Happiness

Hell is other people.

Happiness is a tv show about the inherent horror of having to quarantine in close proximity to other people! Initially, I refrained from putting this show in my To-Watch list because I thought watching a show about quarantine while I’m stuck in quarantine for the nth wave of the covid pandemic, might be a bit too much on my psyche but I am glad I ended up watching it. It was worth it. Weirdly validifying too. Like, yeah, I have to deal with jerks in my quarantine too. Thanks for acknowledging my struggles!!!
Let me give you some rundown: this is not a zombie apocalypse show, nor is it a survivalist show. This is a show dedicated to the complex and unexpected developments of human behavior and psyche when people are forced to stay put in one place due to a crisis. A study of humanity in high-stress situations which is also sprinkled with jump scares, actions scenes, zombie attacks, and so on, yes, but those are the conditions that provide for the real goal of the story: The plague is humanity!
I really enjoyed this show, even though I hate gore and thriller stories and never touch zombie stories. They really scare me because to me nothing is worse than twisting into a monster that no longer has the ability of human thought and control. It’s just terrifying to watch a human distort their body in all the wrong directions, snarling and groaning and making grabby-hand gestures, okay?! But this show was so graceful about it. Because it showed all the ways that humans can lose their ability to think and control their worst urges and instincts while looking perfectly normal. You really don’t need to be a zombie to suck the life out of the people around you! The real zombies are the bad company! (I love all these ah-ha! takes I can have about this show! lol) I just love how this show displays just that.

You should check this out if you can handle:
1. Zombies
2. Humans acting like monsters
3. Seriously. There’s some heavy psychological deterioration displayed in this show
4. Effortless chemistry and romantic dynamic that is super subtle and not overly-emphasized
5. FOUND.FAMILY. (YAAAAAAASSSSSS!)
6. Quarantine shows
7. Thrillers, horror, jump scares, gore and blood
8. People being stupid
9. Regressive narratives (no one is really having a personal growth here in that cathartic way that hallmark-level romcoms will provide with convenient monologues and stuff)

Summary: The story follows three characters: Yoon Sae Bom, a special task force member who after a difficult childhood is desperate to have a home of her own™, Jung Yi Hun, her best friend, and an ex-baseball player who is now a detective and is desperately and secretly in love with her, and Han Tae Seok, a Machiavellian out-hire in the military in charge of containing and managing a new and bizarre disease spreading through Korea. Long story short, people are becoming zombies. Sae Bom and Yi Hun have just moved into their new, fancy little apartment and want nothing but to live a happy life but all that is put on the back burner when their entire apartment complex gets quarantined for being the epicenter for the disease. What comes after is just…human horror!

Plot: If you’ve had the displeasure to come into contact with a little story called “The Lord of flies” then you’ll have a general idea of just what this show is trying to achieve. A definite nod and modernization of that same premise, this show is the most current concept out there, dedicated to all the terrible ways that quarantining and having to stay in closed spaces with other people can just suck the life out of you! The show puts a bunch of characters with personal motives and unique kinds of hidden skeletons in one apartment building where as time goes by, everyone just transforms into a more exaggerated version of their initial vices or rise to the occasion to reveal hidden depths. It’s all about the study of human behavior. Because from the get-go the story presents the zombie situation as a disease, then the show is not about blowing zombie heads off for brownie points but instead, it constantly goes to lengths to highlight the humanity hidden behind their situation. This distinctly differentiates it from a zombie apocalypse story. Because it’s not an apocalypse. I think the whole thing is an allegory. Although the show mentions covid by name, really the zombie disease is also covid. From people who refuse to follow health protocols to those who want to get out of the quarantine even though they have nowhere to go, to the essential workers who have to go out against their better judgment, to those who are just looking to make profits from a dire situation, it's all so familiar and real. The show goes to some dark places about humanity and if you can handle those stuff, it can be so interesting.
And to top it all off, even though this is not a romance show, there is such a dynamic chemistry between the leads, and their harmony with each other and their deep love and care for the other is what carries the show. It’s just a sweet treat in the heart of an upsetting story. At the same time as this, I'm also watching a show, explicitly marketed as a romance and that's just giving me nothing while this show's barely-there romance plot is so profoundly lovely.
I also want to add that the side characters are all so interesting and the more you watch them, they all reveal more of themselves and become more defined in a way that encourages you to care about some and just hope the others die in the most violent way possible... (Plot twist: the viewer becomes a zombie in the process of watching jerks do jerk-stuff!)
Lastly, the show does a great job of highlighting class divisions and social caste systems. I’ve come to notice that Kdramas are particularly good at telling stories about class and this show is another good example of it. There are so many detailed nods to it here and there and it was morbidly delicious to watch it all unfold.

Acting: Everyone did an amazing job in their roles. The show had clear main characters and those guys were awesome with Han Hyo Joon and Park Hyung Sik having some of the best chemistry I’ve seen all year but the show is also an ensemble affair so it matters that the supporting cast members are good in their roles as well. I think they achieved that for sure. This might seem like a super random shoutout but Hong Soon Chang was a delight in his role as the elderly neighbor. His character was not even particularly likable but his manner of speech and body language were just so natural and interesting that he felt like an actual person you can meet in real life. I really enjoyed his screen time.

Music and production: The music was very good. It helped elevate the emotions of that every moment without being too predictable The zombie attack theme was so heart-throbbing but also it wasn't just the same horror movie beat. The music also stopped in all the right places so as to add to the gravitas of certain moments. The production was also very good. It just looked very nice and cool and I don’t know, I liked it.

Rewatch: I don’t really rewatch so probably I won’t but at least I can acknowledge that the 12-episode run makes it accessible. I usually lose interest in kdramas around episode 12 of 16(Unless they have 20 episodes, then I’m fine!!!). That’s where I pause a lot of them, check out my on-hold list, lol. So, it was a great delight that this show ends right before I could get bored/irritated.

Negatives: Um, I saw some people nag that the show’s premise is not realistic and ask for a scientific explanation of the disease…sweetie, it’s a drama...about zombies!!! It’s not a scientific article! It’s all fake. Zombies are fake, sorry if that’s a shock so…don’t expect realistic science from it?! Idk, I can’t believe this has to be said. The characters do stupid things, they are mean and evil occasionally and bad stuff happens a lot and there’s probably a good amount of plot holes but none of it will really affect your enjoyment of it if you are inclined to like this. There’s also the matter of the ending. I already said this in a comment but this is a petri dish story. A bottle episode, if you will. The plot doesn’t care about the cure, it cares about the humans in that very specific, simulated situation and ends right after the situation is no longer held together. It might feel a bit like the ending is left open without a closure. So just prepare for that.

Overall: This is more like a long movie rather than a short show. It has the same beat and flow as a movie and it’s also just a very interesting story. I wanted to give it a lower rating, a 9 or a 9.5 but ultimately, I really did enjoy watching it. It does infuriate at certain points but that’s kind of the point. I think this show captured our very bizarre and traumatic times by creating an even more bizarre and traumatic allegory and I appreciated that. I also liked that, ultimately it had a heartwarming message. At one point in the story, one of the characters says that they won’t catch the disease because they haven’t done anything wrong, and that is very ironic in many, many different ways but it also brings up an interesting concept; that bad things should and will happen to bad people. Not necessarily. Not really. But it sure does feel good when you watch good people overcome bad things just because they are good.

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I watched this when it first aired and ended up dropping it around episode 3-4. Since then I've kept trying to pick it back up and every time I do, I end up almost falling asleep or my finger finds the ff button. The ML is one of my favorite actors. This was his comeback drama after the military, so maybe that's partly why it received such a high rating. He's one of the reasons I keep wanting this drama to click for me like it seems to for so many people. But it's incredibly boring. As much as I want to, I honestly cannot see where the hype is coming from. I can only take watching people walk around their apartments talking about nothing relevant for so long.

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A KDRAMA THAT NEEDS RECOGNITION AND A HYPE! YOU SHOULDNT MISS THIS, YOULL REGRET.

bruh, i was notified about this drama and from that moment? i can’t wait! the casts, the plot, the acting, and the film itself, they were all SUPERB! there’s just 3 ep now, the fourth’s coming out later at night and im 진짜 excited. there’s no skip, every details ate amazing, the chemistry between the leads, and how they portray they roles? it’s amazing! i will be looking put for this one, happiness, gives me happiness and chills atst! THIS IS GOING TO BE MY FAVE KDRAMA THRILLER, i can smell it. i am picky in every kdrama im watching but this?? i 진짜 진짜 recommend this to everyone. 여러분, this needs a HYPE! LIKE REALLY, THIS SHOULD BE MORE RECOGNIZED BY EVERYONE! im inlove with the casts, and the movie, so you will. tvn never disappoints.

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It's not all that

Honestly I feel kida like the odd one out seeing so many positive reviews on this drama. The potential was there but the execution was just wack. I know the explanation for the origin of the outbreak isn't the most important part of the show, but I can't ignore it as a scientist. The flip flop between two pretty much opposite hypothesis doesn't even make any sense. Nowadays you can just run tests and pretty easily tell if the condition is caused by a pathogen or if it's drug induced. Besides, if it was a drug, the zombie like condition would just stop happening after the drug has been eliminated from the system. Don't simply throw this stuff at me and then expect me to not care about it.

Besides that, the main characters don't make much sense, especially the fl. How can she be a cop when she is the most irresponsible and idiotic motherfucker out there? The scene where she storms in the truck to save her dumbass friend is the most ridiculous thing I've seen in a while and the fact that she and ml just escpae without as much as a scratch, simply so preposterous. I just feel this drama tries so hard to be different and deep but at the same time it creates such unbeliavable and stupid situations.

The relationship between the two leads is also not very believable. We just get a little backstory on them via flashback and that's basically it. They have no chemistry and often times they feel like self-righteous idiots. Maybe the writers would expand on their story later on but by the time I got to the fourth episode I was bored out of my mind. Anyways if you all want a true drama/horror about complicated human realtionships during an apocalypse just go watch a playthrough/play The Last of Us.

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Female Lead is OOC

Female Lead is supposed to be an Anti Terrorist Senior Officer. But, based on the episodes I've watched, all her actions were just careless, irrational and stupid. All she did was being reckless and putting everyone around her at risk. Is that how SOU acted during a crisis? I don't want to live in a country with SOU like that for sure. This alone, makes me don't want to continue watching. She is the focus of the drama, she should be written well. Male Lead however, is written very well, acted careful and smart. Another character, Mr. Han, is also very well portrayed by the actor. DROPPED!!!

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I came for the romance but the side characters frustrated me so much

I happened upon a random Youtube clip of this drama which made me absolutely bawl my eyes out and want to watch this drama. I can say that the best parts of the drama are the vulnerable scenes with only the main leads as that's where we see the actors' good chemistry and skills.
The story has a good premise (basically a pandemic but with zombies) and I did read some of the webtoon it is based on. The side characters make really stupid decisions which I know is supposed to illustrate the classism between the more rich tenants and the poorer tenants in the apartment building, along with other personal issues the characters have, but goddamnit this is a zombie apocalypse and these people don't have a single ounce of logic. The main leads are officers so they use their power to boss around the tenants for the safety of the community, which can be considered abuse of power, but these people are so stupid, I can almost excuse this.
Overall, I would say watch this if you like zombie stories or a couple who are ride-or-die for each other, and maybe skip some parts by reading summaries.

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Positively Watchable Trash

This is watchable trash in a good way! It's not a quality drama at all but it's watchable. It was just interesting enough for me to not turn off midway through, but it's not exactly the best written, the best plotted, the best character developed drama by any means.

My main problems with this show are (in TLDR form):
1. Stagnant progress for the first 8 eps.
2. Plot focus was wrong.
3. Insufferable characters that aren't even fun to watch.
4. Ending is Rushed.

In long form:

1. Stagnant progress for the first 8 eps:
Literally nothing happens the first 8 episodes. We just see people argument in an apartment, ocassionally someone getting turned and someone dying, for 8 episode straight. Episode 9 finally gets interesting with a MC getting infected, the sudden serial murder plot (< which was so poorly foreshadowed and I actually hated but at least something dramatic was happening), the plan to get the child out, and finally definitely finding a cure. Episodes 9 to 11 are actually interesting to watch.

2. Plot focus was wrong:
Hey who wants to see insufferable people locked in an apartment and argue for almost 12 episodes? *snore*
Who wants to find out why our MC has an antibody, what makes her special? ME!
Who wants to hear references about family members and society on the outside but absolutely zero updates or screentime about them and what's happening outside? ME!

I think this drama focuses on the wrong things; I wanted to know why our MC had the antibody, I wanted to see her and her family's medical reports - surely it comes from the" operation" she mentions one time that she had, or is it because her family has a history of diabetes which would link to the one time Mr Na mentions his family has a history of it towards the end of the show yet he has the antibody too. I want to know the science part and the finding the cure part!!

Also, we know the cop friend has a wife on the outside; we never see her. We know the two cleaners have family on the outisde: never get developed. What about our MCs' families? Never mentions them! Why? I want to know!

And! What's going on outside? Because we're told everywhere is chaos but the army are driving in and out of this apartment building with ZERO problems shown? The little girl has medical staff and a helicopter ready to pick her up with ZERO problems? So were they lying? Cos any time we get shown outside the complex, everyone is living normally???? What a mess of world and character building in this show.

3. Insufferable characters that aren't even fun to watch:
Everyone character except 4 (our two MCs, the little girl, and Apartment 15 guy) are absolutely unbearable to watch - they're not even fun villains to watch, they're just straight up fucking annoying to watch HOURS of screentime of. They're annoying af especially the murdering doctor - he should've died a death so violently after putting the viewer through uninteresting repeitive unjuicy murder after murder he puts us through. He's NOT fun to watch, he is just straight up ANNOYING. Same goes for the cleaning staff, the apartment building lady, the lawyer, the clinic consultant, the old married couple and their son. They're not INTERESTING and everything they do is A WASTE OF SCREEN TIME. I LOVE villains. I LOVE villains that do unhinged shit and yet you root for them or you want to see what they do next. This lot? They just bothered me more than anything. I wanted them all to die because they were a waste of screentime and script.

Also, WHY did anyone even bother to leave their rooms? I know community meetings are a thing in Korea and Japan but why were they joining every single meeting? Especially after they find out the gym guy was sick, STAY IN YOUR ROOMS TIL LOCK DOWN IS OVER! They were actually so fucking stupid. They could've easily reduced the number of people who ended up dying, reduce the number of sick people, and reduce the number of pathetic conflicts they had if they'd all just minded their business and stayed in their damn apartments! Absolute stupidity and illogical thinking from all of them except Apartment 1501 - minus the one time it got him killed.

4. Ending is Rushed:
The last 10 minutes of the show is so bad. It skipped way too far. I needed at least one more episode: I wanted to see the humans start to recover, I wanted to see the vacinne announcement on the news, I wanted to see how our two mcs live together while he's ill up to getting the cure, I wanted to see our military guy finally meet his baby with his recovered wife, I wanted to see the little girl get reunited with her momma. But we just skip one year later and they're still living in the same apartment complex with the little girl -- even though most of the population should be dead by now and housing prices should be pretty cheap, especially because she should be recieving thank you money for help creating the damn cure?!?

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good casting, interesting plot, binged in 1 day

i absolutely loved how the ml and fl bonded as their relationship deepens. this is my 2nd time seeing both ml (strong woman do bong soon) and fl (20th century girl) and i must say their acting is pretty good! i seriously love the fl character so much in this drama!! i binged watched this in 1 day bc i was sick and bored and this drama really is worth my time. as someone who enjoys horror genre, i do not find this scary at all like how my friends tell me about it. it's just some infected psycho zombies who are desperate to bite humans and infect them and how the ml+fl along with their neighbours try to prevent themself from getting infected. honestly, this drama is more about showcasing the survival/life during the zombie virus breakout and lockdown etc rather than the ml fl trying to eliminate zombies. for me, i feel like my friends just exaggerate the drama too much for me lol(in terms of how "scary" and "intense" it is. anyways i love ml and fl chemistry, both of them their characters really go well with each other

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sometimes ‘sane’ people are the actual monsters.

this is not your average “fighting monsters” drama, infact it's actually not about it at all. at first i was vary about watching this thinking it'd be just another zombie apocalypse with no explanation as to why it began or how it'll end but still decided to give it a try.
IT IS DIFFERENT. when i started watching it all of my concerns were proven false. and this is NOT a zombie apocalypse drama too btw. it's about how even with sick people around, people with a healthy body prove to be more dangerous. the show had all the different kind of people you do meet atleast once in your life as characters, when u watch some characters and their decisions, you feel like asking yourself “what would I have done in this situation?”
there are some very well shot action scenes and touching emotional scenes that do make you want to want to change their situations only hoping for the better.
every single episode was like a well fit puzzle piece and as the drama progresses the characters’ real faces also start showing up. like i said in the beginning, this drama is all about “are sane people any better than the monsters?”
unlike other apocalypse/pandemic dramas where you're never really told how things began or how it is ever going to be stopped, happiness had answers for EACH AND EVERYTHING. when the drama is done it'll not leave you wondering about anything because everything is cleared in there.
the main duo's chemistry is soo good, whether it be action scenes, emotional scenes, scenes where they fight for each other and for what's right, their characters always match up with each other's chemistry. even the little girl showed more maturity than some “aDuLtS” showing it's not always age proving how mature one is.
overall, i did not regret watching this at all and i will rewatch it in a few months because it's just THAT GOOD. edit : did re-watch it haha.

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I can't feel invested when a story ignores logic just to create some drama and conflict

As stated above, characters making wrong decisions is great when handled well, but characters making brain dead decisions just to make tense moments, takes you out of the story and makes key moments pointless. I don't really give low ratings, this is as low as I've gone, but I just couldn't bring myself to engage with what I saw.

The "villains" in the story were weak, and yet they got away with countless things not through ingenuity but through shitty writing. A man is a murderer and you caught him trying to poison everyone... do you tell people? Nope, keep it to yourself and let him continue to influence morons. Other man points a gun to your wife's head and leads a mob against her because he's an easily manipulated blob, do we get angry and do something about it? Nope, place a hand on his shoulder and say - not cool man, you're wrong about her trust me - this is a guy that described himself as hot headed and having a bad temper by the way.

There were countless actions that a real person would not make, and when they lead to danger, am I supposed to care for the characters? How can I, when for all I know in the next scene they might randomly trip and fall off a building, with no build up, because that's the level of writing being displayed. Sometimes important things aren't communicated, sometimes someone with no social rapport is suddenly believed wholeheartedly when they make things up, and we're supposed to just accept that and keep watching.

It was a tough watch. A comedy or romance can get away with being unrealistic, but when a show like this wants to create high adrenaline moments, it has to arrive there through good writing. This one did not.

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