The Atypical Family follows the Bok family, whose lives change for the better when they are targeted by a scammer named Do Da-hae. All episodes are now streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary
The Bok family is not a regular family; they possess superpowers, which they are now unable to use due to modern problems.
Man-heum, the family matriarch, can see the future in her dreams and has been able to amass wealth because of it, but due to insomnia, she no longer dreams.
Her son, Gwi-ju, can travel back in time to relive his happy moments. However, his wife’s death a few years ago left him depressed.
He does not find happiness in any moment, so he cannot time travel anymore. Gwi-ju’s teen daughter, I-na, can read minds, but she has not told anyone about her power.
Man-heum’s daughter, Dong-hee, had the power to fly, but as she is obese now, she cannot use her power.
One day, a woman named Do Da-hae saves Gwi-ju from drowning at the beach. She later meets Man-heum at the massage parlor she frequents.
Da-hae is a scammer who aims to marry Gwi-ju for his family’s wealth. She starts drugging Man-heum, making her believe that Da-hae’s massages put her to sleep.
Man-heum becomes even more interested in Da-hae when, after a long time, she has a dream. She sees Da-hae wearing their family ring in the dream.
Convinced that Da-hae will marry Gwi-ju and be the key to the family regaining their powers, Man-heum tries to set Da-hae up with Gwi-ju.
This is exactly what Da-hae and her family of scammers wanted. Da-hae was abandoned by her mother, and her father died when she was in school.
She was taken in by a loan shark, Il-hong. To repay her father’s debts, Da-hae now scams rich people with Il-hong, Grace, and Il-hong’s trusted right-hand man, whom Da-hae calls uncle.
While she succeeds in impressing Man-heum, Da-hae fails to win over Gwi-ju. Surprisingly, Gwi-ju is soon able to travel back in time because of Da-hae.
Gwi-ju, who used to be a firefighter, always wanted to use his powers to save people, especially his superior who lost his life in a school fire while standing in for Gwi-ju on the day I-na was born.
Gwi-ju tried to save him multiple times, but because he cannot interact with his surroundings or be seen when he travels back in time, he failed each time.
Gwi-ju’s preoccupation with the past ruined his relationship with his wife. After her death, he turned to alcohol and failed to provide love and care to I-na.
However, Gwi-ju can once again time travel. He can only relive the time he has spent with Da-hae, but he can touch her and be seen by her in the past, which has never happened before.
Soon after, Da-hae finds out about the Bok family’s superpowers. She had earlier been warned by I-na but had not taken her seriously.
She no longer wants to be involved with the Boks, but Il-hong does not allow her to back out. The only way out is to finish the scam as soon as possible.
To convince Gwi-ju to marry her, Da-hae lies about Gwi-ju saving her in the past. It turns out that Da-hae was a student at the school where Gwi-ju’s superior died.
This leads Gwi-ju to believe that he will be able to use his powers to save Da-hae, whose past is Gwi-ju’s future. Gwi-ju finds a new purpose in life. He stops drinking and turns his life around.
Gwi-ju now wishes to marry Da-hae, but Da-hae, who has come to care about I-na and developed feelings for Gwi-ju, does not want to betray him.
She reveals the truth about the scam and leaves the Boks. However, I-na keeps seeking out Da-hae, as she is the only person whom I-na can look in the eye without fear.
I-na makes her father understand that Da-hae called off the wedding because she cared about him, which leads to Gwi-ju pursuing Da-hae.
Gwi-ju also finds out that the person who saved Da-hae from the school fire in the past gave her a ring, which turns out to be his family ring.
The family ring remains in the vault, and Da-hae possesses an identical ring. Da-hae’s lie about Gwi-ju saving her turns out to be the truth, much to Da-hae’s surprise.
Da-hae also helps bring Gwi-ju closer to I-na. Gwi-ju tries to be a good father to I-na, leading to Gwi-ju, Da-hae, and I-na becoming a family.
Just when they are happy together, Man-heum has an ominous dream. She discovers that Gwi-ju will die while saving Da-hae in the fire from thirteen years ago.
When Man-heum tells Da-hae about it, Da-hae decides to fake her own death, hoping Gwi-ju will lose his happiness and be unable to travel back in time.
Although she fails to convince Gwi-ju and I-na of her death, her temporary absence makes Il-hong realize she loves Da-hae like a daughter and wants to see her happy.
Il-hong asks Grace and Da-hae’s uncle to help Da-hae in revealing Dong-hee’s fiancé’s infidelity and scamming him to get back the money Dong-hee had lent him.
After saving Dong-hee from an unhappy relationship, Da-hae resolves to change the future and protect Gwi-ju, with the support of her own found family and Gwi-ju’s family.
Ending explained:
Gwi-ju’s time is short
Gwi-ju travels back in time to relive a childhood memory when he encounters a young Da-hae. He helps her ride her bike and ends up receiving a scar on his neck.
Da-hae had previously told Gwi-ju that the person who saved her from the fire thirteen years ago had a scar on his neck—the same scar that Gwi-ju now has.
A pharmacist informs Gwi-ju that the scar will fade in a few days, which means that the time has come for him to return to the past and save Da-hae.
Despite his attempts to hide the scar from Da-hae, she finds out about it. Da-hae realizes that her attempts to change the future have failed.
Gwi-ju requests her not to tell his family about it to avoid ruining I-na’s upcoming dance competition. During the competition, I-na, who now has friends at school, shows her father that she is doing well.
Gwi-ju and Da-hae then come to the conclusion that the time has come for Gwi-ju to go. Gwi-ju says goodbye to her, knowing that he is destined to die in the fire.
Before saving Da-hae from the fire, Gwi-ju must first revisit the recent past to inform Da-hae of I-na’s whereabouts and help their past selves rescue I-na.
At the same time, Man-heum realizes that the fire she has been seeing in her recent dreams is not the one from thirteen years ago, but rather the one that will start right there during the competition.
Rescuing Da-hae
Dong-hee’s ex-fiancé, Ji-han, is not ready to accept the fact that their relationship is over and comes to I-na’s school to propose to Dong-hee.
Ji-han ends up accidentally starting a fire. When the fire engulfs the school, Da-hae goes to rescue I-na.
Da-hae finds I-na, and just when a part of the wall is about to collapse on them, Gwi-ju, who has returned from the past, comes to their rescue.
Da-hae is forced to leave Gwi-ju’s side to save I-na. The wall collapses on Gwi-ju, but he does not die because, at that exact moment, he finds himself in the past again.
Gwi-ju has traveled to the day I-na was born and the day Da-hae was saved from the fire at her school.
This time, Gwi-ju from the future does not see past events in black and white. On top of that, Gwi-ju can touch everything and be seen by the people around him.
Gwi-ju goes to Da-hae’s school. The moment his superior makes eye contact with him, his superior realizes that he is going to die, yet he chooses to go inside to save more people.
Gwi-ju then focuses on saving Da-hae. He finds her, puts his family ring on her finger, and helps her get out of the building before being engulfed by the flames.
Gwi-ju’s last words assure Da-hae that their story is far from over, promising a tomorrow for them.
Gwi-ju’s return
After the fire, Ji-han goes to prison. No one got hurt in the fire at I-na’s school, but Gwi-ju went missing and has not returned even five years after the accident.
Dong-hee is now dating Da-hae’s uncle. Grace still works for Dong-hee. As Grace is no longer a scammer, she is auditioning to become an actor.
Il-hong and Man-heum are friends, with Man-heum’s dreams occasionally helping Il-hong avoid losses and mishaps.
On the day I-na is set to come home from boarding school, Man-heum has a dream about a guest joining them for a meal.
She shares this dream with Da-hae, who gave birth to Gwi-ju’s son, Nu-ri, after Gwi-ju went missing.
Da-hae, still holding on to Gwi-ju’s last words and waiting for his return, discovers that her son has the power to bring things from the past.
She asks Nu-ri to try and bring back Gwi-ju. Just when she thinks Nu-ri will not be able to do it, she turns around to see Nu-ri standing with Gwi-ju, who has finally returned from the past.
Also Read: Baek Il-hong: The Atypical Family character explained