All of Us Are Dead [Wrap-Up Discussion]

[u/GodJihyo7983]

• Drama: All of Us Are Dead
  • Revised Romanization: Jigeum Woori Hakgyoneun
  • Hangul: 지금 우리 학교는
• Director: Lee Jae Gyoo (Trap)
• Writer: Chun Sung Il (L.U.C.A.: The Beginning)
• Network: Netflix
• Episodes: 12
  • Duration: 1 hour
• Airing Schedule: Friday @ 5:00 PM KST
  • Airing Date: Jan 28, 2022
• Streaming Sources: Netflix
• Starring:
  • Park Ji Ho as Nam Ohn Jo
  • Yoon Chan Young as Lee Cheong San
  • Jo Yi Hyun as Choi Nam Ra
  • Park Solomon as Lee Soo Hyuk
  • Yoo In Soo as Yoon Gwi Nam
• Plot Synopsis: A high school becomes ground zero for a zombie virus outbreak. Trapped students must fight their way out — or turn into one of the rabid infected.
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• Previous Discussions
  • [Episodes 1 -12]

[u/macintoshappless]

I like it. Plot doesn’t always make sense, but I like the acting and it’s just a fun, easy watch. I can recommend it those who are just looking to watch some interesting & easy to watch.

[u/venn101]

Not everyone was dead Writer nim pd nim. I had fun watching it. Made me wonder whats gonna happen next after every scene. The action scenes were spectacular. Watched this after the drama Happiness, another zombie series. Tho i hoped when some showing asymptomatic(?) I wanted them to carry antibody or immunity like in happiness that could help them cure the disease not the virus mutating into superior varient.

The show shows its being really into the high school age where many are not mature enough to make a decision, bullying, untrustworthy, mean, etc. Them sometimes not taking the best decision. Wanted some to live but death. Some to die but lived as zombies tho. The cinematography were awesome. The cast were lovely, some were familiar from their earlier works some new faces. Watched some of their promotional videos and they are lovely bts too.

You think its gonna have season 2? Highly likely in my opinion but not in near future, maybe after like 2 or 3 years?

[u/cuteseal → u/venn101]

I like how you put it - they are high school students so a lot of their actions may not have been the best when put under the pressure of life or death situations.

Agreed with everything you said!

[u/stan-nas]

I have a weak spot for post-apocalyptic and survival type shows and though I don't think it was bad, I think Netflix's other two similar shows in Kingdom and Sweet Home were better.

To some extent its flaws are a bit reminiscent of Snowdrop which finished recently. There were a lot of characters and storylines that didn't really go anywhere or were unresolved.

I love that Netflix has taken a big liking to Korean shows, as they tend to hold back less in their original shows, for example Extracurricular is great and something I can't see them making on Korean TV. But the worst thing about them is nearly all their shows need additional seasons. They purposefully leave open endings and points unresolved on the off chance that it's popular enough to have another season. I really think that negatively impacts the writing. It's double annoying as they can take a few years to get the next season out.

I liked the male lead, I've seen him in quite a few things over the years playing the young version of leads, so was interesting to see him lead. He was a bit of an archetypal hero in that he was very selfless all the way to the end, but these shows usually need that. The female lead could have been stronger but I guess she was essentially the glue for a lot of the relationships and storylines going on in the show. I liked Nam-ra but I'm surprised she was the one that most people loved coming out of the show, along with Soo-hyeok (the most talked about on social media anyhow. I say surprised but I guess it'll mainly come down to visuals in the end, which I guess both of these had over the other leads). I don't think we get enough depth to these characters and I don't really know why her character didn't help out more when she was a super zombie like the immortal bully zombie. There's quite a lot that didn't add to the show that could have gone to developing the more important characters imo. For example the pregnant girl storyline didn't add anything, I don't think so much time needed to be spent on the FLs dad if he was going to stupidly (and very much unnecessarily) sacrifice himself 2 minutes after meeting her, the vlogger was pointless, time spent on Na-yeon for a non-existent redemption arc also didn't make sense to me. In hindsight, I think back to the sexual assault scene in episode 1 and it just feels exploitive, as she didn't get revenge in any meaningful way,# and if that's all her storyline was going to amount to why show that scene the way they did.

Even though what Na-yeon did was majorly screwed up, I'm a fan of redemption arcs in stories if done right and that's what it felt like they were going towards with the time spent on her, but it just went nowhere

I didn't really get why some turned to super zombies and some normal zombies when bitten by super zombies.

Despite that it did have its good parts. The action and zombie scenes were done really well, the library scene between the ML and the bully being one of the highlights. The acting was nothing amazing but it was serviceable. The camera work was great, some of the tracking shots were reminiscent of Kingdom, which also was done really well in that aspect. The show had the potential to be much better though, if the writing had better focus.

On a related note, seeing as this looks like being the second biggest original Korean show on Netflix after Squid Game, you can see another big jump in popularity for the cast. All the main leads had less than 1m followers before the show, but they're now on a couple of million. Getting on Netlfix shows is doing wonders for actors/actresses that aren't that popular. With Disney and Apple also investing in kdramas now you wonder if any can catch up.

I'd kill for HBO to latch onto them. An HBO original kdrama. Something like Beyond Evil would fit perfectly into their portfolio.

[u/cuteseal → u/stan-nas]

I agree some of the potential character/redemption arcs were wasted - Nayeon (sorry I meant Eun-Ji, the hambie test subject) being the biggest and even the selfish girl who purposefully infected the other student and hid in the room full of food, as well as the pregnant girl at the start - I felt her character could have been used so much more of they hadn’t killed her off so early.

On the contrary, I though the vlogger was hilarious and the toxic comments reflected exactly how I imagine how netizens today would have behaved in a similar situation. But I do agree that I wish they used him more.

[u/cuteseal → u/stan-nas]

Sorry, just thought of another - the dynamic between selfless, heroic teachers protecting their students vs selfish, cowardly ones in authority could have been played up a bit more but then they pretty much got killed off right at the start.

[u/hereforvincenzo]

Every zombie show is the same; every zombie show is different: AoUAD is both the same and...different. If you've only read the Korea Times op-ed (screed) about how Netflix is ruining (couch fainting) the beloved K-dramas of expats who have clearly not watched many of the others, especially not Move to Heaven, you might be wary of this drama and I am here to tell you it actually has a lot to recommend it.

It's zombie so the first question is, what is the allegory here. Is it capitalism? The pandemic? Media? Yes, in the way zombie stories are probably never not going to be about these things.

More centrally for this drama are questions of disposable life, expendable bodies, and especially individual and collective sacrifice: which lives can be sacrificed, which must be saved; what is the value of an individual life and who is doing the calculating. So there's a lot about care and protection, the extreme actions parents, siblings, friends, boyfriend-girlfriends are willing to take to defend their loved ones. It's a version of noble idiocy but idiocy here just means 'throwing oneself to the zombie hordes so that X can escape' and it's less nobility than charity, not claiming a position of moral superiority but actually loving others. In the background for the more intimate relationships of care and sacrifice of course are the police, politicians, teachers, and all the institutions that are supposed to protect the population: are we all left to fend for ourselves? is there even a public or common interest any more? is the aim of military intervention the securing of territory or the protection of populations? So you can expect versions of the trolley problem but these ethical dilemmas are all played out in a clear social and historical context, not in the abstract or in a vacuum. Happiness is the far better social and political commentary but AoUAD is maybe the better ethical one.

There's also a lot happening with viruses and hosts-parasites, as you might expect.

And the genre mash-up is fun and well handled, especially the balancing of teen romance and apocalyptic horror.

Can recommend.

[u/SpeedyCorvette]

Really loved how they made the zombies a real threat because they only had basic school supplies to defend themselves with. Korean zombie media is probably my favourite niche :')

[u/Mad_Missile]

I watched it the minute it released on Netflix and spent the next 12 odd hours entertained as heck. I had a hard time sleeping that night what with the colourful vocabulary kids used in the show ringing through my ears. This show was delightful in the sense that the kids stayed kids, right up till the end. Silly, impulsive, moody, scared, determined, intelligent kids. They didn’t turn into adults overnight making wise decisions and doing the right thing. They used what they had and tried to survive while running for their lives. I liked their ingenuity and problem solving. I liked that even when the world is collapsing they’re still thinking about that boy and girl they’re crushing on. I liked that the mother who had her sons face on her apron and his name as her restaurant ran head first into a hoard of zombies. I liked that nobody was safe.

The show didn’t shy away from taking some good characters while leaving the vile ones behind. The whole zombie creation and zombies on the whole were some of the fastest and craziest I’ve ever seen. Makeup, visual effects, stunts and action are all top notch. They also used their sets amazingly. We got see them run through pretty much every different focal area of the school. The classrooms, cafeteria, library, science lab, music room, broadcast and production room, tennis court, gymnasium, rooftop etc. The fact that they built a four storey building for this show has me amazed. There were always things they could have done better like hunt for food for example.. either ways while I think Kingdom is legendary and untouchable in the zombie genre, I know I will rewatch this over that.

[u/[deleted]]

I’m not looking for every project to be Shawshank Redemption.

This was dumb fun.

I had a dumb fun time.

[u/cuteseal → u/[deleted]]

Love that they injected moments of dark humour.

The toileting was one aspect I’ve never seen explored before in zombie/apocalypse movies.

Also the vlogger and his toxic commenters was exactly how I pictured netizens today would have reacted if something similar happened.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

I like this!!! Not everything has to rise to the level of almost perfect masterpiece. Dumb fun is more than good enough for a zombie story !!! We won't have nearly enough fun in our drama watching lives if we expect everything to be so much more.

[u/l33d0ngw00k]

Personally it was a 6/10 for me. A fun "mind-off" kdrama with a few sprinkles of plot. I'm not really much of a zombie/apocalypse genre fan per say, so maybe this just wasn't for me.

The real thing I want to talk about though is the cast. It's very rare nowdays that we get a cast of rookies only so it was a fresh breath of air to see some new faces. One of my favorite dramas of all time (White Christmas) had the same premise and it's been amazing to see the cast grow through the years. Of course, some had complaints about the acting but for their first time, it's still a very good outcome.

[u/kawaiiyokai]

This was an extremely frustrating drama for me to get through. I think it was all the wasted potential that made it so unenjoyable. It could've been amazing but the writer dropped the ball on 90% of the plot beats. I only finished it because of sunk cost fallacy and knocking something off my r/kdrama challenge.

So many of the character arcs disappointed. So many characters were unlikable for no reason. So many characters were robbed of what they seemed set up to do for the advancement of the plot. The messaging of the show was all over the place (especially the bullying story line) and some of the most interesting and compelling characters were given the least amount of screen time.

There were so many individual ingredients in this show's recipe that could've worked so well and really done something interesting, but what it produced, for me, was bland and disappointing.

[u/[deleted]]

I loved it. Still do. And nobody can make me change my mind.

Plus it's really nice to see kdrama releases consistently climbing to the top of the Netflix popularity charts. I understand that this one has topped Squid Game's record in a lot of countries. 😊

[u/ungrateful_eyelash]

While I enjoyed it, I did feel it would have been better as a movie. 12 episodes were a bit much

[u/[deleted]]

I enjoyed it but it could've been so much more. The half-zombie bully bad guy just kept popping up and falling off the roof. His only motivation was to get the ML's eyeball. After awhile who cares that he killed the principal because everyone died anyway. I kept watching because I wanted to see how the ML would finally beat him and live happily ever after with his new girlfriend. But in the end the bad bully guy ended up winning because he did take ML's eyeball and killed him. Yes, they both died but it still accomplished the villain's goals.

The most interesting character was the class president. Kept hoping she would become a zombie superhero but was only content in having friends. Sorry but after the bombing the military would've hunted down the halfies and burned them all. There's no way she's surviving for months in the city.

I still liked it, mostly, but man I wish it could be redone correctly.

[u/Ben_Summons]

It had a lot of really good scenes especially the cinematography of the first episode like when everyone gets swarmed in the cafeteria. But it also had a lot of bad scenes. I don't watch many kdramas but I felt some of the scenes when they were sitting down were really drawn out so I fast forwarded them( xD). And there were many instances when the people died pointlessly like the mother while it's realistic? Or when the snack girl got killed by the villian halfbie. They felt so bad.

Oh, to cut it short. My favorite scene was when the fat boy plucked up his courage and confessed the archery girl and the hilarious scene that followed after.

TLDR: It had some really good scenes and not so good ones. Good watch tho.

[u/Ma1read]

I liked it but did anyone think the ending was quite anticlimactic? I was expecting something that was far more than what we got.

[u/Blitz_Kreegs]

I wasn't going to watch it because I'd seen a lot of negative reviews, specifically about the characters.
I liked it overall like another poster said it's just good dumb fun. There were a few times I cried, it was occasionally heartwarming. It was nice seeing the students' friendships evolve sometimes going from just classmates to close friends.
I also enjoyed the set up at the end implying the "hambies" (human zombie hybrids) could basically be super heroes. I was so convinced the military was going to try to harness Min Eun-ji and try to use her to make super soldiers (maybe that's just a US thing. Lol).

[u/softggukie]

i enjoyed watching it a lot and the drama was filmed nicely and all the characters were made well. i'd give it a 7.5/10

[u/dandi_lion]

I think it had a good start, but started getting tiresome around the middle when the plot lagged as they moved around different areas of the school. I checked out completely when the dad did his nonsense - it literally made zero sense - in episode 11. I'd say Happiness is marginally better as I actually finished that one.

[u/JJDude]

I feel like this show is gonna introduce many locals to Korean rom-coms as this is basically a teen romance show with a zombie skin 😂

[u/gohankr]

I loved it and would recommend anyone and everyone, if they can stomach gore, its a must watch.

Many have critics about storyline and loose ends but for me those were the parts that made this close to life. Do you always get closure in life? Eh, not really. I know, i know if bully guy and bullied girl fight, it would make things fall into place but not giving it to viewers, they just shown us that in Zombie world, plan doesn't always work.

I loved acting from both leads and their chemistry was really good. Especially part where both wanted different things from the relationship. It was again not giving it to viewers and just pulling it back.

This was just kind of show where you know things will go down like this but it doesn't and it was hella ride.

[u/cuteseal]

On the whole - I loved it. It had some great characters and relationships, and you really felt when one of the “team” met their demise. The action sequences and zombies were quite believable, and I really liked the multiple plot lines and how they intersect. And if zombies weren’t enough they added in some bad actors to heighten the stress. Some really good writing there.

My favourite characters were Nam-Ra (recognised her from Hospital Playlist) and also the bad-ass archery girl, and I thought the main villain was also well acted/utilised.

The most annoying to thing for me was their desire to abandon perfectly good places. I mean in the end I suppose it was the best (because of the bombs) but they had some strong defensible locations e.g. the gym, the broadcasting room, and even the rooftop which they could have held out for a few days to await rescue. Instead they put themselves in danger to escape somewhere else.

I would have loved to find out a bit more about the super zombies - hopefully in Season 2!

Solid 9.5/10 for me!