least they used to. Now, Man-heun experiences insomnia and no longer dreams. Dong-hee’s eating disorder keeps her grounded. Brother Gwi-ju’s depression prevents him from returning to the past.
Then Do Da-hae (Chun Woo-hee) enters their lives. A member of a family of swindlers, her job is to insinuate herself into the wealthy Bok family. What no one expects is how Da-hae changes all their lives for the better, including that of Gwi-ju’s young daughter, In-na (Park So-yi of She Would Never Know) who has a secret of her own. Even more mysterious is the reason why Da-hae is the only person who can see and touch Gwi-ju when he travels to the past. But it is this ability that will be integral to Gwi-ju’s fate and the ending of the show.
Bok Gwi-ju’s Tragic Past
Before getting to the ending of The Atypical Family some background is needed on Bok Gwi-ju’s tragic past. His happiest moment, the birth of his daughter In-a, is also his most tragic. When his fellow firefighters are called to put out a fire at a girl’s high school, Gwi-ju’s friend goes in his stead and dies in the blaze. Using his time traveling ability, Gwi-ju returns to that time. Everything shaded in black and white, he discovers a door appearing in color that he can open. But no matter how many times he goes through the door, he is unable to save his friend.
Gwi-ju’s obsession in returning to that incident causes a strain on his marriage. While on a drive, his wife gives him an ultimatum – stop traveling to the past or she will take In-a and leave him. Her words fall on deaf ears as Gwi-ju disappears into the past once again. When he returns to his seat in the car, Gwi-ju is horrified to discover it has been in an crash. His wife dead beside him, In-a cries in the backseat. The accident sends him into a depression that prevents him from traveling back to the past to try and prevent it.
The Future Mrs. Bok?
It’s also important to know about swindler Do Da-hae, the person destined to change Gwi-ju’s life. She slowly worms her way into the Bok family starting with the Gwi-ju’s mother, Man-heum. Da-hae provides massages and “tea” to help the older woman sleep. In the meantime, Da-hae’s “sister”, Grace (Ryu Abel), gets a job at Gwi-ju’s gym. Her assignment is to keep his sister, Dong-hee, from marrying her fiancé.
It’s all part of a plan created by mastermind, Baek Il-hong (Kim Geum-sun), a con-artist who took in Da-hae after she was orphaned. The ultimate target is Gwi-ju. Once Da-hae becomes his wife, the goal is for her to take control of the family’s considerable fortune. What Il-hong, her daughters, and Uncle Hyung-tae (Choi Gwang-rok) come to learn is that they have targeted a family with superpowers.
Superpowers of The Atypical Family
Not all of the family’s superpowers are relevant to the ultimate ending of the show. Take Gwi-ju’s older sister, Dong-hee, who has the least interesting story in The Atypical Family. Believing her weight keeps her from flying, Dong-hee spends most of the series trying to lose it. It’s not until episode 11, when she is seen through her brother’s eyes, that the heart of Dong-hee’s story finally emerges. Gwi-ju travels back to a time in his childhood where a young Dong-hee encourages him to eat when he is in the hospital. As he describes the joy on her face while she eats, it reminds Dong-hee how the pleasure of food made her happy. That episode also hints of a future relationship between her and Da-hae’s “Uncle”, Hyung-tae. In a humorous moment, Dong-hee takes Hyung-tae flying, but the scene contributes little to the overall ending.
By contrast, the story of Bok In-a, Gwi-ju’s daughter, is very interesting. In-a hides behind her glasses because her superpower is the ability to read people’s thoughts. Bullied at school by a girl she wants to be friends with, she is afraid to admit she likes the same boy. That boy, Han Joon-woo (portrayed by everyone’s favorite young actor, Moon Woo-jin) also likes In-a. When Da-hae comes along, In-a begins to open up -first to Da-hae, then to Joon-woo, and finally to her father.
One of the best tear-jerker moments in the show involves Gwi-ju and In-a after he learns the truth about his daughter’s power. Gwi-ju apologizes to In-a for not being there for her and assures her that the day she was born is still the best day of his life. Having reestablished a relationship with In-a, she is a big reason why Gwi-ju wants to live a long life.
But Gwi-ju’s mother, Man-heum, has started dreaming again, not about stocks or the lottery, but about her family. In one reoccurring dream, she sees Gwi-ju saving Da-hae in the fire, followed by the family mourning for him. The dream reveals that his body is never recovered. Though her dreams always come true, Man-heum doesn’t always interpret them correctly. This gives hope that her dream of seeing Gwi-ju die in a fire won’t come to pass as she believes.
Da-hae’s past is Gwi-ju’s Future
The road to the ending of The Atypical Family requires a little understanding of the time travel logic employed. The logic follows a single, closed loop timeline – meaning that everything that happened or will happen is part of a single, self-contained timeline. When Gwi-ju goes back in time and interacts with Da-hae, the events are always part of her past and always a part of his future. From Da-hae’s perspective, Gwi-ju pops into her life from the future at random times. Gwi-ju’s actions, by contrast, are linear only from his perspective. Using his perspective, the key events leading to the surprising ending of The Atypical Family go something like this:
– Thirteen years after the fire at the high school, Gwi-ju meets Do Da-hae who is out to swindle his family. But instead of taking advantage of the Bok’s, Do-hae’s presence begins to heal them. Especially, Gwi-ju when he realizes she is not lying about how his future self visits her in the past. For a reason he has yet to understand, Gwi-ju can go to moments in the past he shares with Da-hae. When he does- she appears to be in color to his eyes and she can both see and touch him.
– To get closer to prospective husband Gwi-ju, Da-hae plays her ace card. She tells him he is the person who saved her from the fire at her high school thirteen years earlier. Though Da-hae doesn’t believe he was her rescuer, Gwi-ju becomes certain he destined to save her. How else to explain why he can travel back to happy moments with her? Da-hae is not convinced. Her rescuer had a mark on his neck that Gwi-ju doesn’t have.
– Wanting to keep Da-hae close to him, Gwi-ju agrees to marry her. But on the day of their wedding, Da-hae reveals her family’s nefarious plan. Gwi-ju refuses to give her up – especially after learning that the ring her rescuer gave her thirteen years earlier is the Bok family ring. He may not have a mark on his neck – yet – but this confirms he is the person who saved her. Returning to moments in their shared past, like bringing her favorite frozen ice from the future, he attempts to win Da-hae’s love.
– Gwi-ju learns he is destined to die in the fire while trying to save Da-hae. This doesn’t detour him from wanting to be with her. With Da-hae, he has finally found happiness. Then, she dies in a car accident under the same circumstance as his first wife and Gwi-ju momentarily descends into a depression. But with the help of daughter In-a and Da-hae’s Uncle, he discovers Da-hae staged her death. When he finds her, Gwi-ju learns that, just like Sol’s plan to save Sun-jae in Lovely Runner, Da-hae would rather know Gwi-ju is alive even if he is unhappy. She hoped his depression would return and prevent him from trying to save her in the past.
– After bringing Da-hae home, Gwi-ju makes a trip to the past where he helps a young Da-hae learn to ride her bike. During that visit, a branch hits him on the neck causing an allergic reaction that leaves a mark. Gwi-ju learns the mark will fade in less than a week.
– Gwi-ju heads to In-a’s dance competition with a heavy heart, knowing he has little time left before he goes back into the past to save Da-hae. After the competition, Dong-hee’s former fiancé accidently starts a fire in the building where Da-hae and In-a become trapped. A desperate Gwi-ju finds them and holds up a burning wall long enough for them to get out. With no way to escape the fire, Gwi-ju does the only thing he can. He jumps back to the past.
– Once he is in the past, Gwi-ju relives In-a’s birth before racing to save Da-hae. After locating her in the burning school building, he gives her the Bok family ring, telling her to keep it with her always. Moments after helping her exit through a window, Gwi-ju is engulfed in an explosion that rips through the building. Fire surrounding him in both the past and the present, Gwi-ju’s fate seems all but assured.
The Atypical Family Surprise Ending
Eighteen years after the fire at the high school – and five years after Gwi-ju’s disappearance in the present – Da-hae is stepmom to In-a and mother to her and Gwi-ju’s son, Nu-ri. Peeking in on Nu-ri, Da-hae is surprised to see him playing with a ball she hasn’t seen since the day before. When she asks Nu-ri where he got it – he says, “Yesterday”. Realizing Nu-ri has a superpower, Da-hae asks her son if he can bring back something she lost. With hope in her eyes, she shows him the picture of Gwi-ju. Nu-ri studies the picture for a moment then begins to play with his ball.
A disappointed Da-hae turns to leave the room but something stops her. Slowly turning to her son, a look of disbelief crosses her face. Nu-ri holds the hand of the father he has never met. Da-he takes in the sight of a soot covered Gwi-ju, dressed as he was the day of the fire, tears filling his eyes. Tears of joy in her own eyes, Da-hae tells him, “Welcome Back.” Gwi-ju has summoned his dad from the past.
Before the final episode, it seemed possible that Gwi-ju would be able to jump out of the fire and back into the present. The dual fires put that notion to rest. Gwi-ju could not use his power to escape his fate. But because he saved Da-hae in the past, Gwi-ju is able to meet her in the future. Because Da-hae heals Gwi-ju, he is able to go back to the past to save her. Because the two fall in love, they eventually have a son who is able to reunite them.
There may have been a lack of hints that a baby is on the way for Da-hae and Gwi-ju. Not to mention the fact that Nu-ri’s superpower has manifested much earlier than anyone else in his family. But I like a happy ending. And even better – one that surprises me. The Atypical Family provides both. The show may have its flaws, but I would call that a successful ending.
The Atypical Family Soundtrack
The soundtrack for The Atypical Family is unlike any I have heard in a Kdrama. The music is almost another character – conveying emotions and moods throughout the show that make the scenes even better. While there are no songs I would add to my Kdrama soundtrack, the OST perfectly fits the tone of this creative show.
