Reviews

Four Stars

Gotta admit I'm still a bit confused about everything that is going on, but considering the fact that the characters are confused as well I think that's normal!I think I'm going to enjoy this story a lot!The actors are amazing as well, if I didn't like the story I would have even decided to continue the story just for the characters and how they are enacted! The universe(s) they are in make things even more interesting! Even though it is not how I was expecting it to be (but again I was and I am so confused that I don't really know what I was expecting exactly) I found it so enjoyable!I'll wait happily for next episode to come out!

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Episodes 1-2 Review

I found out that once you write a review, you can't edit so my reviews were repeated from #s1-2 -- Also I have to say that I love this storyline so much that this is the 1st time I'm writing reviews per ea/episode w/out giving any spoilers. So sorry if this is my longest review.Ep1 -- first meetings of the M/FLs. We also meet FL's family and her mischievous fun/clever personality. ML also seems to have developed an interest into this young mistress and remembers her name. This is also the first meeting of FL and parents/father & mother. Ep2 -- Pieces of ML's background is being revealed to us. While in the FL's family they are discovering some of the underhanded despicable things that shows how biase the matriarch/g-ma is w/her daughter-in-laws; her immediate family and extended family. We also see how clever FL's mother is. We also see why FL is so mischievous & tries to bring justice about her own way. While another appreciates it (ML), sadly it leads to some misunderstandings between her and her mother.Ep3&4 to follow w/Ep5...

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Five Stars

1. Young Woo throwing back the argument of the Judge back at him.Yeah, why not? It's logical. What's wrong with it? But in the neurotypical world, there are 'social rules' to follow and what Young Woo did is not acceptable, it is considered rude and especially disrespectful for a judge who is higher in rank.But again, autistics think more on the logical side and doesn't understand 'social rules' the way neurotypicals do. For neurotypicals, they understand these 'social rules' naturally, for autistics, we don't. You have to tell us, then you have to explain it logically, then we will add it in our already long list of "Do's and Dont's" that is draining us.2. Letting Attorney Choi speak first.Scene: court trialThis one is not easy to generalize so I'll just react if I'm on their shoes.Even though Young Woo and I are different, I would not be able to take advantage of that opportunity wherein the jury is feeling sympathetic over the witness. My approach and thinking will still be logical which always appear harsh for neurotypicals. It's all about "x + y", especially in an argument (like debates and courtrooms).3. "Why the long face?" And Young Woo checked her face.3.a: "Literalism".This is one thing I've been waiting for them to touch on, "literalism". They could've done this in a lot of ways but they chose something funny. That is good, I applaud them for their choice on how to portray this.In other shows I've seen, literalism was portrayed on a more serious scenario, either by telling an autistic to "wait here" when in fact the neurotypical girl left him and he did not realize he was dumped. Or, the autistic was confused because s/he can not tell if they should take it literally or not.EAW chose a more lighthearted way to portray literalism. I like that. However, I hope they touch on it again in a more serious occassion because this is one of the most misunderstood aspect of an autistic and if one is not careful--especially if they already know the person is autistic--it might not turn out well.For example, if one tells an autistic to "wait here", there are autistics who will wait for as long as they can. They may ask someone to buy food so they can stay there and wait because they were told to "wait here". THEN! When the person who told them to "wait here" sees them, they'll blame the autistic person for being stupid for taking it literally.3.b: It is not easy for us to understand idiomatic expressions.Like in this example, "long face", Young Woo did not understand the idiom.From my own experience, in the Philippine elementary education system (at least back in the 80s), it is part of our curicculum to teach kids about idioms. So I understand many of the basic and common idiomatic expressions, like "fall in line" (which is used a lot in schools).There are also idioms that makes sense so even if it is new to me, I can deduce some meaning to it and react accordingly. But there are idiomatic expressions I have to ask about or research to understand what it means, some examples are:- break a leg -- for the longest time, I never understood this. If used in a context, I understood it as "go change things" or "go prove to them you are right". But what it actually means, and I found this out only today, is "good luck".- easy does it -- what it means to me is "easy, right?" Just today, I found out it means "slow down".- give the benefit of the doubt -- what it means to me is literally that, give a person a benefit of the doubt. Meaning, give them an opportunity maybe they are right or they are telling the truth. Give them a chance. But I learned today, it means to "trust what someone says". That's way over my head. "Trust" is such a huge word. The idiom "give the benefit of the doubt" does not fit "trust" in any way as far as I'm concerned. I'm just giving you a chance.- "a perfect storm" -- is as literal as it gets. I have no idea this is used as an idiom until today which means "the worst scenario".Because I also love to read fiction novels, I had the chance to get exposed to these idiomatic expressions and many other nuances of the English language. Whenever I encountered something I don't understand, I keep re-reading the sentence or the paragraph for the context, deduce some meaning, then I go check a dictionary or thesaurus to confirm if I understood it correctly; today, I just go online and search for it to confirm.Here is another example: In the UK, their greeting is "how do you do" and you reply with "how do you do". For an autistic, the reaction (verbally or in thought) is "how do I do what?" This was portrayed in the film "A Brilliant Young Mind" (a.k.a. "X + Y").Such expressions are confusing. My reaction is the same and it took me a long time to get used to it. Still, there are other expressions that I have to pause because I have to figure out what it means.My personal pet peeve is this: apologizing when someone mentions a relative or friend of theirs passed away. I will never understand this 'social rule'. It simply does not make sense especially if the person who passed away was years ago. But it is a 'social rule' so it is in my checklist.This is why it is draining for us, we have to keep a list in our mind of 'social rules' and react accordingly when encountered, otherwise people will whisper "rude", "what's wrong with him/her", etc. For me, the more appropriate reaction is either silence or tapping them on their back or ask them "are you okay" but apparently those are rude.It's similar with "condolence" and "sorry for your loss". I just say "thank you" if they're telling it to me. I just say "condolence" if someone I know is greiving. Does it mean I am not sincere? Not at all. It just does not make any sense but since it is a 'social rule' …However, since I've been watching K-dramas and recently there were a lot of mourning scenes, I think I found what that I can appreciate and agree with: the Korean way of mourning. I have not fully looked into it but the Korean way makes far more sense than "condolence" or "sorry for your loss". You visit them, pay your respects, if you are relative or very close you do 2.5 bows. If a colleague, you do a head bow. Then you eat the food they offer not because it is part of the "ritual" but because it is part of paying your respects. It is like the last meal you'll share together.That makes far more sense to me.4. Young Woo: "I don't like department stores"Reasons: Too crowded -- it is draining for us. Too much noise -- same thing, draining. Confusing -- this one is hard to explain but I've seen other autistics use this as an explanation why they avoid malls and department stores. For me, since reading maps is my first fascination, I learned to orient myself and creating personal landmarks. I also learned to visualize an area from a top view, it may not be exact but I can see the layout. I am __not__ saying I don't get lost, there was one time that I did and to this day I still can't figure out what happened that night. (And I was with friends not familiar with the area.) Too many things to 'fix' -- me, I just learned to distract myself, and I tell myself I don't get paid to make things perfect. Unfamiliar - she did not grow up visiting such places so she has not found a routine and ways to cope with everything that is happening in such places. If a place is unfamiliar, we can get overwhelmed. This is one reason why many, not all, autistics are afraid to travel alone. We can but first need to prepare for it. To find order to things. To have a checklist in our mind. We go through with it again and again. In my case, I check online maps, familiarize myself with the town or city's layout, where the police stations are, the malls, foods, and so on. When I visit an unfamiliar establishment like malls or hotels, I pay attention to fire exits, where the doors are, staircases, except the restrooms (you can just ask for that one without anyone calling you weird (I once asked where the fire exits are and I got looks and laughter from people around me, so I stopped asking about it)). "No touching" policy, she more sensitive to it than usual because she's already trying to calm herself and it's only adding more pressure5. Young Woo's suspected mother may be in the spectrum too.Scene: she fixed the shoe displayIt looks like they are going to touch on the most common understanding that autism is genetics and can be passed on.Besides that, this is also interesting. If her [suspected] mother is in the spectrum too, so far it appears that her mother is masking her autism so well like autistic women in real life.6. RomanceIt is good that they are not pushing it. I think the message here is that it should be taken slowly to let an autistic find his/her way to it and make them comfortable. If it is rushed, the tendency is to take flight.Autistic women are the best ones to explain this.

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Five Stars

1. joining the "joke" but no one laughed - Scene: first meeting with the clientWell … been there. But I think many, if not all, have been in that situation even neurotypicals, probably more often with introverts in particular. This is not an autistic quirk per se but it just happens far more frequently with autistics than neurotypicals/introverts. And if you paid attention, Young Woo was observing them and trying to find a moment to join them and when she did …2. Court scene #1:2.a: Young Woo spotted the differences quickly.- Is it possible Young Woo spotted the differences that fast? Yes.- Is it possible Young Woo spotted the little differences? Yes.We are not talking about "spot-the-difference", this is about spotting the little things. An example, since I develop sites, if there is something I want to center, it bothers me a lot if it is. I can still see an object is not "centered", if it is off by a pixel or two it is not(!) centered at all! I hate that. Eventually, I found a way to "fool" myself so I no longer waste time trying to achieve true center. (note: 'perfectionism' is under OCD which is common in autistics)I used to be good at spot-the-difference games too but I'm not as fast as Young Woo in this episode; and being good at it is not an autistic-only skill. Hence I said it is about spotting the little things.2.b: Started arguing only to realized there's a flaw in her argument.After she spotted the little differences, she stood up and started her argument only to pause later because she realized the flaw and salvage the situation.I can't speak for other autistics on this one but it generally happens when we get 'excited', we react faster than our internal analysation. It is common for autistics to play different scenarios and branches in our mind but when we get 'excited' the risk of missing a scenario increases, like what happened to Attorney Woo. If she did not get excited at that moment, I have no doubt she would have seen in her mind her argument is not fool proof.3. Attorney Woo Young Woo: Looking straight into the other person's eyes is the most difficult thing in the world for someone with autism.YEAH! I was waiting for them to address this. Finally! However, it is important to remember (1) the degree this is affecting an autistic; and (2) how to cope with it.One way of coping it, and I think I talked about this before, is to "look between their eyebrows" (as her friend suggested) or the bridge of the nose. We appear looking at you in the eyes but we are not.There are different reasons why this is the most difficult thing for autistics, some reasons are (a) it's like opening your soul to the other people; the other way of that is (b) autistics 'feel' it is rude to look into the soul of another person; (c) it is painful; or (d) no reason at all, it's just is hard.Now, since this episode is about "detecting lies", it's important to note that detecting lies through the eyes will not work with autistics. Good luck. No matter how hard we try to look directly into your eyes, we will break contact. For some it is easier if one is wearing eyeglasses or sunglasses, for some it still won't make a difference (regardless if both of them are wearing sunglasses). It depends but yeah, we all struggle with it.Here's one way I can cope with it: I try to find the colour of your eyes. That distracts me though, so there is a chance I'll miss what in the world you were saying. Another method I use is watching your iris grow or shrink, again, it distracts me because I'm focusing on something else. Much better if I just look elsewhere and listen, that way I can "hear" you.4. Attorney Kwon used the word "handicap" and even claimed that he has no choice but to shoulder certain things. Even related it "volunteer work".Yeah, definitely insulting and common. This is not about being "politically correct", it is about the inaccuracy of that word, and how it is usually used. Even parents who accepted their child's autism would not be happy if you use that word.5. They talked about signs of lying.Careful when using these "signs" on autistics. More likely than not it won't work, you'll just get the wrong assessment.6. Woo Young Woo: "People with autism are easily fooled and are not able to lie."I'm not sure if the translation was correct but the part "are not able to lie" is not exactly true. Autistics are capable of lying, the difference is we hate it far more than neurotypicals so we avoid it at all costs. We just hate it.Here's an example: if we agreed on a certain time and you told me "I'm already here, I'll be arriving in 10 minutes"; and then you sent another similar message, I know you're lying and if I fail to control myself, I'll make a big fuss about it. Especially true if I know the route you're taking and the road situation.What makes it worse is you're late. We also hate lates. Again, we are capable of being late but we avoid it. This should give you a clue, if you know someone is autistic and they're regularly late, find out the reason instead of punishing them. A good example of this is episode 5 when Young Woo was not able to explain what "[bank] cassettes" are. It is not related to being late per se rather the reason behind it when you know an autistic wouldn't make that mistake. In Young Woo's case, it's unusual for her not to be able to answer that question considering her performance … it should've been a sign something was wrong.So yeah, neurotypicals, if you know or suspect someone is autistic, try to find the reason first. Actually, it doesn't only apply to autistics, it applies to everyone. If you know a person wouldn't do certain things, say being late or failing an exam, find out why first before reprimanding or punishing them.6.a: "I have to make a conscious effort at all times to not be fooled by lies."Definitely true. We explain it this way: we have a checklist of things in our mind. And Young Woo explained it this way (paraphrasing) "I keep forgetting it". The list is just so long, and we also have yet another list for other social stuff, that yeah, we forget some things and it is also draining us.6.b: "These stories help." "They help me understand you."Why I'm sharing. If it won't help me anymore, at least those autistic kids will benefit from it, maybe when they get older there will be less discrimination, prejudice, and stigma because we shared our own stories.And this is why I see "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" as an autism advocacy, as a story about autistics (as a representation) in a world not made for them instead of any particular autistic (representation).7. Asking the first question that bothered her with no brakes.It bothered her if Joon Ho likes her so the first question she asked in that scene was that … no brakes!Yeah, that's us. But it's something that we can learn not to do.8. Young Woo repeating the information about how to detect lies through movements while walking.This is true as well. Not every autistic do it similarly, reciting it to oneself, it can happen silently in our minds.9. Young Woo finding it very hard to go with the lie.Scenes: In the office of the client and at court.As I've mentioned earlier, we are capable of lying--especially if there is an acceptable logic behind it--but we hate it and avoid it at all costs. In Young Woo's case, she found an acceptable reason, she wanted to win the case but she was never okay with it. Unfortunately, in this particular case, the acceptable reason she found was her being used only. Her client understood her and knew how he can get her to side with him--like faking his accident and setting up an actor [who we don't even know if is really his employee]--which I think Young Woo also realised.This is the other 'danger' or 'disadvantage' of disclosing our condition. If someone understands how a mind of an autistic works, they can use it against us.10. Young Woo being honest about what she thinks of her friend.Ahh this. Autistics are commonly misunderstood on this one. People think we don't have emotions, empathy, sympathy, are self-centered, and so on. But as I've explained time and again, we process and express things differently.This scene at the cafeteria is one good example of it. Her college friend and colleague never thought of Young Woo other than a classmate and a colleague, she was even annoyed at her at times. She probably assumed Young Woo did not appreciate her helping her (defending her from bullies; opening bottle caps, etc.)This is where autistics shine. We DO pay attention and remember, and we hold dear those good things about a person especially if it was to help us or help others. We don't say it. You usually will not see us express it. But once we do express it, once you ask us about it, you'll hear it in a way no other people in your life has ever expressed something to you. In Young Woo's case, her very descriptive metaphors and she even expounded it very beautifully.Trust me. We DO pay attention and we remember.

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