Healer (2014)
힐러
Starring: Ji Chang Wook, Park Min Young, Yoo Ji Tae
Seen: End of 2018
One of the dramas I think will remain a favorite no matter how many I binge is Healer. I'm a sucker for action and crime, love it, raised with it (sounds strange I know, but along side Disney and kids cartoons like Totally Spies and Scooby Doo I watched NCIS and Bones - passed high school biology thank to those forencic scientist characters). Ji Chang Wook does hold a real challange for me though. It doesn't matter how many times I practice, how many times my Korean friends walk me thought it or repeat it to me - I cannot say his name. I just never get it right! Hearing his name for the first time was when I realized romanized Hangeul sucks. You'd think it made it easier to learn Korean names and such hahah NOPE. It messes everything up! It's embarassing how wrong your thought of a pronounciation can become. If you want to know the real pronounciation of Korean names, I advice you to learn Hangeul. It only takes a few hours to learn and it helps a lot to feel a bit more "on track". Maybe that's just me, a language lover who hates making mistakes while learning (even though I encourage it because that's the best way to learn!). Ji Chang Wook however, no. I refuse. I will call him Healer, no matter what role he's playing. Nope. Uh-uh.
To go back to a first comment about the actual drama and not the main actor in it, I overall think this is a very heartfelt drama. Lots of action and so much romance that makes you awwwwwwwwww so god darn hard. Everyone wishes they had a Healer in their life after watching this, I bet. At least I did, and I think that's always a good sign.
Story summary:
In all honesty, I find it a little difficult to describe this drama's storyline. It's a bit of a mess, but it's a very capturing mess. It begins somewhere with reporter Kim Moon Ho who learns the truth behind an old cold case. He intentionally approches people who were involved with the case to try and help them, but things doesn't turn out quite as he'd expected. Healer is a guy who works under the radar with all kinds of "green lantern" cases. He's the protector, the fighter, the hero who nobody knows the identity of. He simply goes by Healer. Somehow internet reporter Chae Young Shin, a rookie working for the same company as Kim Moon Ho, becomes curious about making a story of Healer and tries contacting him and he turns her world upside down.
First impression:
HELLO HANDSOME. Kind like that. Yeah that was most likely exactly why I began watching. Saw Ji Chang Wook's picture - "Well hello, who are you?". Read the summary - "Hmmmm just what I like too wowowow double trouble let's investigate *presses play*".
I got the impression that Ji Chang Wook was a primary action actor, but after doing some quick google clicks to look him up I realized that he doesn't do only action. But he does a damn good job in it. I got the feeling that it suited him and after watch K2, I knew it definitely did. Maybe that's why he takes a lot of action roles? Hm. Perhaps. Dang can that boy do fighting scenes (and hubba hubba, he's quite nice to look at too)!
I like the character Healer for a few reasons:
He's super chill. He does his own thing, he does it well and doesn't care more than that.
I find him interesting. How he's so young and does the kind of low key criminal (actually straight up illegal, that means) job he does, how he lives in a worn down factory or whatever kind of building it's supposed to be and how he ended up the way he did. You don't get to know fully how he started out doing what he does, but a start of it all was definitely his teacher - the one who looked out for him and taught him how to fight. I'd really like to know if Ji Chang Wook practiced martial arts or parkour before he became an actor, or if it's just part of his training.
He is an honest liar. As soon as Chae Young Shin finds out about his true identity, he doesn't hold back. He'll kiss her if he wants too - even if he risks being murdered by her father (oops). By liar I mean how he portrays the reporter Bong Soo with a completely different personality than his own, and makes it completely believable.
He is extremely calculating. Such a talent for details. He sees things others don't, or long before they do. He's able to stay out of sight, but still right there. He's also able to hide his true identity in pure sight and I find that very fascinating. So cool, so skilled.
There's a nice balance of laugh-out-loud humor, heart-thumping romance, and nail-biting action throughout this drama and there's no parts in the show which are too stretched out and boring. This is a detail that I really appreciate in a show.
I've only seen Ji Chang Wook in three dramas but I've realized that his characters all share some similar personality traits. Both Healer and K2 are very straight forwards and honest, "rude" as both characters call themselves. I wouldn't call him rude thought, I'd call him "tolerate no bullshit, and you're it so connect the dots pal". I'm a very straight forward and (brutally) honest person myself, but I'm not rude. There's a difference.
I'm not sure if this is a sign of really skilled acting, really bad acting or simply what happens when you star as the lead in mostly action TV. I know there's a laugh in the British TV world about Benedict Cumberbatch not being able to separate Sherlock Holmes from Doctor Stange. Even Daniel Radcliffe was able to do that, and he will still always be and be known for Harry Potter. I love Ji Chang Wook, when I see him in a drama I know it'll be a good one, but feeling the similarities so strongly in his different characters just because they're all action protagonists has me divided. Is it supposed to be like that? Is it Ji Chang Wook putting parts of his own personality in his roles? Is it a Korean stereotype of action heroes, that they're allergic to bullshit, really badass, straight forward, rude in the eyes of the cultural hierarchy and borderline dangerous when triggered? I will definitely watch some other action crime dramas to see if there's a genre pattern or a "Ji Chang Wook" pattern. He manages so not over-act or under-act. He makes me truly feel like I'm watching a real person living. So yeah, I love him but I still see a pattern. I'd be so interesting to meet him and see how he is as a private person. I'd love that. Call me anytime Chang Wook-ah babe!
Overall I loved the cast. So many good characters with excellent actors to portray them. I was impressed with how the side characters were so engaged and capturing, and that the story doesn't only follow the mail characters and one or two funny sidekicks. Min Ja Adjuma is amazing. So sassy, so smart, so brilliant it's impossible not to like her in my opinion. Young Shin's dad is so caring and sweet and it's so amazing to see the portrayal of pure love and proudness he has over her. Besides the Big Bad Annoying Elder, all characters has a certain depth to them - an own story. I love when all characters get included in a story. Kim Moon Ho, as the third member in the leading trio, I'm quite impressed with too. Yoo Ji Tae could have disappeared next to the ship pretty easily, but he held his own really well, keeping me completely invested in his side of the story.
Cultural imput:
One thing that I thought about was the fact that Chae Young Shin's dad became so banana when he saw Healer kiss her. Like... let me list some facts for you mister father. 1. Your daughter is an adult, she can kiss whoever she wants. 2. Healer treats her well, takes care of her, cares for her and protects her. You have no reason to dislike him for any other reason that it's another man in your daughter's life besides yourself and her uncle. I can totally appreciate fathers being protective over their children, daughters in particular, but they grow up too and get their own lives. When they're legal adults, you have no say in what they do or decide. You can only be there for support, love, comfort if needed, an ever safe place and advice if required and requested. That's how growing up works. At least that's my view of it all! If I introduce my boyfriend to my parents, of course they're going to be expectant. They're not going to be about to throw themselves at him just because he might kiss me. If they get evidence that he's a good person and is good to me, then they'll take him for that and that I like him. If he wouldn't treat me right that'd be another story. They'll always have my back.
I must admit though that I've noticed very clearly that k-dramas show a lot how parents opinions matter greatly to their children's lives. I've seen it in most dramas, and I know I also mention it in my Meteor Garden review. Mostly it's a father or mother chairman (which I in all honest still don't quite know what it is, I'm not very involved in politics), or a parent with some other high statues position in a private company worth more than their children's happiness. Something like that. This is a typical situation where it's best to say "don't believe everything you see on TV" but I also would believe that this is how it might look for a lot of kids of higher economic statues. I've seen it myself but in the British culture, and yet the British culture is so much more like my own compared to the Korean one. Social statues is a bigger thing in Korea as of my interpretations. Be certain though, I don't actually know about this from experience. I've ask my Korean friends for real life explainations and they've given me a picture which is very much precisely like my understanding of this social statues difference I've got from kdramas. Money and your level of education are all very important things in the Korean social world. Statues matters, and if you want to go far in, for example, politics - you need the odds on your side (or make them so). Family name can also be a big thing. Reputation and rumors does affect people's thoughts about you and with a heavy weight on your shoulders like such expectations and responsibilities, musts and "what mom and dad thinks", I reckon there's a lot of sons and daugthers who don't get to choose for themselves. So interesting.
Side note: Yes, my favorite words when it comes to describing the differences between the Korea culture and the general western one are "interesting" and "fascinating". It's the truth! I am a horribly curious person, and I ask questions. A lot of them, and sometimes they're personal or difficult. That's how you learn, you ask about what you don't know, don't understand or want more infomation about.
A thought I have about dramas vs western series in general is the fact that they're almost always complete opposite in length. Above I mention how I love when all active characters get involved, and not just being sided and watchers don't get to know anything about them. I don't know if it might be easier to make even side characters involved (give them a story) with a show that only has X numbers of episodes and then finishes, rather than like too many of western shows which have several (and way too many in most cases) seasons. Something that I've experienced usually happens when you continue making seasons and seasons of a show is that the center of where the show started, what the show was disappears. Still, many of my favorite western shows have several seasons and most of them would've done better to finish the show three or four years earlier than they did to keep it still good (yes, Vampire Diaries and Supernatural are among the ones I'm talking about - I know some of you might think the same about those shows). What happens with k-dramas is the complete opposite. All the shows I've seen so far as only been one season, one show, 20ish episodes and then adios amigos it's the end of the road. Some plots are so good though it drives me crazy to know I won't get to know what happens next. Healer, Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo, Chicago Typewriter (review coming), My love from another star (review coming) and Hotel Del Luna are all dramas I would LOVE to get a second season to - or at least five more episodes to see what happens next. It's completely reversed! Gggrrrrr gimme more more more...
Healer Out.
More reviews are coming soon! Leave a like and a comment! Have you watched Healer? What did you think about it?
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