MarieAli

So about the violence that Gorya had to suffer through this episode, it was hard to watch and yet again, like always with this show, it was very deliberate and served a purpose. Hear me out… 

This is the third time Gorya gets bullied, because of the red card system that Thyme established. This will be his third trial, his third attempt at finally making amends and healing the school. With every trial, they consistently amped up the violence, raising the stakes each time, telling us that Gorya literally wouldn’t survive another round. This is what Thyme‘s rule led to, it’s life-threatening, and he finally has to face the consequences and actually make up for it. He’s been spared so far and just like him, we’ve been spared the horror of the violence too. 

The first red card round, we do not see anyone actually punch her, we see those accidents, and we get Thyme‘s cruelty, but there are no wounds. The second time, after Hana‘s scheming, we see her wounded and bruised, but we are spared the actual impact. That bully raises his hand and the scene cuts to MJ hitting a dartboard. It’s only this third time that we see the hard truth, no more glossing over the horror, no cutting scenes. She’s so severely hurt, that she’s unconscious, our Gorya that never gives up, that wouldn’t be bullied into submission.

Why does it have to be her, though, who suffers? Well she shouldn’t be the one, that's the point, but she’s the only one Thyme cares about and more importantly, us too. Would we have cared if this happened to anyone else? Of course not. We didn’t care about Phupha, we were turning a blind eye. "Make sure he gets out alive." The absolute cruelty of Kavin’s words is coming back to haunt us. We are being owned. We will have to suffer too.

So true! She will have to wake up though, see Thyme get severely beaten and muster up her last strength to save him before they both collapse… Damn. I’m so scared and excited at the same time!

Say no more… added to my watchlist!

I‘m literally the last person to judge anyone‘s drama pleasures! One of my favorite k-dramas is Secret, which is exactly this trope only worse because he actively makes her life a living hell as part of his revenge plot, haha.
And I will absolutely love the resolution next episode, but in this one they really didn’t gloss over the violence, which was of course the point.
PS: Will check out all your recs here…

Well she just saw him kiss Lita, push Talay and stalk them like prey (if you’re talking about the parking lot scene), so I get it. Plus the episode made a whole point of her regressing in her character development, so this makes sense.

Loved the episode, but seeing Gorya being bullied and physically assaulted once more to this extent was really hard to watch…

Bright‘s acting was so on point! Had to rewind that scene a few times…

Yes! The show has very consistently shown us that Thyme has serious difficulty regulating his emotions. He resorts to aggression, because it‘s what he knows and of course in that extreme situation with Gorya he doesn’t have any other skills yet. But it’s not just that, it’s high risk behavior like car racing, getting into fights with strangers and excessive drinking too. It borders on self harm, which is always a dysfunctional attempt at regulating insufferable affects.
And you’re absolutely right, this doesn’t only apply to „problematic“ emotions like anger. When he’s excited or in love, his emotions and actions will be extreme and hard to regulate too, e.g. the spamming and childish behaviors. From a clinical psychology perspective it’s very good representation actually, but it’s not the kind of easy to digest mental disorder we like to see our heroes suffer from… there’s a lot of stigma.

I love this comment, and I’m totally on board with more sexy content! We deserve it!

I feel like the show has been very consciously hiding Thyme’s shirtless body from us and Gorya’s eyes so far. He jumped into the pool fully clothed, like why? Lee Min Ho was half naked half the time in BOF. I hope, once he finally undresses, it will be in front of Gorya, and we will see it from her female gaze. The set-up is perfect, she’d be super flustered, and it would be a great way of showing us more of her falling in love with him. We need that!

I just rewatched the second trailer and realized that the way he’s teasing Kaning at the mall, keeping his phone out of her reach, is exactly the same way he’s teasing his first love in that flashback. It’s his love language! My heart can’t take this…

I’ve been wondering about that car scene too and I feel like this might be layered. Her heart breaking for him and herself at the same time. He says that love may be a beautiful thing, but it doesn’t apply to him. So she mourns her loss, but his loss as well, because that’s such a hopeless sentiment and she knows he deserves better, even if it’s not with her.

I’d prefer a straight out happy ending for them, but I’d be fine with a hopeful open ending too and it may be the most likely resolution. I demand a kiss however!!

It started more as a joke, but thinking about it, I’m like why not? It needs someone morally upright like her on the inside to disrupt the system and she's very convincing… but yeah, it would be draining for her and after everything she’s been through i’d love for her to just chill for a few years and do nothing. But she’s ultimately too powerful for that, people right and left flock to her, because of her strength and compassion. Whatever she’ll choose, I’m sure she will make an impact!

Thanks for starting the discussion! I had already drafted a post about this, because I love what they are doing with these characters. So I'm just gonna comment here: 

I think their dynamic is quite different from the other versions. She clearly likes him, but he’s the one constantly seeking out her company, going as far as to make up excuses to stay with her. He’s acting very, very much out of character, and he knows it. I love how Kaning already has a lot of power over him, but no clue. 

In some of the other versions, she was obsessed with him, following him around like a lovesick lemming. In this, their blossoming relationship is more on an equal footing, and they’d actually make a lot of sense together. She has a lot to learn from him, like being more cautious about whom to trust and who to fall in love with, while he will have to learn to open up and take risks when it comes to love and being vulnerable. 

However, everything that applies to Gorya and Thyme applies to them as well. We saw the F4s power and influence as clearly as ever at the funeral, we saw Kavin with his parents who just oozed power. He tries to explain to Kaning how his world works, but she’s a lot less interested than Gorya, and she thinks this has absolutely nothing to do with her. He accepted the role as her teacher, and it’s the perfect excuse to help her navigate his world. Not only that, but he even goes as far as managing to get them the flower gig and explaining to her, how she could possibly enter their social circle: Excel at your craft, impress someone important. 

Kavin is so much more restrained and calculated than Thyme, though. He will have a much harder time coming to terms with his feelings. Her naivety and obliviousness regarding how focused he is on her, is why he still feels safe doting on her and flirting with her (Like, come on, Kaning? You really think he has nothing better to do than help you all day? He surely has everyone's and their mother's number in Bangkok). As long as she doesn’t get it, he doesn’t have to leave her side, he can still enjoy her company, there’s no danger as of now.  I'm really curious how this will play out. I think it's a pretty good sign that he's starting to catch feelings first, and their interactions overall just feel very natural and smooth.

Why would I have to choose? I ship them as a couple so I’m rooting for both of them equally! <3

Yes! Last episode made me ship Gorya and economics hahaha. But seriously, she was very interested!

Haha I wrecked my brain for this too and I came up with a theory how they could do it, going from what happened in the Japanese version but somewhat changing and reframing it. And if I’m able to come up with a way of fixing their imbalances, the scriptwriters will find a waaaaay better solution, lol. So I’m pretty relaxed now 😅

I saw it as another sign that she’s not very good at communicating her feelings or needs at this point, so she resorts to this. And yes, she knew Thyme probably wouldn’t have left if she just told him to.
So yet again both are at fault here.

I totally agree, especially the part about her not sharing her feelings, not even with Kaning!
The show has consistently portrayed this as Gorya’s biggest flaw. She has so much going on but no outlet and nobody to share her pain with. I get that she’s scared of being vulnerable around others, because she never had that luxury, always trying to survive. And she’s especially cautious around Thyme, but that’s what she will have to learn eventually. Alongside putting herself first for once.

I love them both so much! The show is doing an amazing job at showing us both sides of the conflict actually. One episode I relate more to Thyme, the next it’s Gorya. I feel like once they finally get together it will feel so much more earned and satisfying. Argh I can’t wait!!

Thanks for the summary! That’s really interesting and I agree, it relates well to Gorya and Thyme. His life has the potential to overshadow hers completely and like you say, she’s no well known actress, she’s a poor ‘nobody’ at this point.
And I’d say it relates to almost all women in patriarchal society. There’s this power and economic imbalance we have to overcome in our own relationships, if we want to be with a man. It’s very difficult to maneuver. That’s why I personally relate to Gorya so much.