lilili

I think the teddy is just his soft side. Remember that Ren's most cherished object was his bear that he symbolically reclaimed from Thyme. If we think of the bear as representing a childlike ability to love from the heart, then this is what Kavin may get back with Kaning.

I think that's what will happen and it will land so much better because in two versions the FL's mother does that because ML's mother doesn't offer enough money! This is the only version where the family isn't terrible so you'll know the mother says no because she truly loves her daughter.

Is anyone else nervous about this upcoming episode? The last episode was SO MUCH to process and here we are hurtling forward to more pain and angst, gah.

I don't know about whether Thyme is good for Gorya but I understand why she loves him. It's because she has a bit of the beast inside herself as well (her beating up Tesla the same as Thyme and her wailing on everyone with her purse at the stadium showed that) . Gorya needs to be able to push her partner hard and feel like he can take it, he won't crumple under the weight of her strength and ferocity. And Thyme is that for her. Not only is he not put off by her, he loves her for her strength and power.

The lost virginity is Meteor Garden 2001 (it was great, I loved how they handled that). Hana Yori Dango doesn't have a romance between them. Boys Over Flowers, open ending. Meteor Garden 2018 they are together at the end.

I think they signaled pretty hard in ep 7 that they are going to have some kind of romance. Kavin wore a sweatshirt with a bear wearing yellow, Kaning wore yellow and she used bears as stickers in her text messages to Tesla, and Kavin bought her an Alexander Wang teddy bear purse. Plus during their cute scene together he let out his only genuine laugh in the whole series so far. As an aside, Win has the most charming laugh so I loved hearing it. ETA: just watched the ep 8 preview and Kavin is wearing a bear sweater again!

There are screen capture programs that give you high quality screen grabs and for F4 Thailand you can download the episodes since they are on YouTube. I record video clips all the time but don't do edits because it's incredibly detailed, persnickety work with choosing clips, chopping them up to time to music beats, etc. I don't have the patience or talent to deal.

Welcome to the club! This thing has eaten my brain and I can't think about anything else. If it helps, the discussions here have been fantastic and it's fun to dissect the episodes one at a time.

The video has the lyrics, very similar to what you posted but not exactly the same. And yes you are right, it's about the obstacles Gorya has to overcome, not romantic! https://youtu.be/TSTe6p2a7Wk

For what it's worth I did not interpret it as romantic either the first time I saw the scene. But I rewatched and I can see how some people would interpret it that way..

What I'm struck by is that Thyme repeatedly apologized to Gorya after Hana got her beaten but didn't apologize for the raised fist so I'm not 100% sure what's going on there. He did renounce violence at the end so there is that.

@MarieAli wrote this comment analyzing the scene and I thought it was incredible and explained it so well: https://kisskh.at/50007-boys-over-flowers#comment-8656637

Someone on Twitter said this and I can't stop thinking about it: "whereas BoF is a hot toxic misogynist mess, I'd classify F4 (from what I have seen) as a dark romance aware of itself actually being a dark romance with hugely problematic characters."

Ren is way more edgy/trollish/shady than any other version of the SML and I love him for it. Dew is playing it well.

Also “Paramaanantra” is a compound of the word “parama” (supreme or highest) and “anantra” (infinite or without end). Those are the meanings in Sanskrit, but probably similar in Thai too. So his family name means infinitely superior. And Thyme (tham in Thai) means prestige.

Hey just wanted to let you know I appreciated your POV and your critique of how they handled the narrative and balanced out the comedy moments with the incredibly serious elements of the story is very valid. I wanted to give a bit of advice which is in the future if you can use paragraph breaks in your response it would be easier to read and digest. You have a lot of good insights but it's hard to take in when it's a wall of text.

I agree with you. I think the episode should've handled the aftermath better and acknowledge that's what happened.

I think the writers having Gorya beat up Tesla and then strike Thyme, Kavin and MJ at the end was supposed to be a sign that she had seen Thyme at his worst and wasn't afraid of him, and therefore she's seized her power in that episode. This is also indicated by her turning away from the safe choice of Ren to the dangerous choice of Thyme. She's clear sighted about the threat she's walking into.

Now is this what you should do in real life? Hell no, not at all. But this is an allegory for what all women have to grapple with when they desire men. Statistically speaking, your male intimate partner is also the person most likely to harm or kill you. In a sane world all women would go live on an island together far away from men. And yet we continue to desire them, marry them, make babies with them. That's the reality this story is grappling with and that's what makes it simultaneously riveting and disturbing.

I second this, that comment was incredible

I agree with your take. >> A profound & powerful realization. The kind that can only be made when you're pushed to the absolute brink. Which he was, by the storytellers.

Re: the perception of self-efficacy--that comes when he tries to step aside for Ren. Also when Ren tells him after the fight not to regress to old Thyme. Something that hasn't been discussed is that it's not just Gorya who is helping with his change, it's all of the F4 and they are also on a redemption journey themselves. Ren is a bit ahead of everyone else because of his heartbreak with Mira.

It's waaaayyy worse in Meteor Garden (both versions) . Still horrible though, like this scene being better is just a hair above the basement of hell.

I agree that he's not irredeemable but it's not what he does in this scene that makes me think so. It's what he does at the very end when he closes the stadium and renounces the red cards and violence. Let's hope he sticks with it.

So I see people saying that That Scene proves that Thyme would never hurt Gorya but I interpret it differently. I think Thyme IS capable of hurting Gorya and he knows it. He's able to stop himself in that scene but next time? Maybe not. It's the horror of understanding where things will lead that leads to the change. I think the message to take away is not omg he loves her so much he could never hurt her. No! He is 100% capable of hurting her and is desperately trying to get off that road, hence denouncing violence at the end.