Healer

Healer

9.5/10

Healer 

Genre:                                   Episodes: 20                                   Year: 2015

Romance

Comedy

Action

Synopsis:

Five friends in South Korea run an illegal pirate broadcasting station that aims to comment on events that legal media cannot. Many years later three individuals are brought together through their past connections with the five reporters. Healer- a mysterious night courier, Chae Young Shin- an entertainment reporter, and Kim Moon Ho- a famous journalist and news reporter. The three must work together to uncover the mysteries that surround their connection.

Cast:

Ji Chang Wook (Seo Jung Hoo)

Park Min Young (Chae Young Shin)

Yoo Ji Tae (Kim Moon Ho)

Kim Mi Kyung (Jo Min Ja)

Park Sang Won (Kim Moon Shik)

Oh Kwang Rok (Ki Young Jae)

General Thoughts:

‘Healer’ strikes that magical drama moment where everything is right even if you don’t exactly know why. The plot was riveting and racing along, yet it wasn’t exactly new. Many parts of the series were similar to previous dramas, but the writers for ‘Healer’ were able to string the sequences in such a way that it gave off a fresh, new feel.

Also Ji Chang Wook is devastatingly handsome

The wonderfully constructed characters and bursting chemistry didn’t hurt either. The whole drama had a bit of a ‘City Hunter’ vibe to it- and I’m not complaining. I loved ‘City Hunter’, and (dare I say it) I loved ‘Healer' just a little bit more. It had a similar badass hero with a squishy sweet centre, corrupt and powerful people that need to be brought to justice, and a cute romance (played by the ‘City Hunter’ actress no less). And I cannot stress how cute this romance was. I haven’t seen every action-romance K-Drama, but I’d bet money on Healer and Young Shin being the most endearing and believable of the bunch.

Out rom-ed all the rom-coms

While the romance was a side-dish to the main mystery-action, Healer-kicking-ass plot, it was given a nice amount of development and screen-time. The romance wasn’t just fluff either. It was nice to see a relationship develop between two characters that wasn’t just for relationship’s sake. Healer and Young Shin (and Moon Ho too) strove to help and understand each other, which allowed for not only great relationship growth but also individual development and plot enhancement. It was a wonderful depiction of how relationships directly impact the world around our characters and our characters’ motivations- something that is sadly lacking in your typical rom-com. Moving on to the action. Yum. What splendid fight scenes. What spectacular parkour. The writers managed to find just the right balance of action in the drama. It never felt like Healer was getting into fisticuffs every second step or that the fight scenes were too long and drawn out.

Action and fights and all kinds of adventure

It had just the right amount of action to keep the momentum going and the pulse up without becoming overused. Between the heart-racing romance and the heart-racing action there was hardly any time to rest. Each character was constructed fully and cast perfectly. All hail Ji Chang Wook. Park Min Young was delightful as our heroine- quirky in a completely believable, relatable way. She was wonderful in every scene, able to convey the needed joy, fear or devastation.

Look at her! Look at her actually do things!

The character of Chae Young Shin was so completely loveable and I attribute a large part of that to Park Min Young’s wonderful delivery. Also she actually did stuff…like she actually contributed vastly to missions. I know- a heroine who actively participates! Swoon. While her character did verge on irritating one or two times, it was simply because it looked like she was going to take the path that many of our less-than-satisfactory heroines have taken. But then the writers always left us happily surprised when she turned the situation by being a normal human being and reacting in an understandable, functional way. Yay! Then we have Yoo Ji Tae- who was absolute magic. Kim Moon Ho would have been such a difficult character to portray. All other characters have a niche where they fit perfectly- but Moon Ho’s a bit of an oddball, not quite fitting in anywhere. He’s a little too young to be considered a perpetrator the way his brother is, but he’s also not quite young enough to be considered a victim the way our main pairing is.

Aww, poor Moon Ho doesn't fit with the big kids or the little kids

It’s this sense of isolation and loneliness that really build Moon Ho into the bizarrely intriguing character he is. Moon Ho is not quite as black-and-white as our main couple are, and there’s a good portion of the series where you can’t quite be sure whether he’s on our side or not. While many actors would have struggled and come across simply blank, Yoo Ji Tae is able to convey an unbelievable amount of emotion through a single expression- yet he never quite gives everything away. What even- how is that possible? Witchcraft or something.

Well on his way to crazy-town

Park Sang Won is similar as Kim Moon Shik, but it was less his actual goodie/baddie status that was unclear and more his opinion on his position. Park Sang Won danced the same line as Yoo Ji Tae, having to convey large amounts of emotion without many lines, and without exposing his whole character. All the support characters were so amazing that it would take me all year to write about them all so extensively. Ajumma and Taemi made a great team for Healer, and who didn’t love the band of reformed criminals that surrounded Young Shin and her Dad? And then there’s the original five reporters. I have never seen such magical casting before. All five younger actors were able to completely capture the essence of the older actors. It was never confusing trying to figure out who was who as the acting was so very similar from both the younger and older actors. Shout-out to Choi Dong Goo who was so ridiculously similar to Oh Kwang Rok it’s hard to believe they aren’t actually the same person in different periods of time.

I mean, they even look kinda the same

The reveal of all the drama’s mysteries was handled in a delightfully delicate way. We were always given enough to keep us interested, but never too much that we thought we had any idea what was going on. Each Healer job contributed to the overall mystery in one way or another and was an excellent way of tying all our ends together and leading up to bigger, badder threats. It was also wonderful that the writers didn’t go to town on the fact that our three main characters had known each other as children. While it’s clear that their past relationship is the reason they are all involved in the current events, it’s never used as a reason to explain their closeness.

Too cute for words

It was so enjoyable to watch these people start their relationships from scratch and have to build up trust again- because that’s how relationships work. You don’t just magically trust someone because you were buddies 10 or so years ago. I also appreciated that the drama didn’t linger on the ‘your dad might have killed my dad’ point. Because who cares? These two kids barely remember their biological fathers so why would they lose their sh*t over that discovery? Well done drama, well done. I applaud your common sense.

What Was Great:

Healer:

Yes, a million times yes

Okay, it’s Ji Chang Wook in badass clothes and kicking a lot of butt. Oh, and he also sets up super adorable secret dates for his crush. Mm hmm. What’s not to like? Seriously though, he’s such a well constructed, well developed character. It’s always lovely to see characters that aren’t your typical Prince Charming- maybe because it gives us the illusion that he may actually exist out there somewhere. Sure, Healer is cool, coordinated and smoking hot- but he’s also massively introverted, mildly damaged, and a bit of a slob. Ji Chang Wook manages to accurately portray the false bravado that Healer puts on to hide his loneliness and insecurities. Then on the flip side of that we have his Clark Kent disguise, Bong Soo- timid, stuttery and a bit of a fool, but equally as adorable. It was a stroke of genius to use Healer’s Clark Kent persona to sidle through Young Shin’s defences and have her open up to him. About him. It was beautiful, funny, and oddly sad to watch Bong Soo listen to how amazing Young Shin thought he was, or be rejected because of himself, or c*ck-block himself. Yes, yes, hilarious, delightful gold.

Side of Romance:

The fact that the romance wasn’t the main point of the plot was wonderful. In an eara crammed filled with rom-coms it was nice to have a different genre taking the lead.

These two made my tummy tickle

And yet we still got our delicious taste of the romance- done even better than some of the rom-coms. I can’t tell you how relieved I am that the writers didn’t try to cram a love triangle in there. It made scenes of Healer acting passive-aggressively that much more entertaining. As it is, Kim Moon Ho remaining as an Uncle to Healer and Young Shin was exponentially more fulfilling than if he’s been interested in Young Shin romantically.

Infinitely better than a love kerfuffle

Grey Villain:

It’s always enjoyable to have a villain, and it’s double enjoyable to have a villain who’s not clear cut. The interesting aspect of Kim Moon Shik’s character is not whether or not he classifies as being a ‘bad’ person. Pretty early on we’re given a clue that he has at least some degree of responsibility for two deaths- but it's whether or not he views himself as guilty.

He was so pretty though

It’s interesting to watch the way his character progresses from the two timelines. In the past it’s very difficult to condemn Moon Shik’s actions. Running from the scene after Oh Gil Han’s murder is totally understandable- if the two boys had stayed they also would have died. His adoration of Choi Myung Hee is clear for all to see, so it makes sense that he would lie to the police about Gil Han’s death in order to save her life, as it seemed like the Elder’s people were well on their way to knocking her off before blackmailing Moon Shik into switching sides. Where it gets extremely interesting was that brief scene where we see him repeating the lie to the police in interrogation after interrogation. At first he’s scared, uncomfortable and presumably wracked with guilt. But as he repeats his (false) testimony time and time again his appearance becomes more comfortable and he speaks more confidently, almost as if he has somehow managed to convince himself that what he is saying is true. Quick jump to the future and Moon Shik is clearly not a stand-up guy. He has a magical ability to manipulate the truth so that it works to his advantage, something he must have learned during all those interrogations, and has no issue with letting others do his dirty work so that he can live a comfortable life. The battle of words between him and Moon Ho were intoxicating to watch- we want so badly for Moon Ho to one-up Moon Shik, but Moon Shik is so comfortable living in his lie that doing so is nearly impossible.

How bad did we want baby brother to get him?

Moon Shik’s demise was perhaps one of the most satisfying aspects to the show’s conclusion. He didn’t really lose much in the sense of money and possessions, but losing the trust and friendship of the woman he loved nearly destroyed whatever was left of him. Then we become privy to the fact that whenever he drinks his comfortable lie warps around him and he dangles on the brink of insanity, unable to grasp his own identity. Ohhh, so satisfying.

What Wasn’t:

Elder’s Demise:

While I appreciate Moon Shik’s downfall, I didn’t really feel the same about how the Elder’s demise came about.

What a total butt that guy was

It’s all meticulously mapped out and makes sense both plot and timeline wise- but I just wish we’d had a few snippets of the virus before the final two episodes. I loved that the same video that started the series (Healer’s first assignment we saw was delivering the video to Moon Shik) also wrapped up the series, but in a drama that had done so well balancing the pace, the end felt a little rushed.

What total mayhem

All of a sudden there’s a girl on a plane and a virus and Healer’s switched sides but not really and there’s an interview and the Elder’s defeated. Boom, done, finished, kaput. On a side note- it was wonderful how Bong Soo ‘died’ so that Healer could live on as Seo Jung Hoo.

NOPE

That Dude’s Giggle:

Such a small thing to be annoyed about, but it bugged me whenever I saw it. In a drama that was so serious and reality-based, this one little action came across cartoonish and gimmicky. I know it worked for some people and made the little man seem scary, but I just couldn’t abide by it. Particularly because it wasn’t something he’d been doing all series long. Suddenly he was just covering up some giggles and I was just like…ew, no, stop.

Re-watch?

Yes, yes- forever yes. It’s basically Korean Batman. But with more computers and hacking and a much less irritating girl. The drama is as perfectly balanced as K-Drama’s get in every department: cast, characters, plot, execution- this series just did it for me.

Just watch it and love it