And such a charming show it is. Show starts off with one of the strongest first impression in a long while, and maintains its charm, which is in turning a serious moment right into a laugh out loud moment. Then going from uproariously laughing to a fit of tears without losing its grip on the story. Reducing its viewers, at least me anyway, to an emotional mess. I think to myself, I am watching a funny show, but why am I crying?
It’s because of Din, our hero. His name literally equates to dirt. To his mother in law, it’s a bottomless pit, so low that even if he were to get married to Ran, she could still break them up. Din is a confident man, going into this adorable marriage with stars in his eyes. He believes- just as Ran believes- that true love conquers all and what matters at the end of the day is how they feel about each other. They also say to each other before cutting the wedding cake that it is the first time in their lives that they want to spend it with someone else. That their love doesn’t end at marriage, their happily ever after continues and grows even after the nuptial is signed. It’s so romantic and true, because one needs to continue working on the relationship in order to make everlasting love. So don’t mind if I shed a tear for their happiness. They truly seem happy and not even mother in law could begrudge them of that.
But she will only give him one day of happiness because she vows to wake Din up to the reality, she’s going to start chipping at that confidence of his and make him see how truly unfit he is to be with her daughter, and what she means by that is he has no money, pomp and importance. If only she knew. What’s really different about this show is that she’s the only one who’s theatrical- I love that show calls her out on it. For example she tries to get her daughter to meet a man after her honeymoon. Ran literally says that her mother has some nerve to match make her in front of her husband and in his home to boot. Mom’s friends also think she’s a little delusional, while her own husband thinks she ought to tone things down a bit. His father in law is an understanding and supportive father, for being a minister and all. He just wants to see his daughter happy and married to a good man.
I love that Din has the means to buy her a house as oppose to moving in with the in laws as in so many other lakorns. I also love that to convince her mom that she should marry Din, Ran says that ever since she was a little girl, her dream is to be like her mom- in that she would get to marry the man she loves and live happily ever after. Mom realizes for the moment that she could not stop the wedding, but marriage in her opinion could be annulled.
Din on the other hand grew up as an orphan and his family members are his spy family: Rock, Cookie and Boss. He never fathom that he would meet the woman he love and be able to marry her. The nature of being a spy is that you never get credit for what you do, you save lives and move on to the next case. But couldn’t he at least get credit for saving his own family? Could his extended family see him for the hero that he is? And I think that conflict really plays well with his character because suddenly he wants to be a hero in her eyes. What he doesn’t realize – as he’s too cute being pouty- is that he’s already her hero. His jealousy is adorable because he’ll give her the pouty face thinking that she’ll try to make it up to him, but show cracks a joke instead. Then when we think we’re ready for a laugh, such as Din cracking a joke as if it’s no big deal that another man takes his wife home and his wife is giving him the present that that man gave to her, Show kills us with the serious and sad eyes from Din, relenting that it doesn’t matter how he got the present, only that Ran intended to give it to him. Ugh, that’s heartbreaking because it makes Ran feel so bad. She means well and think nothing of being friends with another man knowing that her man is jealous. So by receiving such a heartbreaking admission from Din, Ran tears up and nearly chokes from the feels.
The man never had an ego, he’s just confident in his skills and his genuine heart, so it kills me to see that confidence shaken and him questioning if indeed he is good enough for her. Before, he thought that just making her happy would suffice, but who knew marrying into her family and meeting the mother in law from hell is worse than taking down an enemy of the state. But that is why he’s surrounded by Rock and Cookie who remind him that all he needs is to be himself: he can’t go down without a fight, and to show them (her family) that he’s better than Tony (the other man). As we’re prepared for a competitive pissing contest, it turns out hilarious instead because Din actually sucked at games. I guess it makes life a little more fair. Mr. Perfect can’t be perfect in everything. But he certainly is perfection when it comes to doing what matters, like loving his wife and protecting his country. And looking so damn FINE while at it.
It’s really all in Andrew who makes Din so human with the conflicted and complex emotions, and his comedic timing, making us laugh one minute and quivering bottom lips the next. Ploy is a great partner in making this marriage believable and allows us to root for them because we’re now invested and want them happy at all cost. Because this marriage better work out or else! Rock and Cookie crack me up and even the villain has some depth to him.
There’s just a nice balance between the emotions evoked in this Show, and Andrew is just killing me softly with his portrayal of Din, that I may be the one coming out of this looking like a mad woman, laughing and crying at the same time.
Tagged: Andrew Gregson, Ploy Chermarn, Sai Lap Rak Puan
I’m so in love with this lakorn. It is stress free and Andrew being jealous is 😍. I don’t mind watching it without sub because the acting speak for itself. I am glad Andrew took over for this lakorn because after seeing the first episode I just couldn’t see Peter.
the second epi not sub yet but base on your review it will be even better than the first one , I just have to say one thing , on their second encounter and coffee date Din was terrible , I was shrieking with laughter while horrified at the same time , even on my first date as a teenager I don’t think I was THAT bad , the second-hand embarrassment was real , have to cover my face and watch it through my fingers , just love this show to pieces
Episode 3 kills me. This review is based on what’s out so far 🙂
Oh, man, Tony is ugly. Why does the mother in law have to forces pairing Tony with Ran?
I’m going to have to check into this one.
omg , just finish watching epi 2 and it got me crack up from beginning to end , the fight scene with the phone conversation , the meet-the-in-law dinner from hell , especially when he tickle the mom for her to let go , OMG are you kidding me , please keep up the comedy front cause this show really good at it and Din laid back attitude and his awkwardness when it come to family ( understandable since he’s an orphan ) clash so well with his mother-in-law uptight and haughtiness , call me weird but I’m actually enjoy their scene even more than Din and Ran , other show I don’t want the evil-in-law show up to make life difficult for our couple but for this one I’m strangely looking forward to it
Where can I find this shoe with eng subs? Thanks for all your recaps!
ok , now I’m caught up to ep 3 and I get it when Fia said show make us laugh one moment and teary the next , the disable the bomb in the bathroom was hilarious , I love the dialogue of this show a lot , Rock and Cookie just made couple of the show award in my eyes ( especially when they try to console Din in the office ) but then the scene turn to Din lonely walk home and when Ran give him the present you can feel the Ran’s awkwardness and Din’s sadness pour out of them , I almost can’t bear to watch it , in some drama you know characters happy , love , or upset but somehow you still remember it just acting and this just a play but in this show all of these people emotion somehow feel real to me I’m 110% invest ( why oh why they didn’t pick Andrew to play the main guy in Cubic huh I’m still miff on that one )
Can we putting the mother in law away somewhere far away….or better yet killed her off, so Ran and Din will getting their happines for change.