Save Me

Overall, I enjoyed watching this! It was a nice change of pace in terms of genre and story. It had its flaws like any other show, but I can say I was engaged from start to finish (warning might contain slight spoilers!!):

STORY: Shoutout to OCN for giving writers the platform for writing stories like this one, it had a very interesting premise! I will say it started off a bit slow, there's a lot of background and then another arc before things start getting intense (the "saving"). But I think that we needed it, it gives us more of an understanding of the characters' motivations behind their actions. This was definitely one of the more frustrating dramas I've watched. I was angry at the cult, the government, the police force etc!! It goes to show how deep corruption can run and how money/power trumps everything, especially the innocent, which is something very prevalent around the world. I don't know if it had the most satisfying ending for me, I felt it a was a little rushed in the last episode. I think that there were some characters that didn't get the ending they deserved (Spiritual Father, Apostle Kang). But overall, a solid story!

CHARACTERS/ACTING: I really grew to like a lot of the characters and was rooting for them. I loved how all four friends played a role in saving Sang-mi, actually all the characters had a role to play in this story. No talent was wasted in this drama! I admired Sang-mi's resilience and determination to free herself and her mother, and Seo Ye-ji absolutely KILLED it! Seeing her in this after watching her IOTNBO was a complete 180 for me. Dong-chul is my guy, Woo Do-hwan always brings his all to his characters. I felt frustrated at Sang-hwan at times, I thought of him as too naive, like if your dad wouldn't help you with your best friend, what made you think that he was going to help with a girl you barely knew? And then of course there's the cult. No doubt that all three actors were amazing as Apostle Jo, Apostle Kang, and Spiritual Father. I felt that sometimes SF didn't have a big enough presence in this since he IS the main villain (the white hair says it all), I felt way more anger towards Apostle Jo and Apostle Kang. Last and certainly least is Sang-mi's dad who's solidified himself as worst dad in dramaland. I get it, he was going through a rough time and the cult signified hope for him, but you see your daughter pleading for help/safety and you choose to defend the people causing her harm? That's weak. Anytime he opened his mouth I was rolling my eyes.

MUSIC: Music didn't play as big of a role in this drama as others, there weren't any really tied to significant moments, but the OSTs are pretty solid! Standout artist is Inkii who did two songs for the show. I was sad I didn't hear "I Am" in the second half of the show, that's the favorite!

OVERALL: If you want a change of genre and great acting from all involved, watch this!

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Well. This show touches delicate issue of society- Spiritual practice. How bad ppl take advantage of common ppl in the name of spiritual practice. Here goes the story. Pastor who thinks himself as spiritial father wants to get salvation. N number of blind devotees follows him including powerful ppl. This insane pastor beleives if he marries a pure girl & make her spiritual mother then he and all his devotees can attain salvation. So our female lead is stuck with them against her will. Her naive family also fell into this trap. She is locked and torchered in the name of spiritual practice. She tries to escape but all in vain. Atlast she thinks of ruining that place gerself. 4 boys from Female lead school whom she had met 3 years ago thrives to help her to free her.
Lots of fightinbg, disturbing scenes, illegal activities in the name of spiritual practices, how ppl are brainwashed by them. It shows how extreme common ppl r conned.

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She really needed to be saved

The beginning was a little bland before it all unraveled. This show did not miss to fill me with frustration towards the life the FML suffered. It was hard to finish and the drama felt long. Seeing the FML trapped and change from her initial self in the beginning was so sad. Nothing seemed to go right for her or Woo Dohwan's character.

I think most of this show was just depressing and honestly woo dohwan kept me going by adding a little light. This is another drama that shows the advantages people with wealth and power have and the effects they have on their chosen victims. The friend group was hilarious sometimes and it was good to see someone on the FML's side.

The end was a sort of happy ending: she was free. But that last episode was frustrating to get by and there were still people who believed in the cult, even after all that, which was a realistic aspect. Justice was needed for all those lives lost.

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Pay No Mind~A fellow watcher just passing by

Okay first I'll address the stuff seen in this kdrama:

-great friendship between the guys
-The female lead has really strong willpower
-a perverted old man (we talking around his 60s or70s) trying to pursue the heroine
-suicide/murder/bullying/sexual assault exist
-people blindly following a fake religion later a certain god "almighty" and goes psycho along the way
-other stuff I forgotten
-not meant for young audiences

Advice: If you're sensitive from what's listed, I would say save yourself from watching or if you're still willing to watch it then go for it (I wish you luck)

Beginning:
At first I didn't intend to watch this kdrama due to the poster (A closer look seeing an old man touching a young woman which creeped me really much but was intrigued to watch to see how the rescue goes and view how a cult works) Given that this is a thriller, the first scene fits for a suspenseful drama along with the atmosphere. Since I'm no professional with judging acting though a little familiar with OSTs (the primary subject that I usually focus on when watching and rating). It may be a little peaceful at first, but the action came in right away. Based off the first episode, I could tell that this drama wasn't for everyone but likewise anyone interested into dark topics you're more than welcome to watch it.

Around the Middle:
Well-paced and timing, ost gives off creepy and suspenseful vibe which is very nice. Really liked how one of the main male leads studies law since it became helpful with his willpower and confrontation with his confidence and the other which is action first, brain later undergoes the danger in order to help his friends rescue the heroine. Other than that, there were moments that had to be skipped aka when the perverted KFC man appears (he reminded of the KFC man for some reason) even when the cameras went closer to him I couldn't handle seeing him and what he did to the heroine and his purpose to having her be at the church 24/7. I'll say the process behind the rescue was the most interesting and what might drive people mad would be the civilians praying like crazy for this "almighty" god and doing harmful rituals and believing the living water is special water.....and where it came from is a bit disturbing or it was just an excuse to make them believe and enter the religion more which of course was bad or it was just plain drinking water.

End:
The downfall of everybody who operated the church-of course they met their ends except for one but thank god KFC went elsewhere and the heroine being safe and being friends with the boys afterwards was a satisfying ending though questionable at the final scene (after credits) It would be interesting if they included the reason to the old man's origin of becoming a psycho and a religious person so that it would explain why he created a cult and brought his buddies to help him unless it was due to his "love drive" and longing for young women to do "you know what" other than that I might have changed my rating for the story.

Overall it's an interesting drama showcasing a cult and how a victim undergoes being in one due to lost hopes from her parents. For me, it'll be a small chance of rewatching this kdrama since it wasn't the type of show I would watch, preferably read the dark contents than watch for various reasons (manhwa reader here). Final note: reminder this is just my opinion and have a nice day :)

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What I didn't expect

When jumping into the kdrama, I first started watching because of everyone recommending it online. I didnt jump into it thinking it would be a thriller about religious cult and abuse of power. In fact, my original thoughts were that it was a basic thriller about a mother loosing someone close and the family having to get use to life. Basically, my idea was a normal story with not much going on. I also assumed people liked it because of the cast. The cast mainly bringing in the visuals and let's face it a lot of kdramas are known for their beautiful cast, but it was more than that.

It drove in a deeper meaning about power and abuse all in all I liked it a lot. The plot was well executed, with it always being so mysterious and unexpected especially the first episode. It was confusing in my opinion, the opening scene being a family driving in the middle of the night in a rural area. I could tell it was going to be one creepy kdrama. All the characters were introduced in the first episode, and it was quite creepy but rather confusing too. My first thoughts were is this really going to be good, it seems quite normal so far. I was very wrong, after the first episode i started to binge it slowly and only three days have gone past and I have finished it. I never thought save me would make me binge it the way it did. After watching another kdrama I havent binged anything in a long time so this was very new to me

There are a few things I disliked though just like every drama/show there's always something people dont like. For me it would be the pace. It was usually at good speed but sometimes it was way too slow however, it did bring in adrenaline and made me really tense while watching. I prefer fast paced moments especially in thrillers and even during the super intense high tension moments the scenes still took forever. For instance, when Sang Mi unlocked Apostle Kang's room she looked around cautiously then slowly walked in that for me was a scene i feel like shouldve gone quicker. May be it's because I knew she was coming but still that intense moment was taken down with the slow execution.

That being said these moments did make it way more interesting for the show. All the thriller filled scenes were super entertaining and just like everyone else I enjoyed it a lot.

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Dark Masterpiece

I loved this. I was up well past my time to sleep just to finish this as I could not stop watching this. I went through all kinds of emotions watching Save Me as it keeps you on your toes.

The story is very creepy and dark, but it fits well with the story this drama is going for. It explores hard subjects as bullying, death and cults very well and the ending wraps MOST of my questions about Save Me. The pacing in this drama is also very good, slightly slow to begin with but it picked up pretty quickly and kept the suspense up till the end of it. There are still some questions left unanswered but it wraps all the main ending and side stories so I guess it is just my curiosity getting the better of me. ^^

The cast was phenomenal, I cannot fault the acting whatsoever. They did an amazing job portraying all the different characters in Save Me, especially the main characters parents on how they showed their mental state changing as the drama progresses.

Once again music does not get a high score as I do not watch dramas for their music and nothing really struck out as amazing. The rewatch value is quite low also as I don't normally rewatch dramas either.

I would definitely recommend this to anyone that would like to watch something pretty dark and creepy or even someone who wants to watch amazing acting! :)

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Something that i was looking for

I know, nobody asks me but how did i found this drama ?
Well i was searching for kdramas with action.
I saw some articles who had "Save me" first.
So i went to look the plot of "Save me" but i couldn't understand anything. Later on , i watched the trailer but i couldn't either understand what was going on, so i give it up.
After some time, i found it on YouTube with eng subs soo i decade to give it a try ( because of the articles)
And OMG I WAS NOT EXPECTED THIS , i feel in love after 6 ,i thing, episode with it.
At first it was a little bit tough especially the first 4 episodes (cause of some issue which includes)
After that i know that the action will came and i was right .
◇The plot was WOW it have soooo many issues but it was not too tough to stop it(for me)
◇The acting omgg i don't have words to describe it-excellent, fantastic, amazing aren't enough.
◇ACTION -I lived every moment of this drama
It has a special place to my heart ♡
I reccomade it full , especially if you want something 'daaark' and not classic

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This show literally is insane and not very much for sensitive people. But if you can go through all the trigger warnings and handle a dark psychology show like this, i definitely recommend it.

Drama changes your (at least my) view on religions a little bit, but i think most people wouldn't get affected religiously by a show, still very traumatic and makes you question your beliefs a lot.

It's also very creepy and makes you stressed all the time, you are waiting for something insane happen every second. And when it happens, it happens very suddenly which makes you stress more.

Whenever you watch it, you get shocked even more;
"Did he just do that to her??"
"Did she just witness her brother's suicide??"
"Dafuq why is that so creepy"

**STORY**
• 9.0
- Cult thing was really disturbing and the way people here was so brainwashed was somehow hilarious, her dad pissed me off a lot. I don't think they were actually christians, they saw that "Spritiual father" as a God itself, which was very away from the actual Christian Beliefs. It shows the reality of religious cults similar to like this.

**ACTING/CAST*
• 10
- I loved the acting so much, it literally makes you feel the scene as if you are actually going through it. And actors were literally amazing, cast was a masterpiece itself. Seo yeaji did a great job portraying Sang-Mi, i loved her character so much. She went through a lot and never gave up, couldn't have been me though.

**MUSIC**
•7.0
- I don't remember anything so, i can't really say much but back ground music was really fitting the scenes which was also adding fuel to the stressing scenes.

**REWATCH VALUE**
• 5.0
- Even though i loved this show much and recently (like 3 days ago) rewatched it, this drama isn't really rewatchable. Not because of it's bad, but it's really disturbing and kind of slow paced that's really dark, it 'traumatizes' you which is really makes it unrewatchable. Great show tho.

**EXTRAS**
- there were filler episodes and most of them weren't about the plot itself, i feel like they tried to added too much filler episodes to make it 16 eps.
- i loved how they didn't add any romance in this show.
- no one believing her was really stressing, i can't even explain that
- i loved how they added awareness of some serious topics, we don't usually see those in k-dramas except most of them are glorified.
- the places were aesthetically pleasing. i don't know how to explain it but it was just having a vibe, especially at night, am i the only one who loved the town a lot?
- the thought of them only helping her because they first was interested in her was scary, when you think about it.
- makes you feel all kind of emotions

Finally, this drama is good enough and a good thruller / dark psychology. Recommended.

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