"Love Me" explores a family's grief after a mother's death, revealing their struggles and unexpected romantic developments.

"Love Me" captured the viewers' hearts from the first episode with the irony that no matter how deep the sorrow, it cannot stop life, hinting at a "life drama to watch at year-end." In particular, the ending of the super-speed adult melodrama where So Hyun-jin wakes up in the bed of the "man next door," Chang Ryu-ryul, further heated up the reactions. The first two episodes of JTBC's Friday series "Love Me" (written by Park Un-yeong, Park Hee-gwon, directed by Cho Yong-min), aired on the 19th in Korea, depicted the selfish irony of life where individual anger, excitement, and choices become more important than the shared grief of the family after the death of Kim Mi-ran (Jang Hae-jin), the mother and wife. In the process, director Cho Yong-min's melodrama aesthetics shone even brighter. While capturing the characters' situations without exaggeration, it layered the void of loss and emotional threads, even packing in humor that makes people laugh. The main theme of the day's broadcast, "Life does not allow any shining blessing or unbearable sorrow to stay with us for long," resonated deeply. The long-awaited "melodrama master" So Hyun-jin far exceeded expectations, showcasing her true self. Driven by guilt over her mother's accident, she had to escape from her family, living as if everything was fine, but expressed the immeasurable loneliness she had neglected with the most realistic expressions. Above all, the love that began with a thrill that could not even stop sorrow beautifully heralded the beginning of a melodrama that makes one expect how real the story will be, tightening and releasing the heart again. The depth of acting from Yoo Jae-myung and Jang Hae-jin conveyed even deeper loneliness and despair, making viewers cry along with them. Lee Si-woo also realistically depicted the anxiety and wandering of immature youth, further deepening the drama's balance. Here, Yoon Se-ah, Chang Ryu-ryul, and TWICE's Dahyun blew a wind of change into the stagnant daily lives of the characters, raising expectations for future developments. The Jun-kyung, Jin-ho, and Jun-so family had endured the tragedy of Mi-ran's accident seven years ago in their respective places. Gynecologist Jun-kyung was indifferent to the joy and delight of life being born, and even when she encountered a rude matchmaker during a blind date she attended after a million years, she pretended nothing happened. However, while deciding that "being alone is easier," she often tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep, and wandered around without a place to go. Jin-ho, facing retirement a few years later as the town mayor, decided to retire to spend more time with his sick wife. However, seeing Mi-ran's unhappy face only exhausted him further. Feeling burdened by the family, Jun-so could not decide on his path, struggled to fit in at graduate school, and felt only anxiety about his free-spirited girlfriend Yoon-sol (Kim Sha-na). This family gathered together for the first time in a while to celebrate Jin-ho's retirement and their 35th wedding anniversary. However, the words and emotions directed at each other went astray, and eventually, Jun-kyung spat out sharp words to her mother, who seemed to care only about her own misfortune. Believing that there would be a normal reconciliation tomorrow even if it ended in a fight, Mi-ran passed away from a brain hemorrhage, and the family welcomed mourners without even shedding tears. After sending Mi-ran off, the sorrow surged. Jin-ho found it unbearable that the time he had expected to spend with his wife, whom he thought he would grow old with, had vanished all at once, and for the first time, he collapsed on the spot and cried. Driven by guilt, Jun-kyung called her mother out of drunkenness. Seven years ago, on a rainy day, her mother had an accident while delivering documents that Jun-kyung had forgotten at home, losing one leg. Repeating the words "don't come because of the heavy rain" over the receiver without the owner, she could not shake off the guilt of the accident caused by her and the regret of desperately escaping from her family. However, even in this unbearable sorrow, the family returned to their respective places. Jun-kyung went on a date with the man next door, Ju Do-hyun (Chang Ryu-ryul). Thinking he was a "crazy guy" who had been following her at the convenience store, she realized he actually lived next door and had a good impression of him when he punched her rude blind date (Yang Hyung-min). The encounter that began with Do-hyun's proposal of "Shall we seriously date?" gradually developed into a thrilling emotion. Jun-kyung, who tried to run away again, ultimately admitted that all she could do alone was loneliness and cautiously confessed, "Let's get to know each other slowly." The next morning, she woke up in Do-hyun's bed. Jin-ho headed to the trip he was supposed to take with his wife Mi-ran alone. On the tour he participated in alone, he met the guide Jin Jae-young (Yoon Se-ah), who looked at him strangely, saying, "I've never seen someone come on a trip in leather shoes." Jun-so discovered traces of his girlfriend with an unknown man on social media and was engulfed in anger. The ending of the second episode amplified expectations for the next story of this selfish yet ordinary family, where anger and unexpected small thrills became more important than intense sorrow. This work is based on the original Swedish series of the same name created by Josephine Bornebusch and has been remade under the same title "Love Me" in Australia by BINGE/FOXTEL. "Love Me" airs two episodes back-to-back every Friday at 8:50 PM on JTBC and is also available on U-NEXT in Japan.