Extraordinary Attorney Woo

''Extraordinary Attorney Woo'' () is a 2022 South Korean television series starring Park Eun-bin in the title role, along with Kang Tae-oh and Kang Ki-young. It follows Woo Young-woo, a female rookie attorney with autism, who is hired by a major law firm in Seoul. Being different from her neurotypical peers, her manner of communication is seen by them as odd, awkward, and blunt. With each legal case and through her intelligence and photographic memory, she becomes an increasingly competent attorney.

The show aired on ENA from June 29 to August 18, 2022, every Wednesday and Thursday at 21:00 ( KST), for sixteen episodes. It is also available for streaming on Netflix in selected regions.

''Extraordinary Attorney Woo'' set the record for the highest ratings in ENA history. It received audience acclaim, with its final episode recording 17.5% nationwide ratings, making it the seventh highest-rated drama in Korean cable television history and sixth highest-rated television drama by number of viewers.

Synopsis

''Extraordinary Attorney Woo'' tells the story of Woo Young-woo, a lawyer with autism who is raised by her single father. She grows up with one friend at school, Dong Geu-ra-mi, an oddball girl who protects her from school bullies. She graduates at the top of her law school class at Seoul National University. Because she's autistic, no one will hire her. However, through a connection of her father's, she obtains her first job at Hanbada, a large Seoul law firm. Attorney Woo's intelligence and photographic memory help her to become an excellent lawyer, as she is able to recall laws and everything she reads, sees, or hears perfectly.

Being different from neurotypical peers, her manner of communication is initially seen as odd and awkward, and her strong emotional intelligence remains unrecognized. But as the series progresses, many of the people she meets, such as her supervising lawyer, Jung Myung-seok, her law school classmate and peer, Choi Su-yeon, and legal support staffer Lee Jun-ho adjust to her as she learns her craft as a rookie attorney. But she also encounters people who are prejudiced against her and others with disabilities.

Many of the legal cases in the series involve finely balanced legal issues and sometimes difficult ethical questions. Attorney Woo's approach is often unique and helps resolve cases in unexpected ways. One storyline about Young-woo's parents runs through the series and involves the rivalry between two major law firms, both chaired by female attorneys, Han Seon-young, CEO of Hanbada, and Tae Soo-mi, CEO of Taesan.

Another theme that runs through the series is Young-woo's strong interest in whales and other marine mammals. Her tendency to analogize situations she faces in her professional and private life with the lives and characteristics of whales and dolphins often surprises and confounds the people who surround her. Her eureka moments often coincide with fantasizing about marine animals.

Cast and characters

Main

* Park Eun-bin as Woo Young-woo
** Oh Ji-yul as young Woo Young-woo
: A rookie lawyer at the Hanbada law firm. She is the first attorney with ASD in Korea.
* Kang Tae-oh as Lee Jun-ho
: An employee in the litigation team at Hanbada
* Kang Ki-young as Jung Myung-seok
: A senior attorney at Hanbada and Woo Young-woo's mentor

Supporting

* Jeon Bae-soo as Woo Gwang-ho
** Jang Seong-beom as young Woo Gwang-ho
: Woo Young-woo's single father
* Baek Ji-won as Han Seon-young
: CEO of Hanbada
* Jin Kyung as Tae Soo-mi
** Jung Han-bit as young Tae Soo-mi
: CEO of the Taesan law firm and biological mother of Woo Young Woo
* Ha Yoon-kyung as Choi Su-yeon
: Woo Young-woo's law school classmate and colleague at Hanbada
* Joo Jong-hyuk as Kwon Min-woo
: Woo Young-woo's colleague at Hanbada
* Joo Hyun-young as Dong Geu-ra-mi
: Woo Young-woo's close friend
* Im Sung-jae as Kim Min-shik
: The owner of the pub where Dong Geu-ra-mi works

Special appearances

* Kang Ae-sim as Choi Yeong-ran (ep. 1)
: A client of Hanbada who is accused of attempting to murder her husband.
* Lee Do-kyung as Park Gyu-sik (ep. 1)
: Choi Yeong-ran's husband, who has dementia.
* Shin Ha-young as Kim Hwa-young (ep. 2)
: A client of Hanbada who has a wardrobe malfunction with her wedding dress.
* Yoon Joo-sang as Kim Gong-gu (ep. 2)
: Kim Hwa-young's father
* Moon Sang-hoon as Kim Jeong-hoon (ep. 3)
: An autistic client who is accused of the murder of his brother.
* Yoon Yoo-sun as Jeon Gyeong-hee (ep. 3)
: Kim Jeong-hoon's mother
* Sung Ki-yun as Kim Jin-pyeong (ep. 3)
: Kim Jeong-hoon's father
* Lee Bong-jun as Kim Sang-hoon (ep. 3)
: Kim Jeong-hoon's brother, who attempts to commit suicide.
* Choi Dae-hoon as Jang Seung-jun (eps. 3, 15)
: An attorney at Hanbada, and Jung Myung-seok's rival
* Jung Seok-yong as Dong Dong-sam (ep. 4)
: Dong Geu-ra-mi's father
* Ko In-beom as Dong Dong-il (ep. 4)
: Dong Dong-sam's eldest brother
* Lee Sang-hee as Dong Dong-i (ep. 4)
: Dong Dong-sam's second brother
* Lee Seo-hwan as Jin-hyeok (ep. 4)
: Dong Dong-sam's neighbour and head of village
* Kim Kyung-min as Byeong-joo (ep. 4)
: Dong Dong-il's lawyer
* Yoon Byung-hee as Bae Seong-cheol (ep. 5)
: Leader of the research and development team at Ihwa ATM company
* Lee Sung-wook as Hwang Doo-yong (ep. 5)
: Sales manager at Ihwa ATM
* Shin Hyun-jong as Oh Jin-jong (ep. 5)
: President of Geumgang ATM
* Kim Do-hyun as Kim Woo-seong (ep. 5)
: The lawyer who represents Oh Jin-jong.
* Kim Hi-eo-ra as Gye Hyang-shim (ep. 6)
: A client of Hanbada who is a North Korean defector.
* Lee Ki-young as Ryu Myung-ha (eps. 6, 12)
: The judge sitting on Gye Hyang-shim's and Kim Hyun-jeong's cases
* Lim Seong-mi as Lee Soon-yeong (ep. 6)
: The victim of Gye Hyang-shim's case
* Seo Young-sam as Kwon Byung-gil (ep. 6)
: A doctor related to Gye Hyang-shim's case
* Nam Jin-bok as Kim Jeong-bong (ep. 6)
: The prosecutor in charge of Gye Hyang-shim's case
* Jung Gyu-soo as Choi Han-soo (eps. 7–8)
: Head of Sodeokdong village
* Kim Sung-bum as Jo Hyeon-woo (eps. 7–8)
: A resident of Sodeokdong village
* Park Kang-seop as Park Yoo-jin (eps. 7–8)
: A civil servant at Gyeonghae provincial office
* Koo Kyo-hwan as Bang Gu-ppong (ep. 9)
:Commander of the Children's Liberation Army
* Lee Won-jung as Yang Jeong-il (ep. 10)
: Suspect of quasi-rape against an intellectually disabled woman
* Oh Hye-soo as Shin Hye-yeong (ep. 10)
: A woman with intellectual disabilities
* Lee Jung-eun as Shin Hye-yeong's mother (ep. 10)
* Jung Ji-ho as Yoon Jae-won (ep. 11)
: A man who won a large lottery prize while gambling at a casino
* Heo Dong-won as Shin Il-soo (ep. 11)
: Yoon Jae-won's acquaintance, who files a lawsuit against him.
* Jung Kang-hee as Park Seong-nam (ep. 11)
: Shin Il-su's acquaintance, who files the lawsuit with him.
* Park Ji-yeon as Sung Soo-ji (ep. 11)
: Shin Il-su's wife
* Seo Hye-won as Choi Da-hae (ep. 11)
: A coffee salesperson at the casino
* Jang Won-hyuk as Han Byung-gil (ep. 11)
: The errand boy at the casino, an illegal Korean-Chinese immigrant
* Lee Bong-ryun as Ryu Jae-sook (ep. 12)
: An attorney specializing in gender discrimination cases
* Kim Hee-chang as Moon Jong-chul (ep. 12)
: Human resources manager at Mir Life Insurance
* Lee Ji-hyun as Kim Hyun-jeong (ep. 12)
: Former deputy manager at Mir Life Insurance
* Lee Moon-jung as Lee Ji-young (ep. 12)
: Former assistant manager Mir Life Insurance
* Lee Ji-min as Choi Yeon-hee (ep. 12)
: An employee at Mir Life Insurance
* Lee Yoon-ji as Choi Ji-soo (eps. 13–14, 16)
:Jung Myung-seok's ex-wife
* Yoon Na-moo as Jung-nam (ep. 13)
: Lee Jun-ho's brother-in-law
* Song Yong-tae as Kim Yun-bok (ep. 13)
: A client of Hanbada
* Hur Hyun-ho as Hwangjisa Temple governor (ep. 13)
* Kim Gun-ho as collector of admission fees at Hwangjisa (ep. 13)
* Lee Ki-seop as Lee Seok-jun (ep. 14)
: Hwangjisa's legal representative
* Kim Joo-hun as Bae In-cheol (eps. 15–16)
: CEO and founder of Raon
* Ryu Kyung-hwan as Kim Chan-hong (eps. 15–16)
: Co-CEO and co-founder of Raon
* Han Sa-myeong as Choi Jin-pyo (ep. 15)
: A team leader at Raon
* Park Jin-young as the judge sitting on Raon's case (ep. 15)
* Ham Tae-in as an employee at Taesan law firm (ep. 16)
* Choi Hyun-jin as Choi Sang-hyeon (eps. 15–16)
: Son of Tae Soo-mi

Episodes

Production

Filming of the series wrapped up on July 14, 2022.

On August 17, 2022, president Lee Sang-baek of AStory, the production company for ''Extraordinary Attorney Woo'', confirmed that the drama would be renewed for a second season. Season 2 is expected to premiere in 2024.

Original soundtrack

The show's soundtrack album peaked at number twelve on the weekly Circle Album Chart, and as of September 2022, 12,198 copies had been sold.

Viewership

The first episode of ''Extraordinary Attorney Woo'' recorded a nationwide viewership rating of 0.9%. By the third episode, which reached 4.0%, it set the record for the highest rating in ENA's history.

The series was the most viewed non-English show globally on Netflix for the weeks of July 4–10 and July 11–17, logging 23.9 million and 45.5 million hours viewed and ranking in the top ten in 12 and 22 countries, respectively. For the week of July 18—24, it was the second most-watched non-English show, gathering 55 million of viewing hours. It was also the most-watched series in eight countries and appeared in the top ten in 27 others. The series returned to the top of the chart for the week of July 25–31, with 65.5 million viewing hours, and was the most-watched show in nineteen countries, while ranking among the top ten in 25 more. ''Extraordinary Attorney Woo'' continued to top the charts for another six consecutive weeks after its finale, garnering 348.15 million viewing hours.Netflix Global Top 10-TV (Non-English) Charts:
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The series became the "sixth most popular non-English show of all time" on Netflix, spent "20 weeks on the Global Non-English Top 10 list", and marked 21 weeks in the list for November 28 – December 4, 2022.

Accolades

Adaptation

On July 6, 2022, AStory announced that the series would be adapted into a webtoon of the same name. Serialized into sixty episodes, drawn by illustrator HwaUmJo, and written by Yuil, it will be available in Korean, English, Japanese, and Chinese.

On July 14, it was reported that a US remake is currently in discussion.

On August 17, it was confirmed that a musical remake will be coming in 2024.

On September 6, it was confirmed that the remake was offered in approximately ten countries and is currently in discussion.

Notes

References

External links

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{{Korea Drama Awards Best Drama
ENA television dramas
Television series by AStory
South Korean legal television series
2022 South Korean television series debuts
2022 South Korean television series endings
Korean-language Netflix exclusive international distribution programming
Autism in television