Antibodies
Episode 7 of Happiness begins with Yi-Hyun desperate to find Sae-Bom. Thankfully she’s okay, but Yi-Hyun remains vigilant. As we know, the infection has spread. This soon becomes apparent when we cut across ro little Seo-Yoon. That creepy infected resident rings the doorbell, trying to get in. Seo-Yoon shakily holds the door shut, just in time for Yi-Hyun and Sae-Bom to show and save her. With blood staining his mouth, the pair realize he may be infected. For now, they manage to get rid off him with the threat of a hard baseball bat strike. As he scurries away, Sae-Bom hands over some food and promises to be back soon. Meanwhile, Hyun-Kyung gullibly lets Trainer Kim out and he immediately starts gulping down water. He walks toward her, as Hyun-Kyung unlocks the door and charges straight into the parking lot. Everything is starting to come unraveled now, and it doesn’t take long before Yi-Hyun and Sae-Bom find Kim lurking about. He turns, charging after them in the gym, and threatens to infect them both. Thankfully, Tae-Seok rushes in with a gun and shoots the guy dead. Hyun-Kyung eventually comes back too, although her brother Soo-Min is missing. The other pressing issue here comes from Sae-Bom herself. The cut on her hand isn’t healing and it appears she has traces of the virus in her system. Could she be the key to a cure? We’ve theorized that before in the past but it does seem like that’s where this show is going. For now she’s okay but if the virus reaches her brain then they could have a problem. Anyway, Yi-Hyun does the rounds and learns about the infected. Two of them managed to corner Jung-Kook and Joo-Hyeong but the latter used a cross to ward them off. He also learns Dong-Hyun is the one responsible for opening thee door downstairs. For now, no one has been bitten or scratched. But how long can they hold out? Tae-Seok heads over to see little Seo-Yoon, offering to take her outside the walls to see her mum. However, she’s untrusting of him and backs away. Tae-Sok gently retreats, offering her the choice for later. Tae-Seok instead turns his attention to the other residents. The entire city is on lockdown and worse, this apartment complex is going to have the entire power cut for the night. As alarms wail, martial law is taken into effect as Tae-Seok tells them they’ve got 4 days of this. Turning off the power also means there will be no water. Tae-Seok encourages everyone to run a bath, just so they have a steady supply of water, but this is obviously a precarious situation. The real reason Tae-Seok is here though is to test Sae-Bom. He believes there are antibodies in her that could help provide a cure. He’s desperate and it seems this is a last-ditch attempt to try and salvage the situation. Up on the roof, he ambushes Sae-Bom, allowing an infected resident to pounce on her. He does shoot the guy in the shoulder, saving Sae-Bom, before injecting her with tranquilizer. Sae-Bom is taken out the complex by Tae-Seok but just before they leave completely, Yi-Hyun jumps in and points a gun at them. Lieutenant Lee and the other soldiers are there too, as this situation starts to fizzle out. Having watched Tae-Seok on the cameras earlier on, Yi-Hyun questions why he cut out Seung-Beom’s brain. It’s here Tae-Seok admits that he’s trying to find a cure and that could well come from using Sae-bom’s blood. The thing is, the amount of tranquilizer he used should have knocked her clean out…but it didn’t. She’s up and about already. Has the virus got into her brain? Regardless, Lee manages to take a sample of her blood and the duo head back into the apartment complex again. That night, the power is cut completely. Unfortunately the parking lot doors open. A bright flashlight fills the room as Soo-Min, presumably infected now, stands wide-eyed and watches.
The Episode Review
Happiness returns this week with another good episode, one that continues to develop the characters and their relationships while the infection slowly but surely spreads. Tae-Seok’s inclusion this episode is good too, allowing us to understand the scope of this infection and how much it’s spreading. However, not seeing anyone outside the apartment complex is a little disappointing, especially that moment involving Sae-Bom and Yi-Hyun surrounded by soldiers. Then again, there is martial law in place so I guess the show gets a pass for that! There’s a fair few interesting characters in this and it’ll be interesting to see who survives when all is said and done. While there’s not any outright action this time around, the blackout and threat of the infected breaking into the unprotected complex is enough for this show to really ramp up in tension.
