Mars: world's longest meta, Part II
Gosh, my meta was so massive I had to split it in two as LJ said the post is too long. Oh well, here is the ep-centric blabbing from my rewatch. Yes. If this wasn't enough, I did a rewatch and babbled further at length. If you don't want to spoil yourself for the whole thing, here are episode-centric breakdowns:
Ep 1:
So yeah, Day One of the Mars watchalong, with its star-crossed lovers, fast motorcycles, dysfunctional families and more angst than you can shake a stick at. First off I have to say that this remains my favorite dorama (yes, more than MG) and watching just one ep is like that ad for potato chips they had running a while back. Impossible. I strove womanfully though and won through.
Rewatching this is a very interesting experience. Glad to say that it really holds up and knowing the twists doesn't ruin it (though that makes sense, as I've read the manga already by the time I saw this for the first time).
Also, on a very shallow note, Chen Ling=HOT. I don't know if it's the looks or the bad boy/wounded child combo he is totally working, but yum. Especially when he pulls his hair back. And I just want to hug Qui Luo, but then what else is new. Also, because this doesn't deal with the world of the uber-rich like MG, the sets feel more realistic (the rich houses in tdoramas, just like rich houses in Bolly movies always feel like converted hotels to me). Also the clothes in this one, while not gorgeous, don't make me want to poke my eyes out.
I am such a sucker for 'boy saves girl and girl saves boy right back' scenarios and Mars hits that kink dead center. Because at first it starts out as this popular outgoing guy gets interested in this really shy and messed up girl but of course it turns out he is even more messed up than she is. I am a total sucker for those storylines. Total.
And you know what I've forgotten? Ling is fun. I can see why people want to hang around with him. And whatever his issues (and there is a multitude), he might be thoughtless but never malicious. And he has a strong protective streak. And is pretty perceptive. And can be quite gentle.
Favorite moments:
Fave Moment No 1: Ling poking Qui Luo on the side of the face, going 'ding dong' as if he is ringing a bell.
Fave Moment No 2: His borrowing money from her. And then pulling her scrunchy off and saying he'll borrow it too.
Fave Moment No 3: It's my fave this ep. Saving her from the sexual molesting teacher (if the teacher is a sexual predator of some sort, it would make sense he is drawn to QL as he can sense her vulnerability, someone he can exploit). QL freezing because she is flashing back to her rape and then Ling being scary and getting rid of the guy and then gently telling her she shouldn't be helpless because that would make people take more advantage of her and he is rather sad.
I just feel so bad for Qui Luo. She is petrified of the world and she walks with her head hunched in and flinches from any bodily contact. The first moment in this ep, halfway through, when she raises her eyes to look at Ling, is actually startling. Of course, he has his own PTSD if he flips in front of mirrors. Their med bills are going to be huge.
A few more general things really caught my attention this time:
Probably because it's based on a manga, and manga is really good about it in general, I love the fact that the story really doesn't expect us to think Ling and Qui Luo are an OTP because they are the leads but shows them as really compatible. Of course, this gets developed much more through the episodes (this is only a first ep for goodness' sake) but I want to mention how much I love that fact.
There is the fact that both of them are very physically attractive, of course. Ling, even though a victim of feathered hair of which I do not approve on principle but which seems to rule the Asian dramas, is quite quite sexy. And Qui Luo, even bundled in her shapeless outfits and with no make-up has gorgeous skin and is doll-like in her prettiness.
But it's not just that. I can see why they are attracted to each other despite dissimilarities. For the shell-shocked Qui Luo, shy and scared of the world to the point of dysfunction, Ling's very reckless confidence and thoughtless good nature is a magnet. It's something she lacks but also something she is drawn to (as to his violence problem, she makes a spoilery comment later on but yes, it's also something that resonates). More importantly, only someone as confident and even pushy can drag her out from behind the mile thick walls she's built to protect herself from the world. And as to Ling, as the show develops it really seems Qui Luo is his Good Angel, but even early on, I think he is drawn to her because he responds to beauty and emotion (I don't necessarily mean her looks, I mean in her art. Especially since the first drawing of hers he notices is a Mother and Child which we find out is something that would resonate). In a way, he is just as locked up emotionally behind barriers as she is, only his barriers take the shape of outward agression, and I think her fragility and her talent wake something up in him that's been put away (well, I don't know what the spoiler attitude is so I'll just say since certain events in his past). In a way, Ling needs someone to protect. It's not a macho thing really, but it gives his life some meaning outside of self and some structure. The boy lives by himself, isolated and rootless. Caring for someone else, even on a rudimentary level, is a step on a way to rejoining society. And I think also both of them recognize each other's messed-uppedness, in an instinctive way. They are both misfits, fitting into the world at wrong angles, but together they just might work.
The other thing that I noticed is what a turn around these characters are from their characters in Meteor Garden. Most people have seen MG first but I came to MG from Mars and I remember thinking no way could they play their MG characters. They are polar opposites. Where Lei in MG was a passive pensive dreamer, Ling is a a 180 degree turn, all loud and outgoing and agressive. And I loved Shan Cai (just as I loved Tsukushi in all HYD versions) because she was so strong and fearless but Barbie Xu is completely different as Qui Luo who is so withdrawn and shy she can't function.
Also, I love the theme song for this. Love.
Ep 2:
It's interesting that to me, in many ways, this is a more realistic story than Meteor Garden (I adore MG but the vibe here is somewhat different). It has plenty of melodrama twists, but I think it's because it has a rather strong emphasis on these two screwed up people and their internal issues. It's very character driven.
First I have to confess that Tdorama medicine is about on the level of Bollywood medicine aka it makes me roll my eyes almost out of my sockets. The 'false death' thing they describe? I am no doctor but it sounds unlikely. But it does serve its purpose. If the first episode showed us how wounded and screwed up Qi Luo is, this ep shows us that Ling is every bit as much a mess. Not only is he a former resident of a mental institution (smashing all the mirrors in the place? Violent and kinda cool, in a way. Yeah, I am disturbed), but he is not altogether all there even now. When his bike is getting fixed and the mechanic asks him why doesn't he (Ling) go back home to stay with his father, Ling says that he's go insane if he moved back in. But it's not all a flip remark. There is a grain of truth there. And when the mechanic flips back that he already is crazy anyway, you can see that for Ling, that unintentionally hits home. He is a total seething mess under his cool mask.
But their weaknesses compliment each other. If I was inclined to go into heavy meta (and when am I not?), I'd say the fact that in his mostly unconscious state, he grabs on to her sketch of a mother and child, is kinda a foreshadowing of a lot in their relationship: her bringing him peace and stability. But of course, he helps her quite a lot as well. Not only does he drag her out of her shell (after all she is comfortable enough with him to ask him to be a model for her), and offers to protect her (I love how pleased he is when she offers him the painting and then offers to pay by protecting her. He really has a protective streak. Of course then he has to make the crack about lending her his body LOL), but more importantly, he helps her grow a spine (I love the scene where he's exposed the molesting teacher and he walks by her and tells her to give him five and asks her 'isn't it fun to strike back?' and she smiles). I just love that they are two people neither of whom is great dating material (I'd stay far away from either) but who really work for each other.
Tong Dae still freaks me the HELL out. He freaks me out a lot more later (he is like the dark side of Ling) but even the first glimpse of him is freaking trippy.
My favorite scene in this ep? When she stretched her hands for the helmet and his jacket is so huge on her and she actually touches a guy voluntarily. It's such a huge thing for her (and he's never had a girl on his bike before either). Interestingly (and we see it more later) that much as he is pushy about small things, he doesn't really push much when it comes to serious stuff (e.g. here is he is pretty hands off and says matter of factly that he forgot she can't bear to touch guys blah blah)
Actually I changed my mind. My favorite scene in this ep is the scene on the roof when he finds her. The first time I saw the dorama it's where I became this ship's bitch. I love it. Tough guys who can be so gentle is a huge kink (almost as much as the fact that she is so tiny and small and he is so tall and brtoadshouldered is another one). I love it when he gives her his jacket and offers to take her home. Of course, Qing Mei in this ep fulfills what Ling said in ep 1: Qi Luo's helplessness will make people want to do worse stuff to her. And of course for Qi Luo, the lack of clothes is horrifying. She hides behind them and while for me it would be a normal shirt (what she is wearing on the roof), for her it must feel naked.
I continue to be amused by the fact that the leads in this are a RL couple. I have no idea if they were already a couple when this was done (2004) but if they were, I am totally amused to imagine them doing the whole 'yawn. Another day of pretending to angst over each other. Did you lock the door?' Heeee.
Mmmmm. I LOVE ep 3 of Mars. I do find it really cool how Ling brings QL out of her isolation: she feels comfortable enough with him to tell him something is none of his business (on the roof. I can't see her doing it with anyone else) and she stands up for him to his Mom and by the look on Mom's face it's not anything QL has done before. And she stops hunching herself in as much. By the end of the ep she is the one who says 'hi' to Ling first. And earlier she tells him about her feelings. And of course there is the desperate quiet stubborness when Quin Mei threatens her to make her give up Ling. Underneath all the layers of mess there is a pretty steady person.
The Da Ye/Qi Luo date is funny, with neither of them saying a word and Ling sitting there exasperated in the middle. Total proof that while Da Ye is a sweet guy, he is not the guy for QL, all wrong for her. I do love the startled look on Ling's face when QL agrees to try to date Da Ye. He doesn't realize his feelings for her yet, but they are there, and he is none too happy even though he doesn't understand it himself and hides it quickly. And of course, QL has nothing much to talk about but she comes alive when they discuss Ling. No wonder Da Ye realizes how things are really quickly.
I love that neither of the other options is portrayed horribly. Da Ye is a sweet guy, probably a better person than Ling. But he is too quiet to break through to QL. She needs someone who will make her have fun and not be put off by the shyness. And Qing Mei is a bitch to QL true, but the fact is Ling slept with her and now she's gone obsessive about him and it's not too unrealistic.
How much do I love Ling finding out she's been taken and running like crazy everywhere, to find her, just bolting out of the classroom. And finding her and just holding her and she sobs in his arms as Da Ye looks on. It's so instinctive. And then taking her to the nurse, and then finding Qing Mei and telling her, dead serious, that if she does anything to QL he will kill her. This show is hitting all my kinks, fraking consistently.
I love the scene where he stops by to check if she is OK. And we really see that (even though he expresses it as a joke) he rather sees himself as unworthy of anything much (I had a lengthier post about this somewhere when I first watched Mars in the early spring). The fact that she sees him so differently, and sees past his defences (when she says that he just needs a lot of love and he doesn't want to feel things so he just has these fly by night women etc etc) is one of the reasons she throws him so off kilter.
And I love that she confesses her feelings to him in the same breath as she tells him she knows it's hopeless and she tells herself to stay away. And he is so lost and so can't help it and leans in to kiss her and we later find out it's her first kiss ever and it's one of my Top 10 TV kisses and then they are both so clumsy and confused and overwhelmed. And the next morning he is so scared, emotionally, because he is in such foreign territory. Eeee. I love Da Ye punching Ling and telling him this means he (Da Ye) gives up on QL and telling him that disaster or not, Ling is QL's choice. Finally, a man who respect a woman's emotional choice. Go Da Ye!
My favorite shot is her looking at the good luck charm he gave her while lying in bed and smiling and pulling the blanket up. EEEEE!
Also, dimples.
Eps 3-8:
First off, let me mention how much I loathe the girl from Ling's high school. She is whiny, and little girlish and irritating and should be smacked in the face with a shovel. I don't mind her coming between the OTP because it's a melodrama after all, but I mind cringing every time I see her. Now there is someone who should have jumped off a building. I wouldn't wish her as a gf on anyone. Childlike helpless women who are all about self are calculated to send me through the roof. When Ling slaps her I cheer. Ugh.
I continue to be amused by the fact that Ling, even in love with Qi Luo spends his free time drinking bear with his guy friends and owning a bunch of girlie mags. Heeee. Yeah, he'd totally die for her, but if she wants someone who is all about romantic gestures, she is out of luck. I do love the bit where before the races he asks her for something of hers as a good luck charm and she ties her hair ribbon around his wrist. So medieval. And he calls her before and after the race. Good boyfriend material, there.
Tong Dae still creeps me out and I am bemused how easy it is to get access to files in a psych word. Good thing I never stayed there as they seemed not to have discovered a concept of lock and key.
And speaking of not right, there is clearly something not right with Ling. Just look at the fight with Ah Bin and his crew. He really slipped the leash and completely went beserk and then when stopped he lumped as if his strings were cut. Not normal. And then he slumps and sees Da Ye and QL seeing him, and I think he hates being seen like that. I think part of reason he didn't show up in school afterwards is because he didn't want to face QL because she saw him slip his leash like that. He is all shocked when she tells him she still wants to see him. And then he mentions about straightjacket and psych ward and tries to turn it into joke but can't keep it up because it's too important to him I suppose and asks if she'd still want to see him if it all was true and she says yes because it's the appearing normal people that are horrid.
I have to say I got this from the Mars manga too: I loved the characters as characters and I thought they were perfect for each other, but Ling has real and serious problems that would give me, for one, huge pause as to his suitability as a date. Hot or not he is no gift to womankind. But then of course, QL is a mess herself and I think it's normal people that freak her out because it's lies and deceit that are involved in keeping up appearances.
I love how now QL argues with Ling or even bosses him a bit, tells the upper classmate to shut it etc etc. And on their cute first date (museum stuff, heeee) she even laughs. A lot. And it's wonderful. And of course she keeps encouraging him, which is interesting because for someone so confident he has pretty low self-esteem (he is clearly hurt by Cang Ze's comment that he is a dummy and spends time in the library studying afterward and won't admit he is hurt. Though since Prof mentions he was first on entrance exams, I think his lack of academic achievement is yet another thing to be chalked up to his mental state after his twin's death). It's going to sound bizarre, but one of the reasons Ling needs QL so much is because she tells him about how wonderful he is (and in qualities he thinks he lacks and that matter: intelligence or goodness or bravery. Not him being hot or whatever). Repeatedly. This isn't as solipcistic as it sounds. He needs a heck of a lot of encouragement and for someone to believe in him. People have no expectations of him at all, after all, and she is the first person in a while to really have faith in him.
It was interesting to hear this early stuff on Sheng, in light of what I remember of the entire story. Running fr protection, huh? It's interesting because Mars deliberately draws parallels between not only Sheng and QL (QL is the good version of Sheng if that makes sense) but between Tong Dao (and his former DOA patron) and Sheng (and Ling towards Sheng somewhat) as a much darker version of Sheng/Ling dynamic. OK, I think I am overmetaing, but whatever.
Also, I want to mention I love their chemistry. My favorite little scene is after he's seen her painting of him, they walk off joking and he just casually puts his arm around her shoulder and it's so cute I squee.
Cang Ze almost jumping and Ling's freak out and flashback is always fun because I love angst. His promising her to come back to school is also cool: I love that she can get him to do things. When she says she wants to watch him leave this time because every time she says goodbye she is afraid she won't see him again and the incredulous melty look on his face and then he pulls her into this hug it's squeeful. I love my melodrama.
Let's see, other cool things. I love when he tells her that before he met her he thought there was nothing to be afraid of but now he is afraid of so many things, most of all he is terrified whenever she is in the back of his bike because then he can't make any mistake. The fact that he is careful and afraid is a good sign. Means he has things he wants to live for. Yay. I also love whenever she waits for him in school and glows from the inside and I love that her clothes are nicer now but still very conservative.
I am also interested by the fact that QL is so afraid she'll lose him that she is trying to act preemptively and do the whole 'I'll let him go' thing, so as not to hold on too much. Which is all mature and all but come on girl, what do you want him to do, swear in blood? He keep picking you over the childish one, k? (I just love the convenience store gf scene. And his phone call telling her she isn't a Sheng substitute and then them sitting on the stairs. Guuuh). And by the fact that Sheng clearly jumped off because he felt Ling developing his own life and identity and sheesh, characters, haven't you read the manga? Why do you keep wondering about why the guy jumped off?
Oh, and his apartment is a total dump. Eeeek!
Eps 9-11:
absolutely adore the scene when QL comes to visit Ling in his apartment and finds Ling sick. She offers to get others to nurse him, but it's because she doesn't want to presume. And she ends up staying and taking care of him. And I've realized that no one has ever taken care of him before. He always had to take care of other people, whether his brother or his ex gf, but he's never had anyone to return the favor for him. In her quiet way, QL is very capable and a very good shoulder to lean on. That is why I love the ship so much. They help each other so much, they support each other. They just really work. And I love that she falls asleep holding his hand, staying overnight in his place: and that is a girl who is so scared of men. It really shows the levels to which she trusts him (and I think he needs her trust so badly. She never lets him say, even jokingly, that he is no good. She sees all the good in him and it allows him to believe into its existence in him for himself). And she wakes up in his bed and he's tucked her in fully clothed. Awwww. And of course I love that she cooks for him and she makes smiley face on the omelet and when he sits there watching her cook, not only is it just an amazingly domestic scene, you can tell how Ling is rather melting at this and how he is so not used to any of this and it's just adorable.
I love the earlier scene about him not being able to run upstairs when that stupid ex potentially went on the roof. The boy is a mess and I love that the show never really sies away from it. My favorite scene in all these eps is his falling apart in front of QL and admitting how scared he is (when she tells him she wants him to face what went on. It's a very good advice but it's easer for her because she is not in his place. When she has to face her own demons rather later, it's equally hard for her). He is just freaking out so much, and he is panicking and when he says he doesn't want to go 'back to those days' (aka the psych ward I presume), it really has the feeling of a panic attack and I feel horrible for him and heis so terrified and pleading (in general, not to QL of course) and emotionally naked and you realize yet again that underneath his tough, expansive shell he is just a very wounded young guy who's had to deal with way too much (of course, ex shows up later and makes it all about her argh). And I think it's because he feels he can show his feelings, even such feelings of weakness in front of QL (just as later she tells him about her rape and she's never told anyone before).
I do love their day together after she stays over at his place. That kiss at the metro station, with her asking him to kiss her as 'people do in greeting in foreign countries' (such a callback to their first kiss and his phrase) is beautiful. She loves him so much she almost glows in her quiet way, and I love the look on his face after that kiss as she walks off. It's so touched and moved, and his emotions are so out of the open and his shell is so shattered when he is with her.
I also loved when he tells her about Sheng. When he tells her how he hated him blah blah, this is obviously not true (and I love QL for pointing it out) but it's clearly something that he's been thinking to himself when the night is dark. It's something he keeps blaming himself for, probably. Ling feels as if he is horrible, irredeemable (Tong Dao really plays on that darkness later), but QL's steadfast belief in his goodness and his soul is what keeps him grounded. He needs her faith, in order to face himself. I do find it interesting that he says he couldn't be good when Sheng was arond, and he is the distorted one. It's so telling. And then he starts crying, after baring probably his deepest insecurities and torments, and he whispers her to look away, and she holds him and says 'it's OK' and he cries and she has her face on his hair and she is crying too, for him. I love that they really see each other at their lowest throughout this and yet love and support each other.
I've written a lot about Tong Dao and his effect on Ling before, in my previous Mars watch posts. But I do find it disturbing that TD is trying to recreate his prior relationship this time with Ling (I love the explicit parallels the cop makes between Ling/Sheng and TD/Quen Mu). Both TD and Sheng (at least it seems) were inciting violence and pushing the other person into violent activities, and then stand back and watch from the sidelines.
I love QL kissing Ling in the diner. First. EEEEE! And she cuts his slices for him and he says they are too big. One of the many reasons I think they are so good together is that you see them happy and compatible and just being good together during many happy, non-stress times. They are wonderful together. I think he loves having her do little things like that for her (as he mentions he's never had his Mom's cooking and even if she was alive, she'd never cook for him). I lovehow he keeps having issues and self doubt but she loves him and believes in him and she gives him security to open himself. Of course I love that it's not just her doing that for him. He does it for her, too, whenever she is n trouble (and I love that she now laughs and teases and she is alive and not a frozen little sad girl who mentioned she used to hate to go to school and pray that no one would speak to her).
I also love the scene where he is jealous (after she tells him about the older gent and the painting). I think he sometimes feels he is not good enough. And I love it when she calms him and tells him she loves the smell of gasoline (heeeee) and then they seriously neck and she freaks and breaks it off and it's going to be quite an issue later because he is being good about not pushing her about it, but he'll want it sooner or later and he is already wondering what's up with this.
I also love how on this show, it lets guys be guys. Ling might love QL a lot, but he s interested in sex, drinks beer as a fun activity with his buddies, and is not into flowery speeches.
I love Mars. Many doramas later, it's still my favorite.
Eps 12-15:
OMG. These are totally my very favorite parts of the dorama.
It seems TPTB were going for QL being Ling's good angel and TD his bad. Interestingly, the very fact that Ling freaks out that he could be like Tong Dao means he isn't. TD is right, QL and himself are similar in one way. Both are trying to bring out the potentialities in Ling. They just happen to be completely opposite potentialities. Of course, QL is the right one: Ling is a good person who is messed up by trauma in his past, not a psycho repressing his inner evilness, the way Tong Dao would like to believe. As is evidenced by Ling telling TD he likes being weak, and he's finally found someone to protect and being all tough is a boring game so TD should play it alone.
I love the scene when Ling comes over to QL's house when he mother is in the hospital and she asks him to stay the night because she is afraid and he is so tender and gentle (guuuuh) when he promises he will stay until morning and 'so my brave QL is afraid of the dark' (of course, having seen the later eps, it's pretty clear who her monsters in the closet are and they are horrible). And she falls asleep holding his hand, and she sleepily tells him she likes him and he smiles and he stays the whole night and AWWWW.
Qing Mei continues to crack me up, with her no-nonsense, pragmatic attitude. I was laughing when she told QL to marry Ling because Ling has a rich father and the father will give them $$$ and all their problems will be solved.
But my favorite part of those eps has to do with the revelation (though you could tell is was a long time coming) that QL has been raped. By her stepfather when she was 16, no less. Argh. Horrible. I love Ling asking Da Ye questions (because after she started screaming after their make out session, that would give anyone ideas), without Da Ye knowing what Ling is about but you see Ling break apart as he realizes that QL has been raped. I love the scene later in his apartment, as he holds her as she just screams. And then they both just slump on the floor (crying boys=hot). And then my favorite scene in the whole mini when he drags her out of class next morning and takes her to a beach and she thinks he will want to break up because she is 'not normal' but he tells her he is not normal either. And I really love that he tells her he won't tell her to forget because one can't and that he doesn't really understand how she feels because he is not a woman, but all he wants to tell her that she is the same in his heart and OMG. Meltdown in my house. And they build that sandcastle with the kids (side note: girl, always get his hair in a ponytail, please). And later have a cute cute double date.
And later have to write an apology letter for skipping school and it's hilarious that he knows so much about it. I love that their happy moments feel genuine.
I also think that while their traumas are horrible, if it wasn't for them, they never would have gotten together. Ling before Sheng's death would have either gone violent nudged by Sheng or developed his own identity but would have been to confident and normal to respond to QL. And QL would have probably not wanted to deal with someone as unpredictable as him if she didn't understand deeply where he was coming from.
I also love the scene where QL has to tell Ling she is moving back in with stepdad. Firstly, he looks hot mad, but also because it so makes sense to me. Both her reaction and his (though I have to agree with him on this one). I think part of the reason he breaks it off is because he feels so helpless and doesn't want to watch the wreck, but also because she seems to have thrown all his alternatives to her living with her rapist in his face. He does think she prefers even someone like that to him and yeah, that (untrue) would suck.
I do love it when he sees her in school later and confirms that it's over and then tells her: "I am happy to have known you. I have never been so devoted." It's so freaking Victorian.
But of course she runs after him and waits at his apartment and meanwhile he is out on the town but he doesn't want anyone but QL so he can't even sex the floozies he picked up and he comes home and she just left and he finds her at the metro because she forgot her money and the last train left and I just love that scene, where he asks her, all despairing, whether she sees him the same as her stepfather, whether she sees all men the same way, as predators and she tells him that his being in the world is the only thing that gives her the courage to walk into that house and there is hugging and omg, my poor OTP.
Ep 16-17:
Mars eps 16 and 17 are really really good (but I wrote so much of them the first time I watched I should probably control myself). I totally adore the sex scene ('open your eyes, it's me' squeeeeee) and the whole Ling begging his father for help and completely capitulating (men negating selves for love is always hot) and Sheng's room is extra creepy, all those portraits of himself. And I love all the OTP cute moments, as when he is hugging her and she is laughing and saying it's too tight. They really have all those lovely little moments. And I love that he proposes marriage so casually, when they are sitting in bed. SQUEE.
18-19:
I watched more Mars (halfway through ep 19 now) and my squee is unabated. I confess that I am not just horrified by Sheng, but I also feel sorry for him. Kid was messed up. Also, I love love LOVE the scene of QL and Ling walking and kidding back and forth that they will walk on forever and who will get tired first. It's the little moments (like her waking him up in their rattrap apartment before the stepdad thing) that really make this OTP for me. Also, much as I feel bad for Ling giving up his dream and independence and becoming a 'puppet,' I confess he looks mighty fine in a suit so I keep wishing he'd stick to it :)
I also love that much as he loves QL, Ling remains a guy. And I love that it's not just his sacrificing for her (though the scene when they are panicking in the hotel room is a huge favorite) but that she sacrifices back for him: even though she is terrified of his racing, she is the one who persuades his father to let him go back. Giving up your wants for your loved one? Yes, that's definitely proof of love there. On both their parts.
I also really loved Ling starting to tell Tong Dao that he would seek revenge on him if TD killed QL, but then saying "but what after that? I'd still have to go on living, and it would be doubly bad: I'd have the sense of both loss and sin." He's really matured a lot. QL screaming in the hospital is so dramatic and good and I love her image appearing to Ling in his unconscious state, and pulling him off the ledge so to speak (a contrast with his mother who chose the dead over the living).
It's amazing how much healthier and functional the OTP is by the end than by the beginning. And I love the hopefulness of the ending, their hugging and laughing and he is off to do what he loves and she is happy to be with him. Eeeeee!
Ep 1:
So yeah, Day One of the Mars watchalong, with its star-crossed lovers, fast motorcycles, dysfunctional families and more angst than you can shake a stick at. First off I have to say that this remains my favorite dorama (yes, more than MG) and watching just one ep is like that ad for potato chips they had running a while back. Impossible. I strove womanfully though and won through.
Rewatching this is a very interesting experience. Glad to say that it really holds up and knowing the twists doesn't ruin it (though that makes sense, as I've read the manga already by the time I saw this for the first time).
Also, on a very shallow note, Chen Ling=HOT. I don't know if it's the looks or the bad boy/wounded child combo he is totally working, but yum. Especially when he pulls his hair back. And I just want to hug Qui Luo, but then what else is new. Also, because this doesn't deal with the world of the uber-rich like MG, the sets feel more realistic (the rich houses in tdoramas, just like rich houses in Bolly movies always feel like converted hotels to me). Also the clothes in this one, while not gorgeous, don't make me want to poke my eyes out.
I am such a sucker for 'boy saves girl and girl saves boy right back' scenarios and Mars hits that kink dead center. Because at first it starts out as this popular outgoing guy gets interested in this really shy and messed up girl but of course it turns out he is even more messed up than she is. I am a total sucker for those storylines. Total.
And you know what I've forgotten? Ling is fun. I can see why people want to hang around with him. And whatever his issues (and there is a multitude), he might be thoughtless but never malicious. And he has a strong protective streak. And is pretty perceptive. And can be quite gentle.
Favorite moments:
Fave Moment No 1: Ling poking Qui Luo on the side of the face, going 'ding dong' as if he is ringing a bell.
Fave Moment No 2: His borrowing money from her. And then pulling her scrunchy off and saying he'll borrow it too.
Fave Moment No 3: It's my fave this ep. Saving her from the sexual molesting teacher (if the teacher is a sexual predator of some sort, it would make sense he is drawn to QL as he can sense her vulnerability, someone he can exploit). QL freezing because she is flashing back to her rape and then Ling being scary and getting rid of the guy and then gently telling her she shouldn't be helpless because that would make people take more advantage of her and he is rather sad.
I just feel so bad for Qui Luo. She is petrified of the world and she walks with her head hunched in and flinches from any bodily contact. The first moment in this ep, halfway through, when she raises her eyes to look at Ling, is actually startling. Of course, he has his own PTSD if he flips in front of mirrors. Their med bills are going to be huge.
A few more general things really caught my attention this time:
Probably because it's based on a manga, and manga is really good about it in general, I love the fact that the story really doesn't expect us to think Ling and Qui Luo are an OTP because they are the leads but shows them as really compatible. Of course, this gets developed much more through the episodes (this is only a first ep for goodness' sake) but I want to mention how much I love that fact.
There is the fact that both of them are very physically attractive, of course. Ling, even though a victim of feathered hair of which I do not approve on principle but which seems to rule the Asian dramas, is quite quite sexy. And Qui Luo, even bundled in her shapeless outfits and with no make-up has gorgeous skin and is doll-like in her prettiness.
But it's not just that. I can see why they are attracted to each other despite dissimilarities. For the shell-shocked Qui Luo, shy and scared of the world to the point of dysfunction, Ling's very reckless confidence and thoughtless good nature is a magnet. It's something she lacks but also something she is drawn to (as to his violence problem, she makes a spoilery comment later on but yes, it's also something that resonates). More importantly, only someone as confident and even pushy can drag her out from behind the mile thick walls she's built to protect herself from the world. And as to Ling, as the show develops it really seems Qui Luo is his Good Angel, but even early on, I think he is drawn to her because he responds to beauty and emotion (I don't necessarily mean her looks, I mean in her art. Especially since the first drawing of hers he notices is a Mother and Child which we find out is something that would resonate). In a way, he is just as locked up emotionally behind barriers as she is, only his barriers take the shape of outward agression, and I think her fragility and her talent wake something up in him that's been put away (well, I don't know what the spoiler attitude is so I'll just say since certain events in his past). In a way, Ling needs someone to protect. It's not a macho thing really, but it gives his life some meaning outside of self and some structure. The boy lives by himself, isolated and rootless. Caring for someone else, even on a rudimentary level, is a step on a way to rejoining society. And I think also both of them recognize each other's messed-uppedness, in an instinctive way. They are both misfits, fitting into the world at wrong angles, but together they just might work.
The other thing that I noticed is what a turn around these characters are from their characters in Meteor Garden. Most people have seen MG first but I came to MG from Mars and I remember thinking no way could they play their MG characters. They are polar opposites. Where Lei in MG was a passive pensive dreamer, Ling is a a 180 degree turn, all loud and outgoing and agressive. And I loved Shan Cai (just as I loved Tsukushi in all HYD versions) because she was so strong and fearless but Barbie Xu is completely different as Qui Luo who is so withdrawn and shy she can't function.
Also, I love the theme song for this. Love.
Ep 2:
It's interesting that to me, in many ways, this is a more realistic story than Meteor Garden (I adore MG but the vibe here is somewhat different). It has plenty of melodrama twists, but I think it's because it has a rather strong emphasis on these two screwed up people and their internal issues. It's very character driven.
First I have to confess that Tdorama medicine is about on the level of Bollywood medicine aka it makes me roll my eyes almost out of my sockets. The 'false death' thing they describe? I am no doctor but it sounds unlikely. But it does serve its purpose. If the first episode showed us how wounded and screwed up Qi Luo is, this ep shows us that Ling is every bit as much a mess. Not only is he a former resident of a mental institution (smashing all the mirrors in the place? Violent and kinda cool, in a way. Yeah, I am disturbed), but he is not altogether all there even now. When his bike is getting fixed and the mechanic asks him why doesn't he (Ling) go back home to stay with his father, Ling says that he's go insane if he moved back in. But it's not all a flip remark. There is a grain of truth there. And when the mechanic flips back that he already is crazy anyway, you can see that for Ling, that unintentionally hits home. He is a total seething mess under his cool mask.
But their weaknesses compliment each other. If I was inclined to go into heavy meta (and when am I not?), I'd say the fact that in his mostly unconscious state, he grabs on to her sketch of a mother and child, is kinda a foreshadowing of a lot in their relationship: her bringing him peace and stability. But of course, he helps her quite a lot as well. Not only does he drag her out of her shell (after all she is comfortable enough with him to ask him to be a model for her), and offers to protect her (I love how pleased he is when she offers him the painting and then offers to pay by protecting her. He really has a protective streak. Of course then he has to make the crack about lending her his body LOL), but more importantly, he helps her grow a spine (I love the scene where he's exposed the molesting teacher and he walks by her and tells her to give him five and asks her 'isn't it fun to strike back?' and she smiles). I just love that they are two people neither of whom is great dating material (I'd stay far away from either) but who really work for each other.
Tong Dae still freaks me the HELL out. He freaks me out a lot more later (he is like the dark side of Ling) but even the first glimpse of him is freaking trippy.
My favorite scene in this ep? When she stretched her hands for the helmet and his jacket is so huge on her and she actually touches a guy voluntarily. It's such a huge thing for her (and he's never had a girl on his bike before either). Interestingly (and we see it more later) that much as he is pushy about small things, he doesn't really push much when it comes to serious stuff (e.g. here is he is pretty hands off and says matter of factly that he forgot she can't bear to touch guys blah blah)
Actually I changed my mind. My favorite scene in this ep is the scene on the roof when he finds her. The first time I saw the dorama it's where I became this ship's bitch. I love it. Tough guys who can be so gentle is a huge kink (almost as much as the fact that she is so tiny and small and he is so tall and brtoadshouldered is another one). I love it when he gives her his jacket and offers to take her home. Of course, Qing Mei in this ep fulfills what Ling said in ep 1: Qi Luo's helplessness will make people want to do worse stuff to her. And of course for Qi Luo, the lack of clothes is horrifying. She hides behind them and while for me it would be a normal shirt (what she is wearing on the roof), for her it must feel naked.
I continue to be amused by the fact that the leads in this are a RL couple. I have no idea if they were already a couple when this was done (2004) but if they were, I am totally amused to imagine them doing the whole 'yawn. Another day of pretending to angst over each other. Did you lock the door?' Heeee.
Mmmmm. I LOVE ep 3 of Mars. I do find it really cool how Ling brings QL out of her isolation: she feels comfortable enough with him to tell him something is none of his business (on the roof. I can't see her doing it with anyone else) and she stands up for him to his Mom and by the look on Mom's face it's not anything QL has done before. And she stops hunching herself in as much. By the end of the ep she is the one who says 'hi' to Ling first. And earlier she tells him about her feelings. And of course there is the desperate quiet stubborness when Quin Mei threatens her to make her give up Ling. Underneath all the layers of mess there is a pretty steady person.
The Da Ye/Qi Luo date is funny, with neither of them saying a word and Ling sitting there exasperated in the middle. Total proof that while Da Ye is a sweet guy, he is not the guy for QL, all wrong for her. I do love the startled look on Ling's face when QL agrees to try to date Da Ye. He doesn't realize his feelings for her yet, but they are there, and he is none too happy even though he doesn't understand it himself and hides it quickly. And of course, QL has nothing much to talk about but she comes alive when they discuss Ling. No wonder Da Ye realizes how things are really quickly.
I love that neither of the other options is portrayed horribly. Da Ye is a sweet guy, probably a better person than Ling. But he is too quiet to break through to QL. She needs someone who will make her have fun and not be put off by the shyness. And Qing Mei is a bitch to QL true, but the fact is Ling slept with her and now she's gone obsessive about him and it's not too unrealistic.
How much do I love Ling finding out she's been taken and running like crazy everywhere, to find her, just bolting out of the classroom. And finding her and just holding her and she sobs in his arms as Da Ye looks on. It's so instinctive. And then taking her to the nurse, and then finding Qing Mei and telling her, dead serious, that if she does anything to QL he will kill her. This show is hitting all my kinks, fraking consistently.
I love the scene where he stops by to check if she is OK. And we really see that (even though he expresses it as a joke) he rather sees himself as unworthy of anything much (I had a lengthier post about this somewhere when I first watched Mars in the early spring). The fact that she sees him so differently, and sees past his defences (when she says that he just needs a lot of love and he doesn't want to feel things so he just has these fly by night women etc etc) is one of the reasons she throws him so off kilter.
And I love that she confesses her feelings to him in the same breath as she tells him she knows it's hopeless and she tells herself to stay away. And he is so lost and so can't help it and leans in to kiss her and we later find out it's her first kiss ever and it's one of my Top 10 TV kisses and then they are both so clumsy and confused and overwhelmed. And the next morning he is so scared, emotionally, because he is in such foreign territory. Eeee. I love Da Ye punching Ling and telling him this means he (Da Ye) gives up on QL and telling him that disaster or not, Ling is QL's choice. Finally, a man who respect a woman's emotional choice. Go Da Ye!
My favorite shot is her looking at the good luck charm he gave her while lying in bed and smiling and pulling the blanket up. EEEEE!
Also, dimples.
Eps 3-8:
First off, let me mention how much I loathe the girl from Ling's high school. She is whiny, and little girlish and irritating and should be smacked in the face with a shovel. I don't mind her coming between the OTP because it's a melodrama after all, but I mind cringing every time I see her. Now there is someone who should have jumped off a building. I wouldn't wish her as a gf on anyone. Childlike helpless women who are all about self are calculated to send me through the roof. When Ling slaps her I cheer. Ugh.
I continue to be amused by the fact that Ling, even in love with Qi Luo spends his free time drinking bear with his guy friends and owning a bunch of girlie mags. Heeee. Yeah, he'd totally die for her, but if she wants someone who is all about romantic gestures, she is out of luck. I do love the bit where before the races he asks her for something of hers as a good luck charm and she ties her hair ribbon around his wrist. So medieval. And he calls her before and after the race. Good boyfriend material, there.
Tong Dae still creeps me out and I am bemused how easy it is to get access to files in a psych word. Good thing I never stayed there as they seemed not to have discovered a concept of lock and key.
And speaking of not right, there is clearly something not right with Ling. Just look at the fight with Ah Bin and his crew. He really slipped the leash and completely went beserk and then when stopped he lumped as if his strings were cut. Not normal. And then he slumps and sees Da Ye and QL seeing him, and I think he hates being seen like that. I think part of reason he didn't show up in school afterwards is because he didn't want to face QL because she saw him slip his leash like that. He is all shocked when she tells him she still wants to see him. And then he mentions about straightjacket and psych ward and tries to turn it into joke but can't keep it up because it's too important to him I suppose and asks if she'd still want to see him if it all was true and she says yes because it's the appearing normal people that are horrid.
I have to say I got this from the Mars manga too: I loved the characters as characters and I thought they were perfect for each other, but Ling has real and serious problems that would give me, for one, huge pause as to his suitability as a date. Hot or not he is no gift to womankind. But then of course, QL is a mess herself and I think it's normal people that freak her out because it's lies and deceit that are involved in keeping up appearances.
I love how now QL argues with Ling or even bosses him a bit, tells the upper classmate to shut it etc etc. And on their cute first date (museum stuff, heeee) she even laughs. A lot. And it's wonderful. And of course she keeps encouraging him, which is interesting because for someone so confident he has pretty low self-esteem (he is clearly hurt by Cang Ze's comment that he is a dummy and spends time in the library studying afterward and won't admit he is hurt. Though since Prof mentions he was first on entrance exams, I think his lack of academic achievement is yet another thing to be chalked up to his mental state after his twin's death). It's going to sound bizarre, but one of the reasons Ling needs QL so much is because she tells him about how wonderful he is (and in qualities he thinks he lacks and that matter: intelligence or goodness or bravery. Not him being hot or whatever). Repeatedly. This isn't as solipcistic as it sounds. He needs a heck of a lot of encouragement and for someone to believe in him. People have no expectations of him at all, after all, and she is the first person in a while to really have faith in him.
It was interesting to hear this early stuff on Sheng, in light of what I remember of the entire story. Running fr protection, huh? It's interesting because Mars deliberately draws parallels between not only Sheng and QL (QL is the good version of Sheng if that makes sense) but between Tong Dao (and his former DOA patron) and Sheng (and Ling towards Sheng somewhat) as a much darker version of Sheng/Ling dynamic. OK, I think I am overmetaing, but whatever.
Also, I want to mention I love their chemistry. My favorite little scene is after he's seen her painting of him, they walk off joking and he just casually puts his arm around her shoulder and it's so cute I squee.
Cang Ze almost jumping and Ling's freak out and flashback is always fun because I love angst. His promising her to come back to school is also cool: I love that she can get him to do things. When she says she wants to watch him leave this time because every time she says goodbye she is afraid she won't see him again and the incredulous melty look on his face and then he pulls her into this hug it's squeeful. I love my melodrama.
Let's see, other cool things. I love when he tells her that before he met her he thought there was nothing to be afraid of but now he is afraid of so many things, most of all he is terrified whenever she is in the back of his bike because then he can't make any mistake. The fact that he is careful and afraid is a good sign. Means he has things he wants to live for. Yay. I also love whenever she waits for him in school and glows from the inside and I love that her clothes are nicer now but still very conservative.
I am also interested by the fact that QL is so afraid she'll lose him that she is trying to act preemptively and do the whole 'I'll let him go' thing, so as not to hold on too much. Which is all mature and all but come on girl, what do you want him to do, swear in blood? He keep picking you over the childish one, k? (I just love the convenience store gf scene. And his phone call telling her she isn't a Sheng substitute and then them sitting on the stairs. Guuuh). And by the fact that Sheng clearly jumped off because he felt Ling developing his own life and identity and sheesh, characters, haven't you read the manga? Why do you keep wondering about why the guy jumped off?
Oh, and his apartment is a total dump. Eeeek!
Eps 9-11:
absolutely adore the scene when QL comes to visit Ling in his apartment and finds Ling sick. She offers to get others to nurse him, but it's because she doesn't want to presume. And she ends up staying and taking care of him. And I've realized that no one has ever taken care of him before. He always had to take care of other people, whether his brother or his ex gf, but he's never had anyone to return the favor for him. In her quiet way, QL is very capable and a very good shoulder to lean on. That is why I love the ship so much. They help each other so much, they support each other. They just really work. And I love that she falls asleep holding his hand, staying overnight in his place: and that is a girl who is so scared of men. It really shows the levels to which she trusts him (and I think he needs her trust so badly. She never lets him say, even jokingly, that he is no good. She sees all the good in him and it allows him to believe into its existence in him for himself). And she wakes up in his bed and he's tucked her in fully clothed. Awwww. And of course I love that she cooks for him and she makes smiley face on the omelet and when he sits there watching her cook, not only is it just an amazingly domestic scene, you can tell how Ling is rather melting at this and how he is so not used to any of this and it's just adorable.
I love the earlier scene about him not being able to run upstairs when that stupid ex potentially went on the roof. The boy is a mess and I love that the show never really sies away from it. My favorite scene in all these eps is his falling apart in front of QL and admitting how scared he is (when she tells him she wants him to face what went on. It's a very good advice but it's easer for her because she is not in his place. When she has to face her own demons rather later, it's equally hard for her). He is just freaking out so much, and he is panicking and when he says he doesn't want to go 'back to those days' (aka the psych ward I presume), it really has the feeling of a panic attack and I feel horrible for him and heis so terrified and pleading (in general, not to QL of course) and emotionally naked and you realize yet again that underneath his tough, expansive shell he is just a very wounded young guy who's had to deal with way too much (of course, ex shows up later and makes it all about her argh). And I think it's because he feels he can show his feelings, even such feelings of weakness in front of QL (just as later she tells him about her rape and she's never told anyone before).
I do love their day together after she stays over at his place. That kiss at the metro station, with her asking him to kiss her as 'people do in greeting in foreign countries' (such a callback to their first kiss and his phrase) is beautiful. She loves him so much she almost glows in her quiet way, and I love the look on his face after that kiss as she walks off. It's so touched and moved, and his emotions are so out of the open and his shell is so shattered when he is with her.
I also loved when he tells her about Sheng. When he tells her how he hated him blah blah, this is obviously not true (and I love QL for pointing it out) but it's clearly something that he's been thinking to himself when the night is dark. It's something he keeps blaming himself for, probably. Ling feels as if he is horrible, irredeemable (Tong Dao really plays on that darkness later), but QL's steadfast belief in his goodness and his soul is what keeps him grounded. He needs her faith, in order to face himself. I do find it interesting that he says he couldn't be good when Sheng was arond, and he is the distorted one. It's so telling. And then he starts crying, after baring probably his deepest insecurities and torments, and he whispers her to look away, and she holds him and says 'it's OK' and he cries and she has her face on his hair and she is crying too, for him. I love that they really see each other at their lowest throughout this and yet love and support each other.
I've written a lot about Tong Dao and his effect on Ling before, in my previous Mars watch posts. But I do find it disturbing that TD is trying to recreate his prior relationship this time with Ling (I love the explicit parallels the cop makes between Ling/Sheng and TD/Quen Mu). Both TD and Sheng (at least it seems) were inciting violence and pushing the other person into violent activities, and then stand back and watch from the sidelines.
I love QL kissing Ling in the diner. First. EEEEE! And she cuts his slices for him and he says they are too big. One of the many reasons I think they are so good together is that you see them happy and compatible and just being good together during many happy, non-stress times. They are wonderful together. I think he loves having her do little things like that for her (as he mentions he's never had his Mom's cooking and even if she was alive, she'd never cook for him). I lovehow he keeps having issues and self doubt but she loves him and believes in him and she gives him security to open himself. Of course I love that it's not just her doing that for him. He does it for her, too, whenever she is n trouble (and I love that she now laughs and teases and she is alive and not a frozen little sad girl who mentioned she used to hate to go to school and pray that no one would speak to her).
I also love the scene where he is jealous (after she tells him about the older gent and the painting). I think he sometimes feels he is not good enough. And I love it when she calms him and tells him she loves the smell of gasoline (heeeee) and then they seriously neck and she freaks and breaks it off and it's going to be quite an issue later because he is being good about not pushing her about it, but he'll want it sooner or later and he is already wondering what's up with this.
I also love how on this show, it lets guys be guys. Ling might love QL a lot, but he s interested in sex, drinks beer as a fun activity with his buddies, and is not into flowery speeches.
I love Mars. Many doramas later, it's still my favorite.
Eps 12-15:
OMG. These are totally my very favorite parts of the dorama.
It seems TPTB were going for QL being Ling's good angel and TD his bad. Interestingly, the very fact that Ling freaks out that he could be like Tong Dao means he isn't. TD is right, QL and himself are similar in one way. Both are trying to bring out the potentialities in Ling. They just happen to be completely opposite potentialities. Of course, QL is the right one: Ling is a good person who is messed up by trauma in his past, not a psycho repressing his inner evilness, the way Tong Dao would like to believe. As is evidenced by Ling telling TD he likes being weak, and he's finally found someone to protect and being all tough is a boring game so TD should play it alone.
I love the scene when Ling comes over to QL's house when he mother is in the hospital and she asks him to stay the night because she is afraid and he is so tender and gentle (guuuuh) when he promises he will stay until morning and 'so my brave QL is afraid of the dark' (of course, having seen the later eps, it's pretty clear who her monsters in the closet are and they are horrible). And she falls asleep holding his hand, and she sleepily tells him she likes him and he smiles and he stays the whole night and AWWWW.
Qing Mei continues to crack me up, with her no-nonsense, pragmatic attitude. I was laughing when she told QL to marry Ling because Ling has a rich father and the father will give them $$$ and all their problems will be solved.
But my favorite part of those eps has to do with the revelation (though you could tell is was a long time coming) that QL has been raped. By her stepfather when she was 16, no less. Argh. Horrible. I love Ling asking Da Ye questions (because after she started screaming after their make out session, that would give anyone ideas), without Da Ye knowing what Ling is about but you see Ling break apart as he realizes that QL has been raped. I love the scene later in his apartment, as he holds her as she just screams. And then they both just slump on the floor (crying boys=hot). And then my favorite scene in the whole mini when he drags her out of class next morning and takes her to a beach and she thinks he will want to break up because she is 'not normal' but he tells her he is not normal either. And I really love that he tells her he won't tell her to forget because one can't and that he doesn't really understand how she feels because he is not a woman, but all he wants to tell her that she is the same in his heart and OMG. Meltdown in my house. And they build that sandcastle with the kids (side note: girl, always get his hair in a ponytail, please). And later have a cute cute double date.
And later have to write an apology letter for skipping school and it's hilarious that he knows so much about it. I love that their happy moments feel genuine.
I also think that while their traumas are horrible, if it wasn't for them, they never would have gotten together. Ling before Sheng's death would have either gone violent nudged by Sheng or developed his own identity but would have been to confident and normal to respond to QL. And QL would have probably not wanted to deal with someone as unpredictable as him if she didn't understand deeply where he was coming from.
I also love the scene where QL has to tell Ling she is moving back in with stepdad. Firstly, he looks hot mad, but also because it so makes sense to me. Both her reaction and his (though I have to agree with him on this one). I think part of the reason he breaks it off is because he feels so helpless and doesn't want to watch the wreck, but also because she seems to have thrown all his alternatives to her living with her rapist in his face. He does think she prefers even someone like that to him and yeah, that (untrue) would suck.
I do love it when he sees her in school later and confirms that it's over and then tells her: "I am happy to have known you. I have never been so devoted." It's so freaking Victorian.
But of course she runs after him and waits at his apartment and meanwhile he is out on the town but he doesn't want anyone but QL so he can't even sex the floozies he picked up and he comes home and she just left and he finds her at the metro because she forgot her money and the last train left and I just love that scene, where he asks her, all despairing, whether she sees him the same as her stepfather, whether she sees all men the same way, as predators and she tells him that his being in the world is the only thing that gives her the courage to walk into that house and there is hugging and omg, my poor OTP.
Ep 16-17:
Mars eps 16 and 17 are really really good (but I wrote so much of them the first time I watched I should probably control myself). I totally adore the sex scene ('open your eyes, it's me' squeeeeee) and the whole Ling begging his father for help and completely capitulating (men negating selves for love is always hot) and Sheng's room is extra creepy, all those portraits of himself. And I love all the OTP cute moments, as when he is hugging her and she is laughing and saying it's too tight. They really have all those lovely little moments. And I love that he proposes marriage so casually, when they are sitting in bed. SQUEE.
18-19:
I watched more Mars (halfway through ep 19 now) and my squee is unabated. I confess that I am not just horrified by Sheng, but I also feel sorry for him. Kid was messed up. Also, I love love LOVE the scene of QL and Ling walking and kidding back and forth that they will walk on forever and who will get tired first. It's the little moments (like her waking him up in their rattrap apartment before the stepdad thing) that really make this OTP for me. Also, much as I feel bad for Ling giving up his dream and independence and becoming a 'puppet,' I confess he looks mighty fine in a suit so I keep wishing he'd stick to it :)
I also love that much as he loves QL, Ling remains a guy. And I love that it's not just his sacrificing for her (though the scene when they are panicking in the hotel room is a huge favorite) but that she sacrifices back for him: even though she is terrified of his racing, she is the one who persuades his father to let him go back. Giving up your wants for your loved one? Yes, that's definitely proof of love there. On both their parts.
I also really loved Ling starting to tell Tong Dao that he would seek revenge on him if TD killed QL, but then saying "but what after that? I'd still have to go on living, and it would be doubly bad: I'd have the sense of both loss and sin." He's really matured a lot. QL screaming in the hospital is so dramatic and good and I love her image appearing to Ling in his unconscious state, and pulling him off the ledge so to speak (a contrast with his mother who chose the dead over the living).
It's amazing how much healthier and functional the OTP is by the end than by the beginning. And I love the hopefulness of the ending, their hugging and laughing and he is off to do what he loves and she is happy to be with him. Eeeeee!