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Losing humanity in an attempt to restore it—when zombies don’t represent death, but the living
We know zombies as cruel creatures that know no limits. Heartless and inhumane, mere shells of past human lives that once-upon-a-time also feared zombies themselves. In a case where the world would meet its end through this fate, it would be unquestionable to resort to whatever is essential for survival and the restoration of humanity. But what would happen if zombies were not completely stripped of their morals? What if they were not devoid of emotion? ‘Happiness’ is a dystopian series that questions conventional ethics, offering a thrilling twist on popular conceptions to challenge the usual divide between good and bad. Blurring this division brings an alternative to commonalities within its genre, focusing on the zombie’s struggles: the loss of control, the insatiable hunger for more, the helplessness of hanging on a thread between life and death....
A mysterious drug is to blame for the rapid, chaotic spread of an incurable disease in South Korea; one that turns people into blood-thirsty, zombie-like creatures. In the midst of this chaotic pandemic, Yoon Sae-Bom, a fearless counter-terrorism agent, and Jung Yi-Hyun, her longtime friend and a righteous police detective, finally tighten their bond. They decide to file marriage paperworks to benefit from a work promotion that promises an apartment in a newly built complex. But as the virus continues to spread, and the building becomes isolated in a strict military-run lockdown, a new threat arises: the residents themselves. Slowly, the series shifts its lens to a danger less-obvious than the violent zombies, and the outbreak becomes a mere backdrop for social commentary and reflection of human behaviour when on the brink of death.
Is it wrong to suppress your human side, by avoiding feeling remorse and empathy towards the infected, if getting attached and involving emotion in your decisions risks your own safety? In this apocalyptic dystopian Korean series, the horror derives from pain. The infected are left to die on the streets, treated like wild animals, despite not wishing to inflict harm on anyone and being embarrassed by their own episodes. Meanwhile, the people in their lives—family members, friends, colleagues, or mere neighbors—are mentally exhausted, torn between letting their fear and fight for survival drive them, and their dissipating sense of humanity.
When this zombie epidemic takes place, the human is removed from all. Everyone, even the non infected, grasp onto the little part of sanity and humanity they have left in them to fend for themselves alongside a small group of people whom they don’t know if they can trust. Because of their proximity and need to trust them for survival, the same people they surround themselves with are the only ones capable of tricking them and betraying them. As the episodes progress, this most feared betrayal of all intensifies, leading them to become even less human than the zombies themselves—fighting amongst each other and trying to take control of power and wealth while the zombies cower in fear or whimper in pain. With these dual complexities to both sides, who are the true victims?
In this series that questions morality, we see the many different ways humans react when faced with the end of the world, and watch as humanity dies in an attempt to restore it by doing what is believed to be conventionally right. Those who are natural leaders and heroes reveal themselves, as do those who are hungry for power, those who are selfish, and those who are selfless. In a new world where there is no determining line of right and wrong, even a lawyer's words feel empty and ridiculous in the context of the outwordly situations and trials the characters face. Everyone is slowly losing themselves as days go on, locked up in this building where, interestingly enough, everyone has concerns despite the zombies, who are scared of themselves, hiding their thirst and fearing their own death.
The apartment complex in which the individuals whose lives are followed are stuck isn't only like a petri dish to check for virus mutations. Instead, it's a small part of the world where authority, competition, personal values, thriving to survive, capitalism, societal class clashes and more all manifest themselves, with each single individual a portrait of a portion of the world with variations in age, jobs, background, wealth, etc. This is an example of the virus serving greater purpose than merely being a virus, it's a dual meaning to depict human flaws and study nature in the face of a crisis. In the introspective series ‘Happiness’, the virus isn't the main focus—it is rather a tool used to arise intense emotion from the complex characters and in turn drive the story forward.
Finally, what does it mean to truly be alive? Are the zombies alive? Viewers are almost forced to ask themselves this question, as it is what forms their opinion on the characters and on whether some of their actions are favorable or not. They are in this state of thirst and only wanting more, which is what sets them apart from being human because of its intensity. This scares others, when in reality, it is only a mirror of their own selves, constantly wishing for more—more money, more followers, more popularity...they aren't only striving to overcome the zombies. Surviving means overcoming it all, and only those who are emotionally mature and aware enough to do so will manage to make it out alive. Because surviving doesn’t equate to living, but perhaps having morals and knowing where to stand your ground to be able to confidently take the next step is.
By the end of the series, the tension between the complex tenants is palpable, everyone torn apart in one way or another. The fear is no longer centered zombies. Its goose-bump raising scenes shift from thrilling zombie chases to those involving people who, at first, seemed like the safest ones you could surround yourself with. It steps farther away from the science fiction of creatures and further into the realm of dystopia, where greed overthrows even common sense, and people willingly turn themselves into zombies or pretend to be infected to justify crime or satisfy their hungry desire for money. A particularly chilling scene that signals the series' step closer to the real world—while still bathing in thrill, almost a direct call out to the society we live in today—is when a member of building's cleaning service voluntarily trades his conscience for luxury, and finds himself sitting in a pile of wealth, gone mad, but not because his mind was overtaken by poison. Instead, he screams for thirst while stuffing his insatiable hunger for money with items he monstrously fought to keep, even choosing to stay over claiming his own freedom.
Corruption poses great risk to Jung Yi-Hyun and Yoon Sae-Bom, who finally get their happy ending after going through long lengths and many hardships that reveal what has let them withstand it all—even in the midst of collapse of civility: empathy, compassion, and love.
2025-07-12
A mysterious drug is to blame for the rapid, chaotic spread of an incurable disease in South Korea; one that turns people into blood-thirsty, zombie-like creatures. In the midst of this chaotic pandemic, Yoon Sae-Bom, a fearless counter-terrorism agent, and Jung Yi-Hyun, her longtime friend and a righteous police detective, finally tighten their bond. They decide to file marriage paperworks to benefit from a work promotion that promises an apartment in a newly built complex. But as the virus continues to spread, and the building becomes isolated in a strict military-run lockdown, a new threat arises: the residents themselves. Slowly, the series shifts its lens to a danger less-obvious than the violent zombies, and the outbreak becomes a mere backdrop for social commentary and reflection of human behaviour when on the brink of death.
Is it wrong to suppress your human side, by avoiding feeling remorse and empathy towards the infected, if getting attached and involving emotion in your decisions risks your own safety? In this apocalyptic dystopian Korean series, the horror derives from pain. The infected are left to die on the streets, treated like wild animals, despite not wishing to inflict harm on anyone and being embarrassed by their own episodes. Meanwhile, the people in their lives—family members, friends, colleagues, or mere neighbors—are mentally exhausted, torn between letting their fear and fight for survival drive them, and their dissipating sense of humanity.
When this zombie epidemic takes place, the human is removed from all. Everyone, even the non infected, grasp onto the little part of sanity and humanity they have left in them to fend for themselves alongside a small group of people whom they don’t know if they can trust. Because of their proximity and need to trust them for survival, the same people they surround themselves with are the only ones capable of tricking them and betraying them. As the episodes progress, this most feared betrayal of all intensifies, leading them to become even less human than the zombies themselves—fighting amongst each other and trying to take control of power and wealth while the zombies cower in fear or whimper in pain. With these dual complexities to both sides, who are the true victims?
In this series that questions morality, we see the many different ways humans react when faced with the end of the world, and watch as humanity dies in an attempt to restore it by doing what is believed to be conventionally right. Those who are natural leaders and heroes reveal themselves, as do those who are hungry for power, those who are selfish, and those who are selfless. In a new world where there is no determining line of right and wrong, even a lawyer's words feel empty and ridiculous in the context of the outwordly situations and trials the characters face. Everyone is slowly losing themselves as days go on, locked up in this building where, interestingly enough, everyone has concerns despite the zombies, who are scared of themselves, hiding their thirst and fearing their own death.
The apartment complex in which the individuals whose lives are followed are stuck isn't only like a petri dish to check for virus mutations. Instead, it's a small part of the world where authority, competition, personal values, thriving to survive, capitalism, societal class clashes and more all manifest themselves, with each single individual a portrait of a portion of the world with variations in age, jobs, background, wealth, etc. This is an example of the virus serving greater purpose than merely being a virus, it's a dual meaning to depict human flaws and study nature in the face of a crisis. In the introspective series ‘Happiness’, the virus isn't the main focus—it is rather a tool used to arise intense emotion from the complex characters and in turn drive the story forward.
Finally, what does it mean to truly be alive? Are the zombies alive? Viewers are almost forced to ask themselves this question, as it is what forms their opinion on the characters and on whether some of their actions are favorable or not. They are in this state of thirst and only wanting more, which is what sets them apart from being human because of its intensity. This scares others, when in reality, it is only a mirror of their own selves, constantly wishing for more—more money, more followers, more popularity...they aren't only striving to overcome the zombies. Surviving means overcoming it all, and only those who are emotionally mature and aware enough to do so will manage to make it out alive. Because surviving doesn’t equate to living, but perhaps having morals and knowing where to stand your ground to be able to confidently take the next step is.
By the end of the series, the tension between the complex tenants is palpable, everyone torn apart in one way or another. The fear is no longer centered zombies. Its goose-bump raising scenes shift from thrilling zombie chases to those involving people who, at first, seemed like the safest ones you could surround yourself with. It steps farther away from the science fiction of creatures and further into the realm of dystopia, where greed overthrows even common sense, and people willingly turn themselves into zombies or pretend to be infected to justify crime or satisfy their hungry desire for money. A particularly chilling scene that signals the series' step closer to the real world—while still bathing in thrill, almost a direct call out to the society we live in today—is when a member of building's cleaning service voluntarily trades his conscience for luxury, and finds himself sitting in a pile of wealth, gone mad, but not because his mind was overtaken by poison. Instead, he screams for thirst while stuffing his insatiable hunger for money with items he monstrously fought to keep, even choosing to stay over claiming his own freedom.
Corruption poses great risk to Jung Yi-Hyun and Yoon Sae-Bom, who finally get their happy ending after going through long lengths and many hardships that reveal what has let them withstand it all—even in the midst of collapse of civility: empathy, compassion, and love.
2025-07-12
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