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Happiness: Episode 5

Skepticism further divides our already divided residents, and they begin turning on each other in fear. Our leads struggle to keep things afloat and ensure everyone’s safety, particularly with a certain resident scheming for his own benefit. The stress is a lot for everyone to take, and even our steadfast cop finds himself feeling the strain.

 
EPISODE 5 RECAP

Sae-bom rushes back to the apartment and checks on Seo-yoon (while also retrieving a bat in case she needs to beat back a zombie horde). They no longer have cell or television service. All that’s on TV is a message telling everyone to stay put and wait for rescue, as if they have a choice.

Back in the lobby, trainer Seung-beom is frantically barricading the doors while Yi-hyun and Jung-kook stand guard. Young-ok enters and is horrified to see this undignified state of affairs.

Upstairs, Sung-shil wonders if her racing heart and itchy wound are signs of infection. Dong-hyun dismisses her symptoms as old age and heads out. He runs into siblings Hyun-kyung and Soo-min in the hall and gets excited to hear other buildings’ residents are infected.

Everyone makes their way to the basement where Yi-hyun and the cleaning ajumma show bloodstains on the door as proof that there really was a zombie. Naturally, Dong-hyun immediately starts recording.

Young-ok pulls Yi-hyun aside and seriously asks if he’s gunning for her building representative status. Pfft. Yi-hyun is speechless and assures her he couldn’t care less about that. He rushes over to stop everyone from stupidly opening the door, but they seem intent on checking things out for themselves.

Sae-bom arrives and flings open the door, saying whoever wants to go is free to leave. Suddenly, everyone get cold feet and decide it might be better to stay inside after all. Yi-hyun reminds Young-ok they’ll need to inform all the residents of the situation. Since there’s no intercom or internet right now, they’ll have to do it in person.

In 601, Hae-sung consults with Joo-hyung about his arrest. As they discuss strategy, Hae-sung “drops” his pen and uses that as an excuse to stare at Sang-hee’s legs under the table. She catches his drift and runs her foot up his leg with his wife seated right beside him. Their legal session is interrupted by Andrew announcing from the doorway that everyone is meeting in the gym.

Meanwhile, Yi-hyun and Sae-bom go down to the basement to make sure all doors to the garage are locked. He claims he’s better with a bat and trades her his gun. (She reminds him he was a pitcher.)

When they don’t see any zombies, Sae-bom hypothesizes they must’ve gone home after regaining their senses. They’re probably horrified and trying to erase the evidence of what they did. Sure enough, we see the security guard trembling and wiping blood off himself.

Elsewhere, Tae-seok’s soldiers occupy a nightclub that deals Next. The dealers somehow got wind that there’d be raid and locked themselves inside the basement. Tae-seok orders the power cut. In the silence, there are some definite zombie noises coming from beyond the door. He orders the building evacuated and the door barricaded.

Back in 601, Joo-hyung is in a good mood, which can’t bode well. He reasons since everyone is infected, there’s no way he’ll be going to jail anytime soon. As long as he convinces Yi-hyun and Sae-bom, he might just go free.

Pretty much everyone goes to the meeting this time, including the usually absent Hae-sung and even Joo-hyung, although Sang-hee stays behind. On their way, they run into Sung-shil staring at the bloodstain on the basement window, looking frightened.

At the meeting, people question whether there truly are infected out there. Hae-sung condescendingly asks if there’s anyone from the upper floors who witnessed this horde and might provide sound judgment. Young-ok intervenes when Hyun-kyung starts fighting with him over his elitism.

Young-ok admits she didn’t personally witness the zombies either, but she’s choosing to trust the matching accounts of those who did. Joo-hyung interrupts to offer money to anyone who ventures out to assess the situation.

Many are disgusted at his proposition – which obviously would only be attractive to the poorer residents – but cleaning crew Se-kyu, Moon-hee, and Andrew volunteer. Dong-hyun records the scene.

Young-ok catches Yi-hyun and Sae-bom in the hall, happy to hear they found no zombies in the building. Yi-hyun gives the okay to start up the elevators again, although Sae-bom reminds Young-ok that there’d be no escape from a zombie if you get caught inside with one. (Ha, Young-ok’s face when Sae-bom calls her ajummeoni.)

When Yi-hyun sees Joo-hyung walking around, he loudly wonders if everyone is aware he’s a murderer. Joo-hyung tries to do damage control, but people are now looking at him sideways. Sae-bom grabs Joo-hyung before he leaves and whispers that she’ll kill him if he touches Sang-hee.

They return to the gym and find Woo-chang leading a prayer with the anxious Sung-shil. Jung-kook clues Sae-bom and Yi-hyun in on Joo-hyung paying people to go outside. He managed to convince them not to go until daylight, but that’s all he could do. On a positive note, Hyun-kyung and So-yoon volunteered to provide the nonresidents with food if they need it, so that issue is solved.

On their way up, Joo-hyung asks why Hae-sung didn’t take him up on the offer to go outside; he doesn’t seem to believe the witnesses either. When Hae-sung says he doesn’t need the money, Joo-hyung offers a higher sum. So-yoon grows angry and ushers Hae-sung inside.

Once they’re inside, Hae-sung gets all mad and asks why So-yoon stopped him from pummeling Joo-hyung. Ha, right, like he wasn’t just standing there silently. She thinks they should turn Joo-hyung down as a client, but Hae-sung thinks of pretty Sang-hee and says they’ll keep on for now.

In 401, Soo-min is surprised that his sister took his side at the meeting. Like most siblings, she takes the stance that only she gets to talk bad about her brother. Even so, Hyun-kyung isn’t giving him the money.

In the gym office, Yi-hyun and Sae-bom continue questioning Seung-beom, but he swears he didn’t take Next. Yi-hyun finds security footage of Seung-beom guzzling water straight from the keg dispenser, but Seung-beom still won’t admit anything. They again lock him in the gym for the night.

While the cleaning crew prepares the ramyeon Hyun-kyung gave them, Jung-kook brings the building cleaning ajumma over. Her room is in the basement, but she’s scared to sleep there alone, so they agree to let her stay with them. Andrew turns around to take off his mask and eat.

Elsewhere, Yi-hyun wonders if they should block people from going outside tomorrow, but Sae-bom practically notes that’s not possible. Before they go inside, Sae-bom asks him to keep the situation a secret from Seo-yoon. The second they walk in, Seo-yoon asks if it’s true that there are infected people outside.

Sae-bom glares at Jung-kook for spilling the beans and manages to keep Seo-yoon calm by assuring her their building is okay and her parents are safe outside. After a talking to from Yi-hyun, Jung-kook calls Seo-yoon over for some damage control.

Elsewhere, Jin-soo gives a briefing about the virus (officially named the Lytta virus). It’s known to affect the nervous system like rabies and symptoms manifest once it reaches the brain. Next is believed to be the origin, and the only other way to contract it is by being bitten or scratched by someone infected.

The issue with treatment is that they aren’t sure how to pass the protective blood-brain barrier. Tae-seok takes over to announce they’re studying an antibody that can directly affect the brain, but they need a month for research. For Lytta not to take over the whole nation in the meantime, it’s vital the quarantines are kept in effect.

Afterward, Ji-soo confronts Tae-seok – he knows the tests aren’t showing promise for the treatment. Tae-seok counters that if they believed there were no chance, all the infected would be killed as a precaution.

Ji-soo is surprised he cares whether the infected die, but Tae-seok says people who kill others should have to take responsibility for their actions. For now, they’ll continue stalling to save more lives until Sae-bom’s blood yields an answer.

The next morning, Sae-bom finds Yi-hyun donning a catcher’s mask and other protective gear. She reminds him he’s not on duty, and he’s just another person in quarantine. Even so, Yi-hyun can’t leave the uninfected from other buildings to fend for themselves out there.

When he asks Jung-kook if he’s going, Jung-kook candidly says he stays away from dangerous places. Ha. Sae-bom blocks the door and says she won’t let Yi-hyun leave. “Is it me or the apartment residents?”

Downstairs, Joo-hyung passes out the money to the cleaning crew who preps to go outside. Yi-hyun comes down with a grumpy Sae-bom in tow. I guess he won this round. She asks for her cut from Joo-hyung, but Yi-hyun refuses any money since it’s illegal.

While Yi-hyun leads the group out, Sung-shil says a prayer upstairs. Hak-je touches her arm and is flabbergasted when she tells him not to touch her. Then, she goes running out of the apartment. Hak-je fails to notice the bloody bandages in the trash.

As the group begins exploring the grounds, Dong-hyun runs up and asks to join. He promises to get permission before posting any footage, so they let tag along. Joo-hyung watches safely from inside.

They run into four residents from other buildings gathered at the perimeter. One is the security guard who’s infected. He doesn’t appear to recognize Sae-bom or Yi-hyun from the incident, but Yi-hyun stops Sae-bom from saying anything.

The guard assures Yi-hyun they locked the infected in the library, and everything is fine now. They claim they’re waiting for the lunchboxes to arrive, but Yi-hyun tells Sae-bom they’re more likely trying to leave before they turn again.

In the gym, Young-ok confronts Seung-beom about taking Next, which he denies. Her demeanor entirely shifts as she angrily accuses him of just getting high when she put him here to get close to the residents. When he calls her noona, she tells him not to act like they know each other. Whoa.

Before she leaves, Young-ok asks if it’s truly dangerous outside. Seung-beom says he would never go out. In the hall, Young-ok hears a thud. A man hits the glass from the garage and asks her to let him in. He says he’s getting away from the infected and has information.

Young-ok starts to unlock the door (nooo) but notices a bandage on his neck. Then, she sees blood under his fingernails. She drops her water bottle, spilling some on the floor, and it captivates his attention. She tests him by spilling more, and he completely turns. Now she has her proof.

Meanwhile, Yi-hyun’s group makes their way into the supermarket for supplies. Sae-bom marvels at Yi-hyun’s straightlaced ways when he asks how they should pay for what they take. He self-consciously argues that it’s best to observe rules so they don’t descend into chaos.

They spot Bo-ram hiding behind the register and approach slowly. She’s trembling in fear and screams when Yi-hyun grabs her shoulder. Meanwhile, the others load up on whatever they can get their hands on (only Andrew seems to be choosing thoughtfully).

When they spot a trail of blood, Se-kyu and Moon-hee go running the other way. Dong-hyun, of course, starts recording and investigates. He comes face to face with two zombies and stands there frozen in panic. Lucky for him, Andrew is calm in a crisis and pulls him behind some boxes.

At the register, Bo-ram shares that a bunch of infected barged in, so she hid. She’s not sure if they ever left. Moon-hee and Se-kyu come running up to report the blood trail. Yi-hyun instructs them to leave, but Se-kyu sets off the alarm with the alcohol he put in his cart.

The zombies start going nuts, so Andrew and Dong-hyun make a run for it. They make it outside just as Yi-hyun prepares to go back in to find them. Sae-bom and Yi-hyun pull down the metal fence/gate in the nick of time.

In a very abrupt scene change, we cut to Seo-yoon checking her phone. She wakes Jung-kook up and asks to go downstairs. Sae-bom told her to go to the first floor if they weren’t back by 10:00.

In the lobby, Young-ok stares anxiously outside until the group makes it back, but she refuses to open the door. What if they’re infected? Joo-hyung watches with interest and cues up an audio file of Min-ji’s zombie noises. He tells Sang-hee that the police couple can’t put him in prison if they’re dead.

Jung-kook and Seo-yoon come down and take in the hectic scene. Jung-kook sees Joo-hyung with the phone in his hand and goes after him. Seo-yoon quietly removes the mop Young-ok used to barricade the door and yells for Sae-bom to hurry inside.

Everyone pushes inside, and it’s madness. Se-kyu goes for Young-ok, pinning her on the ground with his hands around her throat. Jung-kook can’t get the zombie screeching noises to stop, so Yi-hyun throws the phone against the ground.

In the silence, everyone stills. Jung-kook says this was all Joo-hyung’s doing. Yi-hyun grabs a bloody apron and runs upstairs, screaming Joo-hyung’s name. He pins him against the wall and rubs the blood on his face. When he says it’s blood from outside, Joo-hyung screams bloody murder.

Sae-bom runs in and pulls a livid, out-of-control Yi-hyun off the still screaming Joo-hyung. That shouldn’t be so satisfying, but I can’t lie that seeing him freak out like that isn’t cathartic. Elsewhere, Dong-hyun cries to realize he lost his phone in the chaos.

At home, Sae-bom watches quietly while Yi-hyun washes the blood off his hands. He smiles and apologizes for overreacting. Sae-bom says everyone would’ve been infected were it not for him today and hugs him while he looks lost.

In his watchtower, Tae-seok watches the large protest happening outside the apartment complex. When Ji-soo calls to inform him they captured an escaped infected man, he shocks her by ordering his release. “Pretend you lost him and let him go for the protestors to see.”

He instructs her to ensure no one is hurt, but they need the public to be afraid and not feel pity for the infected. That way, they’ll have time to stall for a treatment.

 
COMMENTS

Not that I’m surprised Tae-seok would do something so risky, but damn. If they lose the infected man in their little demonstration, this could prove disastrous. But now that we know their research on the cure isn’t looking good, I can understand the desperation. Without a cure, the entire nation – or even world – is doomed. They did mention that Lytta has broken out in other places around the world, but why does it seem like they’re the only ones trying to create a cure? If Sae-bom has this special antibody, I’d imagine there have to be some others somewhere who do as well.

Poor Yi-hyun finally broke. He’s been so steady and calm, managing the situation from the start. Sae-bom may be the flashier one, for lack of a better word, but Yi-hyun has this competent presence. With how he’s been taking so much responsibility onto himself for keeping everyone safe, it’s no wonder he cracked after Joo-hyung tried to freaking murder them all. Of all people to get stuck in a plague situation with, Joo-hyung has to be one of the worst. I’m not sure why Sang-hee looked so surprised by his psychopathic plan when she knows he killed his wife. They need to lock him back in his apartment before he gets them all killed.

And then we’ve got entitled, creepy Hae-sung. At first he just seemed a little wimpy and whiny, but the more we see of him, the more I dislike him. I feel bad for his wife because she seems nice. She’s polite to everyone and was one of the first to offer food to those who need it. So far, she’s the only one of the owners who seems decent. Of the renters, I really like Hyun-kyung. She does not take anyone’s nonsense, which I appreciate. Yet she’s also stuck with a whiny family member. Why are all these nice, capable women stuck with whiny men?

I did not expect the connection between Young-ok and Seung-beom. He mentioned earlier that he’s hiding something, but it isn’t relevant to the virus. I’m guessing he was referring to whatever Young-ok is having him do here. Did she plant him as her own personal spy to keep track of the residents or even get dirt on them? I wouldn’t be surprised if it were somehow all for her precious position as president of the association, but it might also be something more serious. We know little about Young-ok, so who knows what secrets she’s hiding?

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I just need that creepy man, Oh Joo hyung to get infected and locked out of the building. My God, he nearly killed even me the viewer, he is the worst I've ever seen.

And that aspiring president is a total b***h, in that kind of situation, she is only concerned of keeping her presence known. They should get infected and move out of my screen.

The worst thing was those infected zombies, they are willing to manipulate someone to quech their thirst.

I've never watched anything gore or zombie-like. But HAPPINESS is one hell of an interesting reason to plunge me head straight into this genre.

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Isn't the manipulation the greatest? I'm not sure I've ever seen that before - zombies who are still people, people who are not going to be able to override their social conditioning to do something like drive a car through a window to get to human flesh, but if they can somehow coax a person to let them into the house...

This is another point in the zompire (nice portmanteau, Koalatown!) column: they shamble around like zombies, they appear to basically eat people like zombies AND vampires, but there's a touch of the vampire history in that they can't just break into a house and eat the occupants - they have to be invited in, whether by oversight or manipulation.

And I really do like "grandfather's burial plot" zombie, or more accurately the actor portraying him. He is doing an excellent job wearing about five different masks at once, he's very very unsettling but there's a piece of me that thinks if he talks fast enough, at least one resident will miss the look in his eye...

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It's just like Yi hyun said, they are the modern day zombie who knows breaking into someone's house is a crime, so a Portable excuse for their wrongs and how to conceal the evidence immediately has been their focus.

That these zombies can wash off the blood and appear like nothing happened is the most scary way of crime I've ever seen.

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I'm really liking Yi Hyun's character more and more each episode because I thought he was going to use violence on Joo Hyung, but using zombie's blood to instill fear in Joo Hyung's mind was fantastic. His level headed character balances Sae Bom's recklessness.

Also Park Hyung Shik's reactions are on point. He asked about paying for the items in the supermarket, but when Sae Bom scoffed at his honesty, he tried to sound cool😂😂😂

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But Sae Bom is not always reckless. She thinks through many situations carefully including the need to protect and care for a vulnerable child whose parents might have succumbed to the infection. She is multifaceted even if her MO is to project that edge.

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PHS is really hitting it out of the park. I loved it when he finally lost it on that guy for all his crazy scheming to get the ML and FL killed by zompires just so he can get away with murder and inherit the clinic and money. Argh.

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God I love Yi-hyun ❤️ They show more sides to him every wweek and I live for it.
I also like his dynamic with Sae-bom; I feel like they balance out each other well, but also comfort the other when they go off the deep end. I ship thee!

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I was disgusted by Joo hyung! How can someone stoop so low is beyond my understanding. On a separate note, can someone explain how is it that people are getting infected by virus by taking pills? It’s seems highly unlikely unless the pills itself are contaminated with virus. At the most, pills can have side effects on the brain due to the ingredients present in it.

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It is a plot device. However, based on the rules of this world, my assumption is some chemical imbalance in the pill affects the blood in people. The side affect is the zompiricism. Since the blood is infected, when they scratch or bite people the combined imbalance and blood transfers to their victims. I'm making this up, but that is how I make sense of it.

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i like how you make sense of it!

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Someone on Reddit suggested it could be mutagenic and affect the brain versus having some component of a live virus that becomes mutagenic.

Overall I am loving this show. So suspenseful and interesting. I wonder if that doctor that killed his wife and the building rep will end up being related somehow since the have the same last name and I don’t think “Oh” is that common like Kim or Park.

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it is more and more like walking dead, where the virus was already in the body. and the pill was just a trigger.
I would still say: humans alter their own brain. Everything we think or do leaves a trace there. Sure, it can be suppressed, overwritten, buried, but it is still there like an underpainting. if what drives us is anger and greed, how much is actually even necessary to turn us into a monster? Not that much.
So, no one is perfect but some can fight their dark desires and some can´t. I think if I were Granny, I´d already have gone zombie on my family way before this virus. if a person is self-sacrificing, thats what she will also do in a crisis. so I assume granny will kill herself because she doesnt want to hurt people.
the son, hewill die smiling that his views went up.
the wannabe representative is the most helpless and she has no clue what to do in a crisis.

I think Sae Boms recklessness is actually necessary because during attack you have no time to think. you need to decide. you need to resolve a situation before it escalates, you can´t take a chance on maybe.

but yeah... it is tricky

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I was saying the same thing. This is my first ever zombie drama, so maybe this genre doesn't have to make sense, but, c'mon, writers, make some effort! My ideas: someone contaminated the pills with virus. Other option: virus is airborne/present in the environment and Next, among other side effects (aggression, thirst) lowers the body's immunity so, the previously harmless virus can suddenly infect the body. Unfortunately their "scientific" briefing did not hint at any credible explanation.

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It's not that unbelievable. Viruses can bypass the gut system (hence oral vaccines exist). It looks to me that the pharmaceutical guy may have been including the virus inside the pills. For whatever reason.

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Sizanix, I agree, that would be believable, if they hinted in any way that virus was in the pills. What is not believable is that there is no virus in the pills, pills just cause side effects (as most medication does, just these are more severe), and then suddenly, bam! it can be spread by biting. Medication side effects can not be spread by biting.

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As an aside, I got annoyed by some details:
1. Sae-bom taking off the catcher's mask so that it makes for a better shot. I mean, seriously, if there were rampaging zompires, I'd never take off any productive clothing even in the apartment.
2. Why doesn't Jung-kook have his own cuffs? With an extra pair, the wife-murderer could be confined to his apartment instead of going around to advance the plot... Argh...

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I laughed so hard when that man was screaming. He is such an ass^&</, also the level of arrogance, greed,, and stupidity is staggering from these people. Unfortunately, we see it exactly mirrors real world behavior. However, I still like our leads even the Tae Sook. He is in an untenable situation and no one is listening.

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I have such a weird reaction to this show - I mean, I love it, but part of that is an absolute glee at finally seeing onscreen a lifelike representation of the utter idiocy people display in emergency situations. It's cathartic to see these morons doing boneheaded selfish things, because I've seen people make similarly tunnel-visioned choices in real life and it's hard to believe it actually happened afterwards. And it's also cathartic to see both Yi Hyun and Sae Bom operating like fatigued hall monitors - yeah! You do what you can to stop people being dumb, but some people just won't change. And the harder you try to keep them safe, the more innovative they get about getting ALL of you killed/fired/maimed. So at a certain point you just have to save your strength for the moment when they're so endangered that they'll just follow orders, and always keep an eye on how to keep yourself safe.

Tae Sook too. When he said "let the zombie loose near the protesters but don't let him bite anyone" I cheered, cynically! Because YEAH, that is definitely increasing the risk of an outbreak from zero, but it's also a tool to try and stop that mob from splintering and attempting to break through into a zombie area where Tae Sook has less visibility.

It's a fun, conflicted reaction to the whole situation. Should everyone have personal autonomy? Yes. Should that autonomy extend to living in a dense urban area, mixing with others freely and also cavalierly brushing up against zombies and getting infected? Think that's quite obviously no to half the population, but as recent events have shown - the other half appear to think that they should be able to live their life exactly as they want and if they get infected it's not their fault and they have no responsibility for how their infection impacts other people.

(In other news I got a booster this week and aside from fatigue and going to bed early, I've now had no real side-effects from any of the shots, so yay to vaccines and not infecting other people, dammit.)

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I'm getting my booster Saturday, hopefully I feel similarly. Also great write up and I totally agree!!!

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Oh yeah, so agree. the stupidity is so familiar it almost gets boring because I´m like: yeah, what else is new.

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Our leads are the only ones to fully understand how precarious their situation is and they try to keep everyone safe and fed. I love them.

The other residents have not yet realised what is at stake, they all think that they still have a future: the guy recording everything to increase the number of followers, the lady protecting her position in the resident association, the cleaners thinking they will be able to spend the bribe, and so on. Evil husband thinks he knows what he needs to do to protect himself.

Now the penny is starting to drop. Even Association lady is panicking and does not worry about the selling price of her apartment anymore.

When will grandma turn into a zombie and will whining husband be the first victim? I hope so.

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lol!

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I’ve been thinking that I can’t wait for grandma to turn zombie and attack her abusive husband, he so totally deserves to have the worst happen to him for the way he treats her.

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I want her to take out livestreaming son first.

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Right? It’s a toss up who should go first. But I do think she’d have a hard time hurting her own (awful) child.

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My first reaction was that Grandma's family is the worst! But when I think about it the competition for the worst is too strong.

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It’s true, it’s really difficult to pick which family is the most pernicious. Ugh, such awful men.

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I think she won´t. the rotten will rot and the just will not turn.theory: what if the drug brought out the inner desires of people. whoever has done something wrong.... maybe the killed wife also cheated? Maybegranny will not turn, but nasty grandpa finds 1 pill and will turn... people with already rotten personalities. perhaps it is not the drug affecting the brain but the brain affecting the drug... we heard, the homeless shelters, there were ex convs and criminals not accepted anywhere else.
except, I feel that Hyun has a dark side and that he might be secretly infected.

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Hyun definitely has a dark side, there are glimpses of it despite his calmness (which can actually be intimidating imo). Saebom is the only thing keeping him from unleashing it completely.

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I thought he was joking at the supermarket when he said that he finds it hard to go back when the lines are blurred 😅 someone on Reddit actually made the connection as well - e.g. his Mum actually thanking Sae Bom for being a positive influence on Yi Hyun as she describes him as having been in a dark place/on a dark path in life

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This is such a confident drama, and by that I mean it clearly knows exactly what story it wants to tell. That means I'm trusting in it even though the tone is so cynical at times; it's hard to have any hope for humanity when the depiction of human nature is so predominantly bleak. I spent most of this episode and the next marveling at how horrid the building rep, the lawyer, the murderer, and the social media obsessed son really are. In contrast, our leads look heroic even when they merely do or say the commonly decent thing.

Yi Hyun stood out for me in particular in these episodes and he deserved more at the end there than that wooden hug. I know Sae Bom cares for him as much as she cares for anyone, but c'mon girl: recognize how he feels and reciprocate already.

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I thought the final hug was great BECAUSE it was so low-key. There was a certain reassurance to it, that he hasn't changed at all in Sae Bom's eyes even when she sees him kind of lose it right in front of her. She wasn't treating him like he was fragile or nuts, just like today was hard for both of them and he did a good job.

I don't exactly know why, but it felt like a nice shared moment between the two of them. When everything else is going completely insane, they're going to have each other's backs. He's more obvious in that he basically takes on the role of her backup in an instant no matter what she does, but I really liked that this is her way of doing the same - after everything's quieted down, she gave him a really nice, accepting baseline.

I like this couple a lot. Not at all predictable in terms of kdrama roles, but everything they do makes sense to me in the context of the show.

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Ok spoiler for next episode but when she kicks the jerk we all hope dies soon for possibly hurting YH I felt that really elevated her support for him in turn. I still think she unconsciously likes him more than she thinks. She usually is the one to initiate skinship (albeit limited) such as hugs and arm around the shoulder etc. I too love this couple. Don't know why some people on other sites think they don't have chemistry.

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I really appreciate your perspective here; it helped me to see the scene differently. Thanks!

For me, I guess I wanted a real hug--one where both had their arms around each other. The way Seo Bom hugged him seemed a little stiff and careful to me. But again, I see why you liked it in the context of the show.

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I like this drama a lot, and the main couple the most. Their supporting, respectful relationship is the best, many real married couples could envy them. For me this show is a romance with some zombies thrown in, but I am losing hope a little bit. I know they are quite busy, but is it really not happening? I would take zombie apocalypse over a love triangle any day.

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I think they'll definitely end up together, but I don't think there will be a whole lot of time dedicated to their romantic relationship. I'm expecting more of a final episode kiss kind of thing.

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Considering the bleakness of the show, it will be good if they are both alive in the end. If they are alive in the end, they will be together, in the future, if not in the show.

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I mean in their imaginary post-apocalyptic universe.

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I'm very curious about the amount of control the zombies may still have over their actions. If Yi Hyun gets infected, and Sae Bom for whatever reason is somewhat immune... I can see a scenario where he stifles the zombie instinct because he refuses to hurt her. And where she is freely interacting with him because while he might bite her, it won't zombify her.

Hopefully not a long-term life partnership plan, obviously. But I could see it being the situation for an episode or two, Zombie Yi Hyun continuing to act as Immune Sae Bom's backup as she executes a task in a thoroughly zombie-infested area.

His occasional rage issues and her calming influence could be part of that too. If she can keep him from getting agitated and talking him down, and he is already actively resisting going full zombie regarding her, that could be interesting.

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Oohhh, the connection between Seung Beom and Young Ok was a surprise. She wore her calm, classy mask very well. The break in her facade gave me a little jolt. The show would need to reveal more about her and her end goal, but she could almost be a scammer. She is trying to get a top position to make money and/or possibly take advantage of the rich residents.

Joo hyung is so despicable. There's a bunch of awful characters besides him too, but I'm not frustrated by watching their mean and/or dumb acts. I just look forward to seeing how things play out. The main leads being likeable, smart, and competent helps.

That poor infected old lady. I wish she would confide in someone or had someone to lean on.

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I keep looking at her apartment. There’s nothing in there, right? It’s practically bare - that is not the well-appointed apartment of an elegant woman.

So I don’t know exactly what’s going on with her, but between the apartment free of furnishings and the constant angling to get into a position where she might gather bribes, she’s nowhere near the elegant presence she projects. Getting her younger brother into the gym might have been part of discovering the weaknesses of other residents.

Definitely something off there.

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Yes, her apartment is barebones, and her clothes were hanging off those mobile racks. She mentioned to her husband that they have to relook ways on how to make money, and cited examples, so I'm pretty sure she wants the position so that she can initiate projects for kickbacks, or be in a position to skim money in some form. Or hobnob with the higher echelons of society and make money in some way.

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That crescendo of chaos at the end there, with everyone struggling until Hyun totally snapped, was really something. I replayed it a few times.
I have to give the little girl credit, rather than being a liability she actually ensured their safety - they'd be locked outside if it wasn't for her! She's more useful than the other cop lol.

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