Early Access: Happiness E2 (Patreon)

E2. My watch experience of this show feels so surprising, in the best possible way.

For one thing, as you guys would likely know, I am a total noob at the zombie genre. I have resisted all the famous zombie shows out there - even Train to Busan, even though Gong Yoo's in it(!). Wait. Does this mean that I have more fan loyalty to Park Hyung Sik than Gong Yoo..? 😳

ANYWAY. What I meant to say, was, because I'm such a noob, the zombie stuff is basically guaranteed to feel fresh to my eyes. Even though, as zombie show veteran Leslie vouches, this show isn't tropey, even for her.

I do think Show is raising some very interesting issues and questions - which I'll get to in a bit.

Because, honestly, what has really caught my heart, is the personalities of our leads, and their contract marriage. Yes, I'm such a slave to this trope, aren't I? 😆

The thing is, though, even this contract marriage stuff feels fresh. Not only is it comfortably ensconced in the midst of a zombie story, it doesn't feel like most other contract marriages I've watched.

In most contract marriage set-ups, the two parties are either strangers, or almost strangers who can't stand each other. And the bickering gives way to hyperawareness, and so on.

In contrast, Yi Hyun agrees super readily to Sae Bom's question of whether he'd like to marry her. I do love that she tries so hard to pass it off as a real marriage when she sells him the idea. It's so endearing to me, that she doesn't default to a contract marriage mindset, and just keeps telling him that she's a really decent person, and such a great catch. And I love how she's caught off-guard, when he agrees so readily and matter-of-factly.

Also in contrast to the typical contract marriage set-up, Yi Hyun and Sae Bom already have such a great, easy rhythm going, between them, that I find it immediately very refreshing to see them settling in so easily, to sharing the same living space. They are so in sync and so easygoing with each other; I LOVE IT.

I love how Yi Hyun prints that picture of them, and puts it on the wall, just in case someone from the borough office might visit, and Sae Bom rolls with it so readily, even remarking that she likes the fact that she has the handcuffs on, in the photo. Tee hee hee. These two are so perfectly quirky, and they are so perfectly in sync with each other's quirkiness, and I am lapping this up, all while I can't stop giggling at my screen. 😂

I also love how easily they fall into a synergistic sort of routine, where he wakes up to head to work, and tells her to sleep in, because she's on leave. It's so.. comfortable, and for some reason, this degree of comfort between them thrills me.

Plus, I think it's so great, that they're able to talk about personal things so easily. Like the way Sea Bom tells Yi Hyun why she's always so badly wanted to have her own place, and all the growing up memories associated with it.

I am also quite thrilled at the way Sae Bom talks to Yi Hyun about how they'll split the apartment 60:40 when they buy it after 10 years. The fact that she's planning to be married to him for a long time, thrills me too. 🤩

I find that the more I observe Yi Hyun, the more convinced I am, that he's harboring feelings for Sae Bom. I think Park Hyung Sik does fantastic smitten faces (like he did so gloriously, in Strong Woman Do Bong Soon), and here, it feels like we're getting hints of his smitten gaze, just heavily tamped down and mostly disguised.

There's a gentleness about him, when it comes to interacting with Sae Bom, that I really dig. And occasionally - like in that moment when Sae Bom tries to convince him that she's asking him to marry her because she's interested in him, because he's easy on the eyes - where there's a blink-and-you-miss-it sort of smolder in his eyes. Swoon, I say. 😍

Plus, how sweet is he, to gently pull the covers over Sae Bom, when she falls asleep while talking to him?? The matter-of-fact way he is sweet and thoughtful towards her, melts my knees. 😍

I am loving Sae Bom's friendship with her little neighbor Seo Yoon. Seo Yoon is so sweet and precocious at the same time. She really seems to need an unni - a role model of sorts - and Sae Bom's a perfect fit. I am so enamored of how easily and casually Sae Bom takes Seo Yoon under her wing, like it's the most natural thing in the world. I'm concerned for Seo Yoon's health, though, because in Dramaland, when someone says they're a little bit sick, that normally means they don't have long to live, yes? 😳

We're getting introduced to several of Sae Bom and Yi Hyun's new neighbors, and it does seem that the residents on the upper floors are a rather snooty lot.

All that banging around in the middle of the night, after that upstairs neighbor took the Next medication, is highly suspicious.

As for Sae Bom's colleague Seung Young, I found his arc pretty thought-provoking, overall.

For a start, we've seen that Sae Bom trusts him implicitly, such that she readily tells him things about the investigation. This tells me that he's not typically oily - which leads me to believe that there must be a reason that he's so desperate for money.

My stab-in-the-dark guess, is that perhaps his wife has some kind of serious medical condition that requires surgery, and without the surgery, she's likely to die. In such a circumstance, I would believe that Seung Young might put his own life at risk, in order to secure the funds to pay for her surgery.

If it were something like this, I could believe that even in a situation where Seung Young realizes that he's basically screwed and unlikely to get out of the situation alive, he'd still be insistent on the reporter sending him at least half the money, in exchange for video footage.

The way we are shown his fate, is really well done, I thought. First, we see the chair stuck in the door, and then, the camera zooms into the crack in the door, to show us that Seung Young has most definitely turned. Ack. I feel bad for him, and I wonder what his reason is, for doing this, but at the same time, I can't help admiring how nicely this was done.

I find myself liking the female soldier (listed as Ji Soo), who takes Sae Bom's blood samples. She's stoic, but she's also softening up in small degrees, and I somehow really like that gruff, reticent, honest vibe that we get from her.

For some strange reason, I also find myself rather drawn to Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Han. I find him quite fascinating. He's so unruffled, and he seems to know everything (how does he know everything??), and he's kind of amoral, but he also tends to have some kind of point. I am duly intrigued.

Also, he's quick and fast with a gun (and isn't Yi Hyun badass with his sharp fight moves? 🤩), which adds to the intrigue factor.

With the way LTC Han shoots the zombie guy in the trunk of the car, Show raises an important question. Yi Hyun sees the victim as a patient and a human, whereas LTC Han sees him as no longer human. Where do we draw the line? Should we draw the line? And if we don't, then how do we manage these patients, who, as we see, become more and more dangerous to non-infected persons, as time goes on?

All very, very interesting stuff!

Next episode notes will be out on Sunday, 26 Dec 2021!