Happiness (2021)

Entre deux morsures, réflexion subtile sur le bonheur

On dit souvent que le plus grand ennemi de l’humanité, c’est l’Homme. Happiness ne fait qu’accentuer ce sentiment en peignant des personnages différents, mais capables de faire preuve d'un grand égoïsme et d'une stupidité déconcertante pour sauver leur peau.

Construit dans les règles de l’art, le drama contient divers éléments qui instaure rapidement un contexte social en présentant la majorité des classes sociales. Les propriétaires, soit les riches. Les locataires, autrement dit les classes moyennes et/ou considérées comme pauvres. Et bien qu’ils vivent tous dans le même complexe, les inégalités entre les propriétaires et locataires se fait rapidement sentir. Pourtant, que vous soyez riches ou non, vous n’échappez pas au virus.

Les personnages sont originaux et variés. En effet, on apprécie le duo principal, mais au fil des épisodes on adore en détester d’autres. Park Hyung Sik qui n’a rien perdu de son charisme. Au travers d’un portrait calme et amical, il est le bon flic, tandis que sa partenaire, Han Hyo Joo, prend le rôle de la casse-cou. Le duo fonctionne et nous offre de bonnes scènes.

Plus important que le chaos en lui-même, c’est le comportement humain qui donne un impact particulier. On pourrait se questionner longuement sur la représentation d’un tel état d’urgence. Si nous avons tous connu une dure période en raison de la récente pandémie, on pourrait presque voir le reflet critique de notre propre société. Ceux qui ont peur, ceux qui sont méfiants et enfin, ceux qui se croient intouchables. Dans un rythme respecté, l’intrigue défile et nous emporte avec elle sans difficulté. Pourtant, l’ambiance bien que tendue, n’est pas aussi sombre qu’on le pense.

Tout au long des épisodes, on cherche le concept de bonheur. Ironiquement, le drama n’a rien qui s’en approche – ou du moins, d’une certaine façon. C’est une idée vague, une émotion qui survient et repart ou est-ce un état d’esprit ? Comment ressentir un fragment de bonheur lorsque votre immeuble est mis en quarantaine en raison d’un virus ? Un virus qui vous transforme en fou furieux et où la soif de sang vous plonge dans un cauchemar ? En réalité, les réflexions au fil des épisodes vont peut-être esquisser votre propre vision du bonheur. On dit souvent que le bonheur réside dans les petites choses. Et si c’était le cas ?

Happiness est un mélange intéressant impliquant zombies/fous furieux dans une réflexion unique quant à la nature humaine et la définition du bonheur.

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Un drama prenant et palpitant

Je dois l'avouer d'entrée de jeu, je fonctionne au coup de cœur, et j'ai littéralement adoré Happiness, même s'il n'est évidemment pas parfait.

J'écris ce review 1 an après avoir regardé Happiness pour le première fois, parce que j'ai totalement l'intention de le regarder à nouveau ! (ce qui répond à la question "what's the rewatch value?")

Voici ce qu'a noté la moi du passé, à chaud, après avoir fini le dernier épisode de la série.

"Je termine à l’instant l’épisode 12. J’ai tellement de choses à dire... et en même temps si peu. Devant ce drama j’ai crié, stressé, pleuré, et globalement je suis sortie de chaque épisode vidée de toute mon énergie. Ce drama m’a pris beaucoup, je me suis perdue dedans. Il est génial, et horrible à la fois. J’ai adoré autant que j’ai détesté.
On verra plus tard ce que j’en pense, quand j’aurais digéré ce que je viens de voir. Là pour l’instant je vais aller fixer le vide un moment, et essayer de trouver un sens à ma vie.
Si je devais vraiment écrire une critique classique comme je fais d’habitude je dirais que les acteurs sont incroyables, le scénario est juste abusé, et d’un point de vue de la réalisation je n’y connais rien mais pour moi c’est parfait. 9,5/10 (parce que trop éprouvant pour être 10/10, je ne pourrais pas le revoir avant un bon moment). Aller, bisous."

Maintenant que je m’apprête à le regarder à nouveau, je suis évidemment prête psychologiquement pour le scénario, pour les personnages qu'on a envie de tuer tout le long tellement ils sont chiants, pour les plot twists et retournements de situation... et je suis convaincue que ce sera bien moins éprouvant pour mes nerfs ! Je suis aussi consciente qu'avec cette deuxième visualisation, je vais sans doute beaucoup plus voir les facilités scénaristiques et les trous dans l'intrigue. Mais je suis bon public, facilement satisfaite, et je sais que je vais passer un bon moment, et c'est tout ce que je demande !

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Une satire social intense et effrayante

En voilà un drama qui a enfin ravit nos exigences du moment : intense poursuite de "zombie" sans dégouliner de scène gore, une romance adorable qui n'a pas du tout empiété sur l'histoire, une action musclée mais bien pesée.
Non, vraiment, les détracteurs pourraient grincer des dents faute d'hémoglobines à gogo ou de mort stupides ou encore de pseudo sacrifice pour l'humanité.

Enfin, un drama d'infection à la "zombie" que nous avons pu voir en famille (oui, oui parfois, c'est sympa de regarder ce type de truc avec ses ados) : une censure de certaines actions (j'entend d'ici les grognements des mécontents, mais c'est appréciable quand on est en famille), pas de grossièreté toutes les deux répliques (j'exagère un peu, j'avoue), pas d'ambiance glauque et malsaine (oui, je parle de toi "All of us are dead").

Bref, 12 épisodes qui nous aura fait rire, crisper d'angoisse, "shipper" pour nos deux protagonistes, hurler de déception quand x meurt, et même une petite larme à la fin.
Alors, oui, ce n'est pas le drama du siècle. Oui, ce n'est pas à proprement parler un drama de zombie. Oui, n'attendez pas d'avoir de grosse sueur ou de sursauter de terreur (je doute fort que l'on puisse encore...).

Amateur de sensation forte, vous risquez fort d'être déçu.

Si par contre,

- Vous aimez les femmes fortes! Yoon Sae Bom est symboliquement la femme forte par excellence. Sa profession, élite de l'anti-terrorisme, rien que cela tout même, aurait pu nous rebuter (j'ai dû mal avec les femmes fortes et qui manient le sarcasme avec brio tout en laissant fuser des répliques arrogantes, je ne trouve pas que cela leur sied aussi tant que cela). Or, Yoon Sae Bom est affublée d'un fort (mauvais) caractère et d'une curiosité excessive et problématique (dixit son dossier hahaha) lui permettant de garder les idées claires quelque soit la situation (face surtout à la puanteur de certains personnages), mais aussi d'un humour décapant dont j'ai adoré savourer chacune de ses répliques. Sa capacité physique n'est pas étonnante au vu de sa spécialité, mais cela fait toujours plaisir de voir une femme se battant avec classe et férocité, ne rechignant pas à dire qu'elle a mal ou qu'elle a besoin d'aide. Pas de complexe d'infériorité, pas de traumatisme d'enfance, pas de revendication, un brin rebelle, mais un personnage qui a su aussi faire preuve d'une humanité rare et d'un dévouement altruiste sans borne. Zéro frustration avec elle, nous la suivons avec plaisir, soutenons ses choix et décisions et c'est un sentiment qui se raréfie ces dernières années.
Han Hyo Joo signe ici son retour après "w", 5 ans pff sans l'avoir vu sur petit écran (nan, ne venez pas me parler de "dramaland 2" par pitié...) n'ayant que principalement jouée que sur grand écran dont le très récent "the pirates 2".

- Vous aimez les lead masculins séduisants à l'humour bien caustique! Jung Yi Hyun m'a fait craquer, et cela faisait bien longtemps pour un K-drama. Un humour à toute épreuve, des poings fermes et parfois spontanés sertie d'un sourire de gamin pris en faute, il n'en fallait pas plus pour le suivre jusqu'au bout du monde. Loin d'être un lead en retrait par rapport à Sae Bom, Yi Hyun est un homme d'un caractère trempé doté d'une volonté de fer et d'une droiture insoudoyable. Sa force principale réside en sa présence rassurante, en ses décisions assumés et bien sur ses capacités physiques. Zéro frustration avec lui aussi. Pas de complexe ou de sentiment négatif. Pas de traumatisme ou de relation suffocante. Pas étouffant ou de jalousie infantile. Un personnage qu'on aimerait en voir plus souvent à dramaland.

- Vous aimez les duos de choc! Je ne vais pas vous le cacher, la qualité principale du drama repose sur l'alchimie de ce duo. Ici point de conflit ou de quiproquo qui amènerait ce couple à se séparer. Leur force est donc l'extraordinaire complicité qui les lie depuis leur adolescence. La scène de leur "rencontre" est symbolique, car elle représente un peu ce que ce futur leur réserve, cette confiance immuable qui sera la leur. Si la romance n'a pas une place prépondérante, elle reste le moteur de ce couple, elle sera leur force, leur volonté à survivre, jusqu'à ce don de soi typique des amoureux transi. Leurs interactions ponctuées de tendresse et de confidence étaient non seulement un havre de paix pour leur eux mais aussi pour le spectateur que nous étions. Grâce à leur synergie, l'ambiance de ce drama qui aurait pu tomber facilement dans le glauque et le violent était parfois étrangement apaisante et hors du temps. Toutes ces petites attentions l'un envers l'autre, ces petites touches qui dévoilaient ce qu'eux même ne voyaient pas ont été une oasis. Par ce que ce couple est tout cela, nous avons croisé les doigts jusqu'au bout, pour leur bonheur. Cela n'arrive pas souvent croyez-moi....

- Vous aimez les satires sociales! Si ce drama semble traiter d'un virus rendant les gens hors de contrôle, c'est avant tout une histoire sur l'être humain. Sur nos désirs profonds. Sur ce qui nous rendrait complet. Cette définition de bonheur qui diffère selon chacun.
Et ce n'est parfois ni joli, ni rassurant.
La progression de ce virus est à l'image de l'évolution de l'âme humaine dans une situation d'urgence où le chacun pour soi règne en maître. Certains personnages nous font rapidement découvrir le mauvais en eux dès le départ et d'autres ne se dévoileront qu'au fur et à mesure que la tension progresse, que le doute s'installe. Que ce que nous désirons soit à portée de main.
Ironiquement ici, ce n'est pas le virus dont il faudrait se méfier.
Le virus ne sert que d'exutoire pour certains protagonistes, une façon pour eux d'exprimer le pire de l'humanité. Et je vous assure que c'est pleinement réussi. Lentement mais sûrement, la folie des hommes parait évidente, et le pire des vices fait petit à petit surface. Avec un naturel désarmant.
Nous en sommes venus à détester certains protagonistes, souhaitant ardemment leur mort (je sais, ce n'est pas bien...).
Il y a d'ailleurs une moralité derrière tout cela, une moralité d'actualité, angoissante : les infectées ne sont au final pas ceux que nous devrions le plus craindre. Dans une situation apocalyptique, il est fort à parier que ces mêmes personnes tuant père et mère afin de se nourrir étaient déjà autour de nous, des proches, des amis, des voisins...ou nous-même.

Déprimant? Que nenni, une leçon d'une certaine façon.

Je vous rassure, en dehors de ces antagonistes, il y a aussi ceux qui nous font encore croire en l'humanité.
Le lieutenant Han Tae Seok, personnage complexe que nous avons adoré dés le départ. Ses raisons bien évidentes et oh si compréhensibles n'en ont pas fait un homme dépourvu de coeur prêt à l'extinction de l'Homme coûte que coûte. Bien au contraire, des décisions difficiles à prendre, impopulaires, mais toujours assumés. J'ai aimé la droiture de ce personnage, de son dévouement envers son épouse et surtout sa prise de position assumée quelqu'elle soit, que nous soyons ou non en accord avec. Je regrette de ne pas savoir réellement ce qu'il lui arrive à la fin....Tout comme pour l'agent Kim Jeong Gook, ses faiblesses loin d'en faire un personnage à détester nous l'ont rendu proche et nous a permis de nous poser cette question : qu'aurions nous réellement fait dans cette situation?
Cette fable nous démontre que la volonté de l'humain, cette conscience si chère à nos philosophes est aussi ce qui a permis à ces personnages à ne pas céder à la facilité, à rester profondément humain.

Une mention spéciale pour l'OST! Une OST, composée par le prolifique Kim Tae Seong, qui colle parfaitement à l'ambiance du drama et qui a apporté un vrai plus! Que cela soit au niveau des chansons ou des musiques, vraiment, un super travail a été fait.

En conclusion, un drama que nous avons adoré, de l'épisode 1 à 12, sans aucun temps mort et qui au-delà d'un virus potentiellement dangereux pour l'humanité nous conte avant tout la fable de l'homme face à lui même : le meilleur comme le pire.

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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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Et si après la COVID, une autre maladie faisait son apparition ?!

L’histoire nous conte un monde où après la COVID, une autre maladie fait des ravages… La rage ! (Bon rien d’original là-dedans, les symptômes étant pour la plupart ceux que développent les chiens lors d’une contamination.)
Nous découvrons alors différentes personnes vivant dans un immeuble de standing. Malheureusement pour eux, une personne se voit contaminer… Ce qui engendre le confinement total de l’immeuble ! Si au début les gens, ayant encore l’espoir que la situation se régularise rapidement, restent raisonnables… La suite nous démontrera combien l’être humain mis dans des situations extrêmes devient ignoble…
Nous voilà donc avec notre lot de comportements plus destructeurs les uns que les autres… (Vous me direz, que la COVID a également montré certains de ces comportements ^^’)

Alors finalement, qu’ai-je aimé dans ce drama ?
► Le couple de héros : Bien que dans une situation extrême où on met sans cesse leur limite à l’épreuve, ils restent humains… (Ce qui n’est pas le cas de presque la totalité des habitants de l’immeuble ^^’)
► La maladie est « simple » : J’entend par là, le fait qu’on ait repris la plupart des symptômes relier à la maladie d’origine. De ce fait, cette maladie semble pouvoir exister, ce qui donne une autre dimension à l’histoire.
► Aucune explication « mystique » : Pour une fois dans ce genre d’histoire, (Je pense notamment à « Sweet Home » & « Dark Hole ») la cause de tout est l’être humain lui-même…
►► Au final, c’est la simplicité de ce drama qui m’a conquise ! Cette histoire nous montre un panel d’émotions différentes mais également de nombreuses actions qui peuvent nous sembler répréhensibles… Cependant, qui sommes nous pour juger de comment les autres vivent ce genre de situation ?! (Tant que cela reste légal bien entendu x’D !!)

La fin, bien qu’étant un « Happy End », me laisse un certain goût d’inachevé… Il est vrai que pour une fois, nous avons la cause de cette maladie, la raison de sa propagation ainsi que son antidote… (ENFIN !!! Dans ce genre de drama nous avons rarement des explications… Cela reste souvent vague.) Mais, nous ne savons pas ce qui arrive aux différents habitants de l’immeuble… [C’est vrai qu’on sait pour les héros ainsi que les « méchants » mais nous ne voyons pas la finalité des autres… De plus, j’ai du mal à comprendre comment Jung Yi-Hyun a pu survivre… (Vous me direz, ce ne sont que des détails…)]

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Just a watchable drama

One of the most anticipated kdrama of the year just for the come back of actress Han hye joo, and in the end it's finished with pretty decent watchable drama with nothing in particular. Ongoing watching experience is always different comparing to a binge watch so i don't know how you will feel if you watch now. But even for the ongoing time this drama failed in many factors even though they had all the liberty to bring out an outstanding show.

A zombie drama always sound interesting, but here the situation they were facing was not a serious problem at all. Also the screenplay was not so well written it includes many dragging moments and most of them were unwanted. The first episode was very promising but it never continued that promise, after 9 th episode the gear shifted slightly faster but still the dragging feel you boring.

Everything completely scattered, no proper characterisation, no intense situation, they must create a do or die situation inorder to keep the audience on the edge. But it failed. Still it's not a bad drama, it's a watchable drama, there were some thrills also the background score played a big part to minimise the demerits.

Try it if u interested :-)

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Not what the synopsis promised

We go into this drama with the promise of a world that focuses on the aspect of a new strain of virus spreading throughout the city with a social aspect between apartment levels. While the concept of it was unique, the execution of it was lack luster. The first two or three episodes start really strong, with the primary focus on the development of the virus. But then we move to the apartment, where you'd think there would be some sort of focus on the economical differences between apartment levels and how it affects surviving the spread of the virus, but it has little to nothing to do with the actual show.

We get a brief explanation that the floors 5 and below are public rentals, and that the ones above are for the people who paid for the apartment themselves. That's the end of the socio economical difference and plot, there's not dive into the extent of the difference between levels, there's no detail into any sort of survival advantage or perks that the higher levels get, no surprising twist as a result of the socioeconomically difference. I guess the higher level people get free access to the gym, and have a justification to incessantly complain that they should get more during resource division because they're rich. Again, very disappointed that they made this a point in the synopsis as it has no impact on the plot whatsoever.

Now that we've also shifted into the apartment scenes, we also seem to leave the entire zombie apocalypses as an after thought. All the residents are now trapped in their apartments as if to exemplify them vs the impending zombie doom. This quickly devolves into a 8 episode long slice of life drama where we constantly see random slice of life everyone's life (these slices never change either, it's always the same point) from the lawyer cheating on his wife with the woman who is constantly looking for a passcode to access the doctor's crypto currency all the way to the 3 person family where the mother is infected but is hiding it from everyone. We spend an annoying amount of time focused on the mother who tries to hide her infection as well. Which amounts to the promise of zombie goodness we had expected of this series. So basically nothing. We spend almost an entire episodes worth of time following this woman expecting her to turn and perhaps kill her family and start an outbreak into the apartment, but no she is basically written out from the entire show. It's like she never existed. The family goes on to live in the apartment barely attending the resident meetings that occur every episode as if nothing was wrong. I guess the son gets scared and eventually stays with other residents, but that's it. As for the apartment vs the zombie infested complex, that pretty much gets slept on as well. Nothing happens, nobody really tries to break in, it's like the rest of the zombies in their complex don't exist. We get one seen where one zombie gets in and "infects" on person and then we proceed again as if the entire zombie complex doesn't exist again. Just the discussion of locking up the person who got bit.

Then we have the researcher who obviously is trying to save his wife by developing a cure, but tries to pretend he's in it for the money. Literally fooling nobody, so when he finally shows that he's a good person at the end, it comes as no surprise to anyone. The writers also found it necessary to make illogical/unnecessary drama to make this cure. E.G. the researcher trying to deceive the main characters into getting blood transfusions and suddenly turning G.I. Joe to infiltrate the complex to extract the main character for the cure, but then saying nah it's okay you stay here. When a simple, "hey can we draw you blood, it could save the world," would be equally effective and then the entire drama would just be over.

There's a lot of time consuming, illogical, and boring build up and that always amounts to nothing. That pretty much sums up the entirety of the series. A bunch of half plots that ping pong back and forth that result into no progression. It's as if the plots were just there for the sake of being there. Another, minimum word count scenario where writers wrote the series to be a 2 hour movie, but were then told to extend it to 12 episodes so they just kind of filled in the gaps the night before and called it a wrap.

Overall this drama was meh at best and just every where all the time. It lacked any sort of identity. They just kind of threw out an interesting plot premise, added a strong and attractive cast, and proceeded to just cross their fingers. Now here we are (as of this review) with a score of 9.0 with a story that almost anyone could write so I guess the plan was successful. I can't wait for another drama to be overrated so that we continue the cycle of pumping out the next brain dead story with an attractive cast.

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Tolerable

Story: I like the idea but poorly executed. You would think it’s a zombie apocalypse kind of drama but not really. More like a worse version of covid but here, they were able to find the cure way faster than covid vaccines. But that’s not really the issue, the way how they came up with scenes or different reactions of different type of people with their own motives were pretty annoying. It’s not because they acted poorly but because that’s how they were written. It’s like watching ‘sweet home’ but this is more tolerable. This first few episodes were just okay, middle ones were more thrilling but a major smh and last few episodes were just flat that all I did was fast forward just so I could finish this drama. If I were living in that building, I would definitely not come out of my apartment after getting my groceries. I mean, duh, staying at home is more safe than being exposed outside. But I guess, a drama is more interesting if it’s full of people with complex issues then you add a kid and a kind wife to make it more bearable.

Acting: I think they all did pretty good. I was pretty much annoyed with every character, even the kid. Not always, but somehow they did some things that were obviously shouldn’t be done no matter how many warnings they received. Their selfish reactions weren’t justified well that would make you pity them or at least give them another chance. The main female lead was always reckless that made me almost dropped this. I mean, isn’t she supposed to be more logical because of her job?

Music: Nothing worth remembering but still not bad.

Rewatch value: Definitely wouldn’t rewatch. This gave me headache for a while.

Overall: 6-6.5. It wasn’t bad but it was not THAT good either. Overhyped, honestly. I have more bad memories than good ones with this drama. You would appreciate the villains’ acting here and some cliche moves were prevented in some scenes however, the bad still outweighs the good. Too many plot holes, unanswered questions and lack of chemistry of the two. I honestly don’t get that special chemistry that others were talking about. The supposed additional twist/murderer towards the last 2 episodes was just poor idea from the writer. I wish they could have done better with his character because he seemed mysterious at first. Same with the guy on the 15th floor. The plot was rushed and it didn’t end well but provided us a HEA.

The gist(for me): Self-control/self discipline is definitely important in life, especially when there’s a crisis. Secondly, family will always be there for you. To help you heal and be your cure. Happiness will start with yourself then with others close to you. No matter how you love your family if you can’t control yourself then you’ll bring them down too.

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Tiring and Frustating

I watched Happiness coz I believe both main characters, Park Hyun Shik and Han Hyo Joo..., I was wrong.

The drama premise is about a zombie-like virus, firstly spread by pills then infected people distributed by bite and scratch, but it has its own uniqueness. People who got infected are still able to get back to their human form, as long as they don't smell blood. Kinda like Sweet Home, but the virus is curable in the end. Apocalypse's setting is not my favorite but I still can watch it.

What frustrated me the most is the characters. In Sweet Home, all residents work together to face the situation. The older brother and his ballerina sister,  the priest, the firefighter, the gangster, etc... all characters are strong and have special contributions to the drama.  Antagonist residents exist but it still makes sense. And they're still willing to join other residents when cooperation is needed.
While this one has nothing but a compilation of useless evil and trashy characters. The one that useful are only both main characters whom the other characters trying to get rid of throughout the drama...., as if all of those characters have no common sense to UNDERSTAND, how much they need these cops in this critical situation

To make it clear, these disturbing behaviors happen throughout the drama, literally from the start till the end. The word "useless" I use refers to their contribution to the story. And these weird characters keep doing their disturbing behaviors, as is they forget that they are in a very critical situation.
Start from a very trashy useless YouTuber wannabe boy who is very rebellious and disregards his mother. He has no job but to play games and live streaming. He humiliates his mother, even mean enough to steal all of their food stock and leave their parents after his mother got infected.
The apartment-representative wanna-be woman, who wanted to get rid of the main characters for no clear reason and I can't even mention which one of her acts is the most disturbing.
A doctor who killed his wife, for the whole drama trying so hard to kill Hyunsik, .... the reason is by killing him, none will come to catch him....??? As if Hyunshik is the only cop who will chase him for his crime. I can't find the logic in which killing the police in charge is the best way to get away with your crime.
The doctor's mistress who only cares to chase for the doctor's money.
The cleaner couple who is very money-oriented.
The cleaner employee, Andrew, who mysteriously wears goggles and masks but then happens to be a serial killer.
A money-oriented lawyer with his useless protagonist wife.
A writer, the other useless protagonist with her useless brother who keeps pestering his sister to give away her apartment because he lost him and he needs a place for him and his family to stay.
Hyunsik's partner who can easily betray him for no reason, and gets easily forgiven.
A girl who has to stay at home coz of her sickness... but never shows her symptoms. She has no contribution but stays at home and be Han Hyo Joo's playing mate.
Seriously, if you delete one of those characters, it will have no impact at all.

To make it, even more, weirder, for the whole drama all characters keep believing and follow the doctor and the representative's words, even though the cop couple has already proven that they are not only can handle the situation, they also can communicate with authorities outside, which make them know what they should do. Such as how long the quarantine will last, how the food will be delivered, etc...
But, these residents, instead of believing the cops, they sided with the antagonist duo and conspired to kill the cops, even using Andrew's service to get rid of all the cops... as if living with Andrew, a murderer is way better than the cops. I can't accept the logic.
This antagonist duo is even able to convince the whole residents to kill resident 1501 for his food stock...  People can turn their survival animalistic if they are in extreme condition, but they're not even that starved yet!!

Until the last episode, those whole antagonists really did not pay enough for torturing me for 12 eps. The trashy YouTuber can come back to his parents with no consequences; the doctor and the representative are jailed, but unclear for how many years; the brother becomes a test subject for the vaccine; the cleaner, the lawyer, the mistress etc status also unclear

I kinda regret investing my time to watch this drama. All characters, besides the main character, are very frustrating and just contribute to my stress and anger level.

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Excellent acting spoiled by plot holes

The story's first 2 eps were great but started going downhill from there.

First the entire premise of the disease. Think about it. The fact that a thin sheet of glass is holding off blood thirsty creatures both at the basement and the first floor. Glass that could be easily broken with a real impact (anything from as ramming car at the basement to a thrown chair at the first floor)

The writer tried to cover the hole with an excuse that the zombies did not do this when lucid because they wanted to avoid becoming complete monsters.

Match this against the guy who shows up multiple times at the basement trying to trick them into opening up. He is deliberately trying to enter but apparently if the door is opened for him instead of him smashing the glass, it doesn't count as becoming a monster? Huh?

Then we have the complete failure to account for those who would see the world burn along with them (aka infect everyone since you yourself is infected). These people would break the glass just to allow the disease to run rampant. This is despite the portrayal of many personalities in the block including "he who unmasked at the end and shall not be named" and the doctor of accidental comedy

Other than this massive mobius strip logic, we have the writer letting off the comedy doctor, who despite his first criminal act and being caught red handed in subsequent criminal acts, is constantly allowed to run free. Yes, the writer needs a catalyst to move the story but a *cop* who has handled criminals somehow has a "heart of gold" so much that the doctor is let off. Repeatedly. WTF

Then we have the inanity that is the toilet scene. If the female lead was not a SWAT team member (where split decisions must be made accurately) and is portrayed as a vengeful, consequences be damned woman, then that would be fine. But a SWAT team member knowing a bite is 100% infectious, having an unlocked toilet door that she herself could pass through and close behind her, decides on that.

We next have the consistent and deliberate failure to pass out relevant information. Just the last episode, the old man is told to not open the door for strangers, when a simple explanation of who he was referring to and why, would have made it simple. We can see this in prior episodes. Suddenly blood being used to identify infected is mentioned, despite the fact that the method could have having solved a lot of problems from earlier. Explanations of thirst being a symptom is also only mentioned after things explode.

The motivations of the doctor also ping pongs, from injecting xyz into the water to saying he wants xyz to protect himself. As the deus ex machina, he gets immunity and smarts as and when he needs it. Like the handphone recording, which he somehow knows its effect, to the knowledge of how the priest's sight would be blurry, to complete ability to predict the block rep's response after the supermarket raid.

Then we can see that someone told the writer to wrap it up ASAP because by a miracle, the Mr ABC has the components for cure! Oh wow, in the last episode, such amazing timing. This is despite having a whole country to find one and a failure to find a correct one (showing the probability as being minuscule and the other candidates give effects such as the one the colonel's boss experienced)

Overall the show is saved by its actors (minus the male lead). The doctor's actor despite given illogical motivations portray him well enough that he grabs the scenes he is in and amplified by the male lead letting him go again and again, he can get on the audience nerves which shows his acting is really up to par. The colonel also does really well here. He is the only one who foresaw the scenario and took actions to stop it. The colonel's boss was a just a bit part but the guy acted well enough to make people want to beat him up. The old policeman was actually pretty good in how useless he acted (qv that scene with the screaming handphone). The cleaner couple and the lawyer couple played their parts well enough. The female lead did ok, injecting a lot more energy into the scenes she's in but the male lead's expressions are just stoic, stoic smile, stoic wistfulness, more stoic.

Music and sound wise, there wasn't much to look at other than a few overly heavy handed and thus immersion breaking melancholic songs played at the points where "Be Sad Here" is tagged.

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Good Premise but Bad Story Building

To be honest, I picked watching Happiness because both of the main actor, Park Hyung Shik and Han Hyo Joo. They have a great acting and I enjoy their past work. Though, I couldn't help but got disappointed by the stories and the character building this drama has.

Happiness actually has a good unique premise. It is a zombie themed drama that pour slice of life scenarios into it. It has a great opening that is linked to our current pandemic situation. This drama started by how people overcome and get used to the virus and continued on their daily life. But, a good premise need a good execution.

A story need a character to let it flow. What disappointed me the most, how poor written the characters are. Happiness has two main lead that is a former highschool mates. Both Sae Bom and Yi Hyun are shown as a strong selfless characters with no weakness. Is it wrong for them to act like that? Of course not. But as a viewer, we never get a glimpse of understanding on how both the leads grow into the person they are. There is no introduction of their past and they just suddenly show both leads as a cool detective and officer. I actually expect the drama to give background stories for the leads even if for a bit so there can be a character development and we can connect to the character growth, but nothing until the last episode.

This goes for the supporting roles as well. Each resident have different background and that can be a great foundation for the stories. But again, there is no a scene of process of building the character with depth and they are shown as frustated selfish characters just because they are trapped in quarantine. They give us a poor written villain over other poor written villain over other else poor written villain and stuck them up in one place.

How about the apocalypse setting? At first I am truly interested with the setting and I actually link the virus outbreak in the drama with the title of 'Happiness'. I thought the 'Happiness' emotion might be related on how the infected could bear the virus, but again there is no explanation. They don't give any scenes about the virus, the illegal drug, or even the symptoms.

In fact, Happiness actually casted many great actor and actress that played well with the acting that can make you stay to watch and that is my reason to finish this series. But, there is a lot of scene that against the flow of logic established by the story's plot. If you are not bothered by illogical, unlikely or impossible events, you can begin watching this drama.

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