Rang Tawan – Episode 11

Show is slated to end with 13 episodes, which means finale week is right around the corner. Conflict is heightened as we close out episode 11, taking us into the climax. This episode sure gives us the tension, but I am disappointed that it went in the direction we can predict. But nonetheless, it still left me with the feels, and the inevitable fighting in Suriyen’s corner. Don’t ask me why I always end up taking the hero’s side. Because this journey of watching Suriyen grow and change is about eventually overcoming his dark side, fall in love with him, and then go to bat for him. If only our heroine falls in line with us. If anyone needs a hug in this Show, it’s Suriyen. It’s always been Suriyen. *Cries* Someone hold ME.

EPISODE 11 RECAP

Even the lawyer is floored at the revelation that Decha is the real enemy, he had been friendly all this time. But the betrayal hits Suriyen the hardest as he even questions the lawyer’s loyalty and whether there is anyone in the world he could trust. The good lawyer comments that Suriyen still has him, Ja Yak (the guard), along with Tarntawan and Nong Phit. Suriyen you have us too! It’s decided that they’ll keep a close eye on that household, in exception to Kaekhai, since she’s an innocent lamb in all of this.

Rujira wakes and orders Officer Ekk to leave her condo, and the man feels unappreciated since he has been tending to her all night. He brings up the abuse from her father and wonders if the wound on the back of her neck was her father’s doing. Rujira refuses to speak to it but Officer Ekk presses another issue, did her father kill stepmom? Talk about a tough breakfast topic. The mannequin in her room falls to the ground which reminds her of the image she saw as her father killed stepmom. She flashes back to Dad telling her that it was an accident and if she loves Dad, she must promise never to divulge this to anyone. Years later, we see Dad forcing Rujira to marry Nai Phu against her will. When she balks, he would abuse her. Dad is angry that she confided in Wit (Visut’s dad) about stepmom’s death. She threatens to tell people if he continues to force her to marry Nai Phu, she adds that Dad had been the one to force Aunt Sopha (the stepmom) to marry Nai Phu’s dad and looked how that turned out, does Dad want her to die like stepmom? Damn, he killed his own sister? That’s cold.

Decha captures her back to the farm when she tried to escape, and that’s when she got the wound on her neck, her dad pushes her to the ground and she lands on top of a broken vase. In present time, the cop tells her that she’s safe now and she finally cries that he’s correct, her dad had abused her, but that’s her problem and she shouldn’t have to tell anyone if she doesn’t want to. She confirms that Nai Phu did not kill his stepmom and orders the cop to leave.

Tarntawan tosses and turns that night, unable to sleep because of the meeting she saw between Decha and Suriyen. She repeats to herself that Nai Phu can be trusted. Even Suriyen is thinking about that meeting and says out loud that that “thing” Decha is referring to is a secret that his dad assures him no one knows about. Hm. Suriyen takes his frustration out on his fighting practice the next morning. It’s a hilarious scene though because Nong Phit shows up and tells Uncle Phu Bear to lean down, he has something to tell him. Talk about going from masculine to a puddle for his nephew.

Tarntawan mulls over her design and thinks it’s no longer “her” anymore. She needs an inspiration for the new design (and shall we also say, the currently different Tarntawan?) Nong Phit takes his aunt and uncle to a barren land and we learn that he wants to plant flowers. He teaches his uncle to tell aunt nicely, “we are planting, kup” haha, so cute. I love this whispering into Uncle Phu Bear’s ear deal. Nong Phit thinks that planting pretty flowers will help auntie find inspiration for her new design, and since Nong Phit wants to plant them himself, he brought Uncle Phu Bear along to help. And so we watch them plant the flowers from seed and Tarntawan helping Suriyen wipe the dirt from his face. I smiled way too much in this scene.

But as Tarntawan gazes at Suriyen, she can’t shake the doubt that is surfacing. She keeps thinking about what Pensiri said: even though Suriyen is soft towards Nong Phit, he is also the man who vows to drag Nopasit against the law if he has to. He isn’t someone they could predict. She pulls away at that thought, but no matter because he has Nong Phit by his side. They feed each other water. This uncle-nephew duo is killing me with their cuteness, and Uncle and Aunt keeps throwing these smiles at each other. They even planted a specific flower to represent their trio.

They lay on a straw mat to rest and Tarntawan questions where he went the day before. Suriyen replies that she should already know because he has a tracker on her phone, and he’s aware that she went to the same restaurant with Visut, so she must have seen him with Kaekhai. Tarntawan questions again what business he had with Decha and whether it relates to her brother. Suriyen relents that it does, which causes Tarntawan to sit up immediately. Suriyen shuts his eyes from her interrogation.

Officer Ekk informs Pensiri and Visut about his recent findings – that Decha abused his own daughter. Visut thinks that Rujira must have been forced to marry Nai Phu against her will so that’s why she never wanted to return to Rai Phu Tupdao. Officer Ekk suspects that Rujira feels guilty towards Suriyen but he couldn’t determine why, but his instinct tells him one thing: Decha is the one who killed Suriyen’s stepmom and the culprit behind everything, including Suri’s death.

Pensiri phones her friend to alert her of Decha, which causes Tarntawan to worry about why Nai Phu met up with Decha and how it relates to her brother. She overhears Suriyen on the phone with Decha, who has a proposal, then sees his car pulling out of the driveway. She follows on a scooter, wondering if he’s meeting up with Decha.

Pensiri tries to stop Visut from going to see Decha, but Visut just wants to find out the truth why Decha made his dad believe that Athit killed stepmom and why he’s playing nice to them (him and Suriyen) when he has ill intentions. Pensiri says it’s because Decha is selfish and only looking out for himself. La-Or phones Pensiri to alert her that Tarntawan discarded her phone and has gone missing.

Tarntawan tails Suriyen to a warehouse where she spots him talking to her brother. She doesn’t hear what’s going on though and assumes Suriyen is going to kill her brother. I take back about the whole faith thing.. what Suriyen says to Nopasit though is that he wants Nopasit to confess why Suri came to see him that night. They both know that Nopasit may not have killed Suri, but he’s the cause of it. Nopasit hesitates to confess so Suriyen grasps the big man by the lapels and threatens that it’s his last opportunity to out with the truth, otherwise he can see Suri in hell and pay for his crimes.

The cop is there as well and pulls Tarntawan aside (he had been following her), before she rushes in to save her brother. The cop tells her to calm down because there’s no way Suriyen would kill his nephew’s dad. Tarntawan thinks Suriyen will get crazy and who knows what he’ll do. Unfortunately I’m going to side with the cop on this one. Tarntawan, clear your head girl! But Tarntawan calls out the cop’s incompetence, that he should be the one who is holding her brother hostage, not the Big Boss. Officer Ekk relents that he’s powerless when it comes to the Big Boss, but he’s going to go about this another way.

Suriyen gives Nopasit one minute to confess before his minion shoots him. We flashback to the night of Suri’s demise, Nopasit had begged her to come to his rescue with 10 million baht, but she refuses to aid him any further. Desperate, Nopasit lies that if she doesn’t help him, Sia Tanong would kill him. She still refuses until dad calls Nong Phit to ask his mom for help instead. What a douche daddy. Suri concedes since she doesn’t want to hurt her son. Nopasit admits that that is all he knows, Sia Tanong wouldn’t let him see his wife after that. Suri dies and he became the primary suspect. He adds that even if he’s a bad person, he still loves his wife and kid and would not kill his own wife.

Tarntawan doesn’t know whether to trust Suriyen or not since he lives above the law. Officer Ekk and Visut devise a plan that if they could capture Nopasit and put him under police protection and alert the media, there’s no way Suriyen would dare do anything.

Suriyen waits up for Tarntawan that night and sees Visut taking her home. She doesn’t even make eye contact with him, as she walks straight to her room. He follows her and questions what could be more important than watching their nephew. I like how he’s referring to Nong Phit as “theirs” instead of “mine.” She’s snippy back at him which causes him to wonder what’s wrong, does her stomach hurt, is she hungry? Haha. He offers to tell the housekeeper to make her something to eat. Why is that so cute? But Tarntawan snaps at him not to worry about her because he’s not sincere about it at all. She storms off, leaving Suriyen confused.

In her room, Tarntawn holds her stomach, which aches due to the stress.

Suriyen contemplates what she meant by saying that he really doesn’t care about her, he wonders what’s the difference between caring for real or just caring. Haha, nothing. It cracks me up that he tries to decipher everything she says. But that’s why you have a legal counsel right? Lawyer to the rescue! Lawyer advises that he might want to read between the lines – maybe she’s mad at him about something else entirely that doesn’t have to do with a stomachache or hunger. But the lawyer leaves Suriyen to mull over his actions and what he thinks caused Tarntawan to pout. Suriyen practically stomps his feet and says even if he did something wrong, she has no right to be angry at him because he’s the boss. Pff. The lawyer smiles and tells him not to dwell on it then. Haha. He gives him another word of advice, he suggests that the boss come to terms with his own feelings first – such as who does he really care about – and then to go after that person and take care of them. Who doesn’t want a partner like the lawyer?

So Suriyen goes to Tarntawan that night with a tray full of food and medicine. He said that he feels bad for her, so he brought everything. Haha. Before he turns to leave, he thinks better of it. He asks, “Are you mad at me about something?” She questions back, “Is there something I should be mad about?” At first he says it’s nothing.. but then he admits he doesn’t know if there is something that he did or said that could make her angry. And the best question he poses: “Can you tell me?” Omg, I die.

Tarntawan watches him leave and tears up. I love this scene, he’s downstairs, looking up at her room, willing her to come to him.

Meanwhile things are not going Decha’s way. Even Kaekhai says she’s not sticking around as a prisoner. What’s the deal with violence against women in this show? Khetarwut smacks his sister across the face to “wake her up”. Suddenly I am getting bloodthirsty and wouldn’t be sad if Khetarwut and Decha meet their demise. Kaekhai begs her dad not to hurt Suriyen.

Tarntawan thanks the housekeeper for the soup that saved her, but the housekeeper relents that she didn’t make it. Suriyen inquires if she no longer has a stomachache and Tarntawan wonders if HE made the soup. Suriyen is all, “what, is it not tasty?” hehe. He’s afraid she won’t eat the rice soup if he told her that he made it. She thanks him for his efforts but Suriyen keeps pressing what she was angry about last night. Tarntawan admits that she wasn’t angry, she’s just confused. But now she trusts her own instincts and know that she hasn’t picked the wrong person. Aw. Yay Tarntawan, don’t go back on your word!

And.. it’s Nong Phit’s birthday! Even aunt and uncle just realized it the day of, when Nong Phit holds out his hands for presents. Ha. Suriyen orders his employees to throw a birthday party this evening, complete with music, food and presents. Everyone needs to give Nong Phit a present. Lucky duck. Suriyen wonders what he ought to buy for his nephew and the lawyer says he’s on his own on this one.

Officer Ekk tells Tarntawan to distract Suriyen with Nong Phit’s birthday party so that they can release Nopasit. She’s reluctant but couldn’t finish the conversation since Suriyen walks in on her. He says she need not act scared if she’s just inviting her friends to the party.

Decha lies to Kaekhai that Suriyen wants to kill both him and Khetarwut that is why they want to kill him first. Kaekhai is convinced that she could talk Suriyen out of anything since he loves her, dad just needs to divulge whatever plan he has. Dad confesses that he was behind everything in order to shut her dream down.

Suriyen takes Tarntawan to a Designer’s home and Tarntawan tries to keep her inner fangirl in check (haha) and asks what made him bring her there. Suriyen had eyed her slew of designing papers at home and thinks that she could play dress up for Nong Phit’s birthday and she could also get some more input about the competition. Tarntawan practically looks at Suriyen with hearts in her eyes and says he’s such a nice person. Suriyen nods his head, trying to contain the compliment. The designer advises Tarntawan that inspiration should come from her heart and not what’s in fashion or what works for others.

So our duo step out looking beautiful, Suriyen couldn’t take his eyes off of Tarntawan and makes the excuse that the designer made him dress up too so that he’ll match with her. Ha. He’s not really confident in his suit so Tarntawan compliments that he’s cute in it. In case he didn’t get it, she says in English that he’s SO CUTE. He tells her to quit smiling and staring at him but she FLIRTS and says that he’s acting so cute she can’t help it if she thinks he’s cute. Omg. She’s killing me. I’m sorry if I’m using the word “cute” a million times in this recap.

They accidentally turn towards each other and nearly kiss. Eee! They look into each other’s eyes and Suriyen leans closer and closer towards her lips.. but Tarntawan breaks the spell and says they have to go shopping. This is the first time I think kissing would be much much more fun than shopping. They both decide not to tell each other what they’re going to get Nong Phit. Ack, I think I know what Nai Phu is giving Nong Phit!

The employees are hilarious. Suerkong begs for money from the housekeeper to buy a present for Nong Phit, but she refuses. So he takes her present and says it’s from him. Ha. Nong Phit says he’ll tell Uncle Phu Bear that the housekeeper is lying that the present is from her. The housekeeper thinks she could pretend to faint in order to avoid buying another present.

Khetarwut is on his way to see Suriyen much to his father’s chagrin, he even has a present for Nong Phit, realizing that Suriyen is smitten with his nephew. Nong Phit gets a present from everyone but Uncle Phu Bear says he’ll give him his present after he blows his cake. Meanwhile Officer Ekk and Visut set out to free Nopasit.

Tarntawan pulls Nong Phit aside (the same place that housekeeper feigns a faint) and tells the young man that if he wants to see his dad, he needs to tell Uncle Phu Bear that he wants his dad as a birthday present. Oh snap. But I think that was already Suriyen’s plan? The housekeeper overhears Tarntawan on the phone colluding with Visut and Officer Ekk. She tells them to postpone their plan in rescuing Nopasit because she wants to try her plan first, but Officer Ekk says it’s too late now, they’ve already alerted the police force for help. Yikes. They just can’t let Suriyen know that Tarntawan is also in cahoots, but the housekeeper interrupts her. She says she’s going to tell on her to Nai Phu. La Or and Suerkong stop the housekeeper.

Lawyer informs Nai Phu that his present is ready, then Nong Phit begs his uncle for dad as his birthday present. Tarntawan encourages Nai Phu to give up her brother.. Uncle Phu Bear relents that Nong Phit will surely see dad again when it’s the right time, but he should blow out his cake first so that Uncle Phu Bear could give him his present. Meanwhile the cops found an empty warehouse. Ha. Nong Phit opens an empty box and Uncle Phu Bear says his present must be out and about. Tarntawan frets about her brother who is now missing – I thought she had more faith in Suriyen? Pff.

Nong Phit runs out and sees his dad! See I totally had faith in our hero! Suriyen tells Tarntawan that this is the present he prepared for Nong Phit, and questions why she didn’t say she knew about Nopasit. She questions back why he didn’t inform her that he had Nopasit in his possession. He made a promise not to hurt her brother. But Suriyen argues he didn’t break his words, he hasn’t hurt her brother, but what’s worse is that she doesn’t trust him. It wouldn’t matter if he did tell her, he says she still sees him as a beast who can’t control himself. Ouch. Tarntawan tells him it’s not the case, and then matters worsen because housekeeper informs Suriyen that Tarntawan is working with Visut to release Nopasit. Oh snap. The lawyer scolds the housekeeper for breaking Suriyen’s heart.

Suriyen asks for her side of the story, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Tarntawan asks for his understanding. She says that he’s no longer the man of his past. She also has a nephew to look after, should she trust him? So she thought that if she could come here and find evidence that he truly did something illegal, she and Nong Phit could be free from him. In regards to Visut, she knows that he has issues with Suriyen so she thinks to find Athit that is hidden in the farm. Suriyen snaps that he already told her that his dad is not hidden here and he’s no idea where the older man is. He questions if everything she has said and everything she has done for him, was it ever sincere? Oh man. Tarntawan sighs his name, but Suriyen says she doesn’t need to say anything anymore, he’s probably exactly what she used to accuse him of: everyone hates him and wants him dead. Not one person will love or be true to him. Ouch, those words are haunting her now. Say something Tarntawan! But she doesn’t, as she watches him walk away.

Nong Phit holds on to his dad and doesn’t let go, missing him dearly. Khetarwut pays a visit and spots Nopasit hugging his son. Lawyer tells Khetarwut that his boss intends on finding the real culprit and isn’t afraid of who he takes down.

Tarntawan tells her friend that Suriyen must be really disappointed in her. He had always trusted her and all she ever did was question his character and suspect him. Pensiri encourages her to cheer up because he has done far worse to her. Decha sends Kaekhai to the city so she could stay out of his hair.

Nopasit explains that Suriyen didn’t hurt him at all. At first he thought that he would get hit at least, but that didn’t happen. Suriyen merely wants him to talk about the day Suri was killed. He also promised to send him to the police to have them investigate this legitimately after seeing his son again. Tarntawan feels terrible and remarks that Suriyen did keep his promise with her. Nopasit says that at first he thought Suriyen was behind Suri’s death, because Decha informed him of that, but he believed the wrong person. You think? Pensiri thinks that maybe Decha wanted to kill Nopasit and frame Suriyen. Tarntawan surmises that they must have misunderstood Suriyen all along, because he’s not a bad person.

Lawyer interrupts their gathering by showing Tarntawan the legal documents from Nai Phu, who had intentions on becoming Nong Phit’s legal guardian. The lawyer says that Nai Phu has to overcome a lot of obstacles by growing up as the Big Boss, he had to be strong to fight the baddies. Even though sometimes it makes him forget to be soft, it doesn’t mean he’s not. Aw.

Khetarwut blames his dad for letting Nopasit go, now Suriyen is going to send him to jail. Dad says he’s got this all figured out now – then out walks the shooter.

Tarntawan goes in search for Suriyen and finds him at the beach.

“Khun Phu.. I’m sorry,” she says, he doesn’t respond so she stands before him. “Did you hear that I said I’m sorry?”

Then we cut to Visut and Pensiri. WHY? When I see these two, my head goes blah blah blah blah. Anyway he’s depressed and she wonders why he didn’t follow Tarntawan when she told him to. Visut tells her that he’s not going to annoy Tarntawan when she clearly is going after Nai Phu. Well, at least he knows. Pensiri asks if he’s going to give up then, and Visut feels like it’s over. Pensiri doesn’t want him to give up because she’s worked so hard to help him. She says she can pretend to comfort him and that he could cry on her shoulders if he likes. Officer Ekk sees the two together and Visut asks her if she ever had her heart broken before. She explains how it feels and that sometimes she wishes the other party knows how she feels, but she doesn’t dare tell him. Pensiri makes eye contact with the Officer Ekk, who seems to know how she feels about Visut. The best part about this scene is probably the song that came on..

Back to Suriyen and Tarntawan. She tries to step closer but he backs up, leaving her crying alone.

And we close out this episode. WHAT. That’s it? Show’s gonna make us wait until finale week next week? GAHHHHH.

Next episode preview:

Officer Ekk and Nopasit are ambushed. “Who are you?” Officer Ekk asks as he gets beat up.
Visut and Pensiri goes to see Decha and Visut says, “I need to talk to you about this necklace –“ he shows him Athit’s necklace.
Nopasit is bounded.
A fire erupts and Suriyen tries to put it out while Tarntawan screams, “What’s going on? P’Nop!”
Decha: “I want Rai Phu Tupdao.” Suriyen gets in his face and asks, “WHY?!”
Decha and Khetarwut point their guns at Suriyen, and we hear Nop’s voice recording, “Nai Phu will kill me and threatens to burn me alive.”
Then Tarntawan facing a police officer and hears the same recording.

COMMENTS:

We are pretty far in the game, don’t y’all think we’re due for a kiss? I’m disappointed in Tarntawan, even though I know why she’s always doubting him, but after yesterday’s episode, I really thought she has decided to trust him completely and to hell with everything else. But she’s still wishy washy as ever, and that certainly came back to bite her in the ass. And does it serve her right? I don’t know, I’d rather watch them being cute and flirting, than to see them angsty with tears. I’ll sacrifice justice and brooding, for happiness any day, and how about relationship progress? But it doesn’t look like we’re in sunshine and butterfly territory right now, there’s a buildup of distrust and some atonement from Tarntawan left to do. If the preview is any indication, she’s going to continue being led to believe against Suriyen. Let’s hope for the sake of all that is holy in this lakorn world that Tarntawan listens to her gut. You can dooo it!

But man, poor Suriyen. He’s the misunderstood character type, and he certainly plays it well. I sincerely like the fact that he’s really not the same man anymore. He has grown to love and keep his love even when he realizes (albeit not entirely the case) that Tarntawan wasn’t true to him. Tarntawan remarks that she has changed too, based on the fact that the designs she made in college were no longer who she is. Yet, I don’t see any growth from her though. If she chooses to trust and believe in Suriyen wholeheartedly, than I would be more convinced that she has changed. And don’t get me wrong, not ALL characters have to change. It’s the ones who need the most changing should – but don’t claim that you have when you haven’t! She still listens to others more than she listens to herself, she’s a grown woman and she has her intuiton, DO something about it. We still have two more episodes where she can prove herself and show growth, so I’m still holding out hope that she does.

Another downfall is that we’re in episode 11 now, but the romance is stagnant and lacks a lot of progress. I’m not even talking about the non-existential kiss in this show. Sure, they’ve had their one on one stargazing moment, but no one is making any moves. There’s just too much time spent to clear up misunderstandings and for Tarntawan to realize truly that Suriyen is a GOOD person. How many times does the lawyer have to prove to her that his boss is good? Should Suriyen go make more rice soup? And what’s a girl gotta do around here to get some romance? Kiss a frog? Dance with a beast?

I still think this episode has its cute moments, but since we’re nearing the finale, I am SO ready for the love. I mean, we are getting some loving, aren’t we?