Vanished
“Save Me” aired August 05, 2017 to September 24, 2017, and had a cast that consisted of some rather new actors and actresses alongside seasoned well-known actors and actresses. The drama deals with religion and cults, which from the beginning caught my eye. I had never seen a drama that dealt with that topic, so I was intrigued by it and really wanted to give this drama the full go. Sadly the drama wasn’t as amazing I was hoping, but it wasn’t as bad as it could have been either. This drama has me in the middle. I am on the fence of if I actually enjoyed it or not.
The pacing in this drama really threw me for a loop. I felt as though nothing really happened for a very long time. I understand that there are things like character development and setting the plot, but I felt that the drama was being a little more dramatic and dragging things out more than it really needed to be. I am one for a slow-paced drama, but for me, this one just seemed way too long, and I felt that I would find myself skipping through the drama or just putting it on, on the background and doing other things while it played. Now I usually stop watching dramas that do not catch my interest after about the fourth episode but I kept seeing people who liked it and I wanted to know what eh fuss was all about, and I have to say I don’t think I truly ever figured it out. Some people were right though, after the ninth episode of this sixteen episode long drama, I felt like the pacing and the plot truly started to move along. (Yes it took nine whole episodes for it to actually start running at a decent speed in my opinion.) Once the ball gets rolling things do get rather interesting, and I wish the drama pulled me in like that from episode one, but nine hours had to pass for this to happen and that isn’t a good thing in my book. Now I know some people really liked it, but that pacing just wasn’t for me.
Apparently, there is an Original Soundtrack for this drama, which is news to me since there really wasn’t any music playing through the drama but perhaps the songs played when the credits rolled, so I really don’t know about it. Which to me is a rather disappointing thing, since I am one to truly love an original soundtrack. I love the music in Asian dramas and the lack of it really bummed me out, however, I cant knock it down too much for not having one since I don’t think it most likely would have fit in with the drama in the first place. So once again I am on the fence about aspects of this drama.
I know I am going on and on about how I don’t like this drama or how I was disappointed, but I do want to point out some good things about the drama as well. The cinematography and the color correction on this drama were fantastic. The eery feeling the camera angles and pans gave the drama worked like a charm. The cold blue effect on the drama that you can see throughout most of it is really beautiful and does give it a more mysterious and chilling look to the whole drama. The acting was also done rather well in this drama.
The actors and actresses that starred in this drama where mostly the saving grace for this drama for me personally. I found them to be charming and portraying their characters well, so I wanted to see how they developed through the show. Ok Taecyeon of the K-pop group 2PM did a rather good job with his role. I have not seen him in a drama since he starred in “Who Are You” in 2013. He is a pretty decent actor and I think he did well for his role, I don’t know if I was really into his accent but I will let it slide since I’m not an accent expert or anything, I just thought his faded in and out more than the rest of the actors. Seo Ye Ji as our female lead really did a wonderful job. I have not seen her in any other dramas but I am wanting to go back through her filmography and check her out. She has a unique look and voice with skill so, I am actually interested in her as an actress. Jo Sung Ha did a wonderful job as our cult leader, he had a way with words and way of presenting himself in the drama that made me believe that what his character believed was true, if that makes sense. I thought he did a great job and he truly had my side eyeing him the entire drama.
Overall the drama was pretty good I suppose. I liked the last half of the drama more than the first half. I felt it was too slow but I am happy they picked up the pace later on. The acting was good and that really kept my interest. I think that perhaps the drama could have been a bit shorter, but that is just my opinion on the matter. I wouldn’t say that its an amazing drama that you must see this year but it truly does have a unique plot which I hope I can see another drama with similar themes in the future. So I guess, overall it was an okay drama to me, not great but not bad either. Just so-so.
The pacing in this drama really threw me for a loop. I felt as though nothing really happened for a very long time. I understand that there are things like character development and setting the plot, but I felt that the drama was being a little more dramatic and dragging things out more than it really needed to be. I am one for a slow-paced drama, but for me, this one just seemed way too long, and I felt that I would find myself skipping through the drama or just putting it on, on the background and doing other things while it played. Now I usually stop watching dramas that do not catch my interest after about the fourth episode but I kept seeing people who liked it and I wanted to know what eh fuss was all about, and I have to say I don’t think I truly ever figured it out. Some people were right though, after the ninth episode of this sixteen episode long drama, I felt like the pacing and the plot truly started to move along. (Yes it took nine whole episodes for it to actually start running at a decent speed in my opinion.) Once the ball gets rolling things do get rather interesting, and I wish the drama pulled me in like that from episode one, but nine hours had to pass for this to happen and that isn’t a good thing in my book. Now I know some people really liked it, but that pacing just wasn’t for me.
Apparently, there is an Original Soundtrack for this drama, which is news to me since there really wasn’t any music playing through the drama but perhaps the songs played when the credits rolled, so I really don’t know about it. Which to me is a rather disappointing thing, since I am one to truly love an original soundtrack. I love the music in Asian dramas and the lack of it really bummed me out, however, I cant knock it down too much for not having one since I don’t think it most likely would have fit in with the drama in the first place. So once again I am on the fence about aspects of this drama.
I know I am going on and on about how I don’t like this drama or how I was disappointed, but I do want to point out some good things about the drama as well. The cinematography and the color correction on this drama were fantastic. The eery feeling the camera angles and pans gave the drama worked like a charm. The cold blue effect on the drama that you can see throughout most of it is really beautiful and does give it a more mysterious and chilling look to the whole drama. The acting was also done rather well in this drama.
The actors and actresses that starred in this drama where mostly the saving grace for this drama for me personally. I found them to be charming and portraying their characters well, so I wanted to see how they developed through the show. Ok Taecyeon of the K-pop group 2PM did a rather good job with his role. I have not seen him in a drama since he starred in “Who Are You” in 2013. He is a pretty decent actor and I think he did well for his role, I don’t know if I was really into his accent but I will let it slide since I’m not an accent expert or anything, I just thought his faded in and out more than the rest of the actors. Seo Ye Ji as our female lead really did a wonderful job. I have not seen her in any other dramas but I am wanting to go back through her filmography and check her out. She has a unique look and voice with skill so, I am actually interested in her as an actress. Jo Sung Ha did a wonderful job as our cult leader, he had a way with words and way of presenting himself in the drama that made me believe that what his character believed was true, if that makes sense. I thought he did a great job and he truly had my side eyeing him the entire drama.
Overall the drama was pretty good I suppose. I liked the last half of the drama more than the first half. I felt it was too slow but I am happy they picked up the pace later on. The acting was good and that really kept my interest. I think that perhaps the drama could have been a bit shorter, but that is just my opinion on the matter. I wouldn’t say that its an amazing drama that you must see this year but it truly does have a unique plot which I hope I can see another drama with similar themes in the future. So I guess, overall it was an okay drama to me, not great but not bad either. Just so-so.
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