Please give a round of applause for Jia (or you may know her as J) from Scribblings of a Fangirl. She has done an amazing job committing herself to providing us recaps for Khun Samee Kamalor Tee Rak, a lakorn that I’ve once dropped, but due to her second look at this drama, I am feeling inspired to add it to my list again (as you should too.) A chapter closed on a guest recapping project here on the blog, please leave a token of love for Jia. ~P’Fia

Roller Coaster Ride (Ep11-12)

Oh boy, I’m left breathless by the twists and turns in ep11-12.

The funny: Lan graduated from frenemy to officially becoming Pim’s friend and they make a great team fending off the horrid Garaged who tries to use her position as the customer to boss them around. Now that they are pals, their pals Nen and P’Sucee also became part of a big happy group and their candid girltalk time is priceless. I just about died when they started discussing Pim and Don’s non-existent sex life and even gave the blushing Pim tips on how to seduce Don … which brings me to the hot and hilarious seduction scene where Pim pulls out all the stops to get Don fired up only to end up with the flustered Don escaping into the bathroom for the night.

The sweet: Not to worry, Don and Pim get another chance at sexytimes after he rescued her from a rape attempt by Egapon. Don’s sincerity touches Pim and we get a successful willing! woot!

But why I no see this second cap in the willing scene??? I hope it’s from another scene later in the lakorn but I have a sneaking suspicion that it was filmed for this one but ended up on the editing room floor. D:  Being a lakorn, it’s all left to your imagination and I get that tv stations don’t want to be too explicit but I can’t help but snort when Don got up from the bed wearing singlet and jeans after they presumably done the deed. Like really? That’s just silly. Anyhow, it was all very lovely and sweet and Don proposed!!! Only to have the moment stalled by Pim’s indecision and wrecked by Driwin’s untimely call.

The bitter: The feelings between Don and Pim is true but the lies their relationship is built on eats at their insecurities, making it easy for others to manipulate. As the audience I see both sides of the story and it’s sad to see Don misunderstand Pim when she makes the brave decision to face up to her lies and end it all so that they can start anew. They probably would have been able to work out their issues pretty soon if left to their own devices but we have a couple more episodes to go so yes, Driwin would come into the picture right about now.

The stroke-inducing: Driwin is like the cockroach that won’t die not matter how many times you beat it with a roll of newspaper. I wanted to barf when he showed up at Pim’s condo and announced that he would be moving into a unit that so that he can be close to Pim. Stalker much you? Can you not tell how much Pim’s family dislikes you and that she really doesn’t care much for you? Driwin’s screen time isn’t that much if you compare it to similar characters in other lakorns who tend to buzz around from ep1 till the end but every time he appears looking creepily at Pim, I want to punch something. His obsession with Pim is crazy and I think he needs to be locked up more than Egapon. Previews of ep13 shows more Driwin-time and I hope I don’t destroy something in the house when I get there.

The melodrama: I thought it was rather cliché for Garaged and her grandma to go nuts and try to kidnap/murder Don’s grandma and sister after their schemes were exposed but heck, by that time I just wanted to not-see Driwin that I will take this unbelievable dramatic twist where Pim gets the chance to be a heroine and sacrifice herself to save Grandma. I take that this will nicely clear away whatever prejudices Grandma has of Pim by next episode and hopefully this latest addition to the Don/Pim support group will help some way in mending their broken relationship.

Bad guys aside, I like how Don/Pim’s friends and family continue giving very sensible advice which I hope will get into their heads soon. I especially love Pim’s mom pep talk where she tells Pim that it’s fine if Pim wants to win at work because it’s an environment where you compete but giving way and sacrificing for the one you love in a relationship does not mean you ‘lose’ but you actually win because the relationship will last.

Well, we’re left with 2 episodes to go and I’m not very happy with ep13′s preview which shows more misunderstandings but at least I know they will get a happy ending at the end of it all.

*Reposted from Scribblings of a Fangirl

Darkness Before Dawn (Ep13)

Grandma is won over by Pim after the kidnap episode and Don/Pim shares a tender moment in the hospital ward where Pim tells Don that she trusts him totally and trust that he will not lie and hurt her like Egapon did. Dun dun dun, foreboding much?

A lie however well meaning is a lie still and when it’s left to fester, the result is not pretty when the truth comes to light. Driwin conveniently showed up at the right place at the right time to overhear Pim’s family talking about how they were all aware of Don/Pim’s fake marriage and I knew shit was about to hit the fan. Driwin purposely brings Pim to Grandma’s ward just in time to overhear the conversation between the two families on their plans to get Pim to marry Don for real and as I expected, she hits the roof. If we trace back to the beginning, Pim was the one who started this farce of a marriage but I do understand her anger and hurt at this betrayal of trust by those she hold dearest. Their breakup scene at the hospital was sad but what really got me was when Pim calls Don over to her house to collect his things because it was all sign she wanted to cut off all ties with him. However feelings can’t be given and taken back at will like things and both of them hurt alone while reminiscing about their good times together.

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I couldn’t help but laugh at this part of the emo-ing scene because the photo used was actually taken at Khun Samee’s opening ceremony if I remember correctly.

I do think Don and Pim need time apart to really think about what they want from this relationship but I don’t fancy how the show piles on the misunderstandings in ep13 which appear to extend well into ep14 from the previews. I’ve enjoyed Khun Samee tremendously so far so I really want it to have a good ending, not in the happily-after-sense but for a believable and well-crafted reconciliation for our OTP.

For other characters … Driwin was as creeptastic as ever but I didn’t rage as much for his scenes as I thought I would because Don and Pim needed to get this issue out of the way if they were to be able to love without reservations so might as well let Driwin do the dirty work. And it didn’t hurt that pretty much everyone is sacarstic with him and it was so satisfying when Lan gave Driwin a piece of her mind that I clapped for her in front of the screen. Lol.

I haven’t talked about Pra’s  (Pim’s friend who hooked up with Egapon and betrayed Pim in the beginning) parts so far but I appreciate how she went through some growth of her own and finally sees through Egapon for the useless manwhore that he is. It’s sweet how Pim and Lan takes her back under their wings and again, I love all the girly talk times which makes the lakorn feel more close to real life.

Finally, remember the hot willing cap in my previous post? Now I’m quite sure it got cut from the final version but no worries, you still get to see some of it on the variety show 3Zaap around the 25sec mark. 

*Reposted from Scribblings of a Fangirl

Finale (Ep14)

I’ll do a proper review post later but here’s a quick look at ep14 for now. Hmm, how do I feel about the way Khun Samee ended? It’s both a glass half empty and a glass half full for me.

The empty: I found it kinda random how Garaged shows up again to kidnap Pim and extort money from both Don and Driwin, the whole point of it being to drive one final wedge between Don and Pim. Don pretends to not care for Pim in order to distract Garaged (or so the logic goes, I don’t quite get it), Pim passes out in anger and was not able to see Don taking a bullet for her. Driwin makes use of this to lie to Pim that he was the one who saved her from Garaged’s evil clutches and on Don’s end, he didn’t want to clarify the situation either as he didn’t want to make Pim sad any more (again, I don’t quite get it). Pim agrees to marry Driwin in a fit of anger and Don decides to escape to England never to return again. But of course all misunderstandings are suddenly cleared up in one shot at the crucial point of Pim’s wedding and she finally realises where her heart truly lies. She goes to Don asking for a second chance and what do you think our devoted pra’ek would say? Khun Samee has managed to avoid lakorn clichés for the most part so I was a little disappointed that they decided to go down the well trodden path after all in the last couple of episodes.

The full: Despite not being able to completely break free of lakorn tropes, I did like how the lakorn portrayed Pim’s 心路历程 (I suddenly can’t think of an appropriate English word for this… uhm, the path that Pim’s thoughts/feelings take?) from her immediate reaction to Don’s seeming callousness, to reflecting on her decision to marry Driwin, to finally putting down her pride to find Don. Initially I couldn’t understand why a smart woman like Pim would risk her happiness by agreeing to marry Driwin whom she obviously did not care for only because she was angry at Don but later I see that yes, it was part rash decision making but it also because Pim has given up on love. Thankfully there’s plenty of wise people around her to wake her up with their words. Pim’s motto is to leave the past and charge ahead, but her mom questions, why would you still charge ahead if you knew a cliff was in front? Don’s grandma also challenges Pim to think about what matters in a relationship, the little conflicts and misunderstandings or the love you have for each other? Pim can be unlovable with her flaws but after initial shows of resistance due to pride, she is able to understand and accept the advice/corrections offered by others and this growth in Pim is a big part of why I like Khun Samee so much. The final stretch of sweet reconciliation and tender moments isn’t groundbreaking but when I think of how far Don and Pim have come, I’m still touched by these scenes and I’m always one for a happily ever after.

And so they did, live happily ever after.

~JIa (of Scribblings of a Fangirl)

*Reposted from Scribblings of a Fangirl