Healer (2014)

Parkour guy gets revenge on everyone for missing out on the olympic gymnastics team.

I tried. I really tried.

Through 9 episodes, I was praying this show would pick up. Surely, I thought, "it must pick up, I'm missing something here; I've pushed through mediocre beginnings before. It seems like a well rated and popular show. Show me something, anything, even one likeable character to hang on to". I waited patiently, but nothing materialized through nearly the 50% mark of this show; close to 10 hours of development. That's simply not acceptable for me - to have zero positive elements to experience or look forward to. I can accept a blend of bad and good, but an absence of any good is a complete turnoff.

First off, the music was noticeably bad and corny. Music, at worst , should be neutral, unmemorable, and not distracting. It's a sin if it stands out as bad. At that point, I'd rather there be no music. Just cut it out.

Second, in most shows, I can usually criticize the plot/writing more than acting or directing. In this show, the plot was actually the 'best' element, and it was still mediocre (5/10). Picture this: a young man parkours his way across building rooftops while chasing a vehicle through the city, he dives through people's windows into their living rooms while they're watching TV; he's being aided by a 50s tech hacker wizard with frizzy wild hair who can hack any computer, CCTV, etc., in real time, and bark directions to parkour guy on where the car is going; by the way, the hacker and parkour guy don't know each other's true identities but work together in this risky way with high trust; they must sense each other's age through voice because parkour guy speaks formally to hacker wizard; parkour guy is able to keep up with the car and doesn't even seem out of breath, never trips or loses his footing - oh and it is nighttime, too; he gets into fights with thugs, does gymnastics high bar routines while politely hitting thugs; no one knows parkour guy's identity because he wears shaded glasses and dark clothing with the top of his face covered; he has no morals and gets paid to do a variety of sh*t for mostly privileged and immoral men; without a doubt, parkour guy is just venting, displacing his anger for missing out on the Olympic gymnastics team; do you want me to keep explaining this further or do you get the picture?

There are long scenes with corny music and implied plot development. For example, check out episode 9, 27:00-29:00; it is two minutes where character A is thinking about character B wistfully, while character B is watching character A secretively. Guess where Character B is? They are parkouring their way across rooftops following Character A through random parts of the city 'protectively watching them'. 2 whole minutes. This scene isn't a sole transgression, there's quite a bit of this. Again, let me remind you, the plot is the strength in this show.

Third -and this is the first show for me in about 80 shows -I felt the acting across the board was, at best, mediocre. I cannot believe how average to bad some of the acting is in this show. I'm not even talking about I didn't connect with 'characters'. I'm talking straight up mediocre acting performance. Sadly, most 'characters' didn't even have a chance to shine even if the design was decent, because the acting was corny, unnatural, forced. Joo Yeon Hee? Intellectually, we are supposed to feel bad for this character's circumstances; instead I felt bad they were written and acted the way they were. I've enjoyed Park Min Young in a few shows, perhaps not super impressed, but enjoyable enough. I could not stand the character of Chae Yeong Shin and the acting was off. Awkward singing, overacted do-gooder, ridiculously naive, and lacking tact, Yeong Shin was difficult to watch and root for. Her romance with Seo Jung Hoo or "Healer" was plain awkward. The first kiss they share while they cannot see each other, is uninspiring; in some reverse alternative universe, the girl now, not Healer, has the upper part of her face covered. She was not skeeved out at all getting kissed on a rooftop by someone she can't see and doesn't know; maybe all the viewers that rated this show 10/10 like that kind of romance. Aigoo, I've had better kisses with pillows. Serious!

Sometimes, a show is not that high quality, but I understand what's happening in the plot well enough to skip the less interesting bits so I can enjoy the parts or characters that are enjoyable. In Healer, there wasn't anything for me to enjoy. Healer is the first show I wanted to fast forward, but couldn't because the plot was complex enough, that to fast forward scenes would impact comprehension. To comprehend, I had to watch. Ultimately, I could not justify doing that for another 10 hours.

I'm genuinely confused at what the high raters experienced.

Lire davantage

Things I like: Jeong hoo absolutely nailing it as Bong soo! :D

This was an absolute perfection, the storyline, the casting, the acting, the pacing and the chemistry between the main leads, everything was top notch. so satisfying I didn't expect a 2014 drama to be this delightful but oh well.

firstly the five friends and moon ho, the pirate broadcasting thing was so cool. it was nice to see youngsters in the 80's fighting for freedom in the way they best know to. it was sad where all of them ended up in life moving forward but still their bravery is worth talking about (maybe excluding moon sik).

secondly, Healer i mean Seo jeong hoo or should i say Park bong soo ;) he's such an interesting character. he could be an actor with the way he can just become another person if he wants to and beside that he's also a living weapon, dude doesn't need anything other than his hands to kick some asses :D the way he gradually develops an interest in CYS first and then falls and then changes his life goals was done really well.
"things i like, high places, small hands, these heir. things i don't like: anything and everything that keeps me away from this" -this is a dialogue I'll keep in my mind forever along with when he said "what kind of man makes his women go on a run" Seo jeong hoo, the man that you are. Ji Chang Wook practically lived his role here, bravo!

Lire davantage

A drama to start them all

Since almost everything has already been said about Healer, I will try to keep this review as short as possible :
So, basically, you need to watch this drama. Right now.
Well, I'm not saying this is a perfect tv-show (slow motion effect abuse, too much emphasis on obvious things...)
But it's really enjoyable... mostly because there's something to see, to hear and to feel for everyone in this drama.
So... basically, you need to watch this drama.

Lire davantage