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Healer Rewatch: Episodes 1 and 2
I'm going to make periodic Healer posts as I rewatch and if any of y'all watch it later, you can come back here and yell at me about it!
I have a lot of thoughts for this first one, but some of these will probably just be quick and informal--maybe a bulleted list of things I noticed or feelings I'm having.
But not this one!
Jung-hoo
I had forgotten how hard the show leans into "Jung-hoo is anti-social and not very likeable" in the first episode. Our first shots of him are him (essentially) sexually harassing the video game tennis player he's playing against. Which is just an interesting way to introduce your hero, but I think this actually works? Because when we meet Young-shin, she is the opposite of that kind of computer-generated woman--she's dressed down and a bit messy and just not at all glam or caring about her appearance. And Jung-hoo is immediately fascinated by her, even if he won't admit that to himself. Over the course of the show, we see him figure out how to relate to a woman, which he's clearly never, ever done before.
He isolates himself completely, and even though Ji Changwook is ADORABLE puttering around in his big empty warehouse apartment in his at-home clothes (also: COLLARBONES) he's just not all that likeable of a character at the beginning. Sure, he's a badass, as he proves in our first big action sequence. But there doesn't seem to be much to him at all beside his desire to save up enough money to buy his own private island. He explicitly tells us in episode 2 that he doesn't care about the morals of his clients or what they're up to--anything short of murder, he's up for. Other than the fact that he's hot and competent, he has nothing going for him as a character at the beginning.
Which could be off-putting, but I like it. It makes his transformation into an actual person so much more interesting.
Young-shin
Young-shin, on the other hand, is the opposite right off the bat. She's warm and goofy and has all the determination in the world. She's got relationships, specifically with her wonderful dad andher dad's partner Chul-Min. Her family life is teasing and fun and if you haven't already fallen in love with her in the first episode, you absolutely absolutely will in episode 2 when we see her goofing off and dancing with her dad in the coffee shop, totally uncaring of how she might appear to random customers (and Jung-hoo's immediate reaction of "This guy definitely never did anything but love this girl," is just so perfect). I love her more than life.
Tiny little Young-shin surrounded by ex-cons who are teaching her how to pick locks and open safes and pick pockets...is just the most glorious thing in the world. And it's so important to the world of the story that her dad is a defense attorney who is heavily invested in the lives of his clients after they leave jail, assisting them with finding jobs, etc. and also staying close enough to them that they hang around with his daughter. I just love this backstory more than I can ever say.
I had forgotten that she starts out as a celebrity "journalist" of a kind that was so specific to Korean pop culture at the time this show was made. It's an interesting choice--we know that she wants to be the kind of reporter than Moon-ho is, but here she is playing gotcha with a celebrity, trying to capture proof of a relationship for the scandal pages. And she's treating it with all the seriousness that she would a real scoop. I see this mostly as a kind of immaturity--she thinks this is just a step on the way to her real career and doesn't seem much interested in critiquing it.
But we see her fundamental goodness and compassion when she encounters the lady at the apartment building. Here is Young-shin's chance to get her scoop! She's so close! And yet she rushes up to the roof to make sure that a stranger is okay. Some things are more important.
We then get the heartbreaking scene where she tells us what happened to her before she was adopted. Park Min-young is really good in this scene--she starts out just trying anything she can to make a connection with this desperate woman, and then she gets pulled into her own heartbreaking memories. Of course it works. Her vulnerability and authenticity are probably the only thing that could have talked that woman down from the ledge. If someone who had broken ribs from abuse at the age of seven can tell you that things get better...you can believe it.
And of course she takes Sad Lady home to appa! This family clearly does this sort of thing all the time--they have toothbrushes and even new underwear tucked away just waiting for the needy. It says so much about who they are and the kind of lives they live. (Speaking of the kind of lives they live, I love appa's advice to do your second favorite thing for a living and keep your very favorite thing as a hobby. That's smart!)
I also want to touch on the scene in the bathroom with Jung-hoo. Young-shin comes across as a fearless person--she doesn't hesitate to chase down this guy who stole her bag. And she knows how to fight back! (Certainly a skill taught by one of the many criminal ahjussis in her life.) But when it becomes clear that she's outmatched, that even her hard-won skills aren't going to get her out of this, that she is physically vulnerable to this man, her terror is so real and relatable. That is a horrifying situation to be in. We as the audience know that Jung-hoo isn't going to actually hurt her, but she has no idea. Of course she thinks something terrible is going to happen! Especially when he freaking punches the mirror! I feel so much for her in that scene! (And there's some really, really interesting parallels to later, iconic scenes from this show that I will be sure to revisit then!)
I just think you have to give Young-shin your whole heart immediately. I can't imagine not falling in love with her as a character. She's the loveliest.
Moon-ho, Myung-hee and the flashbacks
And then we get to Moon-ho, long-suffering Min-jae (this woman deserves better) and LOVE OF MY LIFE MYUNG-HEE!!!!!!!!!!
Moon-ho feels opaque at this point in the narrative to me. We know he's a hot-shot journalist (I'm guessing he's kind of got Anderson Cooper level fame, but he's investigative), we know he's feeling kind of jaded about life, but we also know that he still fundamentally cares about using the power of journalism for good. The jadedness and the desire to help people are in interesting contrast--he's clearly at the point where he doesn't care about his career anymore--he'll do whatever the hell he wants, even violate direct orders. But at least he's doing it in order to tell the stories of the oppressed? Min-jae believes he's just in it for the fame at this point, but that's clearly not entirely true. It's complicated and we don't really know why he feels the way he does.
But we know he is bent on finding someone and we know that he loves his sister-in-law Myung-hee. And how could he not? Myung-hee is sunshine incarnate. I love her so much in both the present and the past. She's just so lovely and kind and warm. We really feel that Moon-ho must be a person worth loving since she loves him so much and he appreciates her completely. I love that he just calls her noona instead of addressing her as his sister-in-law.
It's heartbreaking to see her mourning her dead daughter and begging her dead husband to look after her. I am so sad already!!!!
I adore the flashbacks. These reckless and idealistic young people in the back of a van outrunning the police so that they can promote democracy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's the best! I don't have much to say about it except that Moon-sik bringing his baby brother along but making sure he's got his seatbelt on tells you so much about these characters' backgrounds--they clearly don't have real adults looking out for them.
Random other things
+ Min-ja is fun from the first episode but her true awesomeness will only be revealed later. I find her hilarious and wonderful and a kind of older female character you never, ever, ever see on television. <3<3<3<3 Min-ja!!!
+ LET DAE-YONG DO SOMETHING MORE THAN DELIVERY!!!! Gee, hyung, it's not that hard!
+ The action scenes are the least interesting of the show for me but they're still pretty fun. This first one sets up the players pretty well.
+ Jung-hoo has been able to ignore the moral ramifications of his job so far, but the murder of the train guy makes that impossible. We see from his reaction that, for all his protestations of not caring about anything, he genuinely feels regret at dismissing the warnings. And of course with Detective Dong-won showing up, things are about to get real.
+ Jung-hoo's wig. I will say no more.
I have a lot of thoughts for this first one, but some of these will probably just be quick and informal--maybe a bulleted list of things I noticed or feelings I'm having.
But not this one!
Jung-hoo
I had forgotten how hard the show leans into "Jung-hoo is anti-social and not very likeable" in the first episode. Our first shots of him are him (essentially) sexually harassing the video game tennis player he's playing against. Which is just an interesting way to introduce your hero, but I think this actually works? Because when we meet Young-shin, she is the opposite of that kind of computer-generated woman--she's dressed down and a bit messy and just not at all glam or caring about her appearance. And Jung-hoo is immediately fascinated by her, even if he won't admit that to himself. Over the course of the show, we see him figure out how to relate to a woman, which he's clearly never, ever done before.
He isolates himself completely, and even though Ji Changwook is ADORABLE puttering around in his big empty warehouse apartment in his at-home clothes (also: COLLARBONES) he's just not all that likeable of a character at the beginning. Sure, he's a badass, as he proves in our first big action sequence. But there doesn't seem to be much to him at all beside his desire to save up enough money to buy his own private island. He explicitly tells us in episode 2 that he doesn't care about the morals of his clients or what they're up to--anything short of murder, he's up for. Other than the fact that he's hot and competent, he has nothing going for him as a character at the beginning.
Which could be off-putting, but I like it. It makes his transformation into an actual person so much more interesting.
Young-shin
Young-shin, on the other hand, is the opposite right off the bat. She's warm and goofy and has all the determination in the world. She's got relationships, specifically with her wonderful dad and
Tiny little Young-shin surrounded by ex-cons who are teaching her how to pick locks and open safes and pick pockets...is just the most glorious thing in the world. And it's so important to the world of the story that her dad is a defense attorney who is heavily invested in the lives of his clients after they leave jail, assisting them with finding jobs, etc. and also staying close enough to them that they hang around with his daughter. I just love this backstory more than I can ever say.
I had forgotten that she starts out as a celebrity "journalist" of a kind that was so specific to Korean pop culture at the time this show was made. It's an interesting choice--we know that she wants to be the kind of reporter than Moon-ho is, but here she is playing gotcha with a celebrity, trying to capture proof of a relationship for the scandal pages. And she's treating it with all the seriousness that she would a real scoop. I see this mostly as a kind of immaturity--she thinks this is just a step on the way to her real career and doesn't seem much interested in critiquing it.
But we see her fundamental goodness and compassion when she encounters the lady at the apartment building. Here is Young-shin's chance to get her scoop! She's so close! And yet she rushes up to the roof to make sure that a stranger is okay. Some things are more important.
We then get the heartbreaking scene where she tells us what happened to her before she was adopted. Park Min-young is really good in this scene--she starts out just trying anything she can to make a connection with this desperate woman, and then she gets pulled into her own heartbreaking memories. Of course it works. Her vulnerability and authenticity are probably the only thing that could have talked that woman down from the ledge. If someone who had broken ribs from abuse at the age of seven can tell you that things get better...you can believe it.
And of course she takes Sad Lady home to appa! This family clearly does this sort of thing all the time--they have toothbrushes and even new underwear tucked away just waiting for the needy. It says so much about who they are and the kind of lives they live. (Speaking of the kind of lives they live, I love appa's advice to do your second favorite thing for a living and keep your very favorite thing as a hobby. That's smart!)
I also want to touch on the scene in the bathroom with Jung-hoo. Young-shin comes across as a fearless person--she doesn't hesitate to chase down this guy who stole her bag. And she knows how to fight back! (Certainly a skill taught by one of the many criminal ahjussis in her life.) But when it becomes clear that she's outmatched, that even her hard-won skills aren't going to get her out of this, that she is physically vulnerable to this man, her terror is so real and relatable. That is a horrifying situation to be in. We as the audience know that Jung-hoo isn't going to actually hurt her, but she has no idea. Of course she thinks something terrible is going to happen! Especially when he freaking punches the mirror! I feel so much for her in that scene! (And there's some really, really interesting parallels to later, iconic scenes from this show that I will be sure to revisit then!)
I just think you have to give Young-shin your whole heart immediately. I can't imagine not falling in love with her as a character. She's the loveliest.
Moon-ho, Myung-hee and the flashbacks
And then we get to Moon-ho, long-suffering Min-jae (this woman deserves better) and LOVE OF MY LIFE MYUNG-HEE!!!!!!!!!!
Moon-ho feels opaque at this point in the narrative to me. We know he's a hot-shot journalist (I'm guessing he's kind of got Anderson Cooper level fame, but he's investigative), we know he's feeling kind of jaded about life, but we also know that he still fundamentally cares about using the power of journalism for good. The jadedness and the desire to help people are in interesting contrast--he's clearly at the point where he doesn't care about his career anymore--he'll do whatever the hell he wants, even violate direct orders. But at least he's doing it in order to tell the stories of the oppressed? Min-jae believes he's just in it for the fame at this point, but that's clearly not entirely true. It's complicated and we don't really know why he feels the way he does.
But we know he is bent on finding someone and we know that he loves his sister-in-law Myung-hee. And how could he not? Myung-hee is sunshine incarnate. I love her so much in both the present and the past. She's just so lovely and kind and warm. We really feel that Moon-ho must be a person worth loving since she loves him so much and he appreciates her completely. I love that he just calls her noona instead of addressing her as his sister-in-law.
It's heartbreaking to see her mourning her dead daughter and begging her dead husband to look after her. I am so sad already!!!!
I adore the flashbacks. These reckless and idealistic young people in the back of a van outrunning the police so that they can promote democracy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's the best! I don't have much to say about it except that Moon-sik bringing his baby brother along but making sure he's got his seatbelt on tells you so much about these characters' backgrounds--they clearly don't have real adults looking out for them.
Random other things
+ Min-ja is fun from the first episode but her true awesomeness will only be revealed later. I find her hilarious and wonderful and a kind of older female character you never, ever, ever see on television. <3<3<3<3 Min-ja!!!
+ LET DAE-YONG DO SOMETHING MORE THAN DELIVERY!!!! Gee, hyung, it's not that hard!
+ The action scenes are the least interesting of the show for me but they're still pretty fun. This first one sets up the players pretty well.
+ Jung-hoo has been able to ignore the moral ramifications of his job so far, but the murder of the train guy makes that impossible. We see from his reaction that, for all his protestations of not caring about anything, he genuinely feels regret at dismissing the warnings. And of course with Detective Dong-won showing up, things are about to get real.
+ Jung-hoo's wig. I will say no more.
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