A Model Family

As Episode 1 of "A Model Family" (2022 release from South Korea; 10 episodes of about 40-45 min each) opens, we are introduced to a husband and wife who have a teenage daughter and a younger daughter. The husband just lost a bunch of money in a bribery scheme to become a tenured professor. His young son needs heart surgery, and he needs to come up with money, the sooner , the better. Then one day his parked car is hit from the back by a van. Amazingly, both the driver and one passenger are dead and when the husband notices a big bag full of cash, he can't resist and takes off with the cash...

Couple of comments: this is the latest "fish out of water" look at an average guy who unbeknownst gets sucked up in the world of drug cartels and cops. The first question is of course whether he will get away with the drug money. Along the way, we get to know his complicated family, which in and of itself causes headaches for the husband. All that aside, the episodes fly by rather quickly, and I'm now 4 episodes into it. No idea how this is going to end when all is said and done.

"A Model Family" premiered in Netflix this past weekend. I've got 6 episodes left which i suspect I'll wrap up over the next 2 nights. If you are in the mood for a foreign crime drama that puts an average guy in an unexpected situation, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

One of the best kdrama in recent times. Once you start watching, you might complete within a day or two. From start to finish this series is very entertaining, you won't get bored at any point. Gets absolute chaotic at the end. Can't wait for Season 2.

The Wife character, Kang Eun-Ju (played by actress Yoon Jin-Seo), who was married to the male lead character, Park Dong-Ha (played by actor Jung Woo) ruined it for me. I couldn't get past the Wife's mean, cruel, demeaning, bossy, selfish existence. She was always blaming and putting the husband down; chastising the daughter; acting disgusted towards her mother; pretending to be a concerned parent. She was so annoying with her dead-fish look, it was unbearable. As crazy as this sounds, but her drug-mule husband was way too good for her! She absolutely didn't deserve him, or her kids and mother.

I don't know if the actress has a dead-fish look in real-life, or if she was portraying the wife character that way per the writer/director's wishes, but it killed it for me.

Stopped after watching initial 15/20 mins as the premise on which the story is built looks ridiculous. I mean, why will someone implicate oneself more and more in someone else's crime leaving common sense out of the window. Take the money, wipe your finger prints and run. That's it. But no, there is a series to be made so, create a illogical premise and then I am sure more illogical stuff to follow.

Episodes 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3 are all good and I rated them 9/10. In episode 1.4, after 5 minutes, there is an explicit sex scene that is out of place and inserted there by netflix to make the series more attractive but it does exactly the opposite.