[Drama 2014/2015] Healer 힐러

[thistle]

21 hours ago, stroppyse said:

The young pirate reports call out for "Min Ju" which is a word which means Democracy. 

 

Thanks for that!  I was actually just stopping by to ask exactly who Min Ju might be.  I thought it was a person and had been searching around cast lists on a couple of drama sites to no avail.  Even more confusing that Min Jae being the station chief, the hacker ajumma is named Min Ja.    The good news is that I now know another word in Korean (embarrassingly, that brings my list of Korean words to a total of about ten; I just can't seem to catch onto the language no matter how hard I try).

 

I just enjoyed re-watching episode 1.  Something I really loved about this drama are the flashback scenes with the pirate reporters because they are so idealistic and so true to the times that they would have lived in.  They believed in change and were working for it until it wrecked them all.  The casting of the older/younger versions of the characters is really excellent because they really do resemble one another and the acting skills of both sides are so good.

 

Young Shin and Healer are a nice echo of what their parents once were:  idealistic.  But because their childhoods were more traumatic than most people have to deal with, their idealism is somewhat slanted and trust is harder for them.

 

When I watched Healer the first time, it was because of Yoo Ji Tae (Moon Ho).  I saw him in the movie Ditto years ago and he's stayed in the back of my mind ever since because he gave such a nuanced performance.  I still like that movie--in fact, I re-watched it not too long ago.  Oddly enough, like Healer, the storyline of Ditto is also a blending of the past with the current day.  And I think that YJT gives a great performance in Healer, too.  It's nice to have a variety of eye candy!  

[sally2]

23 hours ago, stroppyse said:

Btw, one of the things I had kind of forgotten that I really liked in this drama, is how they handle the younger selves to older selves transition. I rather thought it was neat that it shows their younger selves who then morph into their older selves once we had met the younger selves. It provides total clarity in terms of which character they are, while keeping them in character.

So I think on my first watch of this I missed the morphing part. Now that I know the plot, and know that there are younger and older versions of the characters I appreciated this detail during the rewatch.

 

Hearing the soundtrack again caused me to smile. I like that it's pretty upbeat, keeps the drama lighthearted even though the subject matter is a bit darker.

 

I'm not sure if I'll be able to keep up with the two episodes per day rewatch, but looking forward to the discussion.

[thistle]

4 hours ago, sally2 said:

I'm not sure if I'll be able to keep up with the two episodes per day rewatch, but looking forward to the discussion.

 

Maybe you can just skip parts of the episodes and re-watch the bits you like best.    I've done that before.  It is really fun to watch the whole thing but not if it costs too much time or stresses you out.   I'm gonna do my best, too.

 

...........since I mentioned Yoo Ji Tae's role in Ditto before in my earlier post.....

Spoiler

I was inspired to hunt up the movie trailer.  It's really worth a watch.  The trailer seems fairly low quality but here it is:

 

 

 

It's probably gonna be apparent that one of my odd habits is to notice actors who have had parts in other shows or movies.  The scared guy Go Sung Chul that Healer is dealing with in Episode 1 is one of those actors.  Lee Moon Sik.  He's had a lot of minor roles but the one I remember him most from is Fly Daddy Fly.....

 

Spoiler

 

He plays a dad who is trying to help his daughter who has been assaulted and is too afraid to leave the hospital so he gets a high school thug (played by Lee Joon Gi) to teach him how to fight.  Here's a trailer for that movie--again, this is not a great trailer but I enjoyed the movie enough to watch it twice.  Also worth watching.

 

 

Here's one more:  I also noticed Kim Mi Kyung (the actress who plays Hacker Ajumma) in a very minor role in a couple of episode of  I Hear Your Voice (which I just happened to binge-re-watch last weekend).

 

This is what I like best about the actors who fill all those minor roles:  they are so multi-talented that they almost melt into the background.  That just shows how great they are at their jobs; we can believe them without even noticing them in the limelight.  Oftentimes I like the background actors even more than the stars because I really admire their work!

[sally2]

7 minutes ago, thistle said:

 

Maybe you can just skip parts of the episodes and re-watch the bits you like best.    I've done that before.  It is really fun to watch the whole thing but not if it costs too much time or stresses you out.   I'm gonna do my best, too.

 

Here's one more:  I also noticed Kim Mi Kyung (the actress who plays Hacker Ajumma) in a very minor role in a couple of episode of  I Hear Your Voice (which I just happened to binge-re-watch last weekend).

Thank you for the tip. I think it's just this weekend that I'm going to have trouble keeping up since we have house guests. After that it shouldn't be a problem.

 

If I remember correctly Kim Mi Kyung more recently is the mother in My Strange Hero.

 

Just watching Episode 2, and got to the dancing/singing scene at the Coffee Bay. JCWs facial expression as the dorky teenager watching it is priceless. I quite like him in his Healer persona, but this dorky bumbling self is pretty cute too.

[thistle]

14 minutes ago, stroppyse said:

Haven't watched Ditto. Does it have a happy ending? I'm kind of not watching movies with sad endings right now. I think YJT is a lovely man. I saw him in Han Jin Yi, and was not happy with the ending. I also watched him in Old Boy. Whew, the man is a good actor, but really, such an intense film.

 

 

A happy ending?  It is certainly not a tragic ending.  I liked the way the threads all tied together at the end.  It is not a conventional happy ending but I did not find it sad and I thought that it was satisfying because there is resolution and the characters were able to keep living their lives. 

 

I've seen some very negative comments online about Ditto but I disagree.  It's a gentle subtle movie.  And I love that kind of film.

 

But if you want to be spoiled (I actually really like being spoiled before I watch things because I can't cope with awful endings): 

Spoiler

 

Basic plot:  two college students from the same university communicate on Ham radio and arrange to meet but they can't because it turns out that she is living in 1979 and he is in the year 2000.  He's really attracted to her over the radio but she is in love with someone from her own time.  As they talk, it becomes clear to her that the young man's father is the guy she is in love with but that his mother is her best friend.  She cares so much about the radio guy that she breaks up with the love of her life so that he can be born in the future.  Toward the end of the film,  the young man goes to find her because he is so worried if her life has turned out well.  She is a university professor who has never married but she is fulfilled with her life.  They see one another but never meet or even speak.  And the young man moves forward with his own life.

 

Because I see the female lead's sacrifice of her own love as something really heroic, I cannot believe that the ending is truly sad.  She does what she does out of great love for both men.  And the young man sees that strength in her, so he is able to go on with his own life.

 

 

 

YJT really is intense and so much fun to watch.  Love him in Healer but he sure can't make me ignore JCW!  

[Guest]

What is it about this song I just never get tired of listening to it and it still warms my heart

Sending a big hug to those here and not sure how much I can join in but I will be cheering you all on,   In bringing a little life to this amazing drama and keeping this thread open is worth the time....  Fighting!!!!

 

[Usi]

Okay, lets start...with eyecandy .

 

[Usi]

On 3/5/2019 at 10:22 PM, stroppyse said:

One last thought from episode 1, it starts with Healer stripping off his shirt and showing off some lovely abs as well as coolly, efficiently doing his stealthy errand jobs. How could one not love this drama?

I must be one of the rare types who doesn’t care a bit for abs, even dislike it. I love wide shoulders and muscular upper arms. That is what makes me swoon. There are too many guys with abs but arms like girls. Ugh! 

 

I lol over the fact that the guys in the train station can’t be cops since their headsets are expensive .

[Usi]

31 minutes ago, stroppyse said:

But, I see that you're more of a Moon Ho fan in this drama. He looks absolutely lovely as well. In a different kind of drama, I would have totally swooned over him as well and been rooting for him to win the girl. It's just there is something about JH and YS as these 2 children, both of them having gone through loss, and then finding each other and bonding all over again that kept me from ever developing SLS no matter how lovely and manly MH is.

I adore the actor and he is more near my own age . 

Of course the ML and FL are in the center but MH is the one who has all the answers and still is kind of pure despite the evil around him. I loved his character and since that scene with JH at the car dumpsters I was afraid they would kill him off since his type often dies at the end, like the prosecutor in City Hunter. I’m glad they didn’t.

 

MH was broken until he met adult JH (demask time). From then he started to heal since he could come out of his shell and right the wrongs.  He always was angry before. In episode 1 he is saying himself that he is stuck in past and his goal is ‘surviving the day and find the girl’. So you can say my heart beats for the broken hottie .

[Guest]

I guess I'm in aswell. Two episodes a day is a tough task though.  I try my best to keep up. But someone has to provide a male pov.  

 

@stroppyseI have never seen you writing this much.  

 

 

[Usi]

My favorites of the first 2 episodes are the "broken" ones. MH's pain and restlessness. The scences when he found JA and watched the video. YS talking about her painful past and reaching the heart of the woman and showing that JH, despite he says otherwise, does care indeed.

The most funny scene was the Dad and YS dancing .

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, stroppyse said:

Well, I love this drama. I didn't get a chance to talk much about this drama otherwise. And, I figure anyone who joins us here on this thread now is a hard core lover of this drama and won't mind if I spazz on and on about it. So consider that fair warning.

 

Haha. I didn't watch it back then either. I wouldn't consider myself a hardcore fan though, but I'm used to spazzing girls from different threads.  I hope I can find the time. 

[sally2]

1 hour ago, stroppyse said:

 

Hmm, I didn't think Healer had arms like girls, but now I may have to rewatch that scene to check it out again.

I'm with @usagi1997 on this one, I'm a sucker for toned shoulders and arms. In my opinion JCWs physique is okay in this drama, but he really took it up a notch in K2.

[Guest]

Okay Ep-1 and a few general thoughts

 

• I totally agree with JH about the tennis girl, they should totally have given her a playboy bunny outfit!
• During the first episode, I already remembered so much stuff that I previously already loved about the drama, I'm really looking forward to these.
• Especially I remember that Healer was the first and only drama, that made me create a heavy ahjumma crush, I LOVE ♥ Myung-Hee. She was freaking 48years old during that drama and is hot like hell. Seriously, whenever there is a scene with her, I'm stunned and can only think about how pretty she is. 
  Sigh.....most of the times I need to rewatch her scenes to follow the story.
• I really dislike flashback scenes, so due to rewatching reasons, I will skip them. I mean, I know what happens in them anyway.  
• JH apartment "complex" is like my dream space where I want to live in. It's so clean, manly, full of metal, no useless decoration it#s so rough and......I mean he pretty much lives in one big room. 
• Following this, I already feel like back then. JCW is carrying this role SO hard, the way he's acting, the way he inhales every bit of this character, the way he moves in his apartment, he doesn't just play the Healer, he IS the Healer. With every episode onwards he acts everyone into the ground and especially PMY benefits and suffers from it. 
• I like PMY and her role, but due to JCW crushing performance she really is "just" a good actress in this role.
• Like I said in my final review, JCW is so big in this role, that you could replace every actor with decent intelligent apes and you would still have a working drama. 
• I really want these glasses from JH, they look so cool!  

[Usi]

5 minutes ago, Dhakra said:

Especially I remember that Healer was the first and only drama, that made me create a heavy ahjumma crush, I LOVE ♥ Myung-Hee. She was freaking 48years old during that drama and is hot like hell. Seriously, whenever there is a scene with her, I'm stunned and can only think about how pretty she is. 

Yeah, she rulez. But I love her for year since she was in a lot Dramas I watched. But Ahjumma is cool because she is a geek and I'm truly happy they didn't used the usual young and male type of hacker. And I want her making me food since I love Kimbap .

8 minutes ago, Dhakra said:

• JH apartment "complex" is like my dream space where I want to live in. It's so clean, manly, full of metal, no useless decoration it#s so rough and......I mean he pretty much lives in one big room. 

Nope, since in my country energy does cost a lot. It is very hard to heat. And the production team never did too .
I prefer MH's type of apartment. Those windows are awesome. I live in a city and all what I see when I look outside are the walls of other houses. So I would love living above anyone and no curtains needed for privacy. 

[Guest]

 

9 minutes ago, usagi1997 said:

Yeah, she rulez. But I love her for year since she was in a lot Dramas I watched. But Ahjumma is cool because she is a geek and I'm truly happy they didn't used the usual young and male type of hacker. And I want her making me food since I love Kimbap .

 

I think we are speaking about different people.  I don't mean the hacker girl. (Isn't that Min Ja?). I was speaking about the woman in the wheelchair, that is just so nice and heartwarming. Ahh, I already looking forward to all her kindness. 

 

9 minutes ago, usagi1997 said:

Nope, since in my country energy does cost a lot. It is very hard to heat. And the production team never did too .
I prefer MH's type of apartment. Those windows are awesome. I live in a city and all what I see when I look outside are the walls of other houses. So I would love living above anyone and no curtains needed for privacy. 

 

Ahh, I find ways to make it cozy.  Far away from everyone. Totally my hideout. 

 

[Usi]

The wheelchair woman is Noona. Ahjumma is the hacker. Proably Noona may be an Ahjumma for you but since JH doesn't know her real name she never gets called MinJa. So this name is already given. You can call her Myung-hee or YS'm mom then .

 

Good luck in finding such big spaces to rent/buy except in the rural parts of the country . And don't forget to order a few infra red heaters probably the ones with marbles to save a bit energy .

[Guest]

Well, for me it's ahjumma  I always speak from my pov or a guys pov, not from JH pov. And I will refer to her as ahjumma, maybe MS or Ahjumma crush. MinJa is either MJ or hacker ahjumma. 

 

It's a drama.  But yeah, I will try to find such big spaces.  Thank you, I will keep it in mind.  

 

Episode 2:

 

• I already forgot the scene where that jerk punched the girl in the car. Sigh, @stroppyseyou know how much I hate violance against girls! Did you had to remind me?  
• She even cried. Ohh, I hope he's going to die and will suffer for this! I already forgot!
• I love how JH cuts of hacker Ahjumma and lets them have their moment. He knows when it is enough and where information is too much information. It showcases that he isn't as cold as he said previously in the episode.
• Ah I remember the case again, they help her. 

[Guest]

@stroppyseWell I have to contnue watching to actually review my pov about this, but I do remember my thoughts when I first saw it and I agree that both actors did a great job and shined in their roles, but for me they weren't memorable. Their roles could have been played by many talented actresses or actors without losing a significantly amount of impact. 

They were good, but not unreplacable good.

JCW was on a whole different level, which makes this "gap" for me even visable. 

I agree that PMY's visuals and appearance were perfect for the role and her innocence, which is also present in her acting, were a big deal for her success. But she didn't make it into something memorable. 

Iirc she was even the reason why I didn't give the drama a 10/10 back then.

 

YJT as Moon Ho is honestly completely invisible for me, he plays his role very good, but he isn't someone I would remember. 

[Guest]

@stroppyseHaha, yeah. We will begin to throw dirt at each other soon enough.  

But hey, maybe PMY will convince me on her second attempt.