Welcome to the Open Thread, everyone! I decided to have this shot of Jung Hoo headline our post today, because this is the moment that he decides that he’s interested in his investigation, in a very personal manner. 🤩
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT, before we begin:
1. We will be adopting a ZERO SPOILER POLICY for this Open Thread, except for events that have happened in the show, up to this point.
We don’t want to spoil anyone’s watch experience with spoilers. The spoiler tags don’t work in email notifications, therefore, please take note that WE WILL NOT BE USING SPOILER TAGS FOR THIS OPEN THREAD. ANY AND ALL SPOILERS WILL BE REDACTED to protect first-time viewers in our midst (although, I’d appreciate it if you would save me the trouble of having to redact spoilers, heh 😅).
This includes, but is not limited to, how characters &/or relationships develop, later in the show.
We need to protect the innocent! 😉
2. HOWEVER!! If you’d like to discuss spoilers from a rewatcher’s point of view, I’ve created a SPOILER ZONE for you, where you can discuss all the spoilers you’d like, without the need for spoiler warnings. You can find it here!
Without further ado, here are my reactions to this set of episodes; have fun in the Open Thread, everyone! ❤️
My thoughts
Episode 3
We are still in set-up mode, and therefore Show is still creating a framework of information for us, which is why this episode, it still feels kind of a little bit scattered, in terms of the fragments of information we’re getting.
However, Show’s tone is definitely shining through, and it’s a fun and intriguing mix of hidden identity shenanigans, stars-in-my-eyes parkour thrills, and melodramatic mystery backstory. It’s all coming together quite nicely for what promises to be a fun-yet-thrilling romp.
Based on Moon Ho’s flashbacks and his emotional response to having found Young Shin, we can quite safely conclude that Young Shin is Myung Hee’s long-lost daughter Ji An, whom Myung Hee currently assumes to be dead.
And, for some reason, Moon Ho sees his own silence on a matter that is as yet undisclosed to us, as a key contributor, to the separation between mother and daughter, and Myung Hee’s years of heartbreak.
I am guessing that that matter has something to do with Moon Sik, since Moon Ho would have been most privy to his brother’s actions. Plus, there’s that detail that Young Shin had shared earlier, with Yun Hee, on the roof, that her abandonment had had something to do with “the man who was supposed to be her father.”
Piecing together the fact that Young Shin had been abandoned, and that her “supposed father” had had something to do with it, and that, at some point, Myung Hee had married Moon Sik (even though, at this point, we don’t know what had happened to Young Hee’s Bio Dad), it’s not too much of a stretch, to guess that it was quite probable that Moon Sik had had something to do with faking Ji An’s death.
And, given Moon Sik’s dark looks around Bio Dad, I can imagine that perhaps he might have done it, because he didn’t want Myung Hee to have anyone around her, to connect her to Bio Dad? Because he was always jealous of Bio Dad?
Although we don’t fully understand the backstory just yet, it’s clear that Moon Ho carries a great deal of guilt around Ji An’s abandonment.
That’s why he’s been having nightmares for years, about losing her, and that’s likely also why he’s so intent right now, on finding out what her dreams are. He probably wants to make up to her, everything that she’d lost, by being abandoned.
Now, thanks to Healer’s surveillance, Moon Ho knows that Young Shin’s dream is to be a great journalist like Oriana Fallaci. Really curious to see what Moon Ho does with this tidbit of information.
If he’s anything like his brother, he might just up and buy Some Day, the company that Young Shin works for, heh.
Speaking of whom, I am guessing that the reason Moon Sik wants to buy Double S Guard (sorry, my subs had said WS Guard, last set of episodes, and it’s only become clear, this episode, that it should be Double S Guard instead), is because Moon Ho’s a client?
I could be wrong, of course, and Moon Sik might have other reasons for wanting to acquire Double S, but so far, all we know is that Moon Ho is a client of Double S, and had engaged Double S to steal the item that Healer had been commissioned to get from murder victim Go Sung Chung.
Perhaps this is Moon Sik’s way to keeping tabs on Moon Ho’s secret movements?
Well, that, and also, the fact that Moon Sik’s given orders for Healer to be framed for Go Sung Chung’s death, so I suppose he’ll need the support of the second best in the business, going forward, assuming he’s successful in framing Healer as a murderer.
On an irreverent tangent, I have to say that the entire deal really is presented like it’s a deal with the devil. Even before Secretary Oh (who strikes me as a bit of a little goblin) mentions that Double S boss Sang Soo is being asked to sell his soul, it had popped into my head that the whole thing vibes like a classic deal with the devil. Makes me wonder how Sang Soo is going to regret this later.
Over on Young Shin’s side, I can’t help but love how cheeky and irreverent she is, in general.
The way she tends to break into a song and dance, whenever she’s feeling a bit down about something; the way she talks up her effort in saving Yun Hee, while role-playing the scene for Dad; the way she does her best air kick in her bedroom, to work off the frustration of missing the scoop on the Lee Joon Bin and Oh Sun Jung dating scandal.
I don’t even hold her stolen sandwich bite against her too much, because it strikes me as a mischievous sibling-esque thing to do, rather than something actually rude or malicious.
Yes, I’m rationalizing a bit here, but it’s true that Young Shin’s relationship with her boss is of the good-natured bickery variety, and that’s her boss’s sandwich she’s stealing that bite from. I feel like he’d take one look, and know it was her, and nag and grumble at her accordingly.
Of course, I also love how Young Shin really is led by her heart, in the things that matter most.
Even though it’s clear that Young Shin’s hesitant to stir up a hornet’s nest by writing an article on Yun Hee’s story, the moment Yun Hee’s words actually get her in the heart, there’s just no going back, for her.
She stays up late and writes that thing, probably against her better judgment, all because Yun Hee’s managed to strike a chord in Young Shin. I love that about her. She really is all heart, underneath it all.
I do rather like the idea, that the more Healer keeps tabs on Young Shin, the more he sees of her effortlessly cute and endearing ways.
Speaking of which, this episode, I’m reminded all over again, why I always got stars in my eyes every time Healer parkours off a building. Dude. That sequence, where Healer races to tail Moon Ho by leaping from roof to roof, while Moon Ho’s driving a car down below, is just too thrilling, seriously. 🤩
Yes, you need to suspend disbelief somewhat, and yes, you do need to employ a bit of a comic book lens, what with Healer leaping over a romantic rooftop dinner, and through someone’s living room, but it’s all in good fun, and I love it; I can’t help myself. This is basically a million coolness points, in Healer’s favor, right away. 😍
I have to admit, the moment when Healer finds that photograph in Myung Hee’s bedroom, and tells Ahjumma that he’s finally starting to find some excitement in his life, I got a bit of a thrill.
I love the idea that Healer, who’s been consistently detached from life and people in general, has suddenly found something that actually fully piques his interest. I love the idea of our nonchalant super-antihero suddenly finding his heart engaged, without his consent. It makes me feel excited for the things to come, because now he’s personally invested, and not just doing a job anymore.
I unabashedly love-love-LOVE the idea of Healer going undercover at Young Shin’s workplace, as her clueless dorky assistant, Bong Soo. Tee hee. I love Bong Soo already.
On the one hand, he feels like the opposite of cool, badass Healer, but on the other hand, he also feels like he could be the amped up expression of the isolated, not-savvy-with-people-things Jung Hoo, who seems to have lived in a man-cave, with very little human interaction, his whole life.
I love how Young Shin takes Bong Soo under her wing right away. There’s something very endearing to me, in the idea that Young Shin likes the idea of taking care of someone, as their sunbae. I mean, she looks legitimately pleased, to be able to tell Bong Soo that she’s buying him lunch. She’s a good egg, isn’t she?
Sure, she’s still all big talk, and her actual abilities likely don’t match the level of her big talk, but I also find that super endearing about her. She’s like a cute little kitten, who looks in the mirror, and sees a fierce lion. 😁
I’m really looking forward to seeing more of Young Shin’s new partnership with Bong Soo, even as Moon Ho looks on, from a distance.
Episode 4
Gosh. I LOVED this episode. I remember all over again, how and why this show is so cracky. 😍
Healer’s disguise as Bong Soo is turning out to be one of my favorite things, because the only thing more thrilling than Healer being cool and badass, is Healer acting dorky and scared as Bong Soo, and then sneaking in the cool and badass moves on the sly.
Stealth badassery somehow gets my knees even more than outright badassery. It’s like, “I don’t need to be acknowledged as cool; I just am.” 🤩🤩
Healer says that he only plans to do this job as Bong Soo for four days, but the way things shake out this episode, I’m pretty darn sure that his stint as Bong Soo will last for wayy longer than four days. After all, there’s also the thing where he’s personally invested, right?
And, it’s not only about his own backstory and that picture. Now, it looks like he’s developed a measure of protective instinct around Young Shin, and I am lapping it up with glee, I tell ya.
It’s so telling, that even though Ahjumma keeps impressing on him, how important it is for him to lay low for the time being, Healer just keeps on going.
I mean, yes, this is partly because he’s personally intrigued by how his own history might be entangled with these people’s, but as we get deeper into the episode, it definitely comes across as Healer getting involved to protect Young Shin, even though it’s a risk to himself.
I love that – even though Ahjumma does not.
I have to admit, Ahjumma getting all cranky at and worried for Healer this episode, was very entertaining to me. I mean, for one thing, Ahjumma’s just very cute, in her kimbap-rolling, fingers-flying sort of way, and for another, I just like the idea that Ahjumma cares about Healer.
I mean, I suppose it’s possible that she mainly sees their relationship as purely business, but the sense that I’m getting, especially with her tone of voice with him, that she’s grown fond of him, in spite of herself, and that’s why she worries about him.
On another note, I actually found it rather surprising to see that Jung Hoo actually has a very cordial relationship with his mom, in the present.
Given the sad flashback, of Mom making him a final meal, before leaving him with Gran, I’d kind of assumed that Mom wasn’t in his life anymore, but she is.
From the looks of it, Mom had left Jung Hoo behind, in order to remarry. And while this might appear heartless to those of us who aren’t familiar with the culture, I will say that I’ve seen this done in enough kdramas, for me to conclude that this is a cultural norm.
It apparently is not that uncommon, for women to not bring their kids with them, when they remarry. Often, the kids are left in the care of grandparents, while the mother goes off to make a new life with her new husband.
I do think that this is tough on the kids; how could it not be, right? But I just wanted to put it out there, that Mom isn’t a terrible person for leaving Jung Hoo behind, per se. It likely was the case, that her future husband (or future husband’s family) was only willing to go through with the marriage, on the condition that she didn’t bring Jung Hoo with her.
That small beat, where Mom looks a little uncomfortable, when Jung Hoo asks if she still has any of Dad’s things, reaffirms my thinking around that. It makes me feel that it’s inconvenient for Mom, to have any traces of her earlier life with her, in her new home.
I actually feel a measure of relief, to see that Jung Hoo has a friendly relationship with his mother, even though Mom certainly doesn’t appear to have any idea of what Jung Hoo actually does for a living, or of how he’s getting on.
However, in a drama landscape where it’s not uncommon for kids to grow distant from their remarried mothers, I’m actually kind of.. weirdly comforted, that Jung Hoo at least has this warm connection with his mother. It makes me feel like he’s less alone in the world, by a little bit.
Like I said, though, hands-down, my favorite arc this hour, is Healer getting into his role as Bong Soo.
Even though I know that this is Healer in front of me, I get so into the flow of Bong Soo being dorky and timid with Young Shin’s dad and the cafe ahjusshi, that I was honestly quite startled to see Healer show up on that rooftop in front of his hoobae Dae Yong, and be all cool and badass again – including leaping off the building, to boot.
The duality; it gets me every time. 🤩 ALSO. I love how casually Healer leaps off buildings; it’s like he does it without having to think about it. Guh.
This episode, we get the tidbit, that indicates that Jung Hoo and Young Shin had known each other as kids. Not only that, we have that flashback showing us that little Young Shin had fallen asleep clutching little Jung Hoo’s arm, much like nightmare-addled Young Shin falls asleep, clutching Jung Hoo’s arm.
Typically, I roll my eyes at OTP childhood connections, because it’s such an overused trope. However, I’m willing to give Show a pass on this, because our entire premise is that Jung Hoo and Young Shin have backstories that relate to the same group photograph. Show sets it up early, so that it doesn’t feel like a cheap shot, and for that, I’m willing to roll with it.
It also says a lot, that Young Shin, who’s so vocal about not being able to sleep when there’s someone else in the room with her, is able to sleep with Jung Hoo by her side, and so well, too, after having been plagued by nightmares.
This is a trope that Dramaland serves up often, but one that I don’t ever seem to tire of. There’s just something very.. comforting, about being able to find rest because of a certain someone’s presence.
With Young Shin’s drunken article laying out the scandal out there, and with Moon Sik getting involved to contain the scandal for Kim Eui Chan, I can see why Moon Ho feels that it’s dangerous for Young Shin to be involved.
Even though Young Shin is cheesed off by Moon Ho’s request, that she give the Kim Eui Chan scoop to him, I do see this as Moon Ho trying to protect Young Shin. After all, he’s already very familiar with the lengths that his brother would go to, in order to protect his interests.
And we see that in action soon enough, with the Double S guys homing in on Young Shin in such a threatening manner.
The thing that strikes me about Young Shin, is that even though she’s scared, she instinctively moves to protect Bong Soo, who’s her hoobae, and therefore technically under her care. She has no idea what’s going to happen, or if she would even really be able to buy any time with these guys, but she just.. chooses to be brave, because she sees it as her duty, to protect Bong Soo.
It’s just the sweetest, most endearing thing, that she’s terrified, and yet, thinks first, to shield Bong Soo in any way that she can. How could you NOT love Young Shin, right?
I know I mentioned this earlier, but I just want to say it again: I just love how Jung Hoo continues to act like Bong Soo, yet manages to stealth-protect Young Shin, as Healer.
On that note, I LOVE Healer’s quick reflexes, which sometimes seem to kick in, without him even thinking about it, like when Young Shin drops her cup of coffee when she realizes she’s face to face with her idol Kim Moon Ho – and Jung Hoo just catches the cup, without missing a beat. Loved that.
I love even more, that moment when Young Shin’s thrown against the wall by those Double S dudes, and Jung Hoo is lightning-fast in placing his hand on her head, so that she doesn’t actually crash into the brick wall. So cool; so protective. Swoon.
And of course, I love-love-LOVE the fact that, even though Ahjumma strongly makes her case on why Jung Hoo should get out of there and not get involved AT ALL, Jung Hoo can’t actually walk away, and comes back in full Healer glory, to kick all the Double S boys to the ground, and save Young Shin.
Ahhh!! So cool. So badass. So swoony.
PLUS, he even thinks to cover her head with that jacket, so that she can’t quite see the violence in front of her. Even in this moment, he remembers Dad’s earnest request, to not allow Young Shin to be exposed to violence, because it causes her to have panic attacks. That’s really thoughtful, honestly.
As Eternal Love swells in the background, and Healer does his kickass thing, and then turns back to look at Young Shin, I am SO READY, for Young Shin to begin to have an actual connection with Healer – even though she already has one, via Bong Soo. 🤩
During my first watch of this show a couple of years ago I was particularly taken with the story and the characters, and enjoyed it so very much. This time around I must admit I’m getting particularly distracted with Ji Chang Wook’s overacting… which is working much less on me than it used to. I can’t stop feeling that his performances in later shows are so much more restrained and, yes, better…It’s strange because I remember adoring his portrayal of Toghon Temur in Empress K, which I think was one of his first ML roles, but I now wonder if I would enjoy him as much were I to rewatch that show… maybe the historical and theatrical of Empress k just suited his earlier type of acting better, I don’t know. In Healer JCW’s overacting suits Bong Soo’s character well enough, but I would have preferred more restraint when portraying Jung Ho…
As for Park Min Young, she is a pleasant actress, but not strong enough to lift characters and make them truly stand out… I’m sad I’m not feeling the Healer vibe right now 😥. Maybe I’ll get more invested in the next episodes. I hope so.
@Glogo – it’s funny because we’ve been having a huge debate over on the spoiler thread about just how much of Park Bon soo’s bumbling personality is a real part of Jung soo. I, personally saw a restraint in Jung soo compared to Bong soo although I felt some of Bong soo exists a bit in Jung soo as evidenced whenever he’s around Young shin’s Dad and resident Ahjusshi.
I feel JCW is doing just fine as Healer. On the other hand, if he were playing just one character (Bong Hoo), I would’ve dropped the show: that character’s behavior is totally unrealistic. But as a second persona, BH adds a comical effect to the show.
Park Min Young fits this role very well. I like her here. It’s her other shows, where she turned into ‘an office girl next door’, that left me unimpressed.
maria, gloglo and beez, i agree with maria, i think healer is “just fine”.
(maria, where is this going with us? so much agreement?!)
anyway, i think now we can continue here our discussion about healer or bong soo being real or an act. so, when healer is initially introduced to the people and environment by park min young, he turns into a complete jelly, (totally exaggerated) not just stuttering, mumbling and stumbling over words but his whole body language changes, he tries to make himself smaller, head down, big eyes… also, he puts on this act (and i think it’s an act) of taking notes of every stupid thing the girl says. to make sure he remembers everything? really? the guy has a pretty good memory, he does not go to his healer jobs with a note pad. does he have to write down about the coffee rules in the kitchen, or the sandwiches in the fridge? i think it is ALL an act, to enhance the persona he intends to project and thus camouflage his healer secret. he is used to act as different personalities depending on the job requirement (he becomes a cleaning “lady”,a computer wiz…), so my conclusion now, after rewatching it again, that it is all an act. also, when he is with his sunbae- all this awkwardness becomes less and later, when he walks with her after meeting kim moon ho, he goes from healer to bong soo with no effort, instantaneously, within a split of a second, back and forth. if there is really a speech disorder in certain situations, one can not switch like this. on the other hand, when he brings his sunbae home and has the encounter with her dad and uncle , he genuinely is surprised to hear about her problems and the demands on him, and it does feel awkward, especially that he’s pushed to the wall or book case, so here it is part embarrassment, discomfort, part act. but in general, i think bong soo is his creation.
As I said in my earlier comment, Healer wouldn’t have been able to do his jobs, if he were so easily spooked.
Bong Hoo is Healer’s creation, 100%. And that pad detail was so funny.
Healer did feel some discomfort, when YS’s dad/Ahjusshi pushed him to the wall (he doesn’t like being in close proximity of other people, after all), but not to the extent he pretended he did.
Healer was surprised by learning that YS has panic attacks, but, I guess, it made sense to him, since he heard her story on the roof.
Embarrased? I don’t know about that…
@MariaF @eda – I agree that Healer would not be embarrassed by being pushed up against the bookshelf. No more than he’s embarrassed by playing a coward as Bong soo. And as much as I contend he’s nervous around Amazing Dad and Ahjusshi- not yet. He’s not in love (and I don’t think he’s even “in like” yet at this point. He’s in curious mode. So the bumbling act at this point in our story is just his Bong soo cover.
@eda – but I don’t think our arguments were about is Bong soo’s awkwardness real? I think we all recognize that’s fake to steer everyone away from his Healer identity. The original question, I thought we were arguing about is how much of Bong soo’s awkwardness is based on Jung hoo’s real personality? (Although we all said a lot so maybe I missed the actual point? 😂)
@beez – Not entirely. I have argued that it might be both — mostly an act but possibly also partly a truth about him.
Since this is the open thread, don’t say anything you know from “the future”!
Oops merij! Thanks. I thought we were on the spoiler thread!
We have so many open threads right now. No wonder that it’s hard to keep track of where we are, what we said, and were we said it.
yeah. It was the subject matter that fooled me and made me sure that it was our previous conversation. I hope Kfangurl doesn’t kill me!
@beez — yep, that was my guess
we were all over the map.
Well, KFG, I finished reading the recap and your description of Healer’s badassery vs “stealth badassery” had me swooning all over again. 😍
Nope. Mom doesn’t get a pass from me because it may be something that we’ve seen some Korean mothers do in some dramas, I’ve also seen others where they don’t, even if the new hubby’s family insists the child not be brought into the marriage. Nope. I just can’t with her!
We can discuss this more once her reasons are revealed.
@beez, o the mom! now we are introduced to the abandonment issue. it’s utterly heart breaking to see this little kid hearing that his mom is leaving and NOT coming back. can it be more horrible than that? and the expression on the grandmother’s face makes the situation even more desperate. i understand that she could have left may be for another job.. or.. but never come back? what kind of crap is this? why couldn’t she come to visit or take him to visit her?
and then we hear it was difficult for her to see the son when her husband was killed and he reminded her of him. this is such a bizarre and inexcusable explanation. and i truly do not comprehend why couldn’t healer come to her house, be a big brother, and at least have some remnants of a family?
and then we see their meeting, mom and son. but there is warmth and care that i feel from healer towards his mom. how and where did this come about? and when she says she probably has nothing left from his dad in her house, he seems to be hurt by it – how could she just erase her’s and her son’s past?
and of course there will be more about this issue, so we’ll have to wait.
and i forgot, healer seems to know what’s going on in his mother’s life. did they maintain contact throughout the years?
Ohhhhhh. It’s her boss’ sandwich. That makes me feel better about it! 😆 I always felt some type of way about it even though I found it funny – but since I hate office lunch thieves/meddlers so much, I was torn. And even though that’s big peeve of mine, she’s just so darn adorably cute while doing it that I never held it against her character. The reason it being her boss’ lunch makes it better for me is it does seem like she can get away with anything with her boss even if he’s angry with her. I mean, he didn’t fire her after posting that story even though he told her not to, so that tells me right there, they’ve got some kind of special relationship.
I’ll be posting small individual posts as I read the recap. (Sorry – memory can’t hang in there to remember what I wanted to say once I’ve read the entire thing.)
@seankfletcher – The detectives’ forum called Healer a “fixer. I liked that. That seems to fit Healer better than “spy” as we were discussing him in your guest post. (I think)
Kocowa translates 주인 as “boss” when Secretary Weasle tells SS that his 주인 is in the car. But it actually means “master” and when that translation was used in other broadcasts, it was far more ominous like “once you decide to get in the car it means you’ve sold your soul to the master.
https://youtu.be/gfNXPJbz4hM
@kfangurl – Whoa! I rewatched both episodes and my subs said nothing about “that her abandonment had had something to do with “the man who was supposed to be her father.” Now I can’t finish reading until I go check every version that I have access to including my dvd’s!
Before I go, did anyone notice that thing moving across the floor in Healer’s place right at the beginning of episode 4 just before he throws the beer can into the trash? I think it may be one of those things that camera men sit up high on to get their shots.
@beez – Those are light fixtures at Healer’s place. They are attached to the ceiling. They can be seen a few moments before Healer gets on the couch.
@MariaF – Light fixtures? I don’t know but I don’t think so. This thing was about 5 feet wide, maybe 4 feet tall and gliding across the floor. How could that be a light fixture? I get it if it’s a light for the set filming that we aren’t supposed to see, but part of his apartment? And definitely not attached to the ceiling. Can you look again? I think it’s less than 5 minutes into episode 4. Watch near the upper left hand of the screen just before he sits on the couch and throws the beer can across the room to the trash can.
You are right! I saw it too! Wow! You have a very good eye.
By the way, thank you: I now see lipstick on everyone!!!
@MariaF – I’m so glad somebody else saw it. I’ve been thinking I’m the only one seeing things because nobody else sees it.
As to the lipstick – I’m truly sorry about that because I wish – so much – that I could look past it and not see it!
These episodes have cemented my suspension that Moon Sik due to jealousy and wanting Gil-han for himself did a bad bad thing. The bad bad thing involves Healer, Young-shin, her biological dad, and possibly caused Gil-han’s paralysis. Before Healer I would’ve binge-watch the 20 episodes to prove my theory. Group watching achieved a miracle for me, my addiction to gorge Kdrama is on hold, Hallelujah!
Young-shin and Healer/Park Boon-soo are getting the feels for each other, the “like” stage is definitely coming…my heart is at flutters for them. Park Boon-soo’s awkwardness as a newbie reporter is endearing, but not believable in my view. I want to know more about the relationship with the mom. How did Healer arrive at forgiveness after abandonment? This is one of the things (lessons) I admire in Kdrama, the ability to forgive and accept. Is forgiveness with ease really true in Korean Culture? I asked the question because I’m on this road spiritually.
The Parcours while tailing Mun-ho had me laughing. Yes, the best way for a rough to keep a low profile and not attract attention is surely leaping through private homes when you can just hail a cab to follow Mun-ho. And of course, in dramaland none of the homeowners would call the cops.
Spidey sense is telling me Yoon Dong-won (Jo Han-chul) as a detective may be the bad seed in the police department. He was sure a weazel in Vencenzo…I liked him in Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha.
Anyway, to keep the miracle going I’m going to start Signal. I spy hot uncle from Move to Heaven. Lol I only watch Kdrama for the storytelling.
I am sure there are loads of things that will be discussed this week on this. Will wait out on that.
The only thing I want to add in for now is the relationship between Healer and his mother. FGV – You rightly pointed out that this relationship is good in spite of his mother leaving him to remarry and that it is both a bit surprising and relief to see that cordial relationship. When I saw it for the first time I myself was bit surprised and it resonated a lot with me.
I just want to draw upon my personal experience on this wherein I lost my father at a young age and my mother had to leave me behind with my grandparents without her will and never to see me again much. Strangely I never carried any ill-will against her and had only wished her well from afar in spite of all my low days. So in other words – it is very much possible to have that warm feeling and not to feel that distant from the absent mother. Again this could vary from person to person but all I am saying is its very much possible.
Actually children going through hardships in a young age are very intuitive in that they do understand why their parents sometimes do what they have to do. In this case Healer does understand what his mother was going through after his father’s death (given the circumstances under which his father passes away) either immediately at that time itself as a child or as he grows older. Honestly a 7 or 8 years old child in 1992 (as in the story) won’t know much other than sulk or cry when a parent has to leave it behind – I know this part very well and my timeline is the same as well. Compared to kids these days who are lot more aware and smarter by 8 years old that they could react differently.
And I want to contrast out that this warmth is possible because it is the mother and it may or may not be the case if it was the father that left him behind to remarry. In my case I carried a lot of angst on my father for passing away so early. Whereas I could only empathise with my mother because early on I as a girl (at that time in late 90’s) understood that this world is a difficult place for women in general, working woman more so and working single mother even more so. So I am very sure that Healer understood his mother’s dilemma and reacted positively and with warmth. A bit of clever writing there and that’s why I am always amazed by the Korean women writers as they portray the woman more empathetically in spite of the woman’s choices being unusual or not normal (Have seen in many dramas by now).
Also I just want to clarify that this relationship does not make him any less lonely. Reason is he still wants to move away to an island and live a hermit life. Because he clearly knows that he cannot have a normal mother-son relationship with her and the most he can do is meet her occasionally. That really does not take away from his loneliness in anyway and in fact its very tragic if you think of it. I know this part again very personally.
On a side note – both in Vincenzo and in Her Private Life – I thought this part (mother-son separation and the empathetic relationship/feelings that the son carries for the mother well into the adult stage) was handled very positively as well.
Hope this helps.
I think it was right around here that I started to develop my theory that Ji Chang-wook has two basic character modes: totally cool bad-ass, and dorky goofy naif. Kind of perfectly encapsulated here, by Healer on the one hand and Park Bong-soo on the other. This theory was strengthened by The K2 (cool bad-ass) and Backstreet Rookie (bumbling dork); I’m sure it’s not actually true and he has a lot more modes and range than that…but it’s an attractive if simplistic way to look at it for me.
Also, I am remembering that I really enjoyed Healer’s minion, who is a whole package of mini-bad-ass on her own, while really looking up to her sunbae and yearning to get to his level. It’s kind of cute. I always kind of wondered why that actress never really made it, only being credited with a couple movies and one other drama. She apparently is/was also a martial artist and singer? Anyway, just one more bit part that is filled in with a reasonably memorable player.
And along those lines…Jo Han-chul as the smart cyber detective; didn’t recognize him as anything the first time I saw this, but now of course, he’s very recognizable from Vincenzo, Hometown ChaChaCha, and Jirisan, just in the last year.
Yes, and it’s also interesting to (attempt to) unpack how much of what we’re seeing is an early incarnation of JCW’s go-to acting modes versus two sides of the Jung Hoo character he portrays in this show — utterly confident action-guy Healer vs. socially awkward Bong Soo.
We know Bong Soo is an undercover disguise. We know Healer is deliberately appearing as unimpressive as possible via this dorky act.
But we always know that Jung Hoo is a hermit with extremely meager experience as an adult interacting with other people, other than in his take-charge professional role as Healer.
Now, in response to Young Shin, he’s suddenly feeling things. So is Bong Soo’s awkwardness entirely an act? I think the hesitancy — including that stutter — is sometimes real. I think he flips back and forth, based on the moment.
Meri, while you are asking a very good question, the answer will be a pure speculation at this point.
So far, the only people Healer interacted with as himself (whatever it means) were his mother, Ahjuma, the girl helper and the male client.
There were no signs of social awkwardness in Healer’s behavior, when he was with them.
His dorky persona showed up only when he was in the cafe or with the newspaper people, where he had to pretend to be Bong Soo.
When CYS was leading Healer by the wrist on his first day at the newspaper’s office, he stopped pretending and started walking normally for a minute, but then began walking awkwardly and made that goofy face again, when she turned around to look at him.
I think we need to revisit this question a bit later, once we see more of Healer.
@MariaF – Yes, all solid observations.
ha ha ha….good one Trent. As a hard-core JCW fan I just want to humbly point out that he does other modes/ranges as well. He was neither of this but played a very confident working professional with an undeniable charm in Suspicious Partner. Again he was totally stand-alone as performer with varied emotions in Empress Ki (I still believe that he was not nominated for Baeksang award for that role only because he played a Mongol Emperor with a bit of distortion of history). And in LSITC he was totally different as Park Jae-won. And I do agree with you on the K2 and BR comparison.
here! here! (Or maybe that’s supposed to be hear! hear!????) Whatever! I agree JCW has range if you’ve seen all his other projects.
😍