Lazy Unnie’s Couch: All of Us Are Dead

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As I said earlier this month, I love a good infected/zombie medium. I thought nothing was going to get better in Korean zombies than Train to Busan but I was wrong. Well, maybe not wrong because Train to Busan still holds the torch as the best for me, but what AOUAD delivered was a different outlook on what is less about infection and more about survival.

On the surface, it is what the show promises, an outbreak of “undead” at a high school and our scooby-doo ragtag team of lead’s trying to navigate their way to safety. At first, I was a bit over the setup of this story. I could see from a mile away that they were going with the bullying angle that so many high school Kdramas do. What I learned very early in this world was kids ain’t shit and the adults aren’t much better. What AOUAD did was take those typical bullying storylines and throw some gasoline on them and light them on fire. Taking both bullies and victims and putting them on the same level playing field by an outbreak of a man-made virus intended for weak people to have a chance against bullies. Where’s Alanis Morrisette because ain’t this shit ironic.

That aside, let’s talk about the things I loved and hated about this stress ball of excitement. The cast felt really perfect. The students all felt like actual high school kids and they all kind of portrayed themselves as such. Teenagers are selfish and sometimes obtuse to the world around them and that showed when they are in the middle of a freaking zombie Apocalypse and our leads are worried about their crushes. I was screaming at both Chungsan and Soo Hyuk for that. But can I just say they should have ditched both Nam On Jo and Choi Nam Ra and been together with themselves? Their chemistry was perfect. All of the kids were great to me. No matter how annoying they came to be at points. I mean, even our villains were perfect because the best villain isn’t one in their own eyes and that’s what we had with Gwi Nam, Na Yeon, and Eun Ji.

Another thing I liked about this was the fact that the virus wasn’t just one and done. It was something that evolved so you never really knew who would turn into a full-on zombie or as Daesu named them, Hambie, half-zombie half-human. I loved how the three hambie’s we had were all different. Gwi Nam was clearly our chaotic evil hambie, Nam Ra was our lawful good hambie and Eunji was our chaotic neutral one. Each one of their journeys was different yet important to the progression of the story. I know I might be in the minority, but I loved Yoo In Soo’s, Gwi Nam. Was he insane? Yes. But a little warranted as well. We saw that even though he was clearly the aggressor in many instances, he was also a victim. Let’s just say, I cried for all the kids, regardless if they were monsters or not. Well maybe not Lee Na Yeon, she was a bitch. I also loved how just like any good survival show, there were separate groups to focus on and part of the build-up was when they would come together. I loved the group of seniors. Ha Ri was a total badass and Mi Jin was perfect comic relief on top of also being kick ass. The women in this really kept things together. Watch it be Nam Ra’s Hambie ass be the true hero of all of this.

There is so much more I can go into this show. The gore was GOREY but it was needed. The action scenes were fun to watch and all of it together with the cinematography and score left me stressed. My heart broke when I felt the helplessness that the characters felt. I raged when some choices were made and it just showed that no matter how old you are, hard choices are still hard. Was this perfect? No. Were there plot holes left and right? Of course but who gives a fuck. I thoroughly enjoyed the stress ride from beginning to end. And all I can say is justice for the fallen and I really hope there is a season 2 because I need more.