Happiness: Episode 3

by quirkycase

At the idyllic apartment complex, things are not entirely what they seem. Strange noises and shifty neighbors continue to raise our leads’ suspicions, especially in the face of the growing threat of this new sickness. Our brazen police couple decides to take matters into their own hands and find out what’s really happening at the place they now call home.

 
EPISODE 3 RECAP

Yi-hyun, Tae-seok, and Jung-kook make their way to the quarantine site. Jung-kook stays outside while Tae-seok and Yi-hyun rush in with guns blazing. Out back, Sae-bom watches the soldiers struggle to close the container doors.

She suddenly rushes forward, saying she needs to get Seung-young out. Sae-bom pushes past the soldiers and Ji-soo to open the doors. She forces the zombies back with a metal bar like a badass and somehow manages to grab Seung-young in the chaos. But the zombies have a hold on them both, and she can’t break free.

Right as the soldiers close the doors of the container with Sae-bom inside, Yi-hyun appears. He throws the soldiers back and yanks the doors open. Yi-hyun grabs Sae-bom, pulling her back while she pulls Seung-young.

Once they’re out, Yi-hyun throws a flash grenade he got from a soldier into the container. The zombies fall back, letting the soldiers shut the doors.

Later, Sae-bom checks on Seung-young who’s seemingly okay. He apologizes for his recklessness and worries about his family if he turns like the others. In the hall, Sae-bom tells Ji-soo she’s disappointed in her (for letting them close the doors with Seung-young inside).

Yi-hyun is also angry at the disregard of humanity and confronts Tae-seok about keeping the zombies locked away waiting to die. Tae-seok argues they’re doing their best to help those with mild symptoms and isolate those with severe symptoms.

That’s not enough for Yi-hyun who wonders if Tae-seok could be so cruel were the patients his own family. Tae-seok is focused on the bigger picture and believes group survival is more important than an individual life.

Sae-bom joins them and demands Tae-seok disclose everything to the public and focus on developing treatment. If he doesn’t, she’ll expose this operation herself. After she marches off, Yi-hyun tells Tae-seok he hopes they won’t cross paths again. He slaps the truck and says the patients are trying to survive, too.

In the car, Sae-bom is quiet and seems to feel survivor’s guilt for being immune. Yi-hyun says it’s a relief she’s uninfected and assures her they’re sure to find a treatment soon for the others.

At the elevator, they run into Se-hoon who asks about his t-shirt. Seo-yoon is already in the elevator with her mom KANG EUN-JI (Kim Joo-yeon) and excitedly greets Sae-bom. Eun-ji thanks Sae-bom for looking out for her daughter.

Joo-hyung then enters with the woman he stashed under the bed. As Seo-yoon whispers to Sae-bom that her husband is handsome, Yi-hyun notices blood on Joon-hyung’s sleeve.

At home, Yi-hyun and Sae-bom have a video call with his mom who lives in Boston. Sae-bom was worried she wouldn’t buy their relationship, but Yi-hyun was confident no one would ever guess they got married for an apartment. Ha.

Sure enough, his mom immediately says she always knew they’d end up together. She asks for a private word with Sae-bom. Yi-hyun hesitates to leave, but then the banging noises start up again from #601, so he heads upstairs. Hae-sung is already there, asking Joo-hyung if everything is alright.

Something is most definitely off. Joo-hyung shiftily says the noises are from his sick wife Min-ji throwing things. He introduces the other woman as the manager of Min-ji’s clinic and says she stopped by to help. The manager looks suspiciously nervous and doesn’t say a word.

Yi-hyun asks if Min-ji is scratching or biting, but Joo-hyung claims she’s not. Yi-hyun again clocks the blood on Joo-hyung’s sleeve but only asks for the name of Min-ji’s clinic.

That night, Sae-bom and Yi-hyun talk about whether they should do the typical wedding and honeymoon thing. When she asks where he’d want to go, he just says wherever she wants to go.

While they sleep, Tae-seok goes back to the warehouse. On his way to retrieve the duffel bag full of pills in the car trunk, he shoots one of the men who have fully turned. He lets his soldiers handle the rest.

The next morning, Seo-yoon watches news coverage of the virus. Her parents enter the room, fighting about money and her illness. They don’t even notice when she says she’s going to visit Sae-bom and leaves.

At the precinct, Yi-hyun calls Min-ji’s clinic and learns she’s off for the week. He also learns that the manager’s name is WOO SANG-HEE (Moon Ye-won), and she’s currently at the clinic. After Yi-hyun hangs up, Jung-kook informs him that they’re off the case with Tae-seok.

Meanwhile, Sae-bom’s mom calls and tells her to turn on the news. They’re playing the clip Seung-young filmed from inside the container. A governmental emergency alert is sent to cell phones nationwide. At the station, Yi-hyun helps subdue a man who lies he has the virus and starts biting a cop.

Sae-bom gets home from grocery shopping and sees OH YOUNG-OK (Bae Hae-sun) putting up a flier about the stairwell door incident. Sae-bom asserts she’s the one who kicked it in and calls the blocked door a fire hazard.

Young-ok is the president of the resident association and is the type to smile politely while making not-quite-rude comments about your station. When Young-ok says a fire marshal approved the door, NA HYUN-KYUNG (Park Hee-bon) from #401 points out that marshal works for a company they hired.

Sae-bom and Young-ok end up arguing about the noises coming from #601 – Young-ok says she can’t be sure it’s the doctor couple. Elderly resident JI SUNG-SHIL (Lee Joo-shil) hands out pamphlets about Jesus’s love and encourages them to stop fighting and go to church instead.

Elsewhere, Yi-hyun approaches Sang-hee as she loads her car full of Min-ji’s things from the office and flashes his badge. While he asks her what’s going on in that apartment, Sae-bom visits #601 after hearing loud noises again. Joo-hyung opens the door, looking exhausted.

Sae-bom sees blood on his sleeve – it doesn’t look like he’s changed since yesterday – and pushes inside the apartment. He begs her not to open the bathroom door since Min-ji is prone to lunging at people. There aren’t any zombie sounds from the room, so Sae-bom carefully opens the door.

As she tries to talk to Min-ji, Joo-hyung sneaks up behind Sae-bom. The man actually pushes her inside and locks the door. What the heck?!

There are bloody handprints all over the walls, and Min-ji is looking pretty zombified. Sae-bom shuts herself inside the glass shower while Min-ji calmly stalks toward her. Min-ji is eerily silent as she presses her hands against the glass and stares into Sae-bom’s freaking soul.

Outside, Sae-bom can hear Joo-hyung calling the police to explain his wife is exhibiting symptoms of the virus and his neighbor is in danger. Sae-bom bargains with Min-ji, promising to let her out. Min-ji doesn’t attack her as she reaches out of the shower to fling open the bathroom door.

Min-ji ignores Sae-bom and goes straight for Joo-hyung. He runs downstairs to the fifth floor, past Seo-yoon standing in the hallway. Oh no. Seo-yoon turns and sees Zombie Min-ji standing there. Luckily, Sae-bom is hot on their heels. She cleverly grabbed a pillow that she uses to cover Min-ji’s face as she tackles her.

Sae-bom manages to hold Min-ji off long enough for Yi-hyun to arrive. He uses his outer shirt to cover Min-ji’s face and drag her off Sae-bom. As he handcuffs Min-ji, Sae-bom runs over to comfort the terrified Seo-yoon. Yi-hyun then walks over to where Joon-hyung is hiding and punches him in the stomach.

While the paramedics take Min-ji, Yi-hyun examines her apartment. He finds traces of blood throughout the apartment, including on a golf club that he bags for evidence. In the bathroom, he finds Next pills.

Now that the threat is real for them, the residents descend on the grocery store to begin the pandemic hoarding ritual. A couple opt for online shopping instead, but there are already delays in delivery.

Song-shil goes home to find her husband KIM HAK-JE (Hong Soon-chang) chilling on the couch. Her son KIM DONG-HYUN (Kang Han-saem) is doing a live stream and brushes her off when she tries to tell him what’s going on.

Elsewhere, Tae-seok gives a televised press briefing about the virus and its symptoms. He encourages anyone feeling symptoms or noticing them in others to call the CDCH. Sae-bom and Yi-hyun watch at home and discuss what happened with Min-ji and Joo-hyung.

They head out for a walk and run into Young-ok who asks them to keep today’s events quiet. Only the residents witnessed what happened, so they can keep it from leaking. “Bad rumors don’t help the price of our apartment.” Wow.

Outside, Sae-bom admits she understands where Young-ok is coming from; she’d want to keep this expensive place peaceful too. That night, Yi-hyun lies awake and ends up going out. He’s surprised to see Joo-hyung in the parking garage. Apparently, his test results were clean, so they sent him home.

When Yi-hyun threatens to put Joo-hyung in prison soon, Joo-hyung starts yelling about his special skill of filing complaints and suing people. Yi-hyun ignores him and drives over to see Tae-seok. He shows Tae-seok the pills he found at Min-ji’s and gathers that Next is the real cause of illness.

Yi-hyun observes that they took care of the dealers from the warehouse, but Tae-seok doesn’t provide any answers. Tae-seok does grant him a visit with Min-ji, though. She’s tied to a bed and still hasn’t returned to a normal state.

Ji-soo reveals Min-ji was about to die when she got the virus – it’s the only thing keeping her alive. When she returns to normal, she’ll likely die. Yi-hyun gets on eye level with Min-ji and promises to catch whoever did this to her.

While Joo-hyung cleans the blood off his bathroom walls, Tae-seok goes to meet with the dealer they’ve stashed in a refrigerated container. He asks if the dealer sold to anyone in the apartment complex, but the dealer doesn’t want to talk for nothing.

The next day, Hak-je yells at Sung-shil for having the audacity to not feel up to cooking his food. He says he’s going out and gets annoyed when Sung-shil asks for a hamburger. Isn’t he a ray of entitled sunshine?

Meanwhile, Ji-soo calls Yi-hyun to let him know Min-ji passed away. He drags Jung-kook with him to Joo-hyung’s apartment to break the news to him. He’s not exactly crushed. Yi-hyun notices how clean the apartment looks and asks if Joo-hyung cleaned his golf club too after bashing his wife’s head in with it.

Joo-hyung argues it was self-defense, but Yi-hyun has another theory. Min-ji was supposed to die after being struck but instead, she got the virus and survived. Yi-hyun holds up a forensic report as evidence. He also brings up Joo-hyung’s criminal record and revoked medical license.

Yi-hyun postulates that after being forced to hand over his clinic to Min-ji, Joo-hyung must’ve wanted to make a comeback. Joo-hyung is confident Yi-hyun can’t prove his theory … until Jung-kook brings Sang-hee in as a witness. Yi-hyun arrests Joo-hyung on the spot.

Elsewhere, Tae-seok sits by a woman’s bedside, the same zombified woman from the flashback last episode. In another flashback, he walks in and freezes in shock to see a zombie biting her neck. Tae-seok leaves her bedside and tells Ji-soo to proceed with cordoning off the building.

In a fast food restaurant, Hak-je struggles with the touch screen ordering system. He tries to get someone to help, but everyone in the line ignores him.

On the outside exercise equipment, Seo-yoon tells Sae-bom that she’s decided to get surgery. She’s more susceptible to illness, so her mom is worried about the virus spreading at the complex. They’ll leave for the hospital after her mom gets back from being tested.

When Tae-seok shows up, Sae-bom steps aside to talk to him. He shares that the dealer confessed to selling Next as a diet and concentration aid to gym members at the complex. Oh, so all the rich people are taking it.

Many more cases will soon occur, and there’s only one safety measure they can take. Sirens sound and soldiers surround the grounds of the complex. They literally wall the residents inside and block every exit.

Tae-seok claims it’s a temporary measure until they have the resources to handle things. Since Sae-bom is valuable, she’s free to leave. Sae-bom is sorry she didn’t make their secret operation public from the start and refuses to leave. Running away isn’t her style.

Hak-je returns to see all the soldiers outside. He catches Tae-seok on his way out to ask what’s going on. Tae-seok tells him he can go inside, but if he does, he can’t leave again.

In the lobby, Sae-bom calls Yi-hyun. She says she’s locked in and tells him not to fight his way inside. As she promises to protect the building, Yi-hyun walks out of the elevator with a handcuffed Joo-hyung.

Sae-bom runs over and throws her arms around him. “I thought I was alone,” she says into his shoulder. She doesn’t let go of Yi-hyun even when Joo-hyung takes the opportunity to run out the door. It’s not like he’ll get far.

 
COMMENTS

And now they’re locked in. I didn’t realize how big that apartment complex is until that last shot. It looked like they cordoned off all the buildings, which I’m guessing means the pills were sold to rich people across the entire complex. This could get a lot bigger than I’d expected. One thing I’m not clear on is why Next wasn’t mentioned in the press briefing Tae-seok gave about the sickness. He clearly knows there’s a link, but they seem to be keeping it quiet for now. Is that his decision or the government’s?

This episode ratcheted up the intensity. That bathroom scene was deliciously creepy, and I’m hoping we get more where that came from as we move into this next phase of the plot. We don’t get many truly creepy dramas, so I’m always rooting for more in the way of horror. I’m excited to see where things go now that everyone is trapped with the soon-to-be zombified rich people. This could take class warfare to a whole new level.

Tae-seok’s wife is infected, yet she gets a special room all to herself with state-of-the-art equipment rather than a refrigerated container. Yi-hyun wasn’t off about the hypocrisy. I don’t think Tae-seok is evil or anything – callous, maybe, but in general, I think he’s doing what he believes is best. He strikes me as someone who believes the ends justify the means. He’d flip the switch in the trolley problem.

Yi-hyun and Sae-bom, on the other hand, are both idealists. They’re empathetic and have a strong sense of justice, so it’s natural they’d butt heads with someone like Tae-seok. It’s easy to see why they’re such good friends. They certainly make a badass couple. Both at the quarantine site and with Min-ji, they jumped in and handled the situation without hesitation. I love how Sae-bom leads the charge while Yi-hyun unerringly has her back.

Despite Sae-bom’s bravery, I like that she’s not this fearless superhero. She just does what she needs to do, even if it’s frightening. Sae-bom never takes the easy way out, like with the apartment. She had the chance to save herself but chose to stay because she felt it was the right thing to do. But that doesn’t mean the decision is easy. The sense of relief she felt when she saw Yi-hyun is proof of that. No matter how brave you are, it’s always comforting to have someone by your side during a zombie apocalypse.

RELATED POSTS

• Premiere Watch: Dr. Brain, Happiness
• Script reading for tvN thriller Happiness with Park Hyung-shik, Han Hyo-joo, Jo Woo-jin
• Park Hyung-shik eyes post-military comeback with new tvN thriller