Humans tend to grow up with a lot of responsibilities assigned to them. In the beginning, everything seemed to be working well, but as time goes on, some responsibilities choke us to the core. “A Model Family” on Netflix is a crime drama series which will strongly suggest this perspective. The whole story revolves around an ordinary family man, Park Dong-Ha (Jong Woo), whose life turns upside down as he adopts illegal ways to earn money for the growth of his family. On the other hand, Dong-Ha was desperately looking forward to getting his hands on some money, but little did he know that this action would cause massive chaos in his life, which would in turn put him in huge danger. In this process, Dong-Ha gets involved with Kwang-Chul Ma, who’s responsible for the shipment money. This money was entirely used for drug dealings. Now, the members of the Yong-soo clan are connecting the dots to find out the location of the missing money. Moreover, Dong-Ha has never committed any criminal acts; this situation is pretty tricky for him to handle. To save his family and himself, Dong-Ha has to become a part of this chaotic circle.
Spoilers Ahead
What Happens In The ‘A Model Family’ Season 1?
The main context of the series begins with the life of Park Dong-Ha and his family. At first, things might seem good, but viewers will get to know that his married life is currently sinking. Dong-Ha’s wife, Eun Ju (Yoon Jin Seo), wants to divorce him. For all these years, they’ve grown apart due to multiple differences. Together, they are not able to earn well, and this is causing huge problems for them. since their youngest son, Hyun-Woo (Seok Min-gi), is suffering from heart disease. Despite all the issues, they managed to save up the money required for his transplant. But to acquire a higher position at the university, Dong-Ha bribed Professor Kim. And guess what? Kim is arrested in a sexual harassment case, and now there’s no other way to get back his money! But everything changes when a heartbroken Dong-ha encounters a dead body in a car, and he has loads of money stacked in the back seat.
Out of desperation to save his son, Dong-Ha becomes a part of this crime cycle. Wherein, he decides to drag the body to his house and bury it in the backyard, where he carefully keeps all the money to himself. The drug ring wants the money back at any cost! The show depicts the saying, “To conceal a lie, one has to lie a thousand times.” just like that, Dong-Ha is stuck with this issue, and now he has to figure out different ways to hide his crime. Moreover, viewers will get to know more about the buried man as he is police officer Yoo Han-Cheol. Dong-Ha decides to destroy his phone, and that’s when a shocking revelation is made. Eun Joo is in a forbidden relationship with Han-Cheol. As time passes by, Kwang-Chul Ma digs out the truth, but instead of killing Dong-Ha, he includes him in the drug ring.
Since Dong-Ha was desperately looking forward to reuniting with his broken family, there was no way that he would go against these drug mafias. Dong-Ha begins to spend the rest of his days as a drug dealer since he has to pay back for everything that he has done. Dong-Ha begins to adjust to this cycle, but soon his wife figures out everything. They get into a huge fight, and now Eun Ju is looking forward to reporting him. Dong-Ha’s efforts are never appreciated, and viewers will get to know that Eun Ju is suffering from years of disappointment and broken promises. A Model Family takes a different turn when things become tricky for Kwang-Chul Ma and Park Dong-Ha. Dong-Ha’s family is under the police radar and they’ve sent his father, Park Deuk-Soo (Oh Gwang-Rok), to investigate and bring out clues about Dong-Ha’s involvement in the drug ring.
‘A Model Family’ Season 1: Ending Explained – Did Dong-Ha Save His Family From the Drug Mafias?
Towards the end of Episode 7, viewers will get to know about the messenger in the police department and a mole that’s connected to the drug ring. Moreover, Dong-Ha has to face a new set of challenges as Deok Soo discovers the dead body. But he doesn’t report it to the cops; instead, he just randomly neglects and changes the whole scenario. Well, just like every other day, Dong-Ha is ready for another supply, but to his surprise, Eun Ju is present at the location as well. Viewers will be encountering multiple twists since Eun Ju strikes a deal with Kwang-Chul. She wants her family to be safe, and another important need for her is the money for Hyun-Woo’s surgery. By this time, Dong-Ha is enlightened by the fact that the cops are keeping an eye on him. Apart from them, other cartel members are waiting to extract the money too.
The whole episode will highlight a car chase between the police and drug dealers. Well, Kang Joo-Hyun (Park Ji-Yeon) gets a hold of Choi Kang-Jun (Kim Sung-Oh) and that’s where he reveals that he has been in touch with a police officer from their department. Finally, it’s the day of Hyun-Woo’s surgery and guess what? The mole in the police department is none other than officer Moon Jung-Kook (Kim Shin-Rok). She ordered Kang-Jun to eliminate Han-Cheol from the path. Moreover, Kwang-Chul’s men kill Kang-Jun and Dong-Ha witnesses everything. Things take a surprising turn when Eun Ju and Joo-Hyun dig up Dong-ha’s backyard to retrieve the bodies. But guess what? The corpse disappears mysteriously.
To his surprise, it was Deuk Soo who replaced their bodies in another place. Moreover, A Model Family gives a very important message to the viewers: sometimes to survive, people go to extreme lengths, and this can lead to massive problems if it’s not stopped at the right time. Furthermore, Dong-ha finds the dash cam footage of Han-Cheol and guess what? His subordinate, Myeong-Su, attacked and tried to kill him. In this process, both of them were dead. Now Dong-Ha was aware that he was stuck in this circle for a lifetime. Moreover, Kwang-Chul assassinates the messenger (Won Hyun-Joon). The episode ends on a tragic and ambiguous note since, out of pain, Joo-Hyun strikes a bullet across Jung-Kook’s head, and, as per the test results, Hyun-Woo can’t get surgery. Well, things seem to get better in the end, but there’s a catch. It seems Dong-Ha can’t escape his fate. In the final scene, he gets an anonymous call and the person, on the other hand, informs him to keep the phone safe, specifically for the safety of his family.
Will There Be A Second Season?
Well, one thing is for sure that one can never escape their crimes. “A Model Family” will surely cover up this for you. Moreover, as the title denotes none of the family members play their part to turn the Park family into an ideal family. Since, every other member is suffering from their own monsters inside. When it comes to the second season of this show, there are high chances that it will be renewed. Because as expected, the series ends with a cliffhanger. Fans of this Korean Drama are desperately waiting to know the identity of the anonymous man behind the phone call. Well, it could be a higher official from the drug ring, as this is a vicious circle and there’s no way Dong-Ha can escape his sins. Well, Netflix didn’t release their judgment on the renewal but its ratings might come in handy. Moreover, viewers of this crime thriller want to know the ways in which Dong-Ha’s life could be headed.
Final Thoughts
To be honest, the entire show is written with utmost precision and a lot of things come into question in this series. Well, these things include the contexts of trust and companionship. Throughout every episode, viewers will be in a maze since it becomes very difficult to interpret whom they can actually believe. On the other hand, Viewers will sympathize a lot with Dong-Ha’s character since despite all his efforts his family is slipping away like sand. At this point, there’s nothing he can actually do. Even though he was working in the drug ring, Eun-ju left no chance to belittle him about his earnings. Well, that’s very heartbreaking, yet she gets herself involved in the same cycle. Moreover, ‘A Model Family’ is a culmination of well-executed storyline, actors and twists.
“A Model Family” is a 2022 Korean Crime drama series and it is available to watch on Netflix with subtitles.
