The Atypical Family (2024– ) User Reviews

A Slow Undertow

[kgenereux-75-533576 · 8/10 · 27 May 2024]

The series takes its time. But somewhere along the way it pulled me in hard with its meandering time-bending strangeness. Definitely there's an undertow thing happening with every black & white shot glimpse into characters' recurring dreamscapes and nightmares. I'm at episode 8 now, and I'm guessing that those who are reviewing this drama as "Boring" probably swam to shore very early. Honestly, it took about 4 episodes before the dramatic undertow broke down my "you've got to be kidding me" barriers.

Bottom line is it's not a show for a k-drama beginner.: It would tigger too much crazy-making culture shock. But once you've seen a lot of k-dramas, you get used to a lot of really strange stuff. Like how a tiny 12 yr. Old girl, who seems to be legally blind without her glasses, is allowed to walk to school (and all over the whole darn city) ALONE.

But if you can get past the clueless child neglect, "Atypical Family" might just pull you in like it did me. Btw, This is maybe a 7 star series, but I gave a full extra star for the top-notch performance of Jang Ki-yong, who plays time travelling Gwi-joo. His character slowly sheds his comatose stone-coldness, frays and unravels, then unleashes a range of nuanced and cagey emotions. Jang's 4D acting definitely unveils itself as a cut above his costars, whose emotive capacities are either borderline passive, over-the-top, comic-bookish or just blah. (The actress who plays Grace deserves a small shout-out too. She's a cool combo of sly and fierce.) Anyway since the whole super-power thing was slow getting started, maybe we get a cliff hanger and a Season 2? I Hope so.

Beautiful Stories

[hwooyang · 10/10 · 27 May 2024]

The settings is not normal to show a beautiful romance but I see the writer is a genius. A man who wanted to be a hero but wasn't able to be, then became just for one person. It has the family thing in it but English title(The Atypical Family) is not telling what the show wants to tell. I like the Korean title("Although I'm not a hero") more. All the actor are good but Claudia(Suhyun?) Kim is the best. It's not like acting I feel like there's that kind of person living next to me. I watched until ep8 and every episode was amazing. The ending song perfectly goes well with the show. I hope the rest also be the same good enough.

Sophisticated, slow, atmospheric magical story about hope and love

[magesole · 10/10 · 19 May 2024]

This series has a sophisticated, atmospheric magic blended with real life traumas and believable characters. People in the drama are flawed, but relatable and likeable.

In "The Atypical Family" story as well as character development expands with an atmosphere - the colour tones, the music scores as well as sound design, and the easily flowing caesural pauses allowing the viewers to take in the vastness of the scene settings, the seriousness of the situations. One could almost compare this drama to a poetry. Actors and their characters are allowed pauses to think, not to say that they're slow, on the contrary, it makes them and their choices more believable.

The script and most chosen actors are spectacular in their roles. The characters are written as smart, thinking, conniving ones, not by making others extremely dull and stupid, but by letting them make smart decisions, allowing them to have multiple purposes. Not a single person here is B&W, they all have their own personal colour pallets.

For now (6th episode) I could name only one major drawback - the ML's sister. Her character is overweight, but acted by a slim actress, which makes her movements and mannerisms not genuine and weird.

All in all I find the story refreshing and interesting, the clashing of one dysfunctional family with a fake united one, the deadpan comedy, the pain of trauma and not managing to let go of the past.

Beautiful series

[twilightsonam · 10/10 · 22 May 2024]

First I saw some small clips uploaded in you tube and watched it , and again I came to see some more clips the it got my attention but don't pay heed much , but again the name which got hooked in ma mind suddenly been uploaded episode wise in some online streaming platform then I go check it out and then the ....... All magical things been going on in series, so I went on and on and literally, such a beautiful series was waiting for me to grab him and yes it found me . It was a really sweet , suits my type and meets my soul. All the stories, uniqueness the characters all have been portrayed in a very gentle flow and now I haven't completed it yet and I will soon complete it all, given a full rating as it deserved.

Not a Superhero Movie

[rulamarr · 9/10 · 16 May 2024]

I can empathize with the characters as I have depression, anxiety, and multiple health issues. They are people who are unable to perform to the best of their ability and they just happen to be have super powers.

The "fat" sister is wholly unbelievable. No one spends the rent money on food. No fat person is constantly thinking of eating...they just become fat because of various issues, usually related to health.

My issue is with the "mysterious" woman who saves the main character from drowning. It appeared to be happenstance that she was there at the beach, but then later it appeared to be some type of grift. I will continue to watch to see where this show is going with the plot.

The first EP nearly made me fall asleep...

[anders-eriksson-257-254935 · 5/10 · 6 May 2024]

This review is for the 1st episode only.

I won't watch the rest, mainly due to the fact that if the writers and the cast are not able to capture the viewer's attention 30 minutes in, it's probably not worth the time to watch the rest.

Story and pace: It's more interesting to watch paint dry... Nothing of interest really happens...

Plot Development: Hard to determine after only one episode, but it seems they are going for Dark Comedy(?), but it wasn't really remotely funny... It seems they attempt to blend family drama, comedy, and superhero elements, but the mix doesn't always feel seamless.

BORING

[mcfmd-58984 · 1/10 · 6 May 2024]

EP 1&2 BORING AMD VERY SLOW...NO DIRECTION .. HE IS DEPRESSED, FAMILY WANTS TO CONTINUE SUPERPOWERS BUT WHERE IS THIS HEADED?? TOO BAD WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO IT.

If you want to engage the viewers there should be don't dwell on one character who sets the tine to the entire show. This pulls you down pointlessly..I don't know how the average score is 8.5?

The character is so depressed there doesn't seem to be and end in sight. Totally disengaging the viewers ..make it livelier and get him out of that rut FAST..TOO DEPRESSING ..

IF THE MAIN PLOT IS ABOUT SUPERPOWERS THERE SURE ISN'T ANY INDICATION.

A Hot Mess

[ellenj-11573 · 3/10 · 20 May 2024]

It's hard to believe that a story about a family with superpowers could be so boring. These people have NO charisma, except possibly the father, played by Oh Man-seok, who also plays the dad in SOMETHING ABOUT THE RAIN.

The character he plays here, I might add, is a total dud in the superpower department - therefore nobody pays much attention to him.

One of the reasons I like Oh Man-seok, other than his eternally cheerful demeanor, is because he's one of the few Korean actors in a major series with less than a lily-white complexion. Hey, Netflix, how about more brown-skinned Asian actors in your series? Thanks.

All the other members of this so-called family might just as well be strangers waiting at a bus stop-for all the interaction they have with each other.

My main problem with this series is that it lacks any logical coherence. Why is the family putting on an elaborate wedding--with no guests--mind you, when A) the groom didn't actually propose, and B) the bride never accepted the non-proposal? Did either of these two ever say? "I love you"? Did I miss something? This is the stiffest, least-convincing romance I've ever seen.

And each person in the family is aware that the marriage is a fraud, and an attempt to steal their money. And each one of them goes along with it. Really?

Then there's the matter of the depressed brother, Gwi-ju, who apparently needs to "save" someone. While the series at first shows us how obsessed Gwi-ju is to "save" someone he worked with, suddenly without any rhyme or reason the target of his obsession changes.

He's now set on "saving" Do Da-hae, a woman who's moved into the house under suspicious circumstances.

But as Ms. Do points out to Gwi-ju, in a rare display of logical thinking-rare for this series anyway--she doesn't need saving as she's a healthy, fully functioning woman. Therefore she must have survived whatever horrible, no good, very bad thing happened to her in the past. You know, that thing that Gwi-ju has a bee in his bonnet about.

I can't imagine that the writers have answers to all these questions and will somehow put it all together in the end...If they do I'll revisit this review.

Annoying male lead

[ATD67 · 3/10 · 19 May 2024]

The movie drags to the point of being boring! The story line flips back and forth of both families knowing and not knowing why the two main characters should be together but still depends on the female lead. The male lead is very annoying to the point of stalking despite the belief its better for everyone for the two main characters to be together. Its the way the script was written. Anyone in their right mind would be upset that someone keeps following them despite many time being told to stay away. Nevertheless, not much 'superpowers' shown as reason is told in the beginning. The plot is not written as well and the direction of the movie starts to waver after each episode. Again, to each their own! It could have been written better.