Rescue Me/Save Me Ep 15-16 (Final) Discussion Post

[keytfelt.livejournal.com]

Synopsis: A girl is surrounded by suspicious people and quietly whispers, “Save me!” in a dark neighborhood alleyway, and a couple of unemployed youths hear her and run to her rescue. They discover that she’s trapped in some kind of pseudo-religious cult and try to help her, but what ensues is a sequence of horrifying tension-filled events that make us wonder more about the science of the human psyche.
Cast: Taecyeon, Seo Ye Ji, Woo Do Hwan, Cho Seong Ha, David Lee, Jung Hae Kyun, Park Ji Young, Jo Jae Yun
Director: Kim Sung-Su
Writer: Jo Geum-San (webcomic), Jung Shin-Gyu, Jung Yi-Do
Network: OCN
Episodes: 16
Release Date: August 5 -- September 24, 2017
Runtime: Sat. & Sun. 22:20

Watch Here: Dramafire

Sources: AsianWiki MyDramaList

OCN is knocking it out of the park this year, this drama was fantastic. Were you satisfied with the finale?

Comments

[by-venoms-sting.livejournal.com]

The ending was satisfying.

Sang Mi and the others being held captive (both in the basement and in that hospital) were freed and no one I cared about died!

I also liked the realistic ending for the cult members. You just don't suddenly snap out of that mindset. Also after Apostle Kang talked about receiving a message or whatever to burn down the place I knew she was going to continue the cult as the new leader.

The only thing I didn't like was the flashbacks to all the sexual harassment/assaults while the Spiritual Father died. It was over kill for me and unnecessary in an episode where he once again tries to rape Sang Mi. In fact while I loved Sang Mi as a character the show did have a tinge of ~beautiful suffering~ with her.

Idk before I thought it was all purely showing how disgusting these men are and staying true to how men with power behave but this last episode has changed by perspective a bit. It doesn't change that I think Sang Mi was a good female protagonist nor does it greatly impact my feeling about the show it just adds a tinge of ickiness to things.

I'm probably reaching with this but it's the lingering~ on things too long that it feels gratuitous. Idk the sudden amping up in sexual violence the last few eps was rough and I think the flashbacks just sent me over the edge a bit since nothing had been that intense for me since the first few eps with the bullying/suicide stuff. I also watched a munch a eps close together since I was behind (thanks Irma) which means it feels even more like an onslaught of violence I guess?

[by-venoms-sting.livejournal.com]

This reads as more dramatic than I intended. Oh well I guess :/

[lechuza-yoya.livejournal.com]

I really did believe I was going to be a mess by the end, luckily it was a happy ending for all. well we loose the dad.

[keytfelt.livejournal.com]

I watched both eps with my friend and boy, that was a bad idea. We fed off each other's anxiety so much haha. First off, I'm so relieved that most people (RIP reporter lady) that I wanted to made it out alive. I was a mess and kept expecting more people to die but I'm glad the boys saved the day and got all the people out. I LOVED Sang Mi's mom finding Sang Hwan's mom and calling him, I was cheering so loud.

When Sang Hwan saved Sang Mi and they walked into the office and met up with Dong Cheol and her mom and they were just standing there chatting, I knew evil dude was going to pop out. Why don't people just get as far away from the situation as they can before they just stop and talk?? Drives me crazy. But I am glad we got the scene after. I really was hoping Sang Mi would set the mofo on fire, I wouldn't have felt an ounce of guilt over it. But him accidentally doing so was wonderful. I figured he would go out by fire after Apostle Kang found the fire resistant stuff, but it was still completely satisfying.

The imagery in this show was so well done. Like as much as I hated the scene with the cult leader and Sang Mi, the staging of the room and the bed was very striking. And of course when that cross falls down on him lol.

I'm glad they didn't try to redeem her dad at all, he was an awful person that sacrificed his daughter and put her through hell and it would have made me mad if he had like snapped out of it and apologized. I thought it was very fitting the show ended with him still shouting his craziness with his family nowhere near him.

There were so many times during the show that I was like ??? why did you do that boys? But then you realize that these are young guys that have no experience with any of this and just lead normal lives trying to help people. It's pretty amazing what they were able to pull off. I liked Sang Hwan going into cop mode last week and trying to get answers. I liked Dong Cheol going on an undercover mission that put himself in danger but willing to do so without question. I liked Jung Hoon not giving up even when he got kidnapped and beat up. And I liked Man Hee being the sweetest and so willing to be there for everyone.

Sang Mi was incredible, such a great character. I would have been broken years earlier, but she held strong and was able to get herself and her mother to safety. I thought Seo Ye Ji did such a great job with a character that was difficult to play.

Blegh at Taec's dad, blegh at his gross mistress, super blegh at Apostle Jo. I did love him being utterly pathetic and being caught by the police. Also, the fight scene with him, the other guy, Sang Hwan, Dong Cheol and the gangster dude was really well choreographed. I was on edge between that and Sang Mi's dad with his shovel that Dong Cheol was gonna die, thank goodness it didn't happen.

I wanted more hugging from everyone after it was all over/they found each other, but that's just a personal gripe I always have with dramas.

[modestgoddess79.livejournal.com]

"When Sang Hwan saved Sang Mi and they walked into the office and met up with Dong Cheol and her mom and they were just standing there chatting, I knew evil dude was going to pop out. Why don't people just get as far away from the situation as they can before they just stop and talk?? Drives me crazy"

yes this drives me nuts about dramas, people running from danger will stop and have conversations instead of getting the fuck out of there. Like the rest of the cult members might have tried to attack them.

[hpn88.livejournal.com]

Man I was like a 1000% sure they were going to kill off Dong-chul, but I'm happy he survived and found his dad! I'm happy Sang-hwan mom recovered. I kinda loved that she was recording shit the whole time and eventually got her revenge for all the years of abuse. She was also in prison like everyone else in the show.

I kind of LOL'd at the last scene though especially in the wake of Taec then actually enlisting days after the scene was shot.

I do have to say, the plot toward the end got a little messy. IDK if it was due to Taec's enlistment date or that the writer lost track of all the threads. Like Dong-chul was simply everywhere and no one in the cult ever thought he was suspicious. Like this is a culty ass cult and he was just wandering everywhere, turning up in odd locations and people didn't really stop him. Also the night in Episode 15 is like the longest night in the history of the world. I mean SO MUCH happens and again Dong-chul is literally just wandering everywhere. There were also a couple plot lines that got lost. Like Dong-chuls prison hyung and his revenge. I mean it was nice that he shows up as back-up these episodes, but like he had a story. I'm nit-picking though, cause overall it was still a really well done thriller.

The acting from everyone was spot on. Dare I say, even my wooden acting oppar did well. He had the right physicality for the part and he stepped up to the role. His acting didn't take me out of the story. But Woo Do-hwan def stole the show and I'm so glad he was discovered. The true MVP though is the director/cinematographer/set design team needs to win awards. So much of the mood was due to how things were shot and captured. Round of fucking applause.

I was watching this and Strongest Deliveryman (which if y'all haven't watched - DO IT). I hope the new cycle brings some good stuff.

[keytfelt.livejournal.com]

That really was the longest night ever, my friend and I kept trying to figure out what time it was and why nobody was sleeping. I guess they didn't have security cameras so they wouldn't have recordings that could be used against them, but that boy was waltzing all over the place without anybody thinking it was strange? I love that he magically popped up and came up with semi decent excuses, but it was pretty funny to me. And then the leader decides that this random kid who's been around for a week should protect him? Ok.

I'm so happy Woo Do Hwan has another drama lined up right away, he really was fantastic in this. I've never been overly picky about Taec's acting, but I think he did well in this, earnest kid who just wants to help was a good role for him. (I also watched and enjoyed Strongest Deliveryman)

[goldenrosalie.livejournal.com]

tbh it took me quite some time to process this finale because it was just so... hopeful? i didn't doubt happy ending for a second (because pre-finale ep laid down the groundwork for it) and it was such an odd feeling because literally all other 15 episodes filled me with nothing but despair. every time this drama gave me hope... it just snatched it away within the same ep.
this finale was very satisfying for me because the only way i could see "good" ending happening was for cult to go down the usual way - not because they were exposed and kids saved the day but good old internal power struggle. writer kept it real and showed how cults spawn and that it's never truly an end. i wish someone translated webtoon because i'm curious how it all went down in original source.

[modestgoddess79.livejournal.com]

so I guess I forgot to comment on this

Overall an amazing drama. The actors are all very talented. Taecyeon was bland but tolerable. I did feel the last 30 minutes of resolutions felt rushed, but I did appreciate them showing what happened to people after the Cult leader died and everyone was freed.

Dongchul had a ridiculous number of close calls including being hit in the head with a shovel, I really thought he would die a tragic hero so I was happy that he survived.


There were definitely some loose ends, Dongchul's father never got in trouble for stabbing the cop? Dongchul's Prison hyung just forgot about his revenge? And Dongchul's other friend, what happens to him after he tried to set the church on fire? Did the cult just let him go? He wasn't in the underground bunker. And all the people in the cult who followed orders and acted as accessories to crimes never got punished for beating and kidnapping people or giving out illegal prescriptions?