MARS: Episode 1 thoughts
Jul. 27th, 2006 12:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dangermousieSo yeah, Day One of the Mars watchalong, with its star-crossed lovers, fast motorcycles, dysfunctional families and more angst than you can shake a stick at. First off I have to say that this remains my favorite dorama (yes, more than MG) and watching just one ep is like that ad for potato chips they had running a while back. Impossible. I strove womanfully though and won through.
Rewatching this is a very interesting experience. Glad to say that it really holds up and knowing the twists doesn't ruin it (though that makes sense, as I've read the manga already by the time I saw this for the first time).
Also, on a very shallow note, Chen Ling=HOT. I don't know if it's the looks or the bad boy/wounded child combo he is totally working, but yum. Especially when he pulls his hair back. And I just want to hug Qui Luo, but then what else is new. Also, because this doesn't deal with the world of the uber-rich like MG, the sets feel more realistic (the rich houses in tdoramas, just like rich houses in Bolly movies always feel like converted hotels to me). Also the clothes in this one, while not gorgeous, don't make me want to poke my eyes out.
I am such a sucker for 'boy saves girl and girl saves boy right back' scenarios and Mars hits that kink dead center. Because at first it starts out as this popular outgoing guy gets interested in this really shy and messed up girl but of course it turns out he is even more messed up than she is. I am a total sucker for those storylines. Total.
And you know what I've forgotten? Ling is fun. I can see why people want to hang around with him. And whatever his issues (and there is a multitude), he might be thoughtless but never malicious. And he has a strong protective streak. And is pretty perceptive. And can be quite gentle.
Favorite moments:
Fave Moment No 1: Ling poking Qui Luo on the side of the face, going 'ding dong' as if he is ringing a bell.
Fave Moment No 2: His borrowing money from her. And then pulling her scrunchy off and saying he'll borrow it too.
Fave Moment No 3: It's my fave this ep. Saving her from the sexual molesting teacher (if the teacher is a sexual predator of some sort, it would make sense he is drawn to QL as he can sense her vulnerability, someone he can exploit). QL freezing because she is flashing back to her rape and then Ling being scary and getting rid of the guy and then gently telling her she shouldn't be helpless because that would make people take more advantage of her and he is rather sad.
I just feel so bad for Qui Luo. She is petrified of the world and she walks with her head hunched in and flinches from any bodily contact. The first moment in this ep, halfway through, when she raises her eyes to look at Ling, is actually startling. Of course, he has his own PTSD if he flips in front of mirrors. Their med bills are going to be huge.
A few more general things really caught my attention this time:
Probably because it's based on a manga, and manga is really good about it in general, I love the fact that the story really doesn't expect us to think Ling and Qui Luo are an OTP because they are the leads but shows them as really compatible. Of course, this gets developed much more through the episodes (this is only a first ep for goodness' sake) but I want to mention how much I love that fact.
There is the fact that both of them are very physically attractive, of course. Ling, even though a victim of feathered hair of which I do not approve on principle but which seems to rule the Asian dramas, is quite quite sexy. And Qui Luo, even bundled in her shapeless outfits and with no make-up has gorgeous skin and is doll-like in her prettiness.
But it's not just that. I can see why they are attracted to each other despite dissimilarities. For the shell-shocked Qui Luo, shy and scared of the world to the point of dysfunction, Ling's very reckless confidence and thoughtless good nature is a magnet. It's something she lacks but also something she is drawn to (as to his violence problem, she makes a spoilery comment later on but yes, it's also something that resonates). More importantly, only someone as confident and even pushy can drag her out from behind the mile thick walls she's built to protect herself from the world. And as to Ling, as the show develops it really seems Qui Luo is his Good Angel, but even early on, I think he is drawn to her because he responds to beauty and emotion (I don't necessarily mean her looks, I mean in her art. Especially since the first drawing of hers he notices is a Mother and Child which we find out is something that would resonate). In a way, he is just as locked up emotionally behind barriers as she is, only his barriers take the shape of outward agression, and I think her fragility and her talent wake something up in him that's been put away (well, I don't know what the spoiler attitude is so I'll just say since certain events in his past). In a way, Ling needs someone to protect. It's not a macho thing really, but it gives his life some meaning outside of self and some structure. The boy lives by himself, isolated and rootless. Caring for someone else, even on a rudimentary level, is a step on a way to rejoining society. And I think also both of them recognize each other's messed-uppedness, in an instinctive way. They are both misfits, fitting into the world at wrong angles, but together they just might work.
The other thing that I noticed is what a turn around these characters are from their characters in Meteor Garden. Most people have seen MG first but I came to MG from Mars and I remember thinking no way could they play their MG characters. They are polar opposites. Where Lei in MG was a passive pensive dreamer, Ling is a a 180 degree turn, all loud and outgoing and agressive. And I loved Shan Cai (just as I loved Tsukushi in all HYD versions) because she was so strong and fearless but Barbie Xu is completely different as Qui Luo who is so withdrawn and shy she can't function.
Also, I love the theme song for this. Love.
Rewatching this is a very interesting experience. Glad to say that it really holds up and knowing the twists doesn't ruin it (though that makes sense, as I've read the manga already by the time I saw this for the first time).
Also, on a very shallow note, Chen Ling=HOT. I don't know if it's the looks or the bad boy/wounded child combo he is totally working, but yum. Especially when he pulls his hair back. And I just want to hug Qui Luo, but then what else is new. Also, because this doesn't deal with the world of the uber-rich like MG, the sets feel more realistic (the rich houses in tdoramas, just like rich houses in Bolly movies always feel like converted hotels to me). Also the clothes in this one, while not gorgeous, don't make me want to poke my eyes out.
I am such a sucker for 'boy saves girl and girl saves boy right back' scenarios and Mars hits that kink dead center. Because at first it starts out as this popular outgoing guy gets interested in this really shy and messed up girl but of course it turns out he is even more messed up than she is. I am a total sucker for those storylines. Total.
And you know what I've forgotten? Ling is fun. I can see why people want to hang around with him. And whatever his issues (and there is a multitude), he might be thoughtless but never malicious. And he has a strong protective streak. And is pretty perceptive. And can be quite gentle.
Favorite moments:
Fave Moment No 1: Ling poking Qui Luo on the side of the face, going 'ding dong' as if he is ringing a bell.
Fave Moment No 2: His borrowing money from her. And then pulling her scrunchy off and saying he'll borrow it too.
Fave Moment No 3: It's my fave this ep. Saving her from the sexual molesting teacher (if the teacher is a sexual predator of some sort, it would make sense he is drawn to QL as he can sense her vulnerability, someone he can exploit). QL freezing because she is flashing back to her rape and then Ling being scary and getting rid of the guy and then gently telling her she shouldn't be helpless because that would make people take more advantage of her and he is rather sad.
I just feel so bad for Qui Luo. She is petrified of the world and she walks with her head hunched in and flinches from any bodily contact. The first moment in this ep, halfway through, when she raises her eyes to look at Ling, is actually startling. Of course, he has his own PTSD if he flips in front of mirrors. Their med bills are going to be huge.
A few more general things really caught my attention this time:
Probably because it's based on a manga, and manga is really good about it in general, I love the fact that the story really doesn't expect us to think Ling and Qui Luo are an OTP because they are the leads but shows them as really compatible. Of course, this gets developed much more through the episodes (this is only a first ep for goodness' sake) but I want to mention how much I love that fact.
There is the fact that both of them are very physically attractive, of course. Ling, even though a victim of feathered hair of which I do not approve on principle but which seems to rule the Asian dramas, is quite quite sexy. And Qui Luo, even bundled in her shapeless outfits and with no make-up has gorgeous skin and is doll-like in her prettiness.
But it's not just that. I can see why they are attracted to each other despite dissimilarities. For the shell-shocked Qui Luo, shy and scared of the world to the point of dysfunction, Ling's very reckless confidence and thoughtless good nature is a magnet. It's something she lacks but also something she is drawn to (as to his violence problem, she makes a spoilery comment later on but yes, it's also something that resonates). More importantly, only someone as confident and even pushy can drag her out from behind the mile thick walls she's built to protect herself from the world. And as to Ling, as the show develops it really seems Qui Luo is his Good Angel, but even early on, I think he is drawn to her because he responds to beauty and emotion (I don't necessarily mean her looks, I mean in her art. Especially since the first drawing of hers he notices is a Mother and Child which we find out is something that would resonate). In a way, he is just as locked up emotionally behind barriers as she is, only his barriers take the shape of outward agression, and I think her fragility and her talent wake something up in him that's been put away (well, I don't know what the spoiler attitude is so I'll just say since certain events in his past). In a way, Ling needs someone to protect. It's not a macho thing really, but it gives his life some meaning outside of self and some structure. The boy lives by himself, isolated and rootless. Caring for someone else, even on a rudimentary level, is a step on a way to rejoining society. And I think also both of them recognize each other's messed-uppedness, in an instinctive way. They are both misfits, fitting into the world at wrong angles, but together they just might work.
The other thing that I noticed is what a turn around these characters are from their characters in Meteor Garden. Most people have seen MG first but I came to MG from Mars and I remember thinking no way could they play their MG characters. They are polar opposites. Where Lei in MG was a passive pensive dreamer, Ling is a a 180 degree turn, all loud and outgoing and agressive. And I loved Shan Cai (just as I loved Tsukushi in all HYD versions) because she was so strong and fearless but Barbie Xu is completely different as Qui Luo who is so withdrawn and shy she can't function.
Also, I love the theme song for this. Love.
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Date: 2006-07-27 04:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-27 04:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-27 07:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-27 07:48 pm (UTC)it wasn't given a good airing time here on my side of the world.
Hey, at least it aired where you are at all. It has never ever aired in the US and I had to track it down :)
I told you I would spam...
Date: 2006-09-05 10:01 pm (UTC)Ah, Mars. So good in so many ways. So I'll limit myself to this one ep.
There's a lot of great stuff in here, and you've hit on most of it -- I admit to having the same "boy saves girl and she saves him back" kink, in a BIG way (another reason you might want to check out the DBY manga, as they stress that heavily). You know what never fails to give me chills, even watching it time and time again? The way they introduce the theme song. They build you up with that fantastic scene of Ling visiting Ming Gao in the hospital, and the amazing job the actors do while the characters try to casually talk about the accident while all the time looking so raw and a little lost -- Ming Gao because he's lost a part of himself, Ling because he doesn't understand the promises Ming Gao has made or why.
Then we see him go and take the bike that nearly destroyed his friend, climb on like it's nothing, and speed off along those long, twisting highways. And the theme song starts up:
"Never believed anything was beautiful in this world
Just pain... and lonliness... a little weariness
Never let anyone into my zero-degree space
Rather be alone than think of anyone else..."
Chills. Chills everytime. It's just a fantastic way to introduce a character. Qing Luo is a bit of a mystery -- we get a good idea of who she is and what she's about from the scene before this, but really, we're about halfway into the series before she truly starts to unravel. But the directors do such an incredible job of showing us who Ling is and what he's about with just this short scene. And I'd argue that the essence of Ling -- his acceptance of chaos, his hedonistic joy in living -- these are the first things we know about him, and they don't really change. His dialogue with Qui Luo in the end suggests his approach to living, and why he chooses to, have changed -- but his concept of what life is remains the same.
Hope I don't come off as completely confusing. ;) Like I said, it's just so much fun to find someone else who likes to look at these shows in-depth.
Re: I told you I would spam...
Date: 2006-09-05 10:54 pm (UTC)Tis didn't come off as confusing at all. I agree, that with QL we get some time to know her, just because she is very reserved and withdrawn. But our introduction to Ling is just like his character. Everything is out there, and we find out the essence of what he is (beneath the layers of messed-up stuff) and only later, as we get to know him better, the fact that underneath the confident exterior is someone who is as damaged as QL. I think that's how the characters carry themselves, too: with QL, you see her weaknesses first and then as you know her more, you see the hidden strengths, and only after a time does she feel secure enough to reveal herself. Ling carries himself supremely confidently, and only if you know him well (as QL and the audience get to do during this) you see all the stuff undereath. Am I making sense? I just think it's an interesting character/storytelling parallel.
take the bike that nearly destroyed his friend, climb on like it's nothing, and speed off along those long, twisting highways.
Do you know, I never ever thought about that. Not once. That the bike is the one that mangled MG. Ling has a complete disregard for physical safety but it's not as if he is a thrill junkie seeking the next rush (Tong Dao is a lot closer to that, getting his jollies off power games). It's just he loves the feeling of absolute freedom and the risks connected to it as worth it. The best thing QL does for him is allow him to have that feeling everywhere, not just on the racing field.
Re: I told you I would spam...
Date: 2006-09-07 07:54 pm (UTC)Am I making sense? I just think it's an interesting character/storytelling parallel.
Perfect sense... another way of looking at it (though I'm not sure it works), is that Ling has all the strength, Qui Luo the self-control. (As in, strength over others versus strength over self.)
Qui Luo sacrifices herself at every turn for the benefit of others, like her mom, (except! when Qing Mei threatens her! Very important scene, if shows the turning of the tide in QL's tendency to bow to everyone else's will), but she has tremendous control over her own actions. It's one of the reasons it takes us so long to know her completely -- her walls drop by millimeters, until the scene where she breaks down in Ling's bedroom and we see just how much pain, grief, and rage she's been holding in all this time.
Ling, on the other hand, has the charisma to get others to go along with him -- or the strength to force it if they don't. But he doesn't have the kind of strength to control himself, which is something you pointed out with the later eps, specifically when he beats Ah Bing's gang bloody and flinches when QL sees it. He is the most unstable element in his life, and he knows it.
And then, like you said, it's their complimentary natures that allow them to come together and help each other. Both are living too much on extremes -- Ling running wild, QL caging herself up in others' expectations. While the people around them, living in between those extremes, don't recognize what would make them go to those lengths, QL and Ling can each unconsciously recognize a kindred spirit -- someone using drastic measures to cope with a world out of their control.
That the bike is the one that mangled MG. Ling has a complete disregard for physical safety but it's not as if he is a thrill junkie seeking the next rush (Tong Dao is a lot closer to that, getting his jollies off power games). It's just he loves the feeling of absolute freedom and the risks connected to it as worth it. The best thing QL does for him is allow him to have that feeling everywhere, not just on the racing field.
I agree completely... if they'd wanted to protray him as a thrill junkie they could have had him excited to receive the bike, or seemingly unconcerned about MG's future. But while he's heartbroken for MG, Ling treats the bike as just a bike. He recongizes its potential and danger, and emrbraces both without flinching. It's just so well done.
Re: I told you I would spam...
Date: 2006-09-07 08:59 pm (UTC)Oh yes. Both QK and Ling are very damaged but while for QL the damage manifests inward, for Ling, it all goes outward, in a destructive radius.
With Ling, any tendencies he might have had to acting out have clearly been excerbated by his horrible circumstances. He is someone who would have always been an extravert (QL strikes me as an introvert).
I mean, his background is enough to mess anyone up: psycho mother who tried to kill him and his brother, and killed herself, meanwhile poisoning them both about their 'father.' And then his brother kills himself. And Ling blames himself and goes nuts. So, while Ling is capable of great tenderness and care (the way he gives up all he's wanted in life, including his very pride, without a second thought, in order to get her away from her horrible family is amazing) and great horribleness (which Tong Dao brings out in him: the scene where he stubs out a cigarette on TD's hand is horrible to watch and freaks me out), his life has pushed him only towards destructive side of the spectrum until QL shows up.
I mean, he's got a horribly messed up family and then there is Sheng who takes one of Ling's best qualities, his fierce protectiveness, and manipulates it to push Ling down a dark long slide, in order to act out things he (Sheng) himself doesn't feel he should. And every time Ling tries to break away (even without realizing this is happening) something pulls him back: Sheng kills himself precisely as Ling is establishing his own (and healthier) indentity precisely because he feels Ling becoming his own person and pulling away.
And that is why QL is so important for Ling. Without her as his 'good angel' (very Victorian concept, but very applicable), when Tong Dao would have shown up, there would have been nothing to stop his falling in. But what QL provides is stability. I don't mean physical stability (though it's clear he never had much of that either, as he's constantly moved around), I mean emotional stability. And by so utterly believing in his being good (despite seeing his worst moments), and never letting him to get away with even joking that he isn't a worthwhile and whole human being, she really helps Ling to believe in it himself.
Ling's never had anyone who's taken care of him (as QL points out). Instead he's had to take care of others. His mother was in no shape to care for anyone, Ling was too distanced from his father to let him in (due to Mother's nutty exortations) and the less said about Sheng, the better. But with QL, he always comes first and she takes care of him, from physical (when he is sick, or when she makes him lunchboxes: and I love how he is totally gleeing about it) to emotional.
But of course, it's a two-way street. Because Ling (and I love that he really is a troubled guy, not some sanitized version who all he does is smoke or something) repays her by getting QL to rejoin the human race, to come out from behind her walls. He teaches her to smile, and to laugh, and to actually stand up for herself. And by getting her emotions to flow out, he enables her to deal with them. Not to mention that QL believes she is as little worthy of love as he does. They both think they are monsters. That love-making scene when she tries to pull her blanket up and whispers 'I am so dirty' breaks my heart. Because she so shouldn't have to deal with that, ever. But then of course his response just kills me. Kills me kills me kills me dead. Somehow, even though they are both groping towards who they are and what to say and how to heal each other, they manage to do the right things, and are two broken people who make each other whole.