Right? It doesn't make much sense that she sent it to him because of her promise to him because she could have…
I think she didn’t expect him to immediately go searching for her, or that he would be able to recognize her. She told her fake mom that he will loose interest soon, which would make sense since he’s very successful and busy. Will be interesting to see how things turn out from now on. I think he‘ll help her with the revenge though.
If Lee Sang Yeob came to me, I would drop any revenge and just throw myself at him. So cute :awwww:
Same! He's so fine... <3 If there's any real romance in this, I hope it's between Ra-el and him. He's the only one, who truly knows her and cares about her. I normally love a good enemies to lovers/hate to love, but the CEO is just so bland so far... and he falls for her trap so easily. He's no match for her.
"it's like i'm waiting for them to just throw themselves at each other, but of course it's not that kind of drama…
To me, the way they set this up so far all seems to be leading to romance. I mean the genre is romance, and I’m hoping for an agonizing slow burn like Lost. The sexual tension is real. And how else is he going to worship her? 😭 Love isn’t enough…
I watch so many shows that are just meh and then every time I find a new amazing show that really just *affects*…
Thanks a lot for your detailed recs, that’s just perfect!
And I LOVE Business Proposal, it’s exactly the CEO fake dating drama I needed at the moment. So funny and cute, not too cringey. Haven’t started 2521 yet, because I didn’t know if it was more melo than comedy, but now I’m assured. Haha.
So, my favorite shows are either dark and desperate with slow burn romance like Just Between Lovers (one of my all time faves), Lost (very melancholic but ultimately hopeful, amazing cinematography and symbolism, slowest burn ever), Secret (problematic and perfect), One Spring Night (very angsty with great chemistry) or Something In The Rain (made me feel like I was falling in love myself).
My other faves are slice of life like Romance Is a Bonus Book (soothing and beautiful), When The Weather Is Fine (wraps you in a blanket) and of course 18 Again, or over the top teen drama like Imitation (Puppy dog love Kpop romance), True Beauty or Extraordinary You (unofficial BOF parody).
Honorary mention to Cinderella and the Four Nights, which is objectively bad and so whacky, but it was the first drama I ever watched, so it will always have a special place in my heart and it has the best drunk kiss ever!
Have you seen Lost Romance? I think you’d really like it! It’s taking all the romance drama tropes and turns them upside down, while still serving those same tropes in the best way. Also, it’s Taiwanese, which means steamy! Hehehe. Speaking of steamy, Love and Leashes was great too!
Absolutely loved episode 11..How amazing is this show..They giving importance to all characters..Like the famous…
I‘m probably the only one loving how slow burn their romance is at this point 😅 Give me all that frustration, yearning, pining, all the delayed gratification!
Honestly, I felt the same about the first half of the episode. That whole Talay Phupha relationship build up was…
I absolutely loved that mirroring of Thyme and Talay! And Thyme immediately recognizing his own ferocious pain and self hate in him, that was just brilliant!
I just didn’t particularly care about that „hacking robbery subplot“, because it seemed to only serve as a set up for Talay recalling that Phupha is a forgiving person, which could have been more powerful and efficient coming from him directly. I still haven’t rewatched though, so I might change my mind…
In the end it’s just a testament of how much we all love those characters, that we want to get as much time with them as possible. There was criminally little Kavin Kaning again and I will always favor them over Talay or Phupha… haha
I'm thinking more about #F4ThailandEp11 and have to say I don't think the writing is as strong as we've seen in…
Honestly, I felt the same about the first half of the episode. That whole Talay Phupha relationship build up was a bit draggy. I mean, I get that they really wanted to give us that scene in which Phupha himself says that he’s more in favor of restorative justice than punitive and thus ultimately absolving both Thyme and Talay. But maybe this didn’t have to be a flashback or so expository? Why not let Phupha speak for himself and to Thyme directly? I wish we would have seen that, maybe we still will. It’s always a risk to show flashbacks in great length and even more so, if the most beloved characters aren’t involved at all, especially in storytelling this dense.
I wonder if this was an effect of all the criticism the show faced before even airing, so they didn’t want to take any risks in hammering the message home? It seems that some people still don’t get it, though, no matter how obvious you make it. Asking for Thyme to go to jail… lol.
Nevertheless, the second part of the episode has to be my absolute favorite! Thyme teaching Talay the lesson he has learned „You can stop if you really want to…“, him lowering himself asking for forgiveness, that was everything I could have wished for! And the romance… so good! <3
Episode 10 is so very very much about the fact that you cannot "Leave past; Live tomorrow" until the past is dealt…
Very true! This sentiment reminds me of Kylo Ren's "Let the past die. Kill it, if you have to." in Rian Johnson's The Last Jedi. Your past will always be a part of you. It does not have to define you, but you have to accept it to move on and grow.
Just to add to your great catches on call-backs: Gorya snitching on Thyme by calling the security guard - episode 9 Thyme calling Gorya easy - episode 5
I see that now at this point of time audience's opinion is majorly divided between How Gorya didn't trust Thyme…
I just wanted to add a few random thoughts to the discussion about Gorya siding with Talay:
1. What would she gain from siding with Thyme at this point? She just decided to kick him out of her life, going as far as putting his security team onto him. If she let herself believe him, things would get messy again, he’d be back in her life and she decided against that. Note that she actually calls yet another security guard to get rid of him here (manipulated by Talay, but still).
2. Why shouldn’t she be hanging out with Talay? He gets her financial struggles and has been quite helpful. The ominous feeling he gives us is mostly due to the chilling music and direction, they were not subtle. Gorya of course is oblivious to that. I don’t see her fully trusting him either, what would that even entail? At school she even gets mad at Talay for cornering her and questions whether this has anything to do with Thyme. She trusts him to get her out of that very dangerous situation and really, what are her options? Also, Talay isn’t entirely wrong, Thyme’s anger really got everyone riled up, because the system he created is still intact and dangerous.
3. I feel like a lot of people are overestimating Thyme‘s character development at this point. He isn’t fully there yet either. He was very patronising last episode, he gets physical with Talay in this one (even before that fake fall) and follows them around like a creep. What was he trying to do there? Once Gorya doesn’t believe him, he regresses to the state he was in, when those pictures of her as a hostess came out. He calls her „easy“ for the second time, just like then. Thyme could have known better at this point too than to just conclude she’s already got a new guy. This is a direct call-back to episode 5.
Also, we still have six episodes left and it’s more than enough to get a satisfying resolution to both their character arcs. This is not the end.
I find this drama unbeatable at this moment and it is my current obsession. I love following the journey of Gorya…
I really really want to see him at his absolute darkest though! I hope they make it hurt so bad… that’s what we need and he needs. Give me all that pain and guilt!
The dude was raging mess just a couple of episodes ago. She'd have zero self preservation skills if she trusted…
Very true, this will be formative for so many viewers and get them to engage with stories on a totally different level in the future. The sad thing is that this kind of storytelling is so rare in the romance genre though. We need and deserve more!!
The dude was raging mess just a couple of episodes ago. She'd have zero self preservation skills if she trusted…
"I love having thoughtful ideas to compare mine against." << Same!
Annihilation destroyed me for a week, so much to unpack for me personally... that just speaks to its genius though. If fiction is able to elicit such a visceral reaction, it's powerful. And you're right, that story would just be nonsensical in a literal sense.
The funny thing is, you would expect this kind of storytelling from an Alex Garland movie, but not from a Thai teen drama based on a shouju manga, hahaha. But I'm very pleasantly surprised and I hope this will become a new standard.
The dude was raging mess just a couple of episodes ago. She'd have zero self preservation skills if she trusted…
I feel like there’s definitely a distinction between „casual viewers“ and those who rewatch, listen to deep dives, obsess on Twitter and do comparative literature analysis on the versions. If you know what kind of story they are trying to tell you, then it’s a lot easier to empathize with the characters’ journeys and get that catharsis. And I feel like this show is so layered and symbolic that you kind of need this level of dissection to get the whole picture, which is a lot to ask from viewers and I have never seen this in any other Asian drama. So, to be fair, if you’re expecting a tropey romcom teen drama with a bit of angst, this could all be a bit weird and confusing. It will be very interesting to see people react once the show is completed.
Another reason for the lack of empathy towards Gorya, could be that this deals with very mature themes, that may speak to some audiences more than others. And of course, internalized misogyny. We expect our female leads to be flawless or quirky max, Gorya of course is neither and people judge her way more harshly for flaws a lot less severe than Thyme‘s.
I'm probably in the minority in that I can't wait for it to be over. I simply cannot wait for the whole story.…
This is so true! I watch every episode at least two times, there’s just so much to explore and analyze. And you never feel silly for caring this much, because everyone involved in this show clearly cares as much as we do. It’s very special!
The dude was raging mess just a couple of episodes ago. She'd have zero self preservation skills if she trusted…
This exactly! I’m glad there’s still lots of internal conflict to resolve. External conflict is just not as cathartic or meaningful. That’s why other versions started to bore me at this point.
See you all over there ♥️
And I agree, it wasn’t time for that kiss yet. Partly because we were supposed to feel as frustrated as the characters.
And I LOVE Business Proposal, it’s exactly the CEO fake dating drama I needed at the moment. So funny and cute, not too cringey.
Haven’t started 2521 yet, because I didn’t know if it was more melo than comedy, but now I’m assured. Haha.
So, my favorite shows are either dark and desperate with slow burn romance like
Just Between Lovers (one of my all time faves), Lost (very melancholic but ultimately hopeful, amazing cinematography and symbolism, slowest burn ever), Secret (problematic and perfect), One Spring Night (very angsty with great chemistry) or Something In The Rain (made me feel like I was falling in love myself).
My other faves are slice of life like Romance Is a Bonus Book (soothing and beautiful), When The Weather Is Fine (wraps you in a blanket) and of course 18 Again, or over the top teen drama like Imitation (Puppy dog love Kpop romance), True Beauty or Extraordinary You (unofficial BOF parody).
Honorary mention to Cinderella and the Four Nights, which is objectively bad and so whacky, but it was the first drama I ever watched, so it will always have a special place in my heart and it has the best drunk kiss ever!
Have you seen Lost Romance? I think you’d really like it! It’s taking all the romance drama tropes and turns them upside down, while still serving those same tropes in the best way. Also, it’s Taiwanese, which means steamy! Hehehe. Speaking of steamy, Love and Leashes was great too!
Give me all that frustration, yearning, pining, all the delayed gratification!
I just didn’t particularly care about that „hacking robbery subplot“, because it seemed to only serve as a set up for Talay recalling that Phupha is a forgiving person, which could have been more powerful and efficient coming from him directly.
I still haven’t rewatched though, so I might change my mind…
In the end it’s just a testament of how much we all love those characters, that we want to get as much time with them as possible. There was criminally little Kavin Kaning again and I will always favor them over Talay or Phupha… haha
I wonder if this was an effect of all the criticism the show faced before even airing, so they didn’t want to take any risks in hammering the message home? It seems that some people still don’t get it, though, no matter how obvious you make it. Asking for Thyme to go to jail… lol.
Nevertheless, the second part of the episode has to be my absolute favorite! Thyme teaching Talay the lesson he has learned „You can stop if you really want to…“, him lowering himself asking for forgiveness, that was everything I could have wished for! And the romance… so good! <3
Your past will always be a part of you. It does not have to define you, but you have to accept it to move on and grow.
Just to add to your great catches on call-backs:
Gorya snitching on Thyme by calling the security guard - episode 9
Thyme calling Gorya easy - episode 5
1. What would she gain from siding with Thyme at this point? She just decided to kick him out of her life, going as far as putting his security team onto him. If she let herself believe him, things would get messy again, he’d be back in her life and she decided against that. Note that she actually calls yet another security guard to get rid of him here (manipulated by Talay, but still).
2. Why shouldn’t she be hanging out with Talay? He gets her financial struggles and has been quite helpful. The ominous feeling he gives us is mostly due to the chilling music and direction, they were not subtle. Gorya of course is oblivious to that.
I don’t see her fully trusting him either, what would that even entail? At school she even gets mad at Talay for cornering her and questions whether this has anything to do with Thyme. She trusts him to get her out of that very dangerous situation and really, what are her options? Also, Talay isn’t entirely wrong, Thyme’s anger really got everyone riled up, because the system he created is still intact and dangerous.
3. I feel like a lot of people are overestimating Thyme‘s character development at this point. He isn’t fully there yet either. He was very patronising last episode, he gets physical with Talay in this one (even before that fake fall) and follows them around like a creep. What was he trying to do there?
Once Gorya doesn’t believe him, he regresses to the state he was in, when those pictures of her as a hostess came out. He calls her „easy“ for the second time, just like then. Thyme could have known better at this point too than to just conclude she’s already got a new guy. This is a direct call-back to episode 5.
Also, we still have six episodes left and it’s more than enough to get a satisfying resolution to both their character arcs. This is not the end.
The sad thing is that this kind of storytelling is so rare in the romance genre though. We need and deserve more!!
Annihilation destroyed me for a week, so much to unpack for me personally... that just speaks to its genius though. If fiction is able to elicit such a visceral reaction, it's powerful. And you're right, that story would just be nonsensical in a literal sense.
The funny thing is, you would expect this kind of storytelling from an Alex Garland movie, but not from a Thai teen drama based on a shouju manga, hahaha. But I'm very pleasantly surprised and I hope this will become a new standard.
If you know what kind of story they are trying to tell you, then it’s a lot easier to empathize with the characters’ journeys and get that catharsis. And I feel like this show is so layered and symbolic that you kind of need this level of dissection to get the whole picture, which is a lot to ask from viewers and I have never seen this in any other Asian drama.
So, to be fair, if you’re expecting a tropey romcom teen drama with a bit of angst, this could all be a bit weird and confusing. It will be very interesting to see people react once the show is completed.
Another reason for the lack of empathy towards Gorya, could be that this deals with very mature themes, that may speak to some audiences more than others. And of course, internalized misogyny. We expect our female leads to be flawless or quirky max, Gorya of course is neither and people judge her way more harshly for flaws a lot less severe than Thyme‘s.