The Atypical Family ~ Superheroes With No Superpowers?

“The Atypical Family” is a Korean drama series released in 2024, with 12 episodes, and categorized as Romance, Dark Comedy, and Fantasy or Supernatural; currently streaming on Netflix.

♦ A Superhero Family With No Superpowers is Definitely Atypical

In “The Atypical Family”, a family that used to have superpowers, no longer have these powers. But why? They got sick! Sick?? Yes. Modern-day illnesses like obesity, insomnia, and depression have affected their superpowers. But there’s hope! At least, this atypical family hopes there is hope. Bok Man-Heum, the family matriarch, believes that there is someone out there who can help them restore their superpowers. Furthermore, she believes she’s found that special person.

The special person is Do Da-Hae, a masseuse. She’s a young lady who gives excellent massages. She told Bok Man-Heum that it’s not the oils that she uses but the fact that she goes to the mountains herself to get rejuvenated. She can transfer her powers of rejuvenation to those she massages. The grandmother is convinced that she has what her atypical family needs. And what does this young lady have? The young lady has … uuuhh … good health.

Good health?? That’s the power that will help the atypical family restore their superpowers. (???)  When you think about it, that makes sense. After all, they lost their superpowers because of their bad health.

♦ But the Masseuse Has a Family Too!

Do Da-Hae, the masseuse, has an ulterior motive. She purposely crossed paths with the Bok matriarch so that she could become a part of that atypical family. Her family may not have superpowers, but they do have unsavory motives. Do Da-Hae saw that the family was very wealthy and also found out that the matriarch intended to give a building to whichever of her kids got married first.

Do Da-Hae planned to seduce the son, Bok Gwi-Ju, and get him to marry her. As for the rest of her family – her mother, her sister, and her brother – they would reap the benefits once she was an official member of the Bok family.

But Do Da-Hae has another story. A traumatic event occurred in her life and she is afraid of fire. Her phobia is so intense that she can’t even turn the knobs on a stove to cook food. The flames from the burner are too close to her. She even panics if she is in a public place and the fire alarm goes off. Rather than trying to escape she becomes paralyzed with fear and can’t move. Something bad definitely happened to her.

As for Bok Gwi-Ju? He is battling depression because he is a widower. What is the point of having a superpower when you can’t save the one you love? He wants nothing to do with Do Da-Hae, even though his mother is playing the matchmaker and keeps trying to get them together.

Bok Gwi-Ju has a sister, Bok Dong-Hee, who used to be able to fly. But she’s suffering from obesity and can’t lift her body off the ground. She was sure that she would inherit the building as it was highly unlikely that her depressed brother would ever remarry. But now that Do Da-Hae has arrived on the scene, she has to move fast. (But it’s kind of hard to move fast when you’re obese.)

Bok Dong-Hee manages a gym that her mother owns and is unaware that Do Da-Hae’s sister is working at that gym. The job of Do Da-Hae’s sister is to disrupt any plans that could result in Bok Dong-Hee getting married before her brother does.

It’s a family affair. Do Da-Hae, her sister, her brother, and her mother, have a plan to become a part of the atypical Bok family. Consequently, they monitor everything the family members do and follow up with necessary actions to ensure that they can accomplish their goal of obtaining wealth by marrying into a wealthy family.

Main Characters:

• Bok Gwi-Ju (played by Jang Ki-yong, “Search WWW”)

• Do Da-Hae (played by Chun Woo-hee, “Unlocked”, “Love, Lies” )

• Bok Man-Heum (played by Go Doo-shim, “Island 1 and 2”)

• Bok Dong-Hee (played by Soo-Hyun, “Gyeongseong Creature”)

Where to Watch

Viewership and Rating:

• IMDb: 8 out of 10 stars
• My Drama List: 8.2 out of 10 stars
• Dramabeans: 9.7 out of 10 stars
• Common Sense Media: 4 out of 5 stars

My personal rating is 8 out of 10 stars.

It is hard for me to give “The Atypical Family” a higher rating because the storyline is a bit distasteful. The plot is very similar to the 2019 Korean movie “Parasite” except that the wealthy family didn’t have superpowers. It’s a fictional story, but the idea of people with such predatory parasitic behavior actually existing is deeply troubling to me. In fact, the film “Parasite” is loosely based on a true story. Isn’t that sad and also scary?

Common Sense Media describes the series as “darkly funny and intriguing”. Yeah. If you can stop yourself from thinking about people behaving that way in real life, then maybe you can laugh at some of the scenes. But it was difficult for me to divorce fiction from fact because I kept thinking of the possibility of something like that actually happening to a family. Not one person …. but a whole family.

In “The Atypical Family”, there is a young child who has lost her mother in a tragic accident and you might as well say she lost her father too because he became depressed and alcoholic after the tragedy. To think that an adult would insert themselves into that child’s life when they have already suffered trauma … it’s so disgusting and inhuman.

It doesn’t matter if the adult has a change of heart later and repents. They initiated the relationship with evil intent and should have never thought that way to begin with. It’s probably why I have never been a big fan of dark comedy.

LINKS OF INTEREST:

• Netflix K-drama The Atypical Family: Jang Ki-yong, Chun Woo-hee lead charming fantasy marred by fat shaming | South China Morning Post
• ‘The Atypical Family’ Wonders If Love Will Restore Their Superpowers | Forbes
• Can Netflix’s new rom-com The Atypical Family dethrone Queen of Tears in ratings and success? | Web Series | Hindustan Times
• Netflix’s New Supernatural K-Drama Is What Encanto Would Be Like As An Adult Show | ScreenRant

TRAILERS/TEASERS:

Netflix K-Content. “The Atypical Family | Official Trailer | Netflix.” YouTube Video. YouTube, April 24, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CotipI30Bx8.‌