The Beast in Rang Tawan

This show has me flip flopping like no other. I am one moment – I love you – than another moment – I dislike you. This third episode has me in the ‘I must be crazy to love you’ camp. The tone is still very dark, I think Aum’s character will forever be a dark character, but we are seeing how shadows have casted themselves on him and how he struggles with other people’s perception of him. He’s likened to a beast – very Beauty and the Beast esque – if you will. Even closest people to him, his guards and lawyer, aren’t allowed in Suriyen’s heart – one that is locked up in a deep cave somewhere. Those guards are loyal to a fault, and they know their master’s true colors, but it’s the women and the rest of the population that think very badly of him and abandon him, and that made him into the guarded, wounded animal that he is today.

Which really squeezes at my heart. Aum’s tears and pain always manage to compel the heart.

There was a scene where he’s in the car with his lawyer, and he’s gazing at his ex-girlfriend’s shop. We know that he occasionally watches her from the curb, but this time, she catches him. With her new man in tow, she spats that he need to stop stalking her and let her live her life. He ruins and destroys everybody around him, including her, and she has finally got her feet firmly beneath her. What angers him the most is that everyone seems to think that he’s a beast and are so terrified of him. He lets his anger get the better of him and nearly chokes her man to death, so Kim smashes his head with a nearby vase.

A similar scene plays itself out moments later when he goes to his sister’s house. Tarntawan finally has agreed to move into his farm and take care of his nephew. They are to move out to his farm the following morning. But that night, Tarntawan sees him in the dark, crying. The moment he spots her, he launches himself at her (which of course scared the crap out of her) and questions why she’s so afraid of him. Can’t she look him in the eyes as if he’s a normal person? He’s questioning it not so much to her, but to everyone who is afraid of him. So Tarntawan’s response confirms his fear, everyone detests him. She too smashes his head with a nearby vase.

Only this time, what happens after is a little different. Tarntawan wonders what has gotten into him (why the tears and the angst?) and feeling guilty about smashing his head, she goes back to him and tends his wound. In many ways, this is a great anticipation that Tarntawan could be different when she gets to know him better. Even though she thinks he’s a beast, she might be the only person who could tame said beast.

Another great moment that I liked in this episode, or really in this Show so far, is the moments between Suriyen and his lawyer. He’s a rational and calm influence on Suriyen, and he helps us understand the nuances of Suriyen. For example, the lawyer hands over official paperwork for Suriyen to sign, it’s a request to be a guardian for Nong Phit. Although Suri wants Suriyen to be Nong Phit’s guardian, it doesn’t have a legal stance. Since the boy’s father is still alive, he’s very much the legal guardian. Unless of course Suriyen petitions it and proves that he could be a fit guardian. The lawyer mentions that if Tarntawan understands this law, she too could petition to be the guardian and will win hands down. This means that Suriyen will have to do his best to win over Nong Phit’s favor.

Why go to all this trouble for a young boy whom Suriyen could care less about? He could just get his revenge and move on. But Nong Phit is his last remaining kin and at the end of the day, and perhaps deep down in Suriyen’s heart, he just wants a family. He’s been lonely and abandoned by everyone he loves, so he’s holding onto the one person whom he has left. It’s great and really sad. I just found something to root for. I’m here for the bromance, and watching Suriyen trying to gain Nong Phit’s heart – and along with that – the inevitable Tarntawan’s heart.

Now we are down to business. Tarntawan and Nong Phit has officially moved in. Our heroine decides there’s no other course of action aside from giving in, but she succeeds in making Suriyen promise to leave his sister’s murder in the hands of the police and to not to find her brother again since Tarntawan will pay her dues. But Tarntwan has her own motive too, she is determined to find evidences that will make Suriyen an unfit guardian. Meanwhile the secondary leads are slowly growing on me. At least it’s a laugh in between the tension.

There’s beauty, and there’s beast. Will our beast change into a prince? It’s a long and windy road ahead.