There are no spoilers
Original title: Weird Lawyer Woo Young Woo
Type: Dramatic
Actors: Yun Ju-sang, Jeong Seok-yong, Bae-soo Jeon, Baek Ji-won, Yoon-kyeong Ha, Joo Jong-Hyuk, Tae-oh Kang, Kang Ki-young, Kyung Jin, Eun-bin Park
Seasons: 1
Episodes: 16
First original airing: June 29, 2022
Village: South Korea
I approached this series with hesitation, touching on a delicate topic like autism. But if Korean directors know how to be raw and implacable (see “Parasite” or “Squid Game”) manage equally to be profound and poetic.
Woo Young-woo, or as she likes to present herself “My name is Woo Young-woo, whether read obversely or backwards as kayak, atta, radar, homonomous, esose” she is an autistic girl with an extraordinary memory. Having successfully graduated, she obtains a position in one of the most prestigious law firms in Seoul, not without doubts from her manager and colleagues.
Woo Young-woo is a silent little girl, raised by her father, who screams her first sentence to defend him. And this is the incipit that allows everyone to understand what his path will be.
Uphill road, but an uphill climb that only others notice because she is caught up in her daydreaming about the world she adores: the cetaceans that often, appearing in her dream-like visions, help her in solving cases. This allows the viewer to understand how autism, with high potential as in this case, often makes relatives and friends feel alone and frustrated. It's a difficult topic to deal with, but although it may seem taboo in a high-efficiency nation like Korea, there are several kdramas where autism and Asperger's are discussed, for example "Good Doctor" (on which the American TV series of the same name was based), or “Move to Heaven“.
Lawyer Woo is developed in 16 episodes during which we can get to know the protagonist and the characters that gravitate around her: the father who is the cornerstone of her life who, we discover, had given up a lot to keep and raise this little girl, the slightly bizarre but capable best friend of Young-woo, the colleagues of the famous law firm who become antagonists and accomplices, and the boy who will have to struggle with the difficulty of communicating with an autistic woman and against stereotypes, to protect the love he feels towards her.
Our protagonist lets us enter with a dance step, her funny and graceful way of walking, into her world made of rules invisible to the most (the introductory phrase, counting before crossing a threshold, sensitivity to loud noises, etc.) between misunderstandings, comical and embarrassing moments dictated above all by her lack of "social filters" and flashes of genius.
At the same time we will see the lawyer working and trying to defend her clients in different situations that touch on strong topics such as environmental impact, bullying, privacy and children's happiness. Some legal resolutions will seem incomprehensible to us given the Korean legislature is different from ours, but this can be an incentive to understand more such a fascinating country like Korea.
I believe that the merit of the beauty of this series can be attributed to the protagonist Park Eun-bin, wonderful South Korean actress, protagonist of numerous kdramas such as "Real affection" And “Cheonchu taehu" (for which he won the KBS Drama Awards in 2019 as best actress).
My advice is look at it, like a profound poem that makes us think even of days away.
Roberta Gagliostro
Cover photo credit: pexels – Daria Klimova