August 23, 2023 • 13 mins
Episode 32
Books. Movies. TV shows. Most of them are structured using at least some, if not all, of the elements of The Hero's Journey. That includes Extraordinary Attorney Woo, the Netflix original South Korean show.
This is one of my favorite things to watch on television. It's smart, heartwarming, poignant, interesting, romantic, and I love it! From the ratings and success, I'm definitely not the only one who thinks so.
This episode is a quick breakdown of The Hero's Journey using episode one of Extraordinary Attorney Woo.
As always, thanks for tuning in to The WriterSpark Podcast!
A QUICK LOOK AT BOOKS and COURSES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
- The Hero's Journey Mini Course (Just $9.99) (https://writersparkwritingacademy.teachable.com/p/the-hero-s-journey-mini-course)
- Extraordinary Attorney Woo (https://www.netflix.com/title/81518991)
Get updates on business, creativity, and the craft of writing by following this podcast and subscribe to the WriterSpark newsletter (https://writersparkacademy.com/newslettersignup/)
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
The hero's journey is what takes us through a story.
It's what gets readers invested in a character and in their growth,
we see a character in their ordinary world.
They have a to adventure and then they have obstacles that they face allies and enemies.
(00:20):
There's a central ordeal with a false reward and then ultimately,
there's a resurrection and that is when we see that the hero is truly heroic.
So join me today on this,
look at the hero's journey through episode,
one of extraordinary attorney Wu Hello.
Hello.
I'm Melissa Bourbon.
And this is the writer Spark podcast where business,
(00:44):
creativity and the craft of writing converge.
Welcome.
15 years ago,
I was an avid reader but not a writer.
I didn't know anything about the actual craft and I knew next to nothing about the publishing industry,
but I had dream to become a published author and I set out to learn everything I could.
Now,
(01:05):
I'm a number one Amazon and national bestselling author of more than 35 novels I've published traditionally and I recently plunged into the world of indie publishing and I teach people like you how to grow in their craft and find success in this ever changing industry.
I'm an ordinary person,
a wife,
a mom,
a daughter,
a teacher living in a small North Carolina town through Writer Spark.
(01:29):
I am doing what I love more than anything in the world which is teaching and helping others on their writing journeys.
I'm here as your partner,
as you navigate your own writing journey.
I'm here to help you understand the essential elements of the writing craft to build your confidence and to help you find the success you desire.
Welcome to the Writer Spark podcast.
(01:54):
If you've spent any time on writer spark academy dot com,
then you know that I love the hero's journey.
Today,
I'm going to give a quick look at the hero's journey through the first episode of Extraordinary Attorney Wu.
It's a South Korean Netflix show and it's really,
really great.
Wu Yau is a fantastic character and this show is definitely worth watching.
(02:18):
You have not seen it highly,
highly recommend.
So here's a summary attorney Wu is an extraordinary attorney who has autistic spectrum disorder.
This fact offers her very unique perspectives on her cases,
but it's also very limiting.
As I'm sure you can imagine each episode of most dramas.
(02:40):
If it's a complete mystery or a complete case could stretch out into a novella or a book.
Usually there is a hero's journey because that gives readers satisfaction.
In the very first episode of Extraordinary Attorney Wu,
there is definitely a hero's journey for young Wu Wu.
(03:01):
So here it is just a quickie look at the hero's journey breakdown for the first episode of this really,
really awesome series.
First of all,
we have Wu Yang Wu who is the first autistic attorney in the Republic of Korea.
She is a graduate of Seoul University in South Korea.
(03:22):
She did not speak until she was five years old and then when she did speak,
it was citing law and criminal code from the mountains of books,
legal books.
Her father had,
he was going to go to law school and he's got all of these books here and we see them piled up everywhere.
And we see that Wu Wu does not speak and her father is very distressed and the mother is nowhere to be found when she finally does speak in this pivotal moment.
(03:50):
At the very beginning of the show,
we see that she is this genius.
So let's fast forward to when she enters the legal profession itself.
So that little bit about her childhood is part of her normal world,
but now she is an attorney.
So her ordinary world starts with when she is hired as a brand new rookie attorney at Haba law firm.
(04:17):
And there are a few things about her.
She struggles to look people in the eye.
She has to count to three before walking into a room or new space.
And she kind of bounces as she does it.
She only eats Gim,
which is very predictable in look and taste and she's passionate about whales.
That's kind of her obsession.
(04:39):
So this is her normal,
ordinary world.
Her call to adventure is when she enters the law firm,
ready to begin her career.
But knowing that she is different,
she is not the same as everybody else.
And this is something she's aware of.
The refusal of the call in this situation is not her,
(04:59):
refusing to enter the law firm.
She is,
she's already been given the job,
the senior attorney.
She used to work under young.
My suk does not want her on his team.
He thinks she is not up to the job because of her autism and he thinks she's gonna be a burden and hold them all back.
But Han,
the CEO of the firm wants to give young Wu a chance meeting the mentor Lee Yho is part of the litigation team.
(05:31):
He's like an investigator.
He ends up being tasked with helping Wu Yau navigate through her first case choi so is also a rookie attorney at and was in law school with yw,
she is a Luc ally and in a lot of ways,
she becomes a mentor,
(05:51):
not necessarily in this episode,
she does become a reluctant ally in this episode.
However,
the true mentor is Li Yho again the investigator and then Wu has a couple of other allies kind of in her life crossing the threshold is the next step in the hero's journey.
(06:12):
Young Wu is given a case about a woman accused of attempted murder of her husband.
Yu Wu crosses the threshold in a very literal sense.
She goes to meet the client,
but she can't figure out how to get through the revolving door.
Young host sees her struggling and he helps her kind of um likening it to a waltz to a dance and counts with her the 12341234.
(06:40):
And it's through this sort of pattern that she's able to get through the revolving door,
which is a very big success.
It's her first success,
but it's also a literal crossing of the threshold.
She's leaving the law firm first case in hand and going to get the information.
So she's entering this new world as a lawyer,
(07:02):
literal crossing of the threshold moments are really great.
On her first day,
she meets an ally Li Yho.
That's the investigative um helper,
an enemy attorney,
Kan Min Wu,
who is not impressed by her,
doesn't want her.
There sees her as a threat to his forward momentum in the firm to his future and an old acquaintance,
(07:28):
the landlord of an apartment where she and her father lived when she was a child and also her old classmate,
Choi.
So,
so there's quite a few people that she meets on that very first day,
the husband of the defendant in the case that she is going to look into once accused Yu's father of making moves on his wife.
(07:49):
That is the defendant.
He was unreasonably jealous.
And when he sees young Wu again,
he is verbally abusive and he's very violent.
So he's just kind of off the rails.
This guy Yu's good friend,
Gu Rami teaches young Wu how to spot a liar.
So itchy nose,
sweaty palms,
(08:10):
wiggly leg and these things are foreshadowed in this moment with her friend and she uses those looking at the patterns and the processes later which helps her realize who's telling them the truth and who's lying.
So it's a really cool moment when we get to see how young Wu processes information and how she's able to apply it then to her life and into the real world.
(08:34):
Gu Rami also helps yw with strategies to be successful in court young,
my sik,
the,
the senior attorney that she works under also ends up becoming an ally after recognizing Yu's strength.
So he is able to admit that he was wrong.
And then we have Suyan who was the classmate continuing to help.
(08:56):
Yw in certain ways,
she feels sorry for the way Yu's disability and inhibits her success.
But at the same time,
she is annoyed by sort of her helplessness in some ways or how inept she is at sort of navigating through life.
And then we have young ho who becomes Wu Yau sidekick.
(09:16):
He's very intrigued by her So we have the the little taste of a potential romance for me.
Next in the hero's journey is the central ordeal.
Young Wu comes up with an analogy to whales,
which helps her realize that this is not a criminal case,
but a civil one.
Remember she has this obsession with whales.
(09:37):
And we get this very cool animation periodically through the episode where she is seeing the whale basically in her imagination,
but it is kind of like her escape and it helps her process as well.
So something about the whales helps her realize it's that aha moment that it's not a criminal case but a civil one.
If the focus remains on the criminal aspect,
(09:59):
the point is going to be missed.
What she realizes is that the intent to murder this husband,
the defendant murdering her husband would strip the defendant of any financial support from her husband or his property.
Wu Yau begins the trial really nervous but she makes objections that are sustained and slowly she gains confidence.
(10:23):
So this is how she's starting to become heroic.
At the reward moment.
Jung makes great arguments to have the indictment changed from attempted murder to bodily harm,
which changes things significantly.
But remember the hero's journey,
we always have sort of a false reward.
(10:43):
So the road back is where we make that realization in an effort to win the case.
The defense puts the injured husband on the stand to demonstrate his volatility he's provoked.
He scares everyone,
especially young Wu.
And the jury sees cause for the wife to have defended herself.
But then the husband suddenly dies.
(11:05):
He just falls over and dies.
And the charges now change from intent to murder or bodily harm,
which it was going to shift to,
to murder and all feels lost because now what are they going to do?
There is no opportunity to change to bodily harm.
So that was the false reward.
But next,
we have the resurrection and is through a whale.
(11:28):
That's what I like to call it.
Uh Instead of a realization of whale,
young Wu realizes that the husband had an underlying issue.
That the subur hematoma that killed him was actually the result of this underlying issue.
She gets the medical examiner to admit this on the witness stand.
This saves the day.
This is her heroic moment.
(11:49):
When she figures things out,
she figures out who's lying and then she uses her great skill and her intellect to get that confession on the stand.
The return with the elixir is when the woman,
her former land lady is found not guilty of murder.
And Young Wu has won her first case.
(12:09):
As with any medical or legal drama.
There is always a moment when success is in hand only to have something monumental happen that snatches that success away.
This definitely happens with Wu Young in each episode.
She has a w a moment when something becomes clear to her about the case y'all.
This is a wonderful,
(12:30):
wonderful TV show.
I highly recommend it at least watch that first episode as you think about the hero's journey and how you can apply that in your own writing.
Remember,
writer Spark Academy has lots of courses for writers,
aspiring writers,
new writers,
writers,
(12:51):
wanting to hone their craft or get recharged or re excited about writing.
There is a mini course on the hero's journey and there is an entire pretty large section of the hero's journey in the ready set,
right?
Course.
So check them out at www dot writers spark academy dot com.
(13:14):
Thank you so much for listening and spending your time with me today,
everyone.
I'm Melissa Bourbon and this is the Writer Spark podcast.
Take a moment to visit our website at www dot writers spark academy dot com.
Check out our courses,
our resources and all the content there and I will see you next time until then.
(13:37):
Happy writing.
The hero's journey is what takes us through a story.
It's what gets readers invested in a character and in their growth,
we see a character in their ordinary world.
They have a to adventure and then they have obstacles that they face allies and enemies.
(00:20):
There's a central ordeal with a false reward and then ultimately,
there's a resurrection and that is when we see that the hero is truly heroic.
So join me today on this,
look at the hero's journey through episode,
one of extraordinary attorney Wu Hello.
Hello.
I'm Melissa Bourbon.
And this is the writer Spark podcast where business,
(00:44):
creativity and the craft of writing converge.
Welcome.
15 years ago,
I was an avid reader but not a writer.
I didn't know anything about the actual craft and I knew next to nothing about the publishing industry,
but I had dream to become a published author and I set out to learn everything I could.
Now,
(01:05):
I'm a number one Amazon and national bestselling author of more than 35 novels I've published traditionally and I recently plunged into the world of indie publishing and I teach people like you how to grow in their craft and find success in this ever changing industry.
I'm an ordinary person,
a wife,
a mom,
a daughter,
a teacher living in a small North Carolina town through Writer Spark.
(01:29):
I am doing what I love more than anything in the world which is teaching and helping others on their writing journeys.
I'm here as your partner,
as you navigate your own writing journey.
I'm here to help you understand the essential elements of the writing craft to build your confidence and to help you find the success you desire.
Welcome to the Writer Spark podcast.
(01:54):
If you've spent any time on writer spark academy dot com,
then you know that I love the hero's journey.
Today,
I'm going to give a quick look at the hero's journey through the first episode of Extraordinary Attorney Wu.
It's a South Korean Netflix show and it's really,
really great.
Wu Yau is a fantastic character and this show is definitely worth watching.
(02:18):
You have not seen it highly,
highly recommend.
So here's a summary attorney Wu is an extraordinary attorney who has autistic spectrum disorder.
This fact offers her very unique perspectives on her cases,
but it's also very limiting.
As I'm sure you can imagine each episode of most dramas.
(02:40):
If it's a complete mystery or a complete case could stretch out into a novella or a book.
Usually there is a hero's journey because that gives readers satisfaction.
In the very first episode of Extraordinary Attorney Wu,
there is definitely a hero's journey for young Wu Wu.
(03:01):
So here it is just a quickie look at the hero's journey breakdown for the first episode of this really,
really awesome series.
First of all,
we have Wu Yang Wu who is the first autistic attorney in the Republic of Korea.
She is a graduate of Seoul University in South Korea.
(03:22):
She did not speak until she was five years old and then when she did speak,
it was citing law and criminal code from the mountains of books,
legal books.
Her father had,
he was going to go to law school and he's got all of these books here and we see them piled up everywhere.
And we see that Wu Wu does not speak and her father is very distressed and the mother is nowhere to be found when she finally does speak in this pivotal moment.
(03:50):
At the very beginning of the show,
we see that she is this genius.
So let's fast forward to when she enters the legal profession itself.
So that little bit about her childhood is part of her normal world,
but now she is an attorney.
So her ordinary world starts with when she is hired as a brand new rookie attorney at Haba law firm.
(04:17):
And there are a few things about her.
She struggles to look people in the eye.
She has to count to three before walking into a room or new space.
And she kind of bounces as she does it.
She only eats Gim,
which is very predictable in look and taste and she's passionate about whales.
That's kind of her obsession.
(04:39):
So this is her normal,
ordinary world.
Her call to adventure is when she enters the law firm,
ready to begin her career.
But knowing that she is different,
she is not the same as everybody else.
And this is something she's aware of.
The refusal of the call in this situation is not her,
(04:59):
refusing to enter the law firm.
She is,
she's already been given the job,
the senior attorney.
She used to work under young.
My suk does not want her on his team.
He thinks she is not up to the job because of her autism and he thinks she's gonna be a burden and hold them all back.
But Han,
the CEO of the firm wants to give young Wu a chance meeting the mentor Lee Yho is part of the litigation team.
(05:31):
He's like an investigator.
He ends up being tasked with helping Wu Yau navigate through her first case choi so is also a rookie attorney at and was in law school with yw,
she is a Luc ally and in a lot of ways,
she becomes a mentor,
(05:51):
not necessarily in this episode,
she does become a reluctant ally in this episode.
However,
the true mentor is Li Yho again the investigator and then Wu has a couple of other allies kind of in her life crossing the threshold is the next step in the hero's journey.
(06:12):
Young Wu is given a case about a woman accused of attempted murder of her husband.
Yu Wu crosses the threshold in a very literal sense.
She goes to meet the client,
but she can't figure out how to get through the revolving door.
Young host sees her struggling and he helps her kind of um likening it to a waltz to a dance and counts with her the 12341234.
(06:40):
And it's through this sort of pattern that she's able to get through the revolving door,
which is a very big success.
It's her first success,
but it's also a literal crossing of the threshold.
She's leaving the law firm first case in hand and going to get the information.
So she's entering this new world as a lawyer,
(07:02):
literal crossing of the threshold moments are really great.
On her first day,
she meets an ally Li Yho.
That's the investigative um helper,
an enemy attorney,
Kan Min Wu,
who is not impressed by her,
doesn't want her.
There sees her as a threat to his forward momentum in the firm to his future and an old acquaintance,
(07:28):
the landlord of an apartment where she and her father lived when she was a child and also her old classmate,
Choi.
So,
so there's quite a few people that she meets on that very first day,
the husband of the defendant in the case that she is going to look into once accused Yu's father of making moves on his wife.
(07:49):
That is the defendant.
He was unreasonably jealous.
And when he sees young Wu again,
he is verbally abusive and he's very violent.
So he's just kind of off the rails.
This guy Yu's good friend,
Gu Rami teaches young Wu how to spot a liar.
So itchy nose,
sweaty palms,
(08:10):
wiggly leg and these things are foreshadowed in this moment with her friend and she uses those looking at the patterns and the processes later which helps her realize who's telling them the truth and who's lying.
So it's a really cool moment when we get to see how young Wu processes information and how she's able to apply it then to her life and into the real world.
(08:34):
Gu Rami also helps yw with strategies to be successful in court young,
my sik,
the,
the senior attorney that she works under also ends up becoming an ally after recognizing Yu's strength.
So he is able to admit that he was wrong.
And then we have Suyan who was the classmate continuing to help.
(08:56):
Yw in certain ways,
she feels sorry for the way Yu's disability and inhibits her success.
But at the same time,
she is annoyed by sort of her helplessness in some ways or how inept she is at sort of navigating through life.
And then we have young ho who becomes Wu Yau sidekick.
(09:16):
He's very intrigued by her So we have the the little taste of a potential romance for me.
Next in the hero's journey is the central ordeal.
Young Wu comes up with an analogy to whales,
which helps her realize that this is not a criminal case,
but a civil one.
Remember she has this obsession with whales.
(09:37):
And we get this very cool animation periodically through the episode where she is seeing the whale basically in her imagination,
but it is kind of like her escape and it helps her process as well.
So something about the whales helps her realize it's that aha moment that it's not a criminal case but a civil one.
If the focus remains on the criminal aspect,
(09:59):
the point is going to be missed.
What she realizes is that the intent to murder this husband,
the defendant murdering her husband would strip the defendant of any financial support from her husband or his property.
Wu Yau begins the trial really nervous but she makes objections that are sustained and slowly she gains confidence.
(10:23):
So this is how she's starting to become heroic.
At the reward moment.
Jung makes great arguments to have the indictment changed from attempted murder to bodily harm,
which changes things significantly.
But remember the hero's journey,
we always have sort of a false reward.
(10:43):
So the road back is where we make that realization in an effort to win the case.
The defense puts the injured husband on the stand to demonstrate his volatility he's provoked.
He scares everyone,
especially young Wu.
And the jury sees cause for the wife to have defended herself.
But then the husband suddenly dies.
(11:05):
He just falls over and dies.
And the charges now change from intent to murder or bodily harm,
which it was going to shift to,
to murder and all feels lost because now what are they going to do?
There is no opportunity to change to bodily harm.
So that was the false reward.
But next,
we have the resurrection and is through a whale.
(11:28):
That's what I like to call it.
Uh Instead of a realization of whale,
young Wu realizes that the husband had an underlying issue.
That the subur hematoma that killed him was actually the result of this underlying issue.
She gets the medical examiner to admit this on the witness stand.
This saves the day.
This is her heroic moment.
(11:49):
When she figures things out,
she figures out who's lying and then she uses her great skill and her intellect to get that confession on the stand.
The return with the elixir is when the woman,
her former land lady is found not guilty of murder.
And Young Wu has won her first case.
(12:09):
As with any medical or legal drama.
There is always a moment when success is in hand only to have something monumental happen that snatches that success away.
This definitely happens with Wu Young in each episode.
She has a w a moment when something becomes clear to her about the case y'all.
This is a wonderful,
(12:30):
wonderful TV show.
I highly recommend it at least watch that first episode as you think about the hero's journey and how you can apply that in your own writing.
Remember,
writer Spark Academy has lots of courses for writers,
aspiring writers,
new writers,
writers,
(12:51):
wanting to hone their craft or get recharged or re excited about writing.
There is a mini course on the hero's journey and there is an entire pretty large section of the hero's journey in the ready set,
right?
Course.
So check them out at www dot writers spark academy dot com.
(13:14):
Thank you so much for listening and spending your time with me today,
everyone.
I'm Melissa Bourbon and this is the Writer Spark podcast.
Take a moment to visit our website at www dot writers spark academy dot com.
Check out our courses,
our resources and all the content there and I will see you next time until then.
(13:37):
Happy writing.
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