A Lawyer Extraordinary is a South Korean drama that premiered in August 2022 on Netflix. Each episode is an hour long on average. The first season has 16 episodes. The drama even managed to make it into the Top 10 on Netflix.
The story revolves around a lawyer named Woo Young-woo (played by Park Eun-bin) who has Asperger's syndrome – a state on the autistic spectrum. The lawyer doesn't excel in social skills, but when it comes to legal knowledge, she puts on a show.
Even with regard to her lack of ability to deal with clients, she manages to stand out for being very observant and remembering many aspects of the law. Woo Young-woo's IQ is 164 and she has a photographic memory, she studied at Seoul National University with great merits. However, after graduating, the young lawyer was unemployed for six months because many companies refused to hire a lawyer with the syndrome.
Table of Content
As a turnstile, mug, jacket, comical, and bald.
Whenever Lawyer Woo Young-woo introduces herself, she says that her name spelled backward is the same as catraca, caneca, casaca, cômico, and careca. She also has routines like counting to five before entering a place, knocking three times on the door, eating the same things every day... the well-structured routine is part of the daily life of the autistic.
The 27-year-old lawyer has to resolve, along with other colleagues, distinct cases in each episode. What stands out in the dorama are the different cases that appear in each chapter and the protagonist's growth as she leaves the bubble she lives in and begins to understand more about human emotions. Young Woo has hyperfocus (intense concentration on a single subject) on whales, and in a way, this knowledge always helps her solve her cases. Each of her ideas is accompanied by a glimpse of her whales.
Besides the challenge of learning to communicate better, she has to deal with the mix of feelings that until then was unknown to the young lawyer. Yes, for those who love a romance, there is a cute couple that I swear you will root for them throughout each evolution! She has a romantic pair with a coworker, Lee Jun-ho (Kang Tae-oh).
Another drama present in the narrative is the whereabouts of Woo Young-woo's mother, who initially was thought to have died during childbirth but actually simply abandoned the girl along with her father, Woo Gwang-ho (Jeon Bae-soon). Her mother is a brilliant lawyer named Tae Soo-mi (Jin Kyeong), and they encounter each other while falling into the same case together - one in defense and the other in prosecution. However, neither knows what the other represents to them. Well, I think I've given too many spoilers here. But I assure you that a lot happens in this discovery of motherhood.
Something that is also very interesting is the relationship between the lawyer and the father. She starts to become less dependent on him to be able to mature. She also proves to herself and others that autism is no impediment to being a good professional.
2nd season is confirmed
By 2024, the sequel to “A Lawyer Extraordinary” will be available. The k-drama is produced by ENA and Astory and has gained popularity in South Korea and other countries that pass Netflix. The series is not a Netflix original, it just contributed to making it available, and this favored the drama to be renewed.
The series became the 7th most watched in the history of South Korea. On Netflix, the series has already surpassed 300 million hours watched. Lee Sang-baek, CEO of Astory, confirmed the series' return to the NME. In an interview with Astory it was said that the second season will take a while. Shooting is expected to begin in mid-2023, with the 2nd season expected to come out between January and March 2024.
The reason for the delay is that most actors have commitments to other productions already scheduled, especially the protagonist Park Eun-bin. Although the news of the renewal made fans happy, the character of the autistic lawyer expressed herself on her social networks about the matter. She fears that a second season will “damage” the story, as she stated on her instagram.
7 Curiosities of an Extraordinary Lawyer
1 – Park Eun-bin is one of the most famous actresses in South Korea
Due to being so popular, the protagonist has already been a part of several other doramas. So, if you like this type of series, you must have seen her somewhere. Some were Do You Like Brahms? and The King's Affection.
2 - Eun-bin turned down the role several times
The protagonist of A Lawyer Extraordinary has repeatedly turned down the role of Woo Young-woo because she believed it would be challenging to play the role. But from the beginning the producers wanted her to be the character of the autistic lawyer. Due to the delay in acceptance, the drama had a year delay.
3 - Woo Young-woo exists
The main character is based on the life of Temple Grandin. She is an American scientist, psychologist and zootechnician who was diagnosed with autism in adulthood. She appeared on the Times Magazine list as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. The scholar inspired a 2010 film that bears her name. She is a Ph.D. professor at the University of Illinois.
4 - The drama will have an American version
Also in July 2022 it was announced that a US broadcaster is already planning an American version of the series. However, no details were given regarding the participating actors or even a premiere date.
5 - The drama became a comic book
On July 27, 2022, the webtoon version of Extraordinary Attorney Wu was released. The goal is to have initially 60 chapters, but there may be changes with the announcement of the second season. The chapters are available in Korean, Japanese, Chinese, and English.
6 - The series made the broadcaster ENA famous
When it comes to major South Korean productions, the most common broadcasters are KBS or SBS. but, now it was different ... the popularity of the series in the country made the Koreans turn their attention to the ENA broadcaster that has been around for less than a year.
7 - K-drama got a moral
An extraordinary lawyer had an exhibition on a huge mural between June 25th and July 24th, 2022. The idea came from two Korean companies, one of communication called KT and the digital platform Y.
Have you watched this drama? Tell me what you think!