There’s little action this episode, as the disastrous results of Sae-bom’s ad-hoc madness rabies test has killed the mood for trying to identify infected people. Consequently, the conflict turns passive-aggressive, with people skulking around outside Se-hoon’s door demanding he hand out more of his food. Yet even this conflict is anticlimatically resolved with an apologetic note saying people can take whatever food they want.
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The extent to which the food issue is important is farcical given that we see no indication anyone’s all that close to running out of it, especially after the raid on Se-hoon’s pantry. I’m not sure we even see anyone say they’re hungry, let alone learn from past experience to just start rationing their food. The main vocalized concern is that the cleaners on the second floor just want too much money to sell their surplus.
Time and again I’ve felt like “Happiness – Drama” has been trying to railroad the viewer into resenting the large cast of generally unlikable characters and the story beats here confirm that goal. Everyone aside from the leads just wants to pick useless, petty arguments about nothing in a genuine crisis situation. All the characters have to do to survive is avoid the karenesque impulse to call the manager over every minor inconvenience and they’ve completely failed at that.
The absurdity is only amplified by the abrupt discovery a corpse partway through the episode. Nearly every single character treats this situation with alarming indifference when Sae-bom and Yi-hyeon try to investigate the matter. There’s just…an appalling inability for anyone to consider the obvious long-term consequences of their actions. It’s like they’re playing a game of werewolf where they forget they’re playing werewolf at regular intervals, and end up electing the werewolf as mayor.
What makes the contrast especially stark is the interlude where we see what Colonel Han’s been up to. In short, a crisis situation forces Colonel Han to show his hand in regards to the actual state of the research. But he quickly comes up with a new plan. No one in the apartment building, not even our leads, has a plan. As baffled as Colonel Han is when Yi-hyeon offers to send Sae-bom and Seo-yoon is, the simple reality is that the situation in the apartment is far stupider than Colonel Han could possibly imagine to the point that the devil Yi-hyeon knows is no longer an improvement over the one he doesn’t.
Review by William Schwartz
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“Happiness – Drama” is directed by Ahn Gil-ho, written by Han Sang-woon, and features Han Hyo-joo, Park Hyung-sik, Jo Woo-jin, Kang Ji-eun-I, Lee Joon-hyuk-I, Park Joo-hee. Broadcasting information in Korea: 2021/11/05~Now airing, Fri, Sat 22:40 on tvN.
William Schwartz
Staff writer. Has been writing articles for HanCinema since 2012, having lived in South Korea since 2011. Started out in Gyeongju, then to Daegu, then to Ansan, then to Yeongju, then to Seoul, lived on the road for HanCinema’s travel diaries series in the summer of 2016, and is currently settled in Anyang. Has good tips for utilizing South Korea’s public bus system. William Schwartz can be contacted via william@hancinema.net. He also has a substack at williamschwartz.substack.com where he discusses the South Korean film industry in broader terms and takes suggestions for future movies to review.
[HanCinema’s Drama Review] “Happiness – Drama” Episode 10 (2021/12/11)
Source: Laban Lang Philippines
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