Welcome to Kdrama and Ramen

A mysterious virus is spreading through Seoul that turns normal people into flesh-eating monsters.  In an effort to isolate the fast-spreading disease, government officials quarantine a new, high-rise apartment building that has had multiple cases.  As stress and distrust rise, residents inside the building enter into a class war between those who live on the upper floors and have purchased their apartments and those leasing the bottom floors.  While most of those inside fight for peace and unity, a few will instigate divisiveness to protect their own, personal agendas.

Park Hyung Sik as Jung Yi Hyun

Jung Yi Hyun meets Sae Bom when they are high school students and they have been close ever since.  He has always wanted them to start dating, so when she asks him to pose as her husband and live with her in a new apartment, he jumps at the chance.  But just after moving in, the government has to close the apartment down because of the spread of a deadly disease.  Unfortunately, his mentor, who was helping him make an arrest when the shut down started, is also stuck inside.  Together, the two try to maintain peace and order among all the residents as fear and distrust rise.  

Jung Yi Hyun’s dreams of becoming a professional baseball player are shattered when he suffers a serious knees injury.  But as his world is falling apart, he meets a prickly detective who becomes his mentor.  Yi Hyun is loyal and quietly assured.  He wears his heart on his sleeve, especially when it comes to Sae Bom, but quickly plays it off as a joke the minute anyone confronts him about it.  I love Park Hyun Sik’s ability to play these quiet, sensitive roles.  He can melt us all with those sweet eyes and quiet reassurances.  This is his first role since coming back from military service, and I was happy to see him again.

Lee Joon Hyuk as Kim Jeong Gook

Kim Jeong Gook is a detective that met Sae Bom and Yi Hyun when they were in high school.  He became Yi Hyun’s mentor, and now the two of them work together.  He is a husband and father who works hard for his family.  He is trapped inside the building because he happened to be there with Yi Hyun when it was blocked off.  But he is desperate to get back home to his wife who has just received news that she has cancer.

♥ Balance

Strangely, for a “zombie” show, “Happiness” has a great balance of elements.  The action is blended with a slow burn romance and interesting social commentary on human nature in a way that made the drama more than just a monster thriller.  For someone like me who appreciates a wide range of genre, I found this approach very appealing and I thought they handled it well.  

♥ Seo Yoon

Kudos to this young actress and the well-written character she played.  Seo Yoon managed to bring out the parental instinct in everyone she met, and the actress held her own with the otherwise all adult cast.  Even though she was very ill, she didn’t wallow or look for pity from others.  She jumped in to help whenever she could, but also accepted instructions to stay safely behind closed doors when it was necessary.  I  found her presence a special ray of sunshine and I looked forward to her scenes each episode.    

Fewer Group Meetings

While it was interesting to see all the residents gathered in a single place for their meetings, most meetings seemed to be a replay of those that came before.  I kind of wish some of that meeting time would have been spent on back stories for various residents.  There were so many interesting characters and I would have loved to know more about all of them.  The concept of the meetings was a good one, but it just didn’t seem to end up contributing much to the plot.  

Sae Bom’s Blood

So if Sae Bom’s blood contains antibodies and she knows that, wouldn’t she have tried using it to the cure the sick people they knew about?  Sae Bom has proven herself to be impulsive and self-sacrificing.  It seems hard to believe that she would have just sat quietly without trying to find a way to use her blood to help others.  I guess there would be a risk that if it didn’t work, the blood would only heighten the illness, but it seems worth a try at least once, with someone they already have contained.  

“Happiness” comes to a satisfying ending all around.  Sae Bom gets Seo Yoon out of the complex and reunited with her mom before going back to make sure Yi Hyun is okay. Her last task at the research center is to give Seo Yoon’s mom her final dose of the treatement. Han Tae Seok gives his wife the other treatment and turns himself in.  But thanks to Seo Yoon, he has a valuable piece of information that allows him to keep his job.  In case we have all forgotten, Soo Min was bitten quite a while ago at this point and still shows no symptoms.  In fact, he told Seo Yoon he has less “thirst”.  So although Sae Bom’s antibodies seem to be decreasing, there is someone else who has them as well.  Back at the apartments, Sae Bom finds Yi Hyun and the two get into a showdown with Andrew.  Together they manage to kill Andrew before Yi Hyun collapses as Tae Seok and the soldiers appear to move everyone out of the building.  The cleaning couple try to claim the penthouse belonged to them all along but no one believes them.  Sang Hee and Hae Sung finally get into Joo Hyung’s bit coin account, only to find out he is actually in the negative.  In the end, both Joo Hyung and Yeon Ok stand trial for their crimes.  And we find a healthy Seo Yoon playing outside and running to give Sae Bom a hug.  Yi Hyun joins them, hugging Sae Bom from behind.  The couple reminisce about last year’s lockdown.  They are still sweet and teasing as they hold hands and walk off together.