Healer #Review

Title: 힐러 / Hilleo  
Genre: Romance, comedy, thriller, action  
Episodes: 20  
Broadcast network: KBS2  
Broadcast period: Dec, 2014 to Feb, 2015

 

 


Finished watching this afternoon, and like a terrific book you can't wait to finish in order to find out how it all works out, I felt the same way about Healer.  

Bad thing about that is, like a good book, when you do get to the end, you're sad to know it's over even if you were looking forward to the end!  

Man, was this good.  

The plot 

. . . I'll quote the KBS source first . . .
 

A mysterious messenger of the 22nd century, an online newspaper reporter who only concerns her own interests, a popular reporter who agonizes over the truth and reality. When these three people meet, a passionate romance starts and the truths from the past and present reveal themselves to the world. This drama features young people and how they grow into real reporters.

. . . and then say (like per usual) it doesn't make much sense and didn't help me to understand the story's premise.  

I don't know if Healer was a mysterious messenger from the 22nd century -- in fact, I don't recall anyone slipping through time to deliver anything throughout the 20 episodes.

What it did do was to keep going back in time, 1992 to be precise, and show us glimpses of why that story is relevant to the plot in the present.

Healer did deal with three separate types of news reporter, and they did uncover an awful secret from the PAST (not the future) that still needed explaining and exposure.

That much is true.

The girl, however, was hardly self-absorbed.

More clueless and suffering an identity crisis at the start of this show.

She had big dreams of a promising career in reporting, but there was something holding her back.

We discover what that something is later in the show.

Healer (Ji Chang Wook as Seo Jung Hoo / Bong seo) is a mystery right out of the gate and someone who remained elusive, sexy, and self-assured throughout . . . even when he eventually transformed into bookish Bong seo, the mild-mannered office gopher at the newly created Some Day News.

Both depictions of Healer and Bong seo made me love Chang wook.

Funny thing is, I couldn't get past the first episode of Bachelor's Vegetable Stand, in which he stars.

You can bet I'll be watching it next, though!

Long story short: these three reporters are connected by a thin thread from the past.

The eldest (Yoo Ji Tae as Kim Moon Ho) knows enough about what's going on to want to put an end to the madness, but there is something that prevents him from revealing everything all at once.

He hires Seo Jung Hoo to obtain a DNA sample of the female wanna-be reporter, Park Min Young as Chae Young Shin.

Jung hoo traps Young shin inside a public bathroom, clips her fingernail, and disappears, leaving Young shin to hyperventilate in his startling wake.

Once Moon ho knows she is who he always assumed she was, the real fun begins.

He hires Jung hoo to guard Young shin, protect her from harm, and be her friend.

So, naturally, a romance begins to bloom for the two of them.

Jung hoo is reluctant for obvious reasons and she is eager to find out more about the mysterious Healer while becoming good friends with his alter ego, Bong seo.

They had great onscreen chemistry.

GREAT onscreen chemistry.

I liked her start to finish, her acting is superb, and the two combined made for an enticing bit of sexual tension, comedic silliness, and then that heart palpitating moment when the truth is revealed (more times than just one, too).

Loved, loved, LOVED the OST!

I know the main tune (Eternal Love) by heart now :D

Although I kept thinking it was Peter Gabriel who was doing the singing.
 
Jung hoo is a bad-ass with some serious fight skills courtesy of one of the hippest, older Korean men (Oh Kwang Rok as Ki Young Jae) I've seen onscreen thus far.   Dude was pretty awesome, and he giggled his way through every one of his scenes while teaching Jung hoo those impressive skills.   Another bonus came courtesy of my all-time favorite female actress, Kim Mi Kyung as Jo Min Ja.   She plays a retired detective and works anonymously with Jung hoo to help undo injustices Min ja is capable of detecting through the use of some extremely advanced hacking devices and her own know-how.   Actually, everyone involved in this thriller of sorts did a great job. The goofy guy in the Some Day office always at his laptop, and his timid boss.   The young girl who lives in the streets, break-dances, and uses her gang mentality to help Min ja aid Jong hoo -- she was a scene-stealer.   I also kept wanting to believe that she is Kim Mi kyung's real-life daughter, too. Might just be me, but they look alike and even act/sound alike.   Healer was a wonderful 20-episodes that I was thrilled to bits to be able to watch as it rolled, and for which I'm sad now that it's over.   Encore!