Healer (2014)
Quick Take: Healer (2014), starring Ji Chang-wook and Park Min-young. 10/10. 20 60-minute episodes.
Synopsis: Seo Jung-hu, codename Healer, works as an illegal “night courier”; for a price, he will procure and deliver items for his clients, no questions asked. He gets involved with a young woman reporter who works for a shoestring entertainment news website, and joins her office using a Clark-Kent-like alter ego. The central mystery — though it takes a while to develop — concerns the deaths of their fathers 20 years before.
Review: With backup from an expert hacker, reclusive Healer is the best in the business. His skills include breaking and entering, safe cracking, roof jumping, and martial arts. Then he gets framed for murder. Figuring out who is behind the set-up leads him to question his father’s death 20 years before, but untangling the cover-up is not so simple. One man’s betrayal of trust casts a long shadow over the lives of several people and two generations, including Healer and reporter Chae Young-sin.
The leads are both A-list Kdrama stars. Ji Chang-wook is good-looking and good at looking dangerous. Park Min-young portrays the spunky Chae Young-shin, who catches on a lot more quickly than Lois Lane ever did. Great chemistry between the two protagonists. Kudos also for a standout performance by Kim Mi-kyung as Detective Jo, Healer’s amazing cyber back-up. (I was reminded of the tv show Person of Interest, CBS 2011-16.) Political corruption, murder, blackmail, thuggery, and media manipulation feature prominently. Can Truth and Justice prevail? Not without a fight! 20 episodes, compelling to the end.
Recommended.
Rewatchable - 5, Compelling - 5, Plot/ Story/Writing - 10, Acting/Casting - 10, Production - 10, Bonus - 10. Bonus points for intensity and the perfect ending.
Notes:
Ji Chang-wook
has been active in films and drama since 2006, with some additional forays into musical theater. IMO Healer is his best drama. His romantic comedies tend to be forgettable, but he is expanding his range with projects such as If You Wish Upon Me (2022), in which he plays a tormented ex-con trying to find his way.
Park Min-young
made her breakthrough in the 2010 historical drama Sungkyunkwan Scandal. See her also in What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim (2018), Her Private Life (2019), When the Weather is Fine (2020), Forecasting Love and Weather (2022), and Love in Contract (2022).
Kim Mi-kyung
has been a supporting actress — often in the role of the lead character’s mother — in over 70 television dramas, including Sungkyunkwan Scandal (2010), The Heirs (2013), It’s Okay, That’s Love (2014), Another Miss Oh (2016), Her Private Life (2019), and many more. Sadly, Kim Mi-kyung passed away on August 16, 2021, at the age of 61.