Diksha Sundriyal
Hulu’s ‘Good American Family’ begins with Kristine Barnett getting arrested for child neglect as her ex-husband, Michael, talks to the cops about all the ways she did Natalia, their adoptive daughter, wrong. To get to the bottom of the case, all sides of the story are heard, which means going back to the beginning. In the penultimate episode of the show, the story finally starts to catch up with the first scene, and a lot of things become clear. The series sticks to its idea of mixing the perspectives rather than following just one, and in this episode, we see the story from both the Barnetts’ and Natalia’s point of view. And it only gets more heartbreaking from here.
Natalia Reveals the Moment She Found Out She was an Adult
Most of the conflict in the story revolves around Natalia being an adult masquerading as a child. This episode begins with her in the psychiatric facility, where she makes friends with a young girl. However, in the middle of the night, she is told that she is not a child anymore and must move to the adult wing of the facility. The poor girl isn’t even allowed to take her comforting soft toy, and that is just the beginning of the trauma that she is set to suffer. Once her legal age is changed, she is sent into the apartments to live by herself, until she eventually crosses paths with Cynthia Mans, who brings the girl into her family. After hearing Natalia’s story, Detective Brandon Drysdale comes to a major conclusion. The fact that Natalia had no say whatsoever in the process of her age change can be used to challenge the court’s decision and help her get her real age back. However, it is easier said than done.
Because the Barnetts are still her legal guardians, they are the ones challenged for the decision, which means they receive the documents in Canada, where they have built quite a life for themselves. While Jacob is busy with college, his brothers are busy adjusting to their new lives, and Kristine is enjoying the success of her book, Michael finds himself taking a backseat, not just in his marriage, but also in his overall family. He tries to get some excitement in, but Kristine is too occupied with her book tour and whatnot to pay any attention to him. So, when the documents asking to reinstate Natalia’s age arrive in the mail, Kristine tells Michael to take care of it, no matter what. He does try to take care of the matter, as he keeps sending rejections for the next three years. But Natalia and the Mans are nothing if not persistent, and eventually they change their strategy.
One day, they receive an official request for them to drop Natalia as their adoptive daughter and let the Mans family become her legal guardians. At first, Michael thinks this could be a good thing, but then, Kristine points out that once the Mans become her legal guardians, they will change Natalia’s age and make her a child again, and that would end up being extremely problematic for them. So, she tells Michael to go back to America and quash any thoughts that Natalia and her new family might have made up in their minds.
Natalia’s Hopes are Dashed as the Barnetts Fall Apart
With the possibility that she could get her life back, Natalia prepares to appear in court. The last time, her side of the story was not heard, so she prepares a statement this time. However, things go awry pretty quickly when Michael, unexpectedly, arrives in the courtroom. Not only is Natalia caught off guard by seeing him, but she is also heartbroken when her adoptive father doesn’t even acknowledge her. Moreover, he is allowed to speak instead of her, and by the time her turn arrives, the judge seems to have made up his mind about not changing the previous ruling and keeping Natalia’s age as is.
This comes as a huge relief to the Barnetts, but they have their own struggles by now. Whatever bond was left between Michael and Kristine falls apart when he comes to America. They had already been drifting apart, and when the problem with Natalia kept rearing its head, Michael thought that solving this problem would also solve the problems in his marriage. However, in a meeting with the lawyer, he comes across intimate pictures of Kristine that he believes she mistakenly sent to him. This flares his suspicions about her having an affair. Later, he crosses paths with his ex-colleague, Jennifer, and sparks ignite between them. After the court thing is done, Michael decides to stay in America, divorces Kristine, and marries Jennifer. But all is not well just yet.
Brandon Drysdale Investigates the Claims of Natalia’s Age
Detective Brandon Drysdale was brought into the picture when a doctor felt that Natalia’s age had been falsified to make her look like an adult. At first, he thought that the case was against the Mans family. But then, he discovered that there was a whole other story to it. Still, with the statement of the doctors, it seemed that there was no doubt about Natalia’s age, and things would go smoothly. But then, Michael appears in court, and so does the Barnett family doctor, who confirms that Natalia is indeed an adult. Having lost the case, a heartbroken Natalia decides not to go through with the same thing all over again, and the Mans support her.
A couple of years later, however, Brandon has his own adoptive daughter. He loves her more than anything, which makes him wonder how Michael could treat Natalia as he did. The man didn’t even acknowledge the girl in court. Unable to put his questions at rest, he decides to look into the doctor who testified in court about Natalia’s age. The visit turns out to be incredibly fruitful because the doctor claims that he didn’t meet Natalia more than once or twice, and all he did was refer the family to the specialists. On meeting the said specialists, the detective discovers that almost all of them told the Barnetts that Natalia was a child. Shockingly, most of these doctors don’t even know that, despite their findings, the Barnetts went ahead and changed Natalia’s age.
Now, Brandon thinks he has a case, but the prosecutor tells him that he needs to have one of the Barnetts confess that they knew Natalia was a child at the time. By now, Michael and Kristine are divorced, and there is a lot of bad blood and mudslinging between them. So, Brandon reaches out to Michael, which brings us to the first episode, where we watch the duo talking to each other about what really happened. The detective manages to convince Michael to accept that they knew Natalia was a child. Moreover, Michael also talks about how Kristine would beat up poor Natalia with her fists. He says all this because he believes that this will turn the tide against his ex-wife, who has kept him from his sons. It takes a while for him to realise that in spewing hatred against Kristine, he has also incriminated himself.
The Barnetts Try to Control the Narrative Around Natalia
If you tell a story well enough, people believe it, and that becomes the truth. The Barnetts understand this point pretty soon. As another case, this time of child abuse, is built against them, their lawyers advise them to have a united front, despite their differences, and team up against Natalia. This does not sound good to Michael’s new wife, especially because she believes that Kristine is the one who abused Natalia, which means she should be the only one going down for it. Michael agrees to it, but changes the tone when Kristine enters the room. Despite their divorce, she still seems to have a hold over him, because he changes his tune the moment she asks him to.
What happens now is the Barnetts declaring war on Natalia by taking control of the narrative. They appear on every news channel and whatnot to talk about how she terrorised them and tried to kill them, while they were nothing but loving and supportive parents to her. The claims of her wrong age elevate the story, which catches media frenzy, and so everyone is talking about the case and what Natalia did to the Barnetts. But, of course, the story isn’t over yet. In the end, tired of having lies spread about her, Natalia decides to give her own interview. She might have been a child back then, but she has grown over the years, enough to understand the abuse that she was subjected to. Now, she is ready to fight it, and that’s what her smile indicates at the end of the episode.
Read More: Good American Family: True Story of Natalia Grace, Explained
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