The first season of Sweet Home introduced us to the monsterization process where the residents of Green Home randomly started bleeding from their noses and then turned into the most grotesque creatures imaginable. Amongst them, Cha Hyun-su managed to counter the transformation and became some sort of a hybrid where he could summon the powers of the demon within him whenever he wanted to. At the end of that season, via Pyeon Sang-wook, we also saw a type of monster that was able to change bodies. In season 2 of the show, we met Seo Yi-su, the first natural-born monster who was capable of turning humans into monsters, and if faced with some kind of mortal danger, she could accelerate her aging process to counter the wounds. That season hinted at the emergence of the Neohumans through the rebirth of two recognizable characters, Ms. Im and Lee Eun-hyeok. And while Season 3 of Sweet Home delved into the concept of the special infectees, who were a result of the experiments conducted on Nam Sang-won by Doctor Lim, and the special blood that was extracted from his body, it gave us a somewhat better understanding of these Neohumans, and how they were the last phase of the monsterization process. So, let’s talk about it.
Spoiler Alert
Who Are The Neohumans?
In the second episode of Sweet Home, when some of the residents of Green Home returned to their destroyed abode, they saw Ms. Im emerging out of the wreckage, completely naked and stoic. She turned into a monster at the end of the first season and used her newfound powers to tackle the fully-transformed grotesque monsters and protect the survivors. But when Green Home was torn apart by the military forces, she went into a cocoon and emerged out of it as a Neohuman. Something similar happened to Lee Eun-hyeok. His monsterization process had begun at the end of Season 1 and at the end of Season 2, we saw him emerging from the wreckage of Green Home as a Neohuman. When he was mortally wounded, he created a cocoon from his body and fixed all his injuries. The end of Season 3 showed several such cocoons all across the cityscape with Neohumans coming out of them, unaware of what they should do next. By the way, while a Neohuman is mostly immortal, if their cocooning process is interrupted (which is something that Pyeon Sang-wook does), they’ll die. That’s why Sang-wook wanted to raise an army with the help of his daughter Yi-su’s monster-mind-controlling powers and destroy all the cocoons at once.
How Did The Neohuman Evolution Happen?
Sweet Home chalked up any kind of new information or change to the lore of the show to the blanket term “evolution.” So, it’s totally unclear how the Neohuman evolution exactly happened. The monsterization process was the next step in the evolution of humankind. Humans were given a chance to decide whether they wanted to be guided by their worst impulses, or if they had the ability to look past their ugly desires and become something more. Those who apparently survived the process turned into some kind of a hybrid between a monster and a human. Those who didn’t turn into a total monster and died due to some unforeseen circumstances, they turned into Neohumans. It’s unclear how they were able to form a cocoon from their body which allowed them to heal and also wiped their emotions while keeping their memories intact, but that was an ability that these Neohumans gained by subduing the urge to become a flesh-eating monster. Like I said, it was a part of the process that the world of Sweet Home underwent.
What Do The Neohumans Represent?
Well, I guess the Neohumans represent the best of humankind. Yes, the emotionless aspect does seem like a huge caveat, but if you have lived long enough to know how the human brain works, you’ll know that our emotions can be a curse and a boon. Most wars, crimes, and atrocities across the world have been committed as a result of unchecked emotions. Sweet Home imagines a scenario where people will be able to lead their lives through logic instead of emotion. Of course, many sci-fi movies and series have shown us that being emotionless isn’t a great thing and can lead to the creation of society without any kind of empathy. Well, that’s what the memories are for. Maybe that’ll teach the Neohumans to treat each other with kindness while taking major, life-changing decisions in a logical fashion. As for the immortality part, well, humans’ need for self preservation forces them to make the strangest decisions. The makers of Sweet Home wonder how humanity (or Neohumanity) will function without the fear of dying. Will they strive to be the best versions of themselves or will they disrespect the natural order of life and act like gods? There’s no straight answer to that. Maybe if these Neohumans misuse their powers, it’ll trigger another evolutionary phase that’ll cause their extinction and lead to the creation of something like Neo-neohumans.
How Are The Neohumans Different From Monsters And Special Infectees?
For starters, Neohumans don’t turn into gigantic monsters and they can’t shoot stuff out of their body like the special infectees do. They retain their original human form. They are incredibly strong and fast, as proven by everything that Lee Eun-hyeok did in Sweet Home 3, and can take on monsters as well as special infectees. They can get injured, but they can always recover by getting into a cocoon (which is referred to as the “heart”). They are vulnerable while they’re in the cocoon and if they are prematurely taken out of the cocoon, they’ll die. The Neohumans have a hivemind and they can sense each other’s presence no matter where they are. The Neohumans can communicate with monsters telepathically. Unlike the monsters and special infectees who are driven by violence and narcissism, the Neohumans aren’t guided by emotion but by logic and reason. The special infectees are not a natural part of the monsterization process, while the Neohumans are the final phase of the evolutionary process. The special infectees can make more special infectees with their blood, but it’s unclear how Neohumans can create more Neohumans. It’s unclear whether the Neohumans have special skills like Yi-su’s mind-controlling powers, her ability to trigger a human’s monsterization process, or Cha Hyun-su’s ability to reverse a human’s monsterization process. The Neohumans are able to retain their original memories and learn from them. Well, that’s all the observations I have regarding the Neohumans. If you have any notes about the curious case of the Neohumans, feel free to share them with us via the comments section below.