Happiness (2021)

Great Opening Hook and like One Kiss

This drama has one of the best opening hooks in a television show. It's a meet cute and a falling in love at first sight (literally) all in one, and it's accompanied by a sweet song that will have you rewinding that scene a few times because it's very cute. That hook is what reeled me into Happiness, but unfortunately I wanted to unravel myself from that noose after I got to the 10th episode. Overall the show is entertaining and it has a lot of positive things going for it, like the acting, OST, and some decent directing. It seems like this may have been filmed during the pandemic as there are several reference to Covid-19, which of course makes this drama very meta to our current times. Again, there s' a lot to like, but what doesn't work is the story and characters. I've never met a zombie story without plot holes the size of the Grand Canyon, so that's not my main complaint. My real issue is the theme of the drama is lost amongst the repeated antics of characters who surround the main couple, and because of that there are only three likable characters in the ENTIRE drama. The ML, the FL, and the Kid. You start actively rooting for everyone else to die around episode six if you have a heart, and far earlier if you're heartless like me. By episode 10 I started leaning on the FF button because I was ready to get to the end, and to my disgust far too many of the unlikable characters were still alive by that point. The sweet moments between the main leads and my desire to finish this in drama in its entirety kept me through to the end. It wasn't a bad ride once all was said and done. The acting was was top notch, which is why I hated so many of the side characters. They did a good job of making me hate them, and of course the ML and FL have really good chemistry, which was shown very well throughout all the times they worked together as a team, and during their one kissing scene...lol. Would I watch this again? Probably not, but I would watch the actors again in another drama.

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SO MUCH POTENTIAL...WASTED

Happiness was a genuinely enjoyable show to watch. I had a lot of fun with it, even though I got incredibly stressed by the stupid decisions the characters made throughout the drama. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough. What could have been a groundbreaking drama in its genre turned into a typical zombie plot, riddled with plot holes halfway through, and capped off with a nonsensical ending. Here are the things I liked and didn’t like about Happiness:

What I Liked:
-The acting: Most of the performances were top-notch, with convincing and memorable characters. In particular, some supporting roles stood out, like Oh Yu Hyun (Baek Hyun Jin) and Oh Yeon Ok (Bae Hae Seon). They made me feel levels of frustration I didn’t know were possible. Honestly, I felt like all the apartment residents were completely insane—some of the worst people humanity could conjure up.
-The portrayal of the disease: The visual representation of the infection was well-executed. The makeup and the performances of the "zombies" were incredibly convincing. Even the infected characters felt believable to me.
-Overall engagement: The drama was smooth and captivating to watch. I was never bored and stayed hooked until the end. I genuinely wanted to see how the story would unfold, even though the evolution of the plot and its conclusion were ultimately disappointing.

What I Didn’t Like:
-The main couple: Sadly, the romance, chemistry, and the process of them falling in love felt underwhelming. I didn’t feel any sympathy for them during the emotional moments or hardships they faced as a couple. Whether they stayed together, broke up, or one of them died, it made little difference to me. This was especially true for the female lead. Despite Han Hyo Joo being an excellent actress (as proven in W), her performance here, particularly with the male lead, felt plain and shallow. The romantic moments lacked impact and emotion, leaving me completely unmoved.

-The serial killer subplot: This part of the story left me completely baffled. It took the narrative in a direction that felt disconnected from the main plot. It raised so many questions: Why did he only start killing in the second half? Why didn’t he kill everyone who knew he was a serial killer? Why did he occasionally help the main leads if he lacked empathy and enjoyed causing pain? To me, this subplot only existed to justify why the character constantly wore a mask and goggles. It felt like filler to pad out the remaining episodes. Instead, the show could have used this time to address more important aspects of the story, such as:
- How the virus worked.
-The timeline for the infection spreading through the body.
-Why Sae Bom was the only one with antibodies capable of producing a cure.
-The political implications of the cure or even how food and water were managed during the lockdown.
These would have been far more relevant and interesting than a serial killer roaming a building filled with egotistical, selfish people.

-Plot holes about the infection and the virus: This was the most disappointing aspect. For a zombie drama where the central plot revolves around a deadly virus threatening the world, it was frustrating to see the disease become almost irrelevant halfway through the story. The explanations we were given felt shallow and unconvincing.

For instance:
-At first, the virus was portrayed as highly contagious, potentially leading to a global apocalypse. But by episode 11, it seemed like the only people still in lockdown were the apartment residents. How did the rest of the world suddenly recover and go back to normal?
-In the final episodes, everyone seemed eager to become blood-drinking zombies to avoid death and gain "power." Yet, no one addressed the consequences of those actions. Strangely, the pills didn’t infect everyone who took them, contradicting the earlier episodes that implied the pills were a primary cause of infection.
-The inconsistency in controlling the infection was also baffling. Early episodes emphasized how hard it was to resist the thirst for blood, with infected individuals losing all moral sense at the sight of it. But later, characters like Sae Bom could "de-monsterize" infected individuals, like Jin Yu Hyun, just by talking to them or patting them on the back.
-The rushed ending only made things worse, especially the female lead's decisions. The "happily ever after" conclusion felt forced and left many unanswered questions like:
What happened to those who took the pills, did they transform?
How did Jin Yu Hyun magically recover, so the found the cure?
How did the world return to normal so quickly? wasn't the virus spreading like crazy?

In the end, Happiness was a watchable drama that kept me hooked for all the wrong reasons. While I enjoyed it overall, its wasted potential and focus on irrelevant subplots were disappointing.

That said, despite my rant, I still recommend giving it a watch and form an opinion for yourselfs

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The series is really about stupid characters wanting to get rich

Watched the Train to Busan and Kingdom, thought it would be at least good but this was so so bad.
The writers were probably having a competition to see who could write the worst and stupidest character because there was not one decent character in the series. The smartest character in the series was probably the old lady that got a scratch on her back ( she kept an eye on her symptoms, gathered information and laid low ) other than her the rest are complete idiots.
Yoon Sae Bom is one of the worst characters I've seen in a long time, if she was in charge of finding a cure and keeping the ,,infected,, isolated from the healthy people in the general population most people would be infected in a few days. If she did not have ,,plot armor,, she would die in ep. 3.
There is no tension, characters keep their backs to open doors, they never keep their guard up, look worried that an ,,infected,, might be behind a corner, getting sick is even seen as a solution to fixing problems. Characters are more concerned with getting rich rather than keeping themselves safe.
As an action series it fails so hard, the main characters do not act as trained professionals, the ,,stunts,, are too obvious, they try to make scenes dramatic but they look silly.
There is no romance, the main leads are very cute but have no chemistry, their ,,love story,, never develops but we are told they love each other . Watch ,, Containment,, made in 2016 if you want to see a couple that has so much chemistry when they never even touch each other, that is how it is done but even that series is not great.
Would have been a lot better as a movie ( a mediocre movie ), I regret watching all of it, should have dropped it after ep 3 but had the morbid curiosity to see how bad the series really was.

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worst zombie kdrama, insufferable characters

usually, my reviews are in a specific format. but this show... this show broke me. this was a show i speedran (aka watched at x2 speed and pressed the skip 10 sec ahead button every other second) initially. then i forgot, and i gave it an actual watch. it... was... awful... if i could, i would sue them and demand for compensation for the hours i wasted watching it. the characters are ABSOLUTELY INSUFFERABLE. INSUFFERABLE I TELL YOU. they ONLY exist to cause a problem for the main characters. there is no "main story" it's just a peak into one zombie kdrama universe. and i understand that in times of panic (like a zombie outbreak...), ppl get stupid bc society blah blah fear mongering blah blah... but this- i cannot fathom this level of stupidity. just thinking abt this show makes me angry. if i could, i would pay ppl $10 to not watch this.

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If conforming to madness is a way to achieve happiness, you can give this a try.

/ Actual Rating: 7.5/10

/- I find it a long drag determining the turn of events between the chaos and the development of the characters during their lockdown. The writers probably cannot figure out where they will put the plot twists especially with the "psychopath stereotype" fiasco it had at the latter part of the show. I seemingly thought I will have the suspense of what I had with Money Heist Korea (might just be the intro similarities).
/- Nevertheless, they missed the opportunity to develop Kim Se Hoon's character. Poor guy.
/- Lastly, Lee Bo Ram had the chillest role on the rooftop.

P. S. Commendable if this was filmed at the height of the emerging CoVID-19. They did a great job with the normalcy of the setting.

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A Critique of Chemistry, Logic, and Actions in the Series 'Happiness'

This is a zombie-ish series featuring two mature leads. The female lead is an anti-terrorist specialist, and the male lead is a police officer. They undeniably make the best partners when it comes to a zombie-themed storyline. In this narrative, there exists a drug capable of turning people into zombies. The unique twist is that these individuals revert to their normal selves after a certain period. This concept evokes a reminiscent vibe of "All of Us Are Dead," but instead of devouring people, they consume blood like vampires.

Our two leads embark on an investigation within a locked-down apartment, confronting a multitude of annoying characters. One aspect I adore about this series is the undeniable chemistry between the leads and their badass actions. Despite their competence, they are not without flaws. I criticize their actions due to their adult nature and the demands of their work. However, one aspect I find irksome, possibly owing to the writer's oversight, is the recurring tendency not to run upon encountering blood. Additionally, there's a scene where the female lead inexplicably opens a truck full of zombies, a move that seems illogical.

Nevertheless, what stands out is the intelligence of the characters, especially the male lead, who is both capable and smart. While the female lead has her flaws, her badassery shines through.

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The leads make this show

More Zombie content, except now it's… also weirdly a love story. Contrary to other Korean Zombie stuff there isn't much action.

And it's just strange. These stories don't usually go like this. Basically, it's a kdrama with a Zombie backdrop. There, let's go with that.

I'm not surprised in the slightest that this was lovely. It was directed by Ahn Gil-ho who was also behind the camera for The Glory, another favorite of mine.

It's a show that keeps you guessing for most of its runtime, lots of twists and unpredictable turns, and although there are a few plot contrivances, and annoying characters, they were never too much for me. I enjoyed how varied and chaotic the characters were, and well, I really liked the leads, who make the show.

Han Hyo-joo in a military uniform… damn girl! What a looker. She's so on point in this. Great leads, in fact. They form a sort of power couple (with Park Hyung-sik playing the other half) and us following their story as they deal with all the bullshit happening around them in the middle of a virus apocalypse is why this show works.

Gonna have to watch Moving now because I need more Han Hyo-joo in my life. She's like a stoic but equally as intense variant of Jun Ji-hyun.

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Zombie like genre peak kdrama 9/10

Happiness 9/10 - 2021
plot - disease which makes people mad wanting to drink blood of noninfected appears. This drama is story about infected closed in one place. And military trying to stop spreading of disease + looking for cure

even though its not zombie drama its alot alike one only difference. Zombie states turns on and off by time. Will rate this drama like it was zombie one.

In such case its peak drama. Second good zombie type movie I have seen from koreans right after Train to Busan 1.

Even though this drama happens mostly in one skyscraper it can be quite chaotic since at each floor is always something happening and camera goes from place to place.
Action, Thriller, Love story, zombie type all in one.

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Curiosity 'almost' killed the cat

- This is what comes to mind when I think about the female lead of this drama, though a badass through and through.
The way the healthy relationship of the lead couple is portrayed is pragmatic and sweet.

Slow-burn romance, talented cast and gripping storyline are the plus points of this survival thriller. I really liked how the infected switched between their normal selves and the infected ones.
Kudos to the writer and director, for putting together different shades and executing them perfectly.

Who knows? maybe this kind of drama foreshadows what might be waiting for us in our near future. ;)
PS: now I'm scared of taking any pill for sometime.

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Similar to Squid Game

Dark, Psychological and touching at times. I wish we had more happy episodes, but someone got infected, or died or something like that in every episode and each episode was stressful. But, nonetheless, a good and unique drama.

One thing that might have made the drama even better are romantic melodies. There were so many heart-warming moments between the main leads, between families and even between strangers. If only they were accompanied by fitting music, they would have had way more impact.
There were a few creepy, dark BGM songs, a few which were good, played seldom anyway.

A few of the inconsistencies I noticed are:
1. Why didn't they prepare animal for the infected to attack? Would they not have been interested in animal blood because they can't pass the virus on to them?
2. How come their doors worked when they didn't lock it & no electricity?
3. Why didn't the health service under Han Tae Seok use shielded/anti-missile cars to travel to Yoon Sae-Bom's area? I think they would have been safe against zombies and could have easily retrieved her/protected her since she was so important.
4. Did Andrew like the boyish girl? Why did he give her food? Why did he give the cleaning lady he later killed an apple? IF he's a serial killer, than what was the point of those acts?
5. Maybe the biggest inconsistency is that no character mentioned even the word "zombie", but only used the terms "infected", "sick" or "mad person disease". Let's be honest, people would definitely associate them to zombies in real life.

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