Finished ep 2 of
The Outsiders 2 this morning.
You know, this drama shouldn't work at all, by any logical standard: it's a midquel so we know not only how the characters start but also how they end up. So where is the suspense, one may ask? And yet, and yet, the fact that most viewers of TO2 know how the story begins, how it ends up, in great detail is really what adds so much to this: we know Ah Hao and Yu Yen are thoroughly, gloriously doomed. We know what will happen to Ah Qi and Hong Do, we know the ultimate fates of the bad guys. And somehow that is what gives the story its heft, that slow slide into inevitable.
A few scattered thoughts on ep 2:
1. I love that Hong Do tells Yu Yen to see a shrink. Because yes, that is what Yu Yen needs, a shrink who is also a rape counsellor, to help her deal with all of this. It is not only her relationship with Ah Hao that will be affected by the trauma and suppression of it (and that is crucial and not just because of sappy OTP >>> everything type of mentality but because her relationship with Ah Hao is all she has, and that is the relationship for the sake of which she cut off all her former ties, so to have it ruined would mean she wrecked her life for nothing) but her own life, her own mental health and happiness desperately need this counselling. But of course Yu Yen never will, and Hong Do does not push. ARGH. If I had my way, I'd tie and drag her to a rape counsellor. She needs it badly.
( Caps from that scene )2. We are watching the slow disintegration of Yu Yen/Ah Hao's relationship and it's horribly painful because no matter what, those are two people who love each other more than anything. I am especially thinking of the scene after they saw Ah Qi and Hong Do off to their new house and then Ah Hao tells Yu Yen they should leave. Yu Yen's protest that they should stay and help the couple unpack is a ridiculous objection at best - clearly Ah Qi and Hong Do do not need any help (unless they are a lot more perverted than we are supposed to believe) in what they want to do as soon as their visitors get the hint and leave. And her second one of this being dark and a long walk (to which Ah Hao points out he will protect her. Um yes. He is a Triad boss) is also spurious. And she knows that. As she thinks to herself, what she is afraid of is really the great big beast of intimacy, or even the specter of it. She is obviously not afraid that Ah Hao would force anything on her (all she has to do is say no, or even hint it, and he'd stop) but she doesn't want to deal with the issue
at all, and she realizes it is slowly creating this huge gap between them but she is helpless to bridge it (Go to a shrink!!!!). The scene where he takes her hand to walk home but she is so much thinking about that issue that she just withdraws her hand and stands there...painful.
( Caps from that scene )3. Ah Hao would have to be as dense as a brick to not notice how Yu Yen is changing, distancing herself (for one, even the densest guy would notice if his gf is doing everything to avoid being intimate with him) and he is not that dense (though I love that the drama, never overtly, is pretty consistent about Yu Yen being smarter generally). The scene where he confronts her with that change and she tells him she is changing to suit his environment and that she didn't want him to join the Mob but he did (and it's such an implicit reproach of course) and she had a choice to make, to leave or stay and she chose to stay, and now it's his choice: she is going to change and he can stay with her or leave her, it's a painful painful scene. They are so messed up! I am also really struck by how much courage (but also dysfunction) it must have taken for Yu Yen to conceal what happened to her and just go on living as much as usual as she can, while living with her boyfriend and concealing it from him as well and...she never really dealt with that trauma, ever. And I really am wondering if chosing to hide it was the best thing she could have done, and whether she should have done it at all. I really think Hong Do and Ah Qi should have taken Ah Hao aside and told him what happened (not before ductaping him first so he couldn't go berserk). Yu Yen shouldn't have to do it, but it might have been healthier for him to find out sooner rather than later. I honestly don't know. He is an impulsive, hot-headed mess and he goes berserk at Yu Yen's lightest scratch, so he might have gone off his head. But it probably would be better than the spaces that are happening and the way he did find out, in TO1.
( Caps from various scenes about that )4. Ah Lie, the undercover police officer is also beginning to get some dirt on him. Yup, everyone gets messed up in TO world. I am not as invested in him yet (I've had 20 eps to love or hate everyone else) but I do like his character. I am amused to see that he seems to be smitten by Yu Yen. I wonder what it is about her that makes these ultra-tough guys (Ah Hao, Danzi, Ah Lie) fall for her. Probably because she appears so fragile despite the inner toughness. I don't blame him because I kinda crush on her myself.
( Caps )5. On a shallow note, it's gotta be the world's biggest waste to have a bf who looks like Dylan Kuo, who is mad about you and who you love, and not be able to sleep with him. Yeah, I am shallow.
6. My conclusion: kidnap all the characters I like and move them far far away from Triads. Canada or somewhere. And get them lots of therapy.
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