Happy new year, everyone! For the very first series review of the year, we’ll have the 2015 MBC Korean drama, Kill Me, Heal Me. PSD (Post Drama Syndrome) hits me hard this time that I think unless I write my thoughts about it (after finishing the series yesterday), I won’t be able to move on and watch another drama.
Why did I watch
Before the year ends I was watching Orange Marmalade and Meteor Garden 2018. The two are not so much to my liking that I decided to check out a new series to start off my 2019.
Actually, I was deliberately avoiding this series as (1) I remember finishing Hyde, Jekyll, Me (another drama featuring a male protagonist with multiple personality disorder) almost felt like torture ? and (2) I didn’t really come to like Ji Sung and Hwang Jeung Eum pairing from Secret. Don’t get me wrong, I actually like this series from 2013 and I still remember shedding buckets of tears for Jeung Eum’s character. It’s just that Jo Min Hyuk (Ji Sung) was so much of badass that I couldn’t really root for him.
Definitely grateful that come 2019, I finally gave Kill Me, Heal Me a chance and maybe even a bit regretful as to why I only checked this amazing series out four years after it has been released.
Plot
The series features Cha Do Hyun, the only heir to the rich and famous Seung Jin Group (oops, chaebol alert, I know! The series is amazing though so let’s let it slide) whom unknown to his family is suffering from D.I.D (Dissociative Identity Disorder). After studying in the US, he’ll come back to Korea to participate in family business.
On a party arranged to welcome Do Hyun to the company, he will meet Oh Ri Jin, a first year psychiatry resident who is running after her patient who escaped from the hospital to go clubbing. On that very night, Do Hyun’s second dominant personality, Shin Se Gi will take over his body and tags along Ri Jin, seemingly recognizing her as an old acquaintance.
Meanwhile, Ri Jin’s goofy twin brother, Oh Ri On, seems to be deeply intrigued with Seung Jin Group but doesn’t let Ri Jin knows about it.
The good
The story, the execution, the OST, almost everything exceeded my expectation. And I must say that the pacing is perfect! Every episode is full of surprises and plot development that you really wouldn’t put your screen down until you finish the entire series. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, like a lot! I’m not a fan of any of the leads but after watching the last episode, all I could say is “Ahhh, ang ganda!“, with Auditory Hallucination still ringing inside my head.
The not so good
I won’t rate this drama a perfect ten, but really, it’s so close to it that I don’t have anything to write in this section. Oh, there were characters I do not like though—Do Hyun’s mom and his grandmother, or his entire family rather. ? No matter how hard I bang my head, I just couldn’t find them reasonable. Like everyone in his family is so damn selfish that they hardly ever care for him.
My favorite character
Ah, I’m torn. You know I like Oh Ri Jin and probably grew to like Jeung Eum’s acting. I’ve seen her from Full House Take 2 to Secret to Golden Time and she really has improved a lot.
Park Seo Joon also did a great job. I know he’s really popular nowadays but the last time I saw him act was way back 2011 in Dream High 2. This was actually his last drama before portraying the main lead in She was Pretty (opposite Jeung Eum. lol) so Oh Ri On could be consider as his breakout role.
But yeah, it’d be no fun not to choose among Cha Do Hyun’s personalities. And yes, you probably guessed it right—Shin Se Gi. There’s something mysterious, something dark about this Cha Do Hyun’s more vehement alter ego whom you’ll just find yourself drawn into.
[Spoiler alert] Come on, let’s be honest here. Who didn’t shed a tear on this scene? It was so heartbreaking with Se Gi bidding his last goodbye to Oh Ri Jin but moving at the same time as all of Do Hyun’s personalities now finally become one with him.
I must say that I enjoyed how they shown Do Hyun with his slightly rude and arrogant Se Gi-side as he proposes to Ri Jin on the very last episode. Like he didn’t disappear at all but became a part of him rather.
To watch or not to watch
Definitely a must-watch! Skip Hyde, Jekyll, Me and pick this one instead!
From now on, rather than “Kill me”, ask “Heal me.” Even if that happens, you guys will not die. You will still be alive in here. But you’ll no longer be scattered pieces. Like a connected puzzle, you will form one beautiful picture. Under the name Cha Do Hyun, you will become a much cooler person.
