Dear Lee Min Ho,
You are god’s gift to women. If we can bottle you up, we will be free from mood swings, heartaches and all the rest of unexplained emotions men rarely understand. Seriously, like every close-up shot zoomed in your drama easily draws sweet squeals from ladies. You and us are really meant to be! *wink
Striding to a beautiful Goryeo-era warrior and modern-times plastic surgeon love story, Faith successfully established a connection that will not make it forgettable.
Main Cast: Lee Min Ho | Kim Hee Sun
Network & Episode Count: SBS | 24 Episodes
Official Website: Great Doctor SBS
This review was originally posted on my blog in November 2012, and later I featured it on Hellokpop in 2019.
QUICK REVIEW
- Plot Trajectory: Engrossing but some plot hiccups along the way
- Plot Pace: Slow but knows when to speed up
- Character Portrayal: Great main leads and supporting cast
- Writing: Full Marks on balanced execution of themes
- Watch on a binge or intervals?: Either Choices Apply
- Crowning Moments: Slow-burning yet lingering narrative | Clear Conflict Presentation | Engrossing On-Screen Romance
- Romance Addictive Meter:
- Overall Rating:
- K-Dramas of Similar Vibe: Queen In Hyun’s Man | The King: Eternal Monarch
Faith Quick Recap
Choi Young, the strong and steamy hot Woodalchi warrior is a General serving the Goryeo King. His last mission before embarking on his dream of becoming a bummer is to escort the new king and his queen who were held hostage by the Yuan Empire.
The opposing forces tried as much as they could to prevent the King not reaching the palace. They are unsuccessful in their intention but are able to harm the queen.
Should the queen die, Goryeo will be facing Sauron’s eye because the queen is a Mongolian Yuan empire princess so the King desperately finds a cure to salvage the wounded queen.
He resorts to an urban legend of a famous doctor who just suddenly disappeared. He commands General Choi Young of the Royal family’s elite soldiers to go to the Heaven’s Door to bring the doctor.
Choi Young bravely goes to the portal and what they thought to be a heavenly place turns out to be modern-day Gangnam City in Korea where he finds Yoo Eun Soo (Kim Hee Sun), a plastic surgeon.
Not realizing and buying the craziness of the whole deal, the general takes the doctor to Goryeo period to fulfill the King’s command with a promise that he will return her back after.
Complications arise when the news of a doctor from heaven sweeps the Kingdom, the wily Prince Gi Cheol, who has sworn brothers and sisters with supernatural abilities, wants Yoo Eun Soo for his invincibility dreams.
From there, Choi Young promises to protect the doctor. Eventually, falling in love with her in the process.
Faith Series Musings
Taking a slow-moving approach, Faith moves in a direction where it is making the viewers join the drama characters. Cheering for them, and feeling each of the characters’ pain and glory is inevitable. It engrosses with the happy moments and draws frustrations with the inability to end the villains’ vile ways. It successfully established a connection that will not make it forgettable.
The baddies who were in a fight club mood all the time have brought out the best of the protagonists. They had a firm understanding of their presence that never wavered its proportion throughout. Even at those times when the narration was at a billowing pace, the interaction of the characters efficiently set the mood of the story.
Focusing on its projected conflict, the series divided the presented problems into political assertions and the save-the-doctor struggle in the winding part of the story. The main character Choi Young, weary but bound to his responsibility to the king was always resolved in prioritizing him. Inevitably, it has pained him that he cannot protect the woman he loves.
When his inability to wield his sword struck in the home stretch, I was so worried that they may not get an ever-after. Hence, when he went back to his nothing-fazes-me attitude and went Kenshin Himura to all the people who have been blocking the road to happiness with his woman, it yielded a defining moment highlighting the hero of the story.
A drama moving through political governance contention and draped by the traditional settings normally sets a serious tone. However, how the heroes and villains pulled the tricks on their sleeves eased out the ambiance to set an immersing watch.
Adding dynamics to the romance line, Kim Hee Sun as the time-traveling doctor was the source of zest and held the magical twist in the story. In the latter part, I enjoyed immensely the sweet nothings and the lines she shared with Choi Young. Additionally, Faith also showcased the fact that Lee Min Ho has proven that he can carry a drama by himself.
In all fairness to Eun Soo, she was able to give justice to the general-in-the-black-and-grey-armor love connection she shared with Choi Young through her vibrant attitude. She was strong and serene, at the same time, she avoided the lead girl theatrics of always wanting to be rescued. Instead, her steadfast love patiently found its way to the love of her life.
Eun Soo, who was actually the wandering doctor they were really looking for at the onset of the series, has traveled through time in the hopes of fulfilling her fated love with the dashing General. She lost her way many times, and in her sojourns before her eventual meeting of Choi Young, has left clues for her future self which she was not aware of in the presumed present time.
Choi Young and Eun Soo came from different times and extremely have different personalities. But, they have nailed their romantic scenes so perfectly. The loving gazes, the watching each other while asleep, the cheeky arguments, the no-matter-what-I’ll-protect-you-assurances and the love that was fated to happen – were convincing and fetching depictions of love that can surpass reasons and beyond reasons.
Assimilating the action plot with supernatural spices and decorating it with folklore made Faith an astounding drama treat. Having a band of villains equipped with mojos and X-men powers, a sassy and bubbly modern-day doctor that was lost cutely to a new world she was forced to live in, and of course, the Thor-ish General who made Kenshin Himura look so inferior – were the essentials that made this drama such an enthralling TV experience.
The provocative plot matches the annoying villain assaults and the firm-spirited retaliation of the underdogs. I know that goodness will prevail in the end, and I was looking forward to how the protagonists will take their final stand considering how smooth the pounces were of the bad guys.
In the year when most of the things in K-Dramaland involved paranormal activities and strongly portrayed characters, Faith rose to be different. Having Lee Min Ho in this drama would take his fans to a higher level of adoration. But more than that, it was really an effective way of how the drama sweetly chained viewers through an endearingly sketched narrative. The story made sure that the characters shone memorably, while the characters moved in sync to the story.
Faith is a remarkable love tale albeit the consistent dawdling and sageuk clichés. It successfully notched the path where it was directing the audience to – hope, holding on to faith, and feeling real happiness. Faith’s ability to balance the transcendent elemental nonsense was plausible and cohering to how it mounted to the story’s peak.
Utilizing the back-to-the-future arc linked the primary message and the title of the drama – FAITH. Every essence of it and how a person should have faith to claim the love he deserves. “Was I lacking of my yearning to see him or was I lacking faith?” This was a very strong line I remembered from the drama and has pierced directly to my romantic veins.
Defying time and never giving up on their love, even if the time played with them makes Faith a drama worthy to be added to your watch list.
Photos Credit To: SBS
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