11 Characters Who Got What They Deserved In The Final Episodes Of "Happiness"

“Happiness” has come to an end after a relatively brief but satisfying run. This drama set out to deliver a ride that was at times high-octane, and at other psychologically grueling, and succeeded on both fronts. It’s time to bid farewell to the residents of Seyang Forest Le Ciel Building 101 – both those we loved and those we wished were bitten. Here are the endings we found the most satisfying in the final episodes.

Warning: spoilers for episodes 11-12 below.

1. Oh Yeon Ok: Complete mental decline

Oh Yeon Ok (Bae Hae Sun) has been steadily deteriorating since the murder of her husband and unknowingly teams up with the very guy that did it. Upon discovering that Andrew (Lee Joo Seung) was a serial killer wanted by the police, she and Oh Joo Hyeong (Baek Hyun Jin) team up to use Andrew to get rid of their common enemies: Yoon Sae Bom (Han Hyo Joo) and Jung Yi Hyun (Park Hyung Sik).

The plan? To have Andrew force the couple to turn on emergency power then kill them so that the rest of the residents (really just Joo Hyeong and Yeon Ok) can steal their food. She assumes that everyone else will just go along with this because they need the supplies.

When that fails, and everything falls apart, she goes completely insane, begging all whole will listen to vote for her as apartment representative. She attempts one last ditch effort to make Yi Hyun kill everyone for unknown reasons and just cackles away. The last we see of her and Joo Hyeong is in a courtroom, where she seems to have recovered some measure of composure or sanity. Hopefully, she can be cell block representative in jail.

2. Oh Joo Hyeong: Even the virus doesn’t want him

Woo Sang Hee (Moon Ye Won) finally locates Joo Hyeong’s banking passcode (tattooed on him?? And not even in a place he can see? The man’s an idiot). Unfortunately it’s in doctor script, so she whacks him unconscious and enlists a frightened Lawyer Kook’s (Park Hyoung Soo) help.

Realizing he’s been betrayed, Joo Hyeong swallows several of the Next pills upon gaining consciousness in an effort to get revenge. But even the virus doesn’t want him, and despite his best efforts, running around and biting Lawyer Ko, he isn’t infected. He hopes he is though and even keeps the injured cleaner couple around as a “boxed lunch” in the event that he turns. But the couple turns the tables on him, booting him out of his own home and dressing up in his valuables. Ha!

His last attempt at getting to Yi Hyun fails miserably as Sae Bom successfully emasculates him, hopefully permanently. Who knows what this man will get up to in jail, but one thing’s for sure: Joo Hyeong will always find a way to survive .

3. Lawyer Kook and Woo Sang Hee: You deserve each other

Lawyer Kook realizes too late that Sang Hee’s only true love is money. His callous disregard for Sae Bom’s and Yi Hyun’s lives and his complicity in getting Kim Jung Kook (Lee Joon Hyuk) shot disgusts his wife Shin So Yoon (Jung Woon Sun). She joins Sae Bom and Yi Hyun and leaves the building, ignoring his numerous texts and calls begging her to take him back.

He gives up and decides to go with Sang Hee and partake in Joo Hyeong’s money only to discover that their ill-gotten gains have been devalued overnight in a stock market crash. That’s the way the market tumbles, folks!

4. Andrew: A bite and a bullet

For the most dangerous villain in the show (next to the rich infected CEO who started all this), Andrew was quite underutilized. It would have been quite compelling to have this show take the form of a murder mystery in a locked-down apartment much sooner. But late is better than never, and Andrew manages to make himself dislikable enough that it’s a delight to watch Yi Hyun take him down.

First Yi Hyun fools him by going into an adjacent building and heading back to Building 101 via the connecting rooftop doors. And then there’s probably the best moment in the whole show in terms of sheer vengeance when Yi Hyun gives in and does what we all wished would happen.

That he dies by Yi Hyun’s bullet, which felt a little unnecessary given the frankly epic scene above, but the show seemed to really want to have a near-death scare, which came at the expense of having Andrew leave with a whimper.

5. Han Tae Seok: Wriggles his way out of everything

Upon leaving the complex, Sae Bom discovers that martial law was lifted a while ago and that Tae Seok was simply keeping the apartment residents in a pressure cooker for reasons that are never explained to us. Why this apartment? Were other apartment buildings similarly closed off as well? This is one of those aspects of the world-building in this show that doesn’t really make sense. Tae Seok had Sae Bom and knew she had the antibodies. Keeping her in a dangerous environment compared to how safe it was outside makes no sense, especially for a smart character like him. But let’s go with it. After all, the mildly disgusted look he gave the walkie talkie when Yeon Ok started blabbing into it was pure gold.

Personality-wise, Tae Seok remains consistent. He was always prepared to sacrifice the world for his wife, and that doesn’t change. Sae Bom understands to some extent because she would do the same for Yi Hyun. He injects his wife with the second to last batch of the cure, and Sae Bom injects Seo Yoon’s mother with the last of the cure, regardless of what happens to the rest of the world. Characters who would doom the world if it meant saving the people they love have always been framed as villains. However, “Happiness” flips that to posit them as people merely preserving those precious to them and that it’s nothing wrong to do so. Go enjoy your happy ending, Tae Seok.

6. Na Hyun Kyung and Na Soo Min: A well-deserved rescue

Na Hyun Kyung (Park Hee Bon) was one of the few residents objecting to Yeon Ok and Joo Hyeong’s plan of using Andrew, and she always died for it too. She has always been one of the kindest residents, offering food to everyone. So it makes sense that she wouldn’t shun Yi Hyun especially since he and Sae Bom were kind to her and her infected brother.

It’s nice to see that of all the people our couple was kind to, there are some who are willing to return the favor. And if there’s anyone who would have done it, it’s Hyun Kyung, so that’s a win for consistent storytelling. And the best part? Her brother apparently has antibodies!

7. Lieutenant Lee Ji Soo: Hopefully a promotion

Lee Ji Soo (Park Joo Hee) is officially adorable. Not only does she not turn Sae Bom in, but she even willingly gets punched in the face to make it look realistic. She goes as far as to lie to her superior that Sae Bom is attempting to flee the country, much to Tae Seok’s amusement. Someone give her a promotion! It’s not certain as to what happens to her after all this, but hopefully she has gotten her own slice of happiness.

8. Sae Bom and Yi Hyun: Newlywed bliss!

What’s so touching about Sae Bom and Yi Hyun’s love story has to be how quiet it is. It’s very slow-burn, and frankly, hopefully more dramas decide to attempt something like this because it’s lovely and far more powerful for not throwing the spotlight on it.

Sae Bom finally finds that Yi Hyun has been infected but immediately refuses to let Yi Hyun go. She’s adamant that she’ll be able to save him with her antibodies. When he physically locks himself away from her on that rooftop so as to hold off Andrew, the physical pain on her face is so well done. As is her despair upon finding herself away from their home, he curls up on the couch below their first picture together and thinks of her. Sae Bom hasn’t cried once no matter what Building 101’s residents have hurled at her, so it’s painful to witness her weeping at the thought that her husband could be gone.

Even Tae Seok who thought that this was a contract marriage is surprised but immediately understands how she must feel. Rather than fear Yi Hyun when he’s turned, she comforts him until he slowly switches back. (Does this indicate that people not only have control over giving into blood lust but when they turn back? The mechanics of this virus could have been clearer). It’s just so sweet because he clearly doesn’t expect just how much she’ll fight for him (come on, Yi Hyun, she’d burn anyone standing between you two!), and this is one very well-deserved kiss.

It’s a little disappointing that the show felt the need to waste a good few minutes giving us a near-death fake-out with Yi Hyun when that time could have been used to give us a more complete ending, but regardless, Yi Hyun is alive and well. Lee Seung Yong (Lee Kyu Hyung), Jung Kook, and Seo Yoon are all wonderfully happy as they deserve to be.

And thus, “Happiness” ends. This show was pretty satisfying and did what it set out to do: depicting the best and worst of human nature using the apartment residents and their high-pressure situation. It didn’t always tell it in a way that made sense or was easy to watch, but the characters were easy to root for, and the writing (especially in the last few episodes) was quite tight. Park Hyung Sik and Han Hyo Joo were fantastic together, and the easy progression of their relationship felt organic.

The show’s overall message seems to be that we’re all fighting for our sliver of happiness in a world that doesn’t always make sense. For Yi Hyun and Sae Bom, that was each other. For Oh Yeon Ok and Woo Sang Hee, it was prestige and money. For Joo Hyeong…well, who even knows what goes through his head…he just wants chaos. In the end, the show posited that some happinesses are more rewarding than others and that the best parts of human nature will always find a way to triumph. And that is always comforting to hear.

What did you think of this week’s episodes? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

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What did you think of the final episodes? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Shalini_A is a long time Asian drama addict. When not watching dramas, she works as a lawyer, fangirls over Ji Sung, and attempts to write the greatest fantasy romance of all time. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram, and feel free to ask her anything!

Currently Watching:  “Chimera,” “Jirisan,” “The King’s Affection,” “Dr. Brain,” “Melancholia,” “Happiness,” “Hellbound”
Looking Forward to: “Adamas”