PrettyCarEye

Nice review. I still have a few episodes left to finish, but I agree with a lot of what you say, except the part about the actors restraining themselves and your guess that it might be Ji Sung. I didn't really get that impression myself. I think these two work well together and they have the benefit of being familiar with each other from their previous collaboration on Secret. I think the problem lies in the writing and direction in terms how the romance is developed and executed. First if a satisfactory development of the romance is not on the page itself, then it won't appear on screen. The direction lets us down in that it's the director's job to direct how the actors behave in a scene. Therefore, if all the actors do is brush lips ... it's all on him.

On the other hand, the director might have preferred a more passionate kiss, but is restricted by mandates of the TV censors. As we all know Asians are very conservative people, esp South Koreans and the Japanese. Apparently many of them feel showing a proper kiss with lips and tongue between a man and a woman is too scandalous to show on national TV, esp on the 3 big non-cable stations (KBS, MBC, SBS). Sometimes they get it right, most times they don't. I find that SBS tends to take a bit more risk in this department than the others, but that's not saying much because I've seen some real stinkers on their channel too.

"The flashbacks and backstory was okay with me because it presented a history of what their parents faced and what they faced at present. I agree with you though on one point where they could have shifted their attention from the past to the present. There was already enough buildup and knowledge about the backstory that it only left like two-three episodes to show how the present-day protagonists were supposed to solve their problems."

I thought I didn't have more say after responding in detail to Rita, but I just had to come back and say YES!

This paragraph of yours right here, in a nutshell, esp your last sentence, is kind of what I've been saying all along ... in a more long-winded, perhaps convoluted way. There was indeed more than enough build up and knowledge of what happened in the past after a few appropriate moments of flashback. We understood what the kids & their parents went thru, we knew who they were, where they came from, which is what flashbacks are meant to be used for, a function of character.

But then the writers went on to expand the story in the past, so that the entire narrative of the show becomes hinged on it. Now they're forced to use an overkill of flashbacks to tell us this story that has already happened, which in turn begins to feel overbearing, intrusive, tedious (that's how it was for me). The use of flashback becomes the driving function of the story itself, rather than a device to help us understand our protagonists. Given that film is such a live medium, the best narratives are active, focusing on characters and obstacles in the here and now, the present.

Regarding your last paragraph, as you read from my review these were major issues for me too! I'm assuming Healer didn't want to add murderer to his CV, that's why he didn't kill Oh, but I imagined him beating the crap out of that little man. Not just letting him walk scott free after threatening YS's life, not once but TWO times. At the very least he should have orchestrated some sort of a sting operation to get Oh arrested, like he did before. But everyone simply going their own way, no questions asked, didn't feel credible. All the other points you make are also spot on.

Where I'm concerned I just can't get pass these glaring absurdities of the script. I literally am not able to focus on anything else if so many implausible scenarios are dangled in front of my face. This interrupts my enjoyment of the show, any show, real bad & will affect my rating as a result.

Actually up until the last 2 episodes I had planned to give Healer a 7. But the typical forced separation towards the end of every K-drama that has a romance in it grated on my nerves. Granted, Healer's excuse to disappear may or may not have some validity (I can't remember the events leading up to it right now), but the point for me here is not so much whether it was valid or not, but the fact that they always have to separate the couple somehow. No matter the circumstances, no matter the situation. They just can't feel comfortable maneuvering around this usual cliche. Then the speedy wrap-up of the final episode with no closure on what happens to the other characters sealed the deal for a 6 for me.

No.

As for people complaining that supporting characters get too much time, I can't and don't speak for other viewers. So I can't speculate on that. Where I personally make such a complaint is on a case by case basis (but my experience is that it's not an invalid complaint, it is often true).

In Healer's case, it boils down to one of 2 things or both when all is said and done:

1) The entire story of the 5 friends just wasn't appealing to me, which is why the flashbacks may have felt so intrusive. Either the actors weren't good enough to make me care or their story itself was deficient. Maybe a bit of both, but leaning more toward the latter than the former. I wish they'd come up with a better back story for the kids (that is, Healer & YS).
Plus, I didn't say there shouldn't have been any focus at all on the friends/parents, I said TOO MUCH focus was on them (not, shouting btw, just bolded for emphasis).

2) Maybe you & hubby got the way the writers meant for the story to be interpreted. I didn't. I felt the structure & execution were too sloppy. Individually within each genre & as a combined whole. They basically told a story that was already told, which is adapting a passive focus rather than an active one. I believe it would have been a better drama had they focused the narrative more around the current lives & times of Healer & Young Shin, rather than past events.

I think I'm going to go with both points, as to what fell this drama for me. Just my meager 2c. I don't think I have much more to say. It's always a pleasure, Rita.

Re the sex scandal ... that's exactly the point, though, all these things happened too fast ...

It's like this. Imagine getting on a roller coaster ride after hours of waiting in line. As the car taxis up up up the ramp, your adrenaline, in anticipation of the big plunge below, is sky high, but when we finally get to the top we're left to tether on the edge ... wondering what the heck is happening. The best thing that can happen is that we're thrown into the plunge when we least expect it, but instead we hear an announcement that the ride has been canceled due to mechanical failure.

I'm pretty bad at analogies, but I hope it evokes the feeling I'm going for. One of something unrealised ... the potential of the thrill. The payoff of having waited to go on this ride all day.

That's the way the speedy wrap up of these situations felt to me. The transition from one plot line to another wasn't smooth enough. They were anticlimactic. The payoff was unsatisfactory, not what I was expecting ... even though I didn't go into this drama with any preconceived notion of how it's going to be or should be. This is a feeling I had throughout the show, whether it was the action, the family drama or the romance. They just lacked that ... oomph.

I agree that no one plot line should overstay its welcome, but it's a balancing act. These more interesting (to me) current events seemed fast tracked to accommodate a passive story that had already occurred in the past. Why focus on the dead when you have the living, so to speak.

Which is the story of the present, the love story, Healer taking over the night & Young Shin achieving her dream of being a famous reporter. The sex scandal that ... before I could even wrap my mind around what's happening they killed the guy and shipped off the girl to God knows where, closing that case with no real resolution. Then I got excited again when they captured Teacher thinking he was Healer, only to have him killed off in a split second. All these present day characters/actions/story arcs were eliminated in favour of needless meandering between past and present. I don't understand why that was necessary when you had ample enough story to keep things active in the now.

The most appropriate use of the flashback for a secondary I saw (or remember as I write this) was the revelation of Ahjumma's background. One scene, very short, cutting straight to the chase: she wasn't there for her kid when he died, when he needed her most. Intuitively we know she's carrying a lot of guilt, why she left her job and locked herself away & turned to hacking. Bom. Finished. As a secondary that's really all we need to know to understand who she is as a character. And how they used symbols and dialogue to give us further insight into her psyche was excellent. Her motherly banter with Healer & the way she's protective of him. The stuff she knits, most of which are clearly in memory of her dead son. These little things tell us so much more about her character than outlining her whole back story in a passive & intrusive flashback.

I did say the following:

"Here's the thing, Healer & Young Shin are the protagonists of this show, therefore they should've only showed us the back story in so much as it allows us to get to know them better and then move on to build their story on events occurring in the present."

So I'm in agreement that flashback can be used to fill in gaps where dialogue and other storytelling tools might not be appropriate.

"I actually loved the flashbacks here. The way I see it, Healer wasn't only the story of Young Shin and Jong Hoo, but the story of a group of friends whose choices and fatal circumstances affected the lives of these two kids as a final effect."

I saw it the other way around, actually. To me, Healer was not established as a multi narrative story. At least that's not the sell I got, and it was clear to me from the first episode that Jung Hoo & Young Shin were established as the drivers of the narrative. This was their story. The other characters enhance (fill in the blanks as to who these people are) and support their journey (help these people achieve their goals).

A very typical form of Korean storytelling is to hinge the entire story & plot on past events, which then require copious amounts of flashback in order to provide context to what's happening in the present day. While we're being given this 'context' over and over again, the active story in the present is on pause. This is a very ineffective use of flashback to me. And I don't agree that there was much diversity to these flashbacks. They were just revealing stuff we already knew or could've deduce on our own.

Use flashbacks to help us learn the essentials about our protagonists, but keep the progression of the narrative on what's happening here & now. They focused too long and too hard on the stories of all 5 friends. The rivalry and jealousies, the uncovering of the Oroshin's illicit activities.

The point is they're secondary characters (to me they were, at least). So much focus shouldn't be put on them & what they're doing/feeling if it isn't driving the narrative of Young Shin & Healer's story. Any and all scenes that don't involve the protags, cut. I don't care about Moon Shik secretly coveting his friend's wife and longing for her love and blah blah blah. I don't care about his shady dealings with the Oroshin & how it eventually ruined his life. As much as I love Yoo Ji Tæ, this isn't Moon Ho's story. I don't want to be privy to so much of his family related internal struggle, and esp not in flashback after flashback. Because while they're doing that I'm sitting here tapping my fingers wondering WHEN will we get back to the story I signed up to watch.

@dapinaymrs

P.S.

As for Yoo Ji Tæ, I'd say see him in a couple of his movies first. He hasn't done that many dramas. This is the first I'm seeing him on TV, but it's clear to me his talents are more suited to film.

He's good in pretty much everything I've seen him in but my favourites are Old Boy, One Fine Spring Day, Secret Love (hot to the touch!), Midnight FM and The Legendary Hwang Yi Jin.

@goldenseal50 It's not that I wanted the fight scenes to go on and on nonstop. It's just that they always stopped the fight when they're starting to get good. I really loved seeing Healer fight and I just wanted to watch him a little bit longer than the scenes lasted. There was an overall problem with how things transitioned in this story. Like certain plotlines, the fights didn't come to a satisfactory conclusion, they just sort of pulled up.
It's like being in the thick of a bloody battle only for the soldiers to suddenly drop their weapons and call time out!

I'm not 100% in love Ji Chang Wook yet, but he is indeed cute. I loved him as Healer, but I really loved him as Park Bong Soo too. Loved his cute timidity. He's kind of like the Korean Clark Kent aka Superman.

@dapinaymrs

What was your final rating? I remember you giving it a 9, no?

Korean writers loooove building their stories on events of the past, which almost always require them to overuse flashbacks as a why of revealing said story to the audience. Taiwanese writers are guilty of this too.

Here's the thing, Healer & Young Shin are the protagonists of this show, therefore they should've only showed us the back story in so much as it allows us to get to know them better and then move on to build their story on events occurring in the present. Instead what they did is to build the story around the parents, thus keeping a large portion of the story in the past. This is where I think they dropped the ball because I could've cared less about the parents. Those I cared about were Young Shin & Healer, their relationship ... and the challenges they faced in the present. There's enough happening in the present that could have driven the narrative a lot more solidly than events that occurred 20 yrs ago.

They could've revealed the parents' connection to the Oroshin without dedicating so much screentime to showing us their back story thru flashback. Now, I'm a big fan of 'show, not tell' ... this is very important in any form of creative writing, but when we're talking about secondary characters, the 'show, not tell' rule becomes less important, esp in a show like this where there's a lot happening. You can reveal the past of secondaries in other ways, through dialogue, symbols or memory (in which case one or two scenes of flashback might be necessary). But shifting the focus away from the protagonists & hinging the entire story on events of the past where you have to rely on flashback after flashback to tell this story isn't a good idea.

If they'd kept the story in the present & focused on the reporters uncovering the truth about the scandals and corruption, I think I would have enjoyed it better.
Unless it's a story like Nine in which past and present are intertwined, then past stories should be kept to a minimum.

Hehe, I loved Secretary Oh. What's scary about him is that he looks so fragile and unassuming, but under that gentle demeanour is a raging lunatic.

I too am driven by emotions, but said emotions will not engage unless I'm absorbed by the story. To be absorbed by the story flaws shouldn't be so glaring that I'm unable to ignore them. This is what happened in both Healer & Cruel City, another popular action/crime drama that was somewhat of a letdown for me.

I will do. Thx for the rec! :)

I love me some Hidetoshi Nishijima so Genome Hazard is going on the list if it isn't there already. This movie looks right up my street.

I'll maybe check out the other two as well, esp the last rec. Do you need to have seen the drama and or special to follow the movie?

Not everyone who doesn't enjoy a show as much as you is a hater, Michael.

Korean guys are a little too metro for me, but I still can't with Joo Jin Mo. The man is too too fine! :)
I really enjoyed Wanee & Junah, but I really loved him in A Frozen Flower! His strongest role to date, imo.

I've only seen her in City Hall, which I loved, but I like her. Hopefully I'll get around to seeing more of her work as time & interest permit.

You really shouldn't post such private and sensitive information on the internet.

Did you watch it? And if so what did you think?

+2
I'm the same. I stay far away from these dramas. Not because I'm depressed or can't deal with strong emotions, but we already go through life's trials. I think we deserve a break.

People who like these shows, though, often say they're therapeutic. As a good cry purges them of pent up emotions they can't otherwise release.

It's fascinating to me, I don't understand it, but that's the beauty of the human experience. Beauty in our differences. I personally want to be entertained and I want to be left with positive emotions after I finish a show. 'Positive' doesn't always have to be 'happy happy joy joy rainbow and flowers', but hope, optimism, positivity. Not melancholy, sadness and depression.

Sorimachi Takaski totally nailed it (I would also recommend Arigatou, Papa, where his performance is even more moving and capable), however, you seem to have been more charmed by Junichi than I was.

I saw everything you saw in him, but his redemption came a bit too late for me to empathize with him outright. I couldn't get over his lifestyle nor his inertia to get out of a situation he himself knew was problematic.

Moreover, that stunt he pulled on Namani in ep 3 oh boy that left a bad taste in my mouth until the very end of the drama. Speaking of the end, how random and foolish was it? So typical of j-dramas in this genre I wanted to bang my head against the nearest wall.

I enjoyed this drama for it's subtle ridicule of a regimented society in which people are programmed to fulfill a duty to everyone else but one's self. But a balance in Junichi's character was lacking. Or the drama simply didn't give us enough time to digest his new lease on life and wash the palate of earlier slights. This was a 7 for me.