95 Comments On “Amidst a Snowstorm of Love: Open Thread”
Good Twin
Ooh happy thread!! Thank you @pmk3!
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
Thanks galore @pkml3!!! OOoooh you chose his eyes! What smoulder in his stare!!! And this was just the first time he caught sight of her. The inexplicable ‘love at first sight’ trope strikes very hot indeed, and I believe it was not one-sided, at least, not for long!
I hope you and everyone who tries this drama will come over here to comment and squee!!
Kelley CC
I found the first episode sooo slow. Have not picked it back up. Will wait to see if you folks recommend it.
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
Hi @Good Twin! Great timing… this thread has just been opened so that we can weigh in with lots more than just ‘how intensely he looks at her!’ comments LOL.
I’m surprised at myself actually, I didn’t think I’d want to rewatch bits or most of Show and continue with it for long. But I’m past the half-way point in the series, and am eager to watch the episodes that will air tonight!
Unlike with “Love Me, Love My Voice” (LMLMV), I’m more invested in this couple. I feel heartstrings being tugged and a great desire to see either character and both together, succeed in what they do. This must be testament to how well they express their emotions, even with all the mundane dialogue they have to speak. I must admit though that the dialogue does improve, although not by as much as I’d like.
This Writer seems to like her male characters to become sort of tongue-tied and brain-fried when they are in love lOL. Maybe it’s her idea of a cute male character. I was amused that there is another couple and the same lack of being able to say the needful. (The same situation in LMLMV).
I’ve in mind to list the common characteristics of this Writer’s male protagonists in love. I feel they’d be possible candidates for the Boyfriend Hall of Fame, plus give us some giggles as to our fantasies about what the perfect boyfriend would be like.
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
Hi @Kelley CC, I began saying the same as you… slow…everything slowly… and that there is no actual plot, BUT… from Episode 6, the pursuit is confirmed and we watch what the girl will do. ππ₯°
Bosuji
Yay!!!
I am not reading this thread yet π
For fear of knowing anything before I watch..
Been looking forward to any / all shows of Leo Wu (Wu Lei) since :
~ LLTG
~ Upcoming Summer ( precious gem of a film)
Squirreled away “Nothing but You” for a rainy day.. First nibble on Ep 1 was SO delish.
Excited to watch this..but will wait till it cans.
I am a binge-watcher (sigh!) – like to have when I watch in my firm grip and not on the weekly drip ππ«£
Thanks for choosing this show here.
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
Hi @Bosuji, if you’re interested in a LLTG rewatch, there’s going to be one in mid-March but not here. It will be on the Fangirl Verdict blog site. Let me know if you want more details.
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
AMIDST A SNOWSTORM OF LOVE (βSnowstormβ for short)
(Definition βsnowstormβ = a heavy fall of snow especially with high wind)
I should have guessed that a title with the word βstormβ in there somewhere should indicate that all would not be only plain sailing, totally angst free and or free from high velocity winds. However I still do not expect that Show will have overmuch in the way of pain or suffering for anyone either, (Iβm guessing Writer wonβt go there because she hasnβt before, but I could be wrong!) but I do see that thereβs room for a few characters to grow, which is what I enjoy watching in any drama.
I was saying before that I thought this would be a series I could dip into from time to time, without feeling a compulsion to hit play Next at the end of each episode, but strangely Iβm wrong! I find our leads riveting. Their pauses to think and their slow responses take place amidst a myriad expressions and I wait with bated breath to know if they are going to just say something mundane or heart-tugging or nothing at all. LOL.
I wrote on the MMH thread: I like that the male lead is not just good and gets everything right from beginning to end, but is impulsive and flawed and growing as a character. He is going to have to reverse the ill-effects of what he did in the past. The female lead is also not as colourless as feared and the romance has room to grow, so there is something to look forward to.
Iβll see if I can post some notes on the episodes. I have not actually taken any but thoughts flit through my mind as I watched. π
agdr03
Hi! I will watch this too because of Wu Lei. π
I had to figure out first what I’m giving up for Lent before I dive into it.
I’ll drop by once I start it. π
Thank you Queen!
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
Hi @agdr03! I applaud you for seriously starting your Lenten preparation! Yes, besides the fun and games and food (what with Chinese New Year!) there is too much enjoyment as we enter Lent LOL. I have the excuse that if I don’t help to eat up the snacks, they may get throw away!!!
As for Shows, if I ask to start the thread, then I hang around to keep it going. Giving up one of these fun things is going to be a challenge!!!
Good Twin
@GB – I feel like @Kate should be here too! @Kate I hope all is well with you and we hear from you about the intensity that is Wu Lei!
Such fun!
Cleopatra
Kalimera Ladies!
As I have said, I am up to date until Episode 16. I am enjoying this and I find it totally different from “Love Me, Love My Voice”.
Still, Li LiYang is a fascinated character if we see how far he has come.
He is an orphan. For two years, he took care of his younger brother by himself. Then he became a billiard champion. Then he quit for the reasons we know. Then, he immigrated to Finland and did his degrees. He was almost accepted to a PhD programme – we don’t know if he enrolled.
As for Yin Guo, there were times in episodes 5-8 that she was acting immature. Yes, I know she is 21. The boy doesn’t talk much and he said so to her repeatedly. He mostly shows that he likes her with his actions (all the time!). Then, he tries to say some things about his past and she shuts him out. I was “oh boy” she didn’t realize, that was not easy for him?
Anyway, I am enjoying this.
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
Hi @Good Twin, thanks for the reminder! Yes @Kate is about but may not be able to come into BOD because of some technical issues. I hope she, @Fern, and @Cleo can join us on this thread! π
Fern
I’m here. I’m loving the snowy Helsinki scenes. Thank you, @packmule3. πͺπ¨β I think you might like the relationship in this drama.
Wu Lei certainly has a hypnotic gaze when he is interested in someone. I haven’t watched him in other dramas before, but he can convey a lot as an actor. His character Lin Yiyang’s laconic style in the first episodes is in part because he is inexperienced with women and also because he doesn’t want to be arrogant.
I like that he’s smitten, but as @GB said, flawed. Like Mr Darcy, he realises this and is reflecting on how he acted in the past, so we will see growth. Currently he has a lot of friends, but I think it wasn’t always so. I’m just starting episode 8.
While it started slowly, I am also very drawn to the main characters. This is another drama that will spoil me for more standard dramas, I think. The FL Yin Guo is realistically modest and cautious for a young woman on her own, and also reflective, but not passive. She thinks before she acts. As time goes on, she calls him out when she wants something. –For him not to go easy on her when they play a game of pool for example.
Fern
I was chuckling when an opponent called Wu Lei’s character a ‘Pretty Boy’ at the start of a pool game towards the beginning of the drama. I would expect it of a character played by Chen Zheyuan (Hidden Love) but I think Wu Lei has more of a striking look than pretty, which can have a more feminine connotation. I would blame it on the translation, but they were speaking English.
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
@Fern, somewhere in the later episodes, Yin Guo calls him unapproachable but had to admit that his face was great LOL. Still she did not use the word pretty, I don’t think. I’d put him down as having striking, good looks, but manly and not at all feminine.
Fern
I think it was episode 8, which I’ve just seen. She said, ‘Let me help you.’ He replied, ‘People rarely say that to me.’ She said he had an unapproachable look. I agree. He can look daunting.
Interesting that her brother said he was like a plucked eagle, a turtle dove in the city. Just because he seems kinder than in the past. We’ll see…
Episode 8 was sort of sensual torture with everything moving in slow motion and not resolving.
Fern
@Growing Beautifully, you and I have the same opinion.
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
Oh wow …. Episode 20 …. so good …. happy tears.
Good Twin
I just finished episode 18 which I liked because it set up some conflict between the couple. I liked the scene at the car – he is upset after having his apology rebuffed and she goes out to the parking lot to see him. He angrily tries to kiss as if to mark her as his and her she tells him no. I thought she particularly did a good job at communicating her hurt and anger towards him with almost no dialogue. I’m thinking if the old coach forgives him it will help soften the her mother’s prejudice against him.
I’m sure I’ll like it but I have a lot on my plate right now. Maybe next time.
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
Hiding and Revealing Oneself
The teenage (16 years old?) Lin Yi Yang made a mistake in his youthful career, which could have been easily settled, but which became a βbigβ mistake because of his pride. He quit his Snooker Club and went into hiding, only keeping in contact with a few of his contemporaries, and ending up in Finland where he seems to have partially re-invented his identity as a hard-working student, dependable employee, generous helper of friends, and well-respected billiards βmasterβ who tutored others. He embarked on his dream to hone the skills of other billiards players by offering them a billiards hall where they could train, and by giving them a training programme.
In the first few minutes of Episode 1, we see that despite being hidden behind a scarf and thick hood, YY was recognised by a passing stranger, but he chose to lie that the stranger was mistaken. He remained hidden until he saw Yin Guo through the window of The Red Fish pub. He seems to have stopped in mid stride in the blasting wind, arrested by the sight of her.
Yin Guo was also partially hidden behind the condensation that frosted the window pane. She drew a sad face on the glass and then wiped it off. Although we never see her look up to notice that YY was standing outside staring at her, her voiceover tells us that she was quite aware of him. βI do not know how long I was on the phone that day. And he kept watching me through the window.β
When YG finds to her surprise and consternation that the strange man whoβd been staring at her had bought her a cocktail and was offering to share his cab with her and cousin Xiao Tian, sheβs hesitant and discomfited. To allay her suspicions, YY does the opposite of what heβd been doing for 15 years. He revealed most of his official personal details to her by showing her his ID, his University Card and even his passport (stuff we donβt normally show even our close friends!).
YG is understandably stunned and embarrassed. She hardly takes the opportunity to know the personal details of the stranger except his name, age, and that he was studying in her best friendβs alma mater. She is too cautious to take this as an opportunity to reciprocate by telling YY anything about herself. It is only when her cousin gives her YYβs Wechat so that they can meet with him to buy him a meal, that YG introduces herself to YY.
(To be continued)
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
(Continued)
In Ep 2, itβs one week later and YG has forgotten that she had introduced herself to YY on Wechat. To break the awkward silence she gives a formal introduction, while they are seated on opposite sides of the train aisle. In his usual stiff way, YY ends her introduction by saying he knows. He then gives her a serious brief summary about himself which she finds to be too stilted an intro, as if they are on a blind date.
YY ends off saying βIs there anything else that you want to know? Just ask me.β This is around the 2nd or 3rd time in 2 episodes that heβs said that to her. He wants her to know him or he wants to reveal more of himself to her, but he does not know how to go about it naturally the way WW and XT do.
In Ep 3, I was amused by how the more chatty Wu Wei on finding out that he and YG were both joining the 9-Ball Open tournament could easily get to shake YGβs hand, while YY looked on jealously. A few moments later, WW gets her Wechat so that they could settle the rental of rooms and again YY has this look on his face! LOL. And WW hardly spent a cent on getting to know YG, while YY had splurged a lot for the comfort and safety of the girl.
Thank heavens for friendly, easy-going Xiao Tian who had gotten hold of YYβs Wechat and kept up contact with him, or else both YY and YG would not have been able to get beyond being strangers!
When Jiang Yang brought the young team members to meet YY in Finland, the latter was not at all encouraging towards them, even though some of them had been with him 15 years before. He only began the process of opening up to the possibility of being known and seen again in the Snooker circuit, because wanting to be with YG gave him a direction and stronger purpose. He would have to choose to make his dream come true back home where he could not longer hide.
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
EPISODE 2 and 3 β The episodes of opportunities
Since Writer-nim has this thing for making her leading men the rather shy, clueless, silent types in the beginning of relationships⦠who speak only briefly and lack the social skills to carry on a lengthy conversation with the girls they like, she then has to come up with multiple scenarios in order to throw ML and FL together in situations where they can do stuff together, albeit still rather silently LOLOL. (Pre-assurance⦠the guy does end up talking more overall as time passes, so hang in there!)
What gets me tickled are the number of times YY says to YG: βIs that all you want to ask?β Or βwhy did you stop talking?ββ¦ βIf thereβs anything else you want to know, just ask.β And all this without realising that heβd sort of killed the flow of conversation by something that heβd said.
I found upon rewatch that Episode 2 was the episode of Making Opportunities and Having Golden Opportunities Fall Into YYβs Lap (Heh!)
We like our would-be boyfriends to be attentive, pro-active, full of initiative and caring, and we get just that in YYβs character.
He was quick on the uptake that YGβs unease with him was due to unfamiliarity and lack of trust and he took action to eradicate that by showing her his personal valid documents to prove that he was bona fide.
He assessed what YG and her cousin needed and immediately offered food and drink and a ride.
Remotely, when the cousins made the mistake of going to Hexin (no such location in Finland?) YY gets his friend to buy dinner for them (but they refuse the meal).
Not only did he pay attention to YG but he noted that XT was interested in his University and got his classmate to show XT around the campus.
Although he leaves early to play the promised game for his friend, opportunities to be with YG fall into his lap again when YGβs friends (Sun Wei and an unnamed girl) bring her to watch the informal billiard challenges and she sees YY there. He wins the game effortlessly and in watching him, YG feels that sheβs seeing the real YY.
YGβs thoughts in voiceover : βThinking back to this night later, I always thought this was the moment when I got to know Lin Yi Yang. Here, this Chinese guy in a billiards room is the real him. Heβs indolent, talented, and unrestricted by rules. He doesnβt care about the results, winning or losing in front of the opponent. A Chinese man.β Perhaps watching him for a change, after he’d been watching her, sets her a little more at ease to being alone with him.
Upon completing the game, he takes the opportunity to greet her and the unnamed friend immediately twigs to the interest between YY and YG. She removes the third wheel, Sun Wei, so that YY and YG can have time to βcatch upβ LOL.
Tongue-tied again they spin a ball each on the billiards table while not exactly looking at each other. YY rolls his orange ball to hit the ball YG is holding, a sign (as if we needed one) that he wanted to make contact. He tells her that heβd heβd take her home, if she was okay with that arrangement, and they end up on an impromptu βdateβ of sorts. On the subway they make awkward introductions of themselves, and YG is embarrassed, thinking that they sound as if they are on a blind date, not realising that in effect they were! What are blind dates after all, but opportunities for strangers/acquaintances to meet and get to know if they may be attracted to each other.
(Continuedβ¦)
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
(Continuedβ¦)
In her text message to her cousin, YG inadvertently lets on to YY that sheβs hungry, and YY gets trusty WW (whoβs in the middle of shampooing his hair, poor chap) to book a table at their friendβs restaurant so that he can feed the girl. To ease her discomfort over eating together with him, he bluffs that Wu Wei had asked him to eat ramen that night and gets her to join them. He does not let on that itβs his birthday! His thoughtfulness should be appreciated!!!
Whether deliberately or not, he makes it even harder for her to refuse, when he says that he had not yet had his dinner, that he had planned to eat after winning the game (sounds arrogant, but heβs just so sure of himself! An attractive trait?), but had forgotten when he met her. LOL. She would feel guilty for distracting him from his dinner! Hence the girl was going to be beholden to him for yet another meal.
In Episode 3, YY has his opportunity to bring YG back to the hotel. The sight of a couple making out in front of it is suggestive and embarrasses YG who pretends she does not see it by turning towards the gas station and speaking seriously about the bad tasting hotdog she had bought there. Unknown to her, YY has thoughtfully called down her cousin to accompany her to her room so that she would not be accosted by strangers and drunks from the hotel bar.
YY then does a strange thing β¦ he goes to the gas station to buy the unappetising hotdog to try it for himself, just because YG had eaten it before and had spoken of it so determinedly. LOL. In a later episode, we will find out that in a similar gesture, YG had kept two of the coffee beans that YY had given to her in Episode 2. I imagine it was because he had been the one to give them to her, and she could not just throw them away! But their continued existence on the table in her room told YY (when he saw them) that she was not averse to his attentions.
One of the best, indirect opportunities that took place the same night, was that Wu Wei intentionally posted that Lin βhas a crush on someoneβ (in literal translation it was βhas someone in his heartβ). Lin ordered him to delete the post, and he did so a few minutes later, but not before several others had seen it. This could be what paved the way for YY a bit later.
I thought it sweet that YY by his generosity and determined attempts to spend time with YG, actually managed, without trying too hard, to celebrate his birthday in a very low-key way together with her. He totally deserved to have a happy birthday!
agdr03
@GB, I remember giving up watching dramas. Was it last year? π€ Anyway Iβm sure Lent will pass by quickly again. I mean time here just flies very quick.
Iβm hoping to start on Snowstorm ( good choice of title because I thought the initials itself is a bit rude – AAS then itβs AASOL π)
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
@agdr03 LOLOL, I never tried the acronym for this show, but good grief!!! The title creators should check on how it read when shortened. We’ll keep to ‘Snowstorm’ thanks very much! ππ€£
Fern
@agdr03, trust you to find something humorous with the initials! π€£π€£π€£
agdr03
@GB, I only realised it when I was typing my comment. π
Snowstorm! Yep! π€£
agdr03
@Fern, it wasnβt intentional, believe me. π
Fern
@packmule3, no problem. I’m limiting myself, too.
Maybe the next time you have a long flight. The characters are great and the acting is strong.
Fern
@GrowingBeautifully, thank you for your thoughtful recaps. They capture the feeling of the drama but still leave me thirsty for a watch.
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
@Fern, it’s my pleasure and I’ll be very happy if readers are encouraged to watch this Show. It’s become a rather great pleasure to watch the episodes as they air and then to re-watch to catch what I missed.
It turns out that there’s a bit more plot to the running of the clubs, and to the various relationships than expected, which is a good thing. This is such a vast improvement upon LMLMV that I wonder if an additional Writer has been called in. π
Janey
Ok, Iβm watching this! @GB said I can squee! Squee!!! Those eyesβ¦ I think I can watch this guy just to see him smile which did not happen in ep1 so on to ep2. Iβm sad to see Lin forlorn and in a very cold country. Glad he still has some friends and that he is interested in this girl. The twins are a fun duo, the brother is kind of comedic relief.
YG being cautious and all is good. As a traveler and meeting strangers, we have to be wary yet respectful. Iβm just surprised, they did not have a hotel reservation or Helsinki is not their final destination and got caught in snowstorm? I was not sure if that was the case. Iβve never gone to a new city and donβt have a hotel! And in winter! Itβs great to find fellow countrymen in a foreign place and get helped by them.
Will come back when I finish the next episode.
Fern
Hi, @Janey. Great to have you aboard.
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
Hi @Janey! I’m so glad to have you here with us! Yes, squees galore if we do it every time he looks at her. (Look forward to the time that she reciprocates those stares!)
Yin Guo’s with her cousin (who is 3 hours younger than her from another family) and it is strange that they go to spend weeks in Helsinki, before his school term starts, without booking any accommodation.
It is one of the things about the Chinese that they help each other with a more communal mindset, but at the same time, there’s the tension of not taking advantage of each other and the need to reciprocate when others (especially strangers) are generous. These tensions are at play in YG’s mind as she tries to navigate being the older one who takes care of her cousin, while accepting help from strangers.
Enjoy your watch!
Janey
Thanks @Fern and @GB
Ah, so YGβs companion is her cousin! Thanks for the info @GB. Watching ep2.
I cannot bear the cold! Brrr! Itβs interesting to see the day to day in Finland.
Cleopatra
Kalimera @Janey!
It is good to have you on board! I haven’t watched the newest episodes aka 17-20, but I will do so the following days!
Fern
Just a tourism note. I’ve been trying to guess the locations of scenes in this but it’s difficult. Many of the Finnish scenes are in Helsinki. The seafront restaurant where Yin Guo bought Lin a meal of lobster pasta is there – the name was clearly marked. But I can’t figure out where the fictitious university city is where Lin studies. It would be 3 hours by train, I think, from Helsinki.
I did laugh a bit at the beautiful apartment furnished so nicely but rented to students. I was looking at the decorations and thought that no landlord in their right mind would rent a place with so many breakable things to students coming and going from other countries. I’ll bet in the credits one might find it’s an AirBnb or similar advert.
Their flight to the “Island” I located in the French Alps because of where they first stopped high up and spoke about the stars. There was a “Chalet Nordique du Plateau” behind them. https://www.semnoz.fr/ski-nordique/
The mountain lake would be Lake Annecy which has a Pont des Amours (trust the French).
Wonderful @Fern! Thank you for the information on the locations.
I, too, was wondering where the places are that Yi Yang is supposed to have studied in, lived/worked in and the scenic spots. Show does not seem to want to advertise the country… there are so few road signs/signboards in all the scenes, or only ones that are too far away and hard to read.
I wondered if it was a condition for using Finland as the backdrop for the Show. If I were in the Finnish tourism board, I’d have jumped at the chance to get many places well showcased, with maps and signs for all viewers to see!! LOL.
Cleopatra
Hey @Fern
Thank you for the Info. You have guessed right on the locations you have posted!
I have found a post on MDL, where some locals posted the shooting locations!
Thanks, @Cleopatra, for the MDL list of locations. How interesting that Helsinki didnβt get or ask for more publicity. I suspect that the show proposed it but the city didnβt want to pay the price requested, so the show blocked as much information as possible. The lobster restaurant on the harbour and the Chateau Nordique must have come to an agreement because their logos/names were clear. The names of other restaurants and locations were changed according to MDL. Also, the OTP was supposedly travelling to an island, unless that was mistranslated.
So interesting. Finland and the Haute Savoie are places I have always wanted to visit.
Cleopatra
@Fern,
You are welcome. At first I was trying to understand where HULL was. LOL
The same thing applies to “Descendants of the Sun” that filmed it in several locations around Greece but they said it was a weird war zone.
I would love to visit that part of the world too. It is interesting isn’t it? To drink your coffee in a place where the OTP filmed their scenes.
Have you heard what happened with the CLOY locations in Netherlands? Many people were visiting the lake making lots of noice. So, the village have decided to have some visitors enter the village at specific hours, but you have to pay a ticket first!
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
Wow! Thanks @Cleo! So nice to see the actual locations. Fans of the show really took the trouble to match the screenshots to the places so that we can recall which is which. Kudos to them!
Yes, because the names were changed, I couldn’t find the places on a map. I’d love to travel to places that appear in Shows, but I agree, tourists can be a pain. LOL.
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
Episode 23 and 24 so emotional, so good. Ep 23 so much is said in English by the one who hardly speaks LOL. Ep 24 full circle.
monmor
Many may already know this. It was a mystery to many visitors to I think the chateau frontenac in quebec city because there were so many asian tourists there just hanging out in the front. Courtesy of the Goblin.
Janey
Kalimera @Cleo! Happy to be watching this with you and BOD! Iβm also watching Dr Slump! Thanks for the locations, will check it out the link later. Several of my friends actually visited CLOY locations in Switzerland and had to pay β¬5 each for posing at the lake dock! LOL!
Iβm at ep6 and enjoying it so far. Same as @GB, Iβm liking this OTP better than LMLMV (I watched a bit and dropped it, did not get to comment much).
As an immigrant, itβs a challenge to find a good community to belong in a new place. Seeing how well connected Lin is with different people, he has build up his network/community by working in multiple jobs and also focusing on his strength (teaching snooker). Happy to see them rooting for him and his budding romance with YG! He is very lucky to have this and it is a testament to him being a good person.
His βlove languageβ is having food, treating a person for a meal. He mentioned that makes him boring and his food focus stemmed from being poor and hungry when he was a kid. I like knowing these insight on him, how your youth experience shaped the person you are.
Looking forward for their relationship to start blooming! And we have some potential hurdles with YGβs brother.
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
Hi @Janey, yes the same thought came to me as I watched… YY’s love language is to feed the girl LOL. I think overall his love language is Gift Giving. He does not say much (in the early episodes) but he saves in order to splurge on the girl.
Ah look forward to the YG older cousin-brother twist. The views of observers were not actually accurate.
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
All remaining episodes have dropped at one time!! My only grouse is that they have cold opens and the ending song gets cut. And of course the inserted ads are there but some of them feature Leo Wu Lei so that’s not too bad.
A satisfying conclusion to a good series!
Good Twin
@GB. I intend to finish over the weekend. I thought this series stayed strong as it shifted from their courtship to competition and ML’s return to China and making peace with himself and his coach. I loved the angelic Mr. He. Of course he would bear no grudges against his young rash protege.
I understand some episodes were cut so that may explain why the second leads stories didn’t really develop (unless something happens the last six episodes). I’m not sure I would have stuck with this drama if I had to wait a week between new episodes – but it has been a very satisfying watch. I know ML is the star power but I thought FL especially shined. She is a natural beauty and a very naturalistic actor. While the character seemed young at times it was age appropriate and she never acted childish- which is my biggest beef with many cdramas the infantilization of mature women.
Fern
@Good Twin and @Growing Beautifully, here in the UK I have to wait until tomorrow to watch the last 2 episodes.
I really like the FL as well. In rl sheβs only 21, so sheβs very similar in age to her character. The ML is 24, so actually younger than his character. I think their acting together has been fantastic and, for me at least, much more believable as a couple than the LMLMV OTP.
Iβm looking forward to seeing the last episodes!
Good Twin
@packmule3 thank you again – this has been a fun watch and thread!
π@GB deserves the credit. She requested the thread to be opened for you all and I merely executed it.
After that, it was up to you to make the make an open thread fun, amusing, entertaining, insightful, etc. with your posts and commentaries.
So thank YOU. ππ
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
Oh shucks @pkml3! Thanks for the credit and you’re very welcome!! It’s such a pleasure to be here just waxing silly or not-so-lyrical or tryhard-to-be-analytical LOL.
I just put down the thoughts that fly by before I forget them (and forget them, I do, quite soon after posting them!!!) and the credit then goes to those who come to chat and carry on the conversation. The polite exchange of opinions and analyses is what makes the thread great. π
This simple portrayal of falling in love has been a great watch. It continues to have the Writer’s hallmark of sweetness in relationships and to showcase the traits of a ‘perfect’ boyfriend, while incorporating believable conflict, and of course the all important character growth.
I agree with @Good Twin that it was great the female lead was never cutesy although young and inexperienced. I liked how she gave whenever she could.
And also that the second lead romances were not given the time to develop, which I feel is a bit of a pity. We do not find out who married whom. Probably 1 episode worth of time could have been taken from the long staring sessions, to have given the 2nd leads a bit more screen time π
I’d also have liked to have seen more family interactions and how the clubs under YY achieved the aims he set… but that would have had to cover more decades of time. And of course, I’d have liked to see YY and YG with a baby of their own.
My brief review:
– It was lovely to look at, although Finland could have been showcased even more with more scenes of vistas.
– The music was even more ear-wormy for me than LMLMV’s music and I want to put the OSTs into my car so that I can drive and listen.
– The actors did a more than usual outstanding job in speaking English. Kudos to Leo Wu for the long speech he gave in English.
– The characters personalities were more well-balanced and mutually giving overall and well-acted. They were very satisfying to watch. On character growth… it was great to see that several side and even incidental characters like the critical big sister had a chance to improve.
– I really liked that despite having to make changes, characters stayed true to themselves and didn’t get a transplanted personality or mindset.
– The other theme of contributing to the game, to the Motherland, and back to the community/club was also well brought out while only very briefly highlighted the challenges of developing a sport. The competitions were riveting, with several long enough shots (without edits) to make it seem that the actors really could play the game quite well. These took away the boredom out of just seeing a couple being coupley.
– The bookendings and coming back full circle were sweet.
After watching Road Home (which I only have a vague memory of), LMLMV and Snowstorm, I’ve noted a list of traits that Writer-nim wants in a perfect boyfriend. It’s both good and bad to know this, because her next show will elicit expectations either that it will be predictable and boring or that the beloved traits are missing if she changes direction.
Among them, I’d have liked for a change if Writer-nim would allow her male lead to also receive financial help from the girl, since she was rich with prize money and dying to share it with him LOL. More on that in another post.
I’d still recommend this Show for anyone who just wants to relax peacefully, following one of the themes of the Show, assured that in the moving forward slowly with good intentions, step-by-step, with persistence, in spite of things not going according to plan, life will work out.
agdr03
I havenβt started this yet but here is Wu Lei with Love and Shine, OST for the drama. π₯°
Thanks @agdr03! I do like the OSTs including ‘Love and Shine’. I thought his rendition of it was a bit diffident and therefore ‘sweet-cute’. It was the first song that was played live when our couple met at a small bar.
And in the making of the full circle, we hear the same song, in the same place, with the same two at the end, but this time show gives us the rendition sung by Leo Wu Lei. *too sweet!*
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
Here are the 2 leads at an Elle interview. They are just very natural and good to look at.
WARNING some SPOILERS… don’t click unless you don’t mind SPOILERS!!!Β
Fern
Thank you, @GB. I’ll watch the video after I finish the show today. π The two leads did so well.
agdr03
Thanks @GB! π₯°
Iβll definitely watch it. They say it might be Wu Leiβs last modern drama in awhile as he will concentrate on doing movies instead.
Hopefully it wonβt be that long. I like him more in modern dramas than period ones EXCEPT for Love Like The Galaxy. π
Janey
Ep 7-9 just had me smiling and squee-Ing the whole time! Young love, sweet love. Lin is seriously pursuing and YG canβt help but fall for him. And i expected more conflict with older brother, but no – everyone wants to lure Lin back to his homeland and do what he does best and play. His former opponents respect his talent. Lin gets the thumbs up from everybody as good boyfriend material. YG is kinda swept off her feet and agree with everyone who assumes she is his girlfriend. LOL!
One scene that was memorable to me was when Lin accompanied YG to meet with her coach and teammmates and he got challenged to play (by the suitor of YG). Instead of playing a game and beating them outright, he did a learning exercise (place the ball anywhere on the table 50 times and see how many he can pocket). It was a very mature and sensitive move so as not to rock their confidence when they lose, given the time is very close to the competition date. Aww⦠Lin was being a good coach, indirectly.
Itβs long weekend in the US so more time for squeeing! Thanks @GB and @PM3 for this thread.
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
@Janey Yes I was smiling and squeeing most of the time Eps 7-9. The gentle progress as YY kept bringing on the moves… the woo-ing was continual. I can’t recall if it was in the interview or at the end of the Show, in the lyrics of an OST or that Actor LWL in his character as YY mentioned how his love for YG took over everything in his life. It shows in how he is with her, providing on the spot, and how he has her in mind for his major decisions and plans.
I was writing a few notes and laughing to myself that we have YY’s … Bid to Kiss the Girl taking place concurrently with the attempt of all and sundry who are his contemporaries to Woo YY Back Home.
Who will win their bid first? LOLOL.
I really like that despite his attempts to hide away and avoid his old friends/rivals, they recall the good in him. YG’s brother could not find him all those years but he must have done some research on him, because he could tell YG that she had chosen well… YY is decent and would make a good boyfriend.
I guess a lot is owed to friendly Xiao Tian whom YY befriended first. XT must have given his family and friends a glowing review of YY for his generosity and care, even when they were strangers. Of course, at that time already, YG had been YY’s objective, but he was universally good to all who knew him in Finland, and likely would have offered some help to XT even if he had not already been smitten by YG.
@Janey, yes I really liked that scene where YY showed how considerate he was. Even YG’s coach knew his ability and that he’d have trounced the team members and broken their confidence if he’d played with them. It’s true that he, too was a coach. I like his point of view, that even the ordinary person who wanted to play for fun, should be coached, should e given an opportunity to enjoy the game. He was not out just to find star players and only give them attention.
Taking on the losses of renting a whole billiards hall just so that people would have an inexpensive place to practise in, and not boasting about it. These are some of the hallmarks of this Writer’s fave boyfriends.
I wish I had all the time in the world to rewatch and write up notes. I’ll just leave my thoughts here and there when I can! Enjoy the rest of the series! π
Good Twin
@Janey there is a scene in one of those episodes where he is just leaning in close and it was ….hot (words escape me). The tired trope of the almost kiss doesn’t seem so tired with the right actors and the script making it feel organic.
Janey
@GB, I hope I can lure you back in with my comments so you can share some snippets of your thoughts. βΊοΈ Iβll try to continue to provide key and notable scenes and feedback as I watch.
@GoodTwin – IKR? That was the refrigerator scene when he whispered to her ear to sleep! How can she sleep after that?! LOL! I agree the OTP makes these type of scenes seem fresher. There was not aegyo or overacting or cutesy moves. Even the start of the holding hands was not corny. It feels natural.
monmor
So many comments! I wll tune back in to this show. I was finding it a little on the slow side, but it sounds like it might be Developing more plot.
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
Thoughts on the Other Attempt at Woo-ing
While YY is making his moves to woo YG, we find that attempts are also being made to woo YY back to China and back to an official role in Snooker and especially back to the Dongxin City Club.
Like YG at first, he similarly fights shy of being found by his contemporaries, friends, rivals in competition, juniors who come to meet up with him: offering gifts, giving attention, praising his abilities. He literally runs away to the laundry room where he can date YG without the crowd of people trying to get his attention LOL.
In Ep 1 he had refused to acknowledge whom he was to the Chinese strangers (probably fans of the game), but he could not just let the strangers waste their time at the subway and came back to tell them to take a cab. His kindness won out even when he wanted to hide and disappear.
He credits (later) YG as the one who drew him out, but I believe he would have still come forward to help ultimately, when it became evident that he was the main, best or only person to do a task.
It was because he was attracted to YG that he showered her and Xiao Tian with a drink each, a ride to the hotel, etc… so she does get credit for this part. And because of this generosity it led to XT spreading word of YY. Word of YY got to reach Jiang Yang, Coach He and Xiao Dong. All these or their representatives came all the way to Finland to see YY and to suggest that he returned.
I was amused that the so-called ‘enemy’, XD was the one quickest on the uptake and figured out the best way to get YY back. He guessed that YY’s generosity had something to do with YG and promoted YY to her and got her flustered by assigning her the task to bring back her man LOL. If all else failed, there was always love for his pretty cousin! In the end, he was right.
YY wore a compass without a needle because he was drifting without a direction. He had paths ahead of him… stay in Finland to do the PhD, work there, and/or train others while running his billiards hall, … but he had no end goal until he decided that YG was the one he wanted to be with forever.
In the end, while he wooed YG successfully, she too inadvertently wooed him back. He would still have to decide if he would just quietly be a citizen outside the ‘circle’ of Snooker and billiards players while being her boyfriend, but the love for the game, the love for his family and his sense of responsibility for the greater objective were stronger than his self-centredness.
I like that the undercurrent theme is a parallel with his relationship, of finding where one belongs and returning home: a growing from being a mere impulsive, arrogant, hot-tempered child to awareness of one’s mistakes to becoming humble and making things right, a move to take responsibility for one’s actions even if these would preferably have been avoided. He had been in avoidance mode for too long, living only for the day and for himself. And I like the other message that comes through gently, that ultimately it is better we do what we can for the greater good and not just for ourselves. (Yes it’s partly a nationalistic message, but it’s true in all things too.)
Fern
@GrowingBeautifully, I don’t think anyone could summarise this better. I’m still waiting for the last episodes to drop on Viki here, but think I can see where this is going. (Where I left off, he was headed to a pharmacy…) I hope that all of the rest of the episodes drop tomorrow.
I like the idea of supporting those who can’t otherwise participate and the idea of a greater good.
Janey
@GB, you are spot-on about the other wooing happening in this drama! Lin is being pursued quite actively, and as XD gauged his skills with their mock game, Lin is in his prime. Iβm glad the show did not blow up this βenemyβ as a big conflict to the romantic relationship. It keeps the focus of the story on Lin and his personal journey to finding the βneedle in his compassβ, to find his true north.
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
Hello @Fern and @Janey, I posted more on YY’s being pursued above. In the end he got the girl through his unrelenting commitment, and he was wooed home also because of it LOL. In effect, I guess he ‘wooed’ himself because YY and YG did not want to be in a long-distance relationship anymore.
They had to bite the bullet of meeting with more friends and family or remain apart.
When you get to the part where YY meets YG’s mum, you’ll see why I applaud him.
Janey
@GB, Iβm watching ep 11 and thereβs really a needle-less compass that Lin wears as a necklace! I thought you were saying it metaphorically. I really like that, well thought of props and integral to the story. Oooh, canβt wait for him to meet YGβs mom! Will be on the lookout for it,
Good Twin
@GB I just watched the Elle interview. It makes me like the actress even more. She is stunning! Really glamorous in the interview compared to her styling in the drama. She is also quite confident and articulate. Very cute. They seem very comfortable with each other. If anything he seems a bit shy around her.
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
@Good Twin, it was a cute interview, wasn’t it? Her eye makeup made her look extra glam.
About the actresses in interviews… I’ve found it to be the case with a few other Chinese actresses… on screen they have to portray someone naive, shy, reticent, etc, but in real life, they are more extrovert and articulate, and may even be more so than their male counterparts. I recall Zhou Ye from LMLMV surprised me too, and we see that Zhao Jin Mai is self-possessed. Zhao Lu Si of course is a pro at interviews and not at all like her Hidden Love character and Esther Yu is the loud-talking ‘boss’ among the actors team.
I’m not sure if Leo Wu was more shy, but he was careful. I watched an unsubbed BTS of them, and he might have been more shy there during some of the more intimate scenes.
I realised after watching that unsubbed video that they had a kiss scene while on a merry-go-round. I must have fallen asleep and missed it!!! Pl let me know if you notice it, which episode had that merry-go-round kiss.
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
Yup @Janey! And now we look for the episode where the compass reappears with a needle and what YY will say about it!
I’ve to try a quick rewatch of Ep 11-15 to make notes, but it takes me so long and I don’t have much time.
Will be back!
Cleopatra
Kalimera Unnie,
I am currently watching Episode 18, but I am busy too, so I am not writing much.
The Episode you are looking for is when they visit France, before she lives Finland. There they find a merry go round and kiss… π
Cleopatra
Correction :leaves *
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
Thanks @Cleo!! Will look out for it!
Cleopatra
You will like it! π
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
Rewatched Ep 14… caught the parts I left out from first watch. What a fantastic vacation in France that was!!! I’m soooo jealous. LOLOL. How many kisses did we get? At least 2.
Janey
Ep 12 – this is the first time YG initiated a kiss. After feeling awkward about PDA (she keeps ducking at Linβs attempts) she cannot help but kiss him when they said goodbye. That taxi window kiss is pretty significant – YG is getting comfortable with skinship as part of their relationship.
This episode also marks Linβs realization of how LDR is (and they are even in the same country at this time) and how challenging it can be. He was tired and still recuperating from illness and she will soon compete. Of course, he went to see her compete and surprised her – breaking his protocol of not watching live games. Everything for YG (even though she doesnβt demand it). Best boyfriend!
@GB and @cleo – noted on ep 14! Canβt wait to get to Paris!
Stacy
Finished the drama yesterday. Final thoughts:
The drama was another easy to watch, stress-free romance. No conniving ex’s or manipulative parents. No frustrating breakups or misunderstandings. Leo Wu is easy on the eyes, as are his buddies LOL. All of the Chinese actors and actresses did a great job. None of the secondary characters got on my nerves. I didn’t fast-forward at any point until the last ep, when the ML played the guitar and sang…I’m sorry Leo, but no.
I also learned through this drama that taking a nap is a pseudonym for s*x lol.
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
@Stacy LOL. I was actually surprised that they thought they needed to worry about pregnancy. I was trying to figure out which nap it was LOL. There was only one more suggestive scene where the camera zooms out quite fast. I’m thinking it was THAT one.
Yeah, when I downloaded the OSTs, I left out Leo’s LOLOL. π π
Good Twin
Too funny. Cdramas are so much more conservative/censored than they were just a few years ago and it is not like they were ever very racy. Here you could actually see him making some moves – in Road Home she came home from their road trip pregnant and it was a bit of a head scratcher.
I was stuck with that song in my head for a couple of days.
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
@Good Twin, which song stuck in your head? “Love and Shine”? Yeah I like its beginning riff for when they are having a moment (usually of staring or awareness) or in a game.
I feel I may like “Falling in Love” more but “Bitter Bitter Sweet” and “Love and Shine” have the riffs/sequences that make them earworms.
Good Twin
Love and Shine is the one. Definitely an earworm.
Fern
Ha, you must be right. I could only say for certain about one potential conception event and that I think was the one that @GB mentioned where the camera flew out of the window and the action got small and blurry.
In episode 18 I was surprised that many of the friends went to a coastal hotel and the OTP – the only couple – seemed to leave their friends hanging while they went to a hotel room. We see the ML drying the FLβs hair whilst she is wearing pyjamas. Seemed a bit rude somehow. It could have waited until after the proposal.
Cleopatra
Kalimera!
I am slowly slowly watching this one. I am not reading your comments for the moment, since I am a bit behind of you all π
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
Ooh, I like seeing the BTS of how they learnt and practised like crazy all those billiard moves. They really looked so professional after undergoing training and much practice. π
Fern
@GrowingBeautifully, the video was so interesting. It made the competitions seem real to have the actors’s play actually filmed. Also as a person who only knows the most basic pool moves, this was instructional.
Cleopatra
Unnie Kalimera!
Thank you for the video! It is very informative!
I am glad that the audience gets to know the actual persons who are the Billiard Coaches. We can see how their advice along with the hard work from the Cast transformed into something that good!
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
@Fern, @Cleo, yes wasn’t that video great for us to see so that we know how it was BTS preparing to be pro Snooker players! Leo Wu Lei made so many attempts before managing to pocket the ball and it was filmed and used for the show. I mentioned before that I noticed some long shots without edits where the actors really did look like they pocketed the balls, and now we see what they went through to get those few shots.
I am running out of time, hence I’ll be quietly coming and going and will only be present for the Rewatch parties. If inspiration hits, I may post more later.
One thing that just occurred to me… just as the one mistake YY made blighted his youthful career, the one to two acts of sincere apology, respect and humility he demonstrated opened to him everything he hoped to achieve. Despite not wanting to take on responsibilities that were not in his plans, YY put others first. This was a far cry from how he’d been just full of himself. It’s not quite a coming of age story, but the end result is that our main character(s) grew into maturity.
Bosuji
So I took the PLUNGE today (a few hours ago).
And the fact that I am here slow writing my way on blogs tells you I haven NOT been grabbed by the collar and dragged into the show headlong, unable to extricate to even go to the loo ROFL.
I am already midway in Ep 2 and the siblings are till now ANGELIC, ideal, flawless, sugar fairies ;-p
Lin is anything BUT Ling Buyi LOL.
However he’s till now the MAIN draw with his mysterious ‘push and pull’ towards the “kids”
I now know that he is 27 (?) .. and the ‘kids’ are barely out of OR still in their late teens (?).
That would explain some of sibling’s ‘lack of confidence’ / hesitant / ‘shy’ behaviour .. especially around someone as old as 27.
(10 years diff plausible for understanding why they are the way they are in a new (?) city; and with a much older ge-ge sort of stranger).
The LOVE at first sight? Umm WOKAY.
It worked FAR FAR FAR FAR more effectively in a heart-tugging, vein throbbing way in LLTG (tell me about it!)
On with the show .. I am getting way too analytical too early maybe ..
I am slow sailing down the ‘whatever river flows though “Hel”..
Just hoping “slow” does not translate into “lax” .. so fingers crossed.
I SO want to watch the show; Wu Lei chin dimple; and the MOST heart throb face leading me on ..
Waiting for “dramatic tension” to kick in, a dash of something genuinely ‘witty and charming’ (HIDDEN LOVE? Mode?) that unexpected “chuckle-cough” where you snort ugly because it was so cute-funny .. So many moment like that in Hidden Love.
OK OK .. not fair to compare .. Apples and Oranges LOL.
God-Handsome-Wu-Lei magnet keeps me sticking on for now
Bosuji
@Kelly CC
LOL .. did you get back on?
@GB I just finished my 2.5 rewatch of LLTG few weeks ago!!
But would love to follow what others say as they go along ..
It has SUCH RICH RICH pickings .. in each watch ..
agdr03
Howdy!
This is available in Netflix. Itβs better access for me. Iβm only on episode 3. π
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
@agdr03 That’s good news! Enjoy! It appears slowburn but when we consider that they had only some 2.5 months in Finland… it was fast!!!
agdr03
Thank you @GB π
Iβm enjoying Wu Leiβs βlooksβ to the FL already. π He was smitten already when he first saw her.
Iβm only watching when I can but yeah Iβll get there. π
Ooh happy thread!! Thank you @pmk3!
Thanks galore @pkml3!!! OOoooh you chose his eyes! What smoulder in his stare!!! And this was just the first time he caught sight of her. The inexplicable ‘love at first sight’ trope strikes very hot indeed, and I believe it was not one-sided, at least, not for long!
I hope you and everyone who tries this drama will come over here to comment and squee!!
I found the first episode sooo slow. Have not picked it back up. Will wait to see if you folks recommend it.
Hi @Good Twin! Great timing… this thread has just been opened so that we can weigh in with lots more than just ‘how intensely he looks at her!’ comments LOL.
I’m surprised at myself actually, I didn’t think I’d want to rewatch bits or most of Show and continue with it for long. But I’m past the half-way point in the series, and am eager to watch the episodes that will air tonight!
Unlike with “Love Me, Love My Voice” (LMLMV), I’m more invested in this couple. I feel heartstrings being tugged and a great desire to see either character and both together, succeed in what they do. This must be testament to how well they express their emotions, even with all the mundane dialogue they have to speak. I must admit though that the dialogue does improve, although not by as much as I’d like.
This Writer seems to like her male characters to become sort of tongue-tied and brain-fried when they are in love lOL. Maybe it’s her idea of a cute male character. I was amused that there is another couple and the same lack of being able to say the needful. (The same situation in LMLMV).
I’ve in mind to list the common characteristics of this Writer’s male protagonists in love. I feel they’d be possible candidates for the Boyfriend Hall of Fame, plus give us some giggles as to our fantasies about what the perfect boyfriend would be like.
Hi @Kelley CC, I began saying the same as you… slow…everything slowly… and that there is no actual plot, BUT… from Episode 6, the pursuit is confirmed and we watch what the girl will do. ππ₯°
Yay!!!
I am not reading this thread yet π
For fear of knowing anything before I watch..
Been looking forward to any / all shows of Leo Wu (Wu Lei) since :
~ LLTG
~ Upcoming Summer ( precious gem of a film)
Squirreled away “Nothing but You” for a rainy day.. First nibble on Ep 1 was SO delish.
Excited to watch this..but will wait till it cans.
I am a binge-watcher (sigh!) – like to have when I watch in my firm grip and not on the weekly drip ππ«£
Thanks for choosing this show here.
Hi @Bosuji, if you’re interested in a LLTG rewatch, there’s going to be one in mid-March but not here. It will be on the Fangirl Verdict blog site. Let me know if you want more details.
AMIDST A SNOWSTORM OF LOVE (βSnowstormβ for short)
(Definition βsnowstormβ = a heavy fall of snow especially with high wind)
I should have guessed that a title with the word βstormβ in there somewhere should indicate that all would not be only plain sailing, totally angst free and or free from high velocity winds. However I still do not expect that Show will have overmuch in the way of pain or suffering for anyone either, (Iβm guessing Writer wonβt go there because she hasnβt before, but I could be wrong!) but I do see that thereβs room for a few characters to grow, which is what I enjoy watching in any drama.
I was saying before that I thought this would be a series I could dip into from time to time, without feeling a compulsion to hit play Next at the end of each episode, but strangely Iβm wrong! I find our leads riveting. Their pauses to think and their slow responses take place amidst a myriad expressions and I wait with bated breath to know if they are going to just say something mundane or heart-tugging or nothing at all. LOL.
I wrote on the MMH thread: I like that the male lead is not just good and gets everything right from beginning to end, but is impulsive and flawed and growing as a character. He is going to have to reverse the ill-effects of what he did in the past. The female lead is also not as colourless as feared and the romance has room to grow, so there is something to look forward to.
Iβll see if I can post some notes on the episodes. I have not actually taken any but thoughts flit through my mind as I watched. π
Hi! I will watch this too because of Wu Lei. π
I had to figure out first what I’m giving up for Lent before I dive into it.
I’ll drop by once I start it. π
Thank you Queen!
Hi @agdr03! I applaud you for seriously starting your Lenten preparation! Yes, besides the fun and games and food (what with Chinese New Year!) there is too much enjoyment as we enter Lent LOL. I have the excuse that if I don’t help to eat up the snacks, they may get throw away!!!
As for Shows, if I ask to start the thread, then I hang around to keep it going. Giving up one of these fun things is going to be a challenge!!!
@GB – I feel like @Kate should be here too! @Kate I hope all is well with you and we hear from you about the intensity that is Wu Lei!
Such fun!
Kalimera Ladies!
As I have said, I am up to date until Episode 16. I am enjoying this and I find it totally different from “Love Me, Love My Voice”.
Still, Li LiYang is a fascinated character if we see how far he has come.
He is an orphan. For two years, he took care of his younger brother by himself. Then he became a billiard champion. Then he quit for the reasons we know. Then, he immigrated to Finland and did his degrees. He was almost accepted to a PhD programme – we don’t know if he enrolled.
As for Yin Guo, there were times in episodes 5-8 that she was acting immature. Yes, I know she is 21. The boy doesn’t talk much and he said so to her repeatedly. He mostly shows that he likes her with his actions (all the time!). Then, he tries to say some things about his past and she shuts him out. I was “oh boy” she didn’t realize, that was not easy for him?
Anyway, I am enjoying this.
Hi @Good Twin, thanks for the reminder! Yes @Kate is about but may not be able to come into BOD because of some technical issues. I hope she, @Fern, and @Cleo can join us on this thread! π
I’m here. I’m loving the snowy Helsinki scenes. Thank you, @packmule3. πͺπ¨β I think you might like the relationship in this drama.
Wu Lei certainly has a hypnotic gaze when he is interested in someone. I haven’t watched him in other dramas before, but he can convey a lot as an actor. His character Lin Yiyang’s laconic style in the first episodes is in part because he is inexperienced with women and also because he doesn’t want to be arrogant.
I like that he’s smitten, but as @GB said, flawed. Like Mr Darcy, he realises this and is reflecting on how he acted in the past, so we will see growth. Currently he has a lot of friends, but I think it wasn’t always so. I’m just starting episode 8.
While it started slowly, I am also very drawn to the main characters. This is another drama that will spoil me for more standard dramas, I think. The FL Yin Guo is realistically modest and cautious for a young woman on her own, and also reflective, but not passive. She thinks before she acts. As time goes on, she calls him out when she wants something. –For him not to go easy on her when they play a game of pool for example.
I was chuckling when an opponent called Wu Lei’s character a ‘Pretty Boy’ at the start of a pool game towards the beginning of the drama. I would expect it of a character played by Chen Zheyuan (Hidden Love) but I think Wu Lei has more of a striking look than pretty, which can have a more feminine connotation. I would blame it on the translation, but they were speaking English.
@Fern, somewhere in the later episodes, Yin Guo calls him unapproachable but had to admit that his face was great LOL. Still she did not use the word pretty, I don’t think. I’d put him down as having striking, good looks, but manly and not at all feminine.
I think it was episode 8, which I’ve just seen. She said, ‘Let me help you.’ He replied, ‘People rarely say that to me.’ She said he had an unapproachable look. I agree. He can look daunting.
Interesting that her brother said he was like a plucked eagle, a turtle dove in the city. Just because he seems kinder than in the past. We’ll see…
Episode 8 was sort of sensual torture with everything moving in slow motion and not resolving.
@Growing Beautifully, you and I have the same opinion.
Oh wow …. Episode 20 …. so good …. happy tears.
I just finished episode 18 which I liked because it set up some conflict between the couple. I liked the scene at the car – he is upset after having his apology rebuffed and she goes out to the parking lot to see him. He angrily tries to kiss as if to mark her as his and her she tells him no. I thought she particularly did a good job at communicating her hurt and anger towards him with almost no dialogue. I’m thinking if the old coach forgives him it will help soften the her mother’s prejudice against him.
Thanks, @Fern.
I’m sure I’ll like it but I have a lot on my plate right now. Maybe next time.
Hiding and Revealing Oneself
The teenage (16 years old?) Lin Yi Yang made a mistake in his youthful career, which could have been easily settled, but which became a βbigβ mistake because of his pride. He quit his Snooker Club and went into hiding, only keeping in contact with a few of his contemporaries, and ending up in Finland where he seems to have partially re-invented his identity as a hard-working student, dependable employee, generous helper of friends, and well-respected billiards βmasterβ who tutored others. He embarked on his dream to hone the skills of other billiards players by offering them a billiards hall where they could train, and by giving them a training programme.
In the first few minutes of Episode 1, we see that despite being hidden behind a scarf and thick hood, YY was recognised by a passing stranger, but he chose to lie that the stranger was mistaken. He remained hidden until he saw Yin Guo through the window of The Red Fish pub. He seems to have stopped in mid stride in the blasting wind, arrested by the sight of her.
Yin Guo was also partially hidden behind the condensation that frosted the window pane. She drew a sad face on the glass and then wiped it off. Although we never see her look up to notice that YY was standing outside staring at her, her voiceover tells us that she was quite aware of him. βI do not know how long I was on the phone that day. And he kept watching me through the window.β
When YG finds to her surprise and consternation that the strange man whoβd been staring at her had bought her a cocktail and was offering to share his cab with her and cousin Xiao Tian, sheβs hesitant and discomfited. To allay her suspicions, YY does the opposite of what heβd been doing for 15 years. He revealed most of his official personal details to her by showing her his ID, his University Card and even his passport (stuff we donβt normally show even our close friends!).
YG is understandably stunned and embarrassed. She hardly takes the opportunity to know the personal details of the stranger except his name, age, and that he was studying in her best friendβs alma mater. She is too cautious to take this as an opportunity to reciprocate by telling YY anything about herself. It is only when her cousin gives her YYβs Wechat so that they can meet with him to buy him a meal, that YG introduces herself to YY.
(To be continued)
(Continued)
In Ep 2, itβs one week later and YG has forgotten that she had introduced herself to YY on Wechat. To break the awkward silence she gives a formal introduction, while they are seated on opposite sides of the train aisle. In his usual stiff way, YY ends her introduction by saying he knows. He then gives her a serious brief summary about himself which she finds to be too stilted an intro, as if they are on a blind date.
YY ends off saying βIs there anything else that you want to know? Just ask me.β This is around the 2nd or 3rd time in 2 episodes that heβs said that to her. He wants her to know him or he wants to reveal more of himself to her, but he does not know how to go about it naturally the way WW and XT do.
In Ep 3, I was amused by how the more chatty Wu Wei on finding out that he and YG were both joining the 9-Ball Open tournament could easily get to shake YGβs hand, while YY looked on jealously. A few moments later, WW gets her Wechat so that they could settle the rental of rooms and again YY has this look on his face! LOL. And WW hardly spent a cent on getting to know YG, while YY had splurged a lot for the comfort and safety of the girl.
Thank heavens for friendly, easy-going Xiao Tian who had gotten hold of YYβs Wechat and kept up contact with him, or else both YY and YG would not have been able to get beyond being strangers!
When Jiang Yang brought the young team members to meet YY in Finland, the latter was not at all encouraging towards them, even though some of them had been with him 15 years before. He only began the process of opening up to the possibility of being known and seen again in the Snooker circuit, because wanting to be with YG gave him a direction and stronger purpose. He would have to choose to make his dream come true back home where he could not longer hide.
EPISODE 2 and 3 β The episodes of opportunities
Since Writer-nim has this thing for making her leading men the rather shy, clueless, silent types in the beginning of relationships⦠who speak only briefly and lack the social skills to carry on a lengthy conversation with the girls they like, she then has to come up with multiple scenarios in order to throw ML and FL together in situations where they can do stuff together, albeit still rather silently LOLOL. (Pre-assurance⦠the guy does end up talking more overall as time passes, so hang in there!)
What gets me tickled are the number of times YY says to YG: βIs that all you want to ask?β Or βwhy did you stop talking?ββ¦ βIf thereβs anything else you want to know, just ask.β And all this without realising that heβd sort of killed the flow of conversation by something that heβd said.
I found upon rewatch that Episode 2 was the episode of Making Opportunities and Having Golden Opportunities Fall Into YYβs Lap (Heh!)
We like our would-be boyfriends to be attentive, pro-active, full of initiative and caring, and we get just that in YYβs character.
He was quick on the uptake that YGβs unease with him was due to unfamiliarity and lack of trust and he took action to eradicate that by showing her his personal valid documents to prove that he was bona fide.
He assessed what YG and her cousin needed and immediately offered food and drink and a ride.
Remotely, when the cousins made the mistake of going to Hexin (no such location in Finland?) YY gets his friend to buy dinner for them (but they refuse the meal).
Not only did he pay attention to YG but he noted that XT was interested in his University and got his classmate to show XT around the campus.
He continues to make opportunities to get close to YG through her cousin by booking the CafΓ© Engel so that they could meet. He was careful to tell XT not to let YG know that heβd booked it, knowing that sheβd be uncomfortable if she thought she would again be beholden to him for a meal. If she had found out that he lacked the money (and time) to meet up but had taken on a game for a friend in order that he could meet her, she would have been even more mortified, so he didnβt tell her the full reason why he was back in Hel (Helsinki I guess).
(Continuedβ¦)
(Continuedβ¦)
YYβs efforts to make opportunities to be with YG seem to bring in more opportunities. Because he had met YG at CafΓ© Engel, he gets to bring her also to the shop that sells coffee beans. At the shop he gives her 3 coffee beans to try and she keeps 2 of them.
Although he leaves early to play the promised game for his friend, opportunities to be with YG fall into his lap again when YGβs friends (Sun Wei and an unnamed girl) bring her to watch the informal billiard challenges and she sees YY there. He wins the game effortlessly and in watching him, YG feels that sheβs seeing the real YY.
YGβs thoughts in voiceover : βThinking back to this night later, I always thought this was the moment when I got to know Lin Yi Yang. Here, this Chinese guy in a billiards room is the real him. Heβs indolent, talented, and unrestricted by rules. He doesnβt care about the results, winning or losing in front of the opponent. A Chinese man.β Perhaps watching him for a change, after he’d been watching her, sets her a little more at ease to being alone with him.
Upon completing the game, he takes the opportunity to greet her and the unnamed friend immediately twigs to the interest between YY and YG. She removes the third wheel, Sun Wei, so that YY and YG can have time to βcatch upβ LOL.
Tongue-tied again they spin a ball each on the billiards table while not exactly looking at each other. YY rolls his orange ball to hit the ball YG is holding, a sign (as if we needed one) that he wanted to make contact. He tells her that heβd heβd take her home, if she was okay with that arrangement, and they end up on an impromptu βdateβ of sorts. On the subway they make awkward introductions of themselves, and YG is embarrassed, thinking that they sound as if they are on a blind date, not realising that in effect they were! What are blind dates after all, but opportunities for strangers/acquaintances to meet and get to know if they may be attracted to each other.
(Continuedβ¦)
(Continuedβ¦)
In her text message to her cousin, YG inadvertently lets on to YY that sheβs hungry, and YY gets trusty WW (whoβs in the middle of shampooing his hair, poor chap) to book a table at their friendβs restaurant so that he can feed the girl. To ease her discomfort over eating together with him, he bluffs that Wu Wei had asked him to eat ramen that night and gets her to join them. He does not let on that itβs his birthday! His thoughtfulness should be appreciated!!!
Whether deliberately or not, he makes it even harder for her to refuse, when he says that he had not yet had his dinner, that he had planned to eat after winning the game (sounds arrogant, but heβs just so sure of himself! An attractive trait?), but had forgotten when he met her. LOL. She would feel guilty for distracting him from his dinner! Hence the girl was going to be beholden to him for yet another meal.
In Episode 3, YY has his opportunity to bring YG back to the hotel. The sight of a couple making out in front of it is suggestive and embarrasses YG who pretends she does not see it by turning towards the gas station and speaking seriously about the bad tasting hotdog she had bought there. Unknown to her, YY has thoughtfully called down her cousin to accompany her to her room so that she would not be accosted by strangers and drunks from the hotel bar.
YY then does a strange thing β¦ he goes to the gas station to buy the unappetising hotdog to try it for himself, just because YG had eaten it before and had spoken of it so determinedly. LOL. In a later episode, we will find out that in a similar gesture, YG had kept two of the coffee beans that YY had given to her in Episode 2. I imagine it was because he had been the one to give them to her, and she could not just throw them away! But their continued existence on the table in her room told YY (when he saw them) that she was not averse to his attentions.
One of the best, indirect opportunities that took place the same night, was that Wu Wei intentionally posted that Lin βhas a crush on someoneβ (in literal translation it was βhas someone in his heartβ). Lin ordered him to delete the post, and he did so a few minutes later, but not before several others had seen it. This could be what paved the way for YY a bit later.
I thought it sweet that YY by his generosity and determined attempts to spend time with YG, actually managed, without trying too hard, to celebrate his birthday in a very low-key way together with her. He totally deserved to have a happy birthday!
@GB, I remember giving up watching dramas. Was it last year? π€ Anyway Iβm sure Lent will pass by quickly again. I mean time here just flies very quick.
Iβm hoping to start on Snowstorm ( good choice of title because I thought the initials itself is a bit rude – AAS then itβs AASOL π)
@agdr03 LOLOL, I never tried the acronym for this show, but good grief!!! The title creators should check on how it read when shortened. We’ll keep to ‘Snowstorm’ thanks very much! ππ€£
@agdr03, trust you to find something humorous with the initials! π€£π€£π€£
@GB, I only realised it when I was typing my comment. π
Snowstorm! Yep! π€£
@Fern, it wasnβt intentional, believe me. π
@packmule3, no problem. I’m limiting myself, too.
Maybe the next time you have a long flight. The characters are great and the acting is strong.
@GrowingBeautifully, thank you for your thoughtful recaps. They capture the feeling of the drama but still leave me thirsty for a watch.
@Fern, it’s my pleasure and I’ll be very happy if readers are encouraged to watch this Show. It’s become a rather great pleasure to watch the episodes as they air and then to re-watch to catch what I missed.
It turns out that there’s a bit more plot to the running of the clubs, and to the various relationships than expected, which is a good thing. This is such a vast improvement upon LMLMV that I wonder if an additional Writer has been called in. π
Ok, Iβm watching this! @GB said I can squee! Squee!!! Those eyesβ¦ I think I can watch this guy just to see him smile which did not happen in ep1 so on to ep2. Iβm sad to see Lin forlorn and in a very cold country. Glad he still has some friends and that he is interested in this girl. The twins are a fun duo, the brother is kind of comedic relief.
YG being cautious and all is good. As a traveler and meeting strangers, we have to be wary yet respectful. Iβm just surprised, they did not have a hotel reservation or Helsinki is not their final destination and got caught in snowstorm? I was not sure if that was the case. Iβve never gone to a new city and donβt have a hotel! And in winter! Itβs great to find fellow countrymen in a foreign place and get helped by them.
Will come back when I finish the next episode.
Hi, @Janey. Great to have you aboard.
Hi @Janey! I’m so glad to have you here with us! Yes, squees galore if we do it every time he looks at her. (Look forward to the time that she reciprocates those stares!)
Yin Guo’s with her cousin (who is 3 hours younger than her from another family) and it is strange that they go to spend weeks in Helsinki, before his school term starts, without booking any accommodation.
It is one of the things about the Chinese that they help each other with a more communal mindset, but at the same time, there’s the tension of not taking advantage of each other and the need to reciprocate when others (especially strangers) are generous. These tensions are at play in YG’s mind as she tries to navigate being the older one who takes care of her cousin, while accepting help from strangers.
Enjoy your watch!
Thanks @Fern and @GB
Ah, so YGβs companion is her cousin! Thanks for the info @GB. Watching ep2.
I cannot bear the cold! Brrr! Itβs interesting to see the day to day in Finland.
Kalimera @Janey!
It is good to have you on board! I haven’t watched the newest episodes aka 17-20, but I will do so the following days!
Just a tourism note. I’ve been trying to guess the locations of scenes in this but it’s difficult. Many of the Finnish scenes are in Helsinki. The seafront restaurant where Yin Guo bought Lin a meal of lobster pasta is there – the name was clearly marked. But I can’t figure out where the fictitious university city is where Lin studies. It would be 3 hours by train, I think, from Helsinki.
I did laugh a bit at the beautiful apartment furnished so nicely but rented to students. I was looking at the decorations and thought that no landlord in their right mind would rent a place with so many breakable things to students coming and going from other countries. I’ll bet in the credits one might find it’s an AirBnb or similar advert.
Their flight to the “Island” I located in the French Alps because of where they first stopped high up and spoke about the stars. There was a “Chalet Nordique du Plateau” behind them.
https://www.semnoz.fr/ski-nordique/
The mountain lake would be Lake Annecy which has a Pont des Amours (trust the French).
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pont_des_Amours
Wonderful @Fern! Thank you for the information on the locations.
I, too, was wondering where the places are that Yi Yang is supposed to have studied in, lived/worked in and the scenic spots. Show does not seem to want to advertise the country… there are so few road signs/signboards in all the scenes, or only ones that are too far away and hard to read.
I wondered if it was a condition for using Finland as the backdrop for the Show. If I were in the Finnish tourism board, I’d have jumped at the chance to get many places well showcased, with maps and signs for all viewers to see!! LOL.
Hey @Fern
Thank you for the Info. You have guessed right on the locations you have posted!
I have found a post on MDL, where some locals posted the shooting locations!
https://mydramalist.com/discussions/during-the-snowstorm/122953-shooting-location
Thanks, @Cleopatra, for the MDL list of locations. How interesting that Helsinki didnβt get or ask for more publicity. I suspect that the show proposed it but the city didnβt want to pay the price requested, so the show blocked as much information as possible. The lobster restaurant on the harbour and the Chateau Nordique must have come to an agreement because their logos/names were clear. The names of other restaurants and locations were changed according to MDL. Also, the OTP was supposedly travelling to an island, unless that was mistranslated.
So interesting. Finland and the Haute Savoie are places I have always wanted to visit.
@Fern,
You are welcome. At first I was trying to understand where HULL was. LOL
The same thing applies to “Descendants of the Sun” that filmed it in several locations around Greece but they said it was a weird war zone.
I would love to visit that part of the world too. It is interesting isn’t it? To drink your coffee in a place where the OTP filmed their scenes.
Have you heard what happened with the CLOY locations in Netherlands? Many people were visiting the lake making lots of noice. So, the village have decided to have some visitors enter the village at specific hours, but you have to pay a ticket first!
Wow! Thanks @Cleo! So nice to see the actual locations. Fans of the show really took the trouble to match the screenshots to the places so that we can recall which is which. Kudos to them!
Yes, because the names were changed, I couldn’t find the places on a map. I’d love to travel to places that appear in Shows, but I agree, tourists can be a pain. LOL.
Episode 23 and 24 so emotional, so good. Ep 23 so much is said in English by the one who hardly speaks LOL. Ep 24 full circle.
Many may already know this. It was a mystery to many visitors to I think the chateau frontenac in quebec city because there were so many asian tourists there just hanging out in the front. Courtesy of the Goblin.
Kalimera @Cleo! Happy to be watching this with you and BOD! Iβm also watching Dr Slump! Thanks for the locations, will check it out the link later. Several of my friends actually visited CLOY locations in Switzerland and had to pay β¬5 each for posing at the lake dock! LOL!
Iβm at ep6 and enjoying it so far. Same as @GB, Iβm liking this OTP better than LMLMV (I watched a bit and dropped it, did not get to comment much).
As an immigrant, itβs a challenge to find a good community to belong in a new place. Seeing how well connected Lin is with different people, he has build up his network/community by working in multiple jobs and also focusing on his strength (teaching snooker). Happy to see them rooting for him and his budding romance with YG! He is very lucky to have this and it is a testament to him being a good person.
His βlove languageβ is having food, treating a person for a meal. He mentioned that makes him boring and his food focus stemmed from being poor and hungry when he was a kid. I like knowing these insight on him, how your youth experience shaped the person you are.
Looking forward for their relationship to start blooming! And we have some potential hurdles with YGβs brother.
Hi @Janey, yes the same thought came to me as I watched… YY’s love language is to feed the girl LOL. I think overall his love language is Gift Giving. He does not say much (in the early episodes) but he saves in order to splurge on the girl.
Ah look forward to the YG older cousin-brother twist. The views of observers were not actually accurate.
All remaining episodes have dropped at one time!! My only grouse is that they have cold opens and the ending song gets cut. And of course the inserted ads are there but some of them feature Leo Wu Lei so that’s not too bad.
A satisfying conclusion to a good series!
@GB. I intend to finish over the weekend. I thought this series stayed strong as it shifted from their courtship to competition and ML’s return to China and making peace with himself and his coach. I loved the angelic Mr. He. Of course he would bear no grudges against his young rash protege.
I understand some episodes were cut so that may explain why the second leads stories didn’t really develop (unless something happens the last six episodes). I’m not sure I would have stuck with this drama if I had to wait a week between new episodes – but it has been a very satisfying watch. I know ML is the star power but I thought FL especially shined. She is a natural beauty and a very naturalistic actor. While the character seemed young at times it was age appropriate and she never acted childish- which is my biggest beef with many cdramas the infantilization of mature women.
@Good Twin and @Growing Beautifully, here in the UK I have to wait until tomorrow to watch the last 2 episodes.
I really like the FL as well. In rl sheβs only 21, so sheβs very similar in age to her character. The ML is 24, so actually younger than his character. I think their acting together has been fantastic and, for me at least, much more believable as a couple than the LMLMV OTP.
Iβm looking forward to seeing the last episodes!
@packmule3 thank you again – this has been a fun watch and thread!
@Good Twin,
π@GB deserves the credit. She requested the thread to be opened for you all and I merely executed it.
After that, it was up to you to make the make an open thread fun, amusing, entertaining, insightful, etc. with your posts and commentaries.
So thank YOU. ππ
Oh shucks @pkml3! Thanks for the credit and you’re very welcome!! It’s such a pleasure to be here just waxing silly or not-so-lyrical or tryhard-to-be-analytical LOL.
I just put down the thoughts that fly by before I forget them (and forget them, I do, quite soon after posting them!!!) and the credit then goes to those who come to chat and carry on the conversation. The polite exchange of opinions and analyses is what makes the thread great. π
This simple portrayal of falling in love has been a great watch. It continues to have the Writer’s hallmark of sweetness in relationships and to showcase the traits of a ‘perfect’ boyfriend, while incorporating believable conflict, and of course the all important character growth.
I agree with @Good Twin that it was great the female lead was never cutesy although young and inexperienced. I liked how she gave whenever she could.
And also that the second lead romances were not given the time to develop, which I feel is a bit of a pity. We do not find out who married whom. Probably 1 episode worth of time could have been taken from the long staring sessions, to have given the 2nd leads a bit more screen time π
I’d also have liked to have seen more family interactions and how the clubs under YY achieved the aims he set… but that would have had to cover more decades of time. And of course, I’d have liked to see YY and YG with a baby of their own.
My brief review:
– It was lovely to look at, although Finland could have been showcased even more with more scenes of vistas.
– The music was even more ear-wormy for me than LMLMV’s music and I want to put the OSTs into my car so that I can drive and listen.
– The actors did a more than usual outstanding job in speaking English. Kudos to Leo Wu for the long speech he gave in English.
– The characters personalities were more well-balanced and mutually giving overall and well-acted. They were very satisfying to watch. On character growth… it was great to see that several side and even incidental characters like the critical big sister had a chance to improve.
– I really liked that despite having to make changes, characters stayed true to themselves and didn’t get a transplanted personality or mindset.
– The other theme of contributing to the game, to the Motherland, and back to the community/club was also well brought out while only very briefly highlighted the challenges of developing a sport. The competitions were riveting, with several long enough shots (without edits) to make it seem that the actors really could play the game quite well. These took away the boredom out of just seeing a couple being coupley.
– The bookendings and coming back full circle were sweet.
After watching Road Home (which I only have a vague memory of), LMLMV and Snowstorm, I’ve noted a list of traits that Writer-nim wants in a perfect boyfriend. It’s both good and bad to know this, because her next show will elicit expectations either that it will be predictable and boring or that the beloved traits are missing if she changes direction.
Among them, I’d have liked for a change if Writer-nim would allow her male lead to also receive financial help from the girl, since she was rich with prize money and dying to share it with him LOL. More on that in another post.
I’d still recommend this Show for anyone who just wants to relax peacefully, following one of the themes of the Show, assured that in the moving forward slowly with good intentions, step-by-step, with persistence, in spite of things not going according to plan, life will work out.
I havenβt started this yet but here is Wu Lei with Love and Shine, OST for the drama. π₯°
CTO!
https://youtu.be/XIaSmiEqgtg?si=Ha6giQNqt8HMzYLp
Thanks @agdr03! I do like the OSTs including ‘Love and Shine’. I thought his rendition of it was a bit diffident and therefore ‘sweet-cute’. It was the first song that was played live when our couple met at a small bar.
And in the making of the full circle, we hear the same song, in the same place, with the same two at the end, but this time show gives us the rendition sung by Leo Wu Lei. *too sweet!*
Here are the 2 leads at an Elle interview. They are just very natural and good to look at.
WARNING some SPOILERS… don’t click unless you don’t mind SPOILERS!!!Β
Thank you, @GB. I’ll watch the video after I finish the show today. π The two leads did so well.
Thanks @GB! π₯°
Iβll definitely watch it. They say it might be Wu Leiβs last modern drama in awhile as he will concentrate on doing movies instead.
Hopefully it wonβt be that long. I like him more in modern dramas than period ones EXCEPT for Love Like The Galaxy. π
Ep 7-9 just had me smiling and squee-Ing the whole time! Young love, sweet love. Lin is seriously pursuing and YG canβt help but fall for him. And i expected more conflict with older brother, but no – everyone wants to lure Lin back to his homeland and do what he does best and play. His former opponents respect his talent. Lin gets the thumbs up from everybody as good boyfriend material. YG is kinda swept off her feet and agree with everyone who assumes she is his girlfriend. LOL!
One scene that was memorable to me was when Lin accompanied YG to meet with her coach and teammmates and he got challenged to play (by the suitor of YG). Instead of playing a game and beating them outright, he did a learning exercise (place the ball anywhere on the table 50 times and see how many he can pocket). It was a very mature and sensitive move so as not to rock their confidence when they lose, given the time is very close to the competition date. Aww⦠Lin was being a good coach, indirectly.
Itβs long weekend in the US so more time for squeeing! Thanks @GB and @PM3 for this thread.
@Janey Yes I was smiling and squeeing most of the time Eps 7-9. The gentle progress as YY kept bringing on the moves… the woo-ing was continual. I can’t recall if it was in the interview or at the end of the Show, in the lyrics of an OST or that Actor LWL in his character as YY mentioned how his love for YG took over everything in his life. It shows in how he is with her, providing on the spot, and how he has her in mind for his major decisions and plans.
I was writing a few notes and laughing to myself that we have YY’s …
Bid to Kiss the Girl taking place concurrently with the attempt of all and sundry who are his contemporaries to Woo YY Back Home.
Who will win their bid first? LOLOL.
I really like that despite his attempts to hide away and avoid his old friends/rivals, they recall the good in him. YG’s brother could not find him all those years but he must have done some research on him, because he could tell YG that she had chosen well… YY is decent and would make a good boyfriend.
I guess a lot is owed to friendly Xiao Tian whom YY befriended first. XT must have given his family and friends a glowing review of YY for his generosity and care, even when they were strangers. Of course, at that time already, YG had been YY’s objective, but he was universally good to all who knew him in Finland, and likely would have offered some help to XT even if he had not already been smitten by YG.
@Janey, yes I really liked that scene where YY showed how considerate he was. Even YG’s coach knew his ability and that he’d have trounced the team members and broken their confidence if he’d played with them. It’s true that he, too was a coach. I like his point of view, that even the ordinary person who wanted to play for fun, should be coached, should e given an opportunity to enjoy the game. He was not out just to find star players and only give them attention.
Taking on the losses of renting a whole billiards hall just so that people would have an inexpensive place to practise in, and not boasting about it. These are some of the hallmarks of this Writer’s fave boyfriends.
I wish I had all the time in the world to rewatch and write up notes. I’ll just leave my thoughts here and there when I can! Enjoy the rest of the series! π
@Janey there is a scene in one of those episodes where he is just leaning in close and it was ….hot (words escape me). The tired trope of the almost kiss doesn’t seem so tired with the right actors and the script making it feel organic.
@GB, I hope I can lure you back in with my comments so you can share some snippets of your thoughts. βΊοΈ Iβll try to continue to provide key and notable scenes and feedback as I watch.
@GoodTwin – IKR? That was the refrigerator scene when he whispered to her ear to sleep! How can she sleep after that?! LOL! I agree the OTP makes these type of scenes seem fresher. There was not aegyo or overacting or cutesy moves. Even the start of the holding hands was not corny. It feels natural.
So many comments! I wll tune back in to this show. I was finding it a little on the slow side, but it sounds like it might be Developing more plot.
Thoughts on the Other Attempt at Woo-ing
While YY is making his moves to woo YG, we find that attempts are also being made to woo YY back to China and back to an official role in Snooker and especially back to the Dongxin City Club.
Like YG at first, he similarly fights shy of being found by his contemporaries, friends, rivals in competition, juniors who come to meet up with him: offering gifts, giving attention, praising his abilities. He literally runs away to the laundry room where he can date YG without the crowd of people trying to get his attention LOL.
In Ep 1 he had refused to acknowledge whom he was to the Chinese strangers (probably fans of the game), but he could not just let the strangers waste their time at the subway and came back to tell them to take a cab. His kindness won out even when he wanted to hide and disappear.
He credits (later) YG as the one who drew him out, but I believe he would have still come forward to help ultimately, when it became evident that he was the main, best or only person to do a task.
It was because he was attracted to YG that he showered her and Xiao Tian with a drink each, a ride to the hotel, etc… so she does get credit for this part. And because of this generosity it led to XT spreading word of YY. Word of YY got to reach Jiang Yang, Coach He and Xiao Dong. All these or their representatives came all the way to Finland to see YY and to suggest that he returned.
I was amused that the so-called ‘enemy’, XD was the one quickest on the uptake and figured out the best way to get YY back. He guessed that YY’s generosity had something to do with YG and promoted YY to her and got her flustered by assigning her the task to bring back her man LOL. If all else failed, there was always love for his pretty cousin! In the end, he was right.
YY wore a compass without a needle because he was drifting without a direction. He had paths ahead of him… stay in Finland to do the PhD, work there, and/or train others while running his billiards hall, … but he had no end goal until he decided that YG was the one he wanted to be with forever.
In the end, while he wooed YG successfully, she too inadvertently wooed him back. He would still have to decide if he would just quietly be a citizen outside the ‘circle’ of Snooker and billiards players while being her boyfriend, but the love for the game, the love for his family and his sense of responsibility for the greater objective were stronger than his self-centredness.
I like that the undercurrent theme is a parallel with his relationship, of finding where one belongs and returning home: a growing from being a mere impulsive, arrogant, hot-tempered child to awareness of one’s mistakes to becoming humble and making things right, a move to take responsibility for one’s actions even if these would preferably have been avoided. He had been in avoidance mode for too long, living only for the day and for himself. And I like the other message that comes through gently, that ultimately it is better we do what we can for the greater good and not just for ourselves. (Yes it’s partly a nationalistic message, but it’s true in all things too.)
@GrowingBeautifully, I don’t think anyone could summarise this better. I’m still waiting for the last episodes to drop on Viki here, but think I can see where this is going. (Where I left off, he was headed to a pharmacy…) I hope that all of the rest of the episodes drop tomorrow.
I like the idea of supporting those who can’t otherwise participate and the idea of a greater good.
@GB, you are spot-on about the other wooing happening in this drama! Lin is being pursued quite actively, and as XD gauged his skills with their mock game, Lin is in his prime. Iβm glad the show did not blow up this βenemyβ as a big conflict to the romantic relationship. It keeps the focus of the story on Lin and his personal journey to finding the βneedle in his compassβ, to find his true north.
Hello @Fern and @Janey, I posted more on YY’s being pursued above. In the end he got the girl through his unrelenting commitment, and he was wooed home also because of it LOL. In effect, I guess he ‘wooed’ himself because YY and YG did not want to be in a long-distance relationship anymore.
They had to bite the bullet of meeting with more friends and family or remain apart.
When you get to the part where YY meets YG’s mum, you’ll see why I applaud him.
@GB, Iβm watching ep 11 and thereβs really a needle-less compass that Lin wears as a necklace! I thought you were saying it metaphorically. I really like that, well thought of props and integral to the story. Oooh, canβt wait for him to meet YGβs mom! Will be on the lookout for it,
@GB I just watched the Elle interview. It makes me like the actress even more. She is stunning! Really glamorous in the interview compared to her styling in the drama. She is also quite confident and articulate. Very cute. They seem very comfortable with each other. If anything he seems a bit shy around her.
@Good Twin, it was a cute interview, wasn’t it? Her eye makeup made her look extra glam.
About the actresses in interviews… I’ve found it to be the case with a few other Chinese actresses… on screen they have to portray someone naive, shy, reticent, etc, but in real life, they are more extrovert and articulate, and may even be more so than their male counterparts. I recall Zhou Ye from LMLMV surprised me too, and we see that Zhao Jin Mai is self-possessed. Zhao Lu Si of course is a pro at interviews and not at all like her Hidden Love character and Esther Yu is the loud-talking ‘boss’ among the actors team.
I’m not sure if Leo Wu was more shy, but he was careful. I watched an unsubbed BTS of them, and he might have been more shy there during some of the more intimate scenes.
I realised after watching that unsubbed video that they had a kiss scene while on a merry-go-round. I must have fallen asleep and missed it!!! Pl let me know if you notice it, which episode had that merry-go-round kiss.
Yup @Janey! And now we look for the episode where the compass reappears with a needle and what YY will say about it!
I’ve to try a quick rewatch of Ep 11-15 to make notes, but it takes me so long and I don’t have much time.
Will be back!
Kalimera Unnie,
I am currently watching Episode 18, but I am busy too, so I am not writing much.
The Episode you are looking for is when they visit France, before she lives Finland. There they find a merry go round and kiss… π
Correction :leaves *
Thanks @Cleo!! Will look out for it!
You will like it! π
Rewatched Ep 14… caught the parts I left out from first watch. What a fantastic vacation in France that was!!! I’m soooo jealous. LOLOL. How many kisses did we get? At least 2.
Ep 12 – this is the first time YG initiated a kiss. After feeling awkward about PDA (she keeps ducking at Linβs attempts) she cannot help but kiss him when they said goodbye. That taxi window kiss is pretty significant – YG is getting comfortable with skinship as part of their relationship.
This episode also marks Linβs realization of how LDR is (and they are even in the same country at this time) and how challenging it can be. He was tired and still recuperating from illness and she will soon compete. Of course, he went to see her compete and surprised her – breaking his protocol of not watching live games. Everything for YG (even though she doesnβt demand it). Best boyfriend!
@GB and @cleo – noted on ep 14! Canβt wait to get to Paris!
Finished the drama yesterday. Final thoughts:
The drama was another easy to watch, stress-free romance. No conniving ex’s or manipulative parents. No frustrating breakups or misunderstandings. Leo Wu is easy on the eyes, as are his buddies LOL. All of the Chinese actors and actresses did a great job. None of the secondary characters got on my nerves. I didn’t fast-forward at any point until the last ep, when the ML played the guitar and sang…I’m sorry Leo, but no.
I also learned through this drama that taking a nap is a pseudonym for s*x lol.
@Stacy LOL. I was actually surprised that they thought they needed to worry about pregnancy. I was trying to figure out which nap it was LOL. There was only one more suggestive scene where the camera zooms out quite fast. I’m thinking it was THAT one.
Yeah, when I downloaded the OSTs, I left out Leo’s LOLOL. π π
Too funny. Cdramas are so much more conservative/censored than they were just a few years ago and it is not like they were ever very racy. Here you could actually see him making some moves – in Road Home she came home from their road trip pregnant and it was a bit of a head scratcher.
I was stuck with that song in my head for a couple of days.
@Good Twin, which song stuck in your head? “Love and Shine”? Yeah I like its beginning riff for when they are having a moment (usually of staring or awareness) or in a game.
I feel I may like “Falling in Love” more but “Bitter Bitter Sweet” and “Love and Shine” have the riffs/sequences that make them earworms.
Love and Shine is the one. Definitely an earworm.
Ha, you must be right. I could only say for certain about one potential conception event and that I think was the one that @GB mentioned where the camera flew out of the window and the action got small and blurry.
In episode 18 I was surprised that many of the friends went to a coastal hotel and the OTP – the only couple – seemed to leave their friends hanging while they went to a hotel room. We see the ML drying the FLβs hair whilst she is wearing pyjamas. Seemed a bit rude somehow. It could have waited until after the proposal.
Kalimera!
I am slowly slowly watching this one. I am not reading your comments for the moment, since I am a bit behind of you all π
Ooh, I like seeing the BTS of how they learnt and practised like crazy all those billiard moves. They really looked so professional after undergoing training and much practice. π
@GrowingBeautifully, the video was so interesting. It made the competitions seem real to have the actors’s play actually filmed. Also as a person who only knows the most basic pool moves, this was instructional.
Unnie Kalimera!
Thank you for the video! It is very informative!
I am glad that the audience gets to know the actual persons who are the Billiard Coaches. We can see how their advice along with the hard work from the Cast transformed into something that good!
@Fern, @Cleo, yes wasn’t that video great for us to see so that we know how it was BTS preparing to be pro Snooker players! Leo Wu Lei made so many attempts before managing to pocket the ball and it was filmed and used for the show. I mentioned before that I noticed some long shots without edits where the actors really did look like they pocketed the balls, and now we see what they went through to get those few shots.
I am running out of time, hence I’ll be quietly coming and going and will only be present for the Rewatch parties. If inspiration hits, I may post more later.
One thing that just occurred to me… just as the one mistake YY made blighted his youthful career, the one to two acts of sincere apology, respect and humility he demonstrated opened to him everything he hoped to achieve. Despite not wanting to take on responsibilities that were not in his plans, YY put others first. This was a far cry from how he’d been just full of himself. It’s not quite a coming of age story, but the end result is that our main character(s) grew into maturity.
So I took the PLUNGE today (a few hours ago).
And the fact that I am here slow writing my way on blogs tells you I haven NOT been grabbed by the collar and dragged into the show headlong, unable to extricate to even go to the loo ROFL.
I am already midway in Ep 2 and the siblings are till now ANGELIC, ideal, flawless, sugar fairies ;-p
Lin is anything BUT Ling Buyi LOL.
However he’s till now the MAIN draw with his mysterious ‘push and pull’ towards the “kids”
I now know that he is 27 (?) .. and the ‘kids’ are barely out of OR still in their late teens (?).
That would explain some of sibling’s ‘lack of confidence’ / hesitant / ‘shy’ behaviour .. especially around someone as old as 27.
(10 years diff plausible for understanding why they are the way they are in a new (?) city; and with a much older ge-ge sort of stranger).
The LOVE at first sight? Umm WOKAY.
It worked FAR FAR FAR FAR more effectively in a heart-tugging, vein throbbing way in LLTG (tell me about it!)
On with the show .. I am getting way too analytical too early maybe ..
I am slow sailing down the ‘whatever river flows though “Hel”..
Just hoping “slow” does not translate into “lax” .. so fingers crossed.
I SO want to watch the show; Wu Lei chin dimple; and the MOST heart throb face leading me on ..
Waiting for “dramatic tension” to kick in, a dash of something genuinely ‘witty and charming’ (HIDDEN LOVE? Mode?) that unexpected “chuckle-cough” where you snort ugly because it was so cute-funny .. So many moment like that in Hidden Love.
OK OK .. not fair to compare .. Apples and Oranges LOL.
God-Handsome-Wu-Lei magnet keeps me sticking on for now
@Kelly CC
LOL .. did you get back on?
@GB I just finished my 2.5 rewatch of LLTG few weeks ago!!
But would love to follow what others say as they go along ..
It has SUCH RICH RICH pickings .. in each watch ..
Howdy!
This is available in Netflix. Itβs better access for me. Iβm only on episode 3. π
@agdr03 That’s good news! Enjoy! It appears slowburn but when we consider that they had only some 2.5 months in Finland… it was fast!!!
Thank you @GB π
Iβm enjoying Wu Leiβs βlooksβ to the FL already. π He was smitten already when he first saw her.
Iβm only watching when I can but yeah Iβll get there. π