Back in the Episode 8, I commented that this drama reminded me of the classic “Lord of the Flies.” It showed how easy it was for civilized people to abandon rules of common decency and return to savagery.
If you haven’t read the book, I found a 10-minute synopsis on Youtube.
In this Episode 10, I realized there were a few other similarities to the “Lord of the Flies.” Whether they were intentionally or unconsciously done by the writer and the director, I don’t know.
I’ll list them, okay?
1. The fly incident in Episode 4
Initially, I pegged Andrew as a “good guy” because he didn’t kill the bug, I said he must be a good guy since he released the bug to fly in the air.
But after reviewing this scene, I think the bug was an early indicator of his bad character. He was the “Lord of the Flies.”
Flies are naturally attracted to filth, detritus, feces, and anything rotten. And, to me, the bug on found Andrew on the balcony because he was a trash of a human being. He was a serial killer.
There was also a foreshadowing in that balcony of Andrew’s criminal past. As he let the insect go, the police siren blared in the apartment building complex. He leaned out the balcony to see where the siren was coming from. Given that he was a killer hiding from the police, he must have been dreading to be caught.
2. Doing evil for evil’s sake
@TheWanderer wondered whether Andrew had a split personality because one moment he was offering a bag of food to Writer Na to repay her kindness and next, he was stabbing Jung Gook in cold blood.
To me, Andrew wasn’t at all being altruistic when he offered the food to Writer Na. He deliberately stole the stash of food from the Cleaning Couple to give to Writer Na to lure Writer Na to walk with him alone. He intended her to be his next victim.
That’s his modus operandi. Remember he gave an apple for the Nice Cleaning Woman?
Writer Na was his next target. After giving her “his ration” of food, she left her brother and went off with him.
That would have been his opportunity to kill her. Her brother wouldn’t have suspected Andrew of murdering her since Andrew showed such generosity in sharing his food with her. In fact, the brother thought Andrew had a crush on Writer Na.
Fortunately for her, the Hyung, Jung Gook, met them on the way out of the golf room, and escorted them to the 11th floor. Jung Gook inadvertently foiled Andrew’s plan.
Note: in “Lord of the Flies,” there was also a psychopathic character like Andrew. He intentionally dropped a boulder on another boy and killed him.
3. The fear of the known and unknown
In “Lord of the Flies,” the fear of an imaginary beast living in the forest spurred the boys to act perversely and irrationally. They could have survived in the island until rescue came They had shelter and food. But the fear of the unknown caused them to fight among themselves, until ultimately, kill off the outcast in their group.
In the drama “Happiness,” it was fear of both the unknown virus and the infected people that caused the breakdown in law and order. This fear spread among the residents and they turned against each other because they lacked enough supplies. They feared that they wouldn’t have enough food and water for the rest of the lockdown so they formed alliances to forcibly acquire provisions from others.
In Episode 11, YH pointed out that the Cleaning Wife was complicit in the evil, too.
SB: I’m sure those on the outside will judge everyone’s actions in here. You two (meaning Killer Oh and Rep Oh) will go to jail for instigating murder. (looking at the Cleaning Couple) And aren’t you embarrassed to face your son?
Cleaning Wife: (protesting) I only did that because the food was going to be distributed. Really, I didn’t know anything. I’m being honest!
YH: Food doesn’t fall from the sky for no reason. You must have known someone would end up getting hurt. I’m sure you accepted because you were told you’d benefit if you kept quiet.
I thought he made an excellent point.
4. The native masks in Episode 10
In the book, the boys feared an imaginary beast in the forest. So to ward off this terrible beast, they stuck a boar’s head on a stick as an offering.
The boar’s head became the symbol of evil, an icon of the devil. It was called the “Lord of the Flies” and flies covered it, too.
It just so happens that one of the names for the devil is “Beelzebub” which translates into “Lord of the Flies.”
In the drama, Andrew sat on the throne, surrounded by the native masks stuck on the poles. These masks reminded me of the boar’s head.
Andrew must have felt like the king of the apartment building because he succeeded in killing two people without YiHyun and SaeBom suspecting anything, and he had everybody in the apartment doing his will.
He was evil like the “Lord of the Flies.”
5. The flies on the Cleaning Lady and the Penthouse Guy
Both of Andrew’s victims were infested with flies. He tried to cover up the stench with lime, but the flies gave away the hiding place of the Penthouse Guy’s body. As “Lord of the Flies,” it made sense that his handiwork would be discovered because of the flies.
In terms of residents’ involvement in the death, the murder of the Cleaning Lady was entirely Andrew’s fault. He did it on his own.
But in regards to the murder of the Penthouse Guy, the other residents, namely, Killer Oh, Rep Oh, the Cleaning Couple, and the Lawyer were complicit. Only the Lawyer’s wife and Writer Na were clueless about Andrew’s guilt because Rep Oh hadn’t told them yet.
It was clear that, SaeBom and YH knew that they weren’t involved in the killings. Hence, Saebom ordered Writer Na to go home to wait there, and the Lawyer’s wife to go back to hers and YiHyun’s apartment and attend to the child SeoYoon. Discreetly, SaeBom was getting both ladies out of Andrew’s wrath.
To me, while the Cleaning Lady’s death could be blamed solely on Andrew alone, the death of Andrew could be considered a result of mob mentality. Killer Oh convinced the Rep Oh to avail of Andrew’s criminal tendencies, and in turn, Rep Oh convinced the Cleaning Couple and the Lawyer to turn a blind eye. They formed a mob that used Andrew’s psychopathy to benefit themselves.
6. The walkie-talkie
In the book, there was a conch shell that the leader used to gather everybody to the meeting. The conch symbolized authority of the holder/bearer of the shell as leader of the group.
In this drama, the conch was replaced by the walkie-talkie. The walkie-talkie allowed communication between YiHyun and LtCol Han. Of all people inside the building, Han regarded YH the most reliable and responsible person to deal with, so he assigned YH as the de facto leader of the group. That’s why YiHyun was given the walkie-talkie.
But Rep Oh believed that if she had possession of the walkie-talkie, authority would transfer over her. She thought she would become the spokesman for all residents and command Han to listen to her.
Andrew: (sliding the walkie-talkie to Rep Oh) Jung YiHyun had it.
Rep Oh: Have you secretly been reporting to the outside about what’s going on in here?
Killer Oh: I guess you two were getting something special in return for keeping an eye on all of us in here!
Rep Oh: (talking on the walkie talkie) Hello? Is anyone there? I’m Building 101 Apartment Representative. I’m the one who handles everything in here so whatever you need, you can tell me—
Han: (turns it off)
Obviously, Han would listen only to YiHyun. From the beginning, he chose to work with YiHyun.
So…why did he lie to YiHyun then about SaeBom’s antibodies? Here’s my answer to @goldenashes97’s question.
Because LtCol Han was handing SaeBom over to the higher authorities for the remainder of the blood extraction/experiment. He was supposed to take her to the government research center, to a “bio-safety lab where outsiders can’t enter.” He expected YiHyun to reject this course of action so it was better to keep him in the dark. If YiHyun learned of his plan, he wouldn’t allow SaeBom to leave the apartment complex.
However, YiHyun became infected. By YH’s calculation, SaeBom was safer anywhere else other than beside him where he could bite her. That’s why YH was entrusting SaeBom into Han’s care. He was talking to Han, man-to-man.
YH: I will send them out. We’ll go down to the underground parking lot at 1 p.m. Please get ready to take them with you.
Han: What about you? Aren’t you coming out?
YH: Someone has to watch the house. We may have differences in opinion, but I know you genuinely tried to stop the Madness Rabies. Please help SaeBom and SeoYoon so they can life safely.
Han: (talking to Lt Lee) Jung YiHyun has been infected. That’s why he wants Yoon SaeBom out of there.
Note: Han understood that YiHyun was protecting SaeBom from himself. But Han also understood that YiHyun had put him in a difficult spot. YiHyun appointed him as “caretaker” or protector of SaeBom (and SeoYoon). As a man of honor, he couldn’t then simply hand over SaeBom to the government.
7. The power struggle
“Lord of the Flies” is an allegory, and the characters are meant to represent concepts or themes. For instance, the power struggle between protagonist and the villain symbolized the struggle between civilization and savagery.
“Happiness” too is an allegory. We’ve seen how the inhabitants of the apartment are stereotypes of different people found in society. We have the lawyer, doctor, pastor, police, social influencer, writer, the common people, the elderly, and the youth. There’s a clear power struggle between SaeBom and the Rep Oh. Their antagonism arose from the fact that Rep Oh sought to stratify the residents the according to social class and economic wealth, and marginalize the renters from the owners. SaeBom would have none of that, and questioned her every move.
8. The ending
In “Lord of the Flies,” the military arrived to rescue the boys. In the drama, the military also arrived to rescue the apartment residents.
One crucial difference however between the ending of “Lord of the Flies” and “Happiness” is that you don’t sense a happy ending for the lost boys, especially for the main leads. They would be scarred for life.
In “Happiness,” equilibrium was restored to SaeBom and YiHyun after a year.
And I explained this to @GB. I said that, for me, the ending was just right. Unlike other viewers, I didn’t need to know what happened to the rest of the cast.
For one, where would we draw the line? If the writer was to describe the aftermath for each and every one of the secondary character, then he would be obligated to do it for twenty people. Ugh!
For another, a year wouldn’t be enough for many of the characters to rehabilitate themselves, heal their spirits, and forget their atrocious actions. For SaeBom and YiHyun, one year was enough to return to their normal lives because they never really compromised their values nor strayed far from their true happiness — which was each other.
Thanks for the link up with Lord of the Flies @pkml3. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Writer(s) did reference the book in order to get ideas.
Dear @Packmule3,
Thank you for posting this. I wanted to add something on what you wrote on masks. I remembered that masks can be used as an apotropaic item. That means they were used by their owners to drive away evil. That’s what I know reading about masks in ancient Greece and I am not talking about burial masks here.
The Penthouse Guy was familiar with African tribes and their customs. I believe Kim Se-Hun brought those masks with him for some reason. Yes there was the golden throne, but also, he decorated in a way that reveals more the specific space. Maybe Se Hun wanted some good spirits along with him to fight(?) / to protect (?) his household.
The fact that Andrew aka “The Lord of Flies” took over the Penthouse guy’s place and throne, I could interpret it as Evil entering the household or in our case, the whole apartment complex. Andrew believed exactly what you said, that the good guys didn’t realize someone else was there and he was killing unnoticed.
It would be awesome if someone else knew more about the meaning of those African masks. Especially the one with the double horns should have a specific meaning.
As for the ones in pairs, I suggest they might be used in ceremonies?
As for the ending, I agree with you @Packmule3. Those two found their Happiness in each other and didn’t betray their values or ethical code. I was also glad that we also saw Seo-Yoon being with them. She was representing Innocence and Hope from the very beginning until the very ending. She also had a heart condition that managed to overcome. Happy ending indeed!
Great post @PM3! Thank you for writing this connection of the show to LoTF. It’s one of my eye-opener books when I was younger alongside George Orwell’s The Animal Farm. Appreciate the refresher. This is making me want to reread it again.
I commented before that the twist on Andrew being a serial killer seemed like an off-tangent story from the zompire chaos plot line. But this actually cemented the link to LoTF even more. Now I finally get it and why it was necessary. I’m even more impressed with the writers now on how they were able to weave the classic story into a zompire/pandemic commentary on human behavior and made it to a happy(ness) and hopeful ending. And should I emphasize again – only in 12 episodes! 😉
This show also drives the point that Yoda always say. “Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.” This path turns people to the dark side and not the formula for happiness.
Thanks for all those links @PM3. 🍪🍪🍪 I had forgotten much of the plotline of LoTF. I just remembered it being an allegory and how the boys lost all sense of reason and developed their own rules whilst on that island.
Thanks @pm3 for drawling parallels! I would have missed it otherwise.
I am happy about the ending. I felt that the ending ends with all we need to know. Sometimes we want to see the endings we want to see, often, different from viewer to viewer. Leaving it less conclusive can give us some room for imagination. I could easily imagine:
Lawyer/mistress – won’t last long. With her no longer stuck in the building and lawyer is no longer the shelter she needs, she probably have found another person that suits her current needs.
Cleaners – going through compulsory trauma counselling and may still blame someone else, or act if they are simply the victims.
Youtuber – may get his short lived fame. But like everything in news, once the virus is cured, there is no value. It may be a life changing event for him to treat his parents better.
Supermarket worker – return to her life? Not enough back story to workout why she needs the money so much.
Writer Na/Brother – usual bickering carries on.
Even with my imagination, I can only imagine most of them just return to life as normal. It may not be drama worthy. People overcome adversities. No news is good news.
I agree that the ending is sufficient to show the otp’s happines especially SB because the moment her bg story was revealed, I get that she wants to leave it behind and seek her own happiness. This drama is especially her theme, her journey. I like how SB handles her life growing up than YG of Jirisan. SB is generally really calm and collected. When our OTP got irritated, I enjoy how they been there calming each other when they both were clearly annoyed by the troublemakers 😅
@Janey, were you the one voicing surprise at Andrew’s character twist? 🙂
I totally misinterpreted the fly 🪰 incident in Ep 4. Lol. I thought he was a PETA/animal rights activist or a Jain monk who wore mask so he wouldn’t accidentally swallow a fly. But the fly had a different meaning.
Yes, Yoda’s right. fear ➡️ anger ➡️ hate ➡️ suffering
That’s why it’s good to have the information, science, and truth out there right away to combat fear. Rational minds win over irrational fear.
@miracle23
Yes. SB’s relationship with YiHyun is the kind I can approve of.
No drama.
Calm and collected.
Supportive.
Protective.
I like how they take turns shielding the other person with their body.
I like that they don’t do dumb and infantile aegyo. Did you see that time when they were going out their condo in the dark, and SB suddenly switched on flashlight to scare him? I laughed then.
That scene too when YH brushed her hair with his bloody hand and apologized, “I’m sorry for not coming with you” was sweet, too. He knew all along that this moment would happen. Hence, the phone message.
But I like that scene even more because SB growled at Andrew, “Leave him alone. I’ll be back soon.” How chill was that? Other heroines would go weepy.
Yes @packmule, 200% no cringey fest in the love story! I can get through them from a to z, sometimes the flutteries did come by 🤭🤭🤭. I am too much distrusting of the kdrama trope on love story. HP2 makes it worse. So to finally be able to root for an otp again makes me happy. It is a rare occasion for me.🤭 I think I fell for the FL first. I will support a love story with no qualms if the FL is not a weak damsel in distress, can’t think on her own, selfish, reckless, thoughtless, desperate and stupid enough to resort to begging for affections. Like 🤦🏻♀️
For our YH x SB, they are both on equal footing. I really appreciate that so much. Thank you show 😊
My SIL … kekekek… she was swooning over YH from the getgo that he is so handsome, caring and charming 😅 … that scene when he pulled her out from that container full of infected ppl… that is swoony!🤭🤭🤭
I thought the time when she got exasperated with him for causing an inconvenience during dismissal time and then pushed him off the ledge was swoony, too.
I was smiling too that time when she was bandaging his hand, and telling him to tell “noona” next time it hurt. He answered, “Okay, noona.” 😂 I don’t like noona romance, as you know, but that was funny because there was no way he’d go crying to her because she was a “noona” to him. He saw her as an equal.
I also like how they were on the same wavelength. They hardly had any miscommunication or misunderstanding because they knew what the other person was thinking.
That’s what longtime friends do.
Not that crappy, childish push-pull games in “Hospital Playlist.” The wise female doctor was turned into a hormonal, my-pride-is-wounded teenager, and the male doctors (esp the one who was going to be a priest) were simps.
Hahahaha..that shoved him off the ledge and the detective’s reaction afterward made me laughed so hard… like what is wrong with kids in this school🤣🤣🤣🤣
Urgh, HP is such a waste of time. What a badly written drama. Character development is a clear F. Yulje is just a love motel where profs/ residents can’t wait to get on each others. Each one of them is suffering from high level of hormones malfunction including the writer, director and majority of that crazed fandom. ShinLee, you can shelf that S3 for good. Stop wasting talents.
Appreciate the write-up, packmule3! Thanks for explaining more on Andrew, which also makes complete sense why he brutally stabbed Jung Gok- he was also angry at him for foiling his plan/opportunity to murder writer Na.
I’ll make peace now with some of the drama’s plot holes and semi-rushed ending as there is no real need to. Thinking twice, perhaps it was intentionally left unanswered as food for thought to the viewers. What would you think would happen to them in the aftermath? There’s some parallelism with real life circumstances with Covid-19.
On a side note, I read some Chinese comments that some viewers think that YH did die from the gunshot wound and the ending scene was just SB’s imagination of their HEA >.<
Will have to look up other works from this writer/director- any suggestions?
Yes, @TheWanderer.
Once you get that Andrew was really planning to kill Writer Na when he brought her the bag of food, then it makes sense why:
a. he stabbed Jung Gook
b. he had no problem threatening to kill Writer Na during the residents’ meeting
Her brother got the wrong idea that Andrew was crushing on her. 🙂
Yes, there’s some parallelism with COVID-19. Take for example the break-up between the Lawyer and his wife. 🙂
Reports say that there was a surge in divorce because of the pandemic. Because of the lockdowns and social distancing, couples were forced to live in each other’s pockets. Little annoying traits or quirks that before they could easily ignore became magnified as they spent a lot of time together, without taking a break.
And before they knew it, they wanted out of the marriage because of “irreconcilable” differences. They could see their future as a living hell if they were to spend the rest of life together.
As for other works by the writer, I see that WATCHER is listed in mydramalist. It’s a police show too. I didn’t watch it; I don’t have time now. But yes, it would be good to watch it to track his development as writer.
Late response @PM3 – yes, I was one of those questioning Andrew as plot devise for the show. Andrew was the LoTF plot devise!!!
(Jokingly) I would now be suspicious of a person saying they can’t hurt a fly! Hah!
During pandemic, “too close for comfort” applied so much. Early on, one of our dinner discussions at home was openly sharing our pet peeves of each member of the family. That was helpful to call out the pet peeve whenever one sees it and remind the person (sternly or jokingly).
@Thewanderer – I think the epilogue ending is real and not imagination of SB. There was a specific notation on 1 year after. Why do that if it’s not real? Will rewatch and see if I notice anything. I’m intrigued.
Ah. Thank you @packmule3 for answering my question. Now I can sleep in peace.
This is why I love coming here from time to time. Everyone here gives such deep insight. I also love reading many different takes on some scenes. Sometimes I feel like you guys are actually the writers of these dramas😅
LOL @goldenashes97, if I had a hand in writing dramas, there’ll be either extreme … too much makjang or too boring. LOL.