[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Save Me" Episode 15

There are not enough middle fingers in the world to express how I feel about Guseonwon and this marks a job well done by "Save Me". Every open end comes together and clashes into a smörgåsbord of final week thrills as things finally veer out of control for heroes and villains alike. Death, disillusionment, camaraderie and hope form the final battle for our heroes' future.

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Taunting one's enemies never comes without a good deal of grief and Hong So-rin (Jeon Yeo-been) is sadly the victim this time around. The episode holds nothing back as we rush to the finish line and so a lot of the things which have been left unaddressed until now happen all at once. Muji is disillusionment central at the moment and this includes the revelations our good, neutral and evil characters get.

Things are falling almost too neatly into place for our heroes as far as revealing Guseonwon's true face goes and under different circumstances, I would call that contrived. The reason these expedited events make sense here, however, is the narcissism of our villain. Baek Jeong-ki (Cho Seong-ha) has been dealing with what he no doubt sees as sheep for too long and his belief that he is invincible has already been established. The man is alienating his allies and sometimes that is all it takes to fall.

Disillusionment comes from the good side as well and it is very rewarding in certain aspects. Officer Choi (Park Soo-yeon) finally steps up and Sergeant Woo (Kim Kwang-kyu) chooses to face the consequences of his actions. I cannot help but lament what these characters could have been, however. The episode makes it clear that many supporting characters had or should have had bigger roles here. From Joon-goo's (Ko Jun) late entrance into Guseonwon to our tavern "noona's", too much feels rushed to justify their existence in the story.

The episode reveals this lack of purpose for them, but there are also issues with the editing which are a telltale sign of the final week's hasty nature. The sequence up to where Officer Choi barges into Guseonwon is particularly messy and events in it are hard to keep track of, but the rest of the episode has issues with its pacing as well. I appreciate fast closure over no closure, however.

I do not know if more deaths on the good side will come, if everything will be solved or if the series will go for small victories against evil, but I sincerely hope that at least Sang-mi's (Seo Yea-ji) story and by extension that of our heroes will be concluded. Rushed as it may be, the episode indicates a desire to wrap everything up for our characters.

"Save Me" is directed by Kim Seong-soo, written by Jeong Sin-gyoo and Jeong I-do-I and features Ok Taecyeon, Seo Yea-ji, Cho Seong-ha and Woo Do-hwan.

Written by: Orion from 'Orion's Ramblings'

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