Ok, lets see what Krishna thought about Episode 2. Make sure to head over to Psycho-Milk’s website and see what’s what. I can’t wait to see how we rate this episode. Are we in sync? What parts did she like or not like? What about me?
Let me start of by saying that I was not in a good head space when I started watching this episode. I had been battling with my depression for a few days, and feeling the loss more keenly. But after the episode started, a heavy veil lifted and it brought me out of a very dark place. So I think you can tell that I liked it very much.
We start off in the coffee shop with Khim telling Gui that he needs to go cheer Solo on during the Campus Moon competition. It was cute. I know some people don’t like the fujoshi character, and it depends on how its done whether I like it or not. I adored Sammy Choate’s character Manow in Until We Meet Again, but really didn’t like Kumfah, King’s sister in My Engineer. Khim is cute, funny, bubbly and adorable. As she proves in this episode, she just wants love to win. She want’s to see couples happy in love.
We come to the part of Khim that I have a problem with. Most of you probably do as well. She takes pictures of customers on her phone, without their knowledge or consent. Then she posts them to a LGBTQ+ page. This is a violation of privacy. These are customers at the cafe. They didn’t ask for or agree to photographing them. Celebrities expect to get pictures taken of them. Ordinary people don’t. But it’s also a cultural attribute, maybe? Since I only know western culture, I can’t really comment. I only have one anecdote about Chinese tourist in Rome.
My family & I were living in London at the time and took a long weekend to Rome. The boys were five and six. Super adorable blonde haired kiddo and red haired kiddo. A group of Chinese tourist came up and asked to take a picture with the boys when were at the Colosseum. I agreed, so they are somewhere on someones camera roll in China, lol. But as an aside I’m going to put a pic in here. They were freakin adorable, who wouldn’t want their picture (biased mom, I know).
Back to Oxygen. When Dr. Petch comes to talk to Khim about who has taken the picture, I’m glad they address it. It’s often not talked about in these shows. He takes her at her word when she says she will go review the CCTV footage to find out who took the picture. Dr. Petch is a little naive. Which is where Dr. Perth steps in and points out the camera angle could only be taken by the staff. Dr. Perth goes after her, and is ready to take her to the police for defamation.
She admits her mistake but claims she is rarely wrong. Then she comes up with the most ridiculous test to prove he is gay, lol. I like her still, despite this. She honestly does want them to be happy together. She wishes them happiness, thinking if she can get the two of them together then her fujoshi detective skills will be validated. She takes down the picture though, for that I’m grateful. And she and Dr. Perth begin an unlikely friendship that is cute to see.
Kao and Phu. What can I say about them, other than their story is very cute. I love the love at first sight trope. Also Kao goes all out to win his mans heart. He doesn’t give up, but uses every opportunity to be closer to his crush. For Phu’s part, he doesn’t know why he doesn’t scare Kao off. He also doesn’t know what to do when Kao flirts with him. But he’s beginning to believe Koo’s sincerity.
The song is so cute that he sings in the competition for Phu. Kao is really trying to win him over. I love that he still wears the bunny makeup for Phu. Too cute. 🐱🐰💕
Now on to our main pair. I love them. Solo is quiet and unable to convey his feelings through words. But with his actions, he lets Gui know how special he is. He walks Gui home, drives him on an errand and shows his feelings through his song.
For Gui, he takes care of everyone. But you can tell that Solo gets special treatment. The way that he feels for Solo is a bit more tender. He doesn’t know what they are to each other yet, but his feelings are changing.
The character of Solo is quiet. He’s like a big shy puppy in the books, so I think the portrayal of Solo is accurate, but I can see how some might call it too slow, or too stoic. It’s hard to get the right mixture of shy sincerity from someone who is learning how to smile again. But it works here.
Next week we meet Linda. Look out roller coaster, cause here she comes. And so I’m looking forward to a little angst amid the sweet fluffy cotton candy that we had for two weeks in a row. But don’t worry, I’m sure we will get more sweet moments too.
Rating : 4.5/5
Such adorable little ones! I love the way they are making the book come alive. The big huskie and his incredibly gentle barista. So sweet
I know, I loved the book. And I love the show. To be honest the show is moving a lot faster than the book, but I love that it’s still a lovely slow burn. It’s a feel good show. Right now we could all use a little fluff and happy vibes, right? Glad you are enjoying it too. – Next week we get the beginning of a little angst. I’ll be interested in how they portray Linda. Thanks for reading my review and commenting. 🤗💕 – Jen
I’m torn between liking this show and hating it. I can see why Solo is so taken by Gui. His tender demeanour, easy smiles & unique voice is winning me over too. As for Solo, I understand his character is supposed to be like that so I’ll wait it out to see on his character development. Hope for a bit more facial expressions through the episodes or a change in eye expressions would be nice too.
A huge reason for me not liking the show is on Khim. Yes, all the secret picture taking & uploading them on social media is a no go for me. What more when she basically pushed Dr. Perth into finding out his sexual preference & has him check on Dr. Petch’s too based on her stereotyping views on how gays are. And to top it all off, Dr. Perth seems to be developing romantic feelings towards Khim. Urgh…I thought I was getting a light fluffy series since I absolutely loved Episode 1 & even went to read the book for it but this fujoshi character is starting to bug me.
I’m not sure on Kao & Phu’s chemistry; another stoic character here with dead eyes gets no feelings from me. This sort of characters is often critiqued as having “facial paralysis” in Chinese. Sorry if this is such a long rant. I love Episode 1 so much that Episode 2 felt like a huge let down. There are parts that I love & parts that bugs me, I’m torn.
So sorry it’s taken me this long to respond. I think you will see a bit more of his facial expressions in the coming episode. He’s very shy and withdrawn but comes across as cold to others in the books, so I feel the actor’s doing his best to convey that. It’s a fine line to walk and hopefully once we see him open up more we will see an improvement in facial expressions.
I have to say I like Khim. I think it’s her motivation that makes her charming. She wants to see the happy couples in love. So it’s not necessarily for her shipper heart or weird fantasies, it’s because she loves the idea of love, it just happens to be two guys in love. I am a hopeless romantic so I understand wanting everyone around you to pair up and find their one true love. Her outdated notions of bl are just as easily applied to heterosexual couples. The close to your mother and workout at the gym were so ludicrous it didn’t bother me as I view her as a bit of a ditz with a good heart. I think it’s still going to be a light and fluffy series, but they have to throw conflict in there somewhere, so for this couple it’s a love triangle.
As for Kao and Phu, I think Phu is more expressive than Solo in his facial responses. You can see that Kao is getting under his skin and that he’s actually happy that he’s being pursued by Kao. I finished episode 3 and can’t wait to see what you think about it. My review will be up in a few days since it’s a joint review. Spoiler – I liked it…..lol.
Hang in there for the series. I think you will be happy with how things turn out. – 🤗💕 – Jen
Hey Jen, hope you feeling much better today.
I want to comment on Phu and Solo having little to no facial expressions. It may be as a result of their background. School and work and having no other form of social interaction. Then they meet Kao and Guitar, new territories. Making new discoveries and learning to interact and navigate the fields take time. So i think that may improve. But, not by much. Their personality is based off of being aloof and observing while only giving a care to what their significant others feel.
On to Khim. Lol, i don’t like her. I realize you and Krishna do. So i went back to ep1 and checked her on this ep, coz i may have missed something, but ah ah, no. She is way too much into the “fujoshi” agenda to take a minute and indulge in anything outside that. For instance, the feelings of the people she is roping into her “bl-landia”. Peep the picture bit. I am happy she was confronted, but she still turned it around and got her way.
Also, it seems as if she will knowingly force Dr. Perth into coming out or rather confronting emotions he is having a hard time to comprehend, and attractions he should be revealing on his own terms.*I still hope we one day get characters who now what they are and not question their feelings, only going after men they like.* I was hoping Dr. Petch and Dr. Perth to have an equally nice, slow arc of them two finding affection for each other without a third party interference.
Question, are they trying to make a Khim/Petch/Perth triangle? That would suck. Considering the fact that (in my opinion) i am yet to see any chemistry between Petch and Perth and Petch and Khim. Petch and Perth are not selling it to me
yet.
On a lighter note, I like that Solo is not questioning things. He likes Guitar, and that is it. He is perusing that desire. Plus he knows how to get things done. The milk, the night walks back to the dorm, keeping appointments, not hiding the jealousy, his stares, he is communicating his intentions. I enjoy his actions.
Like his friend, Kao is not letting go of his interests without doing something about it. While Solo doesn’t talk, Kao verbalizes everything. Sometimes i worry Phu may lock him in a room and leave him there.
*Hugs 🙂 *
Hey sweetie…..I can call you that, cause you are my peeps. 😁 I am having a much better day today, thank you. 😊
As for Phu and Solo, I agree with you. Solo has been alone and distant from his dad for a long time. They haven’t really gone into his backstory, but since I’ve read the books, I know it’s a personality trait from a painful childhood. Phu too. For me, I know their backgound and who they are portraying, so it’s a perfect fit for their character.
Sorry about Khim. I think for me it’s because it’s done in such a fluffy lighthearted way, I don’t mind her fujoshi tendencies. She doesn’t have any malice in her. It’s not to satisfy a fetish, but because she wants to see people in love. As for the photo I’m glad they called her on it. But I’m sure you’ve seen from episode 3, if you’ve watched it, she’s a multidimensional character, so I’m glad she is not just a stereotype. Also, I’ve got friends who consider themselves fujoshi, as long as they respect the members of the LGBTQ+ community, I don’t think it’s a problem. It’s ok for straight people to like gay content, as well as gay people to like straight content. It’s all good and love is love in my opinion. But I guess that is why she doesn’t bug me. And her role seems to be not to force Dr. Perth into coming out, but giving him clues to recognize his attraction and other people’s. Sometimes when you’ve known someone for so long you tend to not notice the change in feelings of others. Take it from me, I was friends with the hubby for two years in the same friend group and he tells me he was crushing on me the whole time, even described me to me when I asked his ideal type, but I had no idea. So I think maybe she’s there to get him to look up and really see his friend and maybe how his friend feels about him.
Solo is very one tracked. Honestly if I had to characterize him, I think he’s a demisexual, meaning that he falls for the person before developing sexual feelings. The epitome of a slow burn. We don’t get the feeling that he’s full of lust, just full of feelings. Kao is making his intentions known to Phu as well. He’s not going to let this opportunity pass him by. Also Phu is stubborn, so if he really didn’t want to be around Kao, he would have shut him down already. He’s off balance by him but willing to let him in a little.
Hope you are having a good weekend. 😘🤗 – 💕 Jen