Tamal Kundu
‘A Model Family’ is a Netflix crime thriller series. It predominantly follows the Park family and the trials and tribulations they face after drawing the attention of both the police and criminals. Park Dong-ha (Woo Jung) and his wife Eun-ju (Yoon Jin-seo) have been married for some time. They have two children and are not particularly happy with their lives. As the series progresses, Dong-ha’s desperate actions put the family in grave danger, which makes Eun-ju even more resentful toward her husband. If you are wondering whether Park Dong-ha and Eun-ju survive at the end of ‘A Model Family’ season 1, we got you covered. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Does Park Dong-ha Die?
No, Dong-ha doesn’t die in the first season of ‘A Model Family.’ When the series begins, he is an assistant professor at a university. He has lost the money his family has painstakingly saved for his son’s heart transplant surgery by attempting to ensure the position as a full-time professor. Although Eun-ju doesn’t know about this yet, she announces that she wants a divorce. One day, while returning home, Dong-ha comes across a van with two dead bodies and an enormous amount of money inside. He subsequently hides the money, buries the bodies, and gets rid of the van. However, Dong-ha’s total inexperience as a criminal leads him to make multiple mistakes, bringing the police and the criminals to his doorsteps.
It is revealed that the money was supposed to be the payment that the Yongsoo Ring sent to the Sangseon Ring. The latter organization brings methamphetamine to South Korea, and the former distributes it. Realizing the danger they are in, Yong-soo, the head of the Yongsoo Ring, instructs his trusted lieutenant Ma Kwang-chul to find the money. It doesn’t take long for Kwang-chul to deduce that the unassuming educator has taken the money. Kwang-chul initially wants to kill Dong-ha but later decides against it. He realizes he will never get a better drug mule than Dong-ha: a family man with a sick child.
As the series progresses, Kwang-chul develops a grudging respect for the other man and ensures his safety and that of his family by taking on Sangseon Ring. Dong-ha decides to surrender to the police, but just as he heads toward the police station, he receives a call. An unknown man tells him to keep the phone safe if he wants to ensure the well-being of his family, beginning the circle of misery and danger again for the Parks.
Does Eun-ju Die?
No, Eun-ju doesn’t die either in the first season of ‘A Model Family. At the start of the series, she deeply resents her husband, and that emotion doesn’t particularly go away by the end of the season. We learn that she was having an affair with Han-cheol, one of the dead men in the van and an undercover police officer. Her resentment toward Dong-ha only grows when she learns what he did with the money meant for their son. Eun-ju also discovers what Dong-ha has been doing for Kwang-chul and convinces the latter to let her accompany her husband as he goes to drop off the money. However, by the end of the episode, she comes to realize that she and her husband have been used as bait. As the season ends, Eun-ju thinks her family is safe. She will soon learn that the problems for her family are far from over.
Read More: Is A Model Family Based on a True Story?
