zleighz

Yup lol.

Plus on many of my comments about Gorya, the reactions have been to assume that I'm anti-Thyme. And the internet knee-jerk reaction of "if you're pro this, you must be anti that" is always disheartening to me.

I really liked the intro: Bold girl marches up to the boys' dorm and shouts loud and proud AND the guy she's shouting for actually shows up and doesn't publicly humiliate her. A+

But that was probably the best thing about the show imo.

Huh? I think we're watching different shows:

1. Thyme's mother has absolutely ruined Gorya's life (destroyed her dad's business and split her family apart) but she hasn't done anything to "ruin" Thyme's life (apart from the engagement, which Thyme isn't "willing" to let her do). She hasn't even threatened to ruined Thyme's life. There's been no hint or suggestion that she would do anything to ruin Thyme's life.

2. Gorya didn't just give Thyme a benefit of the doubt, she absolutely voiced aloud to Ren that she believes in Thyme. She said it immediately and unblinkingly. She really does believe in him, but what good does belief do when she's struggling so hard just to live day to day? Not much. (this goes back to the heirarchy of needs concept above)

3. I can really only smh at the idea that Gorya is "selfish" and "only cares about herself". This goes back to my belief that we're watching different shows (or watching the same show with incredibly different understandings of the word "selfish")

You know, something you said really hit home for me: That Thyme should "learn together" with Gorya.

I just really like the sentiment.

Imo the show is doing a great job of showing how these characters are all affecting each other (like how Ren brought up Mira's advice to Gorya in episode 8 - it was a nice reminder that these characters have lasting impressions on each other) but I just really really agree that Thyme and Gorya need to learn together to grow together.

Like, Gorya can influence Thyme to become a softer and better person, but that's more like life-coaching with a romantic twist lol. And Thyme can show his growth through how he deals with a situation like he did with Hana, but that's PERSONAL growth.

I look forward to seeing them come together to solve problems cooperatively. This is what was missing with Thyme asking Gorya to "be patient" and trying to tackle the problem alone.

I really think them finally working together towards a goal is gonna be a pivotal moment for me in wanting them to finally be together.

(Don't get me wrong, I *want* them together.... I just want to wait until their ready to be together)

I agree with literally everything you said, but wanted to add more on your point about Lita being amused by the "poor lifestyle".

It wasn't till my second watch through that I realized Lita tells Gorya that the dress is the kind that "you'd have to send someone to stand in line for" (I had thought she said "that you'd have to stand in line for"). What a fantastic setup for Talay's scene. Just *chef's kiss*, seriously.

I am pretty firmly in line with Talay's way of thinking irl, so I can either shut my brain off and allow myself to find the SFL cute and fun, or I can keep my brain turned on and find her contemptible.

But Lita? This girl walks the razor's edge and is depicted as both adorably sweet AND perfectly contemptible.

It is amazing to me that this show has allowed me to keep both feelings intact.

I keep thinking about how well Win played that scene. He could've easily come across as condescending, but he doesn't. He seems more like a light-touch coach, giving her pointers more so than advice, but he's still firmly on her side and trusting of her capabilities. I❤ Kavin.

Honestly, I feel like the OPs comments are too diametrically opposed to my views to want to engage with on this forum, but I did want to jump in to comment on your posts.

Basically, I agree with the things you are saying and wanted to say that I'm SUPER curious how the show is going approach the power dynamics in a satisfactory way to let Gorya and Thyme come together with more equal footing. As things are now, the power imbalance is too much for them to be ready/able to be in a relationship together, and the show gets it.

This show is too damn smart and everything is way too intentional for me to believe even for a second that they'll drop the ball and just have her "magically fit in" at the end like the other versions have done. So rather than getting ready side-eye as the show redeems the mom and pretends like social strata can be overcome by the power of love or whatever (like I would if this were Meteor Garden) instead I'm just wracking my brain for theories on what's to come.

God this show is so freaking good.

"Violin guy" 😂👍

I've seen a few comments like this and I've been contemplating on it a lot....

It's like the cliche scene of a boy crying as he kicks a dog and says "go on, get out of here!"

It is a betrayal of Thyme's expectations, and it definitely hit below the belt, but I guess I just want to say that it doesn't seem unnecessary.

It hurts them both when she does it, but it's also one of the only ways to get Thyme to leave her. (The only other way is probably by saying ridiculously hurtful things, which I'm glad she didn't do).

F4T has a lot of depth to its characters and so much intention behind their actions and emotions, so it's an entirely different experience than a simple romance, which means it won't scratch the same itch sometimes.

Personally, I thought F4T was gonna be a guilty pleasure, turn-brain-off kind of romance that would scratch that itch, but I'm so so so much happier that it isn't. I have a plethora of other sweet, silly romances to turn to whenever I want, but almost nothing out there can touch F4T in terms of how well written and depicted all of the characters, their intentions, and the layered social commentary (while still showing the most realistic, heartwrenching depictions of love and all the confusion that comes with it). I am constantly impressed with how much discussion it creates, which just couldn't happen with a fluffy romance.

That's amazing 👏 😍

Do you know Maslow's Heirarchy of Needs?

Gorya is at the bottom of the pyramid, focusing on physical needs and safety. Thyme is at the top, working on his own self-esteem and self-actualization. (And they both overlap in the middle: love and belonging)

I'm not really *disagreeing* with anything in your comment, by the way, I just wanted to share this as a way of recontextualizing some of your ideas.

💯

So perfect! So sad!
😩

The errors crack me up every time! Somehow they keep making it funny and not overdone.

A truism that speaks to what Enzek, you and lilili have said:

"poor people can't trust rich people; women can't trust men"

This isn't to say that ALL rich people or ALL men are untrustworthy. This actually has NOTHING to do with people on the individual level. It is entirely about the environment we live in and the imbalanced power structure.

Because rich people and men have power over poor people and women, they can only be appealed to on an individual level. Because of this, poor ppl/women are always at the whim of the rich/male individual. Sure, the Samsung chaebol probably made the actress believe that he loved her and would protect her in the beginning of their relationship, yet in the end her life is still subject to the vicissitudes of those people who have power over her.

It's interesting to see how differently we all are taking the episode. Though, I haven't actually seen any comment "defending Gorya to villinaize Thyme".

Thyme and Gorya have both grown so much and yet have so much growth ahead of them (separate and together). It's part of what has made it such a good show up to this point, and what makes future episodes so exciting.

Thyme is the most lovable and root-able for version of this character. He's already grown SO much since episode 1 and I can't wait to see what kind of a person he is in episode 16. <3

To your point of: “He may not like her now , but will he like her in the future and throw me away?” ....

I find it kinda funny that so many people are upset at Gorya for not "being patient" like Thyme asks her to be. This is kind of a continuation of my comment from just before yours, but I feel like when Thyme tells Gorya he'll take care of things (yet from her perspective he's just going to events and dinner with Lita, and then sneaking out to her house afterwards) he's kind of acting out the motions of rich-guy-with-a-mistress. And Gorya is the mistress for sure.

In stories with this set-up, the rich guy always makes promises to the mistress, always tells the mistress he prefers being with her to his real life, always asks the mistress to be patient and things will get better etc etc. But, at the end of the day, he has a wife and family and social position to get home to and the mistress isn't part of it.

Over and over, I keep coming back to how Gorya really did the right thing by breaking it off with Thyme. In that moment, with those circumstances, she made the right decision FOR SURE.

I might recommend that you wait until it finishes airing before you start. I know that my mood is affected by the intensity of a drama. So if you are like me at all, it might be better to wait until you can binge watch through to the resolution and aren't stuck brooding for a whole week between episodes.