Waves of Life: Episode 1 

After a long wait, the premiere for Kluen Cheewit is finally here. It’s not the kind of show to watch lying down, nor is it one of rainbows and butterflies. This show, if anything, is a story about a girl against the world. I can see different sides to this story that will get people heated and argue over what’s right and what’s wrong, and what’s the truth. One thing is for sure, our girl isn’t perfect, but she can make you empathize with her plight. Drinking is a frowned upon hobby in this show, but with a life like that, what else could you do to make the world a little more livable? Pass the bottle please, but hide the car keys.

EPISODE 1 RECAP

We open with a woman in red and a man getting hot and heavy in the elevator which opens to a private suite. As they fall on the bed, the man reaches for a gun under his pillow. But he’s not fast enough as the lady in red spots his move and skillfully maneuvers the gun out of his hand. He’s at a disadvantage as she digs a knee in his chest, gun at point blank. The man apologizes but laments that he had to do it otherwise it’s his life on the line. The lady in red questions how is he sure that he would still get out of here alive even if he succeeded in killing her (playing this game). The man promises that despite all of the times that he may have lied to her, he truly does love her. The lady in red states that she never believed in true love – because everything is about having the advantage – until she met him, he changed her perspective and taught her how to love. But unfortunately today, she continues, and digs the gun a little harder into his chest, that he just proved to her that she was still wrong, because there is no such thing as true love because at the end of the day he only looked out for himself and betrayed her. The lady in red spits that the only real love is loving yourself. And then she pulls the pillow over his head and shoots him.

Even though the above scene is merely the lady in red acting out a scene within a scene, it’s so telling about her real perspective and a great look into her character. Meet our heroine, Jeerawat aka Miss G (Yaya Urassaya), who gets praised about her acting from the staff. But she doesn’t trust their empty words, she seeks out Director Chayan (Louis Scott) and tells him to cut the bullshit and tell her the truth. Chayan wonders out loud if she would believe him if told her that she was amazing, and goes to prove it by replaying that scene for her. Chayan narrates that he found the scene especially powerful because the heroine went from not believing in love, to finding love and then ultimately getting betrayed by that love. He asks how she’s so good at portraying the raw emotion of confusion, disappointment and then finally going completely cold like that when it’s her first lakorn. Jeerawat merely says that she shares the perspective with her character and can draw out that emotion easily. That scene would have completed their filming but Jeerawat gets sabotaged by someone who doesn’t want her to make it to the fashion show. The person ensures that Jeerawat must retake the scene by creating shadows that ruins the whole take.

It’s Pim (Jeerawat’s rival) who uses her second lead to do the dirty work. She celebrates with her companion that if Jeerawat, the rising star, does not show up for the biggest fashion show today (which Korea and American entertainment producers will be in attendance) than she will be done for. Mostly she wants to teach Suki, a talent manager, that this is the result of choosing a newbie over her.

But the manager has a million other problems of his own to deal with. Jeerawat on the other hand, walks in on the wardrobe and makeup artist gossiping about her. They mention that despite being new in the entertainment industry, she has all of the men wrapped around her little finger. Jeerawat immediately confronts the gossipmongers that they could ask her or say anything to her face. The two cowers but Jeerawat continues that it’s none of their business who she decides to sleep with.

Chayan excuses her from filming the last scene since he spoke with Suki about the urgency of the catwalk, and as Jee rushes out, she bumps into an assistant carrying alcohol on him. Chayan suggests she get cleaned up first but there’s no time left and Jee rushes to the fashion show apparently reeking of alcohol. This is not going to go over well.

A fearless lawyer chases some bad men who were bullying his clients. We can tell he goes above and beyond the call of duty. However it’s a high speed chase and Jeerawat’s car is seen taking a turn on a red light which causes the two cars to clash. She immediately calls her manager to send her a car, and opens the door to confront the driver. The lawyer chastises her for not having a good look at the oncoming traffic but gets a whiff of the alcohol on her persons. He suggests they call the cops but Jee says she hasn’t been drinking and she doesn’t have enough time to stand here and argue the law with him. So she immediately launches into an insincere apology that it was her fault and thinks it will end there, but the lawyer said that she just caused him to lose the bad guy and she’s driving drunk and berating him. Jeerawat doesn’t have time for this and hands him a wad of cash. She tells him her people will settle the insurance part with him and if the money isn’t enough, he can ask her for more. Furthermore, she’s not one who will run and she could easily be found – as she pushes a magazine against his chest. She takes off on a motorcycle taxi, leaving the lawyer fuming.

Talent Agent Suki negotiates with the event manager to get Jeerawat back on the runway but the manager relents that he can’t allow anyone to do the runway stunt without practice. So at the moment it doesn’t seem like the manager would budge. Which adds to Pim’s smugness as she remarks that the only person going international today is her. The runway show seems to go according to plan as Pim preens at all of the international agents present. Right during what is supposed to be Pim’s finale reveal, Jeerawat descends from above looking like an angel in a white dress. In a flashback we see that Talent Agent Suki had successfully convinced the event manager to incorporate Jeerawat as the finale act in order to get the bigger fish, whoever Nong Chote is. What’s interesting to note is Jeerawat’s quick obstinate look at one of the guest agents viewing the runway. But she changed it to a smug smile at Pim’s shocked face.

Backstage Pim questions Jeerawat’s intentions on stealing her show, but Jeerawat spats that she was only late because someone intended for her to miss it altogether (backstabbed her). She adds that there are a lot of cowardly dogs about lol. Pim retorts that even though Jeerawat may be Suki’s favorite at the moment, she won’t stand down, especially because Jeerawat only got famous because of the tabloid news about her various sexual escapades. Jeerawat inches closer and apologizes for unknowingly taking Pim’s spotlight. A catfight ensues where Jeerawat is tough enough to be on top, and she warns Pim to stop starting shit because Jeerawat is only here to work. Pim argues that everyone knows Jeerawat came into the industry to find a rich man just like her mother. Jeerawat’s eyes glint upon hearing the comparison with her mother, she immediately puts on a show as if Pim had been the one to hurt her. She corners Pim with a warning that she doesn’t like to start fights, but when someone initiates it, she’s like a dog with a bone. She won’t let go.

Pim seethes with fury because Jeerawat made her look like a bitch in front of everyone. She takes her revenge when a delivery person drops off a bouquet of flowers for Jeerawat. Pim offers to give it to Gee.

Meanwhile a woman judges the final video clip of Jeerawat’s performance. She complimented that everything is done well, from the directing, the make up.. hairstyles etc. However, the biggest problem is the actress herself. She heard that the actress has a sex tape and she doesn’t think the viewers would appreciate that. The director explains that the news has been corrected, apparently it was someone who looked like Jeerawat. The woman argues that she would be happy, in that case, to find another director that looks like him then. The director backpedals and says that he didn’t believe the corrected news for one minute. Wimp. Thus, it means that Jeerawat loses this deal.

When the woman, whose name is Piak, leaves the meeting, the staff gossips that Piak had been the one to release the sex tape in order to ruin Jeerawat for flirting with her husband, Director Chayan, whom she’s territorial over. They surmise that the wrath is severe even for just flirting, someone will die if it’s an actual affair. Piak receives a text message with a picture of the flowers that was sent to Jeerawat. Pim sent it knowing how Piak would react, especially when the flowers were sent from her dearest husband.

A teacher named Tiwadee currently stays late at school waiting for her boyfriend to pick her up. He’s quite protective because even when she said she could go home alone, he tells her to wait for him. To make it up to her, he has a school employee send her a cute apology note masking as a student homework. She looks up to ask for the owner of the notebook, who is Thit, and asks him what she ought to do with the notebook. Thit advises that a teacher once told him that if someone makes a mistake but apologizes for it, one should forgive that person. The teacher argues that a lawyer once told her that offenders should face the consequences of their actions, and she smacks the notebook lightly on his forehead. He apologizes for being late and blames the accident in the afternoon for ruining his day. Apparently he’s still mad over it.

At the fashion show shoot after party, a man named Sitha eyes Jeerawat from across the room. Yuck. He’s someone of status and power and gets a phone call from his wife Jiraya. She reminds him that he needs to be at the charity ball to close out the party, but the man relents that she could make up a good excuse for him since he’s staying where he’s at for the time being. He adds that she’s good at putting on a good face, so this should be her specialty. The wife bites her tongue and asks the bodyguard where her husband is at (since it sounds like a party) and whether Jeerawat is there. She doesn’t sound pleased.

Thit complains to his girlfriend about his accident earlier today, namely with celeb Jeerawat. Tiwadee thinks he’s actually lucky, but Thit doesn’t like people who think they’re above the law. Tiwadee fat shames her boyfriend to stop eating pork (or meat for that matter) because he’s gaining weight. When they tried on their wedding clothes earlier, Thit couldn’t fit into his regular size. Ah, I feel for the laywer now lol. I struggle with my weight too, and girlfriend should take a break from her yabbering about his weight!

Thit gets called away from dinner with an issue at work. Meanwhile Jeerawat excuses herself from the party, saying that she’s tired and wants to get some rest. Her Manager is concerned about her driving after drinking but Jeerawat relents that she didn’t drink that much at all, and even blows her breath his way. Unfortunately on her way to the car, she gets cornered by Sitha’s men. He says he’s been waiting for her all day. Jeerawat shoos him away and threatens to shock them with her taser. Sitha says she’s slept with so many men, what’s one more? Ew. Jeerawat spats that she’s not that bad to sleep with her mother’s husband though. She threatens to call the reporters and tell them that he’s a bad man who wants to make his step daughter his wife. Sitha’s men grab her and Sitha tells her that she made him do this. Next thing we know, Jeerawat gets injected with something and the man says he’ll make her do things with him without even knowing it. Gross. But Jeerawat manages to get away and drives off.

Thit drops his girlfriend off at the taxi station since he won’t have time to drop her off at home. He is reluctant to leave and turns back to give her a backhug. She instructs him to take medication for his bruising forehead and that if it won’t go away to see the doctor. She wonders who would remind him to take his meds when she’s not around. Thit says she will never leave him and puts a reminder on his watch to take his meds. He looks back at her as if it will be the last time he would see her and she waves her goodbye.

Sitha’s men tail Jeerawat’s car as she drives away. Her vision starts to blur as the injection take its affect, she immediately calls her manager that she’s been drugged and she’s afraid to stop because they would come and get her. Suki tells her to pull to the side of the road and wait for him. Jeerawat curses the taxi driver ahead of her as she couldn’t seem to pass him, then she drops something and tries to reach for it.. meanwhile the teacher sees the taxi and thinks he’s going to come to her, but he veers away, and she’s met with Jeerawat’s incoming car head on. Thit could heard the silence on the end of his girlfriend’s phone followed by another woman’s voice shouting that she’s sorry, she didn’t mean to. Thit rushes back, Jeerawat looms over the Tiwadee’s body and her manager finally arrives. But Jeerawat quickly loses consciousness.

Tiwadee gets emergency brain surgery and it came out successfully, to the relief of Thit and her mother. But the doctor says they need to continue observing her at the ICU. Thit makes his way to the police station and demands to see the perpetrator who hit his girlfriend. His police friend stops him from going in with his current state and assures him that the man who hit Tiwadee has agreed to take full responsibility. Thit states that the person who hit Tiwadee is a woman, not a man. Turns out it’s Stefan, Suki’s assistant who’s explaining to the cops that he tried to evade an incoming car and didn’t see the victim. Upon taking one look at Stefan, Thit flashes back to his accident where Stefan came by to clear Jeerawat. Oh no, this isn’t going to be good. Thit says he remembers Stefan’s face, he’s Jeerawat’s driver! Then Thit remembers the voice shouting over the phone and orders Stefan to out with the truth. Stefan lies that he did it but Thit is adamant it was a woman until his friend ushers him out of the station. But an entertainment reporter who heard all of this and puts two and two together, and phones in his story.

Chayan’s boss/father in law congratulates him for the ratings for Jeerawat’s lakorn, but before they could even toast to it, his daughter tells them not to be too happy because their actress is currently in an accident scandal. She snipes that she didn’t even have to do anything for the fact that Jeerawat was trying to steal her husband, because karma is a bitch. Chayan looks genuinely distraught over the news and phones Suki. He tells dad and wifey that the news is false and that Jeerawat went home with Suki. Dad ok’s the continuation of the drama filming. But Piak (daughter) argues that this is no gossip column happening to people they don’t know, what’s at stake is a member of their family – Thit’s girlfriend. And that changes things. Piak accuses Chayan for trying to console the actress, but Chayan tells her that this affects her company and they should try to minimize the damage. They argue right in front of all of the employees. Chayan tells her for the thousandth time that he and Jeerawat are just friends who has known each other since college. Piak says good luck because Thit won’t let this one go and he should be prepared to visit Jeerawat in jail.

Jeerawat visits Tiwadee at the hospital and winces at the patient’s condition. Tiwadee questions why Jeerawat ran her over. But Jeerawat apologizes and says she didn’t mean to, it was an accident. And then Tiwadee complains of a stomach pain, Jeerawat helps her up and cries for a nurse. But as Tiwadee stops her, she starts to bleed through the mouth and says that Jeerawat killed her. Jeerawat cries no.. but woke up from the nightmare.

Her friend Dao pays her a visit at the penthouse but finds Jeerawat in the corner eating ice cream. Suki relents that he gives permission for Jeerawat to indulge today. As she’s feasting on desserts, Jeerawat says that she had a nightmare that she hit someone with her car. Oh, so she doesn’t remember? She adds that the dream seems so real. Suki and Dao peer at each other with concern. Jeerawat confirms that she doesn’t recall anything from the night before, so Suki makes up a story that Jee was so drunk she called out Pim.

Dao pulls Suki aside and finally learns the truth, that someone drugged Jeerawat which caused her to get in an accident. Dao wonders what type of drug it was to cause someone to forget everything. Suki says that this drug will make you do whatever the other person tells you to do and promptly not remember anything the next day. Harumph. Suki adds that they don’t know who did it, but he was thankful to be there just in time before the cops arrive and have Stefan take the fall instead. He says he’s quite capable shutting everyone up about this.

But you can’t shut Pim out of this one. She is determined to take Jeerawat down by advocating that Jeerawat did leave that party alone (and not with Suki). Suki desperately tries to align the story much to his dismay. Chayan relents that he shared the same story but catches Suki indicating that Jeerawat was the driver of that vehicle. Suki explains that it was an accident and all because of a drug. He says that Jeerawat has a bright future and refuses to let her fall because of this. He begs for Chayan’s understanding.

Thit sees Pim’s confirmation on the news and is furious. Piak tells Thit to be strong and that her company will take care of the hospital bills. Tiwadee’s mom says that’s too generous, but Piak relents that they are family. Unfortunately Tiwadee’s condition worsens.

Jeerawat wakes up from another nightmare. She tries to turn the tv on but Dao prevents her, lying that the signal is broken. However no one could stop her from watching the news on her tablet, and it’s then that the memories come flooding back. The visions of last night flashes before her eyes and Jeerawat realizes in horror that she did hit someone with her car. The tears fall. At the same time, Thit and Tiwadee’s mother learn that Tiwadee did not make it. This is such a sad scene.

Thit sits in the dark looking devastatingly at his dead girlfriend’s body. He flashes back to all of his moments with her and gives her one last kiss, wishing her a peaceful rest.

Jeerawat intends to turn herself in but Dao stops her. Jiraya (Jee’s mom) tells her she can go on and confess but then Suki and Stefan would also join her in jail for fabricating the story, it’s up to her now to bring everyone down. On top of that, the company that hired her for the lakorn would suffer as well. Mom says she’s only good at causing problems but never resolving them. She ought to just let everyone else do things for her. Such a nice mom. She suggests Jeerawat go live abroad, mom can support her. But Jeerawat argues that she’s not supporting her, she’s kicking her out of her life. She says that mom is only concerned about her image and she’s just a reminder of her failures and bad past. Mom admits that she won’t let her life be destroyed by Jeerawat, but Jeerawat says it’s really not her doing, she ought to go and ask her husband what he tried to do to her daughter.

Jeerawat decides to visit Tiwadee at the hospital but Chayan intercepts her visit at the penthouse. He tells her she doesn’t need to visit. Jee gets frustrated by all of these people telling her she can’t do anything, but Chayan interrupts that Tiwadee is dead now. Jee is floored by the news.

Meanwhile Thit mourns his girlfriend and tells his police friend to find the real perpetrator. The police says they can’t just take Thit’s word by blind faith, they need evidence and unfortunately all of the security cameras in the area are broken. Turns out, Sitha had been the one to order them “broken”. He complains to his wife that Jeerawat always finds ways to burden him and it’s mainly due to the fact that she has no discipline from her parents. Mom looks away with shame. He suggests that it’s time to bring her home (to live with them) so that they could start. Gross.

Jeerawat berates herself over Tiwadee’s death. She asks Chayan to either take her to the funeral with him or she will find a way to sneak out regardless. Next we see that Chayan ends up taking Jeerawat to the temple where Jeerawat pays her respect. She prays that Tiwadee rests in peace and that she shouldn’t worry about her mom, Jeerawat promises to take care of her. Jeerawat says her condolences to mom and tries to introduce herself, but mom already knows who she is. She tells her not to blame herself since the real perpetrator is her driver. Jeerawat apologizes on behalf of her driver. She continues to kneel there after mom says she doesn’t blame anyone and considers it a bad karma that her daughter had to pay.

Thit walks in when the monks begin the ceremony and tells them to halt. He says Tiwadee won’t rest in peace as long as “this woman” (he points to Jeerawat) sits here. He tells her to leave the temple and when she doesn’t, Thit drags her out of the temple. Jeerawat says she’s remorseful but Thit has some choice words for her. He tells her that she’s irresponsible and selfish and that her money can’t buy everything. He takes out the envelope with money for his accident, crumbles it in his hand and tosses it in her face. Chayan pulls him away and tries to remove Jeerawat from the scene. Thit warns her never to step foot here again and that he will prove to her that justice is above everything. Jeerawat argues that he can’t judge her without knowing the whole truth, but Thit relents that he knows everything from the minute he first met her. That’s first impression dude, not always the truth. Suddenly reporters flock out of nowhere and Chayan escorts Jeerawat to safety.

Piak learns that Chayan is with Jeerawat again and sees red. Dad warns her not to mess with Jeerawat because their lakorn is doing so well, so she could control her own husband and leave Jeerawat alone.

Jeerawat’s manager and friend Dao scolds her for going to the funeral and causing suspicion with the case. Jeerawat questions why Suki wouldn’t just let her own up to it or at least let her take care of Tiwadee’s mom, but Suki tells her to let the court determine that it was an accident first and she can take care of whoever she wants. Jeerawat says that some people won’t let this case go easily.

Piak starts shit with her husband right in the middle of the street, that he had the gall to take the murderer to Tiwadee’s funeral. He not only ignored his own wife but he didn’t consider Thit’s feelings. Chayan says he’s trying to help both sides but Piak argues that no matter if Jeerawat has her father or whomever on her side, Thit won’t ever let this one go. Thit investigates for evidence immediately.

Dao tries to relieve Jeerawat’s stress by giving her a pedicure. They bicker adorably and chase each other around the penthouse for kisses. But the light moment gets killed as Jee gets a call from Sitha, her mother’s husband, that she certainly owes him one now. Jeerawat states that he’s only protecting himself from the real truth that he drugged her. She spits that she will never go to him and he can watch and see whether she could put a person like him in jail. The pervert just chuckles like she told a great joke.

The search for evidence seems to take Thit to a dead end. The video cameras were deemed broken and all of the employees apparently resigned. Jeerawat is on her own investigation to get evidence that Sitha had been the person who drugged her but she found the same answer as Thit, the evidences are rug swept. They found one employee in the midst of leaving the building, Thit thinks Jeerawat was there to cover her tracks. Jeerawat tries to explain that she wanted to ask the employee something else, but doesn’t want to tell Thit exactly what that is, which only causes more suspicions. Thit accuses her of having multiple cases against her and keeps his darn hands on her wrist so that she can’t leave. Jeerawat encourages him to find evidences to convict her if that makes him happy without knowing the whole truth. His friend holds him back as Thit prompts her to out with the truth then. Jeerawat angrily walks away with her hand clenched.

COMMENTS

For a premiere episode, I say that it gets the blood pumping. Yaya really pulls you in when she becomes Jeerawat. When she cries, I cry. But having said that, whose side are you on? Are you Team Jeerawat or Team Thit? I appreciate that the show uses Jeerawat’s old traits, like drinking, but turning it into more of a misconception about her instead. People think she’s a drunk, people believe she is a party girl who only want to be in the industry to marry a rich man. It seems only her manager and friend Dao (and maybe Chayan) actually know the true essence of her. In actuality Jeerawat is a misunderstood woman, she works her butt off to make money and become independent (to stay out of her mom and “stepdad” care) while not truly caring what other colleagues think of her. It’s an interesting attitude to have because almost everyone cares about their image. Do “bad girls” really do well in the industry? Not in the Thai entertainment industry I reckon.

What I find cumbersome, but a reality, in most Thai families, is that the normal meter is so skewed. As an adult – which Jeerawat certainly is – normally you get the autonomy to do whatever the hell you please and pay for the consequences. No matter who comes to your aid, the right thing to do is that everyone owns up to their mistakes. However in this world, everyone seems to treat Jeerawat like she can’t resolve her own problems. For example, Jeerawat got drugged and drove because she FEARED for her life. Her stepdad is the number one vilest person on the planet. She shouldn’t have driven when she felt the effects, maybe she should have pulled over like her manager instructed her to. But at the moment in time, she felt her life was in danger and she needed to get the hell out. That’s her mistake, she was under the influence of whatever drug and hit a person. Next, her manager who “rescued” her and fixed the news, now that’s on him and she shouldn’t be responsible for that. Jeerawat should not feel like she couldn’t own up to her mistake because it would mean her manager would go down with her. The fact of the matter is that her manager broke the law too, he lied about what happened and he fabricated the real perpetrator in her place. Once Jeerawat discovers what happened, she shouldn’t have taken her manager’s word for it by just letting it settle in court. Someone else is taking the fall for her, the victim died fighting for her life at ICU, and Jeerawat thinks she could just take care of mom and put Sitha behind bars and this would make up for her mistake? Some people may think that is her way of making things right.

The problem with Thit’s reaction is that he has already hated her from the getgo. Their subsequent encounters just fueled the fire and makes him blind to her plight or “truth”. Honestly though, he’s much too one dimensional for me to take his side for the moment. As a lawyer, he is only arguing the truth the way he sees it and what he thinks he knows. On the other hand, Jeerawat, although remorseful about the death of Tiwadee, is too defensive about her own “poor” situation that she expects everyone to understand and feel for her when she never told anyone the truth. She can’t just ask Thit to empathize with her when she hasn’t shown how she’s taking responsibility, if at all. For now, we just know that she’s going along with whatever her manager tells her. There’s a lot of animosity between the two which makes me curious to find out how they’ll ever soften towards each other, and even if they can get pass this and give/accept forgiveness.

The taut storyline isn’t one that I was particularly looking forward to as I return to lakorns. But I do enjoy seeing Yaya so much, and you can tell that it’s a role she put everything into. LakornThai does a splendid job, as per their repertoire with the directing and the script writing, so what it really comes down to is how the two will connect over the course of the story and how they will sell their characters. You can’t truly expect to see sparks between the leads when they’re so busy screaming and hating each other, but I hope that there is something between them down the road. Heck, I don’t even know if I want it to happen, ha. I prefer the progression where the leads love each other at first but meets a problem that seems hard to get pass, but eventually find their way back to each other. It just makes for a more convincing love story. But this story doesn’t purport itself to be one of sweeping love story, but merely the wave of life and that sometimes life gives you the most bitter of lemons and you just try your might to turn it into a decent lemonade.

Lucky for you, a team of subbers at Dailymotion are quite fast and have already subbed the two episodes that aired this week. I’m not sure if I can consistently bring you recaps like before, but I may continue to do summaries of each episodes and just have an open discussion about it. It’s one of those stories with no wrong answers and we can debate until the cow comes home. So let’s go at it. What are your first impressions? Thoughts about the story? Whose side are you on?