Dao Kiaw Duen Episode 11 Finale

Is it really over? Someone pinch me. *Ouch. Ok, eleven episodes it is. Dao Kiaw Duen, The Star Courts the Moon, a lakorn title that is worth chewing over in and of itself, has come to an end. It was a great run, funny and serious at the same time- and with a finale that will make you smile. I hope it was everything you hoped for.

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It was only yesterday when Rathee and Dao are enemies, but now they are standing face to face, a duo of unlikely friends. Rathee had nowhere to turn and nothing to lose, her lover tricked her, and she lost her baby due to her best friend. But here she is now, rescued by Dao and feeling remorse for her past actions. She apologizes genuinely.

Dao questions Rathee on how she knew about Dao’s plans to acquire Khunchai’s sperm. Rathee replies that she had eavesdropped at the hospital, and it was the same day that she discovered she would be a single mom. She intended to blackmail Dao for money so that she can run away, but Rathee assures her that Khunchai will never find out. As for Arn, Rathee vows to get even.

Realizing that there would never be an end to a cycle of revenge between the two best friends, Dao decides to interfere for their sake. She doesn’t want Rathee to continue to sin. Lin is concerned about Dao’s interference and prefers that she stay away from the triangle of trouble. But Dao intends on seeing that momma and baby make peace, as well as Siwa being the one to seek forgiveness.

They do this by cornering Siwa, and like a vengeful angel, she snipes that it doesn’t take a man to make a baby, but it takes one to raise a baby. If he can’t take that responsibility, then he’s no different than a dog. Siwa retorts that the baby isn’t his because Rathee is a slut, which rewards him with a slap to the face. Dao says that the first one is for Rathee, she slaps him a second time, which is for his late baby. And the third slap is just because she feels like it. Ha. As he raises his hand to retailiate, her girls back her up. He decides to play a different angle- that he can’t take responsibility over a baby that is no longer here. Dao tells him that he ought to do something to end the war between Arn and Rathee then. Because only he knows best how vindictive Arn is. Dao badgers him to fix what he created.

We cut to Siwa tending to Rathee at Dao’s condo, with the three girls’ ears glued to the door. Siwa lies that he loves her and regrets about the miscarriage, he swears that if he’s lying to her again, that he would never be able to have a child. Hm. Rathee believes him and she softens, but she’s still set on making Arn pay for her miscarriage. Siwa assures her that he would take care of it, she need only give him a month. Rathee relents, but continues that if he doesn’t divorce Rathee in a month’s time, then she would come back for him. Her voice softens as she mentions Dao though, that she wouldn’t know what to do without her. She confesses that she feels guilty for even trying to blackmail her. Oh boy, she’s not going to tell him the secret, is she?

As Dao walks him to his car- because he claims he needs to talk to her- he pretends to recant. Siwa puts on quite the show, telling her that he hates himself and that he shouldn’t have been born to cause the death of his own child. Dao calms him down and says that if he repents, then it won’t happen again. Siwa tells her that he would divorce Arn and be with Rathee so he could take care of her. Therefore, his kid would rest in peace. He asks Dao for a favor, go with him to Rathee’s hotel so that they may collect her things. And they need to go right away so that Arn doesn’t miss him too long. Red flag anyone? Dao concedes because she’s confident that there’s nothing Siwa could do to harm her.

As they enter the hotel room, Siwa locks the door. Dao asks him a rhetorical question, ‘so you lied?’ He didn’t think she would believe him so easily, but Dao remarks that she thinks he might have an ounce of humanity left. But he doesn’t as he gives her a once over. He blackmails her to sleep with him: if she let him be the first man, she could still go to Khunchai for a baby. After all, Siwa wants to be a hubby, not a father. Ew. They wrestle until Siwa smacks her over the head with a lamp then takes out his taser. But he’s no match for her as she escapes and races down the hallway. As he follows, he could feel someone throwing him against the wall. It’s Khunchai!

Besties to the rescue- they had phoned Khunchai regarding Dao’s danger. I love how Dao gets away on her own but Khunchai would come and clean up the mess. Only this time, the news he hears is quite interesting. Siwa, with a bloody mouth retorts that he shouldn’t be protecting a woman that has ulterior motives. At this time Dao exclaims that she has something to tell Khunchai. Oh shit. Siwa says that it’s too late now, this plan to acquire Khunchai’s sperm.

They certainly have his attention now. Khunchai looks at Dao, bewildered. The besties tell him not to listen to a dog’s barking. Siwa tells him that he has been the selected sperm donor. Khunchai is shocked and confused, but Dao says quietly that she wanted to have a baby but she didn’t want a husband.. so she wanted to ask him for his sperm. At this time Siwa starts laughing like a hyena. Dao continues that she had hoped they would become good friends, and he would come to realize how important having children is to her, so he would be willing to give her his sperm for the IVF process. Khunchai is speechless, all he could hear is Siwa telling him to thank him because now he knows that Dao was only being nice to him for his buddies. Chai Jan smacks him roughly. Ha.

Back at Dao’s condo, Jit surmises that he’s not mad. Dao knows for sure that he is. But Lin figures that if he’s mad, he wouldn’t hang around still, making sure that Siwa is tied up. Siwa spouts ridiculous things about Dao, defaming her, until Khunchai shuts him up. Hee. Then he tells her that Apichet is on his way and that some people do not deserve a second chance. Ouch.

Dao follows Chai Jan to his car, “You can be angry at me, I get it,” Dao says, “my plan may sound stupid to other people, and I won’t make excuses for my actions, because I want a baby- but I never intended to –‘ He cuts her off that he’s not mad about the sperm issue. He is disappointed because he thought she was sincere. Disappointment certainly trumps anger.

Dao assures him that she’s sincere, to which he laughs, “really? You came into my life because you hoped for my sperm, you try to convince me how important children are, you were all sorts of good to me because you wanted to get close to me. Now if you have a kid you would just walk out of my life- you don’t consider how I would feel. So what part of that is sincere to you?” Dao watches him get into his car and texts him a million times that she’s sorry. But Khunchai could only remember that his first love had cheated on him, losing his trust as well.

Dao returns to her condo dejectedly, Rathee apologizes for ruining things for her, she really thought Siwa had repented. But Dao just shrugs and tells her that at least she sees Siwa’s true colors. The aforementioned man is in jail when he spots Nan who got arrested for playing cards, ha. He decides to collaborate with her and share the secret about Dao’s sperm acquisition mission. Nan uses the old trick and releases the news to the media.

The news spread like wildfire as the public gives furtive glances at Khunchai, and Dao of course gets removed from all of her projects. Dao is glad that at least she’s rich, ha, to which Jit tells her not to be boastful, and that she should lay low for awhile. But she knows who is responsible for this news.

As she attempts to see Khunchai, reporters surround her. Her friends advise to high tail out of there, but the last words from Khunchai pops into her mind, he asks her what aspects of her actions were sincere?  The answer determines her next course of action. Dao appears on a TV show to tell her side of the story. Before an interested host, Dao says that good men are hard to find. She had decided that she liked being independent and that her true happiness would come from having a baby. She figured that her plan (sperm acquisition mission) would add value to her life, and she needed the one thing a woman cannot have: sperm. Furthermore, Dao would not need any man if she could provide both. The crowd is speechless. The host cuts into interviews with the general public as to ascertain their reactions. The newer generational females agree with Dao and look up to her, while the older group is old fashioned.

Khunchai turns off the TV, he has heard enough.

Dao and friends confront Siwa at his home, Arn happens to show up at the same time. Dao reminds Arn that love is blinding her- this man did horrible things to her best friend. Arn is a little shocked to hear that Rathee was pregnant with Siwa’s child. Dao remarks that he took advantage of Rathee’s weakness, that he would leave the wife that yells at him day and night (Arn looks away with guilt) and he even lies to Rathee that he never loved Arn. The last suspicion was that Siwa spent the night in jail and didn’t tell her. Arn glares at him when she hears that it was due to his attempted rape and blackmail.

The following day Dao sidesteps Khunchai. He admits that he’s not ready to talk to her right now, but Dao interrupts that he can yell at her or hate her, but he shouldn’t be so cold to her, it hurts. Dao adds that they don’t have to go back to being the way they used to be, but at least he should hear her out. As he is prepared to, Mom steps in. Dao is prepared to accept the consequences. Mom chastises that Dao made Khunchai and his family the laughingstock of society. She understands what it’s like to want a child, Mom had been in the same shoes, but Dao’s method is wrong. Most importantly, Mom adds that Chai Jan HATES liars. At this, Dao starts to tear up, and she apologizes. Mom is willing to forgive her, but she would need to disappear out of their lives. Because Noparat Palace ain’t got no sperm for her. Ouch.

Some time later, Ying Nim spots Mom showing her P’Chai a photo of a new prospect, and she immediately calls Dao. Khun Pong seems to be on the same wavelength as Ying Nim, because he shows up at Dao’s front door, relenting that he didn’t spill the beans. Ha. Upon hearing that Ying Nim plans on seeing Dao that evening too, he perks up. Rescuing her from the reporters, Khun Pong admonishes that they should set aside their problems and work together so that Ying Nim could have Dao as her sister in law again. He also admits that he has known this plan for a long time, he even wanted to be the #1 person for Dao, but he has finally come to realize how much Dao loves Khunchai- and that it has nothing to do with his sperm. This seems to please Ying Nim, but she recovers quickly and forces a frown on her face.

Arn decides to put something to the test. She awkwardly meets Rathee and the next thing we know, Arn arrives home, with Siwa trying to romance her. They have a seat and she makes him promise to be honest with her from now on. He promises. If he breaks it, then she could do anything she wanted to him. Arn nods her head and asks him whether he had sex with Rathee in Chiang Mai. We are given a flash back to a previous moment where Rathee tells Arn that Siwa came to see her many times while in Chiang Mai. Siwa smiles innocently and lies through his teeth that he and Rathee never had sex, she had been the one to offer herself to him but he wasn’t interested. A liar is a liar is a liar. Arn settles it by taking out a gun and shooting him pointblank at his groin. Omg. She gets up and retorts that he had told her that she could do anything to him. He never did love her, as Prakai Dao mentioned. She bids farewell and turns herself in. Crazy.

Our commentators, Dao’s besties and Rathee are congregating at Dao’s condo. Rathee says that she and Arn are good now, Arn even gave her money to pay for what she had done. Rathee says she will go to America, since she has family there, but she doesn’t know how to repay Dao. Dao only wishes her well, to forget and start over. Rathee wishes that Dao would be on good terms with Khunchai again.

But our Khunchai is actually going on a date with another woman, his mother’s choice, Narmwarn. But throughout the dinner date, he could only think about Dao who had once dance a goofy dance just to cheer him up. Narmwarn interrupts his drifting mind with a comment that she can’t go home too late, but that she could go home in the morning. Ha. Khunchai immediately says that he has work to get to.

Pong and Ying Nim commence their plan to get Khunchai and Dao back together again. Khun Pong distracts Narmwarn as they lure her out to the parking lot with an excuse that her headlights are out. He babbles about love and romance, then finally admits that he has a girlfriend now. In the meantime Dao walks into the restaurant and whisks Khunchai away for a private chat. She did say that she always gets what she wants. Hm, when someone says that, it’s never good.

Khun Pong returns to Ying Nim, who is surprised he didn’t just take off with Namwarn. They later get into an argument with Narmwarn who tries to get back to Khunchai. Ying Nim tells the other woman that she will only accept one sister in law, and that’s Dao. When Namwarn lifts her hand to slap Ying Nim, Khun Pong stops her and exclaims that he will do everything to protect his woman and that she shouldn’t consider his actions ungentlemanly. Awkward.. Ying Nim even looks at him in shock.

Dao and Khunchai reach the stairwell and she apologizes again for causing him so much trouble. He tells her that people will eventually forget. Dao wonders if he is capable of forgetting? Khunchai surmises that he can. Time does that. Time can make him forget everything that had happened- forget that he used to love her. Ouch. Dao asks him what she would need to do to be forgiven. But Khunchai says that he has already forgiven her, otherwise he wouldn’t be standing here. With hope flared, Dao asks him if things between them could go back to the way they used to. She promises never to lie or to disappoint him further. Khunchai shares his first love story, that it was a good relationship but she ended up hurting him because she cheated on him. He gave her another chance because he thinks that his love could change her, but in the end, he realizes that love can’t change people. Especially people who aren’t sincere.

Dao’s tears roll down her face. He tells her that he doesn’t want to be hurt again. Words that hit too close to home. She had said those same words when she vowed to have a baby by herself. She knows it all too well. So Dao reaches out to touch his arm and through tears, she tells him that one day she would forget him too.

Ah, how understandable on both sides. Dao respects his decisions, but not without trying. She walks dejectedly and aimlessly down the street. Khunchai drives quietly away, passing by her. Our favorite song shows up, making it even sadder.

Dao walks all the way to a coffeeshop where she had phoned her friends to meet her. They find her there, crying. ‘What are you doing here?’ Jit asks. ‘My feet hurt,’ Dao replies. ‘Because you walked so far..’ After a beat, Dao says, ‘I finally understand why you must walk when you’re heartbroken.’ Lol. Oh Dao, she can still be funny when she’s crying.

Mom is humiliated by Khunchai’s bad dinner date. Ying Nim jumps to his defense that it wasn’t his fault. Furthermore, she says that you can’t force love, there are some people you don’t even want to love but you do. Mom turns to her niece, ‘Are you in love, Ying Nim?’ Hee. Nan suddenly appears and laughs like a crazy person. She just wanted to stop by and taunt them. Mom and Nom kick her out but when she makes snider comments, Nom throws a bucket of cold water on her. Haha.

I love Dao’s besties, they are hilarious. They try to distract her by dancing and inventing the dancing hat. Lol. But Dao is not amused, she tells them that she’s tired and wants to rest. While Dao goes to bed, the two stay up and decide not to waste their pity party effort. They continue dancing.

Ying Nim frowns over a cup of coffee with Pongjan. She finally figured out what Chai Jan’s weakness is: his stubbornness. Pongjan adds that it’s better than being weak or a sap like him, heh. Ying Nim admonishes that although it’s good to be strong, but at times, it’s ok to give in too. Pongjan looks into her eyes and says that his heart is no longer weak anymore; he won’t just let any woman in, except for her.

Dao has a tendency to run away when she’s heartbroken. She books a ticket to take her entire family to Europe for a vacay. But suddenly, her day worsens. A woman waits up for her at her condo’s lobby and asks for a recommendation. Her boyfriend had just broken her heart and she wants to be just like Dao, she wants to have a baby by herself. Meanwhile Brother Din gets accosted by a pregnant woman- she claims that it’s all Dao’s fault that her life is ruined, random woman are coming up to her husband and asking for his sperm. Now he’s too busy canoodling with them. Say what?

Din vents to his sister and the two compete on who had a worse day. Dao admits that her method is wrong and she is determined to fix things.

We cut to Khunchai having lunch with Apichet and the female cop. Apichet proves a point that Khunchai still thinks about Dao when he pretends that Dao is calling him to speak to Khunchai. He assures Khunchai that no matter the motive for Dao, she is a good person. Much to their surprise however, Dao appears on the small screen. The three turn their attention to the TV show.

Dao has acquired quite the fanclub at the show. She opens her dialog by wanting to clarify what she said earlier: when she said that she wanted a child and she didn’t want a husband. Dao confesses that she had changed her mind a long time ago. It originally was her thought and plan until she met someone. He changed her perspective: he taught her about true love, he opened her mind to what it means to being born fulfilled. And that word doesn’t have anything to do with wealth or what you look like. Because you can be born perfect but you don’t know who your parents are. Fulfillment means having love for your family. Because how would a child feel when he/she knows that they were born through an IVF and not through love like other children? The host questions on the challenges of having divorced parents, but Dao laments that being born without a father is more painful. She thinks that being a parent means to choose what’s best for your child. The host surmises that it sounds like she chooses not to take the sperm over what she thinks is best for her child. Dao concludes that her child would come from love. The host asks her if she met the person who loves her yet? Dao smiles and says that she has met him. Aw. She looks into the camera and tells the crowd to trust her, ladies should not go after a man’s sperm, because if she ends up falling for him one day, that day would be the most unbearable day for them.

Khunchai is enthralled by what he hears. He says that if he lets her go, he would be a total idiot. He calls Lin and determines Dao’s location. He arrives towards the tail end of the show, and the host includes him into their program, much to Dao’s surprise. Chai Jan bumbles in, looking sheepish. He tells her he took the motorcycle taxi here. Chai Jan admits that he’s just a normal man who happens to be raised to take care of himself. He’s not perfect. In fact, he’s selfish, severe and he tends to move around in his sleep to the point of falling off his bed at night. Ha.

Khunchai inches closer to Dao, he asks her whether she still wants children with him after knowing this? Dao tells him that no matter how perfect he is, it doesn’t mean anything if there’s no love.  Khunchai takes her hand and tells her that he loves her. She asks him how would he know that he has forgiven her? Khunchai replies that he won’t forget the past, but that he would look at it in a good way. Because without it, they wouldn’t have met and grow to love each other. He tells her to forget the mean things he has done and remember only this: he can’t live without her.

The crowd is in tears as they watch the two embrace each other.

Siwa sees red when he witnesses this scene on TV. He thinks Dao is responsible for his condition and vows to seek revenge.

Meanwhile Mom refuses to accept Dao as a daughter in law, she tells Khunchai that he can love her all he wants, but she’s not gonna. Well, ok.

Apparently despite Siwa’s immense pain down there, he leaves the hospital and even catches Khunchai off guard with a smack to the back of his head. He kidnaps Khunchai and warns Dao to come alone if she knows what’s best for Khunchai. If she so much as tell the cops, Khunchai would be dead.

Dao finds herself tied to a chair when she wakes, with Khunchai in a chair across from her. He’s out cold. Siwa appears, blaming her for his condition. He threatens to shoot Khunchai in the same area. When she spies that Chai Jan is conscious again, she decides to distract Siwa by talking about their past. Meanwhile Khunchai unravels the tie around his hands and fights off Siwa. Although he’s no match for Khunchai, the other man still has a gun. They wrestle momentarily for it until it goes off. Khunchai is shocked by the sound and Siwa sniggers because he’s not shot. Turns out, the bullet ricochets into Dao’s side. Pissed, Khunchai knocks Siwa out cold.

As the group waits to hear about Dao’s condition, we have a war between Brother Din and Mom. Brother Din says that Dao had risked her life to save Khunchai’s. She had no intentions to leverage her own social standing by snagging Khunchai. In fact, they like their normal lives very much,  and his sis may do strange things but she did it because she desperately wants a child- not to be Mom’s daughter in law. Furthermore, Din argues that Dao loves Khunchai very much and she would love him even if he’s a normal chap. If it were possible, Din would order Dao to end things with Khunchai, but he wants to see Dao happy. He asks Mom to give Dao an opportunity to prove herself and if one day Dao disappoints everyone, then Din would see to her himself. Who doesn’t want a brother like Din?

There’s not much more a person could say to convince Mom. The older woman goes to see her son that night and says that he must marry now. She shows him a picture of a woman.

We cut to the hospital scene where Khunchai visits Dao, a cupcake box in tow. He tells her that he has something important to say to her. She thinks something crazy like cancer is happening to her. But he tells her that she’s healthy and fine. He offers a cupcake for her and tells her to see what’s inside. She mutters that she knows what’s up and starts digging. Heeh. But she doesn’t find anything. Instead a little girl shows up with a balloon. As Dao takes it, a sparkling ring slips into her hand. Khunchai looks into her misty eyes and asks her to marry him. Because if she doesn’t, then Mom would sever family ties from him. We then flash back to the picture that Mom showed Khunchai, it was a smiling Dao. Mom says that if Dao is someone that Chai chose, then she’s good enough for her. Aw.

Chai Jan and Dao marry in front of their family and friends. Pongjan keeps flirting with Ying Nim to the point where Mom wonders what’s going on between them. Pongjan proclaims to both Mom and Nom that he loves Ying Nim, our girl tells him that she would have to see his behavior before she decides to marry him. Ha. He tells her that he can wait for her.

Chai Jan is looking fine in his crisp white suit. The two marry beautifully and Dao’s voice commentates that she must be the most envious girl in the world. She got the man of her dreams to love her and now they are expecting! She wants to confirm that Chai Jan’s sperms are swimmers and she is able to get preggers in less than three months. We see an adorable baby girl, and Chai Jan a doting father. But as the camera zooms out, we also see that they have triplets! Omg! His sperm is apparently quite virile. Hahaha.

Quite the funny ending. But the five live happily ever after.

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COMMENTS

We start with a woman who seeks a noble born man to be the father of her unborn child. She wants only a baby and no man. Problem is, she’s dependent on a man for his sperm. Funny how a well thought-out plan backfires when she falls in love with him, and her perception changes accordingly. Based on Dao’s experience, the show is making the argument that when a woman wants a baby but no man, she doesn’t truly want that. She’s just hurt by bad men and it will only take an encounter with a good man to change her ways. I had hoped that the show would take the story to a more progressive conclusion, seeing that Dao is such a feminist.

But I am not surprised with the argument, mind you. We are watching a prime time show from a very traditional minded group of people after all. Well, maybe I should just be happy that men are the objects in this show, as oppose to woman?

Regardless, the production team did a great job, the score is amazing, Janie and Aum are a pair I can definitely watch again, and at the end of the day, at least the show is promoting such a strong heroine. She fights her own battles and is capable of being open minded enough to change her own perception. It was a great crack show while it lasted, and now we must say goodbye to Khunchai Jan and Prakai Dao, her besties Jit and Lin, as well as her awesome brother Din- not to mention Pongjan and Ying Nim. I shall miss you guys, as you were the highlight of my mid week, but I’m glad you got your happily ever after.

Thanks so much for joining me on this recapping madness. It’s been an enjoyable ride. Time to give your two cents!