lilili

The 1% motif and how it played out at the funeral was freakin' incredible. That sequence doesn't exist in the manga or other adaptations. Taking the death of a billionaire who no one mourns (no tears at the funeral) and having it ripple out to the death of childhood for Thyme and the F4, the death of Gorya's ignorance about the people she's been dealing with and (for the time being) the death of her romance with Thyme, holy shit that was just stupendous writing. I am blown away.

Even if there's a succession plan it's still very messy to transition leadership for a billionaire empire. No guarantees that the heirs are ready or capable of stepping up to the job . Because of the uncertainty, other families would be looking for opportunities to increase their own power and wealth. It all seems very plausible for me except maybe for the high schoolers being pulled in that is a little farfetched.

In other versions he doesn't get hurt like Ji Hoo got hurt (Korea played up the second lead in a way that wasn't done in other versions) but he doesn't get his own love either. He becomes a very good friend for the female lead.

1) When they are in the storage room and Thyme says he hadn't understood why he'd fallen in love with her so hard but now he gets it. The look on both their faces as they are bathed in the star lights is just GAH.

2) The birthday countdown. Thyme officially becomes a man and the first thing he sees is Gorya's smiling face. It's so beautifully done it made me cry.

I had an interesting experience with my podcast partners re: our upcoming F4 Thailand episode. Two of the women HATED Korean BoF with a white hot passion so I made the F4T podcast optional for our crew. No one had to watch the new version if they didn't want to or if they did opt in, a couple of episodes would be enough for us to talk. Well, no one opted out and everyone is still watching and genuinely enjoying it, including the BoF haters. And this is true even after Episode 7 and That Scene.

Yes, this interview: https://youtu.be/Lxp6UC_J-HM

I'm taken with how poised he is in the spotlight and with all the controversies. He wears his fame lightly, if that makes any sense. He has a lot of interests outside of acting and I think that keeps him grounded.

I saw an hour long interview with him and Win and I was so taken by how thoughtful and poised he was. When he talked about his mother selling her car so he could get tutoring to win an engineering scholarship and how gratifying it was for him to be able to tell his mother to quit her job because he was making enough money to support her, it literally made me teary eyed. He's great and I really don't get why he provokes such a negative response in some people.

That's fascinating. I saw a bts with the director talking about casting and he had a lot to say about everyone except for Bright. All he said was "I thought this boy is charming. I'd like to have him for my Thyme." Which means he didn't have to think about it much, it was an obvious choice.

As an aside the director seemed exasperated with Dew. Poor Dew! But he was excellent in episodes 6 and 7 so whatever frustration the director had it seems like choosing Dew and developing him into an actor paid off.

But if Lita is closeted and Gorya mistakenly believes that she and Thyme are better suited for each other until she discovers the truth, the story still works. And it would be heartwrenching to see a queer young woman forced into a straight relationship she doesn't want. I'm still hoping for it.

Ahhhhhhh I hadn't tied together Thyme's mom's behavior with the family with Thyme's behavior in ep 2, that is such a great observation!

It's so much better than the other adaptations. The writing is incredible and so are the cinematography, costuming, sound design etc. Fair warning that the story gets very dark at times and the male lead has a terrifying meltdown that lit up the internet last week. But considering the source material what they are pulling off is damn near miraculous.

It's on purpose! Love the writers.

To be honest they must be relieved. Bright said he was 22 years old when he got cast and he's 24 now and also that Tu got taller over the course of the shooting. They've been working on it forever and they're probably ready to move on.

I have three: My Ahjussi, My Lovely Sam Soon and The Smile Has Left Your Eyes.

But...F4T is going into contention for top 3 status. I was talking to one of my podcast partners and we agreed that the level of care and attention given to every detail of the production from casting to writing to cinematography to costuming to sound design is on the same level as a prestige drama like My Ahjussi...only for a Boys Over Flowers/Hana Yori Dango adaptation?!

AGREE

There's an extremely rough scene in ep 7 that legitimately needs a content warning. Having said that I think this version deals with the issues much better than previous versions. I've never shipped the leads in previous versions but I do in this one. Just be aware it does go pretty dark at times.

omg seriously I LOVE THE WRITERS

She's admitted she cares for him but hasn't committed to being his girlfriend. She's still unsure.

I'm more interested in seeing how Thyme reacts to his past catching up to him. He will deserve the beating that's coming but more importantly how will that beating contribute to his journey to becoming fully realized human being with a loving heart?

I just realized that Roselyn wearing a cape at the party was a deliberate link to Snow White's evil queen stepmother and other villains like Charlize Theron in The Huntsman. So good!