Happiness was a genuinely enjoyable show to watch. I had a lot of fun with it, even though I got incredibly stressed by the stupid decisions the characters made throughout the drama. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough. What could have been a groundbreaking drama in its genre turned into a typical zombie plot, riddled with plot holes halfway through, and capped off with a nonsensical ending. Here are the things I liked and didn’t like about Happiness:

What I Liked:
-The acting: Most of the performances were top-notch, with convincing and memorable characters. In particular, some supporting roles stood out, like Oh Yu Hyun (Baek Hyun Jin) and Oh Yeon Ok (Bae Hae Seon). They made me feel levels of frustration I didn’t know were possible. Honestly, I felt like all the apartment residents were completely insane—some of the worst people humanity could conjure up.
-The portrayal of the disease: The visual representation of the infection was well-executed. The makeup and the performances of the "zombies" were incredibly convincing. Even the infected characters felt believable to me.
-Overall engagement: The drama was smooth and captivating to watch. I was never bored and stayed hooked until the end. I genuinely wanted to see how the story would unfold, even though the evolution of the plot and its conclusion were ultimately disappointing.

What I Didn’t Like:
-The main couple: Sadly, the romance, chemistry, and the process of them falling in love felt underwhelming. I didn’t feel any sympathy for them during the emotional moments or hardships they faced as a couple. Whether they stayed together, broke up, or one of them died, it made little difference to me. This was especially true for the female lead. Despite Han Hyo Joo being an excellent actress (as proven in W), her performance here, particularly with the male lead, felt plain and shallow. The romantic moments lacked impact and emotion, leaving me completely unmoved.

-The serial killer subplot: This part of the story left me completely baffled. It took the narrative in a direction that felt disconnected from the main plot. It raised so many questions: Why did he only start killing in the second half? Why didn’t he kill everyone who knew he was a serial killer? Why did he occasionally help the main leads if he lacked empathy and enjoyed causing pain? To me, this subplot only existed to justify why the character constantly wore a mask and goggles. It felt like filler to pad out the remaining episodes. Instead, the show could have used this time to address more important aspects of the story, such as:
- How the virus worked.
-The timeline for the infection spreading through the body.
-Why Sae Bom was the only one with antibodies capable of producing a cure.
-The political implications of the cure or even how food and water were managed during the lockdown.
These would have been far more relevant and interesting than a serial killer roaming a building filled with egotistical, selfish people.

-Plot holes about the infection and the virus: This was the most disappointing aspect. For a zombie drama where the central plot revolves around a deadly virus threatening the world, it was frustrating to see the disease become almost irrelevant halfway through the story. The explanations we were given felt shallow and unconvincing.

For instance:
-At first, the virus was portrayed as highly contagious, potentially leading to a global apocalypse. But by episode 11, it seemed like the only people still in lockdown were the apartment residents. How did the rest of the world suddenly recover and go back to normal?
-In the final episodes, everyone seemed eager to become blood-drinking zombies to avoid death and gain "power." Yet, no one addressed the consequences of those actions. Strangely, the pills didn’t infect everyone who took them, contradicting the earlier episodes that implied the pills were a primary cause of infection.
-The inconsistency in controlling the infection was also baffling. Early episodes emphasized how hard it was to resist the thirst for blood, with infected individuals losing all moral sense at the sight of it. But later, characters like Sae Bom could "de-monsterize" infected individuals, like Jin Yu Hyun, just by talking to them or patting them on the back.
-The rushed ending only made things worse, especially the female lead's decisions. The "happily ever after" conclusion felt forced and left many unanswered questions like:
What happened to those who took the pills, did they transform?
How did Jin Yu Hyun magically recover, so the found the cure?
How did the world return to normal so quickly? wasn't the virus spreading like crazy?

In the end, Happiness was a watchable drama that kept me hooked for all the wrong reasons. While I enjoyed it overall, its wasted potential and focus on irrelevant subplots were disappointing.

That said, despite my rant, I still recommend giving it a watch and form an opinion for yourselfs