Pleasantly Surprised 喜歡·一個人 Episode 14 Summary & Comments

I love this drama...I really do. 

Once again, I have to say I don't think I've watched a drama before in my long years of drama-watching where the story has had such a quick and reasonable pace (Pleasantly Surprised is not 10 episodes of "Should I telll her I was responsible for [secret/confession/horrible truth]?"...it's more like 2 episodes of angst and then BAM! Here's the problem, now we work on how to fix it) and where all the characters were so loveable and natural (aside from normal exaggerated comical events for laughs). 

I mean, I've loved most of the drama characters I've seen on screen before...but I have seen a lot of held back tenderness in relationships and a lot of non-communication and crying before. But Pleasantly Surprised has lifted the game big time! Anyway, here's onto a wayward summary + commentary on Episode 14...

*** Before I begin, did anyone else notice that Ah Jie had better pants this week??? Solid colours, NO floral pattern!!! Amazing. I hope it stays this way***

(***SPOILER alerts**** for those who haven't started the series or aren't up to episodes 14)...

Ok, so the episode starts off sort of glum given that Kai Qi is still pretty mad at Ah Jie and everyone at Figuro Cusine is giving him crap as they think he's a heartless dude who goes around and toys with people's hearts. Only Le Xuan (Or Flower Vase....I'm going to call her that as I think it's a cute nickname. In Chinese the meaning of such a nickname = pretty but useless. Though I just associate it with the start of the series and her pretty face :D) is nice to Ah Jie. Here, I liked Flower Vase. It may seem like she would be nice to Ah Jie as she liked him previously. But she also worries about the tense state of Kai Qi and Ah Jie. I also point out, it would be the perfect time to scheme...but she doesn't, which is rare in a drama for someone that is meant to be the rival character. It's so refreshing once again to have characters with many dimensions...I really hope she finds love with the Head Chef!

The evil brother, however, is a different story. So self-pitying and vengeful. He comes to visit at the start of the episode, being rude to Ah Jie, revealing his secret as son of the owners at Figuro and getting to Kai Qi. I thought his visit would actually back up Ah Jie's explaination to her (that he needed to leave after a month because he was responsible for the brother's ingured arm), but the whole affair just makes her angry at both brothers. It makes sense in hindsight why she's angry - she doesn't realise how bitter and angry the brother is so she thinks Ah Jie is making a big deal out of nothing and running away from being guilty rather than fixing the problem. Here's the Figuro Crew watching the scene play out

After the visit, Ah Jie stands his ground with the evil bro by declaring to his parents that he'll stay. The thing I loved about this scene = when the bro reveals that he's staying because of Kai Qi, both parents are quite pleased. They may have the monies but they definately are not snobby about Ah Jie dating their ex-housekeeper's kid, which is another stereotypical plot-device we don't have to sweat about!!! I mean, they were nice to Kai Qi's mum to begin with, but you never know with drama parents. So glad this looks good. (I think my worries were triggered by the father -he's Annie Chen's dad in love around...and look what he did there...haha.)

Ah Jie also painfully tries to get Kai Qi to talk to him and takes her out on a drive to try to sort things out (as you see in the title pic above). I'm actually amazed they do talk. It doesn't immediately resolve the issue, but it does lead to that!!! If you're an avid drama fan, you'll also have sat through dramas where no one talks and misunderstanding grow. So I liked that they aired out the issues...you can definately see thought has been put into story + character development here. 

When they get back to Figuro, Ah Jie gets called into the police station as his car has been in an accident in the morning. Kai Qi realises that Ah Jie was with him in the morning and took a taxi to work, so couldn't have been in the accident and pieces everything together to understand that the older bro has a drinking problem which Ah Jie has taken the fall for in his adult life since the arm-injuring incident. Here I was like, "Thank you script-writers for not dragging this till the last episode!!! Kai Qi, you're so smart and observant!!!" Misunderstanding = cleared. Lovers, back on track. 

Family drama = the truth comes out at the hospital (Again, these script-writers making the plot move!!!) and the brother explodes about how his parents love Ah Jie, how he's a disappointment and it's all Ah Jie's fault, illiciting a slap from his father and tears from his mother. Ah Jie sits miserably at the park alone, when Kai Qi comes to comfort him. Prepare yourself for some sweet lovin' again...

I really liked this scene in the park because it's Kai Qi, really going out of her way to find him and show her tender side. My first thought was...how did she know he was in the park?! But it's the park next to their flat.

This next scene probably had fan girls fainting a little....

I love how Kai Qi found it awkward, yet wanted him to lay there. She didn't know where to put her hand though, but it turned into this...

Sweet moments seem to come in double doses, so of course, after they have a talk about Ah Jie's tough day and his decision to stay in Taiwan for his own sake, not because he owes his bro...Ah Jie asks Kai Qi to give him strength. Kai Qi lets him know that when she tasted Louis' food she use to say the same thing. Here, Ah Jie, says that they give each other strength...which really seems to come back to how great this series is...is not just about boy-protects-girl. The girl is pretty kick-ass so the boy needs her help too. Also, as a guy, Ah Jie doesn't have that "大男人主义者" macho-man/boss attitude. They rely on each other alot and support each other with their strengths, the way you should in a healthy relationship.

Ah Jie tends to get his "strength: in this form though...

Heh, yep, still keeping this kiss count going. Kai Qi's expressions are so cute when she's startled. 

Ah Jie is all up for teasing Kai Qi while stealing kisses...

Kai Qi then goes to visit Ah Jie's brother with some sunflowers (yeah, I knew I picked sunflowers on my blog header for a reason!) But it doesn't turn out well, and he smashes the vase containing the flowers on the ground. She can't stop thinking about the incident which is when she encounters Hao Wei again. He's at the restaurant to do some interviewing with Head chef and Flower Vase, his sister. Hahaha, I love the way Head Chef is obviously gawking at Flower Vase. So obvious that even Hao Wei is picking up on it :D

I totally take back what I say about Hao Wei. Although he seems a little bitter when Kai Qi says she's made up with Ah Jie, he also happens to be a good friend giving her advice as to how to be there for Ah Jie...which gives Kai Qi the idea to take him to one of those baseball batting place (think Love Around again). Which leads to another cute baseball scene...the episode ends here, with the last scene where Kai Qi feeling feeling about the visit in the hospital realising that the brother smashed the vase with his so-called "injured" arm. Looks like more family drama next week... One of the viewers on Viki said that the drama looks more intense from here...what you guys think?

Pleasantly Surprised 喜歡·一個人 Episode 12-13 Summary & Comments

So Pleasantly Surprised is on tonight, but I have to wait for uploading and subs as my Chinese is ok, but not that pro.While passing the time, let's run through episode 12 and 13 again...

(***SPOILER alerts**** for those who haven't started the series or aren't up to episodes 12 + 13)...

These 2 episodes have probably the most anticipated episodes with Kai Qi and Ah Jie getting together in the sweetest manner...and then having their relationship tested by Hao Wei.

One thing I love about this drama is that it moves relatively fast in story development and it makes a lot of sense in terms of direction. I was particularly relieved that Ah Jie didn't decide to stay pent up with his anger for too many episodes as a) I was starting to miss his friendly character and b) I've sat through wayyy too many stagnant dramas where precious story time is lost on not communicating! Anyway, I liked the way the above scene played out too, espeically the dialogue which had both some desperation and desire in it...before getting into the second kiss of the series (if you count the corny, falling on lips scenario as number 1). This one involved lip biting though, hehe...

And another angle, edited from a screenshot:

Kai Qi was also awesome - she knew what her feelings towards Ah Jie were and what Hao Wei was trying to do to her. It was really refreshing to have a character who knew herself rather than spend hours questioning/denying her feelings or having trouble choosing. I think it's great to see a character from dramaland reflect how girls act a little more realistically - it makes more sense to see a girl know instantly when someone is flirting with her (Hao Wei), and to put a stop to it because she knows she spends way too much time thinking about someone else...(That way she's not hurting the second guy too much either by being oblivious to him, a la "You're Beautiful" style  -___-;;) This drama definately wins brownie points for going outside the stereotypical tough-guy-that-doesn't-talk-about-feelings and indescive-or-ignorant girl chracterisation.

Ah Jie's confession was totally cute too. What a tease. Haha, it was the talking and the smiles and the round-about way he went about telling her that his crush was her. Both kisses were pretty smoking hot too...can you believe their were 2 kisses in one episode? Pretty much unheard of in most dramas, though Taiwanese dramas are the most realistic and natural in this department when you compare to other Asian TV shows. 

The water fountain kiss was pretty damn awesome *___*

So Episode 12 was super sweet. I did wonder how Hao Wei would take things as there wasn't much reaction from him... but that was shown in the next episode...read on below...

The first 15 minutes of this episode were so cute...but I wouldn't expect less from Kai Qi and Ah Jie. Basically he books out an aquarium and takes her to play with dolphins! Then there's a cheesey scuba diving where he fishes a spoon necklace out of the water for her...haha I was pretty much making a face here, but then it lead to a touching Kai Qi - Ah Jie moment, where she hugs and kisses him and you see an actual break-down of her usually reserved barrier. She's not generally the one to tell (or do anything to show) her emotions, so I think this really showed how much she appreciated and trusted Ah Jie.Just to fangirl some more, I forgive the cheesiness because with Jasper with wet hair = adorable...probably made it easier for Puff to initiate this make out session :D

Just when you thought you'd been spoilt enough, this led into another cute scene where they eat lover's cake...which has red bean in it (*shudders*) and she gets some on her her lip. Not to miss out on a second opportunity, Ah Jie quickly comes over to rub it off for her. When Kai Qi laughs, he shuts her up by kissing her and then he pulls the most adorable smile... This also takes the kiss count to 5...

...which I have yet to see another idol drama beat (And I've been watching since 2008...minus the few a missed in my 1-2 year hiatus which I'm catching up on...Love Now, anyone?)

The second half of episode 13 = I wanted to tear my hair out because of the evil Hao Wei...Well, I guess he's not fully evil, just trying to take care of the girl he likes. I was surprised that he was willing to let go of Kai Qi (before his sister let slip that Ah Jie was leaving)...That's another thing I love about this drama...while Le Xuan and Hao Wei are annoying, they're definately not black and white evil. They may have agendas, but they also have heart and they do tend to do the right things when they need to. But yeah, Hao Wei did kill me when he ran over and stuck his nose into the couple's business! He shouldn't have gone to Kai Qi's workplace and made a scene. But obviously he wants them to break-up...so no surprises as to his actions.

But this drama does move fast and the stills I've seen from the next episode seem to indicate hope for getting back together again...I'm off to see if the drama's uploaded and translated...but what do you guys think of the characters and story development???