(Mslee's thoughts) SAVE ME – THE DESIRE TO ESCAPE AND BE RESCUED

The story has painfully dragged the desire to escape from Guseonwon. Sang Mi after 3 long years still has not accepted the religious organization which she detested since that first day she felt the hand of the Spiritual Father on her thigh while in the disguise of praying has only one thought… to escape. But the thought even though has been executed two times already, first on the night she met 2 police officers but she was thought of as insane and the second one when she witnessed the death of the boy hit by train. These were painful experiences that added to her trauma and weakened her resolve but not her fighting spirit which is always vocal of antagonizing Apostle Jo, Kang and the Spiritual Father himself.

One of the things that makes it harder for her to escape alone is the thought of her mother being left behind in the hands of these crazy people. Her mother has been used to threaten her to subdue her as the only thing apparent that makes her stop whatever she plans on doing. Her father has seriously lost all common sense and been brainwashed by the cult. His faith was so deep that he is willing to sacrifice his daughter to be married to the Spiritual Father. The absurdity of the situation has been going on for more than a couple of episodes and still no concrete and possible plans has been shown to forward the story.

I am finding the side characters and stories difficult to appreciate when these characters had no exact relation to the theme of the drama. These gangs and their fight make the story more dragging and I truly wonder how the connection to Guseonwon will be shown. Dong Cheol and Sang Hwan’s father are both connected to these people and perhaps I am thinking that as the drama progressed the political and corrupt practices being shown will have deep connection to Guseonwon and why the cult has been so far untouchable.

3 years later  friendship remains even though Sang Hwan had moved to Seoul to continue his schooling. The pained memory of Dong Cheol and his own somewhat betrayal continue to torment him and make him guilty. But then his desire to mend that friendship is strong and he did not give up until Dong Cheol finally expressed his anger on him through a fight which leaves both boys spent. But eventually their simmering anger were somehow diminished and put to rest.

Sang Hwan who was determined to rescue Sang Mi after learning her desire to be saved was acting naïve and maybe idealistic. His upbringing may have partly contributed to his ignorance of how the real world operate hence his faith in the bureaucracy of the government particularly the policemen. His unwavering faith that justice will be served so long as he trusts them will be executed. But then Dong Cheol on the other hand has learned his lessons in a hard way. He is more of the realistic one coming to terms that power equates justice and money defeats truth in the eyes of law.

Painstakingly awaiting the hour of the rescue, Sang Mi stayed quiet. But the execution of the boys plan of openly getting Sang Mi from the van carrying her back to Guseonwon was seriously lacking. Their faces were known and in such a small town it will not be hard to identify them. Still the boys managed to get Sang Mi out of the van and into theirs and with Sang Hwan’S wit throwing the keys of the enemies” van away, they were able to leave.

As predicted, the corrupt detective at the police station did not want to believe their stories. He even told them that it was already reported by Sang Mi’s father about her “abduction”. Even if they told him about the cult and their suspicious activities the detective turned an ear and because Sang Hwan was too angry towards the detective, they were imprisoned. Sang Mi realized that her escape has once again futile and hopeless. She told the detective to let her father get her and she would return.

The story somehow moved forward with a new plan from the boys. Dong Cheol whose face has not been revealed to the people of Guseonwon will try to infiltrate the cult to save Sang Mi and to expose what is happening inside. It was a nerve wracking scene, waiting for him to be caught but he was not.

The story is focusing on betrayal of trust. Sang Mi’s trust on her father. Sang Hwan”s trust on his father. Both are experiencing bad faith from people they trust the most. Escaping will not be easy but soon I should hope she would finally be saved.

-mslee1107-