All Of Us Are Dead Mysteries That Will Haunt Us Until Season 2
Warning: Spoilers ahead! If you haven't watched the show, check out our introductory article "All Of Us Are Dead Is The New Squid Game, Hitting The #1 Spot On U.S. Netflix"
Getting through everyday life in high school is harrowing enough, but the teenagers of Hyosan High School are getting an extracurricular education in survival like you wouldn't believe. Based on Joo Dong-geun's Webtoon series, Netflix's "All of Us Are Dead" follows the story of a zombie outbreak originating in the science classroom of Hyosan High. Science teacher Lee Byeong-chan (Kim Byung-chul) created the Jonas virus in a desperate attempt to help his son, Lee Jin-su (Lee Min-goo), protect himself from the brutal bullies that harassed him daily, but after infecting his son, Byeong-chan realizes that the treatment is so much worse than the danger it was designed to stop. As he tries to find a cure, one of Byeong-chan's students gets infected, and that's the point where this show starts to earn its title.
"All of Us Are Dead" takes a look at high school life through the lens of life-or-death odds, giving us unlikely friendships, seemingly doomed romances, true moments of heroism, and some hilarious comedic beats to break up the otherwise-relentless tension. We also get an unhealthy dose of brutal bullying, paranoia, and murder. The main plot follows a group of students who must fight to protect themselves from the virus and struggle to escape the death trap their school has become. As the government becomes aware of the situation, the military enacts martial law and eventually decides to bomb the city of Hyosan to stop the spread of the zombie virus. In the aftermath, we're left with more questions than answers. Here are the top 10 questions we can't stop thinking about since the finale of "All of Us Are Dead."
Will the virus spread?
Having lured the zombies into centralized locations and bombed them, the military might think they've destroyed the threat. Still, there are plenty of ways that the virus could escape and infect more people. Plenty of zombies could have avoided the blast and may still be on the move. In Episode 10, we see that the virus has made its way to the nearby city of Yangdong, and the military has started evacuating its inhabitants. A zombie could have easily wandered into the city from an unprotected route. As we know, all it takes is one slip in containment to reignite the viral threat.
Let's not forget the "halfbies," either. In the show, if someone turns into a halfbie and is asymptomatic at the time, it is impossible to detect if they are infected. Just like Eun-ji (Oh Hye-soo), some of the people evacuated could have been infected.
Another problem with eradicating the virus is that it can be carried by animals. In Episode 1, Hyeon-ju (Jung Yi-seo) is bitten by a hamster that Byeong-chan was experimenting on and contracts the virus. If hamsters can carry it, then it's possible that other animals could contract the virus as well. If the story of the show follows the Webtoon that inspired it, the virus could get to Japan or other countries by spreading through the animal population.
Why does the virus affect people differently?
According to "All of Us Are Dead", the Jonas virus works like many other fictional zombie viruses. One bite from an infected person (or hamster) and you're infected, too. The virus kills the host quite rapidly and the body reanimates in a matter of minutes to become a flesh-craving undead monster. There are some rare cases, though, in which people don't change all the way. These half-zombies, or "halfbies," seem to fluctuate between being dead and alive.
So far we've seen three confirmed halfbies: the sociopathic Yoon Gwi-nam (Yoo In-soo), a victim-turned-killer, the bullied Min Eun-ji (Oh Hye-soo), and class president Choi Nam-ra (Cho Yi-hyun). Instead of shambling around mindlessly like their fully zombified counterparts, these halfbies maintain the ability to think for themselves, which makes them extremely dangerous. They also have tremendous strength and can come back from egregious bodily harm that would kill a normal zombie.
The show never explains why the virus changes some people into zombies and some into halfbies, nor does it explain why halfbies are not guaranteed to create more halfbies. As we saw when Gwi-nam bit Lee Na-yeon (Lee Yoo-m), she changed into a regular zombie. Perhaps Season 2 will dive deeper into an explanation.
What happened to Lee Byeong-chan?
By the time we meet him in "All of Us Are Dead," Lee Byeong-chan is a man on the edge of breaking. His original hope was to destroy his son's fear and make him strong enough to stand up to his bullies. Instead, he condemned his son to become a flesh-eating zombie.
When Hyeon-ju is initially infected by the virus, Byeong-chan ties her up and locks her in the back closet of his classroom to be used as a test subject. He shows less concern for her safety than for the results of his experiments to stop the virus. The outlook is bleak, as his solution only slows the infection. By the time Hyeon-ju breaks free and Byeong-chan is arrested for kidnapping her, he has given up hope and started to slip into a megalomaniacal belief that he has succeeded in some twisted way and that the world deserves the virus for failing to protect his son.
He confesses his plan to police officer Song Jae-ik (Lee Kyu-hyung) and seems pretty pleased with himself, but when the station is attacked, Byeong-chan surprisingly has a change of heart. He tries to save Jae-ik and gets bitten. Realizing he will turn, he sacrifices himself to hold back the zombies so Jae-ik can escape. As Byeong-chan changes, he turns to the camera and walks calmly without the jerky motion that characterizes a true zombie. This might indicate that Byeong-chan has become a halfbie — or possibly something else entirely. We can't wait to see if he returns in Season 2, hopefully bringing some much-needed answers with him.
Is On-jo immune?
Seen only briefly and quickly forgotten, Nam On-jo (Park Ji-hu) was very likely infected with the Jonas virus at the beginning of the show. During the scene in which Hyeon-ju is being restrained in the nurse's office by her classmates, she manages to bite and scratch some of them, including On-jo. We've seen many instances during the show when the slightest amount of infected blood can transmit the virus. Even this tiny scratch could easily spread the infection to On-jo, but she doesn't seem to have any reaction to it whatsoever.
There are a few moments that make a case for the idea that On-jo may be immune but still carrying the virus. At one point, the infected hamster climbs onto her shoe, but does not bite her, perhaps sensing she isn't prey. The same thing happens during the cafeteria scene in which On-jo is pinned by a zombie who hesitates to attack her.
On-jo may have even realized that she might be immune. When I-sak (Kim Joo-ah) is beginning to exhibit symptoms, On-jo embraces her without fear. She reacts similarly when halfbie Nam-ra loses control and tries to attack her. On-jo goes limp, offering her neck to Nam-ra, who pulls herself back at the last minute. Does this point to On-jo suspecting herself to be immune? Hopefully, Season 2 will hold the answers because the implications of someone who has natural immunity from the virus and is seemingly free from the aggression of the zombies are huge
What happened to the baby?
Another small mystery is the question of Hee-su's (Lee Chae-eun) baby. At the beginning of the show, we discover that Hee-su is pregnant. She gives birth to her baby in a bathroom, unaware of the zombie apocalypse descending on her city. She decides to abandon the newborn but quickly changes her mind once she is faced with the zombie threat. Bitten but determined to save her child, Hee-su locks herself in a restaurant with the baby.
Although Hee-su does not survive, the child is rescued by police officer Jae-ik and his subordinate Ho-chul (Park Jae-chul). Jae-ik's need to protect those around him leads him to collect another young child, who just watched her mother get zombified, and the live-streamer, Orangibberish (Lee Si-hoon). Toting around these survivors complicates his efforts to get to the school to save the laptop full of information about the virus, but luckily, Jae-ik's babysitter brigade is saved by the military and sent to the quarantine camp. We don't see the child afterward. Perhaps that will be the last we hear of it, but there is a slim possibility that it was exposed to Hee-su's blood before the officers found it. Could the baby be a halfbie?
Did the military keep the captured zombies?
Having been badly bullied at the beginning of the series, Min Eun-ji turns into an engine of destruction once she becomes a halfbie. Determined to keep a scandalous video of herself from getting out, Eun-ji smashes all of the students' cell phones, takes revenge against one of the teachers who blamed her for getting bullied, and tries to set the school on fire. Fleeing the burning building, she's rescued with Jae-ik's group and brought to the quarantine camp.
At the camp, Eun-ji can't hide her halfbie nature as she attacks a former classmate. The military restrains her in a cell for observation. While she is not the first zombie the military has captured, Eun-ji is their first insight into the idea that a halfbie can appear normal when asymptomatic and the reason they decide to bomb Hyosan instead of continuing rescue efforts.
At the end of the show, Eun-ji's room is empty and being cleaned. While we never see what they have done with her, it stands to reason that the military would not dispose of a valuable test subject. There is the possibility that Eun-ji may continue her role as one of the baddies in Season 2.
Are Gwi-nam and Cheong-San still alive?
In Episode 10, the video diary Byeong-chan created while experimenting on his family reveals his belief that the only way to eradicate the Jonas virus is to burn the host so not a single cell remains. This seems to indicate that Byeong-chan may be aware of the regenerative power of the virus. His son seems to have been the first halfbie, having exhibited all the traits of someone who was asymptomatic and then losing control in Episode 1.
We know that a halfbie's regenerative abilities are extremely powerful, so is it possible that Gwi-nam and Cheong-san (Yoon Chan-young) are still alive despite being in the city when it was bombed? Gwi-nam and Cheong-san were bitter enemies throughout the season after Cheong-san witnessed Gwi-nam murder a teacher. To protect his friends from the ruthless killer that Gwi-nam has become, Cheong-san lures his classmate into an open elevator shaft as the bombs go off. In the blast, it appears that Cheong-san uses Gwi-nam like a shield. The beginning of Episode 12 shows their bodies at the bottom of the shaft. While covered in ash, they're still mostly intact. If Cheong-san has become a halfbie, then we may see more Gwi-nam vs. Cheong-san next season.
Will romance survive?
It makes sense that when trapped together in impossible circumstances, some of the students would cling to each other and form relationships. The emotional rollercoaster that these new couples go through helps highlight the sickening horror that comes with every loss. Some pairings, such as the antagonistic attraction that Mi-Jin (Lee Eun-saem) develops for Jun-seong (Yang Han-yeol), are cursed from the start, but others might have a chance.
Take for example Cheong-san and On-jo. They started the show as neighbors and friends from childhood, and over the course of the season, we see Cheong-san struggle with trying to express the love he has developed for On-jo. It is only the pressure of the zombie apocalypse that finally spurs him to action. In a tragic twist, just as On-jo accepts him, Cheong-San sacrifices himself to save his friends. If he didn't die in the bombing, then perhaps they can have a tearful reunion next season.
The other main romance of the show is the tense relationship between Su-hyeok (Lomon) and Nam-ra. Su-hyeok has had a crush on Nam-ra since the very beginning, and when she changed into a halfbie, Su-hyeok not only defended her from the rest of the group but offered to let her bite him when her halfbie impulses got too strong. His trust and love for her may be what helped Nam-ra maintain her humanity throughout the show. They were separated when the teens were rescued and sent into quarantine, but in the last episode, we saw the teens reconnecting with Nam-ra. She said that they would be friends no matter how far apart they were, but did she mean more for Su-hyeok?
Who are the other halfbies?
In the last episode of "All of Us are Dead," the surviving students sneak out of the quarantine camp to fulfill the promise they made on the roof of the high school to sit around a fire together. Name-ra joins them, looking better than she has since becoming a halfbie. Perhaps time away from the temptation of snacking on her friends has done her some good. The group is ready to welcome her back, but Nam-ra declines and reveals that not only has she survived in the devasted city of Hyosan after the bombing but she's been busy collecting other halfbies.
Since we don't know why some people become halfbies, there could be quite a few of them wandering around the city with no understanding of what has happened to them. With her experience as class president, Nam-ra could serve as a leader of this new group of people. Will the government recognize them as survivors or treat them as the enemy? Perhaps in Season 2, we will see more characters we assumed dead come back as halfbies, with all the complications that could come along with that.
Is there a cure?
There is so much about the Jonas virus that remains a mystery. Although Byeong-chan has done his research on the virus and insists that there is no way to cure it, he is just one of many working on the problem. With the government behind the research, there is the possibility that scientists could make a breakthrough — especially if they find someone who is immune to develop antibodies from. Perhaps someone like On-jo.
Finding a cure isn't going to be easy. "All of Us Are Dead" has already shown that the virus can be carried by animals and can mutate. In an interview with The Korea Herald, director Lee Jae-kyoo said, "Many directions, settings and scenes were intentionally produced to expand the story into an additional season, including the introduction of the new races of zombies — immune and immortal. If the first season can be seen as having presented humanity's survival, the next season can talk about the survival of zombies. I hope to present viewers with another season." With this statement, it's looking like Season 2 will have the characters fighting new zombies with more powers and abilities.
Netflix has yet to officially announce a second season of "All of Us Are Dead," so until they do, we'll have to keep theorizing on what the answers to these questions might be.