With an exhilarating story, Netflix's Extraordinary Attorney Woo talks about an attorney on the autism spectrum charmingly navigating through the courtroom and her life!

Extraordinary Attorney Woo starring Park Eun-Bin is the perfect example of how a well-written story can linger on your mind days after it's over!

If the world has ever wronged you in a manner where you have to put your faith in a lawyer to bring you the justice you deserve then I suggest you look for someone as extraordinary as Woo Young-Woo. I assure you, she’ll turn the world upside down and win the case for you and in the course of that, win your heart too. Directed by Yoo In-Shik, Extraordinary Attorney Woo is one such hearting story about Woo Young-Woo (Park Eun-Bin), whose name even when read backward reads the same, something she loves pointing out when she introduces herself. Woo Young-Woo was raised by a single father, (Jeon Bae-Soo) who initially was quite taken aback to know that his daughter is autistic but eventually recognized that she has a brilliant photographic memory. He decided to sharpen that by encouraging her to read more of all the law books that she loved reading since the age of four so his genius daughter can provide for herself when she gets older. We have previously seen notable autism representation in K-dramas like Moon Sang-Tae from Its Okay To Not Be Okay or recently seen Yeong-Hee from Our Blues but never one as the main lead. So Woo Young-Woo's story really helps give a fresh perspective into what the life of someone on the autism spectrum feels like.

Being the first autistic lawyer to graduate from the prestigious Seoul National University, Woo Young-Woo joined the esteemed Hanbada law firm with the intention of making a change in this world, one case at a time. Through the course of 16 episodes, we see her tackling a new case in each one. From helping a North Korean defector reduce her sentence to supporting a woman stand up against her homophobic father, she feels like someone sent to Earth to make this world a better place. You know it's game over when Young-Woo starts recalling laws line by line to build strong arguments to support her case and leave the opposite side speechless. And of course, she does all of this with the help of her colleagues. Jung Myung-Seok (Kang Ki-Young), a senior attorney at the firm and her mentor who initially finds her strange but quickly warms up to her and takes her under his wing. He values what she brings to the table and often brings out the best in her. 

Also Read: With an exceptional ensemble cast, Our Blues highlights the importance of forgiveness, love, and support in our everyday life

Choi Su-Yeon (Ha Yoong-Kyung) is Young-Woo’s law school classmate turned colleague who seldom takes care of her and protects her from harm that Young-Woo fails to recognize due to her low emotional intelligence. Honestly, her character arc was so well developed. Su-Yeon could’ve totally been jealous of Young-Woo for a lot of things and the two could’ve been pitted against each other to make it a controversial story but I absolutely love that they went for a completely opposite approach and portrayed one of the best on-screen female friendships I’ve ever seen. Su-Yeon seems tough on the outside but the scene where Young-Woo describes her as her sunshine who is constantly there for her brings out the true warmth of her character. Next on their team of lawyers is Kwon Min-Woo(Joo Jung-Hyuk), a gray character who I dislike for all the malice in his mind towards Young-Woo but sometimes likable for his equation with Su-Yeon and his potential to correct his behavior.

Lastly, comes the very handsome Lee Jun-Ho (Kang Tae-Oh) from the litigation team who is another phenomenal example of why romantic male characters should be written by women. Lee Jun-Ho shatters stereotypes set by society about how autistic people are difficult to love and live with and sets a whole other benchmark when it comes to romance. His relationship with Woo Young-Woo is the purest thing ever. He normalizes all her habits that others find weird be it only eating Kimbap for every meal ever, talking about whales all day any day, waiting for her to count till 5 before entering a room, helping her out with revolving doors, or hugging her as tightly as he can when she’s having an anxiety attack. He loves her the way I've always imagined my ideal partner to love me. In a world full of red flags, these two are the biggest green flags you’ll ever see. Another healthy relationship that Young-Woo is blessed with is the one with her best friend, Dong Geu-Rami (Joo Hyun-Young). The two are super fun to watch and of course the way they greet each other has made its way to millions of hearts around the world and Reels around Instagram. 

But what’s a story without some drama? Young-Woo has a complicated relationship with her mother who abandoned her right after giving birth. Tae Su-Mi (Jin-Kyung) is the CEO of a rival law firm, Taesan, and also a potential candidate for the Ministry of Justice. Apart from being excellent lawyers, the unconventional mother-daughter duo has their good and bad moments and there are many who want to pry on the fact Young-Woo is her daughter out of wedlock. 

After Do You Like Brahms and The King's Affection, this has to be Park Eun-Bin’s career-best performance. Young-Woo’s obsession with mammals, especially whales, and how she imparts her vast knowledge about them with a sparkle in her eyes is so effortlessly done by Eun-Bin. My favorite part has to be when at the end of every episode, Young-Woo’s hair starts flying in slow motion while she imagines a whale and has a path-breaking realization about how to solve her case. Woo Young-Woo's character is so beautifully written by Moon Ji-Won that it sometimes feels difficult to digest that she’s just fictional. Kang Ki-Young is another gem of this show. He proved he's capable of playing more than just a comical character like he has in the past in What's Wrong with Secretary Kim. The hardships that his character goes through in this show make it a much more intense role than I expected it to be. 

Even though some of the legal jargon used in the show can get a bit difficult to understand, as the show progresses, you just get the hang of it. I love the aesthetic illustrations that pop up at the end credits of every episode which reflect a metaphor for Young-Woo’s personal journey and the whale animations added to the show look extremely comforting to watch. It was a real eye-opener for me when the camera shows the world from Young-Woo's point of view. To know how cloudy and dizzy the world looked to her justifies why she barely makes eye contact and has to be cautious of her surroundings all the time.

Receiving love from some of the biggest K-Pop idols to trending on Netflix for weeks, the show has fans from all over and maybe it's because Woo Young-Woo, who lacks social skills still communicates better than most of us do with each other every single day.

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