Happiness (South Korean TV series)

Happiness
Promotional poster
Hangul
해피니스
Genre
Created by
  • Yang Ji-eul (Tving)
  • Lee Myung-han (tvN)
Developed by
  • Kim Young-kyu
  • Studio Dragon
Written byHan Sang-woon
Directed byAhn Gil-ho
Starring
Country of originSouth Korea
Original languageKorean
No. of episodes12
Production
Executive producerJo Moon-ju
Producers
  • Hong Won-ju
  • Jeong Se-mi
Running time70 minutes
Production company
Original release
NetworktvN
ReleaseNovember 5 (2021-11-05) –
December 11, 2021 (2021-12-11)

Happiness (Korean해피니스; RRHaepiniseu) is a 2021 South Korean television series starring Han Hyo-joo, Park Hyung-sik, and Jo Woo-jin, produced by Studio Dragon. It is an apocalyptic thriller that takes place in a time in which infectious diseases have become the new norm. It premiered on tvN on November 5, 2021 and aired every Friday and Saturday at 22:40 (KST) for 12 episodes. It is also available for streaming on Viki, Viu, Netflix, and iQIYI in selected territories.

Synopsis

Setting

Happiness takes place in the near future, where the release of a failed treatment drug "Next" has caused a worldwide pandemic known as the Lytta Virus, a.k.a. "mad person disease". Those infected by Lytta experience short bouts of insanity and bloodlust, before completely regressing into a zombie-like state. The South Korean Military and Police forces are trying to contain the spread of Lytta and Next through extensive investigation and authoritative quarantine measures, while civil rights groups protest against them, believing the infected are still capable of normal human interaction.

Plot

Yoon Sae-bom (Han Hyo-joo) encounters a trainee at the Special Operations Unit who is infected by mad person disease. In the struggle to subdue the trainee, she is scratched, leading her to meet Han Tae-seok (Jo Woo-jin) at a research facility. The facility houses many of the "patients" who are kept under observation in order to understand and cure the disease. It is revealed that the symptoms of mad person disease are first accompanied by unabated thirst, followed by the pupil turning white, and then thirst for human blood. The disease is not airborne, but spreads through scratches and bites, with Yoon Sae-bom seemingly immune to the disease. Some of those who contracted the disease is ultimately able to return to their former selves temporarily. Yoon Sae-bom makes a deal with Han Tae-seok which leads her to secure an apartment in a newly constructed building, however in order to do so, she must be married. She asks her high school friend Jung Yi-hyun (Park Hyung-sik), a former star baseball player but now a police detective, and he agrees to be her fake husband. The building is luxurious and highly stratified, with the public rentals consisting of the lower five floors, and the upper floors for those who own their apartment. Class discrimination is evident where the upper floor resident Oh Yeon-ok (Bae Hae-sun) struggles to be the apartment representative while keeping everyone in check. Yoon Sae-bom meets many interesting and strange residents, forming a close attachment to her neighbor's young daughter.

Through Jung Yi-hyun's detective work, he encounters a diseased person who he believes became this way due to a failed pneumonia drug called Next, which has been widely circulated in order to promote attentiveness and strength. This assumption is later confirmed when a resident member who consumed the drug, secretly sold to her in the building's gym, ultimately became infected with the mad person disease and succumbed to the illness. This begins the outbreak in the building. In an effort to protect the residents in his building, Jung Yi-hyun and Yoon Sae-bom establishes quarantine rules, while securing the building from the outside with the help of his Captain, Kim Jung-guk (Lee Jun-hyeok). Jung Yi-hyun conflicts with building resident Oh Joo-hyung (Baek Hyun-jin) who seems to encourage destructive behavior in the building. The question of humanity and whether to view those infected with mad person disease as human beings forms a psychological battle for Sae-bom, Yi-hyun and Tae-seok.

Han Tae-seok initially tries to keep the mad person disease a secret, but with more cases progressing and people getting panicked, it is revealed to the public. With the increasing number of people getting infected, Han Tae-seok along with his military team are struggling to determine whether to preserve these people, or to kill them off. Han Tae-seok ordered the complete quarantine of the new building complex where Yoon Sae-bom and Jung Yi-hyun lives, offering them a chance to leave the building before it becomes completely sealed to anyone going in or out of the complex area, however they decline the offer. Yoon Sae-bom's blood contains antibodies that could hold the cure for the disease, which Han Tae-seok seeks to exploit. It is revealed that Han Tae-seok's pregnant wife was bitten by the president of the pharmaceutical company that supplied Next, and ultimately became infected with the disease. His search for the cure is in part motivated to find a cure for his wife and to save his unborn child.

Cast

Main

A member of a Special Operation Unit police squad (KP-SOU) formerly known as KP-SWAT. She is decisive, determined, smart, and does not easily get rattled. She is excited to move into her new apartment, but as soon as moves there she faces a crisis.
A smart and honest detective who, for a long time, has held romantic feelings for Sae-bom. They graduated from the same high school. He struggles to protect Sae-bom and other people.
A lieutenant colonel and belongs to the health service command. He holds a key to the infectious disease outbreak.

Supporting

People around Jung Yi-hyun

Extended

  • Baek Hyun-jin as Oh Joo-hyung, a dermatologist
  • Han Da-sol as Bo-ram, a mart employee
  • Lee Ji-ha as Jo Ji-hee
  • Moon Ye-won as Woo Sang-hee, a dermatologist
  • Park Hee-von as Na Hyun-kyung, a romance web novelist
  • Park Hyung-soo as Kook Hae-seong, a lawyer
  • Park Joo-hee as Ji-soo, a lieutenant
  • Kim Young-woong as Go Se-kyu
  • Na-cheol as Na Soo-min, Na Hyun-kyung's brother.
  • Cha Soon-bae as Seon Woo-chang, a pastor
  • Yoo Ji-yeon as Colonel Han Tae Seok's wife
  • Lee Joo-seung as Andrew, cleaning company employee.
  • Han Joon-woo as Kim Se-hoon, an intellectual who lives around the world with his diplomat parents.
  • Kang Han-sam as BJ Kim Dong-hyun
  • Bae Hae-sun as Oh Yeon-ok
  • Hong Soon-chang as Kim Hak-je
  • Lee Joo-sil as Ji Sung-sil
  • Kim Joo-yeon as Kang Eun-ji, Seo-yoon's mother
  • Nam Mi-jung as Lee Deok-soon, a cleaning janitor
  • Jung Woon-sun as Shin So-yoon
  • Joo Jong-hyuk as Kim Seung-beom
  • Song Ji-woo as Park Seo-yoon

Special appearances

Production

Happiness is helmed by director Ahn Gil-ho and writer Han Sang-woon, who worked together on the 2019 OCN series, Watcher. Ahn Gil-ho has worked on numerous hits such as Record of Youth, Memories of the Alhambra and Stranger, while writer Han Sang-woon has also penned The Good Wife, the Korean remake of the 2016 American TV series.

It is the first acting project of Park Hyung-sik since his discharge from military service on January 4, 2021.

The first script reading with the cast was held on May 7, 2021, and filming started on May 11.

Original soundtrack

Happiness
Soundtrack album by
Various Artists
Released2021
GenreSoundtrack
Language
Label

Part 1

Released on November 20, 2021 (2021-11-20)
No.TitleLyricsMusicArtistLength
1."What Lies Ahead"Joe LayneJoe LayneJoe Layne3:40
Total length:3:40

Part 2

Released on December 4, 2021 (2021-12-04)
No.TitleLyricsMusicArtistLength
1."Pain"Cray BinCray BinIsaac Hong3:23
2."Pain" (Inst.) Cray Bin 3:23
Total length:6:47

Part 3

Released on December 11, 2021 (2021-12-11)
No.TitleLyricsMusicArtistLength
1."ENIGMA"NaivNaivJemma3:38
2."ENIGMA" (Inst.) Naiv 3:38
Total length:7:16

Viewership

Happiness : South Korea viewers per episode (thousands)
SeasonEpisode numberAverage
123456789101112
17617938529059398049598339428959581110896
Source: Audience measurement performed nationwide by Nielsen Korea
Average TV viewership ratings
Ep. Original broadcast date Average audience share
(Nielsen Korea)
Nationwide Seoul
1 November 5, 2021 3.300% (2nd) 4.103% (2nd)
2 November 6, 2021 3.196% (2nd) 3.679% (2nd)
3 November 12, 2021 3.574% (2nd) 3.862% (2nd)
4 November 13, 2021 3.324% (2nd) 3.841% (2nd)
5 November 19, 2021 3.542% (2nd) 4.217% (2nd)
6 November 20, 2021 3.084% (2nd) 3.494% (2nd)
7 November 26, 2021 3.539% (2nd) 4.176% (2nd)
8 November 27, 2021 3.251% (2nd) 3.597% (2nd)
9 December 3, 2021 3.740% (2nd) 4.377% (2nd)
10 December 4, 2021 3.263% (2nd) 3.735% (2nd)
11 December 10, 2021 3.543% (2nd) 3.857% (2nd)
12 December 11, 2021 4.185% (2nd) 4.433% (2nd)
Average 3.462% 3.948%
  • In the table above, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings.
  • This series aired on a cable channel/pay TV which normally has a relatively smaller audience compared to free-to-air TV/public broadcasters (KBS, SBS, MBC and EBS).

Awards and nominations

Name of the award ceremony, year presented, category, nominee of the award, and the result of the nomination
Ceremony Year Award Recipient Result Ref.
1st Blue Dragon Series Awards 2022 Best Actress Han Hyo-joo Nominated
Best Supporting Actress Bae Hae-sun Nominated

This page was last updated at 2023-11-01 14:29 UTC. Update now. View original page.

All our content comes from Wikipedia and under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.


Top

If mathematical, chemical, physical and other formulas are not displayed correctly on this page, please useFirefox or Safari