Review: Healer

Overview:

Seo Jung Hoo has a secret identity as a courier– he will do any job for money, so long as it doesn’t involve murder. In this field he is known simply as ‘Healer’. When one day he gets the task to track down a second-rate reporter named Chae Young Shin, he is forced to step out of his life of solitude. He gets more than he bargained for when he begins to uncover an intricate hidden past between himself, Chae Young Shin, and famous reporter Kim Moon Ho.

Genre: Action, Thriller, Comedy, Romance, Drama

Overall Rating: 9/10

Storyline: 8.5/10

Relationships: 9.5/10

Feel: Intense, serious, thriller

Characters: 9.4/10

Soundtrack: 8.5/10

Production (acting, cinematography, etc.): 8/10

Most redeemable quality: The heart-pounding romance

Personal enjoyment factor: 9.5/10

I was a trainwreck when I finished this one. Healer was a complete roller coaster ride, and I can’t believe I didn’t watch it earlier. This one temporarily became my religion, energy source, and life. Why isn’t this more popular? What happened to the ratings? I am heartbroken. The characters, the acting, the romance, and just everything in general...

Let me talk about how wonderful this one was…

Relationships: 9.5/10

OMFG CHAE YOUNG SHIN AND SEO JUNG HOO, FML THEY’RE JUST PERFECTION. Whenever I think of them together I just want to burst out of my seat and twirl around in a field of flowers. They are the sweetest, cutest, most genuine couple… Anyway, the progress of their relationship had my heart pounding a thousand times a minute (I may need to see a specialist to heal me). The romance is all gradual, and even though you can predict that they’re going to be a couple, the whole thing is so subtle that you don’t even realise how gradual it is until you look back on what they were before! I love the whole protectiveness Jung Hoo has over Young Shin, yet the protectiveness Young Shin has for Jung Hoo (or more specifically, Park Bong Soo). They protect each other. The relationship Young Shin has with either of Jung Hoo’s alter egos brings out a different kind of excitement.


AND they don’t let the small details get in the way of their relationship: they doubt, they question, they’re scared… but they trust. They trust in each other and they move on past the obstacles.

+ Their romantic scenes are in a WHOLE new realm of heart-racing. It’ll have you:

a. melting

b. grinning

c. squealing

d. hugging your pillow

e. all of the above.

Every side character is also woven into the storyline with the most interesting connections to each other. And each interaction is captivating in its own way. I particularly like Shin Young’s father, and the ex-criminals that work at his cafe.

Characters: 9.4/10

Jung Hoo/ Park Bong Soo/ Healer: What kind of love interest pulls at your heart strings?
A badass, rebel who can fight and protects the female lead?

Or a gentle and thoughtful guy who does the subtle things to support the protagonist?

Perhaps you like the innocent, cute, bubbly one who’s maybe a bit clumsy?

Thing is, this drama gives you all those roles wrapped into one gorgeous character, who is Healer, Jung Hoo and Bong Soo – all the same person, so many wonderful traits… So he’s every possible version of any girl– or boy’s– perfect guy. Also, he has an attractiveness that just oozes masculinity, with that strong jawline and ultra broad shoulders, as opposed to most flower boys in mainstream dramas. It’s also important to add that his character development is exceptional.

Chae Young Shin: Such a refreshing female lead! She’s a vivacious, strong character who still has empathy and a brain. She’s that bright sunshine figure that always thinks positively, and manages to thaw Jung Hoo’s heart. Although her hairstyle is annoying at first, you’ll find that it suits her bubbly personality.
















Kim Moon Ho wasn’t all that captivating of a character for me, but he has his own depth and story behind him which was delivered perfectly. In addition, the ‘villains’ are hella complex, and you can see both the bad and good in them. Everything in the drama has an authentic feel that brings life to all the characters.

Feel: Intense, serious, thriller.

I’m not going to lie: Healer is really, really intense. It’s like an army machine gun with filled ammunition: it’s heavy, loaded, and will kill you (emotionally). Most importantly it is NOT melodramatic. It is exciting and thrilling like you wouldn’t believe. Although much of the drama is serious, the developments and situations are going to make you smile like crazy. You’re going to watch this drama and not realise it’s got you addicted until you’re forced to do something (like brushing your teeth, showering, or going to work/ school– pft what are all these things?) while you’re halfway through an episode. And there is always Chae Young Shin and Jung Hoo/ Bong Soo’s clumsy, loveable character to breathe comedy into the story to save it.

One of my all time favourite scenes (though there are so many)... Chae Young Shin's dancing and singing just gives me life, omfg.

Storyline: 8.5/10

Holy faeces, the intricacy of the story line is astounding.

Firstly, I’m going to be honest and say that initially I wasn’t all too captivated by this drama until about episode 4. For myself, it was too confusing with the way characters were introduced and connected in the story as first, because the screenwriter was being evil. Basically, if drama viewers were customers at a restaurant, and the drama Healer was a dish of rice that you had to finish, then the equivalent of what happens is this: Imagine the screenwriters grabbed the entire bowl, and shoved it down your throat– bowl, spoon, rice, all of it at once. I guess you could say the story was just a bit hard to… digest. Basically, it’s hard to understand at first (or maybe I’m just retarded), and hence not that interesting, but you get into the groove of it as you continue. And boy, is it worth it.



It’s fast-paced, and it transitions from one sub-plot to another seamlessly. It took directions/ pathways that I never expected, but the change was so subtle that I didn’t notice until I started writing this review. Every episode, has a redeemable, interesting quality (but mix in the first few episodes with confusion). It’s only weakness is its consistency. The thing about Healer is that it’s a lot like a roller coaster. You get extreme, extreme moments of excitement and shock, but you also get some short ‘low’, somewhat slow parts where there’s just talking and explanation. These ‘low’ bits are put most evidently in the first few episodes to set up the drama for the real stuff. Still, they drag on the good parts a bit.

Unfortunately, the ending was a bit rushed an open ended, but the mini conclusions for sub-issues throughout the drama prevented their own loose ends.

Production: 8/10

Acting - 10/10: Can we talk about how well Ji Chang Wook characterised each facet of his character? Looking at him, his features are so endearingly masculine that you would never think he could act like the innocent, timid, clumsy Park Bong Soo. Apparently, the actor did most of the action scenes himself– even more impressive. Legitimately, this drama was acted by the elite of the elite of acting. Never once did I doubt the credibility of the character's emotions or portrayal. They were– are– real.

Cinematography - 6.9/10: I know this is an action drama, but at times, the really quick flicking and editing of fight scenes or action manoeuvres were too disorienting for me. When I wanted to see the full move, flip, etc., the screen would switch onto a different angle. I just wanted to see the whole smooth movement of the manoeuvre for me to appreciate the action more.

Soundtrack: 8.5/10

Ji Chang Wook sang one of the songs, and his voice is impressive. On the other hand, I don’t care much for the lyric-based songs. However, the instrumentals have been on replay for me for weeks now. These songs are so pretty, and make all the good memories come rushing back.

Just listen to them, and you’ll know what I mean by ‘pretty’.

Here's the main theme song, and it's beautiful...

Other Mentions:

What drove me to watch this initially is because I heard about its similarities to City Hunter. Although the premise seems similar, they are quite different. The vibe you get from Healer is so much more mature in its approach to certain issues, and the romance in each has a very, very different interaction. City Hunter has the typical independent girl/ teasing rich boy feel (but it executes it well), while Healer goes for a more authentic and multi-faceted romance (just as thrilling). It's an added bonus that there is more physical intimacy in Healer. I did enjoy the action scenes in City Hunter more, though. I got clearer shots/ views of super awesome moves, while Healer does the same but delivers it with confusing editing.