Extraordinary Attorney Woo (2022)

I don’t watch K-dramas, but…

i loved attorney woo!

while simultaneously having incredibly high highs and really low lows, extraordinary attorney woo is definitely the best show i’ve seen from netflix (and, yes, i like it more than squid game). while many romance-oriented k-dramas lean on the same general formula, being a legal drama not only shakes the format up, but also provides an entirely new layer to the show that it pulls off tremendously. the cases, which are generally isolated to their own respective episodes, are pretty good at carrying the show on their own (ranging from mildly boring to incredibly clever and well-done), are the meat of the show, and work to make the show incredibly interesting—however, the *heart* of the show lies in the relationships between the characters. though the characters themselves are, for the most part, pretty flat and one-dimensional, the relationships are really what made me keep watching. seeing these characters interact, wondering what they’ll do next, and the satisfaction at the ending; i loved them all! despite a lot of slight cracks in the show, i really liked it—even to the point where, dare i say, a second season is not needed, but i would love to see more of attorney woo and lee junho.

p.s.: compared to a lot of netflix shows, this one really stood out in terms of transitions, which is an aspect of editing often overlooked. i’m glad that this was a detail heavily focused on. from a nitpicky, technical standpoint, i will say the coverage was a bit offputting, but that’s just me lol

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The ending

As good as the whole series was, I was hoping for a much more closed ending, unless they are gonna make a season 2 and continue from where it was left off. Overall, the story, the characters, the acting, it was all absolutely amazing. I can see myself rewatching it multiple times, and recommending it to everyone I lay my eyes on.

Oh god, don't even get me started with Junho and Youngwoo. I have never seen a couple more adorable than them. The little detail Junho kept in mind, the way he never questioned her and did what she wanted to do, how he took care of her, how he fought for her and the fact that at the end, Youngwoo made sure to reply to him before going to meet Taesumi, it was amazing, I was crying from the cuteness.

Attorney Kwon's character development was the best as well, and I was hoping to see him and Attorney Choi to end up together, that's one of the reasons why I am desperately hoping for season 2. And also to see Attorney Jung to return, I cannot stand Attorney Jang, everytime that man opened his mouth, he stressed me out. I need to see Attorney Jung again in Hanbada with his team.

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One of my Top Tier Kdrama

Well-written and acted drama - the casting is perfect every actor gave justice to their characters. When you thought that the major plot twist will ruin it all then it did not.. which is actually nice since we don't want a heavy angsty drama. kudos to PEB for doing a really great job

Some of the cases are so so - but a lot of them are sensitive and you will question how society perceived autistic people and how people used the law to their advantage. The love line is minimal but had a great impact on the show. I mean who would have thought that we needed a regular guy for the ultimate dreamy male lead, drama gods keep on giving us CEO or chaebol male lead but we only need a walking green flag like Lee Jun Ho.

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Cute but not life changing

I liked this drama as a lighthearted show. The reason it does not have a higher rating it's because after a few episodes the initial charm of the show wore out for me and I had to take a break (of literal months) to finish it and even then I usually put it as a background show.
The characters are charming but not very complex, which made me feel more of a sitcom vibe towards them. As in, I cared about them but I wouldn't be heartbroken if one of them had a sad ending.

This series is the strongest at the start. I loved the backstory of Woo and the way she tried to adapt and solve cases her own way, but like I said before the novelty wore off after a few episodes. I think this rating would have been higher if the show had less episodes. It's one of those that could benefit from being shorter. Other than that the acting and heartfelt moments combined with a unique whale concept and cute soundtrack still made the show enjoyable.

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A solid drama

I started watching EAW with really high expectations caused by the praises all over social media. I enjoyed the first few episodes. The characters were likable and there weren't any plot holes. The story went on smoothly and the acting was also good.

That saying...
Because of the one-case-per-episode structure the drama felt repetitive. That could've been fixed by spending more time developing the characters. They weren't explored enough, we don't know anything about them, especially LJH. Instead of being a main lead, he's more of a main stranger. The only thing we know about him is that he's respectful and popular among his colleagues.

The one character that was really shining here was Jung Myung Seok. I really liked him. But again, his story wasn't developed well enough. The writer really brushed over the seriousness of his health problems. His family struggles were also overlooked. We couldn't follow the process he had to go through in order to solve the problems. It wasn't shown, there was just the starting point and the end result.

I wasn't gripped by the FL's character. Of course, I reflected on the way autistic people are treated in society and their struggles in a daily life while watching the show. However, I'm not sure if that's enough to make this drama interesting. Maybe it would be better if there was one bigger case and we could follow her struggles and her thought process while solving the mystery, instead we got small unconnected cases.
That leads me to the thing that I grew tired of -

that one editing trick they used all the time to show that she's just had the 'eureka' moment.
It was like telling the same old joke for the umpteenth time.

In conclusion, this is a solid drama, probably one of the better ones. The experience should be better if you watch it casually, one or two episodes per week. I don't think this drama is meant to be binge-watched. However, I think series should be gripping regardless of the frequency you're watching it with.
I was a little disappointed because the social media shot my expectations through the roof. In reality it's pretty good.

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Woo Young-woo is so wholesome.

The first half had unbelievable writing quality. I especially admired how it simultaneously developed the overall narrative and cases while still finding ways to seamlessly weave in personal development for the main character throughout. And so many intricate details. That was pure genius. As an aspiring writer I'm kinda jealous at the feat they pulled here tbh.

Unfortunately, the show couldn't maintain that level of quality in the second half, at which point it settled for… "still pretty damn great".

Massive kudos to the person who made the subs for this on Netflix, a certain Cho Hyun-soo apparently. Good subs help tremendously when listening to foreign media, and these subs were among the best I've ever seen, translating everything that's written on screen flawlessly, and even providing context for some jokes that couldn't translate well from Korean to English.

I'm not sure if a 2nd season of this show really makes sense but hey, I'm open to being wrong.

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"My life is strange and peculiar but...it has value. It's a beautiful life."

I think before watching this drama people should keep in mind that this is not a documentary about ASD or even real life law or courtroom thus expecting a realistic representation of the collective people in the spectrum is just stupid.
it is a beautiful and heartfelt montage of a woman who happens to be autistic. Her life experiences personal and professional, her growth is the highlight of the drama.
Another aspect is how this drama touches on many social issues through legal cases in every episode such as misogyny, the demonization and misconceptions of autism, the importance of preservation of nature, and even queer relationships are all explored more or less, which I thought was admirable. The writers manage to keep things light and airy throughout, with just enough tension sprinkled in to make it engaging.

It's not without it's flaws of course since I felt that the sudden arrival of her brother was just there in case the show doesn't get a 2nd season which felt out of place and frankly out of nowhere. Since what are the chances her brother is also a genius, a hacker and is directly involved in a case that young woo is working on??
The cases being lukewarm in the 2nd half and these odd plot choices prevented me from giving the drama a higher rating. But it's an uplifting and inspirational drama regardless.

The acting was superb. This is my first park Eun bin work and I am blown away. I understand people's complaints of infantilising her but then again you are forgetting that i) this is a drama Ii) this is happening south Korea which has a different culture iii) asd is a SPECTRUM...your experiences do not need to be similar to other people and you can't judge other people's experiences based on your own.

Lastly, I would like to say that although this is definitely not THE representation of autism but rather A representation of autism. I personally as a person who very recently found out that I am indeed autistic, I related to her in certain ways and didn't in other ways. Doesn't mean I am not autistic or the character isn't. People can have gripes about the representation sure but I think as an unique drama that portrays an autistic woman as a protagonist in a profession that's primarily male dominated and not to mention primary a field for neurotypical people. It has its plot holes but disregarding this would almost be disregarding what woo young woo says in the last episode, although it's strange and peculiar it still has value

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the ending was rlly dry but this show still ate fr fr!!! none of the episodes were completely boring but some were lacking in all this show builds up suspense and lets you solve some cases with them as you go along. I definitely recommend it if you are bored or just have nothing to watch like me lmao. Although I wish they added a bit more to the ending, like maybe young-woo's mother getting exposed, the brother and sister moment made up for it a lot. I was very satisfied with his drama and it's one of the few dramas I pushed myself to finish without dropping because of one boring episode.

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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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