Secret Healer

This drama was like a rollercoaster ride without the thrills or the rails. That first episode was unbelievably bad and a huge turn off to kick start the drama but I kept going regardless. The whole mystical shaman vibe in a historical setting turned out to be quite an unsuccessful combo in this case, it felt like they slapped on those elements without any real thought. The entire story felt so limited and restricted, even the cast, when taking into consideration its length. All of that was accompanied by poor pacing, you can imagine how they were trying to push it to reach the 20 episodes mark.

Mirror of the witch. Decent enough series and at 20 episodes it's not too long. Better than hotel del Luna anyway!

I came to this series because of seeing The Man From Nowhere and being very impressed by the young actress Sae Ron Kim. Following on that line, I came across Secret Healer and was amazed at the stylish, beautiful, funny and powerful portrayals (and betrayals). Ok, so 20hours is - to modern western eyes - far too long. However, after a while I settled into the pace and subtlety of the work and was well and truly hooked, right to the end. There is a truly tragic storyline, plenty of magic (good and mostly bad), slapstick and humour aplenty and good old fashioned love stories. Some of these stories were undoubtedly complicated (even twisted) but the redemption of bad deeds through genuine remorse, forgiveness or stubbornly refusing to quit, runs throughout. Sins of the father, mother, brother, friend and true enemies are played out against a royal court in crisis and there's even some villagers rioting with pitchforks (burn the witch!). I liked the characters a lot, their roles were demanding (plenty of wrenching emotional scenes) and - within the context of the piece - totally believable. Lastly, I'm now a big fan of ultra-low-key emotional acting: by the end the tiniest move of a face spoke volumes. Excellent.

Okay disclaimer: I did not finish this. I liked the premise and felt like this could have been great but it just wasn't. Even my love for Yoon Shi-Yoon and his wonderful acting could not make me finish this. I was just too bored. The plot and pacing had major issues, and with a host of annoying and unnecessary side characters, it was just not worth my time to keep watching. I felt like this could have been great with a trimmed down plot and less plot-lines/characters.

This historical drama is full of mysticism, with curses, spells and dark forces. It is a story of love and of good against evil, refelecting a lot about how Koreans appreciate mysterious forces and even chang form. I have travelled a lot in Korea and Japan and it taught me a lot about their approaches to viewing things. I have often wondered how Korean dramas have been so popular in Japan and China, and I can see the reason for such strong appeal. Having said that, I think westerners will have to open their minds to an eastern approach to really grasp this amazing drama series. I loved it.