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The Fiery Priest korean drama review
Completed
The Fiery Priest
1 people found this review helpful
by Polyar
Dec 25, 2023
40 of 40 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 10
Story 10.0
Acting/Cast 10.0
Music 10.0
Rewatch Value 10.0
This review may contain spoilers

An All Time Classic with the perfect mix of Action, Fun, and Drama!

Where do I even start with this amazing K-Drama? I may be slightly biased with this K-Drama because of the obviously heavy focus on Catholicism but this k-drama instantly hooked me in the very first minutes of it. The character introduction of Father Kim was instantly iconic, the presentation of how he moves and his fiery personality made him larger than life. Kim Nam Gil does a perfect and flawless job in his portrayal of Father Kim, nobody else in Korea could have done what he did with the role. Right from the start The Fiery Priest does a wonderful job in establishing the tone of the entire K-Drama showing both a comedic side and a more serious side while adding in some actually pretty amazing action scenes with some fantastic choreography which is always a crucial thing for me when it comes to watching a K-Drama. It never strays away from the set tone once throughout the entire series. It expertly mixes it all together allowing for the viewer to laugh and enjoy the really fun and happy moments while feeling the emotion of the serious scenes.

One of the biggest motifs of the Fiery Priest is redemption focusing around Father Kim redeeming his two main partners in taking on the corrupt council that runs Gudam. It handles redemption in a perfect pace allowing for a proper pay off of Father Kim's two main partners. His first partner, Goo Dae Young, starts off as a foolish unlikeable corrupt goofball and turns into a brave passionate police officer who wants to protect the innocence at all costs while still being a goofball. Kim Sung Kyun does a great job in showing the duality of both forms of his character and acts as a great counterpart to Father Kim. Father Kim's second partner, Prosecutor Park Kyung Sun starts off as a crazy dirty backstabber who wants to get promoted at all costs and becomes a cunning brave, smart, and bold upholder of the law even if it makes her lose her job. Lee Ha Nee does such a perfect job with the role, really owning the craziness of the character. All of this is done through Father Kim's influence over them. Another person Father Kim influences in a good direction is Goo Dae Young's rookie partner, Seo Seung Ah, while she starts off already good and wanting to take on the corrupt Gudam gang, Father Kim makes he really brave and even stronger in her pursuit of doing good, I loved how Geum Sae Rok made her such a loveable character right from the start.

One of my favorite things the Fiery Priest did was it gave every main character a proper backstory on why they do the things they do which allows for a more in-depth look into the psyche of the character giving even more life and a feeling of natural connection to the characters. It's truly amazing how many character's got a proper backstory. The Fiery Priest held consistent to this all throughout the series which showed the screenwriter and director really knew their characters.

The supporting cast was fantastic with Father Kim's fellow clergy to his friends around Gudam especially Ssongsak, his growth as a character was amazing throughout the series, becoming a character I couldn't wait for the next scene he was in. Hwang Cheol Bum and his gang especially Jang Ryong were great fodder to Father Kim's fiery path of justice. Everything about this cast from the top to the very bottom was pure perfection, I wouldn't even change a single casting nor remove or add any single character.

The pacing of the Fiery Priest was perfect, it never once dragged on for even a single second. Every single scene had quality and entertainment which kept my eyes glued to my tv at all times watching this perfect K-Drama. The one slight disappointment I had was the quality of the filming which isn't the fault of anyone really, it's what SBS had given to the director but he did a wonderful job as is with it. The soundtrack from the OST to the background music is amazing, especially Hero by Norazo, it's such an energetic track that matches the fire and passion that Father Kim has.

This is my second K-Drama I have watched that was directed by Lee Myung Woo, the first I watched of his was Backstreet Rookie which was my first ever perfectly scored K-Drama, this man really knows how to put together a perfect cohesive and consistent K-Drama. Seeing Eum Moon Suk and Ahn Chang Hwan who both appeared and interacted with each other in Backstreet Rookie again in the Fiery Priest made me so happy, especially how they both developed a friendship toward the very end.

One final thing, I really loved how The Fiery Priest respected and treated Catholicism with honor and due diligence. Never once did I find anything disrespectful or offensive to my faith. Father Kim has become one of my all time favorite Catholic non-fiction heroes, he might even be in my Top 3 now next to Daredevil and Robocop!

I really really really love The Fiery Priest, I can't wait for the rumored second season! I'd recommend this K-Drama to absolutely everyone!
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