This Drama Solved My Life Problems.
plEASE, I was so proud of this drama when I finished watching it. For the first time I found myself genuinely wanting a season 2 for absolutely no reason. Though, I wish Yeong Shin had more interactions with those ex-cons because I could tell they treated one another like family. I won't lie, I feel like Yeong Shin's past wasn't fully explained, and her biological mother never exactly found out, did she? Anyway this is the first drama I really want to rewatch some time.Chae Yeong Shin is the most innocently fearless female lead I've seen in a kdrama so far. Literally, this girl can do anything head-on it's pretty mind-blowing. Yet she's a whole softie and I love it. SEO JUNG HOO, PARK BONG SOO, HEALER, WHATEVER HE PREFERS. He's so cute, I LOVE him. I loved his interactions with Yeong Shin. And the disrespectful relationship with his partner is to DIE for. This man's duality is pretty damn good. I loved how terrified he was when Yeong Shin's dad chased him around. The five friends that connected the male and female leads' pasts was a lot more complicated than I thought. At first, I thought everyone was stressed out about a car accident, but it turned out to be something more detailed. Jo Min Ja is the best hacker I've seen. She's just like a teenager's mom, and the way how everyone thought she was Jung Hoo's mother is hilarious. She's so sarcastic, all her scenes make the show so much more lively.
The other characters were also good, but then this review would be too long lol :))
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it was quiet good ??
The show was made a long time ago 2014 and i've just watched it recently in 2022 , personnlly i am not a big fan of rom-cos or cliché mi am more into slow burn romance with kind of a darks side which this drama wasn't giving as was expected .despite being so old and having those cliché ngl i kinda felt nostalgic cus it's been a long time since i've watched an old drama with so well done clichée i'd say ; the acting was on point neverthless i kind off didn't understand some of the ML reactions abt the new revelation the whole story was abt her finding these things but they didn't give it importance which i kinda disliked cus they passed and moved on .
i kinda liked and diskliked the ML is a love hate relation ship, but i did like that she was understanding to what the ML was hiding from her and she didn't ask more question nor hated him or was angry even tho she knew he was hiding things from her which was what the whole plot were about , she yet acted as if she didn't know, you know i was like yes that's good ?? but still she just sucked it up and didn't get mad or anything of sort like that's it the revelation she found out were what the whole plot is about and i thought they would give her more script of her being a stubborn kind of they just moved on on her finding those revelation and passed so thats what i disliked .
after all i really liked the characters they have done a good job acting and i felt absorbed by what i was watching even tho i am not very fan off 5+ years old drama yet it was a good watch smtg that i wouldn't recommend first thing but you can try if you're being nostalgic to the old drama with the ost in every romance moment personnally i was missing it so that's why i liked it .
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'Healer' himself is the key character to this story - the one who transforms from a loner, selfish, barely trusting anyone to a kinder, more generous person who wants to see justice done. His story would be transfixing on its own - but its paired with a believable romance with lots of interactions, a mystery with multiple subplots, and a moving story regarding old friends, family and generational hopes.
The acting is top notch, and all the leads (and many of the supporting characters) can go back and forth between humour, tragedy, action etc. with the drop a hat. The music is good enough. There is a lot of rewatch potential as a lot of its value is not in the 'mysteries' of the show.
I grade by other criteria as well:
Complex Themes -10
There are A LOT of themes here regarding corruption, power, love, friendship, selfishness v. sacrifice etc.
Character Growth -8.5
'Healer' grows a lot as noted above, and at certain points in the show does a 'Superman' type deception. Yeongsin does become a bit sharper, cynical and somewhat steelier over the show, but the majority of the transformation is on his side.
Nuanced Women -7.5
There are 3 great female roles in the show - very smart with strength of character, but unfortunately no real bond or connection between them until the very end. The women are more ideals and inspiration - motivations for the men in the show than fully fleshed out characters in and of themselves.
Cinematography/Production Values - 8.5
The action scenes are really well done on what appears to be a lower budget than what K-dramas have today. Lots of 'exteriors' shot in real settings scenes - good, basic cinematic camerawork. The main downfall is the wealthy people do not have the trappings/attitudes of the wealthy probably due to lack of budget.
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What I liked:
* The main lead's acting. I loved how he portrayed his character's emotional turmoil and, especially in the first half, his confusion about his feelings.
* I liked the pacing overall. There was a bit of a drag around the 2/3 mark, and the last episode felt rushed, but I really liked how the story, the parent's history and the love story, unfold.
* The action scenes were well done, and there was no excessive violence, only what was needed by the plot.
* I like the underlying message. Namely, that a free press (Free of politics and free of commercial restrictions) can be very powerful and that is why we need it.
* Something which I loved: At the beginning of each episode we were shown the last scene of the episode which came before -- which is not that new, but that scene always had something new, either just an extended version or the pint of view of another character, which sometimes even made me re-evaluate what I saw before. I don't think I've seen that done before, at least not that consistently.
What I did not like:
* Maybe I'm spoiled by dramas like "The Good Detective" or "Stove League", where there are multilayered characters and no clear line between good and bad, but I was disappointed by the "mystery", which was basically the "evil group who controls everything with an even more evil leader" trope. That trope is old and overdone, and I think audiences can and should expect more respect for their intelligence.
* I especially don't understand why they had to introduce a new plotpoint in the last two episodes. I'm sure they wanted to resolve the "item" and the murder of the first episode and maybe they wanted to finish with a bang, but it did not feel as an organic part of the rest.
* The female characters (apart from "Ajumma") also stayed remarkably passive during the whole show. The plot was mainly driven by Healer and the male reporter, while the young female reporter and the lady in the wheelchair usually followed behind, although both women's lives were equally, if not more, affected by the bad guys. Also, they are meant to be reporters! I expected them to take the lead at least in the later episodes.
All in all, it wasn't a bad watch but I'm not sure if it's worth a rewatch.
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This review may contain spoilers
Love this series. The suspense...yes. Plot...yes. Action...yes. Romance...yes. Sexy....yes, yes.As soon as you finish 1 episode you'll crave the next episode, I mean crave like a fiend. The plot keeps you in it and the romance is just right. Spoiler!! Who knew holding hands could sizzle like this? 1 item though...they overdid the Parkour in one of the episodes and after all the build up there should have been a little more meat for the, I'll just call it, "the true reunion" towards the end. Also, Moments of the last episode felt a little hurried. This is the only reason this wasn't a puuuurfect 10...it's a 9.9! Other than that..it'll keep you on the edge of your seat. It's a fantastic journey. My recommendation? ---Just watch it!! Healer is the cure for the common KDrama! Fyi: . I'm now going to be looking out for more shows with Ji Chang-Wook. Empress Ki...you and I will be in for a looong binge.
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but cast were good
i didn't like the first songs they could put better musics than those english songs...
ajuma(kim min kyung) was fantastic...
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Not my cup of tea
I feel bad because a lot of people have recommended this drama and I genuinly tried to enjoy it.I think this one might just be me more than the drama. I'm more of a main character focus first then slowly get into plot - high stakes - larger than life conflict sort of person. This drama just failed to make me care about the characters.
When I first started watching the very first episode we hardly spent much screen time with the MC. There is just too much going on, so many overly complicated political nuances that I honestly do not have the patience to follow at this point in the story. I usually can appreciate the political side of dramas and the evil overlords that want to conquer the world and kill ML but with this one, because I barely had any information about ML and the situation at hand, I couldn't care less if he died or not. It's a bit of a structural problem... like they're introducing the bad guys and side characters first and ML and FL second. It just felt all over the place and very disconnected. I gave it five episodes and each one felt like a chore and homework mixed together. I had to keep tabs on everyone all at once and the backstory is not very engaging.
ML is charismatic and has um.. visual appeal, but other than that I'm not really seeing much five episodes in. He might get better in the future but if you haven't been able to properly introduce your ML in five hours I can't help you. His connection with FL- them knowing each other as kids but maybe not remembering is something that I've seen being handled so much better in other dramas. A picture of both kids sleeping next to each other is just not enough to make me relate to them. If you're having them be childhood friends at least have them be awake. I don't care for sleeping characters as an introduction.
FL is annoying... such a disappointment from her wonderful introduction being raised by thugs. All that goes out the window very quickly for the sake of rescuing her. I love me some damsel in distress actually, but it felt... forced here.
I did not care for Reporter guy or his backstory. Sorry.
Overall this drama lacks the binge factor/page turner/mystery aspect that makes me click the next episode. I might come back to it one day and give it a chance, but probably not at the time being.
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the blend of adrenaline-pumping thrills, a truly sparky, heartfelt OTP, a deeply melty – yet flawed and believable – hero, and a courageous, strong heroine, makes for an exhilaratingly heady combination of feels that just sends my heart in multiple directions all at once.
Highly polished camera work and its very effective, very immersive OST, and it’s a combination that’s pretty darn hard to beat.
A worth watching drama.
#Healer #kdrama #jeechangwook #parkminyoung
#thriller #hacker #romance #fighting
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