“Happiness” (해피니스)

By Jae-Ha Kim
Substack
December 13, 2021

☆☆☆☆
Yoon Sae-Bom (played by Han Hyo-Joo)
Jung Yi-Hyun (played by Park Hyung-Sik)
Han Tae-Seok (played by Jo Woo-Jin)
↑Note: Korean names denote the surname followed by the given name.

There are still 18 days left until the end of the 2021 — and Gong Yoo’s “The Silent Sea” doesn’t even makes its premiere until December 24. But I don’t know that there will be a better K-drama this year than “Happiness.”

The 12-episode series starts off strong and maintains that level of intense excellence all the way through the finale. It’s one of the rare series that I wanted to re-watch almost immediately after the story ended.

And what a story it is. Han Hyo-Joo and Park Hyung-Sik are the on-screen couple of the year for their portrayal of Sae-Bom and Yi-Hyun — two elite police officers who are trapped in an apartment building that has been contaminated by a virus that turns infected people into thirsty zombie-like creatures. No matter how much water they drink, their thirst isn’t quenched

… until they bite into a human being and drink their blood.

“Happiness” is set in the not-so-distant future where people have become accustomed to living with — and dealing with — infectious diseases without freaking out. COVID-19 is a thing of the past. So when this mad-human disease spreads, South Koreans know the drill. They go into lockdown until the government can figure out a cure. But the cure is taking longer than expected.

While Sae-Bom and Yi-Hyun take a humane approach to saving as many of the infected as they can, Lieutenant Colonel Han Tae-Seok handles things more aggressively. He saves people who could be useful in finding a cure (antibodies), but has no qualms about shooting them point blank if he perceives any threat. A buffed-up Jo Woo-Jin (“Goblin,” “Mr. Sunshine“) was a total badass here in a role that required him to be ruthless, pragmatic and heartbroken over a family member’s infection.

The residents in this particular apartment building are lucky. Because theirs has a higher ratio of renters to owners — with renters having been denied access to the gym, where the infection started — the outbreak hasn’t been as severe as in other buildings in the complex. The gym managers were selling diet and health supplements, which they didn’t realize could cause users to turn into unrecognizable monsters.

Think about the cause and effect here: The wealthy and privileged are among those who were infected first. The lower middle class are their victims.

But scriptwriter Han Sang-woon doesn’t necessarily turn this into an us against them or eat the rich parable. Some of the most repugnant characters are among the working class, who see what others have and do everything in their power to take what they want. In many instances, the living are more frightening than the undead.

Among all the morally ambiguous residents is the soft-hearted writer, Hyun-Kyung (played by Park Hee-Von). She can’t bear to see the diseased segregated and locked up in chains. She makes a few mistakes that leads to chaos, but her willingness to see the victims as human beings first and foremost made her one of my favorite characters.

I talked earlier about the chemistry between Han and Park in their lead roles. They are believable even in the most unrealistic of scenarios, with Han having the flashier role of a take-charge woman who doesn’t need a man to protect her, but has one who is willing to die for her nevertheless. And the way she fearlessly protects him is the personification of love.

Unlike many K-dramas where the ending just seems meh, “Happiness” has a highly satisfying beginning, middle and end that makes sense.

Airdates: Twelve 60-minute episodes aired from November 5 to December 11, 2021 on tvN.

Gore: As many of you already know, I am a fraidy cat and don’t like gore, but I had no problem watching this series. If you can handle “Train to Busan,” this is comparable in terms of violence and gore.

Spoiler Alert: I loved this ending. Yi-Hyun has been infected and tried to hide it from Sae-Bom for as long as he can. When the opportunity arises, she leaves the complex (with a little girl who needs surgery, and some other tenants) — but she promises to come back for him. And she does, in a spectacular way.

Sae-Bom initially asked Yi-Hyun to marry her so that she would qualify to live in this complex, which was highly coveted. He agreed, because he liked her and thought why not? As the series evolves, it becomes clear that he has loved her since their high school days. And by the finale, she realizes how much love she has for him, too. Happiness isn’t derived from where she lives, but who she loves.

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