“The Atypical Family” Ending Explained- Episode 12 Recap And Review

“The Atypical Family” has concluded its run earlier today, let us go through the finale and explain the ending!

“The Atypical Family” episode 12 recap

Gwi-Ju goes to the pharmacy about this rash and mark on his neck, the pharmacist says it’ll go in a couple of days to a week. Then, Da-Hae comes up to him and asks why he’s there but he changes the subject.

At school, I-Na tries to convince Hye-Rim to rejoin their dance club for their upcoming show, she resists but ultimately shows up.

Grace introduces Noh Hyeong-Tae to Dong-Hee who says she’s not ready to date but then Grace explains he’s here for a job at the gym, she then recalls he’s the man who’s been delivering her food for her and how he was careful not to spill anything any time.

Dong-Hee gets followed at night by her ex who tries to blackmail her for leaving him, but she refuses. Then, as he tries to pester her, Noh Hyeong-Tae shows up and teaches him a lesson, he throws his phone in the pond.

The grandma has had another dream, she tells Gwi-Ju about it. He contacts his sunbae from the fire department and to get information on the building layout of the school.

As they go to sleep, Da-Hae notices the mark on Gwi-Ju, she starts crying but Gwi-Ju assures her he’s going to be fine.

The grandma wakes up the next day, she’s had a dream about Dong Hee flying, Dong Hee says she’ll go to I-Na’s performance regardless of what happens and she will not fly.

Gwi-Ju gets a call from his sunbae about the files he’s asked for, he goes to see the files and says he’ll be back to see his daughter perform.

As the group waits for their performance, Gwi-Ju shows up and sits down which puts I-Na at ease, then Hye Rim also shows up. They do their performance and excel at it. But before the performance started, Dong Hee is lured by her ex who sends a threatening message about her niece. She comes and he’s had a layout ready to propose along with candles. When she rejects him, he threatens to set everything on fire. She dares him to do it, but eventually, he doesn’t.

She explains this is why she liked him. She asks him to clean up and leave. He ends up doing so, but in the process of cleaning up, he accidentally starts a fire.

The grandma can then tell this is where her dream was from, she says a fire will start so the entire group gets up and the grandpa goes to start the fire alarm. People begin to evacuate.

After the show, Gwi-Ju tells Da-Hae he must go now to warn her about I-Na in the past. He says he’ll be back.

As the fire starts, I-Na and her friend are stuck, and cannot escape, Da-Hae goes looking for her. When Gwi-Ju comes back from the past, the situation is dire and people are fleeing the scene. He goes back to look for them, and frees the friend who tells him I-Na went in the other direction to find an exit.

Da-Hae finds I-Na and so does Gwi-Ju who catches them right before a wall was about to collapse on them. Gwi-Ju tells her to take I-Na and get out and that he’s destined to go save her now, she cries a lot and leaves with i-Na.

Gwi-Ju goes back to the past just as the wall collapsed on him. He sees his daughter again and this time, his wife even glances at him. He goes back to the school and sees his sunbae, he tears up and tries to tell him not to go but the sunbae gives the look that its alright. He goes inside and the building collapses.

Gwi-Ju then takes the equipment and goes through a back door. He finds Da-Hae and saves her, as they’re leaving the building is badly collapsing and they’re nearly trapped.

He then sees the floating cushion the firefighters had set so he takes Da-Hae there, and tells her to jump, he takes out his ring and gives it to her and says an unnecessarily long speech about how he’ll always be with her. He lets her jump and the building catches on fire before he’s able to escape.

After some time

A funeral was held for Gwi-Ju without his body. Jo Ji-Han, Dong Hee’s ex, was arrested and put in jail.

In the present time, Da-Hae had a son. He seems a couple of years old. He’s playing with his ball.

At the gym, Grace is still working there and Dong Hee seems to be hitting it off with Hyeong-Tae as she takes him on a ride outside in the air.

Baek Il-Hong is still working in the sauna and the grandma still frequents it. The women now have a good relationship and have even been able to change the future using her dreams. When asked if she dreamt of anything, the grandma remarks that a special guest is coming tonight.

At his room, Da-Hae’s son says he found his missing ball and he got it from last night. His mother immediately figured out his strength. She shows him his dad’s picture and asks if he can bring him back, he looks at it.

Da-Hae realizes its absurd so as she leaves, when she turns around, the kid is holding his father’s hands. He rescued him from that building. Gwi-Ju is alive and well. Da-Hae cries looking at him and welcomes him back.

The end.

“The Atypical Family” ending explained- FAQ

“The Atypical Family” ending review

I have a lot of mixed thoughts about the ending and I am too tired to go through each point, but I am glad it’s a happy one.

I just wished that the last unnecessarily long speech he gave Da-Hae wasn’t present and that just as he tries to make her jump, it explodes. I think that would’ve made the ending better as it would have made more sense.

But you know what would’ve made more sense? that he went back to another time in the past, not the time where he had to save her. I mean, he could have taken an hour or two fooling around and when he got back, the fire would’ve been extinguished, and he could’ve figured out his next move. or save Da hae another day.

There are many ways you can pick holes in that ending, but I still didn’t think it was bad. Him sticking by Da Hee ended up bringing him back to life because their son did it which wouldn’t have happened if he didn’t save her, so in that sense, its quite a poetic ending and a nice idea. Could it have been implemented better? yes, but its not bad in its current form.

The writing for this drama was mostly nice, I can see a lot of great ideas here and there. with a little better execution, I think this drama could’ve been wayyyyy bigger, but I am still mostly happy with the outcome.

I enjoyed watching “The Atypical Family,” and our ki Yong did great. Everyone did so well, thank you to the cast and crew of “The Atypical Family.”

Did you like “The Atypical Family” ending?