Extraordinary Attorney Woo | K-Drama Review

A heartwarming journey of our autistic lawyer Attorney Woo Yeong Woo, Extraordinary Attorney Woo is not your typical Legal K-Drama. The show received the highest ratings in ENA (paid channel) history so if you haven’t watched yet, you’re missing out! Read this post and I promised you’ll start watching right away!

Disclaimer: The post ahead may contain SPOILERS since this is a review of the whole season.

K-Drama Storyline

First autistic lawyer in Korea (as per the storyline goes), Attorney Woo is a rookie lawyer in a reputable firm called Hanbada Law Firm. She started to handle legal cases while getting along with her new colleagues.

Despite her below average social skills, her outstanding photographic memory helps her most of the time during her court cases. Handling different cases in almost every other episode, Attorney Woo faces each case with a compassionate perspective.

There are notable and moving court cases from the show, but these are my favorites (in order of appearance):

• The Wedding Dress That Slipped Off (Episode 2) – In no way I saw it coming (the Bride having a relationship with her girlfriend, yep LGBT and I loved it!)
• If I Were a Whale (Episode 6) – My favorite among all, the North Korean defector! I was teary eyed when the presiding Judge reminded Attorney Woo Yeong Woo and Choi Soo-Yeon that they have missed the simple yet most important action did by the defendant which is confessing her crime.
• The Pied Piper (Episode 9) – This broke my heart. Students at an early age suffering from the intense amount of pressure… I’m loss for words.
• Yangtze River Dolphin (Episode 12) – Second runner up on my favorite list! The women’s rights, empowerment and prejudice in this episode is gut wrenching yet touching at the end. Despite being in opposite sides, Attorney Ryu Jae-Seok ended up being friends with Attorney Choi Soo-Yeon & Woo Yeong-Woo and they even had a rooftop party after the case. No hard feelings at all!

Extraordinary Attorney Woo K-Drama Review

Apart from highlighting Attorney Woo’s shortcomings, we get to witness that people with a disorder (of any kind) are capable of fulfilling their life as they wish. They deserve all the respect and support from every single one of us like how we demand the same level of respect and support from everyone around us.

With the help and support of Attorney Woo’s friends and colleagues, she was able to adjust to the society and her workplace and it’s a message we should never forget. A strong support network goes a long way, may we be a person with disorder or not.

What makes this K-Drama heartwarming in general is that it focused on ‘people’. Scrapping the materialistic portion of life, we are reminded that the most important aspect in this world is the life itself we are on. Taking care of our health and loved ones, are one of the core message of the show as well. A timely message indeed.

Bonus Section: Thoughts on Attorney Woo & Jun-Ho’s romantic relationship?

An icing on the cake, who am I to complain if romance is given? Lee Jun-Ho, our handsome colleague is nothing but a walking green flag. The way he expressed his feelings and do his assignment on how to properly love Attorney Woo, oh I’m swooning over.

Jun-Ho is a character we wish to have in our lives, someone to embrace us wholeheartedly including our flaws and shortcomings. It sounds like an easy thing to do, but in reality it isn’t. And even if we have him, like the show, he might have family relatives and friends who isn’t the same as him. In return, will condemn us just because they aren’t like him.

The problem is me. Am I someone who can make Jun-Ho happy?

Attorney Woo Yeong Woo

On the other side of the coin, it broke our heart when Attorney Woo questioned herself if she can make Jun-Ho happy. It’s a question to help us check whether we are capable of having a relationship. Despite Attorney Woo’s disorder, she realized the essence of being in a relationship – making your partner happy (and questioning yourself if you can). If only all of us think the same way as her, we are probably more mindful in our romantic relationships.

Bonus Section Part 2: Thoughts on Kwon Min-Woo? And Kwon Min-Woo & Choi Soo-Yeon’s love line?

Of course I hated Attorney Kwon during the peak of his raging hormones (to justify his foul attitude lol). Everyone hated him because let’s admit, he’s effective in his role. However, as the story develops, the writer toned his attitude down a bit to redeem his character. Cliché, maybe, but it helped to keep the story wholesome instead of mixing it up with his political tactics.

I kind of expected the love line between him and Choi Soo-Yeon too and I don’t mind. I liked how the writer used Choi Soo-Yeon to make Kwon Min-Woo changed into a better person even just 1%. The subtle mini-date in Jeju (similar to Burj Al Arab in Dubai) is cute too but not over the top.

K-Drama Rating

From the first episode up to the last, I’m hooked and always on my toes for new episodes. Extraordinary Attorney Woo is not actually my first K-Drama where a character has an autism spectrum. Although I haven’t seen Good Doctor by Joo Won, I have seen Move to Heaven and It’s Okay Not to Be Okay. But Extraordinary Attorney Woo really tugged my heartstrings to the core. It reminded me that there are things not seen by the naked eye, so we have to look inwards and reflect on it.

• Personal Rating Score: 10 out of 10
• Target Audience: Legal Fans who doesn’t mind to get teary eyed in between
• Will I recommend this: A BIG RESOUNDING YES!

While it’s not necessary to have a Season 2, I don’t mind having one because I’ll definitely miss Attorney Woo and the whole Hanbada friendship squad (including Dong Geurami & Kim Min-Shik)!

How about you? Have you watched this K-Drama already? If not, are you a fan of K-Dramas? Let me know in the comment section below!