Title: 열혈사제 | Yeolhyeolsaje | Hot Blooded Priest | The Fiery Priest
Genre: Drama | Crime | Comedy
Episodes: 40
Broadcast Network: SBS
Broadcast Period: February 15, 2019 to April 20, 2019

Synopsis:

Father Kim Hae Il has an anger management issue born from a past traumatic experience. And, as a priest, this is a huge problem, thus, after another violent occurrence with gangs that’s been swindling old people, he was ordered to return to Gudam Parish where his mentor, Father Lee Young-Joon, is the parish priest. Father Kim Hae Il rehabilitation stood into halt when tragedy struck at Gudam Parish and it seems there are powerful people behind it. This time around, he intends to find real justice even at the risk of losing his priesthood and even life.

Characters:

• Kim Nam Gil as Kim Hae Il
• Kim Sung Kyun as Goo Dae Young
• Lee Ha Nui as Park Kyung Sun
• Ko Joon as Hwang Jung Bum
• Geum Sae Rok as Seo Seung Ah
• Jung Young Joo as Jung Dong Ja
• Kim Hyung Mook as Kang Suk Tae
• Jung In Ki as Nam Suk Goo
• Han Ki Joong as Park Won Moo
• Lee Moon Shik as Ki Yong Moon
• Kim Won Hae as Vladimir Gojayev
• Jung Dong Hwan as Lee Young Joon
• Jun Sung Woo as Han Sung Kyu | Han Woo Ram
• Baek Ji Won as Kim In Kyung
• Ahn Chang Hwan as Ssongsag Tekalatanapulaseoteu
• Go Kyu Pil as Oh Yo Han
• Yoon Joo Hee as Bae Hee Jung
• Shin Dam Soo as Lee Myung Soo
• Jun Jung Kwan as Heo Ik Goo
• Ji Chan as Na Dae Gil
• Kim Min Jae as Lee Joong Kwon
• Lee Je Yun as Kim Hoon Suk
• Eum Moon Suk as Jang Ryong
• Cha Chung Hwa as Ahn Dool Ja
• Jung Jae Kwang as Kim Gun Yong
• Lee Soo Ah
• Lee Ki Young as Oh Jung Gook
• Heo Jae Ho as Ki Hong Chan
• Lee Kyu Ho as Choco
• Jung Shi Ah as Maegak-Gyo Believer
• Lee Yong Nyuh as Neighborhood Grandma
• Kim Jong Goo as Hanjoo Group’s Chairman
• Yoo Seung Mok as Oh Kwang Doo
• Kim Hong Pa as Lee Suk Yoon
• Jung Yi Yun as Prosecutor Kim

My Review:

As I was browsing the 2019 lists of korean dramas and trying to find an interesting drama to watch, I read that this one is good. So, I checked it out as the plot seems interesting. Although, it has 20 episodes which is by my standard nowadays becoming too long, I figure if it is not good, I can just drop it any time. In the end, this k-drama was over all good to pass time but not as great as the review that I read.

So, What do I Like About this K-Drama?

(1) Kim Nam Gil as Kim Hae Il was quite good on this k-drama. He has shown his difficulty in fighting his demons and observance of his faith excellently. He made this k-drama work.

(2) The supporting casts were great and have done good service in making this k-drama worthy to watch. However, I find certain actors and their portrayal of their characters truly exceptional and memorable like Bael Ji-Won as Sister Kim In-Kyung really funny. Her comedic timing was impressive. Aha Chang-Hwan as Ssongsak and Ko Kyu-Pil as Oh Yo-Han brought warmth in my heart. And, Go Joon as Hwang Cheol-Bum made me understand why one can hate the sin but not the sinner. He made being a villain someone whom you can forgive.

(3) I like that this k-drama depicted the issue of still loving and accepting evil people and trying to forgive them. This has always been a contentious subject for me when it comes to Catholic beliefs. As a Catholic myself, although, not practicing anymore, this belief has been one of my internal debates when it comes to this religion. This k-drama has shown a lot of incidences both the pros and cons, and, precisely why this issue is up for debate.

(4) To lighten the heaviness of the actual story and depiction of reality, the director blended it with some humorous touches. Although, not all of these comedic scenes, worked for me, but, I appreciated the treatment, so, the k-drama won’t totally be too dark to maintain its entertainment purpose.

What I do Not Like About this K-Drama?

This k-drama is far from perfect. As I mentioned above, some comedic touches didn’t work for me such as Kim Won-Hae as Vladimir Kozayev, as a Russian gang leader, whom the actor didn’t successfully pull off his character and inconsistencies of certain characters to make the story lighter. Over all, the style of treatment applied to make this k-drama palatable to the general public was also the very thing that made it detrimental for me to totally consider it as something worth watching for 20 hours if you have better things to do.

Would I recommend this K-Drama? It’s Okay.

My Rating to this Drama
( See My Rating System: ) 3/5 Stars

OST:

01. Our Neighbourhood HeroNorazo
02. BreezePunch Feat. Gree
03. FighterJung Dong Ha feat. La.Q
04. ParadiseCHIN CHILLA feat. Ga Eun
05. JoyAndy Platts
06. VictoryKim Yun Ji