I am not planning on doing episode recaps since the show is fully subbed on Viki.com, so this is just going to be highlights of my favorite parts and thoughts on each episode. Really, this is just me forgetting how tortuous it is to follow a one episode/week drama and need a place to vent some and hopefully hear some of you guys’ thoughts too…because it is always better to know someone else is suffering along with you.
Episode 1
Our two leads’ first meeting where our heroine was chasing a receipt while our hero was about to get into a taxi was short but quite an effective set up for their next encounter. I am used to elaborate noisy first encounters where the two leads bicker and argue so it was kinda refreshing to see such a brief first meeting to set up for the full confrontation later on.
Culture notes in case there are those who need it: In Taiwan, to encourage everyone asks for receipts when they purchase something (which I believe help to combat people selling and buying under the table without paying taxes), the receipts have numbers on them that could win you small money prizes.
Ke Huan (played by Jasper Liu) looked like your usual super smart, successful and haughty rich hero for the first 20 minutes of the show…until his second meeting with Wei Wei (heroine, played by Puff Kuo). Instantly wiping away any gratitude Wei Wei might have felt towards him for returning her notebook to her when he tells her that her casual words of “I will buy you a cup of coffee to thank you next time.” means “I want to sleep with you.” overseas, our poor heroine has no clue what trouble she has just attracted.
I thought our two leads’ third meeting was extremely well done. For most of that meeting, our hero continued to cement himself in our heroine’s (and my) mind as a creepy jerk…until the very last moment when Wei Wei accidentally rips her blouse and Ke Huan does the surprisingly considerate gesture of wrapping his jacket around her. I loved this scene because it is the first time we get an inkling of our hero’s complex personality. Is he creepy or is he a gentleman??
The fourth meeting (purposefully created by our hero) between our leads adds a few more puzzle pieces…or perhaps creates even more puzzle pieces to our two leads’ character. Ke Huan’s reaction to Wei Wei’s sexy roommate at the party seems to say he is not some playboy who is just out for a quick romp in bed. Things escalate shockingly quickly when Ke Huan backs Wei Wei into a room and handcuffs her to the bed. My personal take is that our hero didn’t initially plan on handcuffing Wei Wei, but our heroine’s sharp words about his girlfriend angered him and made him lose control…which is why after calming down in his car he went back to free Wei Wei. It is interesting to note that when Ke Huan is with his girlfriend, he is the perfect gentleman…as long as one ignores the hopeless frustration simmering right underneath his polite distant smile. A telling scene is when Ke Huan stiffly sends his girlfriend off to bed and his stony expression instantly turns to a warm smile when he looked up Wei Wei’s online profile.
Turning our attention to our heroine. Wei Wei’s character is a much more straight forward at first glance but thanks to our hero’s rude but very insightful words about her and her boyfriend’s retirement plan, we see quickly that our heroine is just burying her head in the sand when it comes to her relationship with her boyfriend. After all, a boyfriend who you have to use breakup as a threat to spend the night with him because it’s not the “scheduled Saturday”, probably see you more like a partner who can help him achieve his retirement plan instead of a woman he is attracted to.
Episode 1 Impression: I was addicted from episode one…but what’s with this guilty feeling like I am cheating just by watching and loving this show?! In fact, I felt so guilty that I ended up watching On The Way To The Airport again. Sigh… Oh, well. Let’s just all agree that we are good girls (and boys) who firmly believe cheating is completely wrong in any circumstance and watching shows like this one is just a good reminder that we should all be smart enough to break/fix our own relationship (if it needs breaking or fixing) before a rich, tall, and charming oppa come calling.
Episode 2
I took a closer look at the song Wei Wei listens to over and over again in the Karaoke kiosk. Reading over the lyrics it seems obvious that it’s a song that represents her feelings both towards her boyfriend and our hero.
Darling- Mavis Fang
Whenever you call me “Darling”, the word gives me confidence because it means I am your only right now. Whenever you call me “Darling”, I must believe your flowery words and the dreamy traps. Oh! Darling I love you Oh! Darling I believe you Oh! Darling, I hate you Oh! Darling But I need you.
Whenever you come close to me, I can’t resist your tender orders because I am afraid to lose. Every time you say “I don’t want to hear it”. I can’t get angry. This game of love. I am filled with doubt about you. Oh! Darling. Your charm. Oh! Darling, Can you please. Oh! Darling, I don’t want to hear. Oh! Darling, this question.
It is very telling that Wei Wei seems to be in the habit of going to the kiosk to listen to this song whenever she has to suppress some doubts or dissatisfaction with her relationship. Her habit was obviously formed before she even met our hero so that seems to say all the issues Ke Huan pointed out about her relationship are things Wei Wei herself has already been battling against but our hero has just helped her to put those doubts into words. Of course, the same lyrics could really apply to Wei Wei’s tumultuous relationship with our hero as well.
I am torn on how sincere our hero was when he “broke up” with Wei Wei and agrees to forget her. I lean towards that Ke Huan was 90% sincere but then if so why would he meet with Wei Wei’s roommate in the bar later? Was it a previous arrangement and he doesn’t mind meeting the roommate so he went anyway?
Taking a break from our two leads, let’s talk about Ziyuan, our hero’s longtime girlfriend. What a strange lady. She seems to be fully aware of how fed up her boyfriend is of her actions…yet she keeps doing exactly the same things to push him further away. Ziyuan seems to believe that she could act like Ke Huan’s mother so no matter how annoyed Ke Huan is, he will eventually thank her later. In fact, Ziyuan seems so certain that whatever she does for Ke Huan is the right thing that she pretty much railroad over him whenever he tries to protest or at least get her to change her controlling ways.
The highlight of this episode is of course the sizzling…and a bit deranged scene where our hero puts Wei Wei on the balcony. I wondered if Ke Huan feels so suffocated by his girlfriend and the knowledge that he is stuck with her for life (something about a promise to her dying mother) that every time he sees Wei Wei is like a chance to finally let out the pressure that has been building inside him…which would explain why he goes from calm to violent in a blink of an eye. I am holding out hope that deep down our hero is still mostly a gentle person though since after his violent outburst he usually seems to soften right after.
Wei Wei’s reaction towards Ke Huan in this balcony scene is also worth discussing. While Wei Wei’s anger towards Ke Huan is totally understandable but what I found telling is the strangely lack of fear in our heroine’s reaction. What our hero did of putting Wei Wei on the balcony ledge was really stepping over the line but instead of fearing for her life and running off screaming for help, she stayed to beat him up knowing full well from experience that he can easily overpower her…which shows me that unconsciously she doesn’t believe Ke Huan would actually harm her.
One sentence that I have been mulling over in my head is when Wei Wei yelled “I won’t be your lover either” and Ke Huan had replied with amusement “I swear that word has never crossed my mind.” What does he mean by that?? What exactly does Ke Huan want from Wei Wei at this point in time? Ke Huan seems strangely forthcoming whenever he is asked a question and I tend to believe that he usually doesn’t bother to lie. When Wei Wei’s roommate had asked him about his interest in Wei Wei, Ke Huan’s answer was that he find Wei Wei entertaining. So was that it? His life is so suffocating that teasing Wei Wei is the only thing that makes him smile? If he has never thought of becoming lovers with Wei Wei does that mean he hadn’t intended (at least right now) for their relationship to progress to the point of disturbing either of their relationships?
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I like the idea of two people drawn to each beyond any reason. At the moment I’m still waiting for the show to going on before I will probably dig. It sounds like we will have a dragging road of Makjang before us and I don’t know if I need that in my life now.
Ha ha, I totally see what you mean. But hey, sometimes you need to watch Makjang to make your own crazy life seem so much calmer in comparison.
Like you, I’m absolutely loving this show and feeling guilty about it, because cheating is not a theme or topic I enjoy or approve of. But the chemistry between the two leads is explosive and the show has made their partners someone you wouldn’t want to root for anyways…
I find both their partners controlling. The boyfriend’s need to schedule every aspect of their life and the girlfriend’s patronizing attitude towards the hero is very telling. Like you said, there is no love in these relationships. Just a sense of obligation.
Also, I don’t like how one flaunts her rich boyfriend like some trophy and the other is obsessive about hiding their true relationship from everyone around them.
The two leads have been giving way to their respective partners for so long that it has become a habit of sorts. But a chance encounter with each other has suddenly brought ripples in their seemingly calm waters.
The two have started looking at their exiting life with new eyes. They are beginning to ask uncomfortable questions from themselves, and are acknowledging the bitter truth that is their life.
That’s why they react so unusually to each other. Obviously mixed in all this is an underlying sexual attraction which our heroine unwittingly revealed.
And I absolutely hate that we get only 1 episode per week for this show…I’ll probably have grey hair and chewed of cuticles from anxious anticipation, by the time the show completes its run.
Please continue with episodes summary…I too need a space to vent…Thanks for your hardwork!
Thanks. It sounds like the story is deeper than I thought and it was advertised. Many just called it a Cheating Drama and stay away from it. That is quite sad.
You are welcome!
At its core, it is a cheating drama. But there is much more to it then mere cheating.
The two leads aren’t being lead by some physical urge…in fact, till now they haven’t done anything illict…except maybe not tell their respective partners about their encounters….its besides the point that their partners have no interest in them as an individual person, just their value as their attachment.
I don’t know how it will pan out as we move deeper into the story, but judging from the first two episodes, I have high hopes from the narration.
Give it a try and let us know what you think of it.
Why is this Drama not getting more viewings or have more articles written about it. This drama so far is beyond good, its great! Honestly, I rarely watch T or C dramas and usually stick to K dramas but this has honestly blown all of my K dramas that have aired this year outta of the water. This drama is for grown ups and it has a realistic portrayal of love, loyalty, moral issues and they grey areas between all of it. Puff and Jasper have done a PHENOMENAL job thus far. I can see why the book that this drama is based off of was a best seller! I like that this drama segues from alot of cliches about love. The drama explores what happens when you start to fall in love with someone you shouldnt and how you deal with that. I really hope that this drama gets more views, online articles, and general recognition because its crazy good.