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

3 couples…3 very different relationship stages… And intentionally or not the juxtaposition of their very different interactions forced me to rethink some of my earlier opinions.

Take Jiang and Yan – I had earlier mentioned how refreshing it was to see how easily they fell into being together. No drama or unnecessary misunderstandings. But if their beginning was drama free, their end was not! Jiang was brutal, completely crushing Yan’s heart with nary a backwards glance. I understand her reasoning – this was a holiday fling and was never meant to be more. But that doesn’t mean she couldn’t have shown some compassion to Yan. Not even letting him know she was leaving and pretty much excluding him from her last night plans was unnecessarily cruel. However I firmly believe that this will prove to be but a blip and they will wind up back together after some necessary character growth. Their energy (and of course their role as BFFs to the main leads) scream secondary couple endgame (if that’s a thing) to me. Even more so after we discover that Yan actually knew Jiang (or more accurately knew of Jiang) from school itself and appears to have had a crush on her way back then. There is definitely more of this story to come.

Which brings us to Shan and (Duo) who give off such sweet old married couple vibes. We only see them briefly but their devotion to, and comfort with, each other is clear to see. They are secure in their feelings (unlike Zhi and Chong) and on the same page regarding their relationship (unlike Jiang and Yan). 

And then there’s Zhi and Chong. I admit I’ve been annoyed in the past by how diffident and almost insecure she seems about moving forward despite his clear feelings for her. But they really sold me on it here. Watching their interactions reminded me of the initial stages of a relationship – the first blush of young love, where you are reasonably sure of how both of you feel but since nothing is official there is still a niggling doubt that perhaps you are only building it up in your head, where every casual gesture and discreet look feels laden with meaning. And I think neither of them are the casual fling type, and so given her impending departure and the uncertainty around when, if at all, they might meet again, there is an understandable reluctance to do anything more. 

So Zhi leaves, with but a vague promise to meet again. But as fate (or the drama gods) would have it, her next stop is to meet her new assistant who is of course Chong’s sister, Shan. I love this arc because it gives the two of them a chance to meet and bond outside of their mutual connection to Chong. It also provides a more organic, if slightly contrived, way for Chong and Zhi to reunite. More importantly, Zhi gets to see him in a different setting. There’s always been an element of hero worship in her attitude towards him, so it nice to see her get to know him as a brother, as a son, as just another person. And of course, provides for tons of romantic moments. Their relationship may be a slow burn right now, but that doesn’t mean there is a lack of swoonworthy happenings! 

Stray Musings

• Chong further cements his leading man status here – he defends Zhi’s honor (figuratively) by defeating the obnoxious coach from earlier in a snowboarding-off, shows off some more kickass snowboarding skills, demonstrates his caring side (and strength!) by carrying Zhi around so she can rest her injured feet and to top it off, he is also a devoted brother and son.
• Chong’s competition with Duo shows again that he’s still very much in form. I had earlier thought the trauma from his accident was what was keeping him from competitive snowboarding but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Could it be linked to his sister and why she’s in a wheelchair?