I have a habit of struggling to keep posts precise. It used to happen when I was trying to keep to the word limit for assignments. I just tend to write way too much. But I guess for Love Around, this isn’t going to be a problem because… there isn’t much plot development going on? Plus we all know how this is going to end right? So… why am I watching?
Good question. Considering I haven’t seen Love, Now (I’m tempted to, maybe for the first 10 eps at least), only seen Annie Chen in 1/5 of a drama years ago (one which I dropped after about 3 eps) and only heard of George’s name in news headlines… Love Around is really more geared towards existing Wei/Ni (George/Annie) fans. The most shippy/OTP moment that happened in the entire 2+ hours so far… was hidden at the very end of the ‘Behind the scenes’ in episode 2. Yes. That was my favourite part of the first two episodes, and it’s not even in the drama itself.
They were filming the scene where Xiao Shu (Annie Chen) landed on top of Zhou Zhen (George Hu) as they were running away from Jason (Xiao Shu’s ex). When he got up, his knee accidentally hit Annie’s chin. OUCH. But just watching the look on his face as he asked whether she was ok, and then he puts his arm around her to make sure she’s feeling better. That had more chemistry than any other scene I’ve seen so far.
But that is a good thing about weekly dramas. I can continue watching and see if it gets better without too much commitment. Oh did I mention George Hu is eye candy? Just look at that hair. And the voice. And the gangster connection. And the kick ass moves. I never hide the fact that 80% of the time I pick dramas based on actors. Even though I picked Love Around more out of boredom, George is enticing me to keep watching.
So the story – the Chinese name “True Love Black & White Match” really sums it up doesn’t it? Zhou Zhen is the black – coming from a reformed mafia family, even though they just can’t seem to shake their mafia connections and Xiao Shu is the white – coming from a family who believes in justice (her father is a cop) and hates the mafia. They both got dumped by their boy/girl friends and turn to each other to heal their broken hearts. There could be a second lead male/female to try to separate our OTP, but then it’ll probably be more interesting if they concentrate on their respective families’ conflicts.
In episode 2 they also suggested there might be a subplot about Zhou Zhen’s sister meeting some serious looking guy. That bratty, princess sister of Zhou Zhen’s – I have one word to describe her: Annoying. I want to fast forward all her parts already. That meeting she had with the guy where he saved her from the oncoming motorcyclist, the rescue, the spinning thing, her whiny voice, STOP IT. DO NOT CARE. Her friend who has a crush on Zhou Zhen is infinitely more interesting. At least that provided some comic relief.
So after two episodes I really only have two scenes (except the BTS one not actually in the drama) which left a deeper impression on me. First, the rain in episode 1. Xiao Shu is trying to hail a taxi in the rain. She got on the taxi only to realise it was already taken by Zhou Zhen. She apologised and left. Seeing her standing alone in the rain and unable to find another taxi, Zhou Zhen asked the taxi driver to reverse and take her as well. This was one of the few times we see Zhou Zhen’s softer side. He seems to care for others a lot even though he has a cold exterior.
Second scene which left an impression was in episode 2 when they bumped into each other at the karaoke bar. Zhou Zhen was there to celebrate her sister’s friend’s birthday, while Xiao Shu was there for the monthly staff get together, except none of her colleagues turned up because they all had other commitments. So she was sitting alone in a huge room singing sad love songs. He sees her through the door and couldn’t help but see if she’s ok.
Zhou Zhen: You will definitely find a better person.
Xiao Shu: My boyfriend just ran away with someone else, how can you have so much confidence in me?
Zhou Zhen: Because you’re someone who deserves to be loved.
I’m including this little conversation not because it was so enlightening, or touching – but because… it is so overused in dramaland! No wonder after episode 2 I was wondering where did my last hour go? It was like… that’s it?
Even the episode 3 preview is short. What? Xiao Shu meets Zhou Zhen’s ex, they try to open the same door? *DUN DUN DUN* Is that supposed to attract viewers?
I like the ending theme MV though, Annie and George looked beautiful in it. Just hoping I won’t get sick of Bii’s songs because of this drama, I already have ‘Come back to me’ repeating in my head.
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