The Fiery Priest (2019) 열혈사제
Directed by Lee Myung-woo.
Watched 29 April - 9 May 2024 — 40 episodes (NETFLIX)
CAST
Kim Nam-gil as Kim Hae-il / Michael Kim
Kim Sung-kyun as Goo Dae-young
Lee Ha-nee as Park Kyung-sun
Go Joon as Hwang Cheol-bum
Geum Sae-rok as Seo Seung-a
Jeon Sung-woo as priest Han Sung-kyu
Baek Ji-won as head nun Kim In-kyung
*Totally loved this feel-good comedy/crime show! Watched this with my sister, chromecasted on our big monitor screen, and I don't think I have ever laughed so much with a K-drama. With a high rewatch value, this will rank on my list of all-time favourite K-dramas from now on.
*Kim Nam-gil is perfectly cast as the priest with a temper. An ex-NIS agent, he possesses excellent fighting skills and doesn't hold back using them in the face of injustice. I love how fiery he is but at the same time righteous and protective of the people he cares about and how he impacts and changes their lives. And Nam-gil looks sooooo good with the long black coat. I love those slow-motion shots with him walking and his coat waving behind him.
*At times the humour is over the top, and things get silly (and not very credible), but the cast must have had a blast with this. The visuals with the red flower petals when the bad guys were farting! Too funny!
*I love Lee Ha-nee and her character, prosecutor Park Kyung-sun. She's beautiful (love her clothes and hairstyle), feisty, funny, and even though her character is shady and corrupt at first, my hope for her redemption was fulfilled and she became the priest's ally and part of his team. Love ep. 26 where she decides to join hands with him and love the scene where they do the bad-ass walk while putting on their sunglasses and flinging back the tails of their coats. Also love Kyung-sun's womance with Seo Seung-a, the rookie detective with a crush on Father Kim.
*I knew there wasn't going to be any romance but I was really happy with the great chemistry between Kim Nam-gil and Lee Ha-nee and their often funny interactions. I loved how he saved her from the killer in her home and how she fainted in his arms.
*I love the bromance between Father Kim and the cop Goo Dae-young who turns a blind eye on the corruption, behaves cowardly, and how he changes under the priest's influence. The scene where they dress up as a Muslim sheikh and a woman is so funny. By the way, Kim Nam-gil makes a beautiful woman.
*I liked how Go Joon as Hwang Cheol-bum in the end (temporarily) sided with the good guys. Despite having done really bad things ordered by the vicious foursome from the local cartel, Go Joon is charismatic and makes his character charming, eliciting sympathy from the viewer and you really start rooting for him and his redemption. This also applies to his puppet with the bob haircut (Eum Moon-suk as Jang-ryong). He is a bad boy, annoying and ridiculous, but also likeable and at times endearing in his interactions with Ahn Chang-hwan as Songsak, the Thai restaurant delivery guy. There's a bromance there.
*I also liked Baek Ji-won as head nun Kim In-kyung. The actress makes a believable nun, and looks so different when she dressed up for the card game. I love how feisty she is and how she supports Father Kim.
*The cult leader was annoying and I worried at first that he would take up too much screen time. But luckily his time was very limited. Woota!
*With 20/40 episodes I thought it might be too long, but the contents of the final episodes were no fillers. There was plenty of laughs but also tragedy at the end of episode 18 (ep. 36). I didn't really mind the long runtime because I didn't want to part with the characters.
*Always be aware with K-dramas that beloved key characters are not exempt from violence and death and might get killed off. I was so sad that dear Father Han got brutally attacked and I feared for his life. But I also know from previous dramas that even if they bleed from the head and lie in a pool of blood and look very dead, it doesn't mean they cannot survive miraculously. Thank you, writer!
*After the attack on Father Han, Father Kim went full NIS mode and pushed away his friends who kept telling him he was not to blame. I love the voice mail message prosecutor Kyung-sun left on his phone. Everyone was so supportive of him, it was heartwarming. Nun In-kyung is such a darling, telling him during the final fight not to give up, even when her own life is at stake.
*Such a satisfying bad-ass ending with our four main leads Father Kim, Goo Dae-young, Park Kyung-sun and Seo Seung-a confronting the bad guys. Seung-a is hilarious in the red suit and with the bob haircut impersonating Jang-ryong. Going to miss these characters sooooo much, but thankfully a second season is scheduled near the end of this year. With the same leading cast! Maybe and hopefully there will be some romantic sparks between Kim Nam-gil and Lee Ha-nee.