[Episodic Thoughts] “Outbound Love” Episode 6

Outbound Love <單戀雙城>
TVB Series 2014

Cast: Ruco Chan, Aimee Chan, Tony Hung, Lin Xia Wei, Matt Yeung, and Samantha Ko

Disclaimer: This is a watch as I write episodic thoughts and some information may not be accurate since this is memory based. Certain dialogue is reproduced with some creative license adopted. I apologize if there is any mistake. All opinion remains my own.

EPISODE 06

FUNNLING METRE

This episode is a step up in terms of plot and huge advances, as huge as any predictable love story can be. Let me begin with 2 observations, one may be disputed, the other may be 100% agreed.

1. I realise why I feel Aimee Chan did badly, and in tonight’s episode her inadequacies as the leading lady of this specific sort of character is much too obvious for all to see. In short, she is not Chae Rim. Chae Rim would have killed this role. Or Ruby Lin. Or Ariel Lin. That sort.

2. Fans of Ruco Chan will not want to miss this episode. Why? Imagine Ruco, naked, wet, bubbles, in a wet white towel. Enuff said.

Recap begins and this will be a short one. I mean what more can be said of a love story?

Sik Sik was just joking about Chin Tsun and she dating. I am beginning to feel this Chin Tsun guy is such a weirdo. Sik Sik wonders how people can just move on or rather people just change or something like that. I can’t remember the exact words, all I can remember is my feeling without those dialogue; it was weird. It felt as if she wanted to go back to Nic and so I was thinking what was stopping her? Later she will reveal that going back to him will be a slap to her father and family. Perhaps pride is the problem.

Anyway she is having trouble avoiding Nic’s calls. One time when she found out she was not to be the manager of the Tuen Mun office but the boss’ nephew or some relative will be she was furious and took a call and it was Nic and she shouted to him to shut up. Later as she was giving debriefing to guests about some upcoming trip, Nic appeared, she became flustered and ended up Sik Sik dragging Nic out to the street. I find it so weird she actually dragged him, hand in hand. I sorta expected her to glare at him, and he will follow. Holding hands just seem… less angry.

In the street and this is where my OH MY GOD Funnling Metre comes into play. Remember Linda Chung’s “You make me wanna vomit” meltdown? Sik Sik has that sort of meltdown, but in terms of Linda’s scale of meltdowns, Aimee Chan achieved a paltry 2 whilst Linda’s always over 10. One is always too much, one here is too subdued. No no.. wrong to say subdued. I will say Aimee tried the 10 sort of meltdown but somehow, I feel it was sorta bad watching her kneel down on knees begging and all, crying and all, all fours on the pavement floor in the streets and all and yet I feel… nothing. At least with Linda I felt disgust which was opposite of the intended effect. With Aimee, I felt if she had been Chae Rim sort of actress with such charisma and likability, I will understand why Sik Sik is so composed to many but tortured in front of Nic. Which was what she did. She cried, told him to go away, leave her alone, Nic begged her to hold onto him, tie him down, he dragged her into his embrace, she feebly tried to push away but he held onto her. And here is what is weird. This uneven performance is matched by Matt Yeung’s insincere performance. He wasn’t really holding onto her when Nic should have been grabbing her, afraid to let her go. Matt was too gentle, he didn’t look desperate enough when Nic in this scene was supposed to be desperate. Sik Sik tried to walk away, almost got hit by a car to indicate his presence alone disturbed her so much, affected her so much she couldn’t cope with reality, she couldn’t function. The betrayal vs her love for him was causing her to be so confused, so befuddled, she almost got hit by a car, without energy and any care in the world because she just couldn’t think. She fell down to the ground, lying there and then on all fours, on her knees tearfully and crying hard begging Nic to let her go, to let her be and let her live. And I do mean begging, hoooo hooo hooo (Tavia-ish) sort of crying whilst screaming (Linda-ish) sort of angst crying and drops of tears (Charmaine-ish) sort of beautiful but pitiful crying. Aimee could not achieve any one of them, more so all 3 effects so in the end I felt her performance here, where it should have been her moment became rather insipid sort of performance. Her eyes was not red enough, the tears looked too set up, her delivery too rushed without more angst or confusion or whatever and her act of kneeling down was just calculated move sort of acting. It was a performance and it was evidently a performance. I just didn’t feel it. Matt Yeung didn’t help by giving a one note performance. Anyway Nic left or she left, can’t remember.

Next scene she was ok, or pretend to be. She took out Nic’s gifts for her, put them into a luggage bag and wanted to throw them away and yet chased after the luggage bag and hugged it tightly. Suddenly Nic appeared and I thought it was her hallucination but it was Nic. She held onto him tight, cried and Nic gallantly said that if his presence is torturing her, making her sad, then he will avoid her henceforth. He will not bother her again and only wished that she will be the happy go lucky cheerful Law Sik Sik that he knew once before he broke her heart. And he left and she cried harder.

Pause.

Sigh… women… say one thing, feel another. Just end the story and give him a second chance then. Again why I can’t feel her dilemma is because Aimee Chan did not epitomise all that in her performance thus far. Also she is someone I can’t cheer on and feel for in what is her bona fide leading role. In short, she is not Chae Rim. Sorry Aimee, but it is true. I am hardening my heart towards Aimee’s performance. She is a miscast. Not to say she is terrible but she isn’t Law Sik Sik and this is breaking this series. Luckily there’s Ruco but how much can he salvage a story about TWO individuals in love with one another? How?

Anyway Sik Sik decided to accept Yvonne’s offer and scolded her immediate boss before leaving in what is an excruciating scene to watch only because Aimee’s cantonese got worse as the dialogue is more than 10 lines. I understand the criticism now and her lack of proficiency of the language really hampered what was Sik Sik’s moment in which she dumped her ungrateful lusty boss for a better boss.

She was to leave HK, but not before Chin Tsun said he too was offered a job in Penang. This is becoming creepy stalker story. And she gently asked Chin Tsun about Kei Ying and asked him to take care of Kei Ying, before she knew Chin Tsun was moving to Penang as well.

Malaysia, Penang specifically.

She checked into her dorm (nice place), walked into the bathroom and lo and behold, it was Ruco in a bubble bath. Screaming she repeatedly hit him as she struggled to stand up and use a towel and there,. ladies and some gentlemen of my readers’ group, here is Ruco, dripping wet with bubbles, naked if not for the towel. Sik Sik hit him some more when he explained he had been forced to use her bathroom since his was broken or something and basically tried to chase him out when someone was at the door, she told him to hide and it was Yvonne and she quickly ushered Yvonne out but not before Yvonne saw the bubbles and made a guess.

Sik Sik told Yvonne what happened which made her laughed heartily and Yvonne advised Sik Sik she can meet a new love, forget Nic and together lead a new love life. Yvonne is right except Sik Sik didn’t dump Nic, Nic dumped her, in a way.

Pause.

I was very impressed with Vivien Yeo. I felt she was more natural, more at home than Aimee Chan. In fact it just felt right and Vivien was well cast as the nice, educated, ladylike rich man’s daughter.

Continue.

Can’t remember much of the rest except Ruco and Aimee continued to bicker, Ruco teasing Aimee but insisting on coming into her room and sit and Aimee feeling a tad sexually harassed or threatened. She saw him comforting a crying young girl and she immediately walked past and called him a pervert. The girl was hotel employee and Ruco wanted to lend her MYR$2,000-00 but his credit card didn’t work and Chun Chun walked past and he asked her for money and she lent him without question and he in turn gave it to the young girl and told her to hurry up and do what she must do. He asked Chun Chun why she believed him and Chun Chun saw the best in him and said all she saw was him trying to assist a girl in distress.

Chun Chun may be an idiot but compared to Sik Sik, that is a virtue. I am very annoyed why Sik Sik is so judgmental. She called him pervert, a cheat, she even saw the same girl and told her to beware of Luk Kung Tzi who was a pervert and lying bastard though the girl wanted to explain but had work to do so she rushed off. She called him names and thought the worst of him and yet the one who actually did her wrong was Nic and she hugged him hard. So when later if she discovered Ruco was the white knight, wouldn’t that make her look like a fool, an idiot and a jerk all at once? And why would Luk Kung Tzi bother with someone so abusive towards his character? Even if he was playful, shouldn’t he be pissed? Or is insults and misunderstandings the new standard for romance and love?

Sik Sik was not having an easy time at her job. Everyone boycotted her except that young girl. I am still curious what is the relationship between Sky and Ruco. Anyway last scene was Sik Sik arriving at a hushed up problem and the maids refused to tell Sik Sik since she was an outsider until Yvonne walked in and glumly asked “Then what about me? May I know?” and so we shall discover next episode that the young girl is probably accused of theft of a guest’s diamond ring. Also a typical scene of Sik Sik coming to the young girl’s aid.

The brief intro scene was by Matt Yeung introducing Penang’s various foods.

I get it about Sik Sik, on paper. But on screen it just felt wholly inadequate. I feel it is totally because Aimee Chan’s shortcomings as an actress and her appeal. She did better in Slow Boat Home where she was one of the leads in a character that suited her. As Law Sik Sik, she didn’t suit the character at all.

Ruco shines tonight in a funny performance as well as some like myself will say rather flirty one. If he said he is not a flirtatious person, I don’t believe him. I saw an interview where he basically flirted with the lady interviewer. He did very well, notwithstanding his “sacrifice” which is our “benefit”! However Luk Kung Tzi at this moment is poorly developed. I feel some of his responses were totally off the mark. I hope to see some development soon because is his development is still going on such a snail paced momentum, I will get bored even if this was Ruco Chan.

Matt Yeung should slap himself awake. He looked like he was bored out of his wits.

Tony Hung is ok as an actor but his character is creepy.

Lin Xiawei is a bore but at least her character is more likable even if rather dumb. I am just tired of Sik Sik’s cynicism when it comes to Luk Kung Tzi. It felt like I already know the destination, I already know how they will reach the destination and yet I had to watch all these step by step. This should have been a 2 hour movie.

Themesong is still nasally awful. No sign of Ruco’s subsong, at all. What is going on?!

Last but not least, someone who recently decided to watch this series said she watched episode 1 and was so bored she wanted to stop watching. And she was the one who said Chae Rim’s name. And she is right. This is that sort of role someone who is as talented, capable actress, likable, charismatic and bubbly girl like Chae Rim would be perfect. Aimee Chan has a lovely smile, killer body, competent actress, I do like her but she could not bring out the bubbly charismatic and the dilemma of Sik Sik when confronted with her life’s greatest betrayal; one part is her fiancee, the other part her best friend and finally her own heart when it comes to Nic. Which was why with Nic leaving only she can live again. The part about Nic’s sacrifice is to me the best part but so poorly acted by both parties, I did a lot of embellishing into what they did not bring out to explain that scene.

Only episode 6 and I feel my interest is dying and my interest in writing these episodic thoughts drying up. I can’t hate this series enough to fuel my interest and not love it enough to make me continue writing.

RELATED ARTICLES

• [Episodic Thoughts] “Outbound Love” Episode 1
• [Episodic Thoughts] “Outbound Love” Episode 2
• [Episodic Thoughts] “Outbound Love” Episode 3
• [Episodic Thoughts] “Outbound Love” Episode 4
• [Episodic Thoughts] “Outbound Love” Episode 5

This Episodic Thoughts is written by Funn Lim, a Contributing Writer at JayneStars.com, and was originally posted at http://outboundlove.blogspot.com.