There's something really unsettling but also weirdly comforting about watching Happiness. Maybe it was how familiar the isolation felt just like how we were during COVID, or how tense the whole quarantine thing was, or just seeing how people fall apart when they're trapped together.
The story happens in South Korea during a new disease outbreak. Everyone gets locked down in this one apartment building after people start getting sick from something called the Lytta Virus. It's basically a failed medicine that makes people go crazy and thirsty before they turn into zombie-like things.
But here's the thing, the real scary part isn't the infected people. It's the normal ones. The neighbors. How selfish and paranoid everyone gets. That's what really got to me and wouldn't let go.
Right from the start, Happiness doesn't do the big dramatic outbreak thing. Instead, it shows something much scarier: a world where the government doesn't know what to do, being locked up means being totally alone, and nobody knows who they can trust. I watched Yoon Sae-Bom, this tough police officer, get stuck in quarantine with her old friend Jung Yi-Hyun, who's a detective. They're married but only on paper for practical reasons.
These two had amazing chemistry, quiet but really strong. They became the thing that kept me watching through all the chaos. They don't just fight off the infected neighbors. They hold each other together, and they keep the whole building from falling apart when everything goes wrong.
What made Happiness special for me was how it showed fear and what people are really like. Episodes 3 through 8 were incredible. The building becomes like a tiny version of real society: rich people versus poor people, selfish people versus people who help others. I didn't see any clear bad guys—just messed up, desperate people trying to survive.
Some characters were annoying, like Oh Yeon-Ok, this woman who wants to control everyone in the building, and Oh Joo-Hyung, this manipulative guy hiding terrible secrets. Then there's Andrew, who seems helpful at first but slowly becomes one of the creepiest villains I've ever seen.
These weren't just characters to move the story along. To me, they showed the worst parts of people, wanting to save yourself first, thinking you deserve more than others, refusing to face reality. When people started turning on each other faster than the virus could spread, I couldn't help thinking about what happened during our real pandemic.
As the show got closer to the end, episodes 9 to 12 made everything more emotional and had me really worried. Sae-Bom's blood can cure the virus, but that also puts her in danger. There's this military guy, Han Tae-Seok, who has a really sad backstory and is trying to save his infected wife. You can't tell if he's trying to help or if he's going to hurt people.
When Yi-Hyun gets infected near the end, it completely broke my heart. Watching him lose his humanity while Sae-Bom gets more and more desperate..
Somehow, the ending worked perfectly. It was both hopeful and heartbreaking. It didn't pretend that the trauma wasn't real, but it gave me what the title promised—a little bit of happiness.
I have to talk about how good the acting was. Han Hyo-joo was incredible—tough but vulnerable and really believable. Park Hyung-sik, who just came back from military service, was amazing too. His performance was subtle but really hit me hard. Their relationship wasn't about big romance scenes, it was about trusting each other, making sacrifices, and surviving together. And it was perfect.
All the other actors were great too, from the gross opportunists to the heartbroken parents and innocent kids caught in the middle. Every side story, whether it was about hoarding supplies, moral problems, or hiding infections, made everything feel more real.
Some people complained about rushed endings or medical stuff that didn't make sense. Others got frustrated with characters who seemed too stupid or naive. And yeah, there are plot holes. But honestly, Happiness isn't really about the science of viruses. It's about people and society, just like Kingdom which is also another kdrama, very similar theme wise.
I definitely recommend it. And like lots of other fans, I'm saying we really need a Season 2.