Reel Tastes & Travels – a light dose of entertainment to wake you up

When this episode started, I thought I was in for two episodes of pure fluff, which… it did deliver on. But a bit surprisingly (for me), there was also some decent progress in the story as well.

I definitely like the screentime that they give to the sport and how it is almost a character in itself, rather than a mere foil for the two leads to interact. Of course, having absolutely zero experience with winter sports myself, there could be various mistakes or inaccuracies that I’m missing. But I appreciate that they are giving a glimpse of the amount of effort (not to mention equipment) it takes to learn it and spend a fair amount of runtime on the slopes itself.

 Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for Zhi’s line of work. Apart from the initial scenes of the series which brought her to the resort, there has been little to show her passion for her work. Even the snowboarding lessons, which are ostensibly to help her understand the sport in order to create a comic around it, barely seem to link back to her creative talents beyond a few stray mentions.

At least we get some progress on the tangled situation with Manman when they bump into each other at the resort. It turns out Manman has also come there to learn about snowboarding though she quickly dismisses it as a worthy subject. We also learn about why Manman took over Zhai’s role – I can sympathize with her to a certain extent. After pouring so much of her heart and soul into the work (albeit in an assistant capacity), the idea of leaving the comic unfinished seemed unbearable. And clearly Tiger Comics has not been entirely truthful about Zhi’s departure, spinning it as her ditching the comic rather than a result of the ultimatum they gave her. But even so, after working so closely together for what I imagine is quite an extended period of time, for Manman to so quickly believe their lies without even consulting with Zhi or giving her a chance to tell her side of the story, seems callous at best and opportunistic at worst. Frustratingly, Zhi does not defend herself and the tension between them remains unresolved. Though at least the encounter helped her find out about the contest. So hopefully, we’ll see her cartoonist skills play a bigger role in future episodes.

Meanwhile, back on the slopes, we meet Dai Duo – another snowboarder with an attitude who immediately pisses off Chong by almost knocking Zhi off her feet during their lesson. I first thought he was being introduced as a second male lead, but it becomes clear later on that he is actually in a relationship with Chong’s sister. He definitely has some history with Chong, and while he comes across as brash and arrogant, I feel it comes from some unresolved past conflict and a feeling of betrayal rather than being an innately unsavory character. In any case, Chong cuts his class with Zhi short and goes to teach him a lesson, leading to a parallel giant slalom race between them. Naturally being the hero, Chong wins and takes Dai Duo’s new glasses as his prize (with the obvious intention of gifting them to Zhi).

Although Zhi misses the whole spectacle, her friend Jiang luckily captures it all on her phone and gleefully shows it to Zhi, nudging her to realize the true identity of her snowboarding hero. But getting her to connect all the dots is like banging your head on a brick wall. Come on, I get that Chong’s face wasn’t visible in the video, but after spending so much time with him, you’d think at least the outfit might ring a bell.

Thankfully, they don’t draw this out too much further and she finally, finally (!) realizes he and Chong are one and the same during their class… and of course, it is thanks to the green wristband! But while that emboldens him to be more openly caring around her, she still seems uncertain of his feelings for her. At this point, I was almost screaming at the screen – how much more proof do you need?! He’s pretty much admitted he likes you, you have various characters commenting on how much he’s doing for you and how unlike him that is, and he’s getting you so much stuff for your snowboarding! This should be a slam dunk. Learn from your friend!

Despite all the abundant proofs of his affection, she chooses to get into a huff over the fact that he can’t teach her as usual the next day due to other students. Might I add that some of these classes are commitments he made in order to get her a pair of shoes that she liked. She decides to disregard his advice, go to the advanced slope and take a lesson with another instructor in retaliation, only to be abandoned by said instructor once the class time is up and ends up injured on the slope. Thankfully, Chong shows up in time and rescues her. Honestly, it feels a bit like manufactured drama at this point though it does serve to highlight how different Chong is around her vs. his attitude to his other students.

Stray Musings

• Got to say, I’m not a big fan of Wei Zhi who comes across a bit childish and whiny to me. More of a personal taste, but I prefer a female lead who is shown as a bit more competent. And since her comic storyline has gotten very little focus after the first episode, I feel most of what we’ve seen is just her being helpless and clueless.
• I like the romance between their friends, Jiang and Yan. It’s uncomplicated (so far) and sweet how effortlessly they’ve come together.
• We get a glimpse of Zhi’s parents who appear to be rich, unsupportive of her career (the mom a tad more so than the dad) and pushing for a match between Zhi and Jiang’s brother. Another obstacle for our main pair? Though they have to actually start dating first before any such obstacles carry any weight.
• Chong’s sister is a fan of Zhi’s comics and realizes that something feels off about the style – an indication that Tiger Comic’s plan isn’t going as smoothly as they would like. And in a very interconnected, TV-drama way, Zhi ends up asking her to be her new assistant.