Happiness (2021)

A slice of happiness with zombies

This is not a zombie apocalypse drama but a slice of life story showing how people deal with each other in the midst of chaos. Influenced by the events of Covid-19, the drama somewhat delves into the problems society faces when having to deal with an unknown deadly disease, the balance between safety and individual liberties, and people's biases.

The show starts off with a virus putting people into a zombie-like state making them crave blood. The first two episodes are about the spread of the disease until the plot switches to the main characters getting quarantined in a massive apartment building with no access to the outside world. The story mostly focuses on the best and the worst of human nature showing various residents dealing with their own problems and human-made happenings around the building. This reminded me of the movie "Clue" where a group of strangers got stuck together trying to solve murder-mystery.

If you are looking for passionate romance, you won't find it here. Although, the two main characters eventually kiss and become a couple, the romance is very subtle and focuses more on how Yoon Sae Bom and Jung Yi Hyun treat and protect each other without the use of cheesy romantic cliches. There are no tropey moments of staring and forlorn glances. The characters are very mature. They are not afraid to be alone and have physical contact without awkwardness.

The biggest problem with the drama is pacing which slows down somewhere in the middle. This is not so much about the plot, but the setting never changing. Characters run around various locations around the building and do the same things in every episode. This makes the show a bit tedious to watch.

The best thing about the drama is Park Hyung Sik. He truly shines as a serious character proving that he can play something other than stereotypical semi-comedic heroes. Here, he is a badass cop and a total stud. I want to see more of him playing generals, kings, and other males in positions of authority.

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...
«Happiness» est un drama du genre thriller/action avec, bien sûr, une base de fiction, dû aux virus. Malgré tout, le gore n’est pas au premier plan. En fait, je dirais que le drama se concentre surtout sur les résidents du complexe d’appartements, et de comment ils gèrent la situation, ainsi que la peur et tout ce qui en découle, et les changements que tout ça cause chez eux. Et aussi, ce drama n’étant pas une ‘romance’, comme mentionné, la romance n’est pas au premier plan, malgré tout, celle-ci y éclot doucement, subtilement. Une histoire prenante, avec des personnages principaux ‘badass’ qui ne se laisse pas faire, et d’excellents acteurs et actrices !

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Avis Complet sur mon Blog :
https://lamagiedeshistoires.wordpress.com/2024/06/11/happiness-avis/

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I enjoyed this more than I thought I would, party because of Han Hyo Joo and Park Hyung Sik. They both play likeable and relatable characters whose friendship to lovers story is natural, despite the unnatural setting of the story. I've always enjoyed Han Hyo Joo's dramas. Park Hyung Sik is more hit and miss for me but this one is a hit for me. The drama raises interesting questions about how a government might respond to a frightening and highly contagious epidemic, how infected people are treated not just by the government but also by each other, and what people might do to fight for survival. It can be ugly -- people can behave pretty badly when they're frightened -- but this drama shows that people can also be surprisingly generous and self-sacrificing. I suspect that the inspiration for this drama comes from the first major COVID epidemic before vaccines were developed and the world was terrified.

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Adatto a chi non piacciono le serie sugli zombie

Io sono quel tipo di persona che schifa non troppo velamente serie/film appartenenti a questo genere e per questo appena ho capito in che situazione mi trovavo ho storto il naso. Per fortuna per me, questa serie incentra lo sviluppo su tutt'altro: siamo in quarantena in un palazzo vissuto da gente ricca e chi abita in affitto, quindi trattata non propriamente bene da chi invece l'appartamento lo ha acquistato. Costretti ad avere rapporti per sopravvivere, piano piano verranno a galla le varie differenze sociali e gli strati più nascosti di quelle persone che sembrano una cosa e si rivelano tutt'altro. Il tutto spinto da questa malattia che infesta la popolazione mondiale. Solitamente questo tipo di storia mi piace leggerla ma non sono rimasta affatto delusa da ciò.
Ho amato la chimica tra i due protagonisti, la loro complicità, la fiducia ceca derivante da un passato quanto mai particolare, un evento che li ha legati indissolubilmente. L'amicizia, ma anche l'amore sono sembrati quanto mai veri.
In vero non posso non concordare con chi ha recensito negativamente l'opera poichè ricca di tutti i litigi tra i residenti che davvero possono annoiare, soprattutto se si è avvicinati a questo titolo per l'azione. In verità, secondo me, viene usata la malattia per presentare i problemi della società e nel complesso mi è piaciuto. Tanto.
Inoltre ne sto scrivendo la recensione mentre nelle orecchie ho Pain, la ost principale dell'opera. Tirate voi le somme.

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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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This drama will forever be close to my heart

God, where do I even start with this review????
I guess with the fact that this was the first kdrama I ever watched so I may be a little biased. But I do genuinely believe this was absolutely phenomenal.
The characters, specifically our main couple, are my emotional support babies atp.
Sae Bom is a badass and a queen & anyone who disagrees is simply WRONG<3
Yi Hyun is the perfect husband material who worships the ground she walks on.
As he should tbh.
also, friends-to-lovers is my favourite trope so this drama was just made for me.
basically, if zombies + marriage of convenience (for real estate....OR WAS IT) sounds good to you, that's because it is.
NOW STOP READING THIS & WATCH THE HELL OUT OF IT IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY!!!!!

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I could've finished it in 1 day if it weren't for my classes. THIS IS SO GOOD!

Happiness is so good what else
can I say, I binged watched in 3
days, I could've finished it in 1 day
if it weren't for my classes. The
curiousness I got every episode was
making me watch this show every
time I had free time. Now that I
finished this and also satisfied with
the ending I think I'll focus on my
studies.

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️?❤️?❤️?????❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

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Plays Like a Bad American Horror Movie!

If this series had been a comedy, I probably would have laughed more and also in more of the right places. Unfortunately, it’s not a comedy. It plays like a bad American horror movie where the sheer level of stupidity that dominates the characters is the primary source for the laughter; the absolutely clueless and absurdity is not to be underestimated. If you've ever seen an American horror movie, you know how often characters make really dumb decisions, and when they're killed off, you just shake your head because their own stupidity did them in.

A disease has broken out the causes the infected to attack and bite the victim in order to satiate their unquenching thirst. However, once bitten, the victim becomes infected. It’s like a cross between a vampire and a zombie. However, unlike Train to Busan, this series as virtually no suspense whatsoever.

Yoon Sae Bom is a member of an elite anti-terrorist unit. She’s sassy, capable, and has dreams and aspirations of moving into a nice new apartment complex; a complex that requires the applicant to have enough “points” to qualify (recommendations, marriage, etc.). She marries her childhood friend, Jung Yi Hyun, a detective who had aspirations of becoming a professional baseball player. They marry for the convenience of being co-owners of the apartment. However, we already know that Jung Yi Hyun has loved Yoon Sae Bom since they were in high school together. Yeah, we already know where this is going.

Yoon Sae Bom quickly finds out just how shady the residents are in the apartment complex. There is really nobody good. And this is what she dreamed of, eh? We have a doctor who’s killed his wife. A seemingly affluent woman who wants to be the resident business leader of the complex. Power and money become the sole driving force of nearly every resident. This doesn’t even change when the complex comes under quarantine due to the disease. Soon, residents are fighting over food, water, or any means of trying to get ahead. Oh, and we also have a serial killer among the residents, as if everything else wasn’t quite enough. How so many “bad eggs” can all be in one place at the same time is like rolling “snake eyes” in Vegas twelve times in a row.

The lockdown aspect was intriguing until we find out that the infected only reach a “ravenous state” for about fifteen minutes. Meanwhile, a military colonel is trying to find a cure without letting the higher-ups know about it, as he’s afraid that they will use their perpetual greed to control the cure, and the colonel’s wife is one of the infected.

Yoon Sae Bom and Jung Yi Hyun try their best (well, not really!) to control the crazies and the situation. Ironically enough, for two people in law enforcement, they consistently make horrible decisions.
First, we have Dr. Oh Joo Hyeong who’s being arrested for the murder of his wife just as the lockdown takes place. However, instead of taking him into custody and at least locking him in a room, he’s given free reign to move around. Of course, knowing that he’s likely facing a prison sentence, he does everything in his power to subvert and plot against Yoon Sae Bom and Jung Yi Hyun. And each time they stop him, he’s STILL given a license to move about freely. Talk about stupid! This was one of the comedic elements that wasn’t really funny. I was simply laughing at how inept and pathetic our two main characters were.

Next, we have “Andrew” the serial killer. It’s funny that neither of our two leads suspect him for anything, given that he never shows his face which is constantly hidden behind a mask, and that the face on the ID card is scraped up so that you can see the photo. Now, it’s understandable that this story takes place on the cusp of COVID. It’s already been scientifically proven that masks do not have very much of an effect in preventing you from catching a disease. It’s more of a suggestion which is why so many people still believe that they do. However, given that Andrew goes to great lengths to hide his face, especially when eating or drinking, you would think that this might be a “red flag” to our two veteran members of law enforcement (three if you count Jung Yi Hyun’s cowardly, inept partner, Kim Jeong Gook who can only whine, cry, and complain at every turn).

We also have Oh Yeon Ok, the woman attempting to become the elected representative who is more worried about losing her position than anything else. She frequently goes into frantic rages when it becomes clear that she’s willing to do anything (even commit murder) to be elected. Bae Hae Seon plays her a bit over-the-top, and our two resident cops allow her to walk all over them rather than take charge of the situation. Instead, they try to be political rather than act like officers, which makes everything even worse.

The first six or seven episodes are quite good when the viewer is trying to figure out everything that is going on, but when the infected all but disappear, and the focus shifts to the residents and their power plays, the whole script falls apart, and we no longer really care what happens to most of them.


The last episode attempts to drag things out with an absolutely pathetic ending; all done for effect, of course. Jung Yi Hyun has been shot and taken captive by Andrew after Jung Yi Hyun somehow fails to disarm him (who knew a kid without any fighting skills could out-fight a cop who’s shown his hand-to-hand prowess up until now?). Jung Yi Hyun is on the ground being held up by Andrew but only covering his lower half. Yoon Sae Bom has a clear shot at Andrew. Instead, she shoots herself in the arm in order to get the infected Andrew to transform. Talk about making a really dumb choice! He staggers toward her, allowing Jung Yi Hyun (who has reclaimed the gun) to shoot Andrew in the head. Never mind that he’s already weak and also ignoring the fact the Yoon Sae Bom still has her own gun but shoots anyway, even though she’s in the direct line of fire. Talk about being lucky!

Yoon Sae Bom and Jung Yi Hyun are about as believable as cops as Donald Trump is of being president. Yes, that’s how bad these two were. It's sad that this is a wasted effort because both characters are likable and I like that Yoon Sae Bom is a strong woman who is no wallflower by any stretch of the imagination.

I was glad that this series only went 12 episodes. It should have been cut down to half that. The writer should be drummed out of the business for breaking one of the most basic and cardinal rules: never change a character for the sake of moving the plot. In other words, never make a character do something they would never do just to make the plot work. Yoon Sae Bom and Jung Yi Hyun make so many bad decisions, it’s a wonder they live to tell the tale. Well, when you have a writer who can make it happen, then that’s the blessing of it!


What’s sad is that most of the performances were pretty good, despite having some of the most depraved and sick people occupying one apartment complex (and no, I’m obviously not talking about the infected). These people should have been quarantined long before any disease entered the picture. Frankly, this series should be quarantined to the basement shelves too.

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Sadness

The drama began on a promising note, depicting the inception of their journey with great detail. However, as the plot unfolded, the emergence of the disease became the central focus, leading to relentless battles with infected individuals until the final episodes where the cure was discovered, concluding the story. While I was eager to witness the chemistry between the leads, their interactions were disappointingly sparse. Nevertheless, both the lead actors and actress delivered exceptional performances. Despite their efforts, I failed to find any joy throughout the entirety of the drama, ultimately deeming it dull and unengaging.

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