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Jeana

In Fucking Beast Mode

Jeana

In Fucking Beast Mode
The Atypical Family korean drama review
Completed
The Atypical Family
33 people found this review helpful
by Jeana
Jun 12, 2024
12 of 12 episodes seen
Completed 14
Overall 5.5
Story 5.0
Acting/Cast 7.5
Music 1.0
Rewatch Value 1.0

Don’t know what’s worse - Oppa’s atrocious mullet or his deadbeat, loser dad personality.

While Atypical family started out as a charming love story between a con artist with dubious intentions and a depressed single dad struggling with past trauma, it quickly becomes boring with predictable and contrived writing, lousy time jumps, trauma and death baiting and wasted potential.

✔️The good
The younger female characters in this story are probably the only saving grace of the show. I think Chun Woo Hee did a good job in this drama with her cunning, prickly, initially selfish but compassionate, black-bellied heroine who was refreshing to watch.

Other than her, both the ladies of the said atypical family - young Ina who can read minds and is a chronically ignored and neglected child and Bo Dong Hee - the girl who can fly but now only waddles due to her weight gain are interesting characters that bring some flavor to the show.

The main couple definitely has chemistry, there are some good comedic moments and the kisses are good. Other than that, the transitions between past and future as far as the hero’s time jumping superpower is concerned is interesting and executed well. And, that’s basically where the good stuff ends.

❌The bad
The cinematography and styling of the characters are mediocre at best. The music score is terrible with a weird awkward beat playing at all romantic scenes that sucks out all the romance. There is just some extremely terrible writing in the last couple episodes with a lot of pointless death baiting when it’s obvious nothing is going to actually happen.

There is also a time jump that magically has Bo Dong Hee lose all her weight - which is so dumb because up till that point, the drama did a frankly good job of her struggling with her weight loss only to give her the most lackluster makeover ever.

There is also some seriously wasted sismance potential in this drama (though they do try to hastily stuff it in the last two episodes) and all the older characters - the hero’s mom and dad, the heroine’s adoptive mom - all of them are a pain in the ass with their constant yapping.

❌The Ugly
This is possibly Jang Ki Yong’s worst role yet. Seriously, his character has the maturity of a pea, is the worst dad ever, qUirKy in SPADES to a point where it’s not adorable anymore and did I mention his hair is AWFUL? That mullet is an actual crime against humanity.

I mean it’s almost a talent how they were able to make freaking beautiful Jang Ki Yong look so incredibly not sexy. It’s definitely a choice. Man’s is so deadbeat and has 3974392 issues, solves nothing for the MAJORITY of the show and his reaction to basically everything is to start hyperventilating and unleash waterworks that put the best soap operas to shame.

Sure, I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt in the first few episodes because of his trauma, loss and struggles with alcoholism and depression but if you are going to sell me that love can cure all that then the fact that he can go from ten episodes of development to BUM mode on the drop of a hat is so stupid, I can’t.

Jang Ki Yong’s absolutely extra acting and wobbly bottom lip + flaring nose theatrics at anything and everything just had me yawning. I felt nothing in his scenes because he was enough of a drama queen for all of us.

He has ZERO genuine consideration for his child, only fake promises and emotional crying scenes to overcompensate for the fact that he is a weak man living in the past who could go spiraling any time.

Up till ten episodes, that is 80% of the show, I really didn’t understand the point of all of this because is the drama telling us that one woman could heal all these individuals? Because it’s not healing if she is putting bandaids on their wounds and they unravel if she so much as goes to the loo.

These people hardly change much from the first episode until the tenth episode because Ina is still a neglected child, Bong Hee even with her magical two second weight loss is still cranky and misunderstood, the oppa is still spiraling and the grandparents are still yapping in the back. The only character that was developed and remained strong throughout was the heroine and honestly, her alone wasn’t enough to carry the show.

Then, suddenly, episode 11 hits and EVERYTHING fixes itself. LMAO. Literally even the villains have forced redemption arcs and they put a cute little sorry on their shitty behavior and give it a pass.

Don’t even get me started on how little self-preservation these characters have. In every life or death moment, they absolutely have to waste at least ten minutes, staring into each other's eyes moping or doling out theatrics. None of them would survive a real life accident.

And, finally, the drama ends with the most poorly written, contrived ending I have ever seen. It’s just comedy at that point.

Still, overall, it’s a fine time-pass to watch on the weekends. A slow paced palate cleanser if you will, but it’s nothing deep and shouldn’t be taken as such.

Enjoy!
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