I've been putting off watching Endless Love until more episodes came out. I didn't know too much about it beforehand except for this scene right here, which I caught in a trailer back before the series started. And while the first episode hasn't really hooked me yet, I'm told it gets better. And surprisingly, a lot more melodramatic than I expected from a Taiwanese idol drama. More on that later.
Episode 1 Recap
We start off with an introduction to the average day of Liang Jing Hao: he delivers goat milk early in the morning, teaches children taekwondo in between classes, and spends his evenings selling clothes as a street vendor. After making a successful sale on a pair of jeans, Jing Hao makes a call to his friend No-Q. No-Q, as it turns out, is coming down the street hefting a huge suitcase of really good knockoff handbags. He excitedly shows them to Jing Hao, ruminating about how much money they can earn off of them. Jing Hao, on the other hand, admonishes him in hushed voices since selling knockoff is illegal. However, No-Q is quick to remind Jing Hao that street vending is also illegal. After some pleading, Jing Hao agrees to No-Q selling his bags but is determined to stay out of it. Any further discussion is then interrupted by the arrival of the police and everyone scatters with their wares.
As Jing Hao is making his getaway with his clothing rack, he almost runs into our heroine, Song Rui En, who is busy chattering away on her phone. After narrowly missing her, part of her skirt gets caught on his clothing rack. As he keeps running, the yarn starts to unravel and Rui En is alarmed to find that her skirt is progressively getting shorter. She turns around and shouts for Jing Hao to stop and wait but Jing Hao is still too focused on getting away from the police to heed her cries. After a particularly loud yell on Rui En’s part, Jing Hao finally stops running as she angrily points out that he has caught onto her skirt. It is interesting to note that the yarn of Rui En’s skirt is red. According to Chinese legends, the matchmaker god ties an invisible red thread around the ankles of a man and a woman who are destined to be together. This legend is somewhat similar the idea of soulmates. And if the implications of this particular scene aren’t obvious enough, the string of yarn is given a glow right before we cut to the opening sequence.
While Rui En continues to berate him for not listening to her cries for him to stop, Jing Hao sheepishly apologizes but can’t hold in a smile when he realizes he situation. This incenses Rui En even more and she continues yelling at him in embarrassment. While Rui En changes into jeans taken from his rack of clothes, Jing Hao retrieves a shoe that Rui En had lost in her race to catch him. After she finishes getting dressed, Rui En demands that Jing Hao pay for her damaged skirt. Upon hearing the price (25,000 TWD or a bit over $800 USD), Jing Hao’s face falls but he promises to pay her back. Satisfied, she hobbles over to where he stands to retrieve her shoe and prepares to leave. After a couple of steps, however, she starts limping and, loses her balance just as she passes Jing Hao. Jing Hao catches her and after they have a moment, Rui En starts berating him again. Jing Hao, finally fed up with her, wordlessly picks her up and carries her to the curb despite her protests. Upon inspecting her foot, it becomes clear that it was scraped somewhere along the way and Jing Hao quickly dashes off to the pharmacy for first aid supplies. Rui En watches, appearing to be pleased by the attention.
We cut to the next scene and Jing Hao is back, tending to her foot. As he finishes up, Rui En accuses Jing Hao be an experienced player, using his attentiveness to draw girls in. Jing Hao initially confused but quickly becomes amused the further Rui En gets in her rant. Unimpressed by his jovial attitude, Rui En continues on to demand proof that Jing Hao will indeed pay her back, especially since he doesn’t look particularly well off. Having clearly hit a sore spot, Jing Hao’s face becomes serious and agrees to whatever proof that she demands of him.
Jing Hao escorts Rui En back to her car. Before driving off Rui En once again reminds him to transfer money to her bank account the next morning. Jing Hao acknowledges her reminder and drops his bag of first aid supplies into the passenger’s seat through the window before walking off with his clothing rack. It turns out that Jing Hao had picked a lollipop while he was at the pharmacy. Rui En can’t help but soften in light of his thoughtfulness. She begins to feel bad about how harsh her words were but quickly shakes them off since he had indeed ruined her skirt.
We jump to No-Q trying to convince a taekwondo studio owner, Guan Zhang (not his actual name; it simply means studio owner but since he is not actually named, this is how I will reference this character from now on) to let him participate in an underground fight. Guan Zhang refuses since No-Q obviously lacks the skills to win the fight, unlike Jing Hao. And as if his name has magically summoned him, Jing Hao arrives. No-Q and Guan Zhang try to butter Jing Hao up to convince him to participate in the underground fights, ultimately throwing the fight in favor of another participant. Jing Hao, who has his own ethics, admonishes the two for trying to earn fast money in the underground fights and adamantly refuses to participate.
Now we go back to Rui En as she is trying to sneak into the house but is caught by her father. Rui En tries to get out of any intense scolding by acting innocent and cute, even resorting to pointing out her foot injury. Momentarily distracted over her foot, Rui En’s father starts fussing but after she denies needing medical attention, he goes back to his lecture. Halfway through, it becomes clear that his admonishments are only half-hearted and moments later, he is telling her to go off to bed. In her room, we learn that Rui En had asked for Jing Hao’s student ID card as insurance for her skirt money. Upon realizing that they are students at the same university, she groans and wishes she hadn’t been so harsh with Jing Hao. Picking up her phone, Rui En begins to write a text to thank Jing Hao for taking care of her tonight but still convinced that he is a player, she decides to write something else instead so he wouldn’t think she is attracted to him.
As Rui En is composing her new message, we catch a glimpse of Jing Hao’s father as he stares off into the distance as a woman watches the road anxiously from behind him. We cut back to Jing Hao as he gets the text from Rui En, now once again reminding him to wire her money the next day in exchange for his ID card. Despondent, he continues around the corner and we see that the lady from earlier is his father’s caretaker. She rushes up to him and scolds him for coming back so late. It is revealed that the caretaker is looking after Jing Hao’s father for a reduced fee because Jing Hao is a good person. However, her generosity is limited as they are both from poor backgrounds. She asks for her wages but with Rui En’s reminder still fresh in mind, he awkwardly asks if he could pay her a couple days later. While she is initially opposed to the idea, she relents after seeing his face. She gives Jing Hao two more days to come up with the money or else she’s quitting.
After the caretaker leavers, Jing Hao approaches his father, who has not moved or shown any indication of having heard the exchange. Noticing that the ring his father wears around his neck is hanging out, Jing Hao reaches over to help him tuck it back in but his father catches his hand halfway there and angrily throws it away. He tucks it back into his shirt himself, watching Jing Hao warily the whole time. Jing Hao pacifies him and asks cautiously, “What’s wrong?” Jing Hao’s father replies that he is waiting for Zhi Shu. Jing Hao tries to tell his father that Zhi Shu has gone to heaven and will not be coming back, but his father, not understanding, asks where Heaven is. As Jing Hao escorts his father back into the house, his father turns to him to invite him in for dinner, not realizing that this is his son. Jing Hao, trying to cover up his emotions, leans over to hug his father tightly and agrees to dinner.
Later on in the night, Jing Hao grabs a picture frame from the nightstand as his father sleeps. After a few moments of simply staring at the photo of his family, we learn that Zhi Shu is actually Jing Hao’s mother.
The next morning, Jing Hao is up bright and early once again to make his milk deliveries. Along the way, his mind drifts off to Rui En’s skirt again. Not knowing what else to do, he asks his milk delivery boss for advanced salary. His boss refuses, as this is not the first time that Jing Hao has asked for an advance. The other employees are complaining that the boss only allows Jing Hao advances and the company is also facing financial difficulty.
We cut to Rui En, who is helping out a friend by standing in as a photographer for the school paper’s special edition on the taekwondo team. When they get to the practice are, she notices that Jing Hao is already there, practicing with the punching bag. Intrigued, she starts taking lots of pictures of him. When Rui En is going through the pictures with her friend later, the friend can’t help but comment on how many pictures she took of Jing Hao. Rui En quickly defends herself, claiming that Jing Hao had the best form. Her friend agrees enthusiastically. It turns out Jing Hao is quite well known amongst his peers for having superior athletic aptitude and rumor has it, many girls are crushing on him.
Jing Hao, who is still trying to figure out what to do about his financial troubles, checks his bank account. He texts Rui En asking for an extension, and Rui En cynically comments on his inability to pay to herself. Later that night, Jing Hao watches as No-Q easily sells his knockoff handbags for a huge profit from his street vendor. Motivated by his need for money, Jing Hao pushes his ethics aside and starts peddling the handbags. Not long after, however, the police raid once again. Jing Hao hooks the handbag he is holding onto to his clothing rack and runs. After turning the corner onto another street, he sees into Rui En once again. When Rui En catches sight of him, she approaches him and begins to tell him off for not following through on his promise to pay her back. Confused as to why she was there, he asks her if she was waiting for him to get her money back. Rui En finds this idea absurd and proudly points to a sign at the end of the street. This is where she will have an art exhibition for a week, a rarity for a student. Seeing her so happy, Jing Hao can’t help but comment on how cute she looks when she smiles. Rui En, ever the cynic when it comes to Jing Hao, believes that his compliment is meant to make her forget his debt to her. Though Jing Hao denies it, Rui En bulldozes on. Seeing the knockoff hanging from his clothing rack, she questions his trustworthiness when he is capable of selling knockoffs. Jing Hao’s pride is clearly hurt so he flatly tells her that she will get her money tomorrow.
Home again, Jing Hao grabs Rui En’s ruined skirt, which he had kept, and throws it into the garbage can in anger. But feeling that his acts were petty, he quickly removed it. The next morning, Jing Hao goes to the bank to transfer the money to Rui En and sends her a text confirming it. Rui En receives the text at a restaurant just as Li Min Shuo greets her. Min Shuo jokingly teases her for having received a text from a secret boyfriend, which Rui En is quick to deny. Min Shuo doesn’t quite believe her denial and the more that he doesn’t believe it, the more upset Rui En seems to get.
Now we move back to Jing Hao, who is trying to convince his father’s caretaker to stay. She refuses, as she has her own family and troubles to consider, as they both come from poor backgrounds. Frustrated by the helplessness of his situation, Jing Hao punches his fist into the metal grating of the door. Jing Hao’s father offers him his candy in an attempt to cheer Jing Hao up. Brought back to reality by his father’s actions, Jing Hao calms down just as his father asks for Zhi Shu again.
Cutting back to Rui En, she is now seated at a table for lunch with her father, Min Shuo, and Min Shuo’s mother. While Min Shuo’s mother tries to flirt with Rui En’s father, the conversation quickly steers to Rui En’s art exhibition. Rui En excitedly asks if Min Shuo will be going. After securing his confirmation, she realizes that the adults are both looking at her so Rui En asks Min Shuo’s mother if she will be going to her art exhibit. Min Shuo’s mom also agrees but when Rui En’s father makes it known that he will be busy on the agreed upon date, her resulting disappointment is palpable. Min Shuo, taking pity on his mother, points out her disappointment and tries to hook up the parents. This is met by awkward silence by the Song family as Min Shuo’s mother tries to cover up the awkwardness and embarrassment through offerings of food.
After lunch, the parents split up from the children. On the way to dropping Rui En off at school, Min Shuo tells Rui En that he likes her. Rui En becomes ecstatic after hearing this until he adds the addendum of “like a younger sister.” It turns out Min Shuo is trying to get her to help him hook their parents up. Rui En gets out of the car rather downcast but feigns upbeat when Min Shuo calls her to confirm the date of her art opening.
Back at Jing Hao’s house, he is getting ready to leave his father home alone, having left him food and drink. Jing Hao explains that he must go to school to avoid getting in trouble with his professors. His father, in a moment of clarity, refers to Jing Hao as his son when he tells Jing Hao to get going. Jing Hao smiles and leaves the house, stopping to slip a chain around the gate and securing it with a spoon on his way out.
While Jing Hao is in class, Rui En tries to come to terms with Min Shuo thinking of her as a sister in the art studio. After knocking her bag to the floor, Jing Hao’s ID card falls out so she decides to find him and return it. She sees him in the hallway but he is too engrossed in his thoughts to hear her yells, especially since it takes her quite a while to remember to call out his name instead of the ambiguous yells of “Wei!” Jing Hao takes his ID back from her and says that since their business is finished, he doesn’t think that they will need to see each other again. Of course, in the world of dramas, it never works out like that.
As Jing Hao continues on his way, Rui En turns to walk in the opposite direction while muttering grumpily to herself. It takes her a couple moments to realize that she was originally headed the same way Jing Hao was heading. She purposely walks past him, pretending not to see her. Of course, as soon as she is steps ahead of him, Jing Hao gets a phone call telling him that his house is on fire. Panicked about the well-being of his father, he starts running. Hearing how alarm in his voice, Rui En offers to drive him. Jing Hao, however, demands to drive instead.
After frantically weaving through traffic, Jing Hao gets home and quickly pushes his way through the crowd while Rui En follows. A firefighter stops him before he can make his way into the burning house. He apprehensively asks for his father but the firefighter points out Jing Hao’s father standing in the corner. Relieved, Jing Hao makes his way to his father and hugs him tearfully as Rui En watches. Nosy bystanders reveal to Rui En the situation with Jing Hao’s father: his dementia and how the lack of funds had led to the quitting of the caretaker. Rui En pieces the puzzle together, remembering how Jing Hao had asked if he could return the money for her skirt at a later time.
After the fire is put out, No-Q and Jing Hao start cleaning the place up, as they cannot afford anything new. Jing Hao’s father starts to play with the soapy water, incensing Jing Hao to run off, having made up his mind about something.
Back at Rui En’s house, she is sitting in the living room with her father, lost in thought thinking of Jing Hao’s situation. Mistaking the reason for her unhappiness, Rui En’s father assures her that he has no feelings for Min Shuo’s mother, especially because he has always thought of Min Shuo as a son-in-law. She denies it and instead talks about having wronged someone accidentally. Her father tells her that everyone makes mistakes, as long as it’s not on purpose, the other person will understand. Despite this assurance, she still feels guilty so her father suggests that she try to do something from the heart for this other person. After some thought, Rui En drives over Jing Hao’s house with money in an envelope but she appears to still be unsure as to what to do.
In the meantime, Jing Hao is getting ready to participate in the underground fighting. It turns out this is what he was running off to do. Guan Zhang is standing next to him, reminding him to last till the 5th round before throwing the fight. After entering the “ring,” Jing Hao quickly advances to the 5th round, and after putting up and impressive fight, loses. As he is laying on the ground after defeat, a canvas painting falls the ground at Rui En’s art exhibit as she watches, signaling some sort of ominous future.
Sometime later, Jing Hao pays the caretaker her wages plus interest and asks that she continue taking care of his father. Parts of his face are still yellow from healing bruises. Back at his house, Jing Hao is drinking with No-Q, upset with himself for participating in the fight. While his father is sleeping, Jing Hao once again gazes at his family photo and tells his mom how much he misses her.
The next morning, Rui En greets Jing Hao as he is about to enter campus. She is alarmed to see his face so bruised and asks him what happened but he ignores her and continues on his way. Rui En makes her way to the nurse’s room to get supplies for Jing Hao. Whether she actually gets these supplies to him is not revealed.
Sometime later, Jing Hao is approached by a girl who confesses her feelings for him, armed with homemade chocolate. Onlookers encourage Jing Hao to start going out with her but Jing Hao remains expressionless. We also see Rui En watching from the stairs. Gathering himself, Jing Hao agrees but starts to describe how difficult it would be to be his girlfriend: he doesn’t have a time to go on dates, he is too poor to give her presents, and he has a father with dementia, who requires constant care. So suffice to say, when Jing Hao asks her if she would still be willing to be his girlfriend under those circumstances, she refused. Jing Hao watches her walk off with a small self-deprecating smile on his face. As the crowd disperses, Rui En approaches him and gently admonishes him for being too harsh with the girl. Jing Hao replies with a humorless laugh. He was only telling the truth after all. Not understanding what he did, Rui En offers other ways for him to turn the girl down that wouldn’t hurt as much. But when he heard the word hurt, Jing Hao snapped. He laughs because life is too painful and it is the only way he knows how to cope.
My Comments:
I can already feel all the melodrama that's gonna pop up in the drama. And if the way the story's going doesn't clue you in, the opening sequence certainly does.Most Taiwanese dramas I have watched recently usually start off lighthearted, or have some degree of comic relief. This drama is rather light in that respect. Since angsty, serious dramas are relatively rare in the Taiwan idol dramas (as compared to the Koreans, who thrive on angst), I am concerned as to whether they can actually pull this off. Given the fact that the only actor I am remotely familiar with out of the core four is Wilber Pan, who I had seen in Miss No Good with Rainie Yang, I am uncertain as to whether the cast is up to the task of such an emotionally heavy drama.
Based on what happened in the first episode, I am reserving judgment for Wilber Pan. As I had discussed with one of my friends, Wilber is good with the angry scenes. You can’t help but be blown away by the force of his anger. But when it comes to the angsty scenes (ie: the first scene with Jing Hao’s father when Jing Hao realizes that his father doesn’t recognize him again), I can’t help but feel that he falls a little short. I can see that he is sad and hurting, but it doesn’t make me ache for his sadness. However, I do give him props for the scene of the fire at his house. His fear and worry was overwhelming.
As for Sandrinne Pinna, there wasn’t too much material for her to shine in this first episode. Her character spent most of the first episode playing the spoiled rich kid and berating Jing Hao, though that is more the fault of the writer than the actor. I guess that this leaves plenty of room for character growth. However, she does a pretty good job of conveying the duality of the softie she is and the cynicism she wears to protect herself. I look forward to seeing better opportunities for her to display her acting skills as my friend tells me she does angst very well.
No comments:
Post a Comment