Episode 11.
Introducing the Saturday Super Drama Specialists:
@Growing_Beautifully, @Cleopatra, @FGB4788, @Janey, @Welmaris, @WEnchanteur, @Sayaris, @Fern, @OldAmericanLady, @Viva, @Juriel.
13:00 UTC
09:00am EST
06:00am PST
09:00pm Singapore, Philippines
08:00pm Indonesia
03:00pm Greece
12:00am Sydney (Sunday)
08:30pm India
The schedule according to @Growing_Beautifully.
1) Episode 1: For the intro to the characters and their dreams
2) Episode 2: For some cool Healer action
3) Episode 5: For the dynamics of relationships and a getaway
4) Episode 8: For the elevator rescue and you know what happens after that
5) Episode 9: For the telephone convo and makeover
6) Episode 10: For the rooftop convo
7) Episode 11: For the movie date
8) Episode 14: For Healer’s turn to be ‘rescued’ in his lair
9) Episode 20: For the finale
Enjoy the rewatch!
@packmule3, You’re supposed to be on vacation! Thank you for doing this but please take your well-deserved time for yourself.
Woohoo!! Thanks @pkml3! I’m so ready for that our rewatch date and for Healer’s date. It was supposed to be the ‘lamest’ date … the couple just watches the same movie in the same place at the same time, that’s it! Couple can’t look into each other’s faces, won’t speak a word to each other, can’t take a walk together or eat standing beside each other and the guy can’t even take the girl home. How come this date stands out as one of the sweetest, most emotionally laden, memorable dates in the end? 🙂
Healer OST No. 4
Lyrics from Episode 9 and YouTube (link below) with minor edits for better ‘reading’.
This song was played in the background during the rooftop confession and again for the movie date.
Song: You (by Ben)
Memories of meeting you, are like a dream that lies
I will still be here, waiting for you
I feel nervous so I can’t move
When you look at me
Why can’t I say anything?
When I have so much to say
The moment you turn around
Why do you feel so far away?
Why do my tears suddenly spill?
I love you, I only love you
Without you, I have nothing
Though I can’t reach you
Though I can’t hug you
Though I cry alone, it’s alright
I will always be looking at you
It’s you
You, the fate of meeting you
When did it become fate to me?
I can’t even go back to the times
before I loved you
That’s how much I’m falling into you
I love you, I only love you
Without you, I have nothing
Though I can’t reach you
Though I can’t hug you
Though I cry alone, it’s alright
I will always be looking at you
It’s you
The one I long for til my heart is bruised
It’s you
I love you, look back at me
Without you, I have nothing
Though I can’t have you
Though I can’t say it
I love you like this
I will always be looking at you
It’s you
Oh BTW @pkml3, the title should say “Rewatch Ep 11” (not 10) for today!!
@GB, healer date was ahead of its time. This is how folks date during Covid and lockdown! 😂
I may not be able to join you tomorrow as I have an early zoom college reunion meeting. Will try to catch up in the comments later.
Cheers and happy weekend!!
LOL @Janey!! You are so right! It never occurred to me. Healer has shown us the Covid way of safe dating.
Hope to see you tonight if you can make it. I know a couple of us may not be free as well. Would it be too weird if I end up watching this alone and chatting to myself? LOLOL.
Sorry, I can’t participate. Too serious problems in my country.
OK @WEnchanteur, as long as you’re doing ok. I hope things settle more so that you can join us for some of the rewatch of W-Two Worlds that we’re hoping to do after this Healer rewatch.
Thanks for getting back to us! Stay safe and keep in touch!!!
@GB, as always it is a pleasure to read you. I hope for an uneventful watch 😉 . @OAL, then we should be more thankful for this thread 😀 .@Janey, first things first. @WE hope you and your loved ones are OK!!!.
Hello my dear @FGB!!! I’m super pleased to see you here. It’s a pleasure to read you too. You bring a new perspective from a man’s point of view. It rounds us out so much more.
Yes, may you have a good Internet connection and good streaming for an uneventful rewatch!
How much do I love this Kdrama and my BoD friends? I’m awake after only four hours of sleep so I can be here. I’m glad to say that after working hard for several days, I’m ready for this afternoon’s college alumnae event.
Let’s go!
Hi @Welmaris!!! So glad that you’re awake. I had a nap and am all chipper now.
I’m guessing that we have very few of us here today, but no worries, we’ll go on as usual!! It’s time to start Let’s go!!!
That’s good @Welmaris! All the best for your afternoon event!
I like this cold open when Healer confronts MH face-to-face. MH already guesses, but he needs to be sure.
So much emotion in his face.
Healer wants to start out by making a deal so MH also responds with a challenge. However MH had offered to just ask questions first and bother about a deal later.
In the end, there was no deal, just sam choon who wanted to touch base with the kid he used to baby-sit.
@Welmaris, how are you and how is your intraocular pressure today?. Please don’t force your sight too much 🙂 .
Hello, Everyone. I’m here after the 100m sprint.
Hi @Fern, how did your girl do for the sprint? Sounds like you sprinted here to join us!!
I like how this encounter between MH & Healer is staged. I wonder how he changed his voice on the phone. Couldn’t he hear the voice from just down the hallway? Oh well, it’s a drama.
It seems very believable that MH would discover Healer’s identity through YS’s broken phone.
Healer stepping into the light has a whole different aura than Bong Soo. And the drama of the boom in the music as he lifts his eyes to MH is so dramatic!
Moru Moru Island…why didn’t MH bring that up with YS?
The actor who plays JH’s father does have the same smile as JH.
There are tears in his eyes as MH asks if JH remembers Moru Moru Island – the genesis perhaps of JH’s wanting an isolated island of his own, a place to run away to and to hide in – the same way that he and Ji An had done as little children.
JH vaguely remembers happy voices calling out Moru Moru Island.
MH : “Is it you, Jung Hoo?”
So poignant. Moon Ho feels so much but Jung Hoo is on another island of his own, where he does not trust MH yet.
The backstory memory of MH baby-sitting the 2 kids – so cute. But it also adds a lump to my throat, knowing what would befall them. The almost lost innocence.
In some ways I felt that Healer, by keeping himself apart, kept some of that innocence.
I meant in the Olympics. I just had to change from TV to netflix. 🙂 It was Jamaica 1,2,3.
@Fern, I see. I’m not following the Olympics. Maybe I’ll do so now that the heats are more or less over.
JH tells Ahjumma that he wants to clear his father’s name because he wants to reveal himself to Young Shin. He is a thief is not so bad but to say that his father is a murderer is different.
“Didn’t you say this. It’s okay to tell her if she’s someone who’d come to my island with me?” Then it would be okay to start something with her.
He believes that with CYS, it’s safe to tell her and that she’ll go to his island with him.
“At first, she’ll probably beat me for having fooled her all this time. She’ll kick and hit me. I can take a few hits. But everything will be okay very soon. She’s like that. She’ll sing a strange song and dance a ridiculous dance. Then, she won’t be mad anymore.”
This came to pass!
I like the expression on JH’s face when he confesses all that to Ahjumma. He finally looks full of hope, not indifferent anymore.
MH makes the distinction between murderer and murder suspect.
Ajumma also asks why clearing his father’s name is important, since his father is dead, just as Sabu asked. As if they wouldn’t know? I’d hate thinking someone in my family is falsely accused of such a horrendous crime.
Healer’s aware he has special feelings for YS. He’s thinking long term. Ajumma isn’t happy, but I’m happy!
YS comes to work and is basically ignored by PBS which upsets her. He’s the one that she looks for and wants to talk to.
Even though she does not know he’s Healer, she’s always had a special consideration for PBS. She wants PBS to talk to her. She does not like things to be uncomfortable or awkward between them. It could be something of their shared past as children still has an impact on her.
Oooohhhh, snap! PBS gets back at YS for turning down his proposal on the rooftop date. But he’s gentle how he does it.
JH as PBS totally changes his body and movement so that he looks smaller, more hunched and not so sharp. LOL. JCW in reality is a bit like that. More like PBS when he’s himself.
Love how MH keeps wanting to reminisce and JH keeps resisting. But he’s actually interested, just that he’s uncomfortable with the ‘closeness’ of one he is suspicious of.
I like Ahjumma’s angry face drawing.
PBS with the coffee. All timid and un-alpha.
Healer’s not ready to be buddies with MH.
The memories of MH speak of such an innocent and yet difficult time.
It’s so sad that JH can’t respond to MH’s question on whether he has friends with a ‘yes’. He has to take up a defensive stance. He does not trust him yet.
What a sad irony that Joon Seok had taken the job as something that was going to be fun, but it turned into a terrible double or triple tragedy. Due to the greed of Elder and Moon Shik.
MH says that he also did not trust JH/Healer at first. “People I have hired have often turned on me and started working for my enemies. So I told the police about you.” He’d told them: “Healer will be next to CYS.”
Healer knows his girl and how many bruises she will give him XD . Seriously, he just wants to be and to have what a regular person has: identity, an honest job and a future. Such simple things yet he must go through hell to obtain them and have a little bit of an everyday bliss…
It makes you count your Blessings 😀 .
Ahjumma drew what looked like a monkey face in her angry drawing. It was more or less the disguise that she took on later when she had to make her urgent getaway.
1981 to 1992 was the span of the friendship of the five friends.
JH is in a difficult position during his talk with MH. Is he JH, old friend of MH? Is he BS, MH’s employee? Is he Healer, contracted by MH and unwilling to learn details about jobs he’s hired to do?
Now JH learns that MS was with the other two friends when YS’s father was killed. That’s an important point he hadn’t heard before. Knowing what he knows about MS’s duplicity, he shouldn’t question his father’s innocence anymore.
The father-son parallel walking & kicking cans: what a tug to the heart to see! What would JH’s life had been like, growing up with his father around? Breaks my heart that he was robbed of that.
MH gets teary eyed when he seems to see the ghost or the memory of Seo Joon Seok-hyung walking beside JH. YJT pulls it off with such grace.
So true @FGB. For the ordinary life with family intact, without having to fight for it, one has so much to be thankful for.
The actor who played Healer’s dad must have been cast for his smile. It is so similar.
Det Yoon visits CoffeeBay looking for YS since she’s the one Healer is supposed to be hanging around. Despite him putting Healer in a very suspicious light, YS is not convinced. Her own personal encounters with Healer have made her surer of him than anything anyone can say.
@Fern, this show has done a fantastic casting job of all the younger and older characters. They have enough resemblance to pass off for each other.
JH starts to look through the notes and cuttings from MH. Ahjumma tells him about the email from CYS asking for a date with Healer. All those notes get forgotten for a while. Heh!
CYS’s email: “This is CYS. Will this email really reach you, Healer? I don’t know. But I will still try.
(This is a girl who is pro-active.)
I’m CYS. I need to meet you, Healer.
If you tell me not to look at you, I can cover my eyes again.
(LOL JH walks while reading the email and falls again over YS. The boy who never falls or trips, trips up twice over this girl.)
If you tell me not to talk, I’ll be still and won’t make a sound.
If I wanted you to, will you hear what I have to say?
Will you be here for me?
Will you be watching my back?”
I just need to know that you will. That’s all I need.
So in a way, I’m asking you out on a date.
Will you say yes?”
Hah JH heads straight for the wardrobe to look for something to wear, LOL. That’s a definite ‘Yes!’
Sokcho, again! The brave, formerly suicidal call girl, is going there for her own type of healing. I could imagine her, and SHwa becoming friends, but they weren’t living there at the same time.
Detective Yoon is motivated by ego to find Healer and get him convicted. He’s already decided that Healer is guilty of murder, even before trial and presentation of evidence/testimony. He’s spent five years tailing Healer–we always hear about those five years–and he’s pissed that all his effort may come to naught if Healer is actually innocent. Of course he did do things that were technically crimes while he was an errand boy, but were they worthy of Detective Yoon’s dogged persistence?
I love Ajumma: her way of dressing (all the skulls!), and her tendency to break out in song. She and YS have that in common.
Ajumma brings up some valid points for Healer not pursuing a relationship with YS, but the fact that she’ll become an accomplice is serious business.
Poor Ahjumma is in a dilemma. She’s supposed to be just the ‘boss’ of the Healer set up and to not have personal ties with Healer, but she also has grown fond of the boy. She does not want to lose such a good ‘Healer’ but JH has the right to want to have a life of his own.
In the end she plans a lovely ‘lame’ (LOL) date for YS and JH. Bet he didn’t have much clue what to do in a date anyway. He’d just want to hug, LOL.
I’d like to have a date where I’d get a special seat, snacks and soft toy all prepared for just me!!! Of course it would have been nice to get the hand hold too. (*innocent big eyes*)
At 21:00 they are unwittingly telling Moon Suk the mole where to catch them. Double crossing is the worst.
Ha, the ‘subtle’ way YS evades the police. They are pretty lame imo.
YS’s solo date reminds me of Min-ha’s Christmas Eve supper without SH.
The date! When did Healer have time to put all those lights in the hallway? Just gotta suspend disbelief. It sure looks romantic. And that plushy bunny by the chair…the setup with the light, popcorn, soda…it’s all enough to make YS feel like a queen.
That they both get into the movie and actually watch it together is cute. Does anyone know what movie they saw?
YS gets dressed to go on her date and sneaks out of the house. The detectives are hopeless when she goes out in plain sight and they don’t notice.
Despite Yoon saying that Healer has no morality, who’d do anything for money and that he’s turned to murder, YS remains unafraid and undeterred. She trusts her own instincts and is brave.
YS’s notes on how to have a date.
1) First the two of us have to walk together.
2) Then they’ll get hungry and may eat street food while arguing.
3) A date should include watching a movie. Since Healer won’t like crowded places, how about a midnight show?
She has so much consideration for him. Never once has she tried to see his face except when she was looking at the photo of him. JH was right to trust her.
The wonderfully long lighted corridor and path is testimony that there must have been many unseen minions setting up the date for just her. Ahjumma must have bought up every seat in the theatre to get the kind of service given to YS and Healer here.
Best arm grab ever in all of Kdrama!
And how they transition into holding hands, fingers interlaced, is the best skinship I’ve seen too.
So well done, Show!
This date and the hand hold at the end, the hand hold to end all hand holds. So poignant, so full of feeling, of longing.
I love that they were both able to laugh at the same time over the movie.
The bunny toy seemed to be similarly carrying a bag on one shoulder like YS.
Yes, the hand hold just when it seemed like she would be walking off empty-hearted and handed.
That hand hold said he had not left her, that he wanted to be by her side, that he was glad to have had the date and that she was not a fool to have asked to meet him. He had assured her that the feelings were mutual. It was the most satisfying hand hold.
YS is so evil. Saying about Healer to Minion, just take care of it like you usually do…he has to know he’s ordering Minion to kill Healer. To want to eliminate lives because they’re inconvenient: that’s so twisted, inhuman.
And now YS’s mother learns from JH’s mother about her husband’s manipulations in the background.
It would have been suspicious to everyone as to Kim Eui Chan and later to Some Day News, that MS becoming the next candidate after MH brings down Kim, seemed to mean that the brothers were in league to take over the Mayor role.
Here MH shows the rot that has taken over his morals. Either own Healer or get rid of him.
Here he drinks water from a mug, but finds that the mug is empty, like his heart. Later, he will break a glass of water on purpose out of frustration … but it shows how evilly broken he is as well.
Myung Hee speaks to JH’s mum. She finds out to her horror that it was MS who’d threatened JH’s mum to stop digging up the truth behind Seo Joon Seok’s death or young JH would not be safe.
At last her eyes start to be opened to MS. She has been ‘sleeping’ for 20+ years, but it’s time now for her to wake up. It was seeing JH as Healer that had started the process of awakening.
LOL YS is sidelined at work and a bit jealous that MH is suddenly close to PBS while PBS has become distant towards her.
I like JH’s easy entry into places where there is supposed to be relatively good security. One man Mission Impossible moves… just simple distraction and no suspicious behaviour and he gets through without a hitch.
“What kind of date is that?”… is the one they can get 🙁 .
JH sees that the police records for his father’s are blank dummy files. This signals to everyone that his death, and probably his accusation of murder, are suspicious. Ya think? How many signs do you need that one of the five friends betrayed the others in 1992, and continues to betray all who are in his life later.
How can MS and Minion stand before YS–MS with a smile on his face–after almost murdering her?
Min Ja is 100% a mom 😉
JH goes to the police records to get the interrogation reports but all is blank. Ahjumma, MH and JH are in a 3-way call so that Ahjumma can listen in. JH tells Ahjumma that he would go as the next of kin to obtain access to the case records.
We next see JH dressed up as an overaged student. He’s forced to wait for a long time to get any access.
Ahjumma says he’s finally lost it.
While Healer walks right into the police department to get info, MS goes to wheedle his way into YS’s life. It was such a disgusting move somehow, so full of deceit and hidden intent, and towards the girl he should have been on his knees apologising to. MS shows absolutely no guilt on the outside, before YS, but inside he is starting to become mentally unsound.
I agree, @FGB4877. Deny it all she wants, she is belatedly being another mother to Healer.
@FGB Min Ja’s backstory is sad too. She had been a mum, but she’d lost her child. So when she had Healer, something of the mum she could have been came to the fore. However later, when YS mistakes her for Healer’s mum, she says she is definitely not a mother. I believe that Min Ja still felt guilt over putting her work before family, when her son was sick, and so did not want the honour of being called anyone’s mum.
She was also a victim of higher-ups doing a cover up, so that after all that she lost, nothing could be reported and not crime could be made to stick. Hence, I guess, she took her hacking skills and went into the business of ‘Healer’.
This show really was a tour de force for JCW, playing a person who adopts so many different personae. It’s great to see him switching quickly as he does his errand boy jobs, and how he inhabits the characters of Healer, Bong Soo, and even his true identity (with fake background as a student in Russia) as JH. I wish JCW had been able to follow up Healer with equally meaty roles. I heard The K2 was a dud, so didn’t watch it. I did like him in Lovestruck in the City, because there were a lot of comedic bits he was good at, as well as the romantic. I also liked him in Suspicious Partner, but his character in that was less dynamic.
@GB, you are so right about the devious move by MS to meet with YS. He makes my skin crawl here. And YS is so oblivious, she takes his hand with both of hers.
@Welmaris, I agree on the roles that JCW gets to play. He could have gained so much more experience and showed his range, if only the shows he had been in were better. It was a real pity. The ‘Melting Me Softly’ was an even worse dud. Even ‘Backstreet Rookie’ was forgettable.
Whoops, I just happened on this!!! JCW tested positive for Covid and is under quarantine.
https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/trending/ji-chang-wook-tests-positive-covid-19-netflix-series-15305772
The Cinema scenes are meant to be romantic (and they are), but they make me feel sad 🙁 . I guess the star-crossed lovers trope still have a grip on me.
Even if they can’t see each other all that hard work in preparing the date adds layers of sincerity to Healer’s character.
@FBG4877, yes, my thought during the cinema date was ‘so near yet so far.’ Thank goodness he grabbed her hand and completed the date so that she left with a smile.
@Welmaris, I agree about JCW’s roles. What a pity he couldn’t have continued in the same sort of level of role. Here we are looking back at this drama as his best thing yet. It makes me really want him to do well.
K Dramas are unusual by western standards because there is so much hand acting. The fist not just for fights to convey emotions. The various forms of hand holding,-palmd, pinkies only, interlaced fingers. The pinkie swear-just pinkies then pinkies with hand bridge. The hand caressing the face. The slap. Cooking hands,housework hands,writing hands, counting money hands.Lovemaking hands.
western acting is so dependent on faces but K acting uses hands so well. The blindfold scenes here have hand acting. Also watch hands in drinking scenes, food sharing,face wiping,lip caresses. I love hi and acting!👌✌️🤘🤟🤙🤞🖕🖖☝️🤏👋🤚✋🖐️🤲🙌👏👏👎👆👉👈✍️✍️🙏
Finally ended watching. Now, to read all your comments 😀
What a great observation on hands in kdramas, @OAL. You are right. I never thought of it that way. Kdramas have it much more than even Cdramas. I find more Kdramas so rich and have difficulty not being a snob and ignoring other shows.
@WEnchanteur, I am concerned for you, your loved ones, and your country. Please do what you can to stay safe, and keep us posted.
@FGB4877, thanks for asking about my eye. I’m back on steroidal drops. When I went to my most recent ophthalmologist appointment, a few days ago, I learned why my eye has had such a rough time healing from the surgery: a piece of the cataract was left in the eye. Say, what?! I’ll be on the drops for two weeks to see if my eye absorbs the piece. If it doesn’t get absorbed, I’ll have to have another surgery. Grrrrr. But at least I’m getting answers, bit by bit.
@GB, I hope JCW doesn’t naturally have PBS’s hunched posture. Gentle, humble personality is okay, but bad posture…ick!
@GB, I like your interpretation of the hand hold. Yes, it was reassuring to YS that the attraction was mutual, not one-sided.
I’m going back to sleep now, since there’s time before my ZOOM event starts at 4:30pm. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that all tech works properly, so all the things I worked hard to arrange will be enjoyed by the meeting participants. @Janey, this seems to be the day for alums to gather, doesn’t it?
Have a good nap @Welmaris and all the best for the Zoom event. I had mine this morning, a small version and not alumni but still, an event.
@Fern, happy to read you 😉 . @Welmaris, Moon Ho needs to jog Healer’s memory both to reconfirm his identity and to start the painful process of putting him in the same page. On the other hand YS is someone to be protected and given her natural curiosity and rashness (the same kind that killed the cat) it is better to keep her in the dark.
There are a lot of unanswered questions that we as omniscient viewers know but are still undigested half-truths for the characters in the drama… to set those demons free without knowing that antidote that is truth (or that is what characters hope) then including her is a recipe for disaster.
@FGB good point about why MH does not try to job YS’s memory. I feel too that with YS, MH knows the trauma that she faced from the background info he got through Healer. He does not want to cause her an upset the way Myung Hee gets upset at the memories of Ji An.
With JH, JH is already searching and demanding answers, so it’s okay to get him to remember how close they used to be. But YS is not anywhere appearing to want to know her past yet. That’s why MH said he was waiting for her to come to him with questions. He didn’t know if she’d be ready to know her painful past in yet.
Re: JCW roles. He is such a fine actor. I think his early role in Empress Ki where he acted with K drama powerhouses showed his full potential. He stole so many scenes. The man has chops.He was funny in Suspicious Partner too. It is very troubling that he no one has tested positive for COVID.I hope he recovers without brain fog. He is one actor I&lol watch in anything.He has great range and is not just a handsome face.
Best wishes, @Welmaris. I just had notice of a primary school reunion in November – a pretty rotten time to travel to Chicago, especially with Covid still hanging about.
@Welmaris, about Detective deciding that Healer is the killer: it is said (Maslow’s Hammer) that “if all you have is a hammer then everything looks like a nail”. Detective has been obsessed with Healer… by doing so he has gotten the grit and perseverance to follow leads, but the flipside of that is his tunnel vision. He can’t start to imagine different alternatives.
@WEnchanteur, let me echo @GB’s post, please be careful and keep in touch 😀 .
@WEnchanteur, Sending you Safety vibes. And am praying for you.
@WEnchanteur, Please keep in touch so we know you and yours are well,if it is not a hardship. We know you have too many things to worry about but our main concern is for your safety.
@GB, please let me indulge in answering your question by quoting an unknown movie: “La Pluma del Arcángel” (Archangel’s Feather – 2002, based in a tale by Don Arturo Uslar Pietri). It was set in our Venezuelan Andes during Juan Vicente Gómez’s Regime (he governed 1908-1935). Basically Juan Vicente Gómez’s Intelligence Bureau sends “cordial” telegrams to a sleepy town where those telegrams are interpreted as direct and unquestionable orders. A humble junior telegraph technician will be our narrator and an unwilling accomplice.
Now a new telegraphist arrives to town where he signs Gómez’s alleged telegraphs with a feather using the initials “J. V. G.”. He fabricates telegrams to do much needed justice in the village like making the unhinged Mayor’s son marry one of his rape victims: she will escape in the middle of the night with her mother but her tormentor will descend into madness as he will discover that he has no power nor is special but is a miserable pawn like everyone else.
Someone else forced him into kneeling.
The movie ends where it did begin: our narrator is caught while the Archangel is not but even if he has also lost the woman he loved (the rape victim) he is in peace with his destiny, since he has served Justice. Both his opening and closing lines (same scene) asks himself if the telegraphist was an Archangel indeed since he dissapeared into thin air.
The point is that for the ones serving Justice it is a calling like the ones serving Health. It is neverending, bigger than themselves and its service comes at a great personal cost… but for the noble ones is a well-lived life 😀 .
So for Ahjumma to sacrifice so much for her efforts being ultimately rendered useless by powerful people would have been a heavy blow. The roots of her cynicism are plain to see.
In some ways her arch is going from a cynical and burned out co-worker to mother watching her “son” growing and falling in love, to a person recovering her faith in humanity.
Thanks! That was an interesting analogy @FGB. I used to only look at the growth arc of the OTP or in this case of the 3 main protagonists, and failed to consider that even the side characters like Ahjumma have an arc. It’s true that reluctantly, while protesting so much about the inconvenience of getting a new Healer into the job, while insisting that she was only helping JH as part of a business deal (he was supposed to pay her), she actually became in effect, the mum he’d longed to have.
She looked out for him, approved his girlfriend for him, advised him at every turn (and was ignored LOL, just like a true parent gets ignored) and remained stoutly by his side to support in anyway she could. Just as Sabu used to run interference for the gang back in the day, Ahjumma kept JH safe from ‘authorities’. That was why it was doubly hard for her to understand why he had decided to walk into traps and into the police departments, showing his face.
Inadvertently, unwittingly, Sabu had been a big, brother/uncle to him and had introduced him to the one who’d be mother to him.
One of the scenes that I always wished the Show had time to include at the end, was one where JH is with YS, Myung Hee, Moon Ho, Dad Chae, Coffee Bay Ahjusshi and of course, Ahjumma, as his extended family.
Thanks everyone for a lovely rewatch!
@Growing Beautifully, I think that certainly Myung Hee and JH’s real mother would meet again renewing their friendship, as their children as a couple gain stability and permanence. What you described sounds like potentially, a wedding, or some similar celebration. Perhaps next year’s birthdays of JH and YS. I simply have faith that such a thing would happen
@FGB4877, what an wonderful reference from the film: ‘for the ones serving Justice it is a calling, like the ones serving Health. It is never-ending, bigger than themselves and its service comes at a great personal cost.’ This can apply to the brave journalists here as well and it lives on in their children.
I am sorry that I haven’t been able to participate in the “Healer” re-watch as I had intended, but I have read all the comments with interest and a strong feeling of wish-I-was-there. But heigh-ho, it’s not to be, and I do intend to resurface pretty soon.
Count on me as a committed peripheral reader (‘lurker’ doesn’t suit me) and please keep on with the re-watches.
P.S. I would really enjoy discovering what people are thinking of “The Devil Judge” on Rakuten VIKI.
Hi @Juriel, yes we’ve missed you, but RL comes first. We’ve 2 more Healer episodes that we’ve chosen to watch, before we hopefully move on to W-Two Worlds. I hope you can join us for that show if you don’t mind watching/rewatching it.
As for The Devil Judge, I am watching it desultorily for the plot and of course for the delicious male leads. I like that Jin Young is able to shine even with the scintillating Ji Sung right beside him.
As I normally watch for character growth, I’ll be looking at the leads and Elijah, however this show is more plot driven, which I guess is the same as saying it’s driven by all the self-preservation motives of the baddies helmed by Seon Ah versus the fight for justice and truth motives represented by Yo Han and his gang. It’s ironic, of course, that the fight for justice is taken up by a judge of the land who is actually carrying out his own form of vigilante justice outside of the law. I’m amused that he manages to bring in his vigilante justice under the official judicial role, to whitewash his actions.
Show makes much comment on the showmanship behind weighty, crucial ideals, that hides the rot underneath. It raises the question of Social Responsibility: the focus on how the wealthy and influential should be responsible towards the less fortunate and on how justice is to be applied fairly, and if it can even be served fairly by the Court.
We see that it’s the common people who are contributing to the building of homes for the poor, while the rich continue to siphon off the funds.
There’s also the question of what responsibility is to be born in the area of one’s social and family life. We see what Soo Hyun does for Ga On (and I wonder how he returns the favour), and what Yo Han does rightly or wrongly to protect Elijah. Compared to what Cha Kyung Hee does for herself and her son.
We see how power twists to rework a challenge against evil into an opportunity to gain more power, as in how the President is practically taking over the country by instilling fear and force of police brutality.
I feel of course that we’ll have to watch quite far into the show to figure out if Ga On is playing a double game or is really deciding to join the winning team of Yo Han, and if Yo Han is really a good guy in white, mainly light grey or dark grey or black. He’s maybe more the anti-hero to Ga On’s true heroism? Seon Ah seems to be still a one note villain, but it’s nice to see her take on Yo Han, and for the frisson of sexual tension that still fizzles softly no matter how he rejects her.
On the whole, show elicits a healthy dose of indignation, more than the sweet, wholesome feels of warmth. At least it does give some payback in a sense that some sort of comeuppance is in store for those louts in power. With this show, I have to be in the right frame of mind, before I can watch this and sort of enjoy it.
Yay! I got a good nap this afternoon before I hosted my Zoom event, which went well. I feel a weight is off my shoulders. Now I can again devote more time to Kdrama watching and analyzing.
Too bad I missed the rewatch!!! Just wanted to say hi to everyone – @GB, @FGB, @Welmari, @Fern, @OAL, @Juriel!!
@WE, glad to hear from you. Keep safe and take care. Hope we can do “W” rewatch with you when you’re able.
@Welmaris – congrats on your successful reunion! I had 2 reunions; one on Friday evening with a college organization and on Saturday for my college department so I was super tired afterwards. I was more of a participant and I can just imagine the hours of prep the organizers (like you) put in to make the event a success. Kudos to you!!!
@Fern – my family is enjoying the Olympics. I have so many postponed chores, I blame it to Tokyo!
@Janey, I have watched so few live bits. Most are at awkward times for my time zone. We have a local athlete who is there. If he makes it past the first heats, the semi-finals and finals will be at about 3am/3.55am. Ouch.
@Janey, my event wasn’t a class reunion, but was open to alumnae from all years. I attended a small liberal arts women’s college that’s one of five colleges and a graduate school in a consortium modeled on Oxford. For more than two decades our alumnae association has been organizing a summer weekend each year where former students come back, stay in the dorms and attend a variety of workshops presented by alumnae. When we were on campus, we also had access to the pool, so many chose to spend their hours there, lounging or swimming. We all come together for lunches and dinners, some of which feature speakers or costume themes. These past two years we adapted to a virtual format with workshops, teas, lunches, and the Grand Finale on Zoom. Teas and lunches had breakout rooms, each with their own topic and host, so it was easier to chat with fewer people. Whether on campus or done virtually, our creative caucus spends all year planning content. But when I coordinate the finale–which I’ve done five times, twice virtually–l can only plan part of it ahead because some content comes into being during the workshops. For instance, I put together a PowerPoint slideshow with music to show off pictures of handcrafted books participants made in this year’s visual arts workshop. It’s all a labor of love, but I’m ready to hand it off to someone else.
@Welmaris, Your event sounded wonderful. It is hard to off-load when you do such a good job. I hope you find or better yet have the people who have helped you who might be interested in taking your place.Amd when it happens, I hope you are able to sit back and enjoy it.
@Welmaris, I’m impressed by the sound of your alumnae event. As a non-alumnus, I am envious.
Surely some one in the group has event organisation skills and could take over?
Hello Everyone,
I couldn’t be with you and I don’t think I can make it the next Saturdays too. 🙁
Still, I wanted to say Hi that I am okay, just too busy.
The worst heatwave is here and we are trying to be safe.
Enjoy the show!
Oh, Cleopatra, I hoped that it was over by now. How many weeks has it been? Far too long.
Stay safe and we’ll see you when you are able.
My lovely @Fern,
It comes, thengoes down for a few days and then returns back.
This one is the worst and we are informed about 45-47 degrees C.
It started this Friday, the meteologists said it would end this Wednesday, today they said it will continue until Thursday. This time around I feel exhausted.
I will try to be around, but I cannot attend our remaining Healer Watching Party.
I just wanted you to know and not worry…xo
Gosh, I think I would be swimming to Scandinavia in your place. I will pray for relief for you.
@Welmaris – that’s a great tradition of yearly gatherings with your alumnae. And the pandemic did not stop it either. Very creative use of zoom as well with the breakout rooms and being able to interact more even if remote. Great work! This is like a full blown conference! Hope you can rotate the leadership and organizing to another person so you can also take a break as participant.
@Fern – luckily, we can see live coverage of events that are being done first thing in the Asia morning while it’s evenings in US West coast. Swimming, gymnastics and now track. Very exciting games!!
@Cleo – thanks for letting us know you are ok! Keep cool and safe.
Take care every one and have a good week ahead!!!
Hi Everyone! Thanks for letting us know, @Cleo.
I trust everyone is having better weather than poor Cleo. I was saddened by the flooding in several parts of the world.
I just thought I’d also let you know that @WEnchanteur is ok. His country is going through serious socio-medico-political upheaval and he is not in the frame of mind for dramas.
Take care all of you!
@WEnchanteur, thinking of you and hoping you and your loved ones get through these difficult times in your country safely.
@Cleopatra, please stay safe in this horrible heatwave. Please remember to stay hydrated and to keep your electrolytes in balance. I know it sounds like, nagging but it is done with care. I hope you also get some rest. And I hope the heatwave breaks. Sendingcooling thoughts your way…
Thank you @OAL!
I am trying my best to be safe.
I am drinking lots of water and ice tea – that helps a lot. <3
@Cleopatra, I’m happy that you are staying hydrated. if only I could send you our unseasonably cool weather for New York and our night rain…
Dear @Cleo, please take care!!!. Not only keep check of your electrolytes but also if possible get a spray bottle with cool water at hand: you can spray yourself/your loved ones to lower your skin temperature. Thermodynamically speaking it makes sense, but I am no Doctor so please ask about it.
@Janey, first things first 😀 , please remember that your comments are always welcome, so even if it is late or just want to say “Hi” feel free 😉 .
@Welmaris, happy to hear you had such an interesting and rich event!!! 😉 .
@Fern, our beloved Journalists serves Truth 😀 .
Hope to read you soon, will read you on the HP2Ep7 thread this Thursday.
Thank you @OAL and @FGB!
I wish I could tell that we need a breeze. Since yesterday someone put fire in an area in northern Attica making the enviroment hellish.
I am okay. It was not near us, but still, it made us all sad.
Even when I cannot be online for the Rewatch Parties I will come and say Hi. I don’t want you to worry about me. 🙂
It’s good to hear from you @Cleo. I read about fires in Greece, and it saddened me too. I keep you in my prayers (and several BODers are also in my prayers).
Thank you for your sweet consideration. We will be very grateful to get a ‘Hi!’ from you every week so that we know you are safe. (￣▽￣)ノ
😘