This week’s episode of Fall in Love With Me has to be the most uneventful to date. With nothing more to go on than a project proposal between Tian Ji and OZ and a couple of very moody, mopey leads there’s not a lot to talk about this week but I’ll do my best.
I guess I’ll start with the business aspect of this week’s episode which, I have to say, despite how much it’s played up, is pretty uneventful. Maybe there’s more meaning behind the “official” collaboration between Tian Ji and OZ but at the moment, I’m just not seeing it. I suppose it’s a bit odd that a major company like Tian Ji would be willing to work with a company as minuscule as OZ when most large companies in their position would devour the smaller but I’ll credit that oddness to the fact that Tian Xing likes Le Si. I suppose when you’re ridiculously rich and you don’t really care about your company, you can afford to do stupid things like support a competitor in an effort to win the heart of your competitor’s boss but it all seems rather silly to me. Then again we’re talking about a T-Drama here which means we have to put up with a whole lot of silly if we’re ever going to make it to the end.
That being said, I really wish Tian Xing would give up on the whole “win her through business” idea and just try to be a normal person around Le Si. I’m convinced he would get much farther with her if he left her alone at work and focused solely on pursuing her outside of business hours. We already know that Le Si likes the laid-back, non-jerky version of Tian Xing (aka Xiao Lu) so why can’t Tian Xing simply drop the haughty business guru act and just be himself? I’m pretty sure that would not only solve his girl problems, it would also make things easier for everyone back at Tian Ji. Lance knows there are fishy games afoot and I have no doubt he’s going to do whatever it takes to make sure he uncovers the truth. I think that’s why he was so willing to let Ting Wei go to OZ and help out with the video production. I have a feeling he’s going to use Ting Wei as a spy and that’s going to cause some troubles later on down the road.
Of course before we get there we’re going to have to get our OTP over their mopey “Oh how I miss you” stage and on with their lives. Honestly, I’m incredibly sick of Le Si desperately clinging to the hope that Xiao Lu will miraculously reappear and life will immediately become all sunshine and rainbow ponies. After Xiao Lu’s incredibly insensitive let-down last week, I’m pretty sure Le Si would do better to just forget him and move on but we all know that’s never going to happen. In Le Si’s mind Xiao Lu seems to be on some sort of hiatus and she’s clinging far too desperately to the hope that he’ll be back, when Xiao Lu made it perfectly clear that he had no intentions of ever returning. If Xiao Lu’s words last week didn’t convince her, his total lack of presence this week should have at least planted that little seed of doubt in her mind but it would appear that’s not the case. Instead, Le Si has to swing from bawling her eyes out, to acting as if nothing’s wrong, to deeply depressed once again while we, as the audience, start pounding our heads on our desks in frustration. Or maybe that’s just me… (Sorry but I can’t stand such a weak and wishy-washy woman!)
Where Le Si is lacking strength and fortitude, Tian Xing is demonstrating it in spades. I was genuinely impressed by his willpower this week as he chose not to give into the temptation to bring Xiao Lu back. You know he was tempted, on more than one occasion, to give into Le Si’s pleading for Xiao Lu’s return and yet he resisted. I still think he would be better off getting rid of Xiao Lu’s phone completely (as in stopping service and recycling the dumb thing) and he definitely needs to move out of Xiao Lu’s apartment but that might be asking too much. For now I’ll applaud Tian Xing for stashing that phone in a drawer and I can only hope that he’ll become so involved with Le Si as Tian Xing that he’ll soon forget that phone is even there.
While my wish for Tian Xing and Le Si may seem a bit reaching at this point there are certain events that make me think some quality Le Si/Tian Xing time is not far off. I’m pretty sure a soaked and fainting Le Si isn’t going to put up much of a fight when Tian Xing swoops in to “rescue” her which means now is the time for Tian Xing to show his true colors and become the warm and caring hero that we all know he could be. Here’s hoping Tian Xing makes the most of this opportunity! *fingers crossed*
So, what did you think of this week’s episode? Were you as underwhelmed by it as I was or could you spot a depth that I somehow overlooked? What do you think the results of this collaboration between Tian Ji and OZ will be? Will it be a good thing or everyone or is Lance planning something underhanded to take out his competition? What about Le Si? Is she being silly, clinging to Xiao Lu like she is or am I the only one annoyed by her current mood? What did you think of this week’s dramatic final scene? Don’t you just love how our heroine dramatically faints in the torrential downpour just far enough out of our hero’s reach to force him to rush to her rescue? (Honestly, I’m somewhere between annoyed and entertained by that particularly overly melodramatic scene. I can’t really decide if I want to laugh or facepalm myself.) As always, I’d love to know what you’re thinking so be sure to leave me a comment below!
You can catch up on all of my reviews of Fall in Love With Me here:
Yes, this episode didn’t bring any progress between the leads.I understand Le Si is still upset over losing Xiao Lu, but she is going to have a mental breakdown soon if she doesn’t snap out of it. At least, she shouldn’t bawl every five seconds. That’s overkill. Lance had quite a lot of scenes in this episode. I see him as more or less a good man, which makes me feel uneasy. He loves his sister a lot so there is more than one reason why he would want to topple OZ later. Actually, I’m really confused why Tian Xing still stays in Xiao Lu’s apartment. If Le Si was anything like Huan Huan, who pretty much staked herself outside of Tian Xing’s house, Le Si would easily figure out why Xiao Lu ran away because Tian Xing is living in Xiao Lu’s apartment! It’s too obvious. Actually, I didn’t understand the ending scene. Le Si just ran across the street and then dramatically laid on the floor as if she had some kind of medical condition. It just didn’t any sense. That’s just a crazy turn of events.
My overall general feeling is that Tian Xing is become a huge stalker and I don’t like it. It’s sort of like Heirs where Lee Min Ho’s character is constantly badgering Park Shin Hye’s character, stalking her wherever she goes. I don’t know how this will make any woman fall in love with a man. I’d hate it if a man showed up wherever I go and stalks me, following me everywhere. What’s with the Tian Xing “grab-and-go” technique with Le Si all the time? He needs to know that there’s a time and place for everything. I couldn’t stand Gai Xian’s flirting and his million text messages as well. He’s such a stalker. I might just call the police on him. People don’t seem to have a time and place for romance. Tian Xing acts so selfish and he should be nicer to Huan Huan and make it clear to her the right way, but we are talking about how much of a jerk Tian Xing can be when he allowed his alter ego Xiao Lu dump Le Si in such a cruel way. Actually, Tian Xing dragged Le Si out of the office and then she’s just wondering around the city the rest of the day. How does anybody get any work done around here? My wish at this point is to have Tian Xing back off from Le Si and give her space. It’s not good to stalk. Ever.
We feel pretty much the same way about everything! I too am amazed by the lack of real work that any of these characters are actually doing! How do any of their businesses function when everyone employed spends more time running around after love interests or moping over those they’ve lost? It doesn’t make any sense at all!
I’m so glad I’m not the only one annoyed by Gai Xian! Grrr! He drives me absolutely nuts! He’s such a slimy creeper! I’m convinced there isn’t a woman alive who would actually find him attractive. He’s just too sleezey!
Lance has me concerned as well. There’s just something about him that I can’t trust and his devotion to his sister only makes me doubt his sincerity more. Kinda weird really but what can I say? He comes across as the kind of person who would do anything for his sister, even if that meant ruining the lives of others. I think it’s that which scared me the most. He could hurt a lot of people while trying to make his sister happy and I don’t think he would think twice about it.
I tried to just laugh off the ending scene but honestly, it bugged the crap out of me. Why on Earth would anyone suddenly fall over for no reason whatsoever? Pretty sure that doesn’t happen… Just saying. Maybe it was supposed to be a dramatic scene, with the rain and the falling over and all but I just rolled my eyes. Why do women in Asian dramas always become ridiculously weak when it rains? Are they all somehow related to the Wicked Witch of the West? Are they going to start melting once they get damp? I don’t get it. To me it’s just a stupid plot device that makes absolutely no sense and should be done away with. How about we start having Dramaland characters go out and play in the rain, rather than die from it? It might be a nice switch!
Anyway, you’re right. Le Si needs to get her act together and move on with her life. Sure, her heart may be broken but it will mend, it just takes time and a willingness to let Xiao Lu go, which would appear to be the problem with this whole thing. She can’t let him go, despite the fact he’s actually a massive jerk. (I’m still not over last week’s putzy rejection.) Of course Tian Xing isn’t much better. I think the harder he tries to hold onto Le Si, the more she’s going to move away from him. She’s not going to go looking for love when her heart is broken. Tian Xing needs to give her time to heal and then step in, as a friend, as a counselor, as a business partner, whatever, and let things naturally progress from there. It’s bothered me for quite a while now that he still insists on “making” Le Si fall in love with him. Doesn’t he realize you can’t “make” anyone fall in love, it’s one of those mysterious things that just happens over time.
I also didn’t understand why Tian Ji Advertising needs Oz’s creativity. I can understand a small company like Oz benefiting from a large company’s backing, but I don’t quite understand why Tian Ji Advertising needs Oz. Also, I am surprised that even Lance’s assistant is an aspiring filmmaker. He could have easily been given a chance if only Lance would let him. I think talent is everywhere, and the real reason for the collaboration is because Tian Xing has sentiments towards Oz and Le Si. So, in the end, everything was personal.
Dang! I think we learned from this show what a man SHOULDN’T do. Gai Xian and Tian Xing are absolute stalkers.
I think Lance tries to push for a more mature approach to helping his sister Huan Huan understand that love cannot be forced, but I genuinely think he cares a lot for his sister. I think he knows that love cannot be forced between Tian Xing and Huan Huan, but perhaps, eventually, he’ll be mad enough to try to force it anyway. I hope not. Everyone is adults here and I think it’s best if he minded his own business while supporting his sister at the same time. I think Huan Huan gave it all she had and I think it was the right thing to do. At least she tried to work on her own happiness “xing fu” even if it doesn’t work out in the end. I admire her for that. Also, the vocabulary word for this episode has to be “wo hen xiang ni” (I really think of you / I miss you). I find that funny, because that’s sounds weird in the Cantonese dialect (I really think of you), but I suppose makes perfect sense in Mandarin.) I heard that from Le Si so many times I was beginning to become sick of it because is Xiao Lu really that worth it?
I know. It was raining in New York for the past couple days and I am definitely not in the hospital or in bed sniffling away because I stood in the rain. Harmless rain. Ah, but it might as well be acid rain for these people in dramaland. Cliché!
I think Le Si is keeping Tian Xing around because he simply looks like Xiao Lu. We see her fantasizing about Xiao Lu several times while looking at Tian Xing’s face. She’s in huge denial. I wonder why Le Si’s mom doesn’t go hunt down Xiao Lu, knowing how much he hurt Le Si. She had no problem getting out her weapons to face Tian Xing in the beginning. I think Le Si’s mom is very mature about love, but unlike Lance, I think it is right that she just lightly nudges Le Si in what Le Si feels is the right thing to do and just support Le Si in whatever she chooses to do. I love mothers like that. She didn’t try to meddle in her daughter’s relationships or tell Tian Xing to get out of her daughter’s face, but she was very mature. Perhaps, she had a similar experience when she was young with Brother Fu.
Hmmm… Wouldn’t that be an interesting twist? If Le Si’s mom went through something similar with Uncle Fu when they were younger. It would certainly explain her understanding and wisdom in this case. I do like the way she’s handle things so far and I admired her for her honesty and understanding as she talked to Tian Xing. She’s really not the crazy weapon-wielding psycho she appeared to be at first, she just cares a lot about her daughter and wants what’s best for her, as all good mothers do.
There’s so much I’d like to see happen in these next few episodes and most of them have to do with characters maturing into actual adults, rather than the childish babies they’ve become. There is so much more Le Si and Tian Xing both could be if they could let go of all of the nonsense they’ve been clinging to thus far and dare to become something more. We’re not all bound by some unseen fate that dictates who we are and what we become, we have the ability to change that which we don’t like as long as we’re willing to put in the effort. If Le Si really needs Xiao Lu that badly, she needs to stop being a crybaby and instead do everything in her power to go get him. If Tian Xing really needs to take Xiao Lu out of the picture and spend the rest of his life with Le Si as Tian Xing, then he needs to stop being a creepy, stalker punk and start showing her how much he genuinely cares for her. This masquerade of his, even as Tian Xing, has got to stop. There’s more to him than one side or the other, he just needs to embrace them both and pursue Le Si out of genuine sincerity and affection, not some wishy-washy “I’ll make her fall in love with me” nonsense.
As for the businesses… I’m pretty sure they’d both be in bankruptcy by this point, as no one in either office actually seems to work. I really wish the writers would just drop the nonsensical business aspect of this drama and focus on crazy people pursuing relationships because really, that’s the only thing selling this drama for me. I find the business aspects boring, pointless, absurd and in general, a massive waste of time that could be better spent on watching Tian Xing and Le Si simultaneously argue and fall in love. *sigh* Am I the only one missing the fantastic tension between these two at the beginning of this drama? There was such an undeniable chemistry between Le Si and Tian Xing when they fought and now all of that is gone. It’s a bit sad, really. I can’t really bring myself to cheer for Tian Xing anymore because all of the spark has been drown in a downpour of sadness and self-pity. Here’s hoping something will come along and rekindle that spark soon. I’m not sure I can take much more of this moping!
I need some reality infused into this drama so I would actually appreciate some actual story line. The last thing I want to see if Tian Xing stalking Le Si at all hours of the day or anybody else stalking someone else. There’s more to life than trying to force people to love you.
Yes! A little reality would be nice but I’m not holding my breath. This is a T-drama after all, reality is kind of an afterthought. lol
Heyas! Burried in work, so totally shouldn’t be watching dramas, reading blog-posts or commenting, but I can’t keep myself from it (I persisted valiantly last week, but alas~ ). ^-^;
The world’s new favorite hash tag (#yesallwomen) has kept me busy the past few days, so it’s actually very interesting to watch Fall in Love With Me in that light. Tian Xing, Huan Huan, Gai Punk – that’s a theme of entitlement right there. Just because you like someone doens’t entitle you to … anything, really. I really liked Leo Ge for putting the finger on that this ep: if you love s.b. you want them to be happy. Oh, and if you put your own happiness above theirs – you are not worth their affection, really. o_ô
I hope the drama actually _uses_ this theme to full effect and shows that love cannot be forced any which way. That would mean that all those stalkers and whiners only meet with success when they frigging _stop_ and grow out of it. So hoping for that to happen.
Although, Tian Xing – he only really started getting into ugly territory after gal told him to his face that she liked him. So I guess his idea is to put things right and is just being totally incompetent about it.
This brings me to another theme I see in this drama. One that is pretty common, but powerful, anyway: Whiney-useless girly girl vs. emotionally incompetent man-child. Here it actually makes sense to me: Tian Xing lost his family, the guy he looked up to (TLS’ bro), was raised by wolves (apparently), and then spend all his life in shark infested waters. To his credit: he was and is actively trying to get himself the hell out of that situation and reconnect with his loving (and creative) side. Dude frigging _ran_away_ to be able to do that. So this story _is_ his road to finding himself – and I guess the idea here is that his love for TLS is exactly what will help him achieve that. Same way that TLS will in the end woman-up and get her pretty behind off the wet floor to a) find her own dream (instead of living her brother’s) and b) actually become competent enough to achieve it.
I see a lot of potential in that story-line, so I was pretty OK with LTX being a walking Asperger’s stereotype and TLS being whiney. But, lordy, I’m ready for that characters development thing to start happening like yesterday! Right now, it’s annoying the heck out of me. -_-
And btw. I think the reason TLS is so into XL is because he is like the safe version of LTX. Obviously, physically (smell, looks, biology, all that jazz) will tell her: “that’s your man – go jump him!” But LTX is so forbiddingly challenging. He keeps kicking her self-pitying ass, and let’s not forget that originally she actually looked up to him. He’s famous, he’s rich, and more importantly he’s extremely smart and talented. She couldn’t take his love for granted and would always have to be on her toes. XL, on the other hand, she can feel superior to. He’s fuzzy and warm, a student, no one to feel threatened by. It’s a clear expression of her lack of self-esteem and show she doesn’t really value herself. *hur* I actually have a friend like that – she shies away from “worthy” men and keeps on chosing losers. Which … *gaaaaaah* -_-
Oh my goodness! You’ve totally blown my mind with your take on Le Si’s perspective on Tian Xing/Xiao Lu! I never really thought of it before but you could very well be spot on there! From Le Si’s perspective, being the love interest of someone as forbidding as Tian Xing could be quite daunting. Like you said, he’s a man of wealth, power, fame, talent and brains… That’s enough to make any woman doubt her worth but to know such a man is interested in you… Goodness! Just thinking about the responsibility one would have to take on, to step into the shoes of Tian Xing’s love would be daunting! From that perspective, it makes much more sense to fall for the comfortable Xiao Lu. He’s the human equivalent of a toddler’s safety blankey for Le Si so of course she’d want to keep him around. Tian Xing challenges Le Si too much and I think she gets tired of it (even if she does look back later and see that everything Tian Xing said and/or did was for her own good).
Like you said, this story-line does have a lot of potential, we’ve just come to the part of the drama where the characters have come to a sort of crossroads but they’ve yet to decide on which path they’ll take. I’m personally hoping they all choose the road to self-betterment but I’ve a feeling we’ve got a long way to go before we get there.
I wouldn’t necessarily be attracted to a man who constantly challenges me. I think a blend of both personalities is the best. I want to see Tian Xing’s “soft” side and I also want to see his battle side as well at the workplace. I think that’s what makes him attractive as a man. Though, I’m waiting for everyone to mature at this point.
Oooh! Can you imagine how much more fun this drama would be if Tian Xing could be hardcore at work and a sweetie while attempting to woo Le Si… I think there would be a lot less eye-rolling and a lot more swooning… *sigh* If only!