[Episodic Thoughts] “Outbound Love” Episode 7
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 07
FUNNLING METRE
Before I begin this episode’s also rather short recap, some interesting Malay words/Malaysian slang roundup from this episode;
Gadis cantik – Malay for pretty girl or beautiful girl. Gadis is girl (usually referring to someone young) and cantik is beautiful or in this context, pretty
Pasar – Malay for market
Frankly I can’t remember the others. Just use Post A Comment and I can explain the term. By the way thank god I didn’t hear another word of “leceh” in this episode.
Ok, before recap, may I just say this episode can be divided into 2 segments. The first is to me irrelevant and makes my blood boil. The second is to me relevant but also makes my blood boil, for a different reason than the 1st.
Recap.
Yvonne and Sik Sik went to investigate what was going on and found out the young maid (the one Ruco lent MYR2,000-00 to) was accused of carelessly kinda sorta like maybe scratched or caused threads to be pulled from an expensive dress belonging to an unseen but very highly valued guest of the hotel. But the truth was it was the head chambermaid or whatever you call her whose ring she wore did it. Poor girl was scolded by Sky who insisted she quit and Sik Sik in verbal arguments with Sky tried to defend her. In fact their barbed exchange was interesting to watch but in the end, when it came to crunch time, Yvonne failed to do her duty as the owner and poor girl was fired. And thereafter I did not see the girl again. No follow up.
Meanwhile the 1st segment I mentioned began in earnest. Chun Chun saw Sik Sik who ran away, avoiding Chun Chun. Back at her restaurant, Chun Chun discovered…
You know what I will just summarise.
1. she forgot to switch off some oven and so kitchen was destroyed
2. she was rightfully fired
3. she bumped into Chin Tsun and demanded to see Sik Sik which he took her (did I mention in episode 6 she destroyed a pack of fried noodle Chin Tsun made for Sik Sik?)
4. Sik Sik had no choice but to allow her to stay with her when she found out Chun Chun was fired, much to the protest of Chin Tsun who was very harsh with Chun Chun
5. Sik Sik asked Chin Tsun to be Chun Chun’s mentor
6. Basically Chun Chun screwed up by not cleaning properly, making awful food, refused to remove her super elaborate nail art culminating in Chin Tsun really scolding her and Chun Chun quitting.
7. Meanwhile Chun Chun feels she is falling in love with Ruco. But I will talk about this more later.
How much more stupid Chun Chun is gonna destroy? I am sure much more. The thing is Chun Chun is a nice girl. I just can’t stand Lin Xiawei. I find her such a thorn that I can’t shake off. What makes my blood boil is her put on little girl nasally voice. I had to endure that during the themesong. I had to endure it some more in this episode because half of the episode is about her and Chin Tsun. Then I had to endure the same thing at the ending because the same bloody themesong. I can’t stand her. Why can’t she just talk normally? Why must she put on the voice that I shall call that “BB” voice? WHY?! Boiling.
Then there’s the character of Chin Tsun who is really annoying as well. I find him stalker-ish whenever with Sik Sik and he got angry on her behalf at the wrong people. He was terribly rude to Chun Chun eventhough at work I thought he was not as unfair boss as Chun Chun claimed him to be. But I still dislike him. Which is why when Ruco did what he did later on, I thought nothing of it. What I am trying to say is this 1st pair is abusive in a sense; Chin Tsun was never gentle with Chun Chun.
Now come the 2nd segment which to me has changed from angry to volatile.
Sik Sik and Yvonne saw Mary Hon (can’t remember her character’s name) being interviewed and again to Yvonne this famous rich hotelier said she wanted to buy over Lassie. Yvonne politely said no. Later Yvonne told Sik Sik Manager Sky was already a problem, now came the shark, Mary. She wanted to prove to these people she can manage Lassie. Well girl, start by standing up to Sky then!
Later Sik Sik at a bar saw Mary talking to Sky and they seemed friendly but due to the music and stupid Chun Chun, she could not hear nor follow them. Anyway whilst they seemed friendly, Sky did not seem like that sort who will betray Lassie. Bully, yes, traitor? Maybe not. But I am sure Sik Sik will make a huge issue out of that later on.
Pause.
Who is Mary? Could she be Ruco’s mom? Mary is some high powered super rich hotelier and since Sky knows her, and is very close to Ruco, I believe Mary is Ruco’s mom. At this moment I have yet to read any spoilers about Ruco’s Luk Kung Tzi and very little is revealed about him thus far. So this will be one area to sustain my interest, barely.
Continue.
Sik Sik is openly hostile and verbally abusive to Ruco. Where is that sweet nice girl? She turned into an angry ogre whenever with him which made me think how she can then fall for him? The white knight thing? Well that will show her the jerk in the end. Anyway, Ruco also at fault. He teased her mercilessly, he dared to touch her in a way I interpret as molesting her because the girl didn’t like him touching her that way; like sliding up her arms, etc. I can’t blame Sik Sik for thinking the worst of Ruco but what I can’t understand is when confronted with such an openly hostile woman, how can Ruco still maintain being playful? Will he ever get angry at being slandered as a lecherous cheat? Will he ever just ignore her and walk away? This is not like some cute pairing, bickering, etc. She was really angry, hostile and if she had a frying pan, she would have used it to knock on the head of this “frying pan”. I can’t understand what is so cute or funny or endearing about a woman who verbally abuses a man who did not deserve that level of abuse (much like how Chin Tsun was with Chun Chun) when she should have directed all these at Nik which she didn’t (same as Chin Tsun) and I can never understand what is so romantic, gallant or attractive about a man who stalks the girls, touches her in ways she doesn’t like and still be playful in the face of such an awful angry woman.
Where is the comedy? Where is the romance? Where is the lightheartedness promised by this series? I felt so burdened watching such angry people, careless people, stupid people, thick skinned people.
Anyway where was I?
Oh yes, remember Chun Chun liking Ruco? At the same time Sik Sik told her she hated a guy, but they never knew each was talking about Ruco. Ruco himself did not know he became their topic of gossips at night.
Can’t remember the last scene as my mind shut down by then but the brief intro was by Tony Hung about Georgetown, the capital of Penang.
Story wise, I am brain dead to it. Like I said;
Where is the comedy? Where is the romance? Where is the lightheartedness promised by this series?
I am bored with openly hostile characters when in the end we all know they all end up happily ever after. I felt like I was watching what I already know but much slower. If this series is made in a different format, as in like J-drama with 10 episodes max, I will say it will work better.
Anyway less scenery also, more studio set pieces. Yes you will see market and some streets of Penang, but seriously the whole scenery thing is lacking.
Performance wise, only one made any impact and it was minimal but at least something and that was Ruco Chan. I am however losing my patience with his patience with Sik Sik.
Aimee Chan is ok during confrontational scenes or when she asserts her personality as someone angry and someone forceful. But overall, none of this bring out the charm that Sik Sik supposedly had. In fact this series is beginning to deviate from this central character.
Tony Hung suits his character, it is a competent performance but not a likable character.
You know how I feel about Lin Xiawei.
I was reading this article about Aimee Chan in Jaynestars where she said;
Aimee said that the love story in the series is very realistic
I beg to differ. It is very predictable but not very realistic.
Seriously, at some point I felt like I was watching an awful version of Hotelier. I was hoping Manager Han will appear and save the day. And then I remember this is supposed to be a love story and not about hotels and chefs. I guess the series itself is forgetting that too.
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
- [Episodic Thoughts] “Outbound Love” Episode 6
This Episodic Thoughts is written by Funn Lim, a Contributing Writer at JayneStars.com, and was originally posted at http://outboundlove.blogspot.com.
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“Which is why when Ruco did what he did later on, I thought nothing of it. ”
Which is also why I totally forgot to add in why I thought nothing of it!! Anyway it involves candlelight dinner, openly hostile Sik Sik, an annoyed Chin Tsun, a thick skinned and cluelessRuco, 2 plates of delicious lamb steak, a nice bottle of wine, 3 good glasses and a dropped fork. Really not that important.
Thanks Funn for keeping this up for 7 episodes. I have to say it is difficult when the plot starts to get boring and more boring….but hang on!
Ruco starts to have more screen time from episode 8, and I’m sure the whole series will turn much more interesting and fun to watch.
I have to say that I am not moved by Aimee’s breakdown at all. Agree that Nic looked so insincere in the throwing away the engagement ring scene. It’s almost like reading phrases from a book.
Compare this with Ruco’s scene in Ep.6 when he overheard the song SikSik was playing next to his room. Just one sad look of his eyes and I could feel his loneliness, and that something must have hurt him hard before, that he pretended to be playful as a disguise.
I also don’t like ChunChun’s “sound of innocence”. Come on, you’re at least in the mid-20s if not approaching 30, and still speaks like an adolescence? As for Chin Chun, better off he step away from drama.
Tony Hung can act. He looks the part but it is just that he is so miserable I just don’t feel happy watching him.
I didn’t even notice the sad look of his eyes. Another great catch. But since I read Ruco was a famous song producer prior to running way to Malaysia, my bet is he produced/wrote that song. Maybe his girlfriend sang that song. Hence the reaction.
We shall see!!
And I hate that song!!
Maybe his girlfriend sang that song.
————————————————————–
You are right. It is stated in the characters descriptions.
Will we see the GF? Who is in the cast list?
It should be Elaine Yiu who was Ruco’s ex-girl friend. He wrote the best song for her to sing and she became very popular. She then dumped Ruco Chan and was hooked up to a boss of a record/music company.
Funn, by the way, can you read Chinese? Or you can only read simplified Chinese. You seem to have no problem in understanding Cantonese speaking drama series though.
I usually like to read all the characters descriptions on TVB website in order to get a brief storyline of a drama series. I may not get the very final ending, but I will have an idea how the storyline flows.
Can’t read, can’t write, can listen and understand.
Thanks. I am just curious. You fit in here perfectly – Jayne’s website
Lin Xia Wei is the one who sings the theme song.
Bickering couples who eventually fall in love are staple in most TVB dramas. I guess if you watch the drama with little expectations from the beginning, you’ll tend to enjoy it more. Before the series aired, i wasn’t exactly enthusiastic abt watching it cos Aimee as lead actress just doesn’t excite me. Plus i really hated the theme song sung by Lin Xia Wei, i thought it sounded horrible and felt it was kinda weird to have a theme song sung in Mandarin in a Cantonese drama. Plus all the other cast aren’t exactly my cup of tea. But of course since I’m such a big fan of Ruco, i never considered not watching it. Ruco managed to liven up the atmosphere and those scenes with him are so much fun to watch. It really lifted the drama from its dreariness and i think so far, so good, the drama isn’t as bad as i imagined it wld be. I even think Tony is ok but i don’t like his looks, to be honest. Lin Xia Wei surprisingly didn’t irritate me as much as i thought she wld and i think her character is rather cute; she is miles better than Aimee who is so terrible in acting i can never identify her with Sik Sik. I’m also ok with the pace of development in Ruco’s character cos i don’t want to know all about his background so soon as i like to be kept in suspense. It’s not much fun watching once you know everything about the character so soon. So i wld say, watch this drama with little expectation and you’ll quite likely enjoy it. It ain’t half as bad as some people say or imagine it to be.
If you still have not heard it, this is the sub song which was sang by ruco….. awesome vocal!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_gILYHga6o
Song is ok but frankly I wouldn’t call it awesome vocal. So-so only. I can only imagine if Jacky Cheung sings it. But it is way better than that nasal girly themesong.
Thx for the link, i love this song. Have been playing it over and over. i think Ruco’s a much better singer than some of the other TVB siu sangs out there.
Having no interest and patience for this drama. In Msian Chinese way of saying “Chin-Chai goreng drama.”
Bickering opposites can become couples in real life. I think quite a few people have experienced this phenomenon, although there are personality clashes it becomes a fatal attraction.
Am i the only who thinks that Aimee’s laugh in this show is totally unnatural?? it sound unbearable….and really after epi 8, i am giving up. dont think i can watch this anymore. this is like a second bo-bo story
Not only her laugh, her whole acting looks fake.
You can always tell when a guy writes the script if it has uncomfortable “affection” scenes like the one you described.
I guess TVB got tired of adding rape scenes to every show and are now going for groping/”funny” sexual assault for the new attention grabber.
It’s too bad none of the females in the production are in a position to challenge/change/delete that from the script.
I cannot believe how boring this series is!!!
If it wasn’t for Penang, I’d be totally turned off to even watch on. The cast, they are all awful. But the worst is Aimee’s acting. Not being biased, but she is just terrible!! Crying scenes are so fake and every other scenes are so not natural. Omg, how to watch on??
Funn, I don’t know how to live your life with such a critical and sarcastic attitude. Can’t you just enjoy the show for what little entertainment value it have?
It is the new year, try to be less critical and happier.
I love my life quite happily and with quiet satisfaction, thank you very much. I am happy for you that you live in a life without expectation and without sarcasm, for surely that is the ideal life to live. So let me live my burdened and unhappy and sarcastic life whilst you live with your ponies and teddy bears and cookies in that beautiful lovely perfect rainbow of yours. It is the new year so please do try not to butt into my life and tell me how to live it and assume I want to live your life and maybe, just maybe you may form an opinion to contribute rather than be a total troll that you are.
“Can’t you just enjoy the show for what little entertainment value it have?”
Exactly why I am writing the way I write. Why don’t you write your own and tell me how you love and enjoy the “little entertainment value it have”?
Tony Hung explain that Penang Bridge connect Penang & Malaysia. Incorrect statement as Penang part of Malaysia.
There is another possible error on Tony explanation but forgot what is that. No interest to rewatch.
Perhaps he meant Penang Island to Malaysia as in mainland?
I feel like Tony’s acting in here is somewhat annoying especially when he gets angry.