In every incident involving any type of abuse, there are usually two parties involved: the perpetrator and the victim. However, in some cases, there is a third one: the witness. In this scenario, who is most culpable? Who ends up bearing the most amount of guilt? Who gets to experience the most trauma? Who is most likely to end up being all messed up? These are the questions raised to me while I was watching through all 20 enthralling episodes of “Kill Me, Heal Me“, the series that had me zipping through it in just under one weekend. It’s THAT good. No, it’s THAT great.
I originally didn’t have much interest in this drama because (one) it is about a psychiatrist and her (psychiatric) patient who needs A LOT of help and I’ve already seen that in It’s Okay, It’s Love not too many months ago, and (two) I was watching “Healer” at the time, and somehow, having pretty much similar words in the title turned me away, especially since Healer got me soooo hooked. I’m glad I got over that unreasonable bias, and started this one. Once I did, I couldn’t stop.
(The usual disclaimer: This is, in no way, a professional review. I am no critic, so do not look for highly technical or “deep” critiquing here. That, my friend, is no fun at all. At least, for me.)
On a SPOILER ALERT scale of 1 to 10, I’m going to give another 7-strong warning. You’ve been warned.
Title: KILL ME, HEAL ME (MBC, 2015)
No. of episodes: 20
Cast: Ji Sung (Cha Do-hyun… and 6 others), Hwang Jung-eum (Oh Ri-jin), Park Seo-joon (Oh Ri-on/Omega), Oh Min-seok (Cha Ki-joon), Kim Yoo-ri (Han Chae-yeon)
SYNOPSIS: Cha Do-hyun is a third-generation heir of one of the top Korean conglomerates but, against his will, he lives a secret life. SIX other secret lives. Due to a traumatic childhood event that he has completely forgotten, he has broken into 6 different personalities, each of them coming out at key moments. When he comes around, he has no memory of what has transpired and is left cleaning up the mess left behind by his alters.
Enter Oh Ri-jin, a psychiatrist on her first year of residency. She ends up being his doctor, until secrets of that event in the past start surfacing, proving that coincidences are all they seem.(~Jeffer)
THE DRAMA/STORY:
There are three angles to this story.
One is Cha Do-hyun as the third-generation heir of one of the large companies in Korea. Currently, the reins is being held by his austere grandmother, until such time that he can step up. But waiting on the sidelines is Do-hyun’s uncle and cousin, who are not averse to grab the leadership of the business from the old woman, and Do-hyun. But every family has a secret, and Grandma has a few hidden up her sleeves.
Another is Cha Do-hyun’s search for treatment of his condition, which he has to keep under wraps, even from his own family. However, in seeking help, he just might be opening a can of worms he has set aside in the past, conveniently forgotten. Once they are spilled, can he handle the fallout?
The other one involves his growing relationship with Oh Ri-jin, whom he takes on as a “secret physician”. He has never allowed anyone to get close – until Ri-jin. And it seems one of his personalities is especially obsessed with her.
THE CAST/CHARACTERS:
I am especially going to talk about Cha Do-hyun and Ji Sung’s portrayal of his character… and the 6 alters.
Cha Do-hyun – the mild-mannered and gentle young man who had to distance himself from friends and family in order to keep his secret hidden.
Shin Se-gi – the complete antithesis to Do-hyun. He is dark, brooding, (has lots of guyliner), prone to anger, very violent, and oozing sex appeal (I just had to add the last one). Oh, and he also has a badass red tattoo appear around his nape when he takes over.
Ferry Park – a 40-year-old carefree man who has a passion for alcohol, fishing, sailing, and… making explosives.
Ahn Yo-seob – an introverted and artistic, but suicidal 17-year-old male teen.
Ahn Yo-na – Yo-seob’s twin sister, a crazed fangirl who likes wearing Hera lipstick…and develops an extreme crush on Oh Ri-on.
Nana – a 7-year-old little girl always clutching a giant teddy bear.
Mr. X – a mysterious middle-aged man wearing a magician’s costume.
THOUGHTS:
Two wounded souls seeking solace in each other. This has the making of a show filled with melodrama and angst, right?
True, it does have a lot of melodrama, and a lot of angst, but it also has a lot of comic moments that, when not done properly, could have easily fallen on the slapstick side. A lot of credit goes to the writers for seeing to it that it does not happen. The comic moments serve a purpose, and it is more than just to elicit laughs. They actually also highlight the different personalities and prove that there is a reason for everything.
What made this show stand on two solid legs, however, would be the powerhouse that is Ji Sung. Man, he sure acted up a helluva storm! He not only brought to life one or two characters, but 7! His second personality, Shin Se-gi, is the darkest one. He is full of anger, and violence is his middle name. He is also the one filled with the most pain, in my opinion since, among the other alters, he is the one that has all of Cha Do-hyun’s memories, and he is the one left to deal with them.
Once he sees Oh Ri-jin, however, things start happening, and I do mean happening.
Shin Se-gi is the personality that got the most exposure, since he shares the most history with Cha Do-hyun, but Ferry Park also had a lot of moments. Seeing Ji Sun switch to a carefree 40-plus man, speaking with the accent of the Jeolla dialect, is a treat. At one point, I even thought that Ji Sung could have a one-man drama and pull it off!
My favorite, however, would be Ahn Yo-na. Every time she appears, she steals every scene and every episode! She could give Jung Eun-ji’s Sung Shi-won character in Reply 1997 a run for her money.
The first time she appeared, I was just laughing my ass off at how Ji Sung seems to be having a ball playing a teenage boy-crazed girl. The next times, however, I admit to completely forgetting that she is played by Ji Sung. He made me believe that he is a teenage girl who will do everything to be noticed by her crush.
And I guess this can’t be helped, but let’s talk about the chemistry between Ji Sung and Hwang Jung-eum. They have it. This pairing, after all, has been tested already in another earlier hit, Secret. Which I watched but found too angsty for my own good. I’m not a particular fan of hers, but she has an exuberance that fits the character of Oh Ri-jin. And when her world threatened to crumble around her, I like how that “shiny” personality of hers kept her from sinking.
Of course, much of it is also credited to her support system – her family: her ever-loving Mom and staunch protector Dad. All throughout, they remained to be the solid ground of this drama. When everything was shaky, you can count on them to keep our heroes and heroine stable.
….which now brings me to Oh Ri-on, her twin brother, our dear OPPA~! I see very good things for Park Seo-joon. He is totally on the up-and-up, so I won’t be surprised if he gets a proper second-lead role soon… and a lead role not long after that. He has more than enough sensitivity to be Oh Ri-jin’s coolbeans, awesomesauce brother. Yes, Ahn Yo-na has excellent taste in men!
At first, I thought the title was quite cheesy. But when it was integrated into the show, I went, THAT was quite something.
Because, more than anything – more than a love story, more than a family drama, more than a power play, more than about forgiving and forgetting, and recovering lost identities and forgotten memories – this drama is all about healing. It’s about what happens when the love has been confessed and acknowledged, when the family drama has been resolved, when the power play has been settled, when forgiveness has been granted, when forgetfulness has been put in its place, and when lost identities and forgotten memories have been established and reinstalled…. What happens thereafter is how the people involved go about healing. And how the process starts from within.
OVERALL
Topnotch writing and even topnotch acting! As one other reviewer said about Ji Sung and his portrayal of Cha Do-hyun (and 6 others), “GIVE THE MAN AN AWARD ALREADY!”
I agree. If he doesn’t get the Daesang… well, I hope the one who gets it did really truly definitely better than Ji Sung, because MAN, HE’S SO DAMN GREAT, HE’S WONDERFUL.
At 20 episodes, I thought it was just the right length. The writers and the editors managed to keep a steady pace throughout. And even in some parts that went slow, they were devoted to character development, which more than made up for any sluggish pace. You’ll hardly notice it.
Can I ask for an Ahn Yo-na spin-off? And I don’t know how dramaland will pull it off but… make Ji Sung act her out? LOL.
Rating: 4.9 out of 5 stars
As much as I love, love, love this drama, I’m holding out from giving it full marks. Just because. But this is as close to perfect as a drama can get, IMO! And I feel that it truly deserves it.
Watch it or not?
ARE YOU CRAZY (NOT TO)?
(Kill Me, Heal Me is an MBC production, and aired from January 7 to March 12, 2015.)
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