Lead cast: Jang Ki-yong, Chun Woo-hee, Go Doo-shim, Claudia Kim
Latest Nielsen rating: 2.9 per cent
The Atypical Family invites us to meet an unusual family whose members each possess a special power. However, as this series produced by JTBC begins, the family is not quite so atypical as its title implies – they have all lost their special powers.
Bok Gwi-joo, the father and main character, portrayed by Jang Ki-yong (My Roommate Is a Gumiho), used to be able to travel back to the past and relive his happiest memories again and again. Now depression has robbed him of that ability.
His depression stems from the loss of his wife, who died in a car crash seven years earlier.
Gwi-joo resorts to drink and barricades himself in his room away from his family, which includes his neglected young daughter I-na (Park So-yi, Mouse), who buries herself in her smartphone games, another modern affliction which has prevented whatever power she possesses from manifesting itself yet.
Gwi-joo’s mother, Man-heum (Go Doo-shim, Curtain Call), brought her family great wealth thanks to her ability to divine the future in her dreams. However, insomnia is now causing her stocks to nosedive.
Meanwhile, Gwi-joo’s sister Dong-hee (Claudia Kim, Gyeongseong Creature) used to be able to fly until her compulsive snacking made her overweight.
Thanks to their various traumatic losses and modern ailments, this once-prosperous family has fallen on hard times. But just as they reach their lowest ebb, someone new washes into their lives – masseuse Do Da-hee (Chun Woo-hee, Delightfully Deceitful).
First she wades into the sea to save a drowning Gwi-joo and, by chance, meets the family again when she encounters Man-heum at the spa where she works.
Man-heum is a particularly picky client but Da-hee, who volunteers to deal with her, impresses her with her grace and ability.
Once Man-heum recognises Da-hee as her son’s saviour, she invites her to treat her at home, where she hopes the charming young masseuse may coax her son out of his blues.
This kind of happenstance is far from unusual in a K-drama, but as it turns out there is more to it than meets the eye – Da-hee has found her way into the Bok home under false pretences, and she is not alone.
The family’s dormant superpowers may vaguely bring to mind the Marvel films, but a clearer reference here is the Oscar-winning Korean sensation Parasite.
Da-hee pretends to be an orphan, but her mother, Baek Il-hong (Kim Geum-sun), is alive and well and is the ringleader of a family of con artists. They include Da-hee’s sister Grace (Ryu Abel), who gets a job at the Bok gym as a trainer, and their muscular uncle No Hyung-tae (Roy Choi), who keeps watch on the sisters from afar.
Da-hee’s family may be up to no good, but the plot thickens when their presence appears to help the family recover some of their abilities.
Da-hee’s treatments and remedies are helping Man-heum get some sleep, while the beautiful Grace’s presence is motivating Dong-hee to lose some weight.
Most unexpected of all is how Da-hee interacts with Gwi-joo, who is shocked to discover that she can engage with his ability in a way that he did not think was possible.
Despite its characters’ supernatural roots, the show has largely avoided big set pieces, opting instead for interactions between its characters in mostly prosaic locations, be it the Bok household, the gym they run or the various commercial establishments they frequent, such as medical clinics and department stores.
That is not to say that the show lacks style. Director Jo Hyun-tak, who is known for visually appealing series such as Sky Castle and Snowdrop, injects the proceedings with a pleasing dash of K-drama panache.
In the show’s biggest moment so far – a magical realisation at the close of episode two – he slows down time, allows the stirring score by composer Jung Jae-hyung to take over, and gives the stage over to his leads Jang and Chun, whose eyes do all the talking as their worlds change in an instant.
That said, the show is not without its drawbacks, which include the troubling characterisation of the overweight Dong-hee, who is played in a fat suit by lithe actress Claudia Kim.
The role and performance call to mind the 2006 romcom classic 200 Pounds Beauty, but we now find ourselves in 2024.
The fat shaming adds a bitter edge to an otherwise engaging show that employs magical realism to help us make sense of the modern malaises of our complicated world.
The Atypical Family is streaming on Netflix.