Happiness: Episode 11

by quirkycase

Things get intense in the penultimate episode as the residents split into two factions pretty much based on how okay with murder they are. Our leads try to keep themselves alive and protect those dear to them, but it’s not easy with a killer and zombies on the loose. The more violent and chaotic the situation gets, the more our cop struggles to hide his condition and not lose himself. But he’s determined to protect his family, no matter the cost.

EPISODE 11 RECAP

In the hall, everyone waits nervously. This was Joo-hyung’s plan, and everyone else claims they didn’t know Andrew was the killer. Inside, Andrew reveals his face now that his ruse is up. He takes Seo-yoon hostage and since he has a gun, there’s nothing Sae-bom can do but promise Seo-yoon she’ll come for her.

Everyone outside is surprised to see Andrew without the mask. He orders them all to the gym and says he’ll bring Sae-bom and Yi-hyun down. They want their food now, but no one dares defy the killer with a gun. He orders Hae-sung to stay behind.

When the gang in cahoots with Andrew meets Hyun-kyung and So-yoon in the stairwell, they hide what’s going on upstairs. Young-ok convinces the women to go with them to the gym so they don’t find out about the group’s betrayal of Sae-bom and Yi-hyun.

While Sae-bom treats Jung-kook’s stab wound, Yi-hyun shakes from both the effort of holding himself back and his fear for Jung-kook. Sae-bom steadies him and vows to put everyone responsible away once they leave.

Yi-hyun steps aside and radios Tae-seok to explain the situation. He warns that Seo-yoon will be in danger if Tae-seok storms in. Yi-hyun also shares that he knows Tae-seok lied to him and that Sae-bom has the antibodies, which Tae-seok basically admits.

Andrew leaves Seo-yoon in Hae-sung’s care and goes back inside the apartment. Yi-hyun confronts him, having recognized his face from a police station wanted poster. He asks how many people Andrew has killed.

In flashback, we see him kill Ahn Gook-jin and steal his identity. We also see him kill the cleaning ajumma. Andrew argues he’s no different than the infected who hide their true nature and wait to strike. (Ah, so he isn’t infected, just your run-of-the-mill serial killer.)

In the gym, Joo-hyung reveals he saw Andrew dragging away the cleaning ajumma’s body. Andrew went to kill him too, but Joo-hyung made himself useful by suggesting he hide the body in that empty apartment. He even gave him the idea of making it look like she was bitten.

Joo-hyung went to Young-ok immediately afterwards, and they struck a deal to let Andrew do whatever he wanted so long as he helped them with problem residents. Geez. These three deserve each other.

Back in the apartment, Andrew explains he got Se-hoon to open the door by saying Sae-bom was hurt and needed supplies. He then forced him to write that letter. That’s when Joo-hyung saw the bag of lime in the apartment and suggested Andrew use it to cover the smell.

Andrew takes Sae-bom and Yi-hyun down to the gym and passes their radio over to Young-ok. She begs for help, but Tae-seok ignores her communication. Everyone is horrified to realize Sae-bom and Yi-hyun have had contact with the outside this whole time and could have reported on their criminal actions.

Young-ok tries to take control of the situation and reminds everyone that Yi-hyun and Sae-bom agreed to turn on the emergency generator. Andrew tells everyone that they can just blame everything on the “crazy man with a gun.”

Hyun-kyung bravely stands up to him and asks if they’re supposed to turn a blind eye to his crimes. Even though she’s frightened when he approaches menacingly, Hyun-kyung holds her ground. When he puts the gun to her chest, Sae-bom intervenes.

Once Andrew lets Hyung-kyung go, Sae-bom sends her out and asks So-yoon to watch Seo-yoon. Andrew says he’ll let Jung-kook and Seo-yoon go once Yi-hyun and Sae-bom come back from turning on the power.

Upstairs, Jung-kook tries to convince Seo-yoon he’s okay despite the gaping wound in his side. Hae-sung goes to take Seo-yoon to his apartment, but she isn’t keen on leaving.

So-yoon arrives and confronts Hae-sung, asking if he helped Andrew. She’s shocked that her husband who used to be a dedicated public defender would do something like this, but Hae-sung argues he got nothing in return for his goodness.

While they argue, smart little Seo-yoon goes over and grabs a backpack with Yi-hyun’s military supplies. Seo-yoon pointedly says she’ll go with So-yoon and wants Jung-kook to join them, but he’s too injured to move.

In a surprising move, Dong-hyun offers to go with Sae-bom and Yi-hyun to turn on the power. He admits to them that he wants to get to his car and try to leave, even if he has to drive through the barricade. (For a second, I thought he was growing. Silly me.)

They wish him good luck and head on their mission, entering the garage and locating the electrical room. Sae-bom locates the generator, and Yi-hyun flips the switch. They weren’t kidding about it being noisy.

Once the power comes on, they leave before the infected can swarm. They seem to be in the clear, but then zombies come flying into the garage from all directions. Yi-hyun leads Sae-bom into a different, connected building in case Andrew is lying in wait to kill them when they return.

Two zombies bang on the glass doors, and Yi-hyun stares at them intensely. Sae-bom has to take his hand and lead him away. Meanwhile, zombies surround Dong-hyun’s car which won’t start.

Upstairs, Young-ok politely suggests Andrew give her the gun. Joo-hyung wants to make sure he’s going to kill Sae-bom and Yi-hyun, but Young-ok’s main concern is to ensure he’s leaving the second lockdown is lifted and will take full responsibility for everything. Andrew agrees on both counts.

In the elevator, Yi-hyun assures Sae-bom that Tae-seok will help them leave. He shares that Tae-seok was only using Seo-yoon as an excuse to get Sae-bom out because she has the antibodies.

The elevators doors open, and multiple zombies try to rush inside. Yi-hyun pushes them out and yells at Sae-bom to stay inside the elevator. He stands outside the door, holding them back with his body. Sae-bom yells at him to get in, but he doesn’t budge.

His shirt rips, revealing his infected scratch. Sae-bom stares in shock and notices how the zombies are trying to move past Yi-hyun without attacking him. She snaps out of it and yanks Yi-hyun inside.

Yi-hyun apologizes for not telling her and breaking his promise – he didn’t want her to see him like this. As he hangs his head, Sae-bom takes slow steps toward him. She places one hand on his chest and with the other, caresses his face.

He cautions her to stay back. When he sees her, his heart beats faster and he feels thirst. “Me too, because I like you,” she confesses. Sae-bom pulls him close as they both cry. When the elevator doors open, she says they’ll leave together. She’ll make sure he recovers.

Elsewhere, Ji-soo lets Tae-seok know that they turned on the generator in the complex. He orders her to temporarily remove the garage barricade so they can get Sae-bom out and to fire on anyone who threatens her.

While Sae-bom and Yi-hyun have Bo-ram let them in through the roof, Joo-hyung and Young-ok clean out their food supply. They decide to let the police handle Andrew later – they can just claim they didn’t know he was a murderer.

Joo-hyung goes looking for the Next pills Yi-hyun confiscated, and in the process, he “jokes” with Jung-kook by freaking smothering him briefly with a pillow. Meanwhile, Hyun-kyung visits Soo-min and tells him about the Andrew situation. He advises her to stay out of it, but she feels bad after all Sae-bom and Yi-hyun have done for them.

In 601, Sang-hee tries to connect to the internet (to steal Joo-hyung’s money), but it’s still not up. When Joo-hyung checks the laptop to see what she’s up to, Sang-hee sneaks up behind him and bashes him upside the head with the golf club. Damn.

In 602, So-yoon convinces Hae-sung to go down to 501 to get them some food and water. Once he’s out the door, she quickly takes out the batteries in the keypad lock and locks the door. He bangs on the door, but she yells that she’s sick of his selfishness.

While Sae-bom picks up Seo-yoon from 602, Yi-hyun goes to get Jung-kook. Young-ok tries to attack him with a bat, but he easily overpowers her. She demands to know if he’s going to kill her like he did her husband and lets out agonized screams.

Yi-hyun locks her in the bathroom and tells her he’ll be back for her – he’s not going anywhere. He retrieves Jung-kook and meets Sae-bom on the 6th floor. So-yoon is surprised when Sae-bom invites her to leave with them. She thanks Hae-sung for opening her eyes and tosses her wedding ring at him as the elevator doors close. Go, So-yoon!

Andrew finally realizes something is amiss and runs upstairs. He instructs the cleaning couple to detain Sae-bom and Yi-hyun if they see them. Instead, Se-kyu rushes him and beats him with a mop. They tussle and land in the elevator as Se-kyu tries to wrestle the gun from Andrew.

Moon-hee tries to help her husband, but they’re no match for the vicious Andrew who stabs Se-kyu in the neck. Andrew warns Moon-hee not to pull the knife out or her husband will die. He then makes his way to the roof and catches our group – which now also includes Bo-ram – trying to leave.

Before he can shoot Sae-bom, Yi-hyun tosses out a smoke grenade (thanks to Seo-yoon’s forethought in bringing him his military supplies). Andrew manages to get off a shot and hits Yi-hyun in the arm before the group gets to the safety of the stairwell.

Sae-bom’s eyes widen to see his arm covered in blood, but she still tries to convince him to come with them. Yi-hyun apologizes for not being able to accompany her and runs back through the door, locking it with the handcuffs.

Through the crack, he tells Sae-bom that he was truly happy being with her. Andrew shoots Yi-hyun again. Sae-bom screams and tries to break down the door, but it’s no use. When Andrew sticks his gun through the door crack, Sae-bom warns him not to touch Yi-hyun – she’ll be back.

While Sae-bom leads everyone down to the garage, Yi-hyun throws the handcuff key off the roof to keep Andrew from opening the door. Andrew gets all sulky when Yi-hyun won’t look at him since it’s “no fun” killing someone if he can’t see their eyes.

Yi-hyun turns around … and he’s gone zombie. Andrew’s second of surprise gives Yi-hyun time to grab him and take a chunk out of his neck. This looks like the end of the line for Andrew.

Meanwhile, with nowhere else to go, Hae-sung goes to Sang-hee who is struggling to read the tattoo on Joo-hyung’s back. Sang-hee claims Joo-hyung fainted, but Hae-sung spots the bloody golf club nearby.

When Joo-hyung wakes up, Sang-hee again hits him over the head with the club but not before he pops a Next pill he got from Yi-hyun’s. Great. With a maniacal look in her eye, Sang-hee orders the frightened Hae-sung to read the writing – they only have 10 tries to get the password right.

In 501, Young-ok manages to beat a hole in the door with the radio and reaches through to turn the handle from the outside. She grabs our couple’s trusty bat and heads to elevator. The cleaning couple is still in there, but she only spares them enough attention to figure out where Andrew went.

In the garage, Sae-bom loads everyone into her car and drives to the perimeter where the soldiers open the barricade. Sae-bom gets out and asks Tae-seok for his gun so she can bring Yi-hyun out. Instead, Tae-seok injects her with a sedative while the soldiers take the others from the car.

Sae-bom wakes briefly as they drive and sees people happily playing outside. When she next wakes, she sees Yi-hyun’s face for a second before realizing it’s Tae-seok beside her bed. She surmises martial law has been over for a while, but they lied to keep them in quarantine.

Tae-seok doesn’t respond but returns her phone; Yi-hyun gave it to Jung-kook before they left. Despite her weakened state, Sae-bom struggles to stand, saying she has to get to Yi-hyun. Tae-seok knows they have a contract marriage and asks if Yi-hyun is worth all this.

Sae-bom says that the world is going to have to wait a bit because she needs Yi-hyun. “If I lose him, I may really collapse.” Seeing the look in her eyes, Tae-seok says he has someone he’d like her to meet.

He takes her to see his wife Young-in who has been temporarily stabilized thanks to Sae-bom’s antibodies. Sae-bom suggests a deal: she’ll give him blood for the next dose for his wife if he sneaks her back to Yi-hyun before she’s taken to the government research facility.

When she gets back to her room, Sae-bom finds a video from Yi-hyun on her phone. She cries to see his smiling face as he says that he didn’t agree to marry her just for the apartment, but he didn’t want her to think he was easy by admitting he liked her.

After Seo-yoon and Jung-kook make a brief cameo in his video, Yi-hyun promises to confess his feelings face-to-face once they get out safely. Sae-bom replays the video, stifling sobs.

 
COMMENTS

Nooo, Yi-hyun! I knew he’d end up staying behind all nobly. He’d better make it through this. I know Sae-bom won’t rest until she gets to him, but now that he’s turned once, I’m worried. I’m not sure if he turned because of how injured he was or if he stopped holding back in order to take out Andrew. Either way, I worry that even if he survives, he’ll have a hard time dealing with what he’s done. Let’s hope he can control himself enough to hold on until Sae-bom can get him out.

I found it strange how Tae-seok seemed surprised at how much Sae-bom cares about Yi-hyun. Even if they’re in a contract marriage, they’ve been best friends since high school. Obviously, they love each other whether that’s romantically or not. And they’ve been through a lot of trauma together in the past couple of weeks, which is going to strengthen that bond. Tae-seok should know by now that Sae-bom isn’t the type to leave anyone she cares about behind. Her being in love with Yi-hyun only intensifies that resolve.

After everything the residents have been going through, seeing everyone outside playing happily was jarring. While they’ve been fighting for their lives under the impression they’re safer in the apartment, the outside world has been fine. And now, the residents are going feral. Young-ok and Sang-hee have lost it and are probably both headed for jail once the lockdown is lifted. Hell, most of the residents who survive probably are. Young-ok, Andrew, and Joo-hyung are all completely awful. Young-ok may not outright be committing murder (yet), but she’s just as culpable. She really came unhinged after Woo-chang’s death. If she weren’t so terrible, I’d feel bad for her.

At least So-yoon dropped Hae-sung and got out. I was hoping she’d make it – she deserves a good life after all this. I hope Hyun-kyung makes it out too. Maybe Sae-bom can bring her out when she returns. Or, novel idea, Tae-seok could stop this inhumane virus breeding ground and get everyone out. With all that’s going on, by the time anyone gets there, I don’t know that many will be left.

Only one episode to go, and I’m guessing it’ll be an intense one. Even if Andrew is out of the picture, there’s still Joo-hyung and Young-ok to contend with. Now that Joo-hyung took Next, he’ll likely be harder to subdue. Are we going to have a zombie faceoff between Yi-hyun and Joo-hyung? All I want is for Sae-bom and Yi-hyun to get their well-deserved happy ending because those two have worked their butts off for those ungrateful residents. If anyone deserves happiness, it’s them.

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