They Don't Kiss Until Episode 16

I have a working theory. That theory is that 12-episode Netflix dramas never quite hit right.

I don’t know what it is, but 12 episodes are not enough to get through the story.

But it’s only episode 10, so I could be wrong. There are two more episodes to go.

So the Atypical Family is a realistic fantasy show, think Uncanny Counter mixed with Parasite.

The wealthy Bok family has a secret. They have superpowers. Every generation, each family member of the line gets a power. The powers might be useful or not, but they get the powers. But here is the problem. The matriarch, Bok Man-hm, can dream of the future, and she has used this ability to advance the family’s wealth, dreaming of lottery numbers, stocks, etc. Her son, Bok Gwi-ju, has the seemingly useless ability to return to the past, physically, but only to a moment of personal joy. His sister, Bok Dong-hee can fly, and Gwi-ju’s daughter, I-na can read people’s thoughts looking into their eyes. The patriarch married into the family and has no powers at all.

Man-hm has been obsessed with continuing the family line of powers; I assume she has no siblings or extended family. She fears that the Bok family’s abilities will end with her family, as it seems when we meet them that everyone has lost their abilities due to lifestyle disease, which I believe is a weird translation. Still, essentially, it means the diseases of modern life. Man-hm suffers from insomnia and can’t sleep and, therefore, can’t dream. Because of this, the family’s fortune is dwindling. Gwi-ju suffers from depression and alcoholism, Dong-hee suffers from obesity, and Man-hm assumes her granddaughter doesn’t have any powers at all, proving, in her opinion, that the family is doomed.

That is until she dreams of a woman named Do Da-hee, who somehow has the family’s signet ring. Do Da-hee may be the key to bringing her family back. Indeed, in Da-hee’s presence, each family member gets some of their powers back, but only when she is near or if it is about her. So Dong-hee can fly, well really just hover, but only if Da-hee is near; Gwi-ju can go back to a happy moment but only the happy moments related to Da-hee; and Man-hm is getting some dreams back, but all of her dreams are about Da-he. But it turns out Da-hee is a scammer working with a woman who runs a spa and is her “adoptive” mother to get the Bok family’s money.

So here we are at episode ten. I am not looking forward to seeing how they wrap up this show.

I’ll start with what I like about the show so far.

I like the idea of modern diseases. They mention that in this modern world, there really is no need for special abilities or superpowers because, and they alluded to this, technology has taken over. Man-hm suffers from insomnia because she has only focused on the material world. That is relatable. How often are we all awake at night thinking about getting a promotion, paying the bills, etc.? Gwi-ju suffered a genuine loss in a very traumatic way, but he, like many people, isn’t taught how to cope with suffering. As Man-hm is so focused on keeping the family powers going and dreaming of numbers and stock prices, she hasn’t taught her children how to deal with the cons of having these abilities, especially since her son can go back in time and she can see the future, you would think she would have some words for him, but she doesn’t.

Now, what I don’t like.

The fat suit. And if you are watching the show, you will see it. Claudia Kim plays Bok Dong-hee. I first saw her in Gyeonsong Creature, and she is not obese. So they threw a fat suit on her. It may be the same fat suit from Oh My Venus, I don’t know. What I did like is that despite being able to fly, they make her character lose weight slowly, though I don’t think she is losing it safely. Then I guess there is an unmarked time skip, and she is suddenly her pre-weight gain size.

I don’t like the characters. Not a one. The little girl is alright. She is only 12 and is granted a certain amount of insufferableness. But this is the most uncommunicative family ever. I particularly don’t care for Gwi-ju. I understand the depression and alcoholism after the death of his wife, but to be so caught up in that that you fail to raise your daughter. The same applies to Man-hm; she ignores the grandkid because she assumes she has no ability. Seeing as I-na is motherless and basically fatherless, you would think the grandmother would step in. And the grandfather is not better; he tries his best but is very passive. And don’t get me started on the sister. She doesn’t step in at all. So I am actually okay if they get swindled at this point in the show.

I don’t like the tension they are bringing between Dong-hee and her mother. She keeps mentioning that Man-hm stopped her from her dream, but what dream is that? We never learn more about Dong-hee except that she is obese and credits that with why she can no longer fly. And we see her as absolutely pitiful for chasing after a man who clearly only wants her for her money.

And I am not a fan of the time-travel plot device. Time travel gets confusing, and I am choosing to accept that “his future is her past” concept, but I am getting confused, I will say that.

Finally, predictions:

As we see, Dong-hee has lost weight but still can’t fly. Her character mentioned something about finding her true self, which means she will fall in love with Grace, one of the scammers. They have them becoming close for what reason I don’t know, so I think that the reason is that Dong-hee is a lesbian and hasn’t realized it yet. I think her current fiance was her first real relationship. As she got deeper into that relationship, she became more unhappy because this was not the kind of relationship she wanted, and that caused her to eat her feelings. Honestly, we needed to know how Dong-hee and Man-hm lost their powers. But with only two episodes left, I don’t think we will get that information. I can do less with the love story between Gwi-ju and Da-hee if that means more backstory of some of these other crucial characters.

I hope for a good final two episodes, but they will fumble and rush to the end.

Let me know what you think.