Woo, una abogada extraordinaria (2022)

A show that ended with my exact sentiment

This show is very much like the line that it ended with when we see attorney Woo tells Lee Joon Ho about the sense of fulfillment out of no where. Much like how the show was based on an autistic character who, are portrayed to have a self centred mindset the show is very FL focused. This is to the point of making the side characters feel like the random calls FL gives Jung Myun Seok to inform on case breakthroughs. They feel like they are just there for the FL to have momentary non meaningful relations with, this was further exasperated by the fact that going from episode 15 to 16 felt like 15 to 24 with an extremely rushed ending on multiple plotlines that were just given a "kdrama land happy ending".

Attorney woo - Base rating 8
+Rating
.5 - portraying a community of our society that isn't usually portrayed
.5 - romance isn't the main plot
.5 - no outright good or evil
.5 shy away from tropes

-Rating
-1.5 - a lot of unanswered questions/ rushed ending with not enough space for character development
.5 - No real reason for the ML to start liking the FL.( In the end when they talked about liking pets to their romance that's what the romance between the leads felt like)

However i do feel like the reason for a failed ending is because it tried to keep the show light-hearted and hence failed in maintaining the balance. This show felt like the internal turmoil of an indecisive writer. The problem of slice of life comedy or law thriller was very visible in how the show ended with the question of huh what just happened. There was no big face off which would break the slice of life genre with all the build up we saw it came crashing down as a feel good ending. But then again this was seen through the drama in how Attorney woo always ends up winning or doing the "right thing".

But in a way it's very novel to think that a show based on a character who has uncontrollable self centredness ends only the storyline of the FL and no one else. Hence an additional +.5 rating from me

Final rating ( 8.5/10 )

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A fresh, innovative and well-executed drama!!

This drama is absolutely without doubt a solid watch for everyone due to its overall positive tone and superb production quality.
First, I would like to commend the casting of Woo Young-Woo. The portrayal of an autistic person is thoughtful, accurate and full of love. Clearly, there was a ton of thoughts and consideration that went into the research and development of the character and the result was sublime.
The drama balanced quite nicely between the tender romantic moment, the traumatic experience of an autistic person and the intensity of the court scene. In addition with good dialogue and well-paced scene, the writer and director created an enjoyable and satisfactory watching experience. However, I think that the story got quite lost after the half-point mark. But in the end, the ending was a good and fitting conclusion to this ark of the character.
However, I find some of the repeated scenes, such as the photographic memory, the sudden epiphany or the monologue, quite a cliche but that's just my preference.
All in all, I love this drama :)

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A Wholesome Eyeopening Experience!

As an Autistic person, this drama is breathtaking! The way they portray Autism in this drama is so phenomenal. I'm so speechless by how beautiful this amazing drama is. The wonderful actress Park Eun-bin who plays as Woo Young-woo did such a wonderful job at acting as someone who has Autism. It really felt like I was the main character. I'm usually reserved and quiet but this show has made me write my first ever review of something which is a big step for me.
Just by the first episode I could totally relate to Woo Young-woo because I have similar symptoms. I cried, I was happy, I got angry and worried during the drama. No human on this planet is perfect, no one. I love how a few characters on the drama became more supportive when they met and got to know Woo Young-woo for the first time. There is no better feeling.

We Autistic people are different but not in a bad way and this show actually proves it.
We Autistic people are human just like ordinary people.
We Autistic people see and experience the world differently compared to an average person. There is nothing wrong with that whatsoever.
We Autistic people do not know better when we act weird or rude. In our heads we think what we are doing is normal and we try our best to be nice to others.
We Autistic people do have feelings as a normal person, we just have a hard time expressing them.
We Autistic people have passionate interests we hold on to. For example, I'm obsessed by cars and video games. It's our way of escaping life.
We Autistic people do have issues with eye and physical contact. Just because we don't make eye or physical contact doesn't mean we aren't listening or don't care about the person in front of us.

This is why being surrounded with people who understand, support and accept you is such an important thing to Autistic people. It makes you appreciate life more.

I highly recommend this drama to everyone, especially to those who wants to learn and see a point of view on Autism. You will learn a lot and appreciate it very much. You might have a friend who's Autistic and this will probably make you understand them more as you can support them more. I have never related this much to a character in a film or drama until now. It's such an amazing feeling. It was such a blast to watch this drama and I loved every second of it. This is the most wholesome drama I have ever seen

I give this a solid 10/10. One of the best dramas ever <3

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autism representation!

I can't emphasize enough how much I adore this show. It became the highlight of my day. The overall plot and characters are incredibly endearing. As a psychology student, I appreciate the nuanced portrayal of the main character's autism. Despite some negative reviews claiming stereotyping, I believe it accurately represents the diverse spectrum of autism. The cases were consistently intriguing, making each episode more captivating. The only drawback for me was the somewhat inconclusive ending; I expected more closure. Nevertheless, it's a fantastic show, and I particularly enjoyed the authentic depiction of autism.

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Loved this show!

Just finished Extraordinary Attorney Woo on Netflix.

Wow. My favorite 2022 release and currently #12 on my all-time best K-Drama list.

A hybrid of romantic comedy, legal and slice-of-life drama, this show is hilarious, educational and relatable all at once. Using a vignette structure for its script, while the main characters remain the same, each episode is a different story that has its own identity and touches on a variety of different topics; some as relatable as inheritance or sexual harassment to more esoteric ones such as intellectual property theft and hacking. Interestingly, there is an inverted experience between the titular character Woo and the audience: as we, the audience, learn more about Korean law (of which she is a prodigy) in each episode, attorney Woo learns more about the complexities of the human condition (of which many of us know whereas she initially has a blindspot).

Kang Tae-Oh does a wonderful job as the male lead in the show. While he is the official male lead, his character is more of a supporting character, serving as the kind, patient cheerleader for attorney Woo. It is an understated, but heart-warming performance. However, it is clear from the first episode that Park Eun-bin's Woo is front and center as she absolutely dominates every scene she is in. It is by far the show's greatest asset as I found it to be the best performance I've ever seen in a K-Drama. I found the character Woo to be the most lovable fictional character I've ever seen in a K-Drama.

When watching this show, it reminded me of Hollywood films about gifted protagonists overcoming some form of an impediment, such as Rain Man, Forrest Gump, and The Theory of Everything.

While I prefer my K-Dramas to be one season only and do not like the new trend of K-Dramas being renewed for more seasons, I can see why they did that with this show because of the vignette-like structure of the script. Not sure if you can ever re-capture the magic of the first season, but it'll be interesting to see more adventures from the lovable attorney Woo.

Absolutely highest recommendations! This is a definitive K-Drama that I'd recommend to anybody.

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Lorsqu'on s'attaque à des sujets comme celui-ci, il est facile de tomber dans l'insulte en un tour de main. C'était également ma crainte principale. Celle de voir un personnage tourné au ridicule.
Cependant, dès les premières minutes, le ton est donné. On est loin d'une caricature grossière ou insultante. Yu In Sik aborde avec respect chaque situation, mettant en avant son personnage atteint d'autisme avec en prime une photographie lumineuse et soignée.

Pièce maîtresse du drama, Park Eun Bin est spectaculaire dans son rôle. Elle amène un profond travail sur sa voix et sa gestuelle. C'est une actrice talentueuse, elle l'a démontré plus d'une fois. Cela ne fait que lui ouvrir de nouvelles portes. De la musicienne à la manager d'une équipe de base-ball en faisant un crochet par l'incarnation d'un prince hérité, elle aiguise ses couteaux et il semblerait qu'aucun rôle ne lui résiste.
Le reste du casting est également important. Chaque personnage apporte une dynamique. On reprochera seulement le manque de présence de Kang Tae Oh qui aurait mérité un peu plus d'attention. Bien que, en toute honnêteté, la romance n'était pas vraiment ce qui m'intéressait le plus, étant plus focalisée sur les affaires traitées.

Chaque épisode (voir deux) traire une affaire. On ne tombe jamais dans le sensationnel ou le mélodrame. Young Woo ne remporte pas chaque affaire, cela amenant ainsi que plus de réalisme. Mieux encore, la série ne se targue pas d'une quelconque leçon de morale. À aucun moment nous avons cette impression, le drama nous laisse libre et en proie avec nos propres réflexions.

C'est un drame humain qui nous partage de belles valeurs au travers de différents personnages avec une petite pointe de romance (si vous souhaitez seulement de la romance, cela ne vous satisfera pas, sachez-le).

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What a performance

In one word: Park Eun Bin. What an incredible actress and what an outstanding performance. The interpersonal relationships between the characters is the usp of the show. The legal cases don't do much for the series, some of them are dragged far too long and are mind numbingly boring, but the characters do not let you down. The chemistry between the lead pair is super cute and will bring a tear or two at times. It does follow most of the tropes and does not dive too deep, but both the actors make it so believable that you do not mind. What stands out is that the series does not have a black and white villain. Most characters are grey which is quite well done. Must watch.

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It is all about the feel

This review is going to be vague because there is no point dissecting every scene nor trying to highlight where the writer-nim could have portraited the law/autism/discrimination/etc better or more realistically. In a sense, the Show is about the overall feel and raising awareness of certain social and societal issues. There is no panacea for such ills. The writer-nim did leave some subplot dangling like the lawyer specialises in social justice cases and the ATM company. It means a win is not always rewarding or justice being served. It could end up hurting the "little guy" or setback social progress. They are grey areas that is up to us to explore further and reflect upon.

What the Show is good at is creating the unique world that Woo Young Woo lives in. It is not a "real" world because it is a drama after all. It is more like a modern pastel fairy tale. It is relatable but it takes liberty with certain aspects of reality.

Our FL's acting is superb and is consistent for 95% of the show which is a tough gig when you consider her character's mannerism and her speech pattern. Kudos to Park Eun Bin. The ML is also well played but he is firmly in support of the FL. Their romance is sweet and awkward in equal parts. There are some really swoon worthy moments. Speaking of support, it is a bit disappointing that the support casts are fairly tropey and doesn't "grow" during the show. Some are comic relieves while others are the token bullies. They are there as foils for our FL and to move the plot along where necessary.

Now the elephant in the room. The Jeju episodes are a misstep by the writer-nim in my book. It was a weird change of tone and cadence in an otherwise smoothly flowing show. It just felt off. It is just as well the Show recovers it's bearings and is back on track by episode 15/16.

It is as if the Show is self referencing itself in the end. I am left with a sense of contentment and fulfillment after the final scene. I couldn't help but grin in unison with our leads as the credit rolls. Life is good. Growth in measured steps is fine. I can't fault the ending. It is bright, positive and forward looking. What more can we ask? To paraphrase farmer Hoggett, "That'll do Woo. That'll do." :)

CGI whales and OST are both great. Rewatch is already scheduled.

At the time of writing, the Show has been confirmed for Season 2(!) and I'm thankful that writer-nim didn't leave us with some crazy cliff-hanger. I'm definitely looking forward to the future adventures of our Extraordinary Attorney!

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An extraordinary series

With Park Eun Bin as the lead, the series was already confirmed to be one of the great dramas as Park Eun Bin is a brilliant actress able to portray multiple different roles absolutely fantastically. And I was not let down! Park Eun Bin's chemistry with Kang Tae Oh was pure and realistic and felt natural to watch.

Watching stories and struggles of ordinary people and how the Hanbada Law Firm is able to help them - mostly thanks to Woo Young Woo (portrayed by Park Eun Bin) was nice and managed to share a light on Korea's society. I do wish there were more stories involving the main cast and their own relationship as the show mainly focused on the clients' lives instead of the main cast's lives.

Overall, it is definitely worth watching this drama. The chemistry between the main casts makes the show very convincing and the story flows naturally. I would recommend it.

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Tae Sumi undeservedly villainised

1. TAE SUMI
My main complaint about this drama is how they villainised Tae Sumi for "abandoning" a child she never agreed to raise. She went through the entire pregnancy, put her life on hold and future in danger just to give birth to a child she didn't want - for the sake of her ex-boyfriend who desparately wanted to keep the baby. And she's turned into a villain for it. Young-woo calls her a bad mother, when Sumi never was her mother, except biologically. It's sad that Young-woo grew up without a mother, but Sumi had every right to choose not to be part of Young-woo's life. If anyone's at fault, it's Gwangho (Young-woo's father) as much as I like him.

2. JUNHO X YOUNWOO
I also have complaints about Youngwoo and Junho's romance. I think it was unnecessary, but it's not a K-drama without a romance. I don't like how Junho acted like Youngwoo did something wrong by not assuming they're together. They never made their relationship official, and yet he expected an autistic person to assume that they were in a relationship just because they'd been on a few dates. He also said something like "why would I do those things if we weren't together?" in reference to the dates Young-woo took him on. It was unnecessarily cruel to basically tell her that he didn't enjoy the activities she chose and he only did them for her sake.
It's nice that they tried to represent a possible relationship between an autistic and allistic person, but for me the relationship felt forced and unnatural, with little chemistry.
Also touching on the point of romance, the Sooyeon x Minwoo side romance was also unnecessary and disappointing. Minwoo wasn't a good person and it was displeasing to see Sooyeon develop feelings for him.

3. ASD REPRESENTATION
Yet another low-masking savant character, but I'd say the representation overall was not bad and they explained several autistic traits (e.g. Youngwoo's way of self-regulating by counting when transitioning from one place to another because it decreases the feeling of overwhelm, and her preference for kimbap because it prevents the shock of unexpected textures and tastes) instead of just throwing them in without explaining why she does those things.
Something I didn't like was that there was inconsistency in her autistic traits... She is super sensitive to physical touch and can't even hold hands, but is okay with kissing? I suppose it could be possible but it was so weird to me, like the producers ignored her sensory sensitivities so that they could make a cute kiss scene.
They made Youngwoo's character very cutesy, which I have mixed feelings about but they still showed that she faced rejection and discrimination at all stages of life despite having "cute autism".
One thing that would have been nice is if the drama showed Geurami having ADHD or some form of neurodivergence, as a way to show how neurodivergent people tend to make friends more easily with each other.

4. WHAT I LIKED
I liked the characters on their own and the comedic scenes, and the cases were enjoyable. The music was lovely and the whole aesthetic of the drama was very pleasant. I don't have much else to add, but overall it was enjoyable which is why I've rated it high despite the complaints.

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Must watch!

This is the first time that i write a review after watching k drama’s for years, so that means this show was totally worth this review!
It was soo good and i loved everything about this show.
What was also really interesting about this show is that you learn a lot about the Korean law.
But must of all the acting of attorney woo was incredible! She did such a great job!
It is not the usual melodrama’s that I usually love to watch, but I didn’t regret one second about it.
I would recommend this show to everybody and i am sure you will enjoy it like i did.

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